Harriet
(Younkin)
Romesburg Turney
(1864-1945)
Harriet
(Younkin) Romesburg Turney was born in 1864 near Kingwood, Somerset County, PA, the
daughter of Eli and Mary Ann (Rose) Younkin. Her
first husband was one of many of our family killed in the coal industry
workplace.
As a girl, Harriet and her parents traveled west to Illinois for "a few years," possibly for the sake of her mother's health. Her mother, who was homesick, did not get well, and passed away. She was buried at Franklin Grove, Lee County, IL, apparently in an unmarked grave. The mourning family then returned home to Somerset County.
Hattie's first husband was Benjamin F. Romesburg (1863-1901), a laborer for the Ursina Coal & Coke
Company. They had seven children -- Harry Mahlon Romesburg, Dennis O. Romesburg, Etta C. Wilson-Hayes, Zelma Shoaf, Lillie Belle
Brown-Deal, Myles B. Romesburg and Ray H. Romesburg.
The family is seen here, with Hattie and Ben seated at right, surrounded by six of their children. The older couple seated at left are Benjamin's parents -- Moses and Sarah Ann (Nicola) Romesburg. Click to see an enlargement of the portrait, with the identities of all the faces.
The Romesburgs resided on a farm about five miles from Confluence, Somerset County. To get to school, the children needed to walk a distance of about one and one-half miles through fields and woods along a river, crossing a covered bridge to the one room King School.
Death came young, violently and painfully for Benjamin, while working at a construction site in nearby Ursina, Somerset County. He and co-workers were eating lunch in a shed when an explosion rocked the site. The Dec. 4, 1901 Somerset Herald reported that:
... Ben. Romesburg, while ... excavating for the company store, was struck last week on top of the head by a stone that had been hurled in the air by a blast, crushing his skull. At last account he was still living but the doctors had very little hopes of his recovery. He has a wife and large family.
Benjamin's
broken body was brought home, where he was laid on a table in the family home
while a physician was en route from Connellsville to provide medical treatment. Unfortunately, he died a short time afterward, without regaining
consciousness, and was buried at the Ursina Cemetery. The tragedy also was reported in the Connellsville
Courier. His grave marker was inscribed, "My trust is in God."
Benjamin
was only age 38 at the time of his tragic death.
Hattie was left alone to raise their brood of children. She lived for 11 years as a widow, also helping raise her grandson, Wilfred Brown.
On Oct. 23, 1912, Hattie married again, at age 48, to widower Elisha T. Turney (1865- ? ), the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Turney of Lower Turkeyfoot Township. The wedding took place in her home near Humbert, Somerset County. At the time of marriage, Elisha was employed as a teamster. Justice of the peace Andrew J. Case performed the ceremony. The news was published in the Meyersdale (PA) Commercial newspaper, which said she was the "daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Younkin."
Elisha's first wife had died on July 4, 1883, so he had been a widower for almost three decades prior to his marriage to Hattie. He is believed to have died a short time after the second marriage, but details are not known.
Hattie is believed to have earned her income working in the laundry of the famed Markleton Sanitarium. Her house had no electricity or indoor plumbing. Visiting grandchildren played X's and O's on a table lit by an oil lamp, or would play hide and seek outside until it became too dark in the evening, or would hide in the old barn or spring house.
The old Markleton Sanitarium, where Hattie was a laundress
Over the years, Hattie enjoyed going to the annual Kingwood Picnic. Her daughter Zelma Shoaf and family attended, and would see their cousin Beacher Younkin at almost every one.
Hattie died in 1945 at the home of her married daughter Zelma Shoaf in Irwin, Westmoreland County, PA, and is buried with her first husband in Ursina Cemetery. Her obituary was published in a local newspaper, but misspelled her name as "Harry" instead of "Hattie." At the time of her death, Hattie had 22 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
Hattie
and Benjamin are mentioned in the books Romesberg
Remsberg Ramsperger Riemensperger Genealogy (1984) and Reflections:
Ursina 1787-1994. The 1984 book, seen at left, is in the
collection of the Somerset Historical and Genealogical Society.
Son Harry Mahlon Romesburg (1886- ? ) resided in Versailles, near Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA circa 1945. He married Sarah Pirl ( ? - ? ). They had two known children, and perhaps more -- Benjamin Romesburg and George Golden Romesburg. Sadly, Sarah died young, when her sons were boys.
Son Dennis Romesburg (1887-1966) married Lulu Heinbaugh ( ? - ? ) and Della Edith (Shirer) Hachman (1891-1988). He and Lulu had at lest two daughters, Garnet Romesburg and Clema Smith. After Lulu's death, he married Della, the widow of Noah Hachman. Dennis is pictured in the books Draketown Past & Present and Down the Road of Our Past. In the 1980s, a photograph of Dennis among a lumber crew was published in the Daily American, as submitted by a distant cousin of the Levi Rose family. Dennis died in 1966, at the age of 79, and is buried at the Ursina Cemetery. The Romesburgs' daughter Clema married Harvey Smith (1907-1993), the son of Albert and Mary Catherine (Moon) Smith, and had five children.
Daughter Zelma Romesburg (1892-2001) married Jesse Shoaf (1888-1971), the son of Christ and Sarah (Weaver) Shoaf. Zelma's lifespan touched three centuries. Born in 1892, she lived to age 109, and passed away in August 2001. They resided in Irwin, Westmoreland County, PA, where Jesse worked on a construction gang for West Penn Power Company. He survived an electrocution in about 1927-1928, and once was severely injured when thrown by a swinging power pole. He was a maintenance survivor at the age of 60. The Greensburg (PA) Tribune Review profiled Zelma, in a March 2001 feature article headlined "Area Woman Celebrates 109th Birthday." The story said that:
... before she met her husband, Jesse, she worked almost constantly through her teens and early 20s. In Connellsville, she worked as a baker, in a hospital, in a hotel and as a domestic. Life wasn't easy as a domestic without electricity - all the washing had to be done by hand.
Asked for the secret of her longevity, Zelma had no specific answer except for "God's will," and told the reporter, "Ask God. He can tell you." She passed away at age 109 on Aug. 26, 2001, and was laid to rest in Irwin Union Cemetery.
Daughter Lilly Romesburg (1895-1989) married Roy L. Deal (1896-1981), the son of Harvey and Hattie (Dwire) Deal. They resided in or around Confluence, where Roy was a coal miner. The Deals had at least two children -- Ruth Karla and Warren Deal. Lilly was a member of the Turkeyfoot Valley Baptist Church of Confluence. Roy passed away in 1981, at the age of 85, and was buried in the Baptist Cemetery in Confluence. Lilly outlived her husband by eight years. She died at the age of 94 at her home in Confluence on July 11, 1989. At the time of her passing, she was survived by 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. The Deal family is mentioned in the 1984 Romesberg book.
Son Miles Romesburg (1898-1983) married Maggie M. Lee (1906-1979), the daughter of James and Mary (Mathias) Lee of Fayette County, PA. They resided in Harnedsville, Somerset County, and had four children: Edward Romesburg, Ruth Gogoel, Jack Romesburg and Leroy Romesburg. Maggie died on Dec. 9, 1979, at the age of 73, and was laid to rest in the Jersey Church Cemetery near Ursina. Miles outlived her by four years, and passed away on March 28, 1983, at the age of 85. When Maggie died, the newspaper said she had seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Ray Romesburg profiled in the Somerset Daily American
Son Ray Romesburg (1901-1988) married Nellie McDaniel (1909-1984). They had three children -- Mary Martin, Betty Burnsworth and Thomas Romesburg. Ray was a farmer in early life and later a railroad laborer, "working on a section of the railroad that extended from Humbert to Bakersville," said the Somerset Daily American. He "helped to put in ties, raised track, and 'when the train would wreck, we'd have to fix the track so they could get over it the next day to haul logs over to the mill'." Once the local sawmills closed in the late 1920s, Ray "became a miner, digging and loading out coal for various companies in the Uniontown area. Over the years, he held various jobs in a variety of fields. He worked for a sand and gravel company in Akron, Ohio; was a laborer in the building trades in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; did carpentry in Youngstown, Ohio; even kept the Leap Frog ride running in an amusement park in McKeesport; helped maintain Posy Corners near New Centerville; and was a caretaker at Laurel Hill State Park." Nellie passed away on Sept. 18, 1984. Two years after her death, Ray was profiled in the Daily American in 1987 in an article, "He Recalls Humbert's Heyday." The original article is on file at the Meyersdale (PA) Public Library. Ray died at the age of 87 on July 18, 1988, at Uniontown Hospital in Fayette County. He was laid to rest in the Jersey Church Cemetery.
Grandson George G. Romesburg
(1915-1977) married LaVerne
Bartels (1922-2003). George was a "retired employee of the National Tube
plant, U.S. Steel Corp., [and] was a member of the Bryn Mawr Church of Christ,
White Oak, a life member of Versailles Volunteer Fire Co. and a U.S. Army Air
Corps veteran of World War II," said the McKeesport Daily News. (The
National Tube works is seen at left.) LaVerne was retired from the Famous Department Store in
McKeesport, near Pittsburgh, and the Irvin Plant of U.S. Steel Corp. She was a
member of Bryn Mawr Church of Christ in White Oak and served as a deaconess and
Sunday School teacher of the church. She also was secretary of the Versailles
Chapter of the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons).
Grandson Jack C. Romesburg (1933-2005) married Marion "Sally" Holt. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and was a member of the Kingwood Church of God and the National Rifle Association. He retired from U.S. Steel's Clairton Works.
For more information, contact great-granddaughter Linda (Romesburg) Albis.
Copyright © 2000-2002, 2006-2007 Mark A. Miner