Mary
Todd (Jennings) Shipley
(1862-1945)
Mary Todd (Jennings) Shipley was born on Dec. 20, 1862, near Ursina,
Somerset County, PA,
the daughter of John R. and Martha
(Knight) Jennings Sr. She appears to have been named after the
nation's First Lady at the time, Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln.
In about 1880, when she was age 18, Mary married Charles "Walter" Shipley (1851-1927), the son of Levi and Catherine (Linderman) Shipley. He was 11 years older than his bride.
Walter worked as a farmer and also as a blacksmith for the H.C. Frick Coke Co. They lived at a town that today no longer exists -- Victoria, Fayette County, PA. Situated on a flatland along the Youghiogheny River, Victoria is now part of Ohiopyle State Park, which has been preserved for the public to enjoy.
The Shipleys had 10 children -- Ellen Shipley, Lucretia Ruth Dawson, Alverda Maude Yeagley, Charles Alvin Shipley, Albert Clarence Shipley, Norman Floyd Shipley, Robert Clement Shipley, Edna Odelia Shipley, Harrison Raymond "Harry" Shipley and Otto Lee Shipley. Sadly, their eldest child Ellen died at the tender age of six weeks in 1878, and one other child passed away during the parents' lifetime.
In the year 1900 the family lived in the borough of Ohiopyle, Fayette County. Also in their household lived Mary's brother, John, who at age 27 was widowed.
Seen
at right, the Western Maryland Railroad depot in Ohiopyle.
Walter and Mary separated sometime before 1910. At the time, he was a foreman on a railroad "work train." He went to Newell, Fayette County, to live with his brother in law, Robert E. Lee Jennings.
By 1910, when the federal census was taken, the Shipleys apparently had reconciled, and were living together in or near Victoria, where Walter was a farmer. That year, their children Clarence, Odelia, Harry and Otto were residing in the household, along with seven year old granddaughter Charlotta Shipley. The census indicates that they owned their own farm.
When the federal census again was enumerated in 1920, Walter and Mary were living together near Ohiopyle. In their dwelling that year were 22-yar-old son Harry and 17-year-old granddaughter Charlotte. The record shows that Walter and Harry were farmers. Living nearby were the families of Andrew Shipley, Jefferson Shipley, Leroy Shipley and Lewis Shipley, but their connection to Walter is not yet known.
Walter died on April 15, 1927 in either Stewart Township, Fayette
County, or in Monessen, Westmoreland County, PA. He was age 76. He is buried in the Addison
Cemetery in Somerset County.
In the 1930s, laborers with the Works Progress Administration recorded all the burials at Addison Cemetery, and prepared a long typed list of the names and dates. Today, this list is available online on the Somerset County GenWeb Archives, with the page containing the reference to Walter found on page 3. Distant cousins of Mary's, Joseph and Nancy (Stuck) Minard, also rest in this ancient burying ground dating to before the Civil War.
Mary outlived Walter by almost two decades.
When she was 77, her children held a reunion in her honor at Victoria, in
mid-July 1939. The Connellsville Daily Courier ran a lengthy article
reporting the details:
The event was attended by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, representing four generations. Children present were as follows: Charles Shipley and family of McKeesport, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Shipley and family of Newell, Mrs. Alverda Yeagley and son, Wendell, Odelia Shipley and Robert Shipley, all of Confluence, Harry Shipley and daughter, Alma Jean, at home. Grandchildren were Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Jewart and sons of Glassport, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Little of Johnstown, Miss Bettie Shipley of Barnesville, Ohio. Visitors included Mr. and Mrs. William Herwick of Stewarton, Mrs. Curtis Rugg, George Rugg, and daughter, Hilda, and Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hall of Mill Run, and Lester Shipley of Bidwell. The youngest person present was Phyllis Shipley, 18 months. A dinner was served by Mrs. Alverda Yeagley. Her aides were Miss Odelia Shipley, Mrs. Thomas Jewart and Mrs. Jaclb Little. The day was spent in swimming, biking and playing games. Music was by Harry Shipley and Robert Shipley of Bidwell. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hall of Hilda Rugg of Mill Run sang.
At the age of 83, Mary passed away on March 23, 1945, at her home in Bidwell. She was laid to rest beside her husband at Addison. The Connellsville Daily Courier ran a brief obituary, saying she was survived by 23 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Eventually buried in the grave plot would be sons Harry, Floyd and Clarence Shipley and daughter Odelia Shipley. We are grateful to volunteers with the Old Petersburg/Addison Historical Society for sharing the burial information with us.
Son Charles Shipley was married and had at least one daughter. They resided in Connellsville in 1945 and in McKeesport, near Pittsburgh, circa 1961.
Daughter Alverda Maude Shipley (1884-1961) married Charles Yeaghley. They resided in Confluence and had one son, W.E. Beaghley. Alverda passed away at the age of 77 on Jan. 30, 1961, and was laid to rest in the Addison Cemetery.
Son Albert "Clarence" Shipley (1888-1985) married Melissa C. (?) (1890-1935). They lived at Newell, Fayette County. She passed away at the age of 45. Clarence outlived her by a half-century. He died at the age of 97 on Feb. 26, 1985, and was laid to rest at Addison.
The Shipleys' plot of graves at Addison Cemetery
Son Norman "Floyd" Shipley (1890-1964) is interred at Addison.
Daughter Odelia E. "Deedee" Shipley (1894-1968) apparently never married. In May 1947, she is known to have been seriously ill and a patient at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, and was "slightly improving" later in the month. She passed away in 1968, and rests for eternity beside her parents and siblings.
Son Harry R. Shipley (1897-1991) lived at Ohiopyle. He is buried in the family plot at Addison.
Son Robert Clement Shipley lived at Beaver Falls, Beaver County, PA in 1961. His fate is not known.
Son Otto
married Edna Kirschner, seen here. He moved to West Mayfield, Beaver County, PA, in 1920,
where he was a section foreman in the Beaver Falls-College office of the
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. Otto's obituary in the Beaver County Times
said "He had been an outstanding West Mayfield borough administrator,
served as first mayor of West Mayfield, four terms as burgess and also was a
former justice of the peace. For many years he served on West Mayfield Borough
Council and was a former president of council." Edna served as "president and member of the West Mayfield School Board
for many years," said the Times.
Otto's
son, Robert L. Shipley, seen here, was an Air Force sergeant and
radio operator who was killed during the Korean War. On Dec. 9, 1951, during
what should have been an otherwise routine flight, his airplane, a C-119,
"fell into the Japanese sea between Honshu and Kynshu
Islands,"said the Beaver Falls News Tribune. "The last
letter his family received from him was written on the boat on Thanksgiving
Day." His remains were returned to Beaver County in January 1952 for burial
at Sylvania Hills
Memorial Park. Robert left a widow and a young daughter, who were
living in Chicago at the time. Among other places, his name appeared in a
special Korean
War memorial page in the June 25, 2000 issue of the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette.
Otto's daughter, Virginia, "was a life member of the Fort Pitt Chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America," said the Beaver County Times. "Prior to her retirement she was employed as a supervisor for AT&T for 39 years. She was hard working and devoted to AT&T."
Copyright © 2000-2003, 2006-2007 Mark A. Miner