Bio-Miner, EmmaWhite

Emma (Miner) White
(1888-1966)

Em was born on Aug. 8, 1888 at Hundred, Wetzel County, WV, the daughter of Andrew Jackson and Mary Louise (Johnston) Miner. Her husband was an early Methodist-Episcopal Church minister in our family.

In 1898, when Emma was 10, she and her parents moved to Chartiers Township, Washington County, PA, and lived on the farm of Alexander Gaston. In 1901, the Miners moved again, to a rented house on Broad Street in the west end of Washington, Washington County, PA.

Emma is seen at right as a young teenager, with long hair wrapped around her shoulder, and holding a bunch of flowers, with a fancy hat at her feet. She is believed to have been close with her first cousin Minnie (Miner) Gary, who was just four years younger and lived in the old family farming region of Kingwood, Somerset County, PA.

On Nov. 9, 1910, when she was age 22, Emma married Lester Allen White ( ? -1929), the son of Homer C. White. (Her niece, Grace, later married Lester's much-younger brother Lynn Forrest White.)

Emma and Lester made their home during their early years of marriage in Washington, the county seat of Washington County.

Emma posing by herself (left) and with friend Beatrice Canan

Emma was a member of the West Washington Methodist-Episcopal Church (seen here) and sang in the choir for more than 50 years. She also was an active member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Emma's brothers Ward and Harry were active in the West Washington congregation, and Harry's widow Armena and their daughter Grace were Sunday School participants for more than half a century.

In 1914, the Whites moved to Upland, IN, where Lester began to pursue his dream of Christian ministry by enrolling in seminary classes at Taylor University Academy. After obtaining an academy degree in 1918, he began studying for a bachelor of arts degree in the ministry. He served as the "campus storekeeper" and was a member of the Thalonian Society, an important literary group. Taylor yearbooks for the era show that Emma must have played an important role in promoting Lester's studies. One yearbook listed him with the quote, "Give me, next good, an understanding wife." Another yearbook listed him with the comment, "It is not good for man to be alone."

Stylish Emma poses in a series of arcade photographs with her nieces Grace Miner (who later would become her sister in law) and Ollie Miner (bow in hair).

Graduating in 1922, Lester and Emma returned to Western Pennsylvania. He entered the Pittsburgh Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church on trial, later receiving full ordination. During the next six years, he served three churches -- Luxor, east of Greensburg, PA; Robinson Street Mission on Pittsburgh's North Side, and Freedom, Beaver County. While at Luxor, he added four Sunday School rooms to the church.

While at Freedom in January 1928, he became ill and "gave up his work to others, although he retained the direction of the church activities until conference met in October, when he took a retired relation until he should regain his health," said the Washington Observer.

On April 29, 1929, Lester died at the home of his parents in Washington. He was laid to rest at Washington Cemetery.

Emma, Lester and Kenneth, Christmas 1909, probably taken in Upland, Indiana

Emma outlived her husband by nearly four decades. She made her home alone as a widow at 588 Fayette Street in Washington. When her aunt Rosetta (Harbaugh) Miner died in Somerset County in 1953, Emma went out of her way to take a bus to attend the funeral.

Emma died on April 17, 1966, at the age of 78, at Shawley's Nursing Home, Youngstown, Mahoning County, OH. She was buried beside her husband, after a separation of nearly 37 years.

Lester's career is summarized in Smeltzer's 1968 book, Methodism in Western Pennsylvania 1784-1968. Emma also is mentioned in the volume, still found in used bookstores today.