Bio-Minerd, PearlMillward

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Pearl A. (Minerd) Millward
(1885-1964)

Pearl A. (Minerd) Millward was born the day after Christmas 1885 in Dunbar, Fayette County, PA, the daughter of Huston D. and Mollie (Kissinger) Minerd. Her husband Harry, seen here, was a leader for 35 years in the coal and coke industries of Western Pennsylvania.

As a young girl, Pearl and her parents and older sister Julia moved to Pittsburgh, where her father is thought to have worked as a blacksmith in the steel mills. Tragedy struck in 1897, when Julia, age 14, died of typhoid fever.

When the federal census was taken in 1900, when Pearl was 15, she and her parents were residing at 1211 Wiley Avenue in Pittsburgh.

On Nov. 18, 1908, Pearl married Harry Oscar Millward (1885-1951), the son of David Bradburn and Anna Rebecca (Mortimer) Millward of Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA. The ceremony took place at the Central Christian Church in Pittsburgh, by the hand of Rev. Charles Lloyd Thurgood.

The Millwards had five children -- David Bradburn Millward, Mary Gaddis, William Henry Millward, Helen Alice King, Pearl Charlotte Millward and Virginia Ruth Johnson. Sadly, in 1918, infant daughter Pearl passed away.

Four years before marriage, in 1904, Harry completed studies with International Correspondence Schools of Scranton, PA in the subject of "Complete Coal Mining." Then in 1908, Harry passed an examination allowing him to become a mine foreman. By the time of their marriage, Harry was a "fire boss" at a coal mine and resided at Brier Hill, Fayette County. He went on to become superintendent of the Filbert Mine of the H.C. Frick Coke Co. Later, he became the company's chief mine inspector, serving in this position for 29 years. He was a member of a number of lodges as well as the Coal Mining Institute of America.

The coke ovens at Leckrone

The Millwards resided in the patch town of Leckrone, Fayette County. They were members of the Asbury Methodist Church, and Pearl belonged to the Laurette Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star.

Harry retired at age 59, in about 1945, due to what is believed to have been an extended illness. He passed away at home on April 22, 1951, at the age of 66. His funeral was held at the Minerd Funeral Home in Uniontown. As a measure of his wide circle of friends, Harry;s pallbearers included J.A. Boyle, Thomas McIntyre, M.B. Girod, Walter Cunningham, Walter Kuntz and Thomas Mullan. Honorary pallbearers were John L. Sullivan, Clay F. Lynch, Charles J. Pisula, Edward Wilkinson, Herbert Knapp, J.V. Brothers, A.B. Gault, Clyde Smith, W.B. Beerbower, Frank Miller and Buell B. Whitehill.

In her later years, Pearl moved into the home of her married daughter Mary Gaddis in Clearfield, PA. She died there at age 78, on March 14, 1964. Her remains were brought back to Uniontown for burial at Oak Grove Cemetery. Her funeral also was held at the Minerd Funeral Home.

Son David Bradburn Millward held leading positions within the coal mining industry. Said the Uniontown Herald Standard, he was "a life member of the Coal Mining Inspectors Institute of America, he was also a member of the National Mine Rescue Association, a past president of the Moshannon Coal Mining Institute of the Mine North Central Safety Association and of the Mine Inspectors Advisory Association. Active in his community, he also was chairman of the Commission of Education and Counsel of Ministries; treasurer of the Moshannon Shrine Club; treasurer of the Chester Hill Borough Council; and secretary of the Philipsburg-Osceola Joint School Authority. In September 1960, he participated in the 18th annual Pennsylvania State Bituminous First Aid Contest at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, PA. The program booklet for the context -- seen here and preserved in our family archives -- contains his name as a member of the Team and Judges Registration Committee. Ironically, serving on the General Committee for that same event was Joseph "Jock" Yablonski, a leader in the United Mine Workers union in the 1950s and '60s who was murdered in his home in 1969 by assassins hired by UMW president W.A. "Tony" Boyle, a political opponent.