James
Minerd Sr.
(1815-1877)
James
Minerd Sr. was born in 1815 in Fayette County, PA, one of 15 children of
Henry and
Hester (Sisler) Minerd. He was one of the earliest iron-industry
laborers in our clan.
In the mid-1830s, James married Sarah Walters (1821-1901). She was born in July 1821. The names of her parents are not known.
They had 11 children -- Minerva Inks, James Minerd Jr., William Minerd, Hester Ann Rankin, Isaac F. Minerd, Calvin Minerd Sr., Mary Whetzel, Mariah Jane Whetzel, Sarah Emily Minerd, Morris Minerd and Margaret A. Minerd. Sarah gave birth to their eldest daughter in 1837, at the tender age of 16.
The Minerds resided at Farmington, Wharton Furnace and Chalk Hill, PA.
At
the time of the births of their children, no public records were kept, and there
were church records of their births. Son Isaac once testified that "the
family Bible or family record, in which the births & deaths of the family
was recorded, was destroyed about [1888]."
James worked at Wharton Furnace (seen here), which was a short distance from the National Highway (today's Route 40), but down at the bottom of a steep valley. Uniontown historian Walter 'Buzz' Storey has called it the "last of the small furnaces to be built." The Minerds may have resided there in worker housing, and at least three sons are known to have been born there between 1840 and 1847.
With his sons as helpers, James is said to have driven six-mule teams and hauled iron ingots (and possibly Civil War cannonballs) along the National Highway through Uniontown and thence westward to the river town of Brownsville, Fayette County, PA, where they were shipped by river to Pittsburgh. It's believed that James' brothers Samuel and John also may have labored at the furnace, burning charcoal and hauling iron away in the days before railroads.
One of the last ingots
produced at the furnace, seen here, today is on display at the site. Wharton
Furnace was built in 1837-1839 by congressman Andrew Stewart. According
to a plaque at the preserved ruins of the furnace, the charcoal iron furnace
"was first fired in 1839 and remained in operation until 1873." The
furnace, however, is known to have been idle from 1856 to 1858, and then from
the early 1860s to 1870, forcing laborers such as the Minerds to find other
employment. "Ore and coal are plenty, but the distance, over bad roads, to
haul the metal is the great trouble in running the Wharton Furnace," said
Franklin Ellis' 1882 History of Fayette County. A history by M. Hayes
Liston states that it was "believed to have been the last iron furnace to
operate along the slopes of Chestnut Ridge in the Allegheny Mountains."
James also worked as a coal miner circa 1860. During the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, three sons and one son in law served in the Union Army, with three coming home with war wounds.
Wharton Furnace was restored and dedicated in 1962,
sponsored by the Fort Necessity Lions Club
Little is known about Sarah, although according
to her obituary, she "was always a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church."
In 1873, James is believed to be the same man who filed a lawsuit against the business partners of Stewart Furnace Company -- Edward C. Pechin, Maurice Haley (or "Healy"), John McCleavey and J.H. Bramwell. He sued them over an unpaid $114.75 debt. The outcome of the case is unknown. Pechin also is known to have been president of the Dunbar Iron Company circa 1866, and he, Healy and C.E. Swearingen also leased Wharton Furnace in its declining years circa 1870.
James died on April 3, 1877, at the age of 61 years, 6 months and 11 days. He is buried at Hopwood Cemetery under a still-legible pylon marker, seen here, near the grave of his father.
Sarah survived James by nearly a quarter of a century. In 1900, she was living in the residence of her eldest daughter Minerva Inks in Wharton Twp.
She died on Feb. 10, 1901, at Juniataville, near Uniontown, PA. Her death was caused by "general debility, the result of old age..., having been ill for two years," said a local newspaper. Her burial site is unknown, but
Copyright © 2000-2005 Mark A. Miner