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Martha
(Harbaugh) Laughery |
Martha Jane "Mattie" (Harbaugh) Laughery was born on May 24, 1865 on a farm at what is now Clairton Lake near Scullton, Somerset County, PA, the daughter of David and Mary Magdalene (Whipkey) Harbaugh.
On Nov. 21, 1889, when she was 24, Mattie married David Leander "Andy" Laughery (1858- ? ), the son of Daniel and Cathran Ann (Harbaugh) Laughery of Dunbar, Fayette County, PA. David was seven years older than his bride. The Connellsville Courier reported the news of their marriage license, and said both were residents of Dunbar Township at the time.
The Laugherys' seven children were Kathleen Martin, Mary Lou Laughery, Leona Wilkerson, Ira Hubert Laughery, Arthur Davis Laughery, Anna May Thompson and Willis Harbaugh Laughery. Sadly, Mary Lou died at the tender age of three days.
David was appointed postmaster at Vanderbilt, Fayette County, sometime in the 1890s, and served for a total of 16 years. When the federal census was taken in 1900, the Laugherys made their home in Dunbar, Fayette County, where David lived while serving as Vanderbilt postmaster. Boarding in their home that year was one of Martha's distant cousins, 51-year-old farm laborer Samuel W. Harbaugh.
Thieves broke into the safe of the S.E. Porter drug store in Vanderbilt in mid-September 1901, taking $300 in money, checks and postage stamps. Reported the Connellsville Courier, "Most of this money and the stamps belonged to the Vanderbilt postoffice. Postmaster D.L. Laughrey was in the habit of placing his receipts in Porter's safe over night. No clew [sic] has been obtained to the robbers..."
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Unidentified Laugherys, at date and place unknown |
The Laugherys moved to Vanderbilt, Fayette County during the years between 1900 and 1910. The federal census of 1910 shows the family there, making its residence on Plumb Alley. David's nickname, as used by the census-taker, was "Andy," short for "Leander." By that year, Martha and David had been married for 20-plus years, and had produced six children. According to the Harbaugh History, David was postmaster of the town for many years, as confirmed by the census of 1910. Research is underway to determine if his application papers for the government position exist today in the National Archives or elsewhere.
David appointed his niece, Nellie Laughery of Scottdale, Fayette County, as assistant postmaster in March 1904, succeeding Orville G. Parkhill, who resigned to become a bookkeeper for a local contractor.
The Connellsville Courier newspapers of the late 1890s and early 1900s contain many brief gossip items about David's comings and goings, as he was a public figure. He went to Somerset County "on a vacation" in October 1898, said the Courier. "He is busy gathering chestnuts and hunting squirrels." In May 1904, the Courier said that David and Dr. Jesse Hazlett had gone to Normalville, Fayette County the previous Saturday, "and spent Sunday in the mountain resort." In March 1906, the Courier reported that David's niece, Nell Laughery (spelled "Laughrey"), had spent the week at the home of David and Martha. "[H]er many friends welcome a visit from her," the Courier said.
By
1920, Martha and David made a major life decision, and David left the employment
of the post office. They moved eastward to Delaware, settling
on a farm near Farmington, Kent County. Reasons for this move so far away from
their home and family are not known. Their new residence, as listed on the 1920
census, was on Farmington Road in Kent County. Only son Willis, age 10, made his
home with them that year. The whereabouts of the other children at that time are
not yet known.
David passed away sometime between 1920 and 1933. The particulars are being researched.
On Dec. 17, 1933, a week before Christmas, Martha died of pneumonia in Farmington. She was a widow at the time, but the facts of her husband's passing are not yet known.
The
Laugherys are
both buried at Harrington, DE.
Laughery descendants began holding an annual family reunion in 1964. The family's 43rd reunion was on Aug. 18, 2007, at the home of Dayna and Rell Winand in West Chester, PA. Officers of the 2007 reunion were president Tim Douglas, vice president Kim Douglas, and secretary/treasurer Ron and Peggy Case. All attendees were asked to bring a side dish or dessert to share. The 2009 reunion was held at Lelia-Hynson Pavilion at Wilmer Park in Chestertown, MD, with Steve Winand serving as president, Janice Winand as vice president and Ron and Peggy Case as secretary/treasurer.
Copyright © 2000-2003, 2007, 2009 Mark A. Miner