Emma
Jane
(Minerd) Geiger
(1864-1929)
Emma Jane (Minerd) Geiger was born
on April 6, 1864, presumably in Connellsville, Fayette County, PA, the daughter of William
and Elizabeth (Rankin) Minerd. She and her sister
Mary "Belle" Lowe were twins.
When the federal census was taken in 1870, Emma and Belle were shown to be six-year-olds residing in their widowed mother's household in Dunbar Twp., near Connellsville.
At age 16, when the census was enumerated in 1880, Emma did not live at home, but rather worked as a servant in the household of N.F. and Osta Sanford, in Dunbar Township No. 1, Fayette County. Sanford was superintendent of a local work works.
On
May 17, 1882, while living in Connellsville, Fayette County, Emma married George W. Geiger
Sr. in
a ceremony performed by Rev. J.F. Dyer. The wedding was reported in the Connellsville
Keystone Courier, the forerunner to today's Daily Courier newspaper.
Emma and George are believed to have settled in Johnstown, Cambria County, PA. There, they raised their three children -- Ardella Vickers Mottie, George W. Geiger Jr. and William Edward Geiger.
A granddaughter once said that Emma was "the sweetest old lady that you ever would want to meet" and was very kind to children. Other records hint that she was anemic, and had been so for most of her life.
Emma and George and their children moved to Charleston, Kanawha County, WV, along the Kanawha River, probably about 1909.
Old postcard of a boat landing on the river in Charleston
Sadly, George died at the tail end of August or in very early September 1914. He was just 53 years of age. The cause of his death is not known, but will be added here when learned. George was laid to rest on Sept. 3 in the Geiger family plot at Springhill Cemetery in Charleston.
Emma outlived her husband by 15 years. In
1923, she resided in Charleston, and was mentioned in the obituary of her
brother, James Valentine Minerd, of Dunbar,
Fayette County, PA. Her address was 1313 Washington Street.
She passed away at the age of 65, in Mountain State Hospital in Charleston, on Oct. 14, 1929. A family Bible, now in the possession of a great-granddaughter, records the date of Emma's passing. The cause of her death was given as "pernicious anemia." After a funeral held in her home, she was buried beside her husband. A short funeral notice was published in the Charleston Gazette on consecutive days -- and is found today on microfilm in West Virginia University's "West Virginia Collection."
Oddly,
Emma's death certificate shows her father to have been "Finton Minord"
and mother as "Dalla Sheets." Research has not found these names
anywhere in our family, but the question is being researched at a deeper level.
It is possible that her son William, who provided the information for the
document, and who would not have known his grandparents, was in error. However,
more will be added to this biography when known.
The Geiger family plot is seen at left as photographed by a descendant in the summer of 2005. Cemetery records show that others who rest for eternity in the plot are William E. Vickers (1913), William Edward Geiger (1955), Francis H. Watlington (1947), George Cabot Vickers (1965) and Edward Cabot Vickers (1975).
For more information, contact great-granddaughters Donna Borchers or Trina Abbate.
Copyright
© 2000, 2004-2006 Mark A. Miner.
Geiger grave photographs provided by Trina (Hale) Abbate.