Arthur
Ralph
"Buck" Minerd
(1896-1952)
Arthur
Ralph "Buck" Minerd was born on March 23, 1896 at Atlas near
Uniontown, Fayette County, PA, the son of Charles
B. and Ada (Tressler) Minerd.
Arthur was married to Elizabeth Porten and Audrey Dolores Barnhart.
Arthur is known to have had these children -- Andrew Hershel Minerd, Thomas "Hershel" Minerd, Betty Minerd, James Minerd, Eugene Minerd, Mark Minerd, Max Minerd and Arthur R. Minerd Jr.
Sadly, son Max died at age eight of heart trouble. Son Andrew also is believed to have passed away at a young age.
Apparently Arthur injured his hand as a teenager, requiring medical care. In a January 1912 letter by his sister Bertha Pringle, she wrote: "Arthur's hand is a doing fine. The Dr. dresses it every other day."
From 1916 to 1919, Arthur lived at a number of
coal mining towns in and around Uniontown, an indication of how scarce jobs were
at that time. His residences included Searights, Hopwood, Mount Sterling,
Plummer, Vances Mill, High House, Revere, Puritan, Masontown and Martin, all in
Fayette County.
Arthur registered for the World War I military draft in 1918, and stated his occupation as a a coal hauler for the Taylor Coal & Coke Company of Searight, Fayette County. On the registration card, perhaps referring to his childhood injury, he wrote that the first finger on his right hand was deformed.
During the 1950s, Arthur and family lived at Rocks Works near Masontown, Fayette County.
Tragedy struck on May 27, 1952, when Arthur and his nephew William
Minerd, age 20, were killed
in an automobile accident. (William was the son of Harry
and Mary [Blair] Minerd.) The men were on
their way to work on the Robert Donley farm near Greensboro. The Uniontown
Morning Herald said that in a thick fog, their car "crashed headon into a heavy coal truck on Route 88 at the outskirts of
Greensboro... The impact was so great that the Minerd car was demolished."
The vehicle, a 1948 Oldsmobile, is seen at left.
Son Thomas "Hershel" Minerd (1920-1963) was a construction worker and lived in Chicago and Detroit, before returning to Uniontown. Tragedy struck again on March 8, 1963, when he died of heart disease.
Former granddaughter-in-law Rhonda Minerd was a notary public in the community of Lemont Furnace near Uniontown.
Copyright © 2000, 2002-2003, 2005, 2008 Mark A. Miner