Marion Percy
(Overfield) Menear
(1874-1932)
Marion Percy (Overfield) Menear was born on Jan. 19,
1874 in Reedsville, Preston County, WV, the daughter of John
Edgar and Sarah (Hanshaw) Overfield. She is believed to have been named
for a favorite aunt, Marian (Percy) Hanshaw.
Marion married E. Clarence Menear (1870-1942), the son of William Calvin and Rebecca (Stone) Maneer of Preston County, WV.
The Menears had three daughters -- Helen Mansberry, Alice R. Maloy and Virginia Dalton.
At the death of her uncle Dr.
Guy Hanshaw in 1908, Marion was entitled to a 1/48 share of the estate, which
included lucrative oil and gas wells. She received an immediate payout from the
estate of $38.54 in 1909. At intervals over the years, through 1942, she
received royalty payments from the wells. The high point was in 1918, when she
received $16.36. In total, she received $171.74 in inheritance.
Circa 1932, they resided at 59 Donley Street in Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV. Clarence worked as a transfer operator, otherwise known as a trolley car conductor, in the busy city that was home to West Virginia University. The Morgantown Dominion News said he "was well known here, having been engaged in the transfer and drayage business for about 35 years." Marian was a housewife.
High Street in Morgantown, the city's downtown thoroughfare
At
age 56, in 1930, Marion began to suffer from cancer of the uterus. She died
after a two-year illness on the Fourth of July 1932. Following funeral services
in their home, she was laid to rest at the
peaceful Oak Grove Cemetery in Morgantown, seen at right. Rev. Frank
L. Shaffer officiated. The grave today is easily found at the corner of the
cemetery located at the intersection of Dorsey Avenue and Barickman Street.
Clarence outlived
Marion by a decade, residing at their home
on University Avenue. He died just 17 days after his 72nd birthday, at
Monongahela General Hospital in Morgantown, on Oct. 28, 1942. He was buried
beside his wife at Oak Grove. The informant on his death certificate was Icie B.
Brown, relationship unknown.
Daughter Helen Menear ( ? - ? ) married (?) Mansberry. Circa 1942, they lived in Morgantown.
Daughter Alice R. Menear (1900-1972) married Edwin Maloy ( ? -1964). They were in Morgantown in 1932, but a decade later, during World War II, they lived in Washington, DC. They apparently returned to Morgantown at some point, residing at 724 Southern Avenue. Edwin passed away on April 9, 1964. Alice outlived him by eight years. She died at the age of 71, at St. Vincent Pallotti Hospital in Morgantown, on Feb. 14, 1972. She was laid to rest in the Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens.
Daughter Virginia Menear ( ? - ? ) married (?) Dalton. They had at least one son, Robert Dalton, and resided in the Morgantown area for many years. In 1959, Virginia was residing at R.F.D. 5, Morgantown, and in a note to her second cousin, Frank W. Hanshaw Jr. (son of Frank W. Hanshaw Sr.), she wrote: "I have quite an accurate list of [family] names and history at least enough to be interesting."
The Menear grave plot at Oak Grove in
Morgantown, along Dorsey Avenue
Copyright © 2004, 2006 Mark A. Miner