Bio-Miner, Enoch Sr

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Enoch Miner Sr.
(1849-1926)

Enoch Miner Sr. was born on Sept. 8, 1849 near Humbert, Somerset County, PA, the son of Henry A. and Matilda (Rose) Miner. He worked in the bituminous coal and coke industry in Fayette County, PA for many years as it helped shape our nation's burgeoning steel empire of Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick.

Enoch's first wife was Matilda Lyons ( ? -1892). Their seven children were Ella Moon, Matilda Elizabeth Grim Lancaster, Roseann Miner, Mary E. "Bessie" Miner, Noah Miner Sr., Martha Miner and John L. Miner.

The Miners lived in Fayette County, including at Dawson circa 1882 and at Moyer circa 1890. Enoch was said to have been tall, strong-willed and controlling -- he "ruled the roost."

Enoch labored for many years as a coal miner, stone mason and coke drawer at beehive ovens of the H.C. Frick Coke Company works near Connellsville, PA. He likely would have lifted heavy shovels as seen in the rare postcard image here -- loading and unloading tons upon tons of coke from the hot, gassy ovens in preparation for their shipment to the Carnegie Steel mills in Pittsburgh.

He retired from Frick and was an early pensioner of the company. He also was a member of the Church of God.

One of the Miners' teenage daughters was killed in a freak accident that made terrible news on Feb. 1, 1889 while the family lived at Moyer. The Connellsville Keystone Courier reported that she was "seriously burned on last Monday. While her parents were absent her clothes caught fire in some manner from a grate and she was soon enveloped in flames. A lady living some distance away hearing the screams of the child rushed to her assistance, but before she could get the flames extinguished the child was so badly burned about the limbs and body that her recovery is doubtful."

On July 2, 1892, Enoch's wife Matilda died, of causes not yet known. Later that year, on or about Nov. 30, 1892, one of their sons died "of scarlet fever," reported the Courier in its "Moyer" section. "The interment took place Wednesday at Johnston's." A year later, in 1893, the grieving Enoch sold his home at Moyer and moved next door to his parents on North Avenue in Connellsville.

Connellsville's Main Street, looking east, early 1900s

~ A Second Marriage, to Sarah Phillippi ~

Six years after the death of his first wife, on Aug. 16, 1898, Enoch married his second bride, 43-year-old Sarah Phillippi, daughter of Phillip and Eliza Phillippi. They lived together in Connellsville for just a little over a year. Then, on Nov. 11, 1899, Sarah sold her cow to raise cash, loaded a wagon and took the train back to her parents' home in Ursina, Somerset County. Enoch soon after filed for divorce, with the papers on file today in the Fayette County Courthouse in Uniontown. In the proceeding, Enoch's father testified that:

I was in their house quite frequently. He provided well for her. Everything she needed. Plenty to eat + to wear.

Enoch's mother Matilda testified that "I was backward and forward to their home two or three times a week...." Sister in law Rachel (Pritchard) Miner and brother in law John W. Stevenson also gave depositions in the case.

Dirty, dangerous, backbreaking ovens of the H.C. Frick Coke Co. at Continental No. 1 near Uniontown

~ Enoch's Third Wife, Fannie B. Dublin ~

On March 30, 1902, Enoch married his third wife, Fannie B. Dublin, daughter of Charles W. and Rachel Dublin. At age 21, Fannie was more than three decades younger than her husband.

They went on to have four sons -- Samuel Miner, Harry C. Minor, Henry Raymond "Curnel" Minor and Enoch "Peen" Minor Jr.

The Miners moved frequently, to Swaugertown Road, Continental No. 1 and Dunlap in Fayette County. Seen at left is a rare old postcard photograph showing the buildings and coal tipple at Continental No. 1 near Uniontown, owned by the H.C. Frick Coke Co.

In April 1912, after a rocky decade of marriage, Enoch and Fannie separated. On the day she left, Enoch said that "I went out to draw coke in the morning and when I came home in the evening she had locked up the house and given the key to one of the boys to give to me." Enoch later moved to Broadford, a small community built to house coke oven laborers, where he resided in a Frick company house and filed for divorce.

Fannie moved to Pittsburgh, where she married her husband's nephew, Elmer Ellsworth Miner, son of John Ross Miner.

Tragically, Fanny died at age 42 on Feb. 17, 1923, about 11 years after she left Enoch. Her remains were buried at Hill Grove Cemetery in Connellsville. At around that time her husband Elmer changed his last name to "Moody," and that moniker is inscribed on her grave marker, not "Miner."

Enoch was a member of the Church of God. During World War I, and to the end of his life, he lived at Coalbrook in Bullskin Township, Fayette County.

On May 19, 1926, having "been ill for some time," Enoch died at age 76 in the early morning hours. His death made front-page news in the Connellsville Daily Courier. Rev. A.J. Mead of the South Connellsville Evangelical Church preached the funeral service at Enoch's home, with burial at Hill Grove Cemetery in Connellsville.

~ Daughter Matilda (Miner) Grim Lancaster ~

Daughter Matilda Miner (1880- ? ) was first married to Frank Grim (1876- ? ), the son of William and Bell Grim. They were wed on Oct. 17, 1899, by Rev. J.W. Stevenson in a ceremony at the Connellsville home of her grandparents, Henry A. and Matilda (Rose) Miner. Frank was a 23-year-old laborer at the time, and Matilda a 19-year-old housekeeper. The marriage lasted for nine years, and the couple divorced on Sept. 26, 1908.

After seven years alone, Matilda married her second husband, railroad brakeman Samuel B. Lancaster (1885-1953), on Dec. 28, 1914. She was age 35, and he 29, at the time. Samuel was the son of Samuel B. and Margaret (Craig) Lancaster Sr., and was born in Smithton, Westmoreland County, PA, but at the time of marriage lived in Jacobs Creek, PA. The couple resided at 219 East South Street in Connellsville, and announced their marriage some nine months after it occurred. The story appeared in the Sept. 24, 1915 edition of the Courier.

The Lancasters had at least one daughter, Margaret Rose (1917-1954). They made their home circa 1926 on North Prospect Street.

Sadly, Matilda died at the age of 48, sometime during the week of May 13, 1926. While her news obituary has not been found, her passing was referred to some 10 years later in the Connellsville Daily Courier, in a "look-back" type story.

Later that same year, heartache again rocked the family when Samuel was involved in an automobile accident in December 1926, claiming the lives of two citizens of Connellsville. He was charged with murder, but was found not guilty by a grand jury in June 1927.

In September 1928, young daughter Margaret came down with the first case of infantile paralysis that year in Connellsville, and the family home was quarantined. Margaret recovered

After some time as a widower, Samuel married again, to Ossie Forsythe and moved to West Newton, Westmoreland County, PA.

He died of a heart attack at the age of 67 on on May 26, 1953. Burial was in West Newton Cemetery.

Daughter Margaret Lancaster married Charles J. Rose (1909-1989), the son of Charles H. and Alcestia (Ritenour) Rose of Normalville, Fayette County. Visit the Rose biography link for more.

~ Daughter Ella (Miner) Moon ~

Daughter Ella Miner (1882-1947) was born in 1882 near Humbert, Somerset County. She moved to Connellsville, Fayette County as a girl, with her parents and siblings, but later returned to Humbert.

On Sept. 20, 1900, in Somerset County, PA, at the age of 19, she married her first husband, 21-year-old Elmer E. Moon (1882-1902), the son of William and Lydia Ann (Berkey) Moon of Confluence, Somerset County. Because she was underage, her father signed his consent to the union.

At the age of 20, Elmer worked as a railroad laborer in Somerset County. Tragedy rocked the family when, in a grisly accident on Aug. 19, 1902 when he was "ground to death" in a railroad collision at Rockwood, Somerset County.

Elmer's mangled remains were laid to rest at the Jersey Church Cemetery near Ursina, Somerset County, under a tall pylon bearing his name and dates of birth and death (seen at left).

After four years as a widow, Ella married again, to her first husband's cousin, John Bruce Moon (1882-1980), the son of Franklin P. and Margaret (Hyatt) Moon. The ceremony was held in Ursina, Somerset County, on July 17, 1906.

They had five children -- Arnetta Mae Campbell, Iva Pearl Boyd, Mary Devan, John H. Moon and James E. Moon.

The Moons resided at Meadowbrook, Fayette County, where John likely worked as a coal miner, and also at Vanderbilt circa 1918, where one of their sons is known to have been born.

Ella passed away at age 65 on Jan. 27, 1947, and is buried at Hill Grove Cemetery.

John outlived her by 33 years. He died on May 29, 1980, at Little Brownfield.

Son John H. Moon (1918-1953) was born in 1918 in Vanderbilt, Fayette County. As an adult, he lived in Meadowbrook circa 1947 and at Little Brownfield in 1953. Tragedy struck in the earning morning of Aug. 29, 1953, when John was killed when an automobile in which he was riding collided with a truck on Route 119 near Gaddis Crossroads. His funeral was held at the home of his brother James E. Moon in Uniontown. Burial followed at Sylvan Heights Cemetery.

Son James E. Moon served in the U.S. Army in 1947. By 1953, he made his home at Lemon Wood Acres in Uniontown.

Daughter Arnetta Mae Moon wed Albert Campbell. In 1947, they lived in Orient, Fayette County. By 1953, they were in Little Brownfield.

Daughter Iva Pearl Moon wed John W. Boyd. They resided in Uniontown circa 1947 and in Little Brownfield in 1953.

Daughter Mary Miner Moon married Edward Clark Devan. Circa 1947-1953, the Devans made their home in Baltimore, MD. Often, Mary's widowed father came to Baltimore to spend the Christmas holidays with the Devans. One of their sons was Edward B. Devan (1942-2011) who lived in Sykesville, Carroll County, MD, and who passed away on Feb. 7, 2011.

The late Olive Duff deeply researched the Moon family history, and published a booklet, Moon Genealogy, which is preserved in the Minerd- Minard- Miner- Minor Archives.

~ Son John L. Miner ~

Son John L. Miner (1883-1968) was born on Oct. 26, 1883 in Fayette County. On Oct. 7, 1908, when he was age 26, he wed 20-year-old Pearl Pawnee Herrington (1889- ? ), daughter of Alpheus and Alice Josephine (Blackburn) Herrington of Everson, Fayette County. The ceremony was held in Uniontown. At the time, he was a coal miner living in Connellsville, while she resided at Valley Mines near Everson, Fayette County.

They had no children.

John was a longtime coal mine laborer, and a member of the United Mine Workers of America Local 5758. When the federal census was taken in 1910, they lived at the Mt. Sterling Coke Works in German Township, Fayette County, where John was employed as a track layer in the mines. By 1920, they had moved to near Balsinger's Crossing in Menallen Township, Fayette County, with his work continuing as a coal mine laborer. Residing just a few doors away was John's distant cousin, Alice (Minerd) Rockwell and her husband John, an old Civil War veteran.

In 1927, at the time Pearl's mother died, the Minerd made their residence in Balsinger, west of Uledi in Fayette County. By 1930, the census again shows the couple making their residence in Menallen Township.

In late August 1929, John and Pearl are known to have attended a large reunion of the Herrington clan. They were mentioned in lengthy articles about the event in the Connellsville and Uniontown newspapers, and at the time their address was Uniontown.

At some point the Miners retired and moved to Pleasant Unity, Westmoreland County, PA. They were members of the United Methodist Church of Pleasant Unity. In 1947, John and his brother Noah are known to have lived in Pleasant Unity and were named in the Courier obituary of their sister, Ella Moon.

John died at the age of 84, at the Latrobe Area Hospital, on Aug. 26, 1968. Following funeral services at the James P. Gant Funeral Home, led by Rev. Alvin K. Smith, he was laid to rest in the Scottdale Cemetery. A short obituary was published in the Connellsville Daily Courier. A day later, the Courier ran another short notice, "Miner Survivors," which named John's sister Martha and half brothers Harry and Colonel of Pittsburgh.

Pearl's fate is unknown.

~ Son Henry "Colonel" Minor ~

Son Henry Raymond "Colonel" Minor (1902-1978) was born on Jan. 2, 1902, in Connellsville. He was age 10 when his parents separated, and when his mother eloped with his first cousin, Elmer Ellsworth Miner.

In 1920, when Henry was age 18, he lived in Pittsburgh with his mother and cousin/stepfather Elmer Miner.

Henry married Fanny Care (1903-1956). She was a native of England.

Henry was a house painter, but after suffering a major injury in a fall, changed jobs and later worked as a crane operator in a steel mill. They resided on Lilac Street in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh.

While on vacation in Birmingham, AL in mid-April 1956, the Minors were caught in a freak tornado at their motel. Tragically, Fanny was among many people who were killed. The Pittsburgh Press printed a United Press report, saying that "Rescue squads combed the tangled wreckage of more than 150 homes today for more victims of a tornado-like windstorm that killed at least 22 persons and injured more than 100, four of them critically." Henry was listed in critical condition in a hospital in Hamilton, AL, but recovered.

Henry outlived Fanny by more than two decades.

He passed away on July 23, 1978, in Pittsburgh, at the age of 76. They are buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

Henry and Fanny's grave at Pittsburgh's Greenwood Cemetery

~ Son Noah Miner ~

Son Noah Miner (1890-1963) was born on July 7, 1890 at Moyer, Fayette County. He was age two when his mother died, and then grew up with two step-mothers who later left and divorced the father. His name was pronounced "Noy" by the family.

Noah apparently was married twice, first to Laura (?) and second to Olive (Harrison) Farris (1906-1974), the daughter of William and Cora (Richter) Harrison of Donora, Washington County, PA.

Noah and Laura had two known children -- Margaret E. Miner (born 1925) and Noah Emery Minor (1926). Sadly, daughter Margaret died at the age of two months on April 28, 1925, with burial at Hill Grove Cemetery.

With Olive, Noah had one known daughter, Joy Ann Francis Costabile.

Noah had a violent temper which landed him in many fights over the years, some leading to news headlines and even jail time. In November 1913, when he was age 23 and living in Elm Grove, Noah and several black companions were removed from a streetcar at Leisenring, Fayette County after one of the youths was beaten unconscious during the ride. As Noah and his friends fumed, venting their frustrations using strong profanity, a white passerby remarked: "Don't talk like that. You wouldn't want your mother or sister to hear you say such things." Noah turned and punched the speaker, knocking him to the ground, and then kicked him "viciously in the shins," reported the Daily Courier. Noah then fled and was arrested by police at gunpoint only after he was "located crawling across the trolley trestle." Following a hearing before Squire Frank McLaughlin, Noah was found guilty, and committed to a reformatory in Huntingdon, PA.

By February 1918, Noah was residing in Uledi, west of Uniontown, Fayette County. That month, he passed a physical examination and was inducted into the U.S. Army during World War I. Enlisting on Feb. 12, 1918, he underwent basic training at Camp Lee, VA, and then was attached to Company F of the 319th Regiment. He was wounded in action, but specifics are not known. He remained in the Army at least until June 1919. He is pictured in the book, Uniontown's Part in the World War.

Noah was an "employee of the Auburn Rubber Co. at Connellsville," said the Daily Courier. They were members of Central Methodist church. Noah is known to have been was a pall bearer at the funeral of his uncle John Ross Miner in 1935.

Tragically, in 1940, while walking with his aunt Martha Miner, 14-year-old son Noah Jr. was killed at Coalbrook when "struck by a car as he stepped from behind a truck into the road near his home... the force of the collision knocking him about 10 feet." The driver rushed Noah to the hospital, but the lad died just 15 minutes after being admitted. Noah's distant cousin, Rev. David Ewing Minerd, preached at the funeral. With burial at Hill Grove Cemetery, pallbearers included some of Noah's Poplar Grove School playmates -- Ernest DeWitt, Thomas Showman, Lewis Showman, William Showman, Jack Showman and John Cirilli. In the obituary, published in the Daily Courier, the family name was spelled "Minerd" rather than "Miner" or "Minor."

Noah and his brother John are known to have lived in Pleasant Unity, Westmoreland County, PA in 1947. They are named in the Courier obituary of their sister, Ella Moon.

In February 1948, Noah again was named in a news story when he was living in Coalbrook, Fayette County. One morning, as he sat with his back to an open stove in his home, his clothes ignited, causing first and second degree burns on both hands and left elbow. He was treated at a hospital and released.

Around Christmas 1956, when residing in North Manor in Connellsville, Noah was hospitalized with a split lip after a fight with his son in law, John Francis.

Noah died at the age of 73 on July 9, 1963, in Connellsville State General Hospital. Following a funeral led by Rev. H. Morris shields, military rites were observed at the graveside by the Milton L. Bishop Post of the American Legion and the Walter e. Brown Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was laid to rest in the Normalville Cemetery, where his great-grandparents John and Sarah (Ansell) Minerd, and scores of uncles, aunts and cousins, also repose for eternity. His grave marker is seen here circa 1987.

Olive remained in Connellsville for many years, where she was a member of the Christian Missionary and Alliance Church, the Auxiliary Post 21 to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Fraternal Order of Eagles Auxiliary 493 City of Hope, and Dames of Malta.

In 1973, a decade after Noah's death, his wife and daughter published a photo of Noah in the Courier, accompanied by this poem:

It is willed that one we cherished,
Should be taken from our home.
But the joys that do not perish
Live in memory alone.
All the hours we spent together,
All the happy golden days,
Shall be treasured in remembrance,
Fragrant scenes from memories' flowers.

Olive passed away at age 68 on Oct. 15, 1974, at the Connellsville State General Hospital. She was survived by four grandchildren.

~ Daughter Martha Miner ~

Daughter Martha Miner (1891-1984) never married. When the federal census of 1930 was taken, she is believed to have been living in Connellsville, and employed as a maid in a private home. Living just two doors away was her cousin, Bruce Miner Sr. (son of Silas Miner).

She resided in Brownfield, Fayette County circa 1968-1984, where she was a member of the Free Methodist Church. Toward the end of her life she became blind. She died in 1984.

~ Son Samuel Miner ~

Son Samuel Miner (1898- ? ) was born in 1898. When the federal census was taken in 1910, the 12-year-old boy resided with his parents. Circa 1923, he lived in Poplar Grove, PA, but apparently died by 1926, the year his father died, with the lad not mentioned in the news obituary.

~ Son Harry Minor ~

Son Harry Minor (1903 -1969) was born in 1903 in Connellsville. He was age nine when his parents separated, and when his mother eloped with his first cousin Elmer Ellsworth Miner. The federal census of 1920 shows Harry, age 16, living with his mother, cousin/stepfather and brothers Henry and Enoch in Pittsburgh.

He married Hazel (?). They resided on Pittsburgh's North Side, where he worked as a barber circa 1922.

Harry passed away on Sept. 15, 1969, and his obituary was printed in the Pittsburgh Press.

~ Son Enoch F. Minor Jr. ~

Son Enoch F. Minor Jr. (1904-1963) was born on Oct. 23, 1904 in Connellsville. He was age eight when his parents separated.

By 1920, he moved into the home of his mother and cousin/stepfather in Pittsburgh, along with his older brothers Henry and Enoch.

As a 21-year-old, in 1926, Enoch resided in St. Louis, MO at the time of his father's death. By the following year, he had returned to Pittsburgh, and was working as a brakeman on the railroad.

On Oct. 24, 1927, Enoch married 17-year-old Bessie Dewese (1910- ? ), a native of Roanoke, VA. They were listed in the 1930 Pittsburgh City Directory as residing at 35 Lacock, at which time he was laboring as a painter, possibly with his brother Henry.

Circa 1943, Enoch lived at 411 North Craig Street in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, and was employed in a local steel works. He served in World War II, as a private in Company L of the 338th Infantry.

Later, in June 1943, at the age of 28, he married Alberta (Oberdacker) Smith (1910- ? ), of Pittsburgh, the daughter of Rudolph and Christine (Mistelbauer) Oberdacker. Alberta's father was an immigrant from Austria, while her mother was a native of Fayette County. Alberta had been married once before.

In all, Enoch's five children were James Minor, Jo Ann Czolba, Mary Minor, Christine Leacock and Corrine Nelson.

He passed away on March 28, 1963, at the age of 59. His obituary was published in the Pittsburgh Press. He was laid to rest in the veterans' section of Highwood Cemetery near Pittsburgh's North Side.