Bio-Miner, Susan Birch

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Susan A. (Miner) Birch
(1841-1906)

Susan A. (Miner) Birch was born in 1841 in Hexebarger near Kingwood, Somerset County, PA, the daughter of Henry and Polly (Younkin) Minerd. She is believed to have been named for her mother's sister, Susanna (Younkin) Schrock (1804-1881), and her husband was a Civil War veteran and a survivor of the Battle of Gettysburg.

As a young girl, Susan moved with her parents to Beeler Station, Marshall County, WV, where she is shown as a 10-year-old in her parents' household, as enumerated in the 1860 federal census. Within a few years, they relocated again, just across the state line into Washington and Greene Counties, PA.

When Susan was age 24, in 1865, she and her sister Kate were admitted to membership of the Enon Baptist Church in West Finley Twp., Washington County, PA. This occurred on Sept. 1, 1865, at a meeting held by "Bro. D.G. Zook," pastor of the church. Her brother Andrew joined the church three years later. These records were published circa 1990 by the church's Historical Committee in the History & Biographical Record of the Enon Baptist Church.

On March 22, 1866, Susan married widower Samuel A. Birch (1833-1907), a native of Washington County, PA. Squire Huston performed the ceremony, held in Greene County. Samuel's first wife, Luretta (Wilson) Birch, had died on Jan. 18, 1861. A record of both of Samuel's marriages is written in faded ink in the old Birch family Bible, seen here.

Susan and Samuel's children were Mary A. Harrison, Catherine Jane "Cassie" Weir, Andrew Jackson Birch, William H. Birch, Nancy Elizabeth Mattox, Ulysses Grant Birch, John Wiley Birch and Rebecca McElfish Miller. Samuel had a son from his previous marriage, Samuel William Birch.

They may have had a son or daughter named Artie Birch, born in 1875, but the only known reference to this individual is in a family Bible, without any context of how he or she fit into the family. In 1898, when Samuel listed his children for the benefit of obtaining a Civil War pension, no one named Artie was listed.

During the war, Samuel enlisted in the 16th PA Cavalry, Co. K, on Aug. 18, 1862, and served as a wagon driver. He stood 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with blue eyes and auburn hair.

In a freak accident, he was injured at Falmouth Street near Bealton Station, VA, on April 15, 1863. He "was thrown from his mule by colliding with two officers that were racing their horses, the mule falling on top of the [soldier], injuring his left hip and ankle, and right arm." A sketch made by a physician is seen here, showing the injured area of the leg.

Eyewitness Theorus D. Garman later reported what he saw:

[While on duty, Samuel] was riding a mule toward or from our camp. The course took him at right angles with a piece of straight road which the officers, both Infantry and Cavalry, were using as a race track. Just as he crossed the track two officers, one of our regiment, came down the road as fast as they could go and ran over him and the mule. The mule and both horses went down and all three men were thrown violently to the ground and injured more or less. Birch was hurt quite badly...

Wagon master Andrew J. Hagerty "helped take the mull off of him." Later, when Samuel "did not want to be sent to the Hospital ... I kept him in the wagon until he could do light duty," Hagerty wrote. "He could drive when on a mule but we would have to assist him on and off." Afterward, Samuel's leg was three inches shorter than the other. Tests later showed he had fractured the top of his left femur and his right wrist.

In July 1863, Samuel was with his regiment at the Battle of Gettysburg, where his name is on the Pennsylvania Monument, seen here. His wife's nephew by marriage, Cyrus Lindley, also is named on the memorial, on the tablet devoted to the

In March and April 1864, Samuel was treated in the Army hospital for measles. He was discharged at Lynchburg, VA, on June 18, 1865 and returned home.

Though force to walk with a cane or crutches, Samuel worked in the postwar years as a day laborer, and became a "prominent farmer" and was "well respected."

Samuel is known to have labored for J.N. Minton, the captain his former Army regiment, and a one-time candidate for Commissioner of Washington County. Samuel is thought to have admired Minton highly and taken part in his funeral. In fact, when Minton died, a parade of "91 vehicles, 228 relatives and friends and 69 old soldiers" escorted the casket to Prosperity Cemetery for burial, according to a news clipping (seen here) found in the old Birch family Bible.

The Birches resided in Greene and Washington Counties, moving frequently. They are known to have lived in Burnsville (1881 -- today known as West Finley), Crows Mills (1883), Prosperity (1887 and 1903), Nineveh (1889), West Union (1892) and Washington, PA (1906).

The photo postcard at right shows the Greene County Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Waynesburg.

W.S. Throckmorton, a physician who examined Samuel in the 1890s, said "his lameness is growing worse and he has become so much of a cripple that perhaps he could not obtain his board for all that he could do," though emphasizing that "he is industrious."

Another surgeon who examined Samuel in 1906 observed the injured area, and wrote: "There is an abnormal condition of the skin of left leg over an area extending from the ankle upward for 7 [inches] and entirely encircling the leg; the skin is scaly, brown, and smooth..." In about 1886, Samuel came down with typhoid fever, which caused his injured leg to itch.

In about 1904, Susan and Samuel moved to Tylerdale near Washington, PA. Then, when Susan suffered a stroke, they moved into the residence of son John on West Wheeling Street in Washington. Susan died there on Dec. 30, 1906.

Sam outlived his wife by nearly one year. He passed away in Washington on Dec. 6, 1907. They are buried at Prosperity Cemetery. Son Andrew applied for and received reimbursement from the government related to his father's medical treatment and burial expenses.

Today, the Birch grave marker at Prosperity stands tall, but unfortunately is nearly illegible. In November 1988, a grand-nephew, the late Edward John Miner, paid his respects, seen at left. An enlarged version of this image was our "Photo of the Month" in February 2006.

Son John Wiley Birch, a candy store owner, was profiled in the 1926 book, History of Washington County, Pa.

In 1935, when widespread research was being done by Susan's Younkin cousins coast to coast, to determine how everyone fit into the massive clan, and to organize a national home-coming reunion, Susan was mentioned in a letter authored by Charles Arthur Younkin. Click to see this letter, dated Feb. 19, 1935. Charles wrote: "I have learned the whereabouts of several of the Farabees also Burches and Bedillions but as yet have not come into contact in person but hope to do so in the near future." It's unknown if Charles was successful in meeting or interviewing any of Susan's children or grandchildren as future letters and records as late as 1940 are silent on the matter.

Susan and Samuel are mentioned in a 2011 book about one of Susan's elder brothers who served in the Civil War -- Well At This Time: the Civil War Diaries and Army Convalescence Saga of Farmboy Ephraim Miner. The book is seen at right. [More]