Stephen
T. Minerd
(1870-1951)
Stephen
T. Minerd was born on Jan. 7 or 17, 1870 in Barbour County, WV, the son of Ruth
Ann (Minerd) Kennedy. He was raised by his grandparents, Jacob
and Ruth (Adams) Minerd. While Stephen told his children that his father was
"Edward Minerd" and his mother "Ruth Kennedy," it is
believed that he was raised under his mother's maiden name and that the actual
identity of "Edward" is unknown.
We do not know if this family is related to ours, but it is known that Stephen's grandfather Minerd was a "Dutchman" (Pennsylvania German) and that he was from the precise area of the Fayette/Somerset County, PA, border region where our Minerds were pioneers in the 1790s. We also know that Stephen's grandmother was a Native American and that Stephen's mother, uncles and aunts thus were considered of mixed race (or "mulatto" in the language of the mid-1800s).
Little is known of Stephen's young life, other than as a teenager, he shuttled between West Virginia and Ohio. In 1888, in Athens County, OH, he married Lucy Lorraine Hill (1872-1939), a native of Sharpsburg, Athens County. They are seen at left in a group portrait with daughters Jessie and Mary. (Their marriage license also is on record in Doddridge County, WV.)
The Minerds had 10 children in all -- Lydia Ann Minerd, Mary Ethel Goins, Jessie Mae Kennedy, Myrtle Minerd, Leslie Ray Minerd, Everett Elwood Minerd, Ivy Lucille Minerd, Harry Gillion Minerd, Chalmer Taylor Minerd and Bernice Marie Smith.
Sadly, Stephen and Lucy lost four of their children at young ages -- Lydia (age 7 in 1896) and Myrtle (1896), Leslie Ray (1900) and Chalmer Taylor (1908) as infants.
Seen
at right, Stephen (far left, holding a jug) stands with Roy Kennedy and
Kenneth Goins.
In a land deed of Taylor County, WV, he is listed as "a brother of the half-blood" of a group of the Kennedy clan -- Josiah Kennedy (died 1934) who was married to Icy; John H. Kennedy, Sarepta Mayle (who was separated from her husband), Opha Kennedy (widower), Jefferson and Edith Kennedy, Harrison and Elsina Kennedy, Ray and Cora Kennedy, Howard Kennedy (separated from his wife), and Nancy C. and Charles Mayle. (Cora Kennedy was the daughter of Charles L. and Minnie (Minard) Mayle of Oakland, Garrett County, MD.
In 1900, when the federal census was taken, the Minerds resided in the Flemington area of Taylor County. Boarding in their home that year were Stephen’s brothers in law, Chancy Hill, Waitman Hill and James Hill.
Stephen and Lucy eventually migrated into Ohio, following the pattern set by other of their relatives. Stephen found work there as a coal miner. The Minerds likely lived in both Athens, Athens County and Marietta, Washington County. Their daughter Mary is known to have been born in Athens in 1893. They also lived in Lathrope, Athens County in 1912. Circa 1939, the family resided in Sharpsburg, Bern Twp., Athens County.
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Typical coal mining operations in Nelsonville, Athens County, ca. 1910 |
The family is listed and profiled in Benjamin F. Bain's book, Multiracial Pioneers of the Ohio Valley (volume 3).
Lucy passed away at age 67 on May 13, 1939 in Marietta. The cause of death was liver cancer of six months' duration. She was laid to rest at Mount Hermon Cemetery in Athens County, OH. She is said to have "a very old headstone which is very hard to read."
Stephen outlived his wife by 12 years.
He spent the last years in the home of daughter Iva in Sharpsburg. On or about
May 14, 1950, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, but lived another nine months.
He finally passed away, relieved of his suffering, on Feb. 13, 1951. His obituary noted that he was
survived by a sister, "Mrs. C. Mayle, Grafton, W.Va., ... along with seven
half-brothers, 22 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren," said the Athens
Messenger. He had no Social Security number.
He is buried beside Lucy at Mount Hermon, but there is no headstone marking his final resting place. Rather a small metallic grave marker identifies the site.
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Stephen's grave at Mt. Hermon Cemetery near Athens, OH |
On May 28, 1909, 18-year-old daughter Jessie Mae
Minerd (1891-1985) married
24-year-old William Henry Kennedy (1885-1932). He was a coal miner, and the son of
Alexander and Josephine (Male) Kennedy (also spelled "Kennada") of
Washington County, OH. William died in March 1932. Later in life, Jessie lived in Zanesville, OH
circa 1964. She was a member of the Greater Apostolic Church of Christ in
Zanesville. They also are buried in
Mount Hermon Cemetery. Their children were Glenn Kennedy, Gracie Hardin,
Delcie Lewis, Della Churchill, Glenda Barnett and Thelma Jackson. Jessie died
at age 94 on Sept. 28, 1985. At the time of her death, she had 20 grandchildren,
63 great-grandchildren and 29 great-great grandchildren. One of Jessie's
great-grandsons, John Louis Morgan Jr., served in the U.S. Army during the
Vietnam War, and was killed in the Mekong Delta on April 10, 1969, after
stepping on a land mine.
On
July 30, 1911, daughter Mary Ethel Minerd (1893-1986) married John
Henry Goins II (1886-1981), the son of John H. and Elizabeth (Kennedy) Goins Sr.
of Washington County, OH. John was a longtime coal miner in the Zanesville area.
Mary was a member of the Apostolic Church of Christ in Zanesville, and was
employed for many years as a domestic worker for St. Thomas Catholic Church
Convent and Rectary. John died of renal failure at age
95 on May 20, 1981. Mary outlived him by five years, and passed away of
Alzheimer's Disease on June 9, 1986. They are buried in Mount Hermon
Cemetery. At the time of Mary's death, she had 136 living descendants,
including 29 grandchildren, 66 great-grandchildren and 41 great-great
grandchildren.
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Stephen and Lucy's children, L-R: Harry, Jessie, Mary, Bernice, Ivy |
Son Everett
Minerd (1903-1964) may not have
married. He was born in Derrysburg, WV. As an adult, he resided in Sharpsburg,
Athens County, and was a member of the Mt. Carmel Evangelical United Brethren
Church. At his passing, his obituary was published in the Athens Messenger.
He is laid to rest beside his parents.
Daughter Ivy Lucille Minerd (1904-1993) married Jess Fischer. They lived in Sharpsburg and Amesville, OH. Iva passed away in Aultman Hospital in Canton, Stark County, OH, at the age of 89 on July 13, 1993. They are buried in Mount Hermon Cemetery.
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Daughter Garnet L. Fischer (1924-1995) married (?) Ramsey. They resided in Stark County, where Garnet served in the healthcare industry. Garnet passed away at home at the age of 71 on July 17, 1995.
Daughter Bernice
Minerd (1909-1985) married Elwood Smith (1906-1971), the son of Edward and
Diantha (Mayle) Smith. They resided in Canton, OH circa 1964. Elwood was a
construction worker in the Canton area for many years. They had two children --
Jerry Smith and Janet Allender. Elwood passed away at the age of 64 on Sept. 8,
1971, having "been in failing health some time," reported the Zanesville
Times Recorder. Following Elwood's death, Bernice moved to Chesterhill, Athens County,
where she made her home at the time of her death in 1985. They are interred at Mount Hermon
Cemetery. An old postcard view of Chesterhill, with unpaved streets, is seen
at left.
Son Harry Minerd (1912-1993) lived on Route 1 in Cutler, OH circa 1964. He married Pauline Harris and had five children -- Melvin Minerd, Roger Minerd, Richard Minerd, Hilda Norris and Danny Minerd. In the late summer of 1958, the 44-year-old Harry was employed by Don King Construction Company of Jackson, OH. On Aug. 18, 1958, he was trapped "when a sewer-line ditch through sandy soil caved in at Zanesville's sewage-disposal plant project at the old Tube Mill site in lower Putnam," said the Times Recorder. Harry was buried under six feet of earth, and it took a team of 20 men a total of 25 minutes to dig him out. He was immediately given oxygen, and eventually recovered.
For more information, contact descendant Amanda Burchfield. For information on Lucy (Hill) Minerd's family, visit Glenn Barnett's website.
Copyright © 2004-2008 Mark A. Miner