Bio-Stairs, LulaSwift

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Lula (Stairs) Swift
(1890-1961)

Lula (Stairs) Swift was born on Feb. 1, 1890 in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA, the daughter of Lehman G. and Mattie (Minerd) Stairs. Much of what we know about her early adult life has been gleaned from a collection of 47 penny postcards sent to her from 1908 to 1918 by her brothers, sisters, cousins and an aunt. The collection was added to the Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives in 2005, and some of the cards are shown on this webpage.

In the summer of 1908, when Lula was 18, she left the family home on Diamond Street in Mt. Pleasant and moved to Pittsburgh's East End, temporarily lodging on 167 Auburn Street. She was back home in Mt. Pleasant the following year.

A 1908 postcard from Verna "S." (identity otherwise unknown) teased that Lula's beau, Samuel S. Swift, "was in Bridgeport Sat. eve." The note went on to say, "I have not been in the store but have spoke to him several times on the street." A card from Ralph Stairs asked, "How is S.S.S. getting along."

Sam himself sent Lula occasional cards, including one in July (year unknown) stating, "I will be down Sat. evening about 8 o'clock. Yours, SSS. My address is No. 11 South, Greensburg, Pa." Another said, "I will be up Wed. evening. I hope you are well and happy. I had a good time while away. I was away so long. Yours, S.S.S." The latter card is shown at left.

Lula married Samuel (1887-1965) in about 1910. They went on to have four children -- Ethel Bartlow, Merle Swift, Elnora Jane Snedden and Glenn Wayne Swift.

When the federal census was taken in 1910, the newlyweds lived under the roof of Lula's parents on Diamond Street in Mount Pleasant. Samuel's occupation was listed as manager of a department store. Later that year, they relocated to the coal and coke patch town of Braznell, Fayette County, PA. (Today Braznell is known as Grindstone.) There, Lula received cards from her sister Bess and sister in law Mary L., reporting on family news. One card, from friend Pearl, asked if she was returning to Mt. Pleasant for "Old Home Week" to see the "big show in town."

Lula received many greeting and birthday cards in the early years of her marriage. Among the senders were Ralph Stairs in Pittsburgh; brother Clyde Stairs; Mrs. Emery "Etta" Davis in Johnstown, PA; cousin Jessie (Thurston) Piper; Stella (?) in Jerome, PA; Ina (?) in Pittsburgh; and "Aunt Maggie," believed to have been the wife of her father's brother, David Oliver Stairs.

Among her most regular correspondents was her cousin Lucinda (Crosby) Kelly, who at the time was unmarried and helping raise her younger brothers and sisters in Stauffer, near Mt. Pleasant.

Unmarried younger sister Bess wrote a card, circa May 1910:

Get a straw hat and come home for decoration and show day. School children are to march. The show is coming on Sunday morning and staying till Mon. evening. It is to be in Rumbaughs Field.

By 1913, the Swifts resided at at 241 Unity Street in Greensburg. Just after Christmas 1917, cousin Verna wrote to Lula, saying:

I was surprised to hear you were in the hospital. Earl was up at our place on Xmas and told us. Hope you get along all right. I came back to Pgh on Xmas night. It is awful cold here.

The Swifts' neighborhood on North Fourth Street in Youngwood. Note the electrical wires atop the poles.

Later, the Swifts moved to 428 North Fourth Street in Youngwood, Westmoreland County.

In late January 1942, Lula celebrated her 52nd birthday with a party in their home in Youngwood. Among the attendees were Clyde and Sarah Stairs and daughters Betty and Susan of Mt. Pleasant; Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Leeper and daughters Betty Jean and Venetta of Mt. Pleasant; Ruth Crosby, Pearl Stairs and Edward Stairs of Mt. Pleasant; Myrtle Stairs and son Donald of Tarrs; Mr. and Mrs. J.G. Watson and son Jack of Greensburg; Jemima Clark and Mrs. Luther Rodehaver of Greensburg; Kathleen Dell of Youngwood; Mr. and Mrs. B.J. Bartlow and sons Sammy and Leslie of Norvelt; and Jane Swift and Glenn Swift of Youngwood. The event received publicity in the Courier, which said that Lula "received a birthday cake and many gifts."

Lula passed away on Jan. 8, 1961, at the age of 71. She also is buried at Hillview Cemetery in Greensburg.

Samuel outlived his wife by four years. He died at age 78 on Feb. 21, 1965, at the Westmoreland Hospital. He was buried at Hillview Cemetery in Greensburg. At the time of his passing, he had three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.