Bio-Miner, JohnAndrew

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John Andrew Miner
(1878-1955)

John Andrew Miner was born in 1878 near Metzler’s Mill, Somerset County, PA, the son of Ephraim and Rosetta (Harbaugh) Miner. He is believed to have received his middle name as a namesake of an uncle, Andrew Jackson Miner.

At the age of 25, in about 1903, John married Susan M. Pletcher (1887-1985). She was just 16, and her parents felt he was a great catch because they thought he had a good income. John’s parents considered Susie a great catch because she was such a nice person.

The Miners had seven children – Ethel G. Miner, Victor Clyde Miner, Edna "Evanell" Kimmel Nicklow, Ephraim Ray Miner, Harold B. Miner, John "Raymond" Miner and Kenneth Clinton Miner.

Sadly, daughter Ethel (1903) and son Harold (1911) died in infancy, and are buried at the Old Bethel Church of God cemetery near Kingwood.

A number of their children are pictured and mentioned as adults in the volume Down the Road of Our Past published by the Rockwood Area Historical & Genealogical Society.

John was a coal miner and timber cutter for many years. He suffered terribly from asthma and was sick a lot during his adult years, often coughing up black coal dust. He and his son Victor often worked together, and once survived a mine cave-in at Indian Head in nearby Fayette County.

In August 1924, John and Susie attended the Minerd-Miner reunion at Lincoln's grove, near the Western Maryland Railroad Station in Confluence. Among the 82 individuals present in the crowd were also John's mother, son Victor and daughter Evanell, and brother and sister in law Harry David and Amanda (Pletcher) Miner. In an article about the reunion, the Meyersdale Republican newspaper spelled the family name as "Minard" but reported the following: "A very successful and pleasant reunion of the Minard family was held in what is known locally as Lincoln's grove, near the Western Maryland Railroad Station.... The family is a numerous one in Western Pennsylvania, especially in Fayette, Somerset, Westmoreland and Huntingdon Counties. The gathering on Saturday was their twelfth annual reunion."

Coal miners in the famed "Connellsville Seam" of Fayette County

John and his family also enjoyed the annual Harbaugh Reunions. They are known to have attended in 1947 and 1954 (when John and Susie received the "Longest Married Award") and 1951 (when they were acknowledged for having five generations present). In the five-generation photo seen at left, John sits beside his mother, while standing in the back are son Victor and granddaughter Melda Bittinger, who is holding her baby son Paul.

When the federal census was taken in 1930, the Miners made their home in Springfield Township, Fayette County. John's occupation was given as farmer, and son Ephraim and Raymond's as farm labor. John's 61-year-old half brother, Grant Miner -- who had significant mental disabilities -- made his home under their roof that year. Among their near neighbors were cousins Jacob and Laura Belle (Younkin) Shroyer, Oakey and Gertrude (Shroyer) Harbaugh and J. Frank and Ida (Burkholder) Younkin.

In late March 1933, son Ephraim was sued by cousin Jacob Shroyer, alleging that Ephraim owed him $10.00 "for goods sold and delivered ... over and above all discounts which the said Ephraim Miner may have against him." Ephraim is said to have left the county with intent to defraud Jake, so Ephraim's employer, cousin Oakey Harbaugh, apparently was required to garnish his wages for repayment of the debt. The case was heard by cousin William Henry "Squire" Miner, a justice of the peace in Mill Run.

In 1952, the Miners suffered the loss of their grandson Edward Dale Kimmel, of Dunbar, Fayette County, who died of a brain tumor at the age of 20.

A common wintry sight -- men clearing a heavy snowfall on the road from Confluence to Somerset, circa 1936.

John died in 1955, at the age of 87, after much suffering with black lung disease. He was buried at the Old Bethel Church near Kingwood, a cemetery which holds many generations of Minerd-Miner-Minor cousins.

After six years as a widow, Susie married Lyman Trimpey on March 29, 1961. They enjoyed just a little over a year of marriage, when Lyman passed away on July 7, 1962.

In her later years, Susie enjoyed visiting and staying at the home of her former sister in law, Minnie Gary, in Hexebarter.

Susie died in 1985, at the age of 98. She was laid to rest beside her husband at the Old Bethel church cemetery, after a separation of three decades.

At Susie's funeral, her children and grandchildren agreed that they had grown tired of seeing each other only at funerals. They decided to form a reunion so that the family could gather at happier events. The first reunion was held the following year, in 1986, at the Kingwood Picnic Grove in Somerset County. Today it has evolved into the national Minerd- Minard- Miner- Minor Reunion.

John and Susie are pictured and mentioned in a lavishly illustrated, 2011 book about his father -- entitled Well At This Time: the Civil War Diaries and Army Convalescence Saga of Farmboy Ephraim Miner. The book, authored by the founder of this website, is seen at right. [More]

~ Son Victor Clyde Miner ~

Son Victor Clyde Miner (seen here) (1904-1997) was born on Dec. 16, 1904, near Kingwood. He married Delphia Platter (1901-1989), the daughter of Henry and Anna Jemima "Annie" (Handwerk) Platter Jr. of Jennings, Garrett County, MD.

They first made their home in Bakersville, Somerset County, and then moved to Grantsville, Garrett County, MD in 1940, where they remained for the rest of their lives.

The Miners had five children - Elmer Miner, Victor "Reed" Miner, John Henry Miner, Melda Bittinger and Anna Jean Heston.

Victor enjoyed taking his family to the Harbaugh and Younkin Reunions of the 1930s and '40s, held at the Kingwood IOOF Grove. Later, he liked to recall racing in the 50-yard dash.

The Miners were members of the Bethesda Church of the Brethren in Grantsville. In the late 1980s and early '90s, Victor met with the founder of this website several times and provided important details about the history of the family. He enjoyed chewing tobacco and was able to speak fragments of the Pennsylvania German language passed down through the generations. One phrase he spoke, "Vets less," was an Americanized version of the German meaning "What is wrong?"

Delphia died on Feb. 24, 1989, at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Cumberland, Allegany County, MD. Rev. Joseph Lewis led the funeral service at Grantsville Cemetery.

Victor outlived his wife by eight years. He passed away at the Meyersdale Manor Nursing Home in Meyersdale, Somerset County on Feb. 2, 1997, at the age of 92. He was laid to rest beside his wife in the Grantsville Cemetery. At his passing, said the Somerset Daily American, he was survived by 16 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren.

They are mentioned on page 448 of the book The Bittinger, Bittner, Biddinger, and Bidinger Families -- and Their Kin -- of Garrett County, Maryland, authored by Wayne Bittinger, and published in 1986 by McClain Printing Company in Parsons, WV.

Son Victor Reed Miner married Rosella (Resh) Miner in 1961 and had six children. Reed and his sister Melda jointly owned a dairy farm near Grantsville, but he sold his half to her. The Miners moved to Odenton, MD, where Reed labored at the National Plastic Plant. In September 1967, after the untimely death of their brother in law Paul Stewart Bittinger, they returned to Grantsville and bought back the farm in its entirety. Rosella has served continuously as Secretary of our reunion committee since it was founded in 1986.

Daughter Melda June Miner (seen here) married Paul Stewart Bittinger (1928-1966). They lived in Grantsville, where Paul was a farmer and brick plant worker, and Melda was a Dutch Maid supervisor. Melda was co-founder, treasurer and constant supporter of our reunion until her passing in 2001. Melda had perfect reunion attendance, and her hard work helped transform the event into one of significance for all cousins. Click to see a special tribute, a quilt she made for her daughter, and also to read her own account of the reunion's origins in the 1980s.

Victor's granddaughter Lois (Bittinger) Radcliff and her husband Jerry have owned Jerry's Auto Center in Belpre, OH since 1986. The garage now features 13 wreckers and several service trucks which respond to service calls.

Melda and Paul Bittinger and their family, prior to his untimely death in 1966.

~ Daughter Edna "Evanell" (Miner) Kimmel Nicklow ~

Daughter Edna "Evanell" Miner operated “Smith’s Store” in Dunbar, Fayette County. Her first husband, Irvin L. Kimmel Sr., was a crane operator for West Penn Railways. They married on April 26, 1926.

They resided in Dunbar in the 1950s. Later, they moved to Woodbury, NJ. They had two sons, F. Dean Kimmel and Irvin L. Kimmel Jr.

After Irvin died, she married a teenage sweetheart, Orion Nicklow, and moved back to her native Kingwood. Orion had served on the school boards of Upper Turkeyfoot Twp., in 1951-1952 and of Rockwood Joint Schools in 1957-1958. Orion also is pictured and mentioned in the October 1995 Hexie Gazette, published by the late Clyde Miller. Evanell and Orion were featured in a 1987 issue of the Somerset Daily American, titled “Couple Given a Second Chance at First Love.” She later helped found a reunion of her family which eventually became our national Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion.

She spent many hours visiting with the founder of this website, and spoke of her ancestors in language that brought their lives back again to the present. In 1992, they took a driving tour of the Hexebarger area, Harbaugh farm at Clairton Lake, and to her brother's home in Grantsville, MD.

Somerset Daily American article about the late-in-life marriage of Evanell (Miner) Kimmel and Orion Nicklow.

In 1959-1960, Orion was a member of the building committee that constructed a new, brick building to house the Old Bethel Church of God near Kingwood. Seven years later, he took part in a mortgage burning ceremony when the church completed repaying a $13,800 building loan. Said the dedication booklet, "Due to the goodness of our Heavenly Father, the faithfulness of members and friends by sacrificial giving, the indebtedness has been liquidated as of January 1, 1967, approximately four years ahead of schedule."

A copy of the program booklet for the mortgage burning ceremony is in the archives of the Historical Society of the Churches of God in Findlay, OH.

~ Son Ephraim Ray Miner ~

Son Ephraim Ray Miner (1909-1974) was born on Feb. 17, 1909. He married Flossie Schroyer (1919-1966?), the daughter of Amos A. and Ida (Bowers) Schroyer of Mill Run, Fayette County.

They had seven children -- Ephraim Leroy Miner, Emerson Miner, Paul Miner, Clinton Miner, Betty House, Katherine Miner and Anna Miner.

The family lived in Mill Run circa 1943, Canton, Stark County, OH in 1953 and Mannington and Manacle, Marion County, WV in 1961-1963. Ephraim held odd jobs and cut timber for customers.

Tragedy struck the family when son Ephraim, age 18, drowned while swimming in Zore Lake near Mineral City, OH, on Sept. 11, 1961. His remains were returned to Mill Run for burial at the Indian Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

Flossie passed away first. She is believed to have died in May 1966, but this needs to be confirmed.

Ephraim outlived his wife by eight years. He died in Canton at the age of 64 on Jan. 6, 1974.

~ Son Kenneth Clinton Miner ~

Son Kenneth Clinton Miner (1922-1953) was born on June 24, 1922 in Somerset County. He served as a private first class in World War II.

He married Dorothy McDonald and had two children -- Harold Miner and Susan Miner.

As a young adult, Kenneth labored as a mechanic at the Yough Motor Company and the Bennett Motor Sales. Later, he accepted a position as a punch press operator with General Motors Company at its Brown-Lipe-Chapin Division in Elyria, Lorain County, OH. The family moved with him to Lorain, Lorain County, where they resided at 1975 East 29th Street.

In 1953, at the age of 31, Kenneth separated from his wife.

Tragically, he died soonafter, on Dec. 7, 1953, while seated in his parked automobile in the parking lot of the GM plant.

His remains were returned to Connellsville's Ansell Funeral Home, followed by the funeral and burial in the Old Bethel Church of God Cemetery. Rev. Earl Show oversaw the interment.

~ Son John "Raymond" Miner ~

Son John "Raymond" Miner (1914- ? ) was married twice. His first wife was Stella Basinger (1914-1996), the daughter of A.P. and LuCartha (Showman) Basinger of near Normalville, Fayette County. They were wed on Nov. 8, 1930, at Oakland, Garrett County, MD.

They had one known son, Clayton "Eugene" Miner.

Raymond and Stella lived in Normalville, but they separated in 1934 after she admitted deceiving him into marriage, four years after the fact, according to an article in the Connellsville Daily Courier. He then went to live in Henry Clay Township, Fayette County, where he filed for divorce in August 1935.

Raymond served in World War II, and later resided in Canton, Stark County, OH. He built a successful small business selling washing machines and operating laundromats.

He married again, to his widowed sister in law Dorothy (McDonald) Miner, after the tragic 1953 death of her husband (and his brother) Kenneth. Living in Canton, Raymond and Dorothy went on to have several more children. In the early 1990s, their daughter Debbie served as president of the Miner Reunion, held at Kingwood, Somerset County, PA, which evolved into our annual national reunion.

Raymond's final fate is unknown.

Clayton Miner

Stella also remarried, to Leslie Neel (1909-1967), son of Loren S. and Arvilla (Mountain) Neel of Connellsville. Leslie was known in the region as a former employee of the Wertheimer Motor Company and Liberty Baking Company. The Neels lived at 106 West Morton Avenue until Leslie's death at the age of 57 on Aug. 16, 1967. Stella spent her final years in Canal Fulton, Stark County, OH, most likely to be near her son. She died in Country Lawn Nursing Home in Navarre, Stark County, on Nov. 6, 1996, at the age of 82. Her remains were returned to Fayette County for burial in the Normalville Cemetery.

Son Clayton "Eugene" Miner (1934-1998) is seen at right. He was born on Feb. 2, 1934 in or near Normalville, Fayette County. He married Thelma V. (?) and they had four children -- Geno Miner, Scott Miner, Rene Miner and Kim Miner. The family resided in Canal Fulton, Stark County. He died at the age of 64 on Feb. 24, 1998.