Sophia (Turner) Inks
(1866-1931) and
Warren McEwen Dean Sr. (1873-1954)
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Sophia and her family, identities unknown |
Sophia
(Turner) Inks Dean was born on April 10, 1866 (or 1874) in Fayette County, PA, the daughter of George
Washington and Mary Frances (White) Turner. She apparently did not know
her own age, and thus the difference of eight years in varying accounts of her
birth year. The 1870 federal census enumeration solves the mystery, stating that she was four years old that year.
In about 1885, when she was age 19, Sophia wed her first husband, Thomas J. Inks (1865-1917), the son of George and Margaret (Lindsey) Inks.
They produced one child, unknown to us, who sadly died sometime prior to 1900.
The 1900 United States Census shows Sophia and Thomas making their home in Stewart Township, without any children, and with him laboring as a farmer. They had been married for 15 years at that point.
Thomas is believed in 1907 to have been acquitted of the crime of "false pretense" against John Tressler, reported the Uniontown Morning Herald. "This prosecution grew out of a horse deal in Stewart township last March. Inks sold Tressler an animal representing the same to be perfectly sound. Tressler claimed that it was all a mistake and that he was damaged on account of the alleged false representations."
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| Railroad train pulling into Ohiopyle, early 1900s |
Their residence in 1908-1909 was on Bryner's Ridge/Green Brier near Ohiopyle and Farmington. Sophia was named in the gossip columns of the Connellsville Daily Courier in April 1908 when shopping in Connellsvile and again in February 1909 when visiting with relatives and friends in Somerset County.
In 1910, Sophia and Thomas are known to have sold 15 acres in Stewart Township to her brother Charles for $200. An odd article in the Daily Courier in December 1917 said she "has returned to her home on Commercial street" in Ohiopyle.
Thomas made news again in 1914-1916 when accused of breaking and entering a store and stealing a large sum of money. In covering the story, the Morning Herald said he was exonerated after providing an alibi and with 25 witnesses interviewed. "The robbery is said to have occurred November 13, 1914, at which time someone entered the store of Mr. [W.F.] Hilling, took $150 in cash, $190.45 in checks and a number of old coins. The checks were later returned to Mr. Hilling by mail. After searching for more than a year for trace of the robbers, Mr. Hilling causes James Dennis and Thomas Inks to be brought before Alderman [John] Boyle for a hearing, the result being that the two men proved a complete alibi and were discharged."
Circa 1917, living in Ohiopyle, he earned a living as a mechanic.
In the words of a physician, Thomas suffered from "acute alcoholism" and also "cardiac asthma." He succumbed from their effects just 10 days before his 51st birthday, on Dec. 2, 1917. Burial was in Richland Cemetery near Ohiopyle or Connellsville. When Sophia and her aged father traveled together to Uniontown in December 1917, it generated a small gossip news article in the Connellsville Daily Courier.
As a widow, Sophia resided near Ohiopyle and in September 1919 received a visit from her married brother Grant Turner of Mount Braddock, as noted in the Daily Courier.
~ Sophia's 2nd Marriage to Warren McEwen Dean ~
Sophia entered into wedlock with widower Warren McEwen Dean Sr. (May 2, 1873-1954), the son of William Penn and Mary Ann (Turner) Dean, and stepson of Catherine (Minerd) Nesmith Dean. Sophia was seven years older than her new husband.
Warren also had been married once before, on July 1, 1897, to Bessie Elizabeth McNutt (Nov. 12, 1878-1918), daughter of Joel and Jane (Lee) McNutt, and had resided with her and their family of eight at Edenborn, Fayette County. The town had been built for the workers of a coal and coke operation of American Coal & Coke Co., a subsidiary of American Steel & Wire Co., later acquired by the H.C. Frick Coke Company. Sadly, at the age of 40, stricken with "catarrhal" pneunonia and influenza, the first wife had died in an emergency room at Tates Hall, German Township, on Nov. 23, 1918, with interment in the burying ground of Cove Run Free Methodist Church.
Uniontown Morning Herald, 1931
Thus he brought eight stepchildren to the second marriage with Sophia, ranging in age from 21 to 2: Charles
William Dean Sr., Minnie
Schimansky, Aaron Lewis Dean, George Franklin Dean, Robert Theodore Dean, Aurrella "Rella" Turner, Laura Belle Blevins and Florence Marie Foster. Two of these stepchildren as adults, although innocent of any wrongdoing, would be linked to brutal murders in Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
[Showing the inter-connectedness of these clans, Warren's maternal uncle, George Washington Turner, was married to Warren's step-cousin Mary Frances White. Warren's brother Isaac was joined in wedlock with Sophia's step-cousin, Mary Belle Minerd. Through his brother George, Warren's nephew Ivan Dean wed Rachel Minerd and grand-nephew David Ray Dean tied the knot with Lela Minerd, all of Uniontown.
Prior to marriage, in July 1920, Sophia and Warren attended a family reunion and birthday party for Mrs. W.N. Chrise "at the old Sproul homestead near Ohiopyle," said the Morning Herald. "The picnic dinner, which proved a perfect feast and included all the good things of the season was served on one immense table spread beneath the trees in the chestnut grove."
A step-daughter later recalled that Sophia was "kind of sickly. She was good to me though."
Warren was a longtime coke-drawer and coal mine laborer in Fayette County. The 1930 federal census enumeration shows the family in Menallen Township, with daughters Laura Belle and Florence in the home. That year, the census-taker mis-wrote Warren's first name as "Walter."
Sophia was stricken with cancer of the uterus and declined during the year 1931. She passed away at the age of 65 in her home in Keisterville, Menallen Township, Fayette County, on Oct. 25, 1931, leaving a host of twice-motherless step-children. After the funeral at the Keister Church, she was laid to rest at the Cove Run Cemetery. A short obituary was published in the Uniontown Morning Herald. No stone is known to mark her grave.
As a widower, Warren made his home at House 73 in Gibson Terrace in Connellsville, and married again, to Freida (Schimansky) Woodward (1888-1956), widow of farmer Davis Woodward Sr. (Jan. 7, 1868-1928), and the daughter of Louis and Wilhemina Schimansky. Her first husband had died at work of a heart attack without warning while firing coke ovens at Keisterville for the Lincoln Coal and Coke Company.
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| Coke drawers at work in a Fayette County beehive oven |
She thus brought these children to the marriage -- Ida Franks, Carl Lewis Woodward, Anna Rundle, Minnie Watts, Luke Woodward, Davis Robert Woodward Jr., Harold Woodward, Ruth Blasey, Leona Atkins Miles, Clara Fuller/Fulmer Palmer, Frederick E. Woodward and Mildred Bogasky. She also is known to have lost an unnamed, stillborn son on July 16, 1917. From her earlier marriage, she was the stepmother of John "Curtis" Woodward and Ray Woodward.
Warren and Freida went on to produce one son together, Warren McEwen Dean Jr.
During an early period of his marriage to Freida, during the depths of the Great Depression, he was out of work. His daughter Florence recalled that "It was kind of scrimpy for food sometimes, but I earned some money washing and cleaning."
Laurel Hill
Cemetery Courtesy Caine Luckey
Warren and Freida were members of the Franklin
Methodist Church in Dunbar, and she belonged to the Daughters of America in Connellsville.
Tragedy visited Warren three times in the summer of 1933. The first wave of death was on July 3, 1933, when his son Charles was killed in an accident at the Keisterville coal mine. Just a little over two months later, Warren's grandson David Lewis Dean died at the tender age of 10 months, on Sept. 10, 1933. After a funeral at the Keisterville Church, young David was interred in the family plot at Cove Run. Less than a week later, on Sept. 14, 1933, another grandson -- Charles William Dean Jr. -- passed away at home, at the age of five. He was buried beside his father and young brother at Cove Run.
Freida brought a lawsuit in 1937 against Edward Cable, saying he and her daughter Leona had engaged in an "illicit relationship" in the man's automobile. A jury "found the pair not guilty and placed costs on the mother," reported the Evening Standard. Whe she defaulted on paying the court costs, she was jailed in December 1937.
Federal census records in 1940 list the Deans in Dunbar -- Warren, Freida, sons George and Warren, and stepchildren Frederick E. Woodward and Mildred F. Woodward. Warren's occupation in 1940 was as a laborer on a road construction project.
Tragedy again reared its ugly head twice again in the 1940s. Freida's son Harold died in 1943, of causes not yet identified. Then on May 20, 1945, Freida's son Frederick, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, died from massive injuries sustained in an automobile accident. His face was badly lacerated and his skull fracutred after the vehicle in which he was riding collided with another car on Route 119 near the Lazy Hour Road intersection. Burial of the remains was in Laurel Hill Cemetery, following funeral services held at the Franklin Memorial Church in Dunbar, presided by Rev. William S. Hamilton.
In March 1953, they endured the death of Freida's stepson Curtis Woodward (1895-1953), a longtime coal miner for United States Steel Company.
The couple spent their final years together at 73 Gibson Terrace.
Warren passed away at the age of 80 on Jan. 16, 1954. The Uniontown Morning Herald noted that he was laid to rest in Laurel Hill Cemetery, and was survived by 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. An obituary in the Connellsville Daily Courier reported that the funeral service was preached by Rev. E.J. Hatchner of the South Connellsville Assembly of God.
Freida outlived her husband by only two years. She died at the age of 68 on April 15, 1956. An obituary in the Morning Herald said that Rev. E.J. Hatchner led the funeral rites, with burial in Laurel Hill Cemetery. Her obituary in the Connellsville Daily Courier placed the headcount of her survivors at 26 grandchildren and a dozen great-grandchildren.
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| Sophia's final anonymous resting place, Cove Run Cemetery |
~ Warren's Son Aaron Lewis Dean ~
Warren's son Aaron Lewis Dean (1908-1978) was born on March 20, 1908 in Fayette County.
He resided in Keisterville in young manhood, standing 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing about 145 lbs. Aaron is known to have served in the U.S. Army in 1929-1934 and was deployed to China. At his honorable dischare in December 1934, he returned home.
Aaron was arrested in January 1939 by a step-cousin, Assistant Fayette County Detective Wilbert Regis "Patsy" Minerd , after officials received complaints from Keisterville residents. The investigation uncovered that Aaron and his friend and step-cousin Clyde Rodeheaver (of the family of Mary Ellen [Minerd] Rodeheaver) were living in a Keisterville house with two young unmarried women. Reported the Uniontown Morning Herald,
Two young girls and a man, nearly twice their ages, were held for court ... on charges growing out of a raid when ... Minerd discovered the trio cavorting about in the nude in a Keister home. On complaints of indignant neighbors, the officer visited a house occupied by Aaron Dean, 36. With the latter -- and devoid of all clothing, it was reported at the hearing -- were Mary Opensky, 19, and her sister, Helen Opensky, 21, of Lemont Furnace. A fourth member of the frolic, a man, disappeared and is being sought by police. The girls, it was said, admitted having been guests in Dean's home for several days prior to their arrest.
On Feb. 18, 1939, in Uniontown, he was united in matrimony with the elder of the sisters with whom he had kept company, Mary Margaret Opinsky (1921-1949), daughter of Frank and Bertha Opinsky. There was a difference of 13 years in age between the pair. In an interesting twist, Aaron's older brother George wed Mary Margaret's sister Minnie Mae.
Two children were born into this family -- Mary Ann Walker and Frank W. Dean.
The Deans lived in House No. 83 in Keisterville, Fayette County in 1940, at which time he at age 32 was required to register for the military draft. He disclosed that he earned a living with the Lincoln Coal and Coke Company, working at its Lincoln Mine in Keisterville.
Aaron relocated to Michigan where, on Oct. 24, 1946, he was granted a divorce on grounds of "cruelty."
At the age of 42, Aaron wed a second time, on June 17, 1950, to Emogene Dodson ( ? - ? ). The ceremony took place in Wayne County, MI. She is believed to have brought two stepchildren into the second union, Mary Lambert and Eugene Dodson.
He was stationed in New York with the U.S. Air Force in 1954.
The Deans resided in Detroit circa 1954-1956. In the summer of 1956, his sister Minnie Schimansky traveled from Smock to visit him in Detroit, along with Mr. and Mrs. M.K. Weston, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Huey of Birmingham and Florence Foster in Ypsilanti.
Aaron died at the age of 69 on Jan. 2, 1978, in Trenton, MI. Burial was in Detroit's Woodmere Cemetery, with a brief obituary appearing in the Detroit Free Press.
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Rosa Mary's burial - ACME Telephoto |
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Bottomland novel about |
Daughter Mary Ann Dean ( ? - ? ) was three-and-a-half years old when her parents divorced. She was joined in matrimony with (?) Walker ( ? - ? ).
Son Frank W. Dean ( ? - ? ) was age two at the divorce of his parents.
~ Warren's Daughter Minnie (Dean) Schimansky ~
Warren's daughter Minnie (Dean) Schimansky (1898-1980) was born in 1898.
She married widower August Schimansky (Aug. 28, 1884-1964), who was 15 years older than she. He was the son of Louis and Wilhelmina (Voss) Schimansky, and his first wife, Emma Maude (McKean) Schimansky, had died in 1919. Circa 1920, prior to his marriage with Minnie, the widowed August lived in Menallen Township, Fayette County, and earned a living as a driver in a local coal mine. He thus brought a stepdaughter into the union with Minnie, Mary "Katharine" Bonn.
The family resided in 1930 in Menallen Township, with August continuing to earn a living as a coal miner, a job he held for the rest of his life. They are known to have been in Searights in 1933 at the tragic coal mining death of Minnie's brother Charles William Dean. Later in 1954 they lived in Uppermiddletown, near Uniontown, and their final residence was in Smock, near Searights Crossroads.
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| Airplane view of Uniontown, PA |
They bore at least one daughter of their own, Evalyn Bryson.
Suffering from hardening of the artries and inflammation of the kidneys, August was admitted to Uniontown Hospital. There, he passed away at the age of 80 on Oct. 2, 1964. Burial was in Pleasant View Presbyterian Church Cemetery near Brier Hill in Menallen, with Rev. Donald R. Keen officiating. An obituary in the Connellsville Daily Courier noted that he was survived by eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Stepdaughter Mary "Katharine" Schimansky (1919-1991) was born on Oct. 16, 1919. She did not graduate from high school. On Aug. 22, 1936, in Uniontown, she wed Lloyd Edward Bonn (Sept. 27, 1912-1987), a native of Fort Wayne, IN, the son of Alfred Bonn, but born after his parents had separated. Six known offspring of this union were Evalyn Ruth "Bonnie" Jackson, Garner Cecil Bonn, Lloyd Edward Bonn, Sandra Zoe Bonn, Marjorie Ann Stafford and Jacqueline Louise "Jackie" Bonn. Sadly, son Lloyd died in infancy. Said an obituary, Katharine "received her high school diploma from the Adult Education Class in 1973. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Ionia, a life member of the Eastern Star, Queen Esther Chapter No. 35, a member of the White Shrine of Jerusalem No. 41, a member of the Blue Star Mothers, a member of the Ionia Historical Society, a member of the Senior Citizens Group." Lloyd was a U.S. Army veteran and belonged to the Masons, Knights Templar and White Shrine of Jeerusalem, as well as the Scottish Rite and Saladin Shrine, both of Grand Rapids. Said an obituary, "He was a retired medical attendant with General Motors, Oldsmobile Plant 2, in Lansing, for 32 years... He was voted Ionia's Mason of the Year in 1986, and was a member of the Senior Citizens of Ionia. In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, the family home was at 1880 West Main Street, Ionia. They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with an open house at home. Sadly, Lloyd died on June 17, 1987. Leading the funeral was their pastor, Rev. Timothy Lett. Katharine outlived her spouse by four years. She died at the age of 71, in Ionia County Memorial Hospital, on Sept. 11, 1991. Rev. James Bennett presided over the funeral rites held at the family church. An obituary appeared in the Ionia Sentinel Standard. Their remains sleep for all time in Highland Park Cemetery, Ionia.
- Granddaughter Evalyn Ruth "Bonnie" Bonn (1937- ? ) was born on (?), 1937 and grew up in Ionia. She made news in January 1953 when assisting law enforcement in capturing three escapees from a prison farm. When "waiting for the school bus she saw them in working garb run jeast east of their home," reported the Ludington Daily News. "She immediately called her mother, who notified the prison, and it was found three were missing. It was early last summer when Miss Bonn helped to recapture an escapating reformatory trusty when she spied him hiding in some brush near her home." Evalyn was a 1955 graduate of Ionia High School and pictured in a related story in the Uniontown Morning Herald. In nuptials held in the First Baptist Church of Ionia, on Nov. 28, 1958, she tied the marital knot with Daryl C. Jackson (Feb. 28, 1937-2004), son of Carl Jackson of Lake Odessa, Ionia County, MI. Daryl was an alumnus of Lake Odessa High School followed by service in the U.S. Air Force, and at the time of marriage worked for General Motors' Fisher Body Division in Lansing. Their union endured for 46 years until cleaved apart by death. News of their marriage was published in her parents' hometown newspaper in Uniontown. The couple was in Saranac in 1987-1991. Sadly, Daryl died at the age of 67 on Sept. 11, 2004. Burial was in Lakeside Cemeteery at Lake Odessa.
- Granddaughter Sandra Bonn resided in Grand Rapids, MI in 1987-1991.
- Granddaughter Marjorie Bonn married (?) Stafford. She put down roots in Flint, MI.
- Granddaughter Jacqueline Louise "Jackie" Bonn (1954- ? ) was born on June 21, 1954 in Cambria County Memorial Hospital. As a girl she attended Ionia Public Schools and was a 1972 graduate of Ionia High School. She then majored in music at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, graduating in 1976. Her first employment was as an X-ray technician with Borgess Hospital. She then studied cardiovascular technology at Carnegie Institute of Detroit and was hired in 1995 at the Advanced Cardiac Health Care in Kalamazoo. Said an obituary, "She was the only technician for cardiovascular working there, and as a sideline was on call for Borgess Hospital when they needed her. This kept her very busy and as a consequence she did not get home for visits as regularly as she once did." She was certified in 1998 as a registered cardiac sonographer and went to work operating a digital Echo system. Then in 2003, she was hired to provide the same type of services for Borgess Hospital. Said the obituary, "The job opportunities and advancement in this hospital setting was advantageous for Jackie's employment..." She passed away on Nov. 29, 2016.
- Grandson Garner C. "Gar" Bonn (1939-2008) was born on New Year's Eve 1939 in Ionia. He was an alumnus of Ionia High School. Circa 1965, during the Vietnam War, he joined the U.S. Air Force. In this role, he was an airman attached to the 37th Civil Engineering Division, and was stationed at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda. He also saw a term of service with the Army. On Feb. 8, 1965, in nuptials held in the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church of Baroda, MI, he entered into marriage with Janis Jean Johns (Sept. 18, 1946-1974), daughter of Alfred and Evelyn Marie (Wenger) Johns of St. Joseph, MI. Rev. Hilbert Klein officiated. The marriage was announced in the Herald-Palladium, which said that the "bridal gown was fashioned of white satin in sheath style with a train falling from the shoulders. Her elbow-length veil fell from a matching pillbox. She carried white roses." Janis was a graduate of Lakeshore High School. The Bonns made a home for years in Portland, Ionia County, at the address of 332 Bridge Street. Their four offspring were Alan Michael Bonn, Dale Robert Bonn, Gary Lynn Bonn and Barbara Joan Bonn. Tragedy rocked this family on Oct. 22, 1974, when Janis at the age of 28 was killed in a two-vehicle accident on East Bluewater Highway in Ionia. The Benton Harbor Herald-Palladium reported that she "was killed on M-120, one-half mile east of Ionia" and that a passenger in the other car had died also. The other vehicle "made a left turn in fron tof the Bonn car and the two vehicles crashed almost head-on." Rev. Harold Homer of the Portland United Methodist Church had the task to preach the funeral sermon, with the remains lowered into eternal repose in Portland Cemetery. Garner survived his bride by 33 years. He moved to Portland, MI in about 1978 and was employed with TRW, an automotive and aerospace products manufacturer. Said an obituary, he "was always willing to help out and was a very reliable and caring person... He always took pride in being a single father and raising his children." He died at the age of 68 on Feb. 8, 2008. Interment was in Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, MI, with Rev. Mark Lipscomb leading the funeral rites. In the obituary, the family asked that any memorial contributions be made to the American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Foundation. Inscribed on his grave marker are the words "Beloved family man and patriot. Peace be with you."
Great-grandson Alan Michael Bonn ( ? - ? )
Great-grandson Dale Robert Bonn ( ? - ? ) married Lori ( ? - ? ).
Great-grandson Gary Lynn Bonn ( ? - ? )
Great-granddaughter Barbara Joan Bonn ( ? - ? ) wed Alan Maus ( ? - ? ).
Daughter Evalyn Schimansky (1919-1992), also spelled "Schimonsky," was born on (?), 1919. In young womanhood she lived in Searights and worked for Citizen's Cafeteria in Uniontown. On Oct. 2, 1938, she was joined in wedlock with Grover Dawson Bryson ( ? -1992), son of Arthur and Anna "Pearl" Bryson of Lenox Street of Uniontown. Their ceremony was held at the manse of the Pleasant View Presbyterian Church, by the hand of Rev. J. Byers Brice. News of their wedding appared in the Uniontown Morning Herald. At the time of marriage, Grover was a 1935 graduate of Uniontown High School and employed by the A&P Company on Peter Street. The known offspring born to the pair were Fred G. Bryson Sr. and Rita Jean Bryson. The Brysons dwelled in Hagerstown, MD in 1965-1968 at 70 West Side Avenue but made many trips back to Uniontown to see loved ones. Later they lived on Lenox Street in Uniontown. In May 1961, Grover made news when he fell through a manhole on Uniontown's Searights Avenue and cut and bruised both of his legs. Circa 1991, they were in Maryland. Both Evalyn and Grover passed away in 1992. Burial was in Pleasant View Cemetery in Smock.
- Grandson Fred G. Bryson Sr. (1944-living) was born in September 1944. At his seventh birthday, his parents held a party at their home at 47 Lenox Street. He was a 1962 graduate of Uniontown Joint Senior High School. Fred joined the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and in 1963 was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and in 1965 in Norfolk, VA. On Dec. 19, 1965, Fred was united in matrimony with Patricia Pauline "Peany" Croftcheck (1944-1999), daughter of Mary Croftcheck of Uniontown. Their nuptials were held in the Pleasant View Presbyterian Church, with Rev. Donald Keen officiating. The Uniontown Evening Standard announced the marrage and published Pauline's wedding portrait, saying she "appeared in a floor-length gown of Chantilly lace with a chapel train of tiers of lace and sequins. The bodice was fitted with a Sabrina neckline and long tapered sleeves. She wore a matching headdress trimmed with pearls which held her fingertip veil and she carried a Colonial cascade of carnations and lilies-of-the-valley." Patricia was a 1963 alumna of Uniontown High and at the time of marriage worked at Uniontown Hospital. Together, they produced a trio of children -- Fred G. Bryson Jr., James Bryson and Lisa Denise Sproul. Grief blanketed the family when Pauline passed away in 1999. Inscribed on her grave marker are the words, "They have touched the lives of others." Fred outlived his wife by several decades. In about 2001, he wed Patricia "Pat" (Halliwell) Dean (May 11, 1935-2019), widow of his grand-uncle Warren McEwen Dean Jr. spelled out elsewhere on this page. In 2023, he made his residence in New Salem near Uniontown.
Great-grandson Fred G. Bryson Jr. married Annette and in 2023 lived in New Salem.
Great-grandson James Bryson wed April. They planted themselves in Smock.
Great-granddaughter Lisa Denise Bryson (1969-2023) was born on July 20, 1969 in Hagerstown. She was joined in the bonds of marriage with Kevin W. Sproul Sr. ( ? -living). They made their home on a farm in Ohiopyle and were the parents of Kevin W. Sproul Jr. and Racole Sproul. Said an obituary, Lisa "was a warrior, she beat breast cancer not once but twice... She enjoyed spending time with [her father] and her three grandchildren Jace, Emma and Julie. Lisa was a very committed 'Mimi' [and] was also a farmers wife which included being a parts runner, field checker, lunch and dinner maker." Toward the end of her life, Lisa became a full-time caregiver for her aged father. Sadly, she died in Uniontown Hospital at the age of 53 on July 7, 2023. Her remains were laid to rest in Bryner Ridge Cemetery, with Pasto Brian Kelly leading the funeral service.
- Granddaughter Rita Jean Bryson (1950- ? ) was born in February 1950. Her early years were spent in Uniontown, and attending Lafayette Junior High School, before a move to Hagerstown, MD. She was a 1968 graduate of North Hagerstown High School. She earned a living in 1970 with Doubleday and Co., Inc.
~ Warren's Son George Franklin Dean ~
Warren's son George Franklin Dean (1901-1954) was born on Nov. 15, 1901 at Percy or Lemont Furnace, Fayette County.
As an adult, George was 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 135 lbs. He is known to have lived with his parents in Menallen Township, Fayette County in 1920, at the age of 18, and to have earned a living as a coal miner.
George lived in Keisterville in 1933 and was named in the obituary of his brother Charles William Dean who had been killed in a coal mining accident. Then when visiting his father in December 1934, May 1935, February 1936 and the New Year's holiday 1937, as noted in the gossip columns of the Uniontown Evening Standard, his dwelling-place was in Lemont.
In 1940, census records show him at age 38 residing in Dunbar with his father, step-mother, step-siblings Frederick E. and Mildred Woodward and half-brother Warren McEwen Dean Jr. The census-taker that year recorded his occupation as "laborer - anywhere."
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| Fayette County Home in Uniontown, George Dean's final residence |
In 1941, when required to register for the military draft, George made a residence on Connellsville Street in Dunbar, and stated that his father would always know his whereabouts. At the time, he earned a living laboring for the Works Progress Administration. The WPA was one of the ways President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the federal government tried to overcome unemployment during the Great Depression. It's widely considered one of the Roosevelt's largest and most ambitious undertakings of his "New Deal" to get the nation back on sound economic footing. Over the years, the WPA hired millions of out-of-work individuals to build public works projects, such as roads, bridges, retaining walls and buildings.
At the age of 42, circa Aug. 1944, George was united in marriage with Minnie Mae Opinsky (July 19, 1926-2001`), daughter of Frank and Bertha (Crawford) Opinsky. News of their marriage license was published in the Uniontown Morning Herald. In a twist, George's younger brother Aaron wed Minnie Mae's ill-fated sister Mary Margaret, also known as "Rosa Mary."
The offspring born to this union were Roy F. Dean and Elizabeth Ann Dean.
George's final years were spent unemployed and in the Fayette County Home in Uniontown. He is shown there in the 1950 federal census enumeration, marked as age 49 with a birthplace of "Maryland."
On the tragic, fateful day of Aug. 16, 1953, he was struck by a hit-and-run motorist on Route 119 near Connellsville. He was rushed by ambulance to Connellsville State Hospital where he was treated for a severely lacerated scalp, badly fractured left leg and bruises and brushburns. A plate was inserted in the leg. He told hospital officials that he "was struck by a car on Route 119, near the ABC Club," reported the Connellsville Daily Courier. "His condition is listed as 'fair'."
He lingered for about five months after his injury. Sadly, from the effects of a massive pulmonary embolism, he died in the same hospital only two weeks after the passing of his father, on Jan. 27, 1954, at the age of 52. The remains were interred in the cemetery of the County Home, with a one-sentence notice of his death published in both the Evening Standard and Daily Courier.
Former wife Minnie married again to World War II Army veteran Crawford William Moore (June 14, 1921-1990), a native of Revere near Uniontown. He stood 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighed 160 lbs. They lived in Uniontown and became the parents of William Moore and Frances Moore. As had Minnie's first husband, Crawford also had worked for the WPA circa 1941. The couple made news in November 1958 when charged with violation of the public assistance law, with Crawford having "illegally collected more than $1,000 in state relief," reported the Evening Standard. Again they were in the public spotlight in January 1977 when their rented house was damaged in a fire, caused by an "overheated chimney," said the Evening Standard. "Firemen said the fire started in an overheated chimney and spread to the attic area of the two-story frame house. Fire damage was confined to the attic and a wall and a ceiling in one of the bedrooms " The Moores, and Minnie's brother James Opinsky, all escaped without injury. Their residence in 1969 was at Continental No. 1. Circa 1973, Crawford worked as a janitor at the South Laurel Senior High School. Crawford passed away on Dec. 15, 1990. Minnie survived him by 11 years and died in Uniontown on Nov. 2, 2001.
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Roy Dean helped recover the Gemini V space capsule Courtesy NASA |
Then in 1968-1969, Roy served aboard the USS Saratoga, deployed to Spain. Following completion of his term of military service, Roy returned home to Uniontown. The family lived in 1974 in a rented house at 414 Coolspring Street. A fire ripped through their residence in early April 1974, caused by faulty wiring in an upstairs bedroom, reported the Uniontown Morning Herald. While all were unharmed, they were left temporarily without a home and went to live with Dorothy's mother in Masontown. The Morning Herald said that the Fayette County Chapter of the American Red Cross led an effort to provide them with a stove, beds and bedding, shoes and clothing.
- Granddaughter Dorothy Denise Dean (1967- ? ) was born in March 1967. At her first birthday, she was pictured in the Uniontown Evening Standard.
Daughter Elizabeth "Ann" Dean (1950- ? ) was born on Sept. 26, 1950 in Uniontown. She wed Roy Thorpe Sr. ( ? - ? ). The couple's trio of children were Fran Thorpe, Roy Thorpe Jr. and Laura Ann Hendrickson. The Thorpes resided in Uniontown. Later, Ann was a 20-year companion of John F. Balosky and dwelled in Uniontown.
- Granddaughter Frances "Fran" Thorpe ( ? - ? ) made her home in Uniontown in 2010. She was deceased by 2021.
- Grandson Roy Thorpe Jr. ( ? - ? ) resided in 2010 in Uniontown.
- Granddaughter Laura Ann Thorpe (1970-2021) was born on Sept. 16, 1970 in Uniontown. She entered into marriage with Vergil Hendrickson ( ? - ? ). Two children born to the pair were Kayle Hendrickson and Joshua Hendrickson. Sadly, at the age of 51, Laura Ann passed away at home in Uniontown on Dec. 7, 2021.
~ Warren's Son Robert Theodore Dean ~
Warren's son Robert Theodore Dean (1905-1984) was born on Nov. 30, 1905 in Cove Run near Uniontown.
He stood 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 120 lbs. He wore glasses and carried a scar across the bridge of his nose.
On Feb. 19, 1925, at the age of 19, he was joined in the bonds of wedlock with 17-year-old Dunbar native Mabel Agnes Boyer (April 18, 1907-1985), daughter of John W. and Sophia (Witters) Boyer. The pair slipped away to Cumberland, MD to marry.
The couple's trio of sons included Dr. Robert Theodore Dean Jr., John Warren Dean and Harold "Richard" Dean.
Robert in 1930-1940 earned a living as a newspaper printer for the Fayette Publishing Company. The family dwelled in Uniontown, at 39 Lawton Avenue, and in 1940 Robert's unmarried, 22-year-old sister Florence was in their household.
Circa 1945, they made a home in nearby Washington, Washington County, PA, with an address of 356 Burton Avenue. The family pulled up stakes in 1946 and relocated to Phoenix, AZ and stayed for the remaining years of their lives. He secured employment as a printer for the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette newspapers. He retired in 1970 at the age of 65 after 22 years with the papers. He was a member of the International Typographers Union for half a century.
The Deans' home in 1959 was at 104 West Southgate Avenue. The family belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They marked their golden wedding anniversary in March 1975 with an article appearing in the Republic.
Mabel only survived as a widow for
Mabel only survived as a widow for 10 months. Her final residence was in Yuma's Desert Manor. There, she surrendered to the angel of death at the age of 78 on Oct.11, 1985. The Republic counted her survivors as a dozen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Son Dr. Robert Theodore Dean Jr. (1927-1999) was born on Jan. 28, 1927 in Uniontown. He moved with his parents to Washington, PA when he was in young manhood and in 1945 lived there at 356 Burton Avenue. He stood 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed 150 lbs. When registering for the military draft in 1945, he disclosed that he had a scar on his left forehead and a four-inch scar on the top of his head. Robert joined the U.S. Navy during World War II, receiving his training at Lido Beach on Long Island, NY. On Jan. 21, 1950, in Phoenix, he entered into marriage with Audrey Hoctor (Sept. 19, 1926-2000), a native of Buffalo, NY who had served in the Army's Cadet Nursing Corps during World War II. Rev. James E. Drackert, of the Catholic Church, officiated. The Deans made a home in 1953 in Audrey's hometown of Buffalo, at 108 Cloverdale Avenue. Later they returned to Phoenix, with their homeplace at the address of 386 East Weldon Street. Robert and Audrey produced a family of children -- Patricia Lewis, Misty Burke, Robert Theodore Dean III and J. Richard Dean. Sadly, they also lost an unnamed baby girl at the age of two days on Feb. 20, 1959. Robert wed a second time to Janet F. ( ? - ? ). Their final home together was at Cave Creek near Phoenix. Robert died in Phoenix on May 24, 1999. He was pictured in his obituary in the Arizona Republic in which the family asked that any memorial donations be made to Hospice of the Valley. Ex-wife Audrey passed away on Jan. 10, 2000.
- Granddaughter Patricia Dean ( ? - ? ) married (?) Lewis ( ? - ? ).
- Granddaughter Misty Dean ( ? - ? ) wed (?) Burke ( ? - ? ).
- Grandson Robert Theodore Dean III ( ? - ? )
- Grandson J. Richard Dean ( ? - ? )
Son John Warren Dean (1930-1979) was born on Aug. 12, 1930. He was an alumnus of Phoenix Union High School. He attended Arizona State University before receiving his degree from St. Joseph's College of Nursing in San Francisco. On Sept. 8, 1956, in Phoenix, John was united in matrimony with Loisjean Stepp (1926-1964?). They were the parents of four. In early 1957, in the "city by the bay," he was employed by the Kaiser Foundation Hospital. In the late 1950s, he joined the U.S. Army and served as a first lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps, posted to Fort Sam Houston in 1959. He eventually attained the rank of major. Sadly, Loisjean is believed to have passed away in about 1964. His home in 1975 was in Big Spring, TX. He reputedly died at the age of 48 in Cape Girardeau, MO on May 4, 1979. Interment was in St. Marys Cemetery in Cape Girardeau.
Son Harold "Richard" Dean (1931-1977) was born on Nov. 15, 1931. He attended Roosevelt Elementary School in Phoenix in childhood. Richard served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and Vietnam War. He wed Evelyn Louise Smoot (Nov. 9, 1934-1999) and was the father of Barbara Dean. The couple divorced in Oregon in 1961. In the mid-1970s, he dwelled in Sebastopol, CA. Sadly, he died in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, CA at the age of 46 on Nov. 30, 1977. Funeral services were held in the hospital chapel. His obituary in the Arizona Republic said he was "formerly of 104 W. Southgate." He sleeps for the ages in Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery. Evelyn surrendered to death in Yakima, WA on April 1, 1999.
- Granddaughter Barbara Dean ( ? - ? )
~ Warren's Daughter Aurrella (Dean) Turner ~
Warren's daughter Aurella "Rella" Dean (1911-1989) was born on Nov. 19, 1911.
She wed a cousin, George Edward Turner (Dec. 14, 1900-1951), son of Homer and Sarah (Hull) Turner of Chalk Hill. See the Turner biography for more.
~ Warren's Daughter Laura Belle (Dean) Blevins ~
Warren's daughter Laura Belle (Dean) Blevins (1916-1989) was born on or about April 30, 1916 in Yauger Hollow, Fayette County.
She grew up in Keisterville. Circa 1936, she and her sister Florence worked together at Uniontown's Ritz Hotel.
In late 1935 or early 1936, Laura at age 19 gave birth to a boy in Uniontown Hospital. There was an "unusual mixup" at the hospital, said the Uniontown Morning Herald, and another woman claiming to be the infant's mother was identified.
After considerable effort Mayor John Ball and chief Charles Malik Thursday succeeded in identifying the baby which served as the central point of interest... Mrs. William Kissner, 22, of Friendsville, Md., after spending the night in the police station, where she was charged with being drunk and disorderly, wakened this morning screaming for the infant which officers had placed in Uniontown hospital for safe keeping until the mixup was finally adjusted. In the meantime, police dficovered that the child's own unmarried mother, 19-year-old Laura Dean of Keisterville, was a patient in the same hospital where heer baby had been returned as an "unknown." The girl recently underwent an operation for a pelvic condition. Mrs. Kissner, booked in the police station as Violet Friend, explained today to Mayor Bell that the baby, slightly over two months old, had been legally adopted by her in Cumberland courts when it was only ten days old. Her interest in the tiny boy came, she said, through her friendship for the real mother. The prisoner stated that she accompanied her husband, William Kissner, 56, to Uniontown from Friendsville yesterday, making the trip on a truck carrying over 100 bushels of potatoes. During the day the husband succeeded in selling the potatoes, receiving in return a quantity of groceries and a little money. He turned the cash over to her to pay for medical attention the baby was to receive here today. After a number of drinks last night in a Peter street hotel, the woman said, the husband returned to his home leaving her here to take the baby to the doctor. Trouble developed last night, however, when a 60-year-old Mt. Braddock complained to police that he had been "rolled by a dame" for five dollars. He charged she was Violet Friend (Mrs. Kissner.) In placing her under arrest, officers were faced with the problem of what to do with the tiny infant which -- minus shoes, stockings, blankets and everything save a thin dress and diaper -- was the center of a fight in Peter street when two strange girls, tugging and struggling, were making an effort to tear the baby from the screaming Kissner woman's arms. After the latter "passed out" in the police car, officers rushed the child -- wrapped in Patrolman William Price's coat -- to the hospital for a night's lodging. Not knowing that the child's real mother even then was a patient in the ward, Superintendent John Farrell booked the infant as an "unknown." With dawn came consciousness and the foster mother began screaming from her cell door for "my baby." Meanwhile, the girl claims her pocketbook -- containing the cash for the medical attention the baby was to receive today -- lies in the hotel room where the husband had left her with the infant.
Laura Belle was unmarried in 1940 and lived under the Uniontown roof of her married cousin, Francis and Dorothy M. (Dean) Chambers, of the family of William Penn and Mary Ann (Turner) Dean. Her occupation was listed as "house work - private family." Still single in the 1950s, she dwelled in Friendsville, Garrett County, MD.
By 1965, she is believed to have wed (?) Blevins ( ? - ? ) by 1965 and later possibly also (?) Barney ( ? - ? ).
Her final home was in Knoxville, TN, on Woodrow Drive. She held a membership in the Broadway Baptist Church. Under the name "Blevins," death swept her away on Nov. 7, 1989. Her remains were interred in Knoxville's Asbury Cemetery following funeral rites led by Rev. Luther Johnson.
~ Warren's Daughter Florence Marie (Dean) Foster ~
Warren's daughter Florence Marie (Dean) Foster (1918-2012) was born on Oct. 29, 1918.
She was just 13 months old when her mother died in childbirth. She was left motherless with six siblings, not including the baby, who died soonafter.
Florence later described her stepmother Sophia as "kind of sickly. She was good to me though." Sadly, the stepmother died in 1931, when Florence was age 14, and the father married yet again to Freida Schimansky. "Soon he was out of work," reported the Uniontown Morning Herald. Florence later said "It was kind of scrimpy for food sometimes,... but I earned some money washing and cleaning."
She quit school after eighth grade, and started helping neighbors with housework. Quoted in a Uniontown newspaper, she said "Saturdays I always went out to work for them. I liked it when they had kids to watch. I liked kids."
Circa September 1936, she and her sister Laura Belle were employed as chambermaids in Uniontown's Ritz Hotel, on Peter Street, where they also lived. Owned by Frank Monaghan, it was said to be his base of operation for illegal gambling and prostitution during the heart of the Great Depression. At the time, wrote authors Wilford Swimmer and Beverely Peterson, Florence was "just eighteen years old [and] had dark brown hair, pretty white teeth, and blue eyes that were slightly crossed." She had the unfortunate fate of riding in the passenger seat of her employer's vehicle one night in September 1936 when he was pulled over by police for erratic driving. Monagan recognized the officer, District Attorney James A. Reilly, and when Reilly suggested that Monaghan was drunk and should relinquish the driver's seat, Monaghan got into the back seat while officer John C. Wall took the wheel. Using a pen knife, Monaghan then slit the new driver's throat as he sat in front. Wall's jugular vein had been severed, and he bled profusely as he was being rushed to Uniontown Hospital.
Florence spent
her final years in the Henry Clay Villa nursing home in Markleysburg, Fayette
County. She died there at the age of 94 on April 21, 2012. She was laid to rest
in Pleasant View Cemetery. She is mentioned in the 1956 book Tiger At the Bar, authored by Chester Harris, and pictured in the 2001 book Screams from the Courthouse Basement, by Swimmer and Peterson. ~ Warren and Freida's Son Warren McEwen Dean Jr. ~ Warren and Freida's son Warren McEwen Dean Jr. (1934-1990) was born in 1934. His early years were spent in Dunbar with his parents and half-siblings on both sides. He is believed to have been a 1951 graduate of Connellsville High School. He joined the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and in 1952 trained at Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. His specialty was as a teletypist with the communications group. Warren was joined in matrimony with Patricia "Pat" Halliwell (May 11, 1935-2019), daughter of George Halliwell and Wilma L. Cizmadia and stepdaughter of Elva Mari (Balch) Halliwell, and a native of Tewksbury, MA. Four offspring born to the couple were Cheryl Dean, Philip Dean, Deanna Dean and Daniel Dean. Sadly, son Philip died at birth in Lockport on Oct. 5, 1955, with his tender remains laid to rest in Cold Springs Cemetery. Warren's home in 1956, at the death of his mother, was at the Shawnee Air Force Base in Lockport, NY, stationed there with the 763rd unit. He was injured in March 1957, his ribs bruised after a an automobile accident at the intersection of Main and Pine at Niagara Falls with fellow airman Sgt. Jess E. Madison. Then circa 1958-1959, he was transferred to Ashiya, Japan, where their daughter Cheryl was born. In 1971-1977, they resided in Buffalo, NY. Sadly, at the age of 56, Warren died at Niagara Falls on May 30, 1990. Patricia remained in Pendleton, Buffalo County, NY as a widow. In about 2001, she married a second time to her husband's grand-nephew, widower Fred G. Bryson Sr. (1944- ? ), son of Grover Dawson and Evalyn (Schimansky) Bryson spelled out elsewhere on this page. He brought three stepchildren into the second marriage -- Lisa Sproul, Fred Bryson and James Bryson. Their union endured for 18 years until the separation of death and made a home in New Salem, Fayette County, PA, not far from her first husband's birthplace. Patricia liked to bowl, read and watch old films. She passed away on April 28, 2019, with funeral services held in the Keisterville Union Church. In an obituary, the family requested that any memorial donations be made to the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans of America or National Stroke Association. Daughter Cheryl J. Dean (1959-2001) was born on Jan. 15, 1959 in Ashiya, Japan. She was a 1978 graduate of Buffalo's Riverside High School. She served in the U.S. Air Force but was discharged for health reasons in 1982. She liked to bowl and play soccer. Cheryl's final residence was in Pendleton, Niagara County, NY. As her health declined, she was admitted to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Buffalo. Sadly, at the age of 42, she died on April 3, 2001. An obituary was published in the Buffalo News. Her remains sleep for all time in Lockport's Cold Springs Cemetery. Daughter Deanna Dean ( ? - ? ) entered into marriage with Eric Kleiner. Their home in 2001 was in Lockport, NY. Son Daniel Dean first wed Lisa. He also joined the U.S. Air Force. In 2001, he was stationed in Chugiak, AK and bore the rank of technical sergeant. By 2019, he had married again to Robin. ~ Warren's Stepchildren with Freida (Schimansky) Woodward ~ Warren's stepdaughter from his third marriage, Ida Woodward (1905-1971) was born on Aug. 30, 1905. When she was 17 years of age, she married 18-year-old Clarence W. Franks (1904-1987). The known offspring of this couple were Hannah Gwendolyn "Gwen" Dailey, Ruth A. LaFisca, Clarence C. Franks, Retta Jane Hinson, Earlene Esther Roderick, Edward Franks, Carl Ray Franks, Marylin Hayhurst Riffee, John Davis Franks Sr., Robert Franks and James F. Franks. The family resided in Keisterville in 1930-1940, with Clarence laboring in a coal mine in 1930 and as a mine stable boss in 1940. In April 1934, she was quoted in the Uniontown Evening Standard with her answer to the question, "Do you think a husband should pay his wife a salary?" Her response: "Sure. That's a swell idea. A wife cooperates with heer husband in helping to put their home management, etc., on a business basis so why shouldn't the business continue as he pays her a salary?" The Frankses are known to have traveled to Jordan, WV in October 1935 to visit her married sister Anna Elizabeth Rundle. Census records for 1950 show the family in Winfield, Marion County, WV. There, Ida was employed as a laborer in a hospital and Clarence as a coal miner. They dwelled in Pittsburgh in 1956 and in Jordan near Fairmont, WV in 1960-1965. Ida passed away at the age of 65 in May 1971. Her remains repose for eternity in the Laurel Hill Presbyterian Cemetery. Clarence survived as a widower for another 16 years. He died in 1987. Step-great-granddaughter Ruby Dailey married Michael Ardery. They dwelled at Montana Mines in 2014. Step-great-granddaughter Judy Ann Dailey (1945- ? ) was born in 1945 in Fairmont. Her residence in the mid-1960s was Catawba, Marion County. When she was 18 years of age, on May 21, 1964, in Catawba, she wed 21-year-old William Enoch Ferrell (April 22, 1943-2005), son of Jess W. and Grace J. Ferrell. Leading the wedding ceremony was Rev. Austin Burrough of the Catawba Methodist Church. William served as an airman int he U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. The Ferrells made their residence at Montana Mines. Sadly, William passed into the arms of the angels at the age of 62 on June 2, 2005. His remains were lowered into eternal repose in Fairmont's Grandview Memorial Gardens. Judy's home circa 2014 was at Montana Mines. Step-great-grandson Michael F. LaFisca married Fay and moved to Shreveport, LA. Step-great-grandson William C. LaFisca wed Robecca. They have dwelled in Butler, PA. Step-great-granddaughter Joyce A. LaFisca entered into marriage with Jay Schrecengost. Circa 2014, they lived in Kittanning. Step-great-granddaughter Marcia LaFisca was joined in wedlock with David Jackson. They too have put down roots in Kittanning. Step-great-grandson William "Bobby" Franks wed Cathy. They dwelled in Grafton, WV. He was deceased by 2022. Step-great-granddaughter Gwendolyn "Ruth" Franks (1952-2022) was born on Feb. 19, 1952 in Fairmont. She married Franklin Paul "Frank" Conner Sr. (Jan. 31, 1953-2022), son of Samuel Nelson and Wanda Mae (Cecil) Conner and stepson of James Stuttler. The pair made a home in Shinnston and Fairmont and bore two sons -- Franklin Paul Conner Jr. and James Conner. She was employed for 24 years as a waitress for Woody's Restaurant, while he was a longtime ironworker and welder. When time permitted he liked to fish and hunt and follow the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers teams of the National Football League. Both wife and husband died three months apart. Frank surrendered to death first, in Fairmont Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, on June 25, 2022. Ruth passed away in Fairmont at the age of 70 on Sept. 28, 2022. Their remains were cremated. Step-great-granddaughter Regina M. Franks entered into marriage with Kenneth Daniel. Circa 2017, they dwelled in Mannington, WV. Step-step-great-grandson Harold Hinson ( ? - ? ) Step-step-great-grandson Harold Hinson ( ? - ? ) Step-step-great-grandson Harvey Hinson married Brenda. Step-great-grandson Dennis Williams was in Boothsville, WV in 2017 and in Fairmont in 2022. Step-great-grandson Roy Williams married Joyce. They put down roots in Fairmont. Step-great-grandson and Jack Williams Step-great-grandson Jack Williams was joined in wedlock with Amelia "Millie." They have resided in Core, WV. Step-great-granddaughter Carla Rae Franks was joined in matrimony with James Shultz. Their home in 2007 was in Blacksville, WV. Step-great-grandson Todd Allen Franks wed Jennifer. They were in Fairmont in 2007. Step-great-granddaughter Veronica Marie Franks was united in wedlock with Jamie McQuain. They planted themselves in Fairmont. Step-great-granddaughter Debbie married Donald Friend. Their home in 2016 was in Fairmont. Step-great-granddaughter Kim wed Gilbert Blazek Jr. Sadly, he was deceased by 2016. The widowed Kim has lived in Diamond, OH. Step-great-grandson Ronald Riffee was joined in marital union with Wendy. They dwell in Fairmont. Step-great-grandson Donald Lee Riffee Jr. was united in matrimony with Terri. Their home in 2016 was in St. Clara, WV. Step-great-grandson Scott Riffee entered into wedlock with Mary. In 2016, their residence was in Mineral Ridge, OH. Step-great-granddaughter Sherry Franks entered into marriage with Doug Nalbach. Circa 2007, they dwelled in Arvada, CO. Step-great-grandson John D. Franks Jr. married Sandra. They migrated to St. Francis, WI. Step-great-grandson Richard L. Franks wed or was a companion of Debra Edwards. His home in 2007 was at Beaver Creek, OH. Step-great-granddaughter Michelle Franks was joined in wedlock with Robert Small. They made a residence in 2007 in Warren Township, OH. Warren's stepson from his third marriage, Carl Lewis Woodward (1907-1971) was born in about 1907. A bachelor at the age of 23, in 1930, he earned a living as a coupler in a coal mine. He married Amy Layhue ( ? -1970). He made his residence in 1941-1956 in Uniontown and earned a living as a coal miner. When signing the death certificate of his teenage nephew Harold "Junior" McLaughlin Jr., in 1941, Carl lived at 75 Lemon Street. After a divorce, he wed again to Garnet Franks ( ? - ? ). Carl's stepchildren were William Golden, George Washabaugh, James Washabaugh, Annabelle Pinto, Charles Leroy Jones and Iveda Pauline Jones. Carl's final adress was 391 Derrick Avenue in Uniontown. He died at the age of 64, at home, on the Fourth of July 1971. An obituary in the Uniontown Evening Standard said he was survived by 24 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren. Warren's stepdaughter from his third marriage, Anna Elizabeth Woodward (1909-1990) was born on Sept. 10, 1909. She wed Fred Rundle Sr. ( ? - ? ). Their known offspring were Bertha Mae Rundle, Roberta "Ruth" Johnson Coates and Fred Rundle Jr. The Rundles migrated to West Virginia, where they lived in Jordan, Marion County in 1934-1945 and are known to have traveled to Keisterville for family visits. They resided in Everettsville, WV in 1956-1977. The grim reaper of death swept Anna Elizabeth away at the age of 80 on Jan. 8, 1990. Interment was in Beverly Hills Memorial Park in Morgantown, WV. Warren's stepdaughter from his third marriage, Minnie Woodward (1912-1977) was born on March 13, 1912 in Keisterville. At the age of 15, she was united in the bonds of wedlock with Harold McLaughlin Sr. ( ? - ? ). Together, they bore a son circa 1928, Harold "Junior" McLaughlin Jr. The pair eventually divorced, with Harold Sr. moving to Nemacolin. As of 1930, Minnie lived with her parents in Keisterville -- in Carnegie, PA in 1936 -- and in Dunbar in 1941-1945. Tragedy struck on the fateful day of April 29, 1941. While riding in the back seat of a vehicle with four others, including her 13-year-old son and 20-year-old sister Leona, Minnie was badly injured and Harold Jr. killed in an accident on Route 119 in North Union Township. The Uniontown Morning Herald reported that Harold Jr. was: ...crushed under a wrecked car which overturned several times after leaving the highway near the Sylvan Heights cemetery... The five had been out for a drive and in returning in the direction of Connellsville, Boyer failed to make a sharp curve to the right just north of the John Brown estate. The car swerved to the left and overturned, smashing a pole and resting on one side. The young victim either attempted to get out a rear door or was thrown out as his body was pinned, across the stomach and hips, under neath the running board. His life was crushed out within a few seconds after the accident. Minnie suffered head lacerations and brush burns of the face, while Leona also sustained facial abrasions and injuries to her right hand. Harold Jr.'s remains were laid to rest in Laurel Hill Cemetery. In time, by 1954, Minnie was joined in wedlock with Harold P. Watts (Oct. 2, 1898-1975), son of Luke and Mary Elizabeth (Henry) Watts of Berkeley, WV. Harold brought a stepson to the union, Harold S. Watts. The couple did not reproduce. Harold was a member of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Local No. 2 of the AFFL [?]. Their home in 1953-1956 was in Pittsburgh and in 1971-1975 in Uniontown's Mount Vernon Towers. Harold passed away at the age of 76, in Uniontown Hospital, on Aug. 31, 1975. His obituary appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Minnie outlived him by two years. Her final residence was in LaFayette Manor. Sadly, Minnie died at the age of 65 on Aug. 15, 1977. Her obituary in the Uniontown Evening Standard said that as he had done with Harold's funeral, Rev. Dennis Lucus led the rites, followed by burial in Laurel Hill Cemetery. Warren's stepdaughter from his third marriage, Ruth Woodward (1914-1981) was born in 1914. She first was united in matrimony with William "Earl" Blasy (Jan. 1, 1903-1972), also spelled "Blasey" -- "Blacey" -- and "Plasey," son of Casper and Otelia (Pickett) Blasy. As of 1945-1956, the Blaseys made a home in Connellsville, and in 1971 in Dawson. They were the parents of two known offspring -- Muriel Rhee Wilson and Robert T. Blasy. Sadly, Earl died in 1972. His remains were laid to rest in Dickerson Run Union Cemetery. Ruth married a second time to Edward Woodrow Murray (July 10, 1912-2004), son of Clarence Henry and Mary Elizabeth (Ghrist) Murray. The Murrays dwelled in his hometown of Dickerson Run in 1977. Death swept her away in 1981. Burial was in Connellsville's Green Ridge Memorial Park. As a widower, Edward lived for another 22-plus years. He passed into the arms of eternity at the age of 91 on Feb. 20, 2004. Warren's stepson from his third marriage, Luke Woodward (1916- ? ) was born in about 1916. In boyhood, he lived with his parents in Keisterville in 1920. Luke does not appear in the 1930 census, and his fate may be lost to history. Warren's stepson from his third marriage, Davis Robert Woodward (1918-1998) was born on June 24, 1918 in Keisterville. Davis in young manhood stood 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighed 145 lbs. When he was 20 years of age, on Aug. 1, 1938, he entered into the bonds of marriage with Elda Jeane ( ? - ? ). Their brood of four children were Ida Jeane Woodward, Davis Fred Woodward, Dorothea Lou Woodward and Barry Craig Woodward. When required to register for the military draft in 1940, on the eve of World War II, he disclosed that he and Elda were married, and that he was working for the Works Progress Administration. The WPA was one of the ways President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the federal government tried to overcome unemployment during the Great Depression. It's widely considered one of the Roosevelt's largest and most ambitious undertakings of his "New Deal" to get the nation back on sound economic footing. Over the years, the WPA hired millions of out-of-work individuals to build public works projects, such as roads, bridges, retaining walls and buildings. Davis joined the U.S. Navy during the world war on April 22, 1944. He is known to have served aboard the USS Massachusetts from July 15, 1944 to Oct. 29, 1945, with deployment to the South Pacific's Marshall Islands and the Philippines. By 1953, the family was planted in Jordon, Marion County, WV and by 1971 moved to Fairmont, WV, remaining as of 1977. He surrendered to the angel of death in Fairmont the day after Christmas 1998. Burial was in Rest Haven Memorial Gardens. Elda survived him by five years. She passed away on Sept. 4, 2003. Davis is pictured in the book World War II Young American Patriots, 1941-1945. Warren's stepson from his third marriage, Harold Woodward ( ? -1943), reputedly died in 1943. His paper trail has gone cold. Warren's stepdaughter from his third marriage, Leona Woodward (1921- ? ) was born in about 1921. Circa September 1934, at the age of 13, she moved to Pittsburgh to live with her sister Minnie and to attend school. At the age of 17, she and 22-year-old boyfriend Edward Cable of Keisterville were charged by her mother circa 1937 with carrying on an "illicit relationship" in the back seat of his automobile. A jury of five women and seven men exonerated both, when they asserted that they had been in the car together "just to talk awhile." The mother was ordered to pay court costs and later was jailed when failing to make her payments. Leona may have been thrice-married. Her first husband is believed to have been (?) Woods ( ? - ? ) as she was using that name in 1941 when involved in an automobile accident with her sister Minnie McLaughlin. Her second spouse was (?) Atkins ( ? - ? ). They were in Coffeyville, KS as of 1945. Later, she wed (?) Miles ( ? - ? ) and by 1953 relocated to Baltimore, MD. As of 1971, now wed to (?) Pledger ( ? - ? ), she was in Owens Mills, MD and in 1977 in Sykesville, MD. Warren's stepdaughter from his third marriage, Clara Jean Woodward (1923- ? ) was born in about 1923. She entered into marriage twice, first with Henry Fulmer (circa 1945-1956). Over the years, she lived in Dickerson Run and Dawson. Her second spouse was (?) Palmer. Warren's stepson from his third marriage, Frederick E. Woodward (1925-1945) was born on May 14, 1925 in Uppermiddletown near Uniontown. At the age of 14, in 1940, he dwelled with his mother, stepfather, sister Mildred and stepbrothers George and Warren Jr. in Dunbar. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and became a pharmacist's mate third class. He is known for 15 months to have been deployed to the South Pacific. He then was transferred stateside and posted to Camp Pendleton, CA with a medical school battalion. Sadness blanketed the family when the 20-year-old was terribly injured in an automobile collision near the intersection of Route 119 and Dunbar Road on May 20, 1945, "home on first leave in two years," said the Connellsville Daily Courier. The crash with another car "occurred on the curving section of the highway between the Dunbar and Lazy Hour Ranch intersection at about 1 o'clock in the morning." He was rushed to Connellsville State Hospital where he soonafter died of a fractured skull and lacerated face. Interment was in Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church Cemetery, following funeral services held at Franklin Memorial Methodist Church in Dunbar, officiated by Rev. William S. Hamilton. Warren's stepdaughter from his third marriage, Mildred Woodward (1928- ? ) was born in about 1928. At the age of 12, in 1940, 2he dwelled with her mother, stepfather, brother Frederick and stepbrothers George and Warren Jr. in Dunbar. She was joined in wedlock with John Bogasky/Bogosky/Bugosky ( ? - ? ). The couple relocated to Cleveland, OH and were there in 1971-1977. Freida's stepson from her first marriage, John "Curtis" Woodward (1895-1953) was born on Dec. 10, 1895 in Smock, near Uniontown. He was a 26-year coal miner for U.S. Steel Company and lived in Juniata, PA in the 1920s. He eventually relocated to Vanderbilt where he spent the final three decades of life. He was united in the rite of marriage with Rose Marie Bonadio (Aug. 14, 1908-1951), a native of Vanderbilt and the daughter of Alexander and Mary Woodward. Their trio of daughters were Carrie Marie Kovach, Betty Mae Woodward and Nevada Grace Woodward. Rose Marie belonged to the Emory Lewis Pratt Post of the American Legion Auxiliary and the Vanderbilt Women of the Moose. Their residence in the early 1950s was on Main Street in Vanderbilt. Sadly, she was stricken with cancer of the cervix and diabetes. After 54 days as a patient, Rose Marie passed away in Pittsburgh's Woman's Hospital on April 1, 1951, at the age of just 42. Her obituary ran in the Connellsville Daily Courier. Rev. Francis R. Mullen led her requiem high mass at the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Dawson. Curtis survived his wife by fewer than two years. On the fateful and dark day of March 11, 1953, he made the decision to end his life by hanging. Daughter Carrie Marie Kovach of Vanderbilt signed the official Pennsylvania certificate of death. His remains were lowered under the sod of Dickerson Run Union Cemetery, with Rev. Irving R. Phillips leading the funeral service. An obituary was published in the Connellsville Daily Courier. Step-great-granddaughter Rose Marie Kovach (1952- ? ) was born in 1952. Freida's stepson from her first marriage, Ray Woodward, relocated to Cleveland, OH and was there in the late 1920s. Copyright
© 2003-2004, 2006-2007, 2009-2010, 2014, 2017, 2023 Mark A. Miner
With apparent nonchalance, Monaghan and Florence then drove back to the Ritz Hotel, just a block away from the police station, and there both were arrested. He and Florence were escorted to the police station for booking, with her sobbing hysterically, "I did it. I did it." A large blood-smeared knife with several blades was found in front of her dress. Later she admitted that she lied to protect her boss.
When Monaghan was beaten to death in jail later that night, Florence became a prime witness, with her name splashed all over Uniontown newspaper articles for many months. Her distant double step-cousin, Wilbert Regis "Patsy" Minerd, was assistant county detective at the time, and faced trial for the killing, but later was exonerated from blame. She was pictured under the headline "Victim's Friend" in the Feb. 8, 1937 Connellsville Daily Courier. Florence took the witness stand a few days later, dressed in red, with a brown coat and dark brown hat, and wearing spectacles. She gave testimony that her boss had been sober on that fateful evening, having only had six drinks of whiskey, and was carrying a large roll of dollar bills. An artist's cartoon sketch of her was published as the top headline story in the Uniontown Evening Standard edition of Feb. 15, 1937.
Officer Wall, whose life had been saved by skilled surgeons at Uniontown Hospital, brougt a claim against her for allegedly holding his arm down as he was being attacked, but the case went nowhere.
Florence at age 22 made her home with her married brother Robert in Uniontown in 1940. Later, she married (?) Foster and in 1954-1956 resided in
Ypsilanti, near Detroit.
Circa 1964, when she and her sister Aurrella returned to Fayette County to visit relatives, both women resided in Conshohocken near Philadelphia. In 1976, she was in Philadelphia.