Bio-Gribble, LolaJeffries

Ann "Lola" (Gribble) Jeffries
(1867-1929)

Ann "Lola" (Gribble) Jeffries was born in 1867 in Redstone Township near Uniontown, Fayette County, PA, the daughter of James and Susan (Murdock) Gribble.

On Nov. 25, 1886, when she was age 20, Lola married 24-year-old John W. Jeffries (1862-1938), the son of Christopher and Charity Jeffries of Menallen Township, Fayette County. The ceremony was performed by Rev. W.H. Gladden, after Lola's father signed his consent to the union since she was underage. At the time of marriage, John worked as a laborer.

They made their home in Redstone Township, Fayette County, in 1894, when their daughter was born. They later lived in

The 1910 census shows the Jeffries family living on New Salem Road near the Stony Point Schoolhouse in Menallen Township, Fayette County. That year, John worked as a farmer on his own farm, and his 73-year-old, widowed father Christopher and 11-year-old niece Ethel Jeffries lived under their roof, as did servant Grover Hughes.

In 1920, the census shows John continuing his labors as a farmer, and residing with Lola and niece Ethel along the New Salem Road. Their next-door neighbors in 1920 were married daughter Ruth Langley and her husband and young son.

Uniontown's famed "Point Lookout" where automobiles stop for a rest during their slow climb up the steep National Road (U.S. Route 40) in the mountains

Sadly, Lola died at the age of 62 on May 27, 1929. Said the Uniontown Morning Herald, "Virtually all of her life was spent in the vicinity of New Salem." She was laid to rest in Church Cemetery in McClellandtown.

By 1930, her widowed husband John lived next door to their daughter and son in law in Menallen Township, continuing his longtime occupation as a farmer.

John passed away on April 25, 1938, at the age of 76, at the Langley Home. The Morning Herald reported that he "was well-known in Menallen township, where he had been engaged in farming until about nine months ago when ill health forced him to retire." The funeral was led by Rev. Harry W. Kilgore, of New Salem Presbyterian Church, and Rev. James C. Clark, of Second Presbyterian Church in Uniontown. He rests for eternity beside his wife. His daughter Ruth and her husband Aaron Langley served as executors of the estate.

Daughter Ruth Jeffries (1894-1944) married Aaron J. Langley (1893-1976), the son of Alex E. and Ada (Frost) Langley.

They lived along the New Salem Road near Uniontown, Fayette County, and were members of the New Salem Presbyterian Church and the Menallen Grange 1091. They had one son, Glenn H. Langley. The Langleys were farmers and lived next to Ruth's parents in 1920 when the census was taken of Menallen Township, Fayette County. The 1930 census shows the family living along the "cement road to New Salem" and as next-door neighbors to Ruth's widowed father, 68-year-old John W. Jeffries. That year, Aaron was employed as a coal mine laborer.

During World War II, son Glenn was a sergeant with the U.S. Army, serving overseas in Europe.

Ruth passed away at home at the age of 49 on March 19, 1944. Following a funeral at home, led by Dr. William B. Hindman of the First Presbyterian Church of Uniontown, she was laid to rest in Church Hill Cemetery in McClellandtown. Pallbearers were Harry Rishel, H. Earl Holland, Paul Swartz, Edward Vail, Edwin Smeal and Robert E. McBurney.

Aaron outlived his wife by more than three decades. He married again, to Ruby Martin. She brought two sons to the marriage, William Glenn Martin and Thomas W. Martin.