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William
"Henry" |
William
"Henry" Harrison Fawcett was born on July 28, 1855 in
Independence, Preston County, WV, the son of William
and Naomi (Fortney) Fawcett.
In 1880, when the federal census of Preston County was taken, William was residing in his parents' home in the Lyon District. That year, he was employed locally as a coal miner.
In 1885, Henry married Elizabeth A. "Lizzie" Woodfill (1863-1942), the daughter of William and Laura Woodfill. They had two daughters and one son -- Jessie Vivian Fawcett, Grace F. Fawcett and Dorsey L. Fawcett, plus one child who died young.
A dry goods merchant, Henry lived and worked in Grafton, Taylor County, WV when the federal censuses were taken in 1900 and 1910, likely in partnership with his brother David A. Fawcett. As residents of Grafton, their homes was in close proximity to the residences of their cousin John Overfield.
Later,
after the business apparently ended, Henry moved to Morgantown, Monongalia County,
WV, where he operated another dry goods store. While in Morgantown, they made their home "in the Flatts,"
said the Morgantown Dominion News. A rare old bird's eye view of
Morgantown's steep University Hill is seen at right.
Henry suffered from prostate cancer in his early 70s. After battling the illness for two years, he passed away from its effects on Aug. 20, 1929, just three weeks after his 74th birthday.
After a funeral conducted by Rev. Frank L.
Shaffer, pastor of the Methodist Protestant Church, his remains were laid to
rest in the Bluemont Cemetery in Grafton, Taylor County, WV, "the former
home of the deceased," said the Dominion News.
Elizabeth outlived her husband by 13 years. As she aged, she went to live with her married daughter and son in law, Jessie and Charles Shaw, in the town of Gamboa in the Panama Canal Zone. She suffered from senility, and apparently fell down some steps at her home in June 1942, fracturing her left femur. She went for treatment to the Gorgas Hospital, but did not recover from the shock, and died 16 days later at the age of 79 on June 28, 1942. Her remains initially may have been interred at Corazal Cemetery in Panama, as the United States was in the midst of World War II at the time. Some time later, her casket was shipped home for burial beside her husband at Bluemont. They rest in the vicinity of Henry's parents, cousins Charles F.W. and Robert Moses Hanshaw, and also Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day.
Ironically, Elizabeth's sister in law Carrie (Freeburn) Fawcett, wife of David A. Fawcett, died just 36 days after Elizabeth, on Aug. 3, 1942, with burial also in Bluemont.
Daughter Jessie Vivian Fawcett (1886- ? ) married Charles C. Shaw (1886- ? ), a native of West Virginia. They apparently had no children. In 1920, the census shows them residing near Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV, where Charles was a cabinet maker in a general woodworking business. Sometime during the 1920s, they made a major change in life and moved to the Panama Canal Zone. In 1929-1930, they made their home in Ancon, Panama, where the 44-year-old Charles worked as a carpentry foreman in the district quartermaster department.
Daughter
Grace Fawcett (1894- ? ) married World War I veteran Harold Lee Robinson Jr.
(1893-1951), seen here, the son of Harold Lee and Rebecca Lavern (Smith)
Robinson Sr.. Harold's family was considered "a pioneer district
family" of Uniontown, Fayette County, PA, and his father was a local
attorney in Uniontown. During World War I, Harold entered military service in
August 1917, assigned to Camp Jackson, and was honorably discharged as a second
lieutenant in March 1919. (He is pictured in the book, Uniontown's Part in
the World War.) They had five children -- Harold Lee Robinson, III, Allen F.
Robinson, Elizabeth R. Robinson, Agnes F. Robinson and Rebecca Robinson. The
young family moved around frequently, to Ohio (1921); West Virginia (1922-1925);
Pennsylvania (1926); and in 1929-1930 in Sutton, Braxton County, WV, where
Harold was employed as a civil engineer. They made their final home in
Parkersburg, Wood County, WV, where Harold's engineering was utilized for the
State Road Commission. He was a member of the Methodist church and Masons, the
American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Sadly, at the age of 58, he died
of cancer of the tongue, on Oct. 21, 1951. His remains were sent to Uniontown,
Fayette County, PA, for burial in the Robinson Cemetery. In his obituary, the Uniontown
Morning Herald said:
A graduate of Uniontown High school and West Virginia university, [he] was engaged as a civil engineer in West Virginia for the last 20 years. He was associated in the engineering business here and was identified with the Monongahela Railroad. He also engaged in the coal business in Braxton county, West Virginia, and had been with the State Road Commission at Parkersburg.
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Grace and Harold's son Harold Lee Robinson III was stationed at Dayton (OH) Field during the Korean War.
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Grace and Harold's son Sgt. Allen Robinson served with the U.S. Army at Fort Meade during the Korean War.
Son Dorsey L. Fawcett (1895- ? ) resided in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, PA in 1929-1930. He married Mary A. (1896- ? ), and had at least two sons -- William Fawcett and Robert Fawcett. When the federal census of Latrobe was taken in 1930, Dorsey worked as a grocery and food products salesman for the H.J. Heinz Company of Pittsburgh. They made their home that year on Spring Street.
Copyright © 2006, 2008 Mark A. Miner