Elizabeth
(Minerd)
Long-Gallentine
(1838-1911)
Elizabeth
(Minerd) Long-Gallentine was born on Dec. 3, 1838 in Hexebarger near
Kingwood, Somerset County, PA, the only child of Jacob
and Rachel (Ansell) Minerd III. She survived two husbands during her
lifetime.
Elizabeth
grew up in a two-story log house near the old Bethel Church of God in Hexebarger.
The image seen at right is a tintype believed to depict Elizabeth, and was found in an old photograph album of her son William.
In 1859, when she was 21, Elizabeth married 32-year-old George Long Jr. (1827-1872), the son of George and Margaret Long Sr. Their children were James Long, Rachel Ruamy Pritts, Susannah Phalitia "Anna" Kooser and William Jacob Long. Sadly, in 1862, son James died, only a few months old.
George as a young man must have had great interest in music, likely in connection with church worship. On Aug. 28, 1853, at age 26, he purchased a copy of The Christian Minstrel, authored by J.B. Aiken. The volume was "a new system of musical notation, with a collection of psalm tunes, anthems, and chants, selected from the most popular works in Europe and America." The book measures 10 inches by six inches, and weighs 1.5 lbs. The heirloom was handed down to four successive generations in the family and today is preserved in the Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives.
Records in the Fayette County courthouse in Uniontown, PA show that George and his brother Enoch Long jointly borrowed money in 1863 from George's father in law, Jacob Minerd III. The Long brothers received a loan again in 1864 from Elizabeth's unmarried aunt, Susannah Ansell.
Above, The Christian Minstrel book of 1853
Among the items in their household were a cooking stove and pots, copper kettle, iron kettle, wash tub, churn and butter tub, 24-hour clock, silver watch and fallen leaf table. They also had a bed and bedding, chest, three coverlets, dishes, spinning wheel and reel, four chairs, side saddle and bridle, crocks and jars, weaver loom and a cow.
Seen at left is an old hymnal belonging to Elizabeth and George. It was
published in 1855 in Baltimore by the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church. It
is unknown whether the Longs at that time belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran
Church, or to the German Reformed Church. In the 1800s, both denominations often
worshipped in the same church, at different times, and shared precious resources
such as hymnals. On one of the pages, a "Table of Hymns," there
is a statement that the hymns are "Translated from the German." The
book
is so small that it easily fits into the palm of one's hand. Click
to see other pages from this rare, precious publication, preserved today in
the Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives.
Tragedy
struck the Longs after 13 years of marriage. While helping a neighbor build a
barn, in the dead of winter, George caught pneumonia, and passed away on Feb. 3,
1872. He was only age 45. His grave marker
in the Normalville Cemetery, seen here, was somewhat legible when
photographed in August 1992. As a symbol of his Christian faith, a carved finger
and hand in the center of the monument point upward, toward the heavens.
George's brother Enoch Long served as administrator of the estate, selling assets, paying debts and collecting IOUs. [Note -- two of Enoch's daughters married Harbaughs -- Elizabeth Long (1869-1952), who married Robert Bacom Harbaugh Sr., and Barbara Long (1866-1937), who married John Harbaugh.]
At Elizabeth's suggestion, her father Jacob was appointed guardian for her three young children -- Rachel, Susanna and William. Jacob served in this role for 30 years, until 1903, by which time the wards had become adults.
Daughters Rachel and Susanna made news in 1879 when they helped their school, East Springfield, beat West Overton School in a spelling contest, where they were asked "to spell twenty-two pages in the 'Henderson Test Speller;' one page each day, each pupil to write the words and then correct them, and report the number missed."
In
1886, Elizabeth bought outright her father's farm near Normalville. She resided there for many years. The home later was purchased by her son in law, John
B. Pritts, where he and wife Rachel raised a large family.
In about 1900,
Elizabeth married her longtime neighbor, friend and widower James M. Gallentine.
His first wife, Rebecca
(Miller) Gallentine, had died on June 21,
1898, at the age of 65, of kidney disease. Thus James brought five adult
children to his marriage to Elizabeth -- William Gallentine, Fanny Kooser,
Thomas Gallentine, George Gallentine and Elmer Gallentine. The youngest, Elmer,
lived in Decatur County, KS.
Heartache struck yet again in 1903 when teenage grandson Hammond Kooser died in Wellsville, OH.
James passed away on May 14, 1908. He was laid to rest in the Normalville Cemetery. Of the physical assets in the estate, Elizabeth chose to retain two hogs, a cooking stove and tea kettle, a butter churn, one rocking chair and lamp, a windmill, and one sheep and four lambs. In total, these assets were valued at $44.00.
At death, James owed debts totaling more than $1,800, including IOUs to his son George, daughter Fanny and her husband Frank Kooser, and son Elmer. There was a controversy over one of the promissory notes, where it appears one of James' sons (George) had forged the very large amount of $643 as a debt owed him. Both widow Elizabeth and her son William J. Long testified in court, with Elizabeth stating that he had seen George give James $50 in cash, with James then commenting, "I owe George $150." George testified that he on behalf of his father, he had bought sheep, paid for physician's bills, bought a cooking stove, and sold a share of the family farm. Daughter Fanny also brought suit against the estate for nursing her mother in sickness in the late 1890s.
On Dec. 3, 1910, Elizabeth celebrated her 73rd birthday, having recently moved into the home of her son William Long in Connellsville. She received a "Happy Birthday" greeting card from her young granddaughter, Mary Kooser, who was living at the time in East Liverpool, Columbiana County, OH.
The following year, for Elizabeth's birthday, daughter Susan Kooser, now residing in Columbus, Franklin County, OH, sent a card depicting a scene on Columbus's West High Street, with a brief note: "Mother, I am right on this street now."
Daughter
Susan sent a postal card in late August 1911, from East Liverpool, to where she
must have returned after a short stay in Columbus. She wrote: "Forgive me
for being so slow answering. I had broke my glasses and can't see to write at
all without them. Will write you a letter in a few days. We are all well. Hope
you are all the same."
The front of the card is seen at right.
On Dec. 2, 1911, the day before her 74th birthday, Elizabeth died in the home of her daughter Rachel Pritts in Normalville. Her obituary was published in the Daily Courier, which said she was an "aged resident of Springfield Township." She was laid to rest beside her husbands at Normalville Cemetery.
Copyright © 2000-2001, 2005-2007 Mark A. Miner