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Eugenus C. "Eugene" Gribble was born in 1861 in or near Kingwood, Preston County, WV, the son of Henry Harrison and Mary Catherine (Fawcett) Gribble. He was a stone mason who labored in the industrial heart of Beaver County, PA, but his fate is hidden from us by the clouded shroud of the past.

Eugenus is named in a Gribble genealogy in the July 30, 1908 edition of the Preston County Journal, one of a series of articles that year on the "Pioneers of Preston." A copy of this article is in the Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives. 

When the federal census was taken in 1880, Eugenus was a 19-year-old farm laborer residing with his parents on their farm in the Grant District of Preston County.

Eugenus married Sarah V. Mitchell (1869- ? ) in about 1884, when he was age 23 and she 15. They went on to have five children -- May C. Helmick, Ray Ernest Gribble, Guy G. Gribble, William Hugh Gribble and Frank F. Gribble. The next-to-last son was born in 1894 in Terra Alta, Preston County.

The federal census of 1900 shows the Gribbles residing near Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV, north of Decker Creek. That year, Eugene was employed as a stone mason and Sarah had seasonal work as a binder in a woolen mill.

By 1907, the family had migrated north to Rochester, Beaver County, PA, where industrial jobs were booming. That year, they were listed in the Beaver Valley Directory and were living at 371 New York Avenue in Rochester, with two of their sons and a married daughter and son in law. That year, Eugene's occupation was listed as stone mason, while sons Ray and Guy labored in the glass industry, and son in law William Helmick worked as a glass cutter.

Eugenus and Sarah separated sometime prior to 1910. There is no record of a divorce in records of the Beaver County Courthouse.

When the federal census was taken in 1910, Sarah was living on Connecticut Avenue in Rochester with her married daughter and son in law, May and William Helmick. Also in the household that year were sons Frank and Guy Gribble. 

Eugenus has not yet been located on that 1910 census, and his name does not appear in Beaver County records of deaths, estates or real estate purchases. After that, he disappears into the mists of history.

By 1930, 65-year-old Sarah had moved again. She made her home with her married son and daughter in law, Frank F. and Maud Gribble, in Pittsburgh's 23rd Ward. Her fate after that is unknown. 

~ Daughter May C. (Gribble) Helmick ~

Daughter May C. Gribble (1881-1918) married William Helmick (1882- ? ) in about 1901. They had at least two sons, Edwin W. Helmick and Wayne H. Helmick. 

In 1907, they were listed in the Beaver Valley Directory as living with May's parents at 371 New York Avenue in Rochester. That year, William was a glass cutter, while his father in law Eugene worked as a stone mason and brothers in law Ray and Guy also labored in the glass blowing industry. 

William was employed as a cutter in a glass house in Rochester in 1910, the year the federal census was enumerated.

Sadly, May died in 1918, at the age of 37. She was laid to rest in Irvin Cemetery in Rochester. (Her birth year inscribed on her grave marker reads "1885" instead of "1881.") 

The following year, in about 1919, William went on to marry again, to Olive D. (?) (1895- ? ) in about 1919. 

William and Olive's home circa 1930 was on Vermont Avenue in Rochester. William was proprietor of his own glass shop, Quality Cut Glass Company, and Olive was employed as a saleslady in a wall paper store. 

Their fates are unknown.

Son Edwin W. Helmick (1903- ?  ) married Lexie E. (?) (1904- ? ) in about 1926. The Beaver Valley Directory of 1925-1926 lists him as working for Pittsburgh Bridge & Iron Company (PBI) and residing with his father, step mother and brother Wayne at 385 Vermont Avenue in Rochester. Circa 1930, Edwin and Lexie continued to make their residence with his parents, with Edwin working at PBI.

Son Wayne H. Helmick (1908- ? ) married Martha Trumpeter (1910- ? ), the daughter of Mabel Trumpeter of Beaver County. The federal census of 1930 shows Wayne and Martha residing with widowed Mabel in Monaca, Beaver County, on Washington Avenue. The Helmicks went on to have two children -- Wayne William Helmick, M.D., and Martha May Helmick. After Martha Trumpeter Helmick's death, Wayne married Diane (?).

• Son Wayne William Helmick, M.D. (1934-2002) was born in Monaca in 1934. He married Gayle Johnston and they had three daughters. Wayne was a 1954 graduate of Geneva College, obtained his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and completed his internship at Sewickley Hospital. Wayne served in the U.S. Navy as a physician assigned to a Marine Corps unit at Camp Lejeune, NC. Later, he specialized in family practice and kept an office in Rochester from 1961 to 1996. He "was instrumental in establishing" The Medical Center in Beaver, today part of Heritage Valley Health System, and at one time was president of the medical staff. He passed away at the age of 68 on March 18, 2002, following a battle with lung cancer. He is buried at Beaver Cemetery.

~ Son Ray Ernest Gribble ~

Son Ray Ernest Gribble (1887- ? ) was born on Sept. 25, 1887, in Pisgah, Preston County. As an adult, he was of medium height and weight, with grey eyes and brown hair. 

In about 1906, Ray married Mary (?) (1889- ? ), of Pennsylvania. They had one known son, Wilford H. Gribble, born in 1908 in West Virginia.

When the federal census was taken in 1910, Ray, Mary and Wilford made their home in Huntington, Cabell County, WV. The census-taker noted his occupation as glass blower in a glass factory. 

Sadly, Mary died sometime in the early 1910s. The cause and place are unknown. 

As a single father, Ray came to Beaver County with his parents, and obtained employment as a glass blower at Rochester Tumbler Company, where his brothers also worked.

Ray registered for the military draft during World War I. On his card, he noted his address as 385 Vermont Street in Rochester, and that he was not married but had a nine-year-old child. 

By 1920, the widowed 31-year-old Ray and his married, 22-year-old brother Frank were employed as attendants at the Dixmont Hospital for the Insane in Kilbuck, Allegheny County, PA. He and son Wilford boarded in 1930, along with Ray's 65-year-old mother, under the roof of his brother Frank in Pittsburgh. 

Ray's fate is unknown, but he was alive in 1943 and mentioned that year in the Pittsburgh Press obituary of his brother Frank.

Son Wilford Gribble (1908-1999?) is believed to have died in Anaheim, Orange County, CA on Oct. 14, 1999, at the age of 91.

~ Son Guy Gribble ~

Beaver County courthouse fire of 1932 likely destroyed Gribble marriage and estate records

Son Guy Gribble (1893- ? ) married Hazel G. (1892- ? ) in 1910. They lived in Rochester the year they were married. 

Guy's occupation was as a glass blower at Rochester Tumbler Co., a glass house among many in that region. 

In September 1910, Guy and his brother Hugh were sued by Rochester Tumbler in a dispute over money. Records in the Beaver County Prothonotary's office are missing for that period -- likely engulfed in the courthouse fire of 1932 -- and thus details of the case are lost to history. 

Guy is believed to have died before 1943. 

Hazel's fate is unknown.

~ Son William "Hugh" Gribble Sr. ~

Son William "Hugh" Gribble Sr. (1894-1947) was born in Terra Alta, Preston County, on July 26, 1893. 

He married Sabina (?) (1891- ? ), a West Virginia native, in about 1914. He was three years younger than his bride. 

The Gribbles had at least five children -- Eugene Guy Gribble, William Hugh Gribble Jr., Edward (or "Edmund") P. Gribble, Charles H. Gribble and Mary E. Gribble. In September 1910, William (using the name "Hugh") and his brother Guy were sued by Rochester Tumbler in a dispute over money. 

Hugh and family moved to Ohio by 1915 but were back in Rochester in 1920, where the census shows that Hugh was employed as a railroad detective. The 1922 Beaver Valley Directory lists William and wife "Barbara B." as living in Rochester at 196 Pennsylvania Avenue, and with the Pennsylvania Railroad listed as his employer.

Again relocating to Ohio in about 1922, Hugh accepted employment with Federal Glass in Columbus, Franklin County, a position held held for the next quarter century until his death. The 1930 census shows the family residing on South Parsons Avenue in Columbus, where Guy was listed as a "blower" in a glass factory. In the 1940s, they made their home at 270 Morrill Avenue in Columbus. 

Hugh suffered from bowel problems and died at the age of 54 on Sept. 22, 1947, at Mt. Carmel Hospital in Columbus. He was laid to rest at St. Joseph Cemetery. Interestingly, on his death certificate, Sabina correctly named Hugh's father but wrote "Unknown" in the space for Hugh's mother.

~ Son Frank F. Gribble ~

Son Frank F. Gribble (1898-1943) married Maud Shannon (1895- ? ). They had twin daughters, Mary Ellen Stiles and Helen Gribble, both born in 1919 in West Virginia. 

Frank and his older brother Ray were employed as attendants at the Dixmont Hospital for the Insane in Kilbuck, Allegheny County, just upriver from Rochester, circa 1920. (The asylum is seen at left.) 

By 1930, the federal census shows that Frank and Maud had moved to Pittsburgh, where he was a municipal fireman. That year, Frank's 65-year-old mother, brother Ray and nephew Wilfred, and Lucille and Betty Green boarded in their home. 

They resided at 1415 Brownsville Road in the Carrick section of the city, almost directly across from South Side Cemetery. Frank owned a 1936 Terraplane automobile.

Frank apparently died in Pittsburgh on April 30, 1943, at the age of 45. Following a viewing at the Walter S. Schaub Funeral Home, he was laid to rest in the South Side Cemetery. A short obituary in the Pittsburgh Press noted that he was the "brother of Ray and Hugh Gribble."

His estate is recorded in the Allegheny County Estate Index (#5006 of 1943), with Maud serving as his executrix. 

Daughter Mary Ellen Gribble ( ? - ? ) married Melden Stiles.