Bartholomew A.
"Beth" Minerd
(1881-1962)
Bartholomew
A. "Beth" Minerd was born on Sept. 25, 1881 in Dunbar, Fayette County, PA,
the son of James Valentine and Nancy (Warman)
Fuller Minerd. He was a longtime public official in Fayette County.
As a 24-year-old, Beth played baseball for the Dunbar Furnace team. In a July 1905 game against Mt. Braddock, he led off with a double, and scored on the next batter's triple.
On Oct. 4, 1906, Beth married Mollie M. Holland (1883-1955) at Otto, near Glassport, Allegheny County, PA. They had at least two children -- James J. Minerd and Mina "Minnie" Markey.
At the time of marriage, Beth was employed as a coal miner. In 1910, they lived in Hempfield Twp., Westmoreland County, PA, where he worked as a cutter in a coal mine.
Beth registered for the World War I military draft in 1918, and stated his occupation as a miner for the H.C. Frick Coke Company at Brownfield.
During the 1930s, they resided at Little Brownfield, Fayette County, where he was justice of the peace for 20 years.
During the 1930s, Beth and Mollie resided at Little Brownfield, Fayette County. During that time, their son James enlisted in the US Army, and was stationed for two years at Fort Sherman in Panama. Discharged as a corporal, James returned home to Little Brownfield, near Uniontown, in September 1937.
In the 1953-1957 era, the Minerds lived at Shady Grove, near Uniontown.
Beth's one-room justice of the peace office burned to the ground on Feb. 28, 1933, when a fire swept through the nearby idle Revere coal mine and plant of the W.J. Rainey coal company. The Uniontown Herald-Genius said that "For a period of several hours a roaring inferno threatened to completely wipe out the mining town of several hundred houses." The company supply store, a chemical laboratory, and the Revere Post Office also were destroyed, and collective damages were estimated to be upwards of $30,000.
During the winter of 1938, Beth filed a lawsuit against the estate of the late Alonzo Childs, seeking to recover more than $2,000. According to the Connellsville Daily Courier, Beth alleged that in June 1932, he and Mollie "entered into a written agreement with Childs ... whereby they were to feed, clothe and care for the latter during his lifetime and, in return, as a consideration, were to receive a certain tract of land in South Union township. The agreement continued in effect until March 13, 1935, when, it is alleged, Childs left the farm and refused to accept the care and support proffered by the plaintiffs. Childs then demanded the possession of his property and on Dec. 17, 1935, the Minerds vacated the premises. Childs died Jan. 29, 1937."
Their son, Sgt. James Minerd, served in England during World War II.
Mollie died in 1955. Afterward, Beth moved to
Canton, OH, to be near his son's family. In late 1961, at age 80, he moved into
his son's home.
Just six months later, on May 6, 1962, said the Canton Repository, Beth passed away in mysterious circumstances. His "body was found ... in an old strip mine near the home of his son..." The coroner "ruled natural causes...," and Beth's remains were returned to Pennsylvania for burial.
Beth rests beside Mollie at Christ Lutheran Chapel near Chalk Hill, PA. Daughter Mina Markey (1908-1949) is buried there also.
Son James lived in Canton for many years and married Lea Nycum.
Copyright © 2000-2001, 2006, 2008 Mark A. Miner