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Deborah Jane "Jennie" |
Deborah
Jane "Jennie"
(Gribble) Christopher was born
in 1863 in or near Kingwood, Preston County, WV, the daughter of Henry
Harrison and Mary Catherine (Fawcett) Gribble.
When the federal census was taken of Preston County in 1880, Jennie was a 16-year-old, residing with her parents on their home farm near Pisgah, Preston County. That year, the family of John and Delilah Christopher were next-door neighbors, with an 18-year-old son, Sylvester H. Christopher (1850-1932), Jennie's future husband.
Today, the village of Pisgah abuts the eastern edge of what is now Coopers Rock State Forest.
At some point, Jennie and Sylvester were married. They apparently had one son, John Christopher, born in 1899, either natural-born or adopted.
Sylvester was a musician. The nature and
venue for his work is not yet known.
The Christophers lived in Fairchance, Fayette County, PA circa 1908, when their names were printed in a Gribble family history published in the Preston County Journal. In that article, Sylvester's name has been given as "Columbus" which may have been a nickname, stage name or a play on words with the name of the famous explorer, Christopher Columbus.
Later, they moved to Jerome Park, a section
of Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV, where they made their home until their
deaths. Morgantown's University Hill section is seen
at left in a rare old photographic postcard.
In 1924, the Christophers suffered heartbreak when they learned that son John, at the age of 25, was had contracted a serious case of tuberculosis. That year, he was admitted to the West Virginia State Hospital in Huntington, Cabell County, where he spent the remaining six years of his life. Sadly, his soul surrendered to the Grim Reaper on July 31, 1930, at the young age of 31. His death certificate states that his remains were returned to Morgantown for burial, but it's known that e was laid to rest at the Fairview Cemetery, two miles east of Pisgah.
At the age of 71, Sylvester passed away at home on March 16, 1932, due to heart failure. "L.S. Christopher" of Fairchance, Fayette County, PA was the informant on his certificate of death. Possibly due to bad weather, his funeral was delayed, and his remains kept in a mausoleum at East Oak Grove Cemetery in Morgantown. A month and a half later, on May 1, 1932, he was finally laid to rest at the Fairview Cemetery, following a service in the Pisgah Methodist Episcopal Church, led by Rev. Sanford Ryan.
Pisgah's United Methodist Church
The Uniontown Morning Herald
reported that Sylvester "was widely known in Uniontown and Fayette county
and his funeral was attended by a large group of friends and relatives from this
district. Included among these were: Misses Roxie and Belva Christopher, who
were nieces; Mr. and Mrs. R.P. Walls, Mr. and Mrs. Homer I. Grimm and their son,
Homer, Jr., William, Ray, Arlie and D.C. Walls, all of Uniontown; Mr. and Mrs.
Samuel B. Walls and their granddaughter, Annabelle Nabors, of Hopwood; Mr. and
Mrs. Harvey Christopher, of Rosedale, and Rev. Samuel Wall and son, of
Pittsburgh."
Jennie outlived her husband by only two years. She passed away at her home in Jerome Park on Jan. 24, 1934, "following an illness of pneumonia," said the Uniontown (PA) Morning Herald. Funeral services were conducted in Morgantown, with additional services in her old hometown of Pisgah. She was laid to rest, next to her husband and son, in the Fairview Cemetery.
Jennie's parents, brother Arley Gribble and sister Ida Groves King also rest for eternity at Fairview.
Copyright © 2006-2007 Mark A. Miner