John
Minerd Trout
(1874-1941)
John Minerd Trout was born in August 1874 in
Westmoreland County, PA, the son of Isaac F.
and Emma (Minerd) Trout. He may have been named for his grandfather,
Civil War veteran John V.S. Minerd.
John married Cora Ida Van Dyke (1876-1934). A tintype of her as a young girl is seen here. They had six children - Kenneth V. Trout, Thelma Lacey, John Trout, James "Clifford" Trout, Caroline Miller and Irene Poole Spino.
The Trouts resided in New Stanton, Westmoreland County. John worked there as a railroader, presumably with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
When the federal census was taken in 1910, John and Cora and their three eldest children resided in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County. Their home was just a few doors away from John's married sister, Anna Belle Hower. That year, John's occupation was listed as "car repairer - railroad company."
The 1920 census of New Stanton, Hempfield Township, shows John's employment as railroad track repair.
Sometime in about the late 1920s, John and his mother and
siblings gathered with their families for a group photo, which is seen below.
John stands in the back row at the left-hand edge of the tree branches, though
his face is partially obscured. Cora sits in front of him, and a little to the
right.
In 1930, the census shows John working as a railroad car inspector, and 22-year-old son Kenneth as a valve grinder at at thermostat company.
Little else is known of their lives. Cora died in 1934, and was laid to rest at Seanor Cemetery near New Stanton.
John outlived her by seven years. He passed away in 1941. He rests with his wife.
Son Kenneth Trout (1907- ? ) married Evelyn Leighty. He was a foreman at Robertshaw, Inc., and prominent in Westmoreland County political and community activities. The Greensburg Tribune-Review said he was "active in the New Stanton Borough incorporation, ... was a former council member of New Stanton and was the first Tax Collector of the borough." He also was a church council member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church and a member of the New Stanton Fair Association and a volunteer with the New Stanton Salvation Army, among other groups.
Daughter Irene Trout (1910- ? ) married Lloyd Poole and Nick Spino. The Tribune-Review said that Nick "retired from the Elliott Co. with over 35 years. He was a veteran of World War II, serving in the U.S. Army..."
Daughter Thelma
Trout (1910- ? ) married Michael Lacey and had
eight children. They
resided in Scottdale and later Mt. Pleasant, PA. An old postcard view of
Scottdale's Pittsburgh Street is seen here, looking west from Broadway.
Daughter Caroline (1906- ? ) married John Miller and lived in Philadelphia and later in Lorain, OH.
Son James "Clifford" Trout (1920- ? ) served in World War II. He married Marjorie (?) and resided in Camden, ME.
Son John M. Trout Jr. (1914- ? ) worked at Robertshaw in Youngwood.
Copyright © 2002, 2004 Mark A. Miner