George
Henry Minerd
(1845-1933)
George Henry Minerd was born in 1845 in Hopwood, Fayette County, PA, the youngest son of Henry and Hester (Sisler) Minerd. He was an early railroader in our family.
In
1870, the Uniontown (PA) Genius of Liberty reported that while employed at the
Tyrone Mine, George "had his left wrist dislocated ... while shifting
cars." Four years later, the Genius said that he was working
as a brakeman on the P.&C. Railroad, and "had his hand crushed at
siding, near Valley Works... [while] coupling cars. He was taken to
Fountain Mills [Everson, PA]. Will probably lose his hand."
Ohio's Western Reserve Democrat once said that George "spent most of his life in the employ of the B. & O. Railroad company." In about 1890, George must have been transferred to the B&O's Pittsburgh yards, where he worked as a railroad switchman.
George did not marry until in middle age. About the time that he moved to Pittsburgh, he married Eva (McKinney) Evans (1844-1921), the daughter of William and Mary McKinney, and the widow of William J. Evans Sr.
George thus became an instant step-father to Eva's five children -- Frank Evans, John David Evans, William J. Evans Jr., Cora Evans and Alice M. Virtue.
Sprawling Pittsburgh of George and Eva's era
The Pittsburgh City Directory of 1895 shows George's occupation as railroad "switchman." In 1897, the Minerds bought a house on McKee (now Musgrave) Street near Greenfield School in Pittsburgh.
The Minerds resided there until 1911, when they sold the house and moved to West Farmington, Trumbull County, OH -- George was age 66 and may have gone there on assignment for the railroad, or he may have retired around that time. West Farmington is near the towns of Champion and Leavittsburg, Warren County, where the families of two of George's first cousins resided -- Joseph Miner and Jacob Minor -- though it's not known whether he had any sort of relationship with them.
While in West Farmington in mid-April 1914, said the Warren (OH) Daily Tribune, Eva "received word ... of the death of her sister at Pittsburg."
In
September 1920, Eva came down with a serious case of tuberculosis affecting her
heart. Sadly, on
Feb. 15, 1921, she died at the home of her
daughter Alice Virtue at 800 Anaheim Street in Pittsburgh. Son John
immediately purchased a single grave for her at the prestigious Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. The
receipt, seen here, shows that John paid $50 for the plot.
Widowed after 30-plus years of marriage, George continued to reside in West Farmington. During an interview in the mid-1990s, his elderly grand-niece Anna Belle (Van Dyke) Breegle recalled coming to visit him in his declining years. George befriended her young son and promised him a dog.
During his years as a widower, George is thought to have had a lady friend, Ruth Fischel, also of West Farmington.
As
he neared his 89th birthday, George died in West Farmington, on April 21, 1933.
He was laid to rest in the Hillside Cemetery in West Farmington, and is buried there in an
unmarked grave in Lot 143 that was purchased at the time of his death by Ruth
Fischel. She also was the informant for his death certificate.
A rare old postcard photograph of Hillside Cemetery is seen here.
Ruth later may have married a man named Hansen and resided on Route 1 in Rome, OH. In 1974, she wrote to the cemetery trustees asking for verification of the precise location of George's grave. She died on Feb. 25, 1975. Later, ownership of the lot was transferred to Irene Yanovich of Greenville, PA.
Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2006 Mark A. Miner