Andrew
Minerd
(1867-1919)
Andrew Minerd was
born in Fayette County, PA in 1867, the son of John
V.S. and Elizabeth (Livingston) Minerd. He is one of many of our cousins
known to have been killed at work in a coal, coke or steel-related accident.
On Nov. 27, 1896, at Uniontown, PA, Andrew married Anna Venetta Kissinger (1872-1959). Their children were Hershall Minerd, Venetta P. Sawyer and two who died as infants.
The combination of heartache and abuse was the story of the marriage. The Uniontown Daily News Standard of Feb. 9, 1903 reported that one of their infant daughters had died of whooping cough during an "epidemic of sickness [that] prevails about town among children."
They
lived at Dunbar, Connellsville, Vanderbilt and McKeesport, PA. Seen here
is a rare old postcard photo of Connellsville,
Sadly, the marriage was rocky from the start. Later, in her divorce papers, Anna accused Andrew of excessive drinking, abusive behavior, vile language and abandonment. On four different occasions, she said, she had him arrested.
In November 1907, she finally left their home in McKeesport, and went to Glenwood, near Pittsburgh, likely to be with her son Hershel. Andrew then countered by moving to Strickler, Westmoreland County, PA. Their divorce was granted by the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in 1909.
A
year later, Andrew was living with his sister Minnie
McKnight
and her son Robert McKnight in Uniontown. It's thought that Andrew and his
nephew worked together in the mines.
Circa 1918, they resided at 427 Elizabeth Street in Pittsburgh.
Tragedy struck on Aug. 15, 1919, when Andrew was killed at the Allison Mine. The Uniontown Daily News Standard reported that Andrew, "a veteran miner of the coke region was crushed between a rib and the side of his car in the Allison mines. ... while enroute to the pit at the close of his working day. [He] was instantly killed. The car jumped the track, it is said."
Anna later married a man named Collins. When the federal census was taken in 1930, Anna and her son Hershell made their home together in Bullskin Township, north of Connellsville. Just four doors away were Hershell's cousins Mariah (Minerd) Whetzel and Larmer Arthur Minerd.
Anna
he was a member of the First Methodist
Church of Pittsburgh and a member of the Hazelwood Chapter of the Eastern Star.
She died in Connellsville on Dec. 16, 1959, and is buried at Allegheny County
Memorial Park in Allison Park, PA. She rests in an unmarked grave beside
her son Hershal and daughter Venetta.
Copyright © 2000-2001, 2008 Mark A. Miner