Unknown
(?)
(Minerd) Ream
( ? - ? )
An unidentified daughter of Jacob and Maria (Nein) Minerd Sr. is known to have been married to John B. Ream, a farmer of Somerset County, PA. There is only one reference to the woman in the recorded annals of history -- the 1882 book by Franklin Ellis, entitled the History of Fayette County:
Another of [Jacob] Minerd's daughters married John Ream, the founder of Ursina village, in [Somerset] county.
John B. Ream (1764-1839) was the son of Andrew and Susana (Fiesser) Ream. According to the book Draketown Past & Present, it was actually father Andrew in 1763 who originally settled on the land that became Ursina. He "very early erected a stockade at his cabin for protection," according to the February 1963 issue of the Laurel Messenger newsletter.
The 1884 book by Waterman, Watkins, entitled History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, says:
Andrew Ream (the name was originally spelled Rihm) is believed to have come to the Turkey-Foot region in 1763. He was born in 1737, and died in 1818. His farm was the land on which the town of Ursina now is.... John Ream was probably born in Loudoun county, Virginia, about 1759. Early in life he came to Turkey-Foot and lived upon the Ream farm, where Ursina now is.
The book goes on to say this about the town:
Ursina … occupies the site of the Ream farm, and was the point of one of the earliest settlements in the Turkey-Foot region. Evidences of Indian occupation are abundant. Arrow and spear heads and other stone implements of the aboriginal race are frequently found, even at this day, in the soil along the river. There is a tradition that the settlers once had a sort of rude fortification on the bank of the stream near the lower end of the town, close beside the tree that bears the name of “The Fort Oak.” There is evidence that this was actually the case, a part of the works still being visible, while some of the logs, covered by the water of the river, are tolerably well preserved
A rare bird's
eye view of Ursina, from an old postcard photograph
Thus John may have inherited parts of the land or otherwise helped develop town lots -- his role needs to be researched more fully. The property apparently was undeveloped for 100 years, until the 1860s, when it was purchased by attorney William J. Baer as an investment. Says the Waterman, Watkins history:
Ursina received its somewhat fanciful name from the fact that it was laid out by Hon. William B. Baer, now the president judge of this district, and who at that time owned the land on which the town was plotted. [Ursus (Latin) signifies bear.] The town was laid out in 1868, H.L. Baer and R.J. Botzer being the surveyors.... The first blacksmith-shop was built by Judge Baer, in 1868. John Anderson was the first blacksmith. The same year Judge Baer erected a sawmill, which was in operation for several years.
[Note -- A
short paragraph of Judge Baer, seen here, is helpful in understanding his
relationship with our family. The Waterman,
Watkins history says Baer "came of a German ancestry, and by
diligent study made himself master of the language so that he could write and
speak it with ease and fluency. This, in a community where the German language
was generally spoken, gave him another strong hold upon the hearts of the
people..." In the 1860s and '70s, Baer bought the farms of John
Minerd (1864), Jacob Minerd III
(1865), Charles Minerd (1868) and Henry
A. Miner (1870) so he could obtain their mineral rights. When a discrepancy
arose over the boundaries of one farm, Baer in 1871 obtained consents from a
number of our cousins, including Joel Minerd,
who did not own land but had a legal right as a Minerd heir.]
Back
to the Ream story. John is known to have been married three times. He wed his first wife, Anna
Rosina Weitzel, on Oct. 10, 1785 in Reamstown, Somerset County. According to the
Reflections booklet, John and Anna
had four children who lived to adulthood -- Thomas Ream Sr., Samuel W. Ream,
Catherine Jennings and Mary Weyand, as well as three who died young -- John Ream,
Christina Ream and Samuel Ream.
Tragically, Anna Rosina died of poisoning from a snake's venom on July 15, 1792, leaving John as a widower with many children. She was buried at what is now the Ream Cemetery in Ursina, with her grave marker (seen here) inscribed in German:
Here lies buried Anna Rosina Ream, wife of John Ream and daughter of Frederick Weitzel. In her married life of eight years and six months, she bore four sons and two daughters. She died July 15, 1792. Her death was caused by the bite of a snake; in twenty-four hours she was dead.
It is believed that our "Miss Minerd" then became
John's 2nd wife. Virtually nothing is known of the years they were married. The booklet Reflections:
Ursina 1787-1994 states that they had a daughter Catherine Ream
(1794-1886) who married David Jennings (1790-1872). The original source for
these facts has not been unidentified, and the information is not yet confirmed.
John later married Elizabeth Smith. As stated in Reflections, "In a deed for 1830, John & Elizabeth sold land to Thomas Ream in Draketown." Any additional details of Elizabeth's life are a mystery.
John passed away on Nov. 9, 1839, at the age of 77 years, nine months and five days. He was laid to rest in the Ream Cemetery near his 1st wife.
John's
grandson
Thomas Ream (1786-1840) married Barbara Haines. The Reflections booklet
says he "was killed by a falling tree on his way home from visiting a sick
girl." Thomas and Barbara's grandson John R. Jennings was a
Civil War soldier who married our cousin, Martha
J. Knight.
John's
great-grandson Norman Bruce Ream (seen here) was wounded twice in the
Civil War as a member of the 85th PA Infantry. (Many of our MMMM cousins served
in the same regiment.) He later became a businessman and rose to be a corporate
powerhouse, serving on the board of directors of U.S. Steel, the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad, the Pullman Company, National Biscuit Co. (Nabisco) and the
Equitable Life Assurance Society, among many others. At his funeral, President
Lincoln's son Robert served as a pallbearer. During his business heyday, Norman frequently rode the
B&O Railroad, "often along Laurel Hill Creek through Ursina and past
the [Ream] cemetery," said the Somerset (PA) Daily American.
The railroad tracks are located on a hill directly across from the cemetery. Ream decided that when he passed the cemetery, he wanted to be able to see his descendants at rest, so he had all the timber cut away. He then had a retaining wall built at the river bank and a stone wall built to enclose the cemetery.
In 1971, Ursina celebrated its centennial as an incorporated town. Then, in 1997, it held a 125th anniversary.
Ream Cemetery as it appears today
In 1991 and then again in 1992, vandals destroyed some 12 tombstones, "some over 150 years old," said the Daily American. Concerned descendants formed the Ream Cemetery Association and led a successful restoration effort, including building a new road. All the burials in the cemetery were listed in the August 1991 issue of the Laurel Messenger and in the Reflections booklet.
Copyright © 2002 Mark A. Miner. Sketch of Norman Bruce Ream from the History of the Eighty-Fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry by Luther S. Dickey (New York: J.C. & W.E. Powers, 1915).