Mary Jane (Minerd) Miller
(1857- ? )
Mary Jane (Minerd) Miller was born in January 1857 near Farmington, Fayette County, PA, the daughter of Jesse and Sarah (Smalley) Minerd.
She was but a young girl of four years of age when her father was tragically killed in an accident. Her mother then married Frederick Nicolay, and raised the children in the Nicolay home, but Mary Jane retained her "Minerd" surname.
Very little is known of her life.
Mary Jane married George B. Miller (1858- ? ) in about 1878. They resided in Uniontown, Fayette County in the early 1900s. When the federal census was taken in 1900, George was employed as a nurse. Son Joseph worked as a clerk in a confectionary store, while son Haddon was an apprentice painter.
Seen
here is a rare old photographic postcard of Uniontown, showing a bird's eye
view of Morgantown Street.
The Millers had at least four children -- Joseph Miller, Haddon Miller, Frank Miller and Helen Miller. The elder two sons were twins, born in August 1881.
The July 15, 1898 edition of the Connellsville (PA) Courier reported that Haddon and Joseph had spent the past Sunday visiting at the home of their unmarried aunt, Margaret Minerd, in Ohiopyle.
Mary Jane is believed to have died sometime between 1915 and 1924. She was last known to be alive in 1915 when mentioned in the newspaper obituary of her sister Sabina Minerd. She was not living in 1924 at the time of death of her sister, Hannah Maria (Minerd) Gaither.
George's fate has not yet been learned.
At age 22, son Hadden Miller (1881- ? ) worked as a printer in Uniontown. He married Mabel McCloy (1888- ? ). They had a son George "Raymond" Miller and daughters Ruth Miller and Mabel R. Miller. When the census was taken in 1920, Hadden was employed as a printer in the newspaper office of the Uniontown Morning Herald. (Cousin Samuel Benton Walls also is known to have been a printing press operator at the Herald during that era.) In 1930, the census shows that he continued his work as a newspaper printer, and 26-year-old son Raymond worked as a moving picture operator. At some point, Hadden moved to Steelton, Dauphin County, PA, while Raymond married and moved to Maysville, Mason County, KY. In March 1949, Hadden and Raymond visited in Uniontown, staying at the White Swan Hotel.
The story of twin son Joseph Miller (1881- ? ) is lost to history.
The fate of son Frank Miller (1887- ? ) is not known. Likewise, the fate of daughter Helen Miller (1890- ? ) is lost to history, but will be reported here when learned.
Copyright © 2005, 2008 Mark A. Miner