Bio-Minerd, AliceHoldsworth

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Alice Jane (Minerd) Holdsworth
(1881-1933)

Alice Jane (Minerd) Holdsworth was born on Sept. 27, 1881 at Stauffer near Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA, the son of Charles M. and Sabina (Pierce) Minerd.

On Feb. 1, 1904, 22-year-old Alice married 23-year-old James Clinton Holdsworth Sr. (1883-1923). He was the son of Thomas and Ivy Holdsworth, and born in Allegheny City (now the North Side of Pittsburgh). The ceremony was conducted by Rev. S.G. Gahn in Mt. Pleasant. A copy of their marriage license is on microfilm today at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg.

James was a coal miner at the time of marriage.

Two of their daughters, whose identities are not confirmed, are seen here.

Their five children were James C. Holdsworth Jr., Irene Beam, Margaret Jones Chidester, William Holdsworth and Jean Bentz.

At some point, the Holdsworths relocated to Punxsutawney, Jefferson County, PA, where one of their daughters was born in 1921.

Sadly, James Sr. died in 1923, of causes unknown.

Alice died at age 51 on Nov. 28, 1932, at the Punxsutawney Hospital. Her remains were returned to Mt. Pleasant to the home of brother in law C.M. Metz, a City Councilman, for the funeral. She was buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.

~ Son James Holdsworth Jr. ~

Son James Holdsworth Jr. later moved to Monroe, Monroe County, MI, where he lived with his wife and two daughters. Sadly, during World War II, James died at age 27, possibly in connection with military service, and possibly in Monroe. Additional details of his passing are not known. His remains were returned for burial to the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.

~ Son William Holdsworth ~

Son William Holdsworth also resided at Monroe circa 1931. Monroe is famed as the home of the family of General George Armstrong Custer.

Monroe's Washington Street with its famed statue of General Custer

~ Daughter Jean (Holdsworth) Bentz ~

Daughter Jean Holdsworth (1921-2006) was a registered nurse who graduated from the Indiana School of Nursing, and later worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and then for Connellsville Hospital and Frick Hospital. She married Elmer C. Bentz ( ? -1981) and had two children -- Kathleen Armstrong and Alvin E. Bentz. They resided in Scottdale, Westmoreland County, at some point in time, where she belonged to the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church. Jean passed away in Richmond, VA at age 84 on Feb. 22, 2006. She was laid to rest in the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, with her obituary published in the Greensburg (PA) Tribune-Review.

Click here to learn more about the Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor family's surprisingly intimate connection with the Custers, which was the theme of our 2003 national reunion.