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James
Calvin Minerd Jr. |
James
Calvin Minerd Jr. was born on Aug. 7, 1890 in Dunbar Township, Fayette
County, PA, the son of James C. and Suvina
(Yauger) Minerd Sr. He was one of 15 children, and a veteran of World War I.
Jim married Eliza Hess (1891?-1951), the
daughter of John and Anna Eliza (Hagerty) Hess. They never had any children, but
spent their entire married life in Star Junction, Fayette County.
During World War I, Jim registered for the military draft in 1918, and stated his occupation as carpenter with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He entered the Army, and served with the US Army in Europe as a member of Battery E of the 320th Field Artillery. He later was pictured among many of his cousins in the book, Uniontown's Part in the World War.
Jim worked as a carpenter at several H.C. Frick Coke Co. mines in the Uniontown area -- Buffington, Cardale, York Run, Star Junction (1920s) and perhaps others. A rare old postcard photograph is seen here of the tipple of the Frick mine at York Run.
During Jim's tenure at the Star Junction Mine, it was owned by a group headed by the Cochran family interests, and operated under the name Washington Coal & Coke Co. The plant had a large, buff-colored smoke stack with the initials 'W.C.&C.Co.,' vertically inlaid down the length of its face with fancy black bricks. A nephew recalled that when the H.C. Frick Coke Co. purchased the mine during the Depression, circa 1929, the Minerds wondered how the bricks would be replaced to read 'H.C. Frick.' But Frick's managers decided not to use the stack and tore it down, solving the problem.
During
the ownership transition, the plant was shut indefinitely. Jim worried whether
he would continue to be employed after Frick took over, but he kept his job.
Later, when the mine closed after World War II, Jim was transferred to U.S.
Steel's Clairton Works so he could complete his employment and receive full
pension benefits.
Eliza was a teacher
for many years at the Star Junction
Elementary School, primarily in the years from just before World War I to the
start of World War II. Seen at left, Eliza stands in the back row at top right, with one of her
classes of elementary students. This photograph graces the cover of our 1997 reunion
booklet, A Sense of Wonder.
It's said Jim was a 'great churchman' and enjoyed serving as a deacon and teaching Sunday School at the Star Junction Baptist Church.
In the photo below, Jim (second from right) is seen with his second cousins Calvin Minerd Jr. (second from left) and Larmer A. Minerd (far right) all dressed in their fine suits and hats, and perhaps ready for a day's outing in the automobile. Also in this image is George Garrison (son-in-law of cousin Gertrude Ullery). The photograph is dated 1919, and was found in the collection of a niece of Calvin and Larmer's.
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| James, second from right, with some of his Minerd cousins |
The
photo seen at right shows Jim and Eliza posing at Braddock's Grave,
a French and Indian War site, and a popular tourist stop along the National Highway (US Route 40) near Uniontown.
(For more about our family's important connections with this historic site, click
here.)
Eliza passed away on April 5, 1951. She was age 60.
Jim spent eight years as a widower, and died at Star Junction on April 17, 1959, at the age of 69.
They are buried together at Pleasant View Cemetery in Smock.
Copyright © 2001-2002 Mark A. Miner