Marietta
(Minerd) Crosby
(1870-1912)
Marietta
(Minerd) Crosby was born in 1870 in Bridgeport, near Mt. Pleasant,
Westmoreland County, PA, the daughter of Eli and Mary Ann (Baer)
Minerd.
On Feb. 15, 1887, at age 18, Marietta went to Scottdale, Westmoreland County, to marry her beau, Lewis G. Crosby (1866-1931).
Marietta's
dark wedding dress, fashionable in its day, is seen at right.
The Crosbys lived near Bridgeport. Their eight children were Lucinda Kelly, Lloyd Crosby, Maria "Mattie" Bowman, James Crosby, Alice Fehr, Richard Eli Crosby, Eathol M. Crosby and Francis Yelaine Crosby.
Lewis worked as a master mechanic at the Buckeye Mine of the H.C. Frick Coke Co. circa 1910. His son Francis once said, "All Dad knew was eat, sleep, work."
As her family got larger almost every year, Marietta was sickly and often unable to provide proper care. Her eldest daughter Lucinda carried much of the responsibility for raising the children.
In May 1912, the Crosbys moved to a new home in Stauffer, near Mt. Pleasant. Eldest daughter Lucinda, in a penny postcard to her cousin Lula (Stairs) Swift, wrote: "We got moved last Wednesday but we have got lots of work to do. We have such a dirty house and every room has to be papered and painted..." Writing to Lula in June 1911, Lucinda confided:
Mama is sick to day. Her heart is so bad. Lulu you will have to excuse this dirty card. I am run out of cards. Will you and Bessie send James a card Sat June 10. He will be 14 year old.
On Feb. 1, 1911, Lucinda wrote: "Mama isn't any better." On March 7, 1912, Lucinda wrote: "Mama is better and so are the kids and I am glad of it. I am washing today and I haven't a very nice day for it."
Sometime
in the early 1900s, Lewis and Marietta attended a Crosby reunion at Iron Bridge,
near Mt. Pleasant. Seen here are Lewis (left) and Marietta (right)
with Marietta's sister Mattie Stairs
in the center. Note the streaks of premature grey in her hair. The full photograph is seen at the bottom of this
biography.
Marietta
apparently knew how to sew, and used her talent to make inexpensive but
thoughtful gifts for the family. Just after Christmas 1911, she made a doll's
hood for the young daughter of her niece Lula.
It was to be Marietta's last Christmas.
In 1912, Marietta lay deathly ill in her Buckeye home, coughing violently. Her son recalled that "They said you could hear her out on the road." She passed away that August, though the specific date is not yet known. She was laid to rest at Greenlick Cemetery near Bridgeport.
Eldest daughter Lucinda took over many of her mother's responsibilities, and helped raise the younger children.
Lewis may have married again, to Lucinda (?), as evidenced by the 1920 census listing of Westmoreland County.
After a fall at the Morewood Mines of the Frick coke works, Lewis retired in March 1931, having completed 46 years of service at the mine. He was a master mechanic at the time. A newspaper article noted that he had been "in very poor health for the past five months." He only lived for six more months. He died at the age of 64 on Sept. 6, 1931. The Connellsville Courier said he had been ill ever since he had received his pension. He is buried beside his wife at Greenlick Cemetery.
Crosby Reunion at Iron Bridge near Mt. Pleasant, PA
Copyright © 2000-2001, 2005 Mark A. Miner