Andrew
Jackson Miner
(1846-1921)
Andrew
Jackson Miner was born in May 1846, at
Hexebarger near Kingwood, Somerset County, PA, the son of Henry and Polly
(Younkin) Minerd.
As a boy, Andrew moved with his father and disabled, epileptic mother to near Beeler Station, Marshall County, WV and then to Greene County, PA. He never knew his exact birthdate because, it's said, his childhood home burned down and destroyed the family Bible and everything else except the shirts on their backs.
When Andrew was age 22, he was admitted to membership of the Enon Baptist Church in West Finley Twp., Washington County, PA. This occurred on Jan. 13, 1868, at a meeting held by "Bro. M. Tilton," pastor of the church. Andrew's then-unmarried sisters Catherine and Susan likewise had been admitted to membership of this church 3 years earlier, in 1865. These records were published circa 1990 by the church's Historical Committee in the History & Biographical Record of the Enon Baptist Church.
On May 27, 1875, at Prosperity, Washington County, PA, Andrew married Mary Louise Johnston (1853-1921), the daughter of William "Harrison" and Elizabeth (Owen) Johnston of Jacktown, Greene County. The only known record of this marriage is in handwritten notes made many years later by Monalea (Ullom) Miner, wife of their grandson Odger Miner.
Jacktown and its fairgrounds near Wind Ridge, circa 1908
The rural village of Jacktown was the hub of a prosperous agricultural community, and has held an annual fair for more than one hundred years.
The
Miners had four children. They are seen here seated together in a family portrait, with
their adult children standing,
left to right: Emma Elizabeth
White, Ward C. Miner, Harry Orlan Miner and
William
Allen Miner.
Andrew worked as a farm laborer in the Waynesburg, PA area. He and Mary Louise and their children lived as tenants on various farms in such rural places as Nineveh, Aleppo and New Freeport, on the outskirts of Waynesburg, Greene County, PA.
In 1888, the Miners moved to the mountainous Rock Camp area near Hundred, Wetzel County, WV. While in Hundred, they were neighbors of James C. and Margaret Ellen (White) Cain, whose daughters Armena and Osta would marry the Miners' sons Harry and Will.
Hundred is seen
here in a rare postcard view. (Click
here to see other old colorized postcards of Hundred from the early 1900s.)
Andrew's niece Ida Ellen (Farabee) Taylor
and her family also resided in the Hundred area over the years.
In 1898, they moved again to Chartiers Twp., Washington County, PA, where he was a laborer on the farm of Alexander Gaston. At one time they may have lived along Route 69 between Garrison, PA and Hundred. In 1901, they retired to a rented house on Broad Street in west Washington, PA.
In 1903, their son Ward, a photographer, moved to Wyoming and later migrated to Louisville, CO, near Denver, for health reasons. He never recovered, and died there in 1914.
Circa 1908, upon the death of the husband of his niece Lizzie (Miner) Lindley, Andrew and his brother in law Stephen W. Johnston both signed affidavits, stating that they had known Lizzie since she was a little girl, and that he had never married anyone other than her late husband. That year, Andrew and George O. Jones also witnessed an affidavit signed by B.F. Reeves in the case.
Son
Will gave Andrew a Bible as a Christmas gift in 1909. It was inscribed on the
flyleaf: "From W.A. Miner to my father, Andrew J. Miner, Christmas .09.
John 3-16."
Mary sent a penny postcard in 1913 to son Will, living in Pomona, CA, describing her rheumatism, church activities and the price of food. She wrote: "Pap is not verry well ... he is still going ... he may be allright in a few days." She also said her daughter Emma had visited the previous weekend and that Emma's baby was "pretty as a picture.... It always cried till I couldn't see it." She added: "I hope you will get better soon." Click here to see an image of the entire card.
In
August 1913, Andrew attended the first annual Minerd-Miner Reunion at Ohiopyle, Fayette
County PA, with his
sister Nancy Farabee and brother Ephraim. He
and Mary once traveled back to Kingwood to visit brother Ephraim, and the two
couples had a studio portrait taken together, seen here. It's said they
had a grand time traveling to and from the studio, laughing and joking, though
it's not apparent by the expressions on their faces. Andrew and Mary are at
bottom and right, with Ephraim and Rosetta at top and left.
After enduring the deaths of adult sons Ward (in 1914) and Harry (1919), Andrew and Mary Louise aged and were unable to tend to themselves. Son Will settled their affairs and moved them to the home of their daughter Emma and husband Lester Allen White in Upland, IN, where Lester was studying for the ministry.
A story told by a grandson is that while in Upland, Andrew craved chewing tobacco. Though a loving daughter, Emma was the wife of a seminarian, and had to keep up appearances. So she turned him down. Andrew protested: “But it pleases my mouth so…”
They
are seen here with their grandsons Kenneth and Thurman White.
Their stay was short. Andrew had a stroke in August 1920 and died on Jan. 3, 1921. The Washignton Observer reported that he had been "a successful farmer and stock raiser,... [and] a member of the West Washington Methodist Episcopal church." Mary then gave her husband's Bible to grandson Odger on his 16th birthday, inscribing it: "Presented to Odger Miner May 21, 1921 from Grandma Miner after Grandpas death."
Mary died in Upland on Christmas Eve 1921. As with her husband, her remains were sent back to Washington via railroad, and her funeral was held in the home of widowed daughter in law Armena Miner. A grandson once recalled, "For two straight Christmases we had a Christmas tree in one corner of the parlor, and a coffin in the other."
They are buried together at Washington Cemetery.
Copyright © 2000, 2002-2006 Mark A. Miner