Sarah "Emily" (Minerd) Smith was born on March 20, 1858 in Hopwood, Fayette County, PA, one of 11 children of James and Sarah (Walters) Minerd Sr. 

In about 1872, when she was 14 years of age, Emily married 15-year-old James H. Smith (Feb. 28, 1857-1928), son of Edward and Elizabeth (Dyblebliss) Smith.

The Smiths produced at least three children, Sarah E. Smith, Noah Allen Smith and one other. All three died young during the years between 1880 and 1900.

Seven years into their marriage, in about 1879, the Smiths relocated to the Jimtown coke works near Dawson, Fayette County. They spent the remainder of their lives in Jimtown, where James labored as a coal miner and blacksmith. 

The federal census of 1880 shows the young family living in Dawson.

Bird's eye view of Dawson, from an old color-tinted postcard

By 1900, John was employed as a blacksmith in the Dawson area, and all three of their children were deceased. The census of 1910 shows that James was established in his own blacksmith shop in Dawson.

At the age of 59, on March 28, 1917, Emily died after throwing a blood clot which led to a "cardiac embolism." Reported the Connellsville Daily Courier, "As she was about to retired for the night, Mrs. Emily Smith ... fell over dead on the bed last night about 9 o'clock, heart failure being the cause of her death." 

Following a funeral led by Rev. W.B. Purnell of the Dawson Presbyterian Church, and Rev. H.A. Baum of the Cochran Church, she was laid to rest in the Cochran Cemetery in Dawson near what today is the famed Linden Hall estate. Her husband was the informant on her death certificate. Among others who are interred at Cochran Cemetery are her uncle and aunt, Henry and Barbara (Minerd) McKnight. 

Her obituary in the Uniontown Daily News Standard reported she had died from "a complication of diseases" and was survived by her husband. It also noted that "Mrs. Smith was born in Hopwood, her maiden name being Minerd."

In an interesting irony, directly above Emily's obituary in the Daily Courier was the obituary of a cousin, Margaret Minerd of Ohiopyle, Fayette County.

James outlived his wife by 11 years. He married again to Katherine ( ? - ? ). They made a home in Brushwood near Uniontown.

Stricken with an enlarged heart and an appendix infected with gangrene, at the age of 73, James was admitted to the Uniontown Hospital. He died there on Aug. 21, 1928. Funeral services were held in the home of Henry King on Lenox Street, and burial was in Dawson. A short obituary was published in the Uniontown Morning Herald. Their graves are not known to be marked.

Cochran Cemetery in Dawson

~ Daughter Sarah E. Smith ~

Daughter Sarah E. Smith (1875- ? ) was born in about 1875 in or around Dawson. 

She was deceased by 1900.

~ Son Noah Allen Smith ~

Son Noah Allen Smith (1879- ? ) was born in about 1879 near Dawson. 

He died sometime before the year 1900.

Copyright © 2014, 2019 Mark A. Miner