Bio-McKnight, Isabelle Longfoot

Isabelle "Belle"
(McKnight) Longfoot
(1879-1957)

Isabelle "Belle" (McKnight) Longfoot was born in January 1879 in Fayette County, PA, the daughter of Arthur and Elizabeth Jane (McGovern) McKnight. She and her husband are seen here on their 50th wedding anniversary.

At the age of 21, in 1900, Belle was unmarried and made her home with her parents near the old family farm in New Salem, Menallen Township, Fayette County. She helped her mother keep house.

She married James H. Longfoot (1878-1957) on Nov. 23, 1904, when she was age 25 and he was 26. He was a native of England, and had migrated to the United States at age 12 in 1890. He became naturalized as an American citizen in 1899.

They had six children -- Laura Marie Walker, John H. Longfoot, Sophia Jane "Jennie" Westland, James A. Longfoot, Anna R. Smallcomb and William C. Longfoot.

In the early years of marriage, James is believed to have been a coal miner in and around Belltown, a mining town built in Gray, Somerset County, PA. In about 1908, the migrated from Uniontown to New York State, settling in Cuylerville, Leicester Township, Livingston County. There, James obtained employment as a laborer in a salt mine. Except for their eldest daughter, all of their children were born in New York.

They most likely made this move so far away from Isabelle's family because of two factors -- James' two half brothers lived in Perry, NY, just a few miles from the mine in Cuylerville; and when the Western Pennsylvania mines closed, employment would have been immediately available in New York.

Tragedy rocked the family in February 1928 when married daughter Laura Marie, wife of Alfred Walker, died suddenly in her home. She was survived by her husband "and three small children," reported the Mt. Morris (NY) Picket Line Post. Following a funeral in the United Presbyterian Church in Cuylerville, led by Rev. William J. Robb, she was interred in Leicester Cemetery.

Longfoot-Ireland reunion, circa 1907, with Belle and James at far right, and their children on Belle's lap and at her feet. Note her downcast eyes, suggesting she was already blind.

In 1930, Isabelle and James lived along Sterling Road in Cuylerville, Livingston County. In addition to five of their children, two of their motherless grandchildren Alfred Walker Jr. and Elsie Walker lived under their roof. James continued to labor as a miner in a local salt mine, while son John (age 22) was employed as a driver of a milk truck and daughter Jane (20) as a machine operator in a knitting mill. Son James (18) was a farm laborer, boarding with Clarence H. and Gladys L. Sliker on Lower Valley Road in Livingston County. Interestingly, son William, age 10, was only two years older than his nephew under the same roof, Alfred Walker Jr.

The following year, said the Picket Line Post, James and Isabelle relocated to Kingston, near Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, PA. There, they remained for the rest of their lives, and were members of the First Spiritualist Church. As they aged, they went to live in the home of a married granddaughter, Elsie (Walker) Suchowieski.

Isabelle and James died three weeks apart in May-June 1957. She passed first, in late May, at the age of 78, but her details are not yet known. Shortly after her funeral, James suffered a heart attack and was treated at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, where he died on June 10, 1957. Following funeral services at the McLaughlin Funeral Home, his remains were sent to Leichester, NY for interment. His Wilkes-Barre Record obituary noted that he was a "retired mine employee whose wife Isabel (sic) died three weeks ago." At the time of his death, a half-brother was still alive, Joseph Ireland of Perry, NY.

Isabelle (right) and James with her sister Mahala "Hallie" McKnight

Daughter Laura "Marie" Longfoot (1906-1928) married Alfred Walker, Jr. (1897- ? ), a native of England who had emigrated to the U.S. in 1922.

The Walkers had three children born during the 1920s -- Alfred Walker Jr., Elsie Suchowieski and John "Sonny" Menzies, who was adopted by John Menzies and his wife of Perry, Wyoming County, NY.

Tragedy rocked the family in February 1928 when Marie died suddenly in her home. The cause of her death is not yet known. She was survived by her husband "and three small children," reported the Mt. Morris (NY) Picket Line Post.

Following a funeral in the United Presbyterian Church in Cuylerville, led by Rev. William J. Robb, she was interred in Leicester Cemetery.

The children were immediately taken into the home of their maternal grandparents, Isabelle and James Longfoot, where they appear together in the 1930 census and were raised to adulthood.

In 1930, when the federal census was taken, Alfred lived alone on Brown Road in Cuylerville, with his occupation marked as "miner - salt mine." Age 33 at the time, he was marked as widowed.

Marie and Alfred's adult children Alfred Walker Jr. and Elsie Suchowieski with Elsie's baby son, David. Right: the Suchowieski children Michael, Nancy and David.

Daughter Sophia Jane Longfoot (1910-1986) -- seen here -- was employed prior to marriage as a machine operator in a knitting mill in the Cuylerville area, circa 1930.

The Westlands lived in Rochester, Monroe County, NY in 1957. Circa 1952, George resigned his employment as a linotype operator and foremen of the Livingston Republican newspaper printing office in Geneseo, NY, and began a new job at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, retiring in 1970. Said the Picket Line Post, "Mr. Westland, except for a short period immediately following World War II, has been employed in the Livingston Republican for about 30 years, having first learned the trade in the office of the Livingston Democrat."

Linotype was a form of typesetting used in the publishing industry. The technology could produce an entire line of type at one time, rather than the previous laborious method of setting type a letter at a time. Also known as "hot metal" typesetting, it also revolutionized the printing field, allowing newspapers to expand to many more pages in a fraction of the cost and time.

George is seen here, seated at a linotype machine at the Livingston Republican. Standing at left is the Republican's owner, Reed Scott, and fellow employee Bill Burke.

Jennie outlived her husband by nine years. She passed away in November 1986, at the age of 76.

Son William J. Westland followed his father's footsteps in the printing trade. He married Lynn Rickard in 1973. They had two children -- Lori, wife of Scott Reynolds; and Christopher Westland, who married Sarah Reno and resides with their two daughters Julia and Abigail in South Park, PA.

George and Jane Westland with their son Bill

They had two children -- Robert Smallcomb (born 1932) and Janet Smallcomb (born 1936).

Tragically, Anna died at the age of 21 on Sept. 14, 1936, in Wilkes-Barre, possibly of the effects of childbirth.

Son John Longfoot (1907-1987) lived at home with his parents in his early 20s, and was employed as s truck driver on a mil route in Cuylerville. He is shown in the 1930 census, at age 22, living under his parents' roof.

Bird's-eye view of Wilkes-Barre, looking north from the Miners Bank building, showing the Irene Temple and county courthouse

Seen at right, three generations of Longfoot men: John (center) with his father at left and son John Jr. at right, likely taken at John Jr.'s wedding.

Son James Longfoot (1912-1981) is seen here in a stylish suit, vest and hat.

He married Rita (?) and had three children. They resided in 1957 in Wilkes-Barre.

Son William C. "Bill" Longfoot (1919- ? ) married Dorothy (?). They had no children.

He served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World war II. He is seen here, in uniform.