Martha
'Mattie'
(Minerd) Stairs
(1863-1931)
Martha
Jane 'Mattie' (Minerd) Stairs was born on Nov. 6, 1863 in Bridgeport, near
Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA, the daughter of Eli
and Mary Ann (Baer) Minerd.
'Mattie' married Lehman Garner Stairs (1860-1930), a native of Somerset County, PA. They lived near Mt. Pleasant.
Their eight children were Clarence
Garner Stairs, Lula Swift, Clyde L.
Stairs, Ray Clayton Stairs, Bessie Mae
Hanson-Brady-Wierbacki,
Charles M. Stairs, Pearl Nora Sonavec and
Earl Norman Stairs. Sadly,
son Charles is thought to have died in childhood, at age three.
Sometime in the early 1900s, Mattie went with her sister Marietta Crosby to a Crosby family reunion held in Iron Bridge, near Mt. Pleasant. The event may have been held at the home of Eli and Liz Crosby. Seen here, Mattie is at left, while Marietta (with baby) is at right.
Lehman's employment is unknown. However, in 1911, daughter Bess sent a penny postcard to her sister Lula, reporting family news: "Papa has been working all week since Wed. Thursday night he didn't get home till 12 o'clock. He went away to stay all night but changed his mind."
Tragedy rocked the family in March 1924, when son Ray, who was married and had two young sons, died of burns suffered in a gasoline explosion at an oil facility near Mt. Pleasant. Son Earl, also caught in the blast, fortunately recovered.
Lehman
died in Mt. Pleasant on April 26, 1930.
A year later, on March 27, 1931, Mattie died at home on North Diamond Street, having suffered a stroke. She was buried with her husband at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
Copyright © 2000-2001 Mark A. Miner