Mary "Anna"
(Miner) Richter
(1861-1931)
Mary
"Anna" (Miner) Richter was born on Sept. 11, 1861 near Humbert, Somerset County, PA, the daughter
of Henry A. and Matilda (Rose) Miner. Her
husband was one of many of our cousins killed in coal industry accidents.
Anna was small of stature and said to have carried a scar on her right cheek, where a cow's horn dug in when the animal turned its head to swat a fly.
In about 1879, at age 18, Anna married 22-year-old Robert Henry Richter (1857-1920), a coal mine laborer who was the son of Nancy A. Richter.
They had 10 children, born a quarter century apart -- Lena May Layhue, William Henry Richter, Anna Belle Turner Lyons, Goldie Anastasion, Christine Johnson Butts, Albert Richter, George R. Richter Sr., and three who are not yet identified.
Robert was considered "well known" and worked as a laborer at the Leisenring No. 1 Mine to the southwest of Connellsville.
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Tracks and buildings of the nearby Leisenring No. 2 Mine |
The Richters lived in the Connellsville area, including at Coalbrook and on Tenth Street in the West Side, also known as Greenwood. In 1883, when Anna's brother Silas got married, the ceremony was held in the Richter home. Circa 1906-1907, the Richters lived at 422 East Main Street, and by 1911-1912 had moved to 282 Eighth Street, and were listed in the Connellsville City Directory.
Tragedy struck on or about Oct. 6, 1920, when
63-year-old Robert was killed in the Leisenring mine when he was accidentally squeezed between
two mine cars. Relatives heard the news and went running to
the house, calling up to Anna to tell her the news of his grisly death. The Connellsville
Weekly Courier reported:
Mr. Richter's neck was broken and he suffered internal hemorrhages. He was removed to the plant hospital, where he died shortly after. Mr. Richter, with several other workmen, was engaged in putting up cement pillars in the mine where a squeeze had occurred. They had finished their work and were on their way to the bottom of the shaft when they met a mine car loaded with pit poste, going in the opposite direction. Mr. Richter, who was in the advance of the other men, stepped to one side of the track at the curve. The space was too small and he was pinned fast before the car could be stopped. [Stanley] Comisky, who is captain of the first aid team of the plant, brought the injured man to the surface and summoned Dr. Francis J. King, but before he arrived Mr. Richter died.
Robert's remains were laid to rest at Hill Grove Cemetery in Connellsville. Anna's distant cousin, Rev. David E. Minerd, who was pastor of the United Methodist Church in Greenwood, conducted the funeral. He does not have a grave marker.
The widowed Anna relied upon her children and siblings over the years for support. She is known to have attended the large 1929 and '30 McDowell-Miner Reunions at Hillcrest Park in Connellsville.
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Mary Ann, second from left, at a reunion with siblings, left to right: William G. Miner, John R. Miner, Jennie Paolone and Grant U. Miner |
Anna later "had a little grocery store" on Ninth Street in Connellsville where Route 119 is now. She lived in Freeman's Lane and toward the end of her life moved in with sister Jennie Paolone in Dutch Bottom near Connellsville, at 405 Cummings Avenue.
Anna passed away at age 69 on Aug. 21, 1931, at
Connellsville State Hospital. The Daily Courier reported that she "had been
in ill health for about two years." Her funeral arrangements were handled
by the J.E. Sims Funeral Home. Her burial site has not yet been located, but a
granddaughter once recalled that it "was out in the country
somewhere."
Anna's sons William and George were pallbearers at the September 1935 funeral of her brother, John Ross Miner.
Daughter Lena
May (1880-1956) was first married to a
man not yet identified. The marriage ended on Feb. 16, 1900, when Lena was just
20 years of age. On March 31, 1900, she married 32-year-old Silas "Cy"
(also called "Joseph" and "Josiah") Layhue (1870-1934), a coal
miner whose first wife had died on May 1, 1899. Cy was a member of the United
Mine Workers of America, Leith Local. (Leith is seen at right in an old
postcard view.) It's not known if either brought children to the marriage, but
they had 15 children between them -- Albert J. Layhue, Harry Layhue, Clarence
Layhue, Silas Layhue Jr., William Layhue, Ruth Augustine, Arvilla (or Alverda)
Rogers, Violet Minnick, Pearl Cole Stewart, Rose Johnson Carlson, Emma Smitley,
Maggie Baughman, Hannah Hennessey, Myrtle Layhue and Minnie Perkins Strumako. Circa
1931-1934, the Layhues resided on Strawberry Alley in Uniontown. Cy suffered
from high blood pressure. On Aug. 23, 1934, he fell dead of a heart attack while
working in a shed in his yard. Lena, who had gone to New York to seek
employment, was called home for the funeral. He was buried in Laurel Hill
Cemetery, with his funeral conducted by Rev. H.V. Layhue, assisted by Lena's
distant cousin, Rev. David E. Minerd.
Lena outlived Cy by 22 years, and later moved to Duquesne, near Pittsburgh. She
died at the home of her married daughter Rose in Duquesne at age 76 on June 22,
1956, and was laid to rest in Laurel Hill Cemetery. At the time of her death,
Lena had 26 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. A personal
inspection in 2006 by researcher Harry J. Ansell revealed that the Layhue graves
at Laurel Hill are not marked.
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Son Albert J. Layhew (1902-1975) was a veteran of World War II. He married Rose Welch ( ? -1971), and they resided at Fairbank, near Uniontown. They had three daughters, Arlene Huseman, Shirley Mae Grist and Anna Fisher, and had 22 grandchildren. Albert's funeral arrangements in 1975 were handled by the Edward E. Minerd Funeral Home of Uniontown.
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Cy and Lena Layhue's obituaries, 22 years apart |
Son William H. Richter (1883-1973) married Bertha Mae Harvey (1888-1947), the daughter of Josephine Harvey. They had 10 children -- Dorothy Miller, Mabel Wilson, Betty Jane Nativio, Clarence W. Richter, James L. Richter, Carl Richter, Mary Hunt, Fidelis Darling Hunt and Thomas Richter, plus a daughter who died in infancy. They lived at Leisenring No. 1 mine circa 1939. The Daily Courier reported that William "had lived most of his life in Dunbar Township and was a retired coal miner of the United States Steel Company, having retired from its Ronco Coal Mine." Bertha passed away at home at Leisenring No. 1 at age 59 on Dec. 23, 1947. William outlived Bertha by more than a quarter of a century, and resided in Dunbar Township. He died on Nov. 14, 1973, at the age of 90. At the time of his death, he had 34 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren.
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Daughter Fidelis Richter (1908-1939) married Thomas B. Hunt Sr. A newspaper said he was "for many years active in politics and involved in coal [and] oil leasing" in Uniontown, Fayette County. They had four children -- Timothy Hunt, Thacille, Thompson Hunt and Terry B. Hunt. Tragically, Fidelis passed away at the age of 30 on Sept. 25, 1939. She was laid to rest in Laurel Hill Cemetery. Thomas married her sister Mary Richter the following year, in 1940.
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Grandson
Clarence W. Richter Sr. (1918-1983) also was a longtime employee of United
States Steel Corporation, and retired after a long career there. He is known
to have worked at the Youngstown mine in Westmoreland County (circa 1947) and at
the Lemont Furnace works circa 1973. A rare old photographic postcard of the
Lemont plant is seen at right. -
Son James L. Richter (1919-1983) was employed for 32 years at the famed Homestead Works of U.S. Steel.
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Daughter Betty Jane Richter (1923-2008) married Alfred J. Nativio Sr. ( ? -1990) on June 12, 1943. They resided in Dunbar and had 12 children -- Geraldine Nativio, Sandra Nativio, Kenneth Nativio, Alfred Nativio Jr., William Nativio, Janet Devince, Nancy Domer, Patricia Nativio, Roger Nativio Sr., Tina (Benson) Nativio, Karen Nativio and Dolly Mae Nativio. Betty Jane passed away at the age of 84 on May 11, 2008, the last surviving member of her immediate family. She was laid to rest in Mt. Aloysius Cemetery. She was survived by 20 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.
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Daughter Mary Hunt married her widowed brother in law, Thomas B. Hunt Sr. The fates of Mary and Thomas are not precisely known. They had at least one son, Todd B. Hunt (1940-2008). They may also have had children Thomas B. Hunt Jr., Mary Louise Horne, Ruth Stark, Toni Davis, Trudy Dursa and Samuel Hunt. Son Todd married Joyce LaClair and resided in Sterling Heights, MI, where he "was proud to be a Mason and Shriner," said the Uniontown Herald-Standard, "and worked as a tool and die welder for Chrysler Corp. for 37 years. He will be remembered by all who knew him for his love of people and his extreme generosity with his time and talents." Todd passed away at the age of 68 on Sept. 11, 2008, with burial at Sylvan Heights Cemetery Mausoleum in Uniontown.
Son Albert Richter (1887- ? ) first married Carolyn Kromer (1892-1917). He was 23, and she 18. The ceremony took place at his parents' home on Sept. 13, 1910. He worked as a teamster early in the marriage, driving a furniture wagon. Sadly, after only seven years of marriage, Carolyn died at age 25, of unknown causes, on Feb. 17, 1917. After 18 months as a widower, Albert married again, to 20-year-old Katherine Mae Nicholson, on Aug. 8, 1918. At that time, he worked as a barber. Circa 1920, when the federal census was taken, they lived at 611 West Crawford Avenue, and he was a keeper of a lunch room. Their fates after that are unknown.
Daughter
Anna Belle Richter (1892-1976) was married twice. Her first husband was John Turner ( ?
- ? ). He
abandoned the family, and died somewhere in New York State. After they divorced,
Anna Belle married Patrick A. Lyons ( ? - ? ). She had one daughter, Bessie
Keys. Anna Belle resided in the Hillcrest section of Connellsville. The Daily
Courier said she "Was employed as a matron at the Anchor Hocking
Corporation and worked at the Overholt Distillery, and was a custodian for the
United Presbyterian Church on Morton Avenue." (The Anchor Hocking plant in
Connellsville is seen at left.) She passed away at age 83 on March 20,
1976, at the Fazio Nursing Home in Markleysburg, Fayette County, and was laid to
rest in the Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville.
Daughter Christine "Teeny" Richter (1899-1992) was married three times. Her first husband was William C. Johnston (1887- ? ), a native of Pittsburgh who was a stone mason. They married on June 12, 1917 in a ceremony at Fairview Street in North Union Township near Uniontown. Circa 1931, Teeny resided in Coraopolis, Allegheny County, PA. After 14 years of marriage, they divorced on May 28, 1931. Within one week, on June 4, 1931, Teeny married 30-year-old Ray J. Potts (1901- ? ), a laborer who was a native of the Pittsburgh area. Later still, she married Wayne L. Butts ( ? - ? ). In 1956, the Buttses resided at Clairton in Pittsburgh's Mon Valley. Circa 1970s through the 1990s, Teeny resided in McKeesport, near Pittsburgh. She had five sons -- Harry D. Johnston, James I. Johnston, Francis M. Johnston, Edward E. Johnston and Wayne L. "Buster" Butts. Teeny died at age 92 on Feb. 25, 1992, and was buried at McKeesport and Versailles Cemetery. At the time of her passing, she had 17 grandchildren and uncounted great and great-great grandchildren.
Daughter Goldie Richter (1902-1991) married Gustavious "Gus" Anastasion ( ? -1941), an immigrant from Greece. They resided in Connellsville in the early 1930s through the 1970s, and had four children -- Robert N. Anastasion, Della M. Anastasion, Helen Nocine and Mary Canter. Sadly, Gus died in 1941 at a young age. Goldie later resided in Port Allegany, McKean County, PA. She died at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport, PA on Feb. 15, 1991, at the age of 88. Gus and Goldie are buried together in Green Ridge Memorial Park in Connellsville.
Son George Richter (1905-1984) first married Violet Round (1900-1970), the daughter of William and Julia (Walcroft) Round. They were members of the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church of Uniontown. They had four children -- Rev. George R. Richter Jr., pastor of the West Park Alliance Church in McKees Rocks, PA; Rev. Logan T. Richter, pastor of the West End Alliance Church in Richmond, VA; Florence Ellenberger, who was married to Rev. Robert Ellenberger, pastor of Crescent Alliance Church of Aliquippa, Beaver County, PA; and Laura Thrasher, who was married to Wibert B. Thrasher of Leisure City, FL. In later years, the Richters resided in Vanderbilt, Fayette County, and in 1976 lived at Aliquippa. The Beaver County Times noted that George "was a retired employee of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and a member of Crestmont Alliance Church, Hopewell Township." After Violet's passing, George married Blanche Corwin. He died at age 79 on April 17, 1984, at the Beaver Valley Geriatric Center, and was laid to rest at Green Ridge Memorial Park in Connellsville.
Copyright © 2000, 2002, 2005-2008 Mark A. Miner