Minnie
(Miner) Gary
(1892-1985)
Minnie
Edna (Miner) Gary was born in 1892 in Hexebarger, near Kingwood, Somerset County,
PA, the daughter of Ephraim and Rosetta (Harbaugh)
Miner.
Minnie married Jacob Arthur Gary (1884-1969), the son of John and Catherine (Ansell) Gary. As a young man, Jake labored as a timberman in nearby Barronvale, Somerset County, and is said to have met Minnie when boarding at her parents' home.
The Garys had 12 children -- Harry R. "Pappy" Gary, Charles Glenn Gary, Lester Elwood Gary, Roselyn Erma "Rosie" Trimpey-Henry, Lillie Fern Brocht, Gladys Louise Kreger, Katherine Olive "Katie" Hoover-Mostoller, John R. Gary, Edna Tressler, Frank Ferling Gary, Norman Clark Gary and Paul Gary.
At the time of Minnie's death in 1985, her brood of offspring had grown so large that the Somerset Daily American reported that her survivors numbered 40 grandchildren, 77 great-grandchildren and 17 great-great grandchildren.
The Garys first resided in Middlecreek Twp. After the death of Minnie's father Ephraim in 1921, they moved back to Hexebarger, eventually purchasing his home. They were said to have been "proud people who were never afraid to work or afraid to try. Community involvement was always big in the family."
Logging railroad and laborers at Barronvale at the turn
of the century, which may show Jake among the crew.
According to a memoir by great-granddaughter Melissa Kreger-Lintz, "They were the generation that went through the 'Great Depression.' Everyone in this generation was very effected by it. They were always kind of funny about food and wasting things, for example, using everything and eating everything. No one was ever allowed to throw away anything."
In the photo seen at right likely was
taken in the 1930s, after their first seven children had been born.
Despite tight finances, Jake is said to have purchased a pound of candy every two weeks on pay day, so each of his children would receive a piece for themselves.
Minnie and Jake were strong Christians, and were lifelong members of the Old Bethel Church of God. They are known to have attended many of the Harbaugh Reunions over the years. They imparted a strong sense of faith and family in their children, a quality which shows in the lives of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Three of the offspring -- Gladys, Frank and Norman -- each has celebrated a 50th wedding anniversary. Today the family holds an annual reunion in Rockwood, PA, in July.
Jake
and Minnie (front, center) and their entire brood of
adult children, likely taken
at the Kingwood IOOF Grove circa 1950
Virtually
all their sons worked in the coal fields and/or clay mines of Somerset County.
Eldest son Harry, for example, was a coal
miner for 43 years, starting at Belltown and Acosta, PA; then to clay mines at
Fort Hill, PA in the 1940s; then with A&A Coal in the '50s; and at Shamrock,
PA for Black Beauty Coal (1948-1955); Brush Creek Valley Co. (1957-1962) and for
Everett Snyder from 1963-1967.
Sons John and Lester and son in law Harold Kreger, and perhaps others, served in World War II.
At some point, Minnie's cousins Emma (Miner) White and Lucy (Bedillion) Martin came from Washington, PA for a visit. Minnie's daughter Gladys helped cook a meal for their most welcome visitors. Later in life, in 1981, long after Emma and Lucy had died, other cousins of the Farabee branch came to Kingwood to meet Minnie. Among other questions, Minnie asked the Farabees if they knew what had become of Emma and Lucy.
The Garys enjoyed the annual Harbaugh Reunions. They are known to have attended in 1955-56 and 1964-67 when they received the award for "Longest Married Couple," in 1957 when they won the award for "Largest Family in Attendance" and several other years when Jake was "Oldest Man" and Minnie was "Oldest Woman."
News of the tragic death of grandson in law Lloyd F. Sterner
The
family went through more than its share of heartache. Son Lester lost a finger
in a mining accident. Son in law Edward C.
Trimpey died at age 42 in 1956, leaving his wife Rosie and nine young children at
home. Son in law Julius W. Hoover died in 1971 at age 56, leaving his wife Katie
and four children. Grandson Harold R. Gary died at age 31 in 1964, leaving one
infant daughter. Grandson Orville
Gary, age 21, was killed in an automobile accident in August 1965. Grandson in
law Lloyd R. Sterner died in a workplace accident in June 1969, at the Ankeny
Bros. Lumber Co., when, said a newspaper, he was "struck in the abdomen by
and end of a six-by-eight inch timber that was kicked back by a gang edger he
was operating... The 14-foot timber was being fed through the machine under
heavy air pressure when the accident occurred." Son Charles died in 1974
at the age of 63.
Jacob
died at home on Feb. 27, 1969. He was laid to rest in the nearby cemetery of the
Old Bethel Church of God.
Minnie outlived him by 16 years. On a hot August day in 1978, as a teenager, Minerd.com founder Mark Miner and his parents went to Kingwood to search for their family's roots. By chance (or was it fate?), they had an opportunity to meet Minnie at her home. The color photo seen here of Minnie was taken that day. She spent an hour or two seated in her kitchen, telling them stories about her life, and her father's experiences in the Civil War. It was a defining and inspiring moment in our family research effort.
Minnie passed away on April 13, 1985. She was buried beside her husband.
Jake and Minnie are pictured and featured in Book II of Down the Road of Our Past, Vol. II, published by the Rockwood Area Historical and Genealogical Society. Sons in law Ed Trimpey and Julius Hoover also are pictured in the book in connection with their work for General Refractories Company. The Garys also are pictured and mentioned in the October 1995 issue of the Hexie Gazette newsletter, published by the late Clyde B. Miller.
Son Harry "Pappy" Gary (1909-1985)
married Cora Grace Sanner. He was a coal miner for 43 years. In his early years,
he mined at Belltown and Acosta, PA. Later, in the 1940s, he worked in the clay
mines at Fort Hill, Somerset County. In the 1950s, he labored for A&A Coal
and at Shamrock, PA for Black Beauty Coal (1948-1955). From 1957 to 1962, he
mined coal for the Brush Creek Valley Company, and from 1963 to 1967 for Everett
Snyder. He was a member of the UMWA Local 1742. The old post office and railroad
depot at Fort Hill are seen at right.
Son Charles Gary (1911-1974) resided in Markleton, near Kingwood. He was a longtime coal miner, and a member of the United Mine Workers of America.
Son Lester Gary (1916-1986) was a coal miner near
Rockwood, Somerset County. He is known to have labored for Brush Creek Valley
Company in the 1950s and '60s, and was a member of the UMWA.
Son Frank Gary (1918-2004) married Minnie Mae Engel. They worked together in Gary's Styling Boutique for 33 years, said the Daily American. He was a member "of Somerset Alliance Church where he was a Sunday school teacher and usher for 30 years. He had been active in both the former Rockwood E.U.B. Church and the Rockwood Alliance Church."
Son
Norman Gary was a coal miner for 43 years, laboring in the fields of Western
Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He married Olive Faidley. In 1959-1960, Olive
served on the building committee that constructed the Old Bethel Church of God,
across the road from the old church. Then, in 1960, she took part in a mortgage
burning ceremony when the church completed repaying a $13,800 building loan
ahead of schedule. 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." During the mortgage burning ceremony, on Jan. 8,
1967, Olive helped drop the mortgage contract into "the flames." 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. Norman passed
away on Feb. 15, 2002.
Son in law Harold D. Kreger was a life member and past president of the New Centerville and Rural Volunteer Fire Departments, former emergency medical technician (EMT) and captain of the New Centerville Ambulance Association, and was active with the New Centerville Farmers and Thresherman's Jubilee for many years. His wife Gladys made beautiful quilts that were on display at the jubilees.
Daughter
Lillie married Homer Brocht. Their family is featured in the
volume, 'Mongst the Hills of Somerset.
Grandson Allen Dale Trimpey (1944-2005) served in the Navy in the Seabees, and resided in Martinsville, VA, where he "was a counselor and chairman of Alcoholics Anonymous in Martinsville and Danville," said the Daily American.
Granddaughter Violet (Trimpey) Rea (1937-2005) married Robert J. Rae, and resided in Ridgway, PA. "She was a past member of the Order of the Eastern Star," said the Daily American. "She had been employed by Alltel Corp. for 26 years before her retirement."
Granddaughter Robin Brocht married Mark Zambanini, who at one time was Chief of the Sipesville (PA) Fire Company. In July 2002, the Zambaninis were part of a massive national, state and community-wide effort led by Governor Mark Schweiker to rescue nine trapped coal miners in Quecreek, Somerset County. Among other news media outlets, Mark was interviewed on CNN, Fox, KDKA-TV and in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They were befriended by broadcaster Geraldo Rivera, and are mentioned in Andrew Morton's book, Nine for Nine, and in the Post-Gazette's book, All Nine Alive! Today they own Zambo's Country Cottage restaurant along Route 281 (New Centerville Road) in New Centerville near Rockwood, Somerset County.
Zambo's Country Cottage in New Centerville, near Rockwood
Grandson Paul Ernest Gary (1940-2005) was a
prominent entrepreneur and businessman in Somerset for nearly four decades. His
death at age 65 in August 2005 was the top headline in the Somerset Daily
American, where a Somerset County Commissioner said his "efforts on the
Route 31 corridor, fixing up storefronts, is phenomenal." He also was
lauded for developing the west end of Somerset. The Daily American published a
list of 12 companies he owned and another 15 businesses for which he served as
landlord.
Minnie and Jake's children, grandchildren and un-countable numbers of their offspring have held reunions at the Rockwood Park picnic pavilion in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
1997 Gary Reunion at Rockwood
Copyright © 2001-2006 Mark A. Miner