Robert
Edgar Lee Jennings
(1876-1934)
Robert Edgar Lee Jennings was born in 1876 at Ohiopyle, Fayette County, PA, the son of John R. and Martha (Knight) Jennings. His father, a veteran of the Union Army during the Civil War, may have named him after the famed Confederate general.
He
was a railroad laborer and foreman of a "work train" at Newell,
Fayette County, PA. Married twice, his first wife was Annice (?) (1878-1906). They had
four children -- Elizabeth Jennings, Lee Jennings,
Nellie Jennings and Margaret Jennings.
Sadly, Annice died on Dec. 8, 1906, at the age of 28. The cause of death is not known. She was buried at the Sugar Grove Cemetery near Ohiopyle.
Two years later, Robert married his second wife, Izetta ( ? - ? ).
In 1910, the Jenningses lived at Newell, Fayette County, PA. Residing in their household were Robert's father John and nephew Albert Clarence Shipley.
Robert died a tragic death at work. The March 28, 1934 Connellsville Daily Courier reported that his body had been found "in a lonely tool shanty constructed out of a box car" near Newell, "burned to a crisp ... under mysterious circumstances...."
After investigating, the Courier reported that $400 in
cash and an uncashed paycheck for a month's work were found on his body. His
wife told police "that it had always been customary for [him] to
keep a month's pay in bills on his person." The story said that he had left
home at 7:45 a.m. "and went to the tool shed to start the coal stove fire,
one of his customary morning duties." A co-worker noticed the building on
fire less than an hour later, and "When help arrived, the structure was
already consumed. Water from a nearby engine was thrown on the blaze but not
before the greater part of the building had been destroyed was Jennings' body
removed from the interior." The charred remains had been saturated with
oil.
Daughter Margaret appears to have died, unmarried, at age 27, just after the New Year's holiday of 1933. She is buried near her mother at Sugar Grove Cemetery.
Copyright © 2000 Mark A. Miner