A Sense of Wonder
Honoring 375 Cousins Who Have
Worked
in Our Nation's Public Education Field
The
education field has attracted an extraordinary number of people in our family.
Over many generations, they and their work have touched thousands of
lives and conveyed a sense of wonder. They
have opened young minds to the vast universe of words, numbers, athletics and
arts.
Hundreds of extended Minerd-Miner-Minor cousins and their spouses have served in the field since the mid-1800s. They have worked as administrators, teachers, coaches, aides, secretaries, bus drivers and custodians, at places ranging from one-room country schoolhouses to prestigious large universities. Hundreds more exist but have not yet been identified. We have only scratched the surface.
Our
booklet, A Sense of Wonder, was
published for the 1997 Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion -- a first step to measure
this enormous contribution by identifying as many educators as could be found.
All are direct descendants (or their spouses) of German immigrants
Friedrich and Eva Maria (Weber) Meinert Sr. of Berks County, PA and of their son and
daughter in law, Jacob and Maria (Nein) Minerd
Sr., pioneer settlers of
Fayette/Somerset Counties, PA in 1791.
The booklet is intended to be the beginning rather than the end of a discovery process, because there is so much more to be found. Hopefully it has created awareness, stimulated interest and encouraged the magic of discovery.
The facts in the report were gathered primarily through publicly available sources such as newspapers, county teacher institute annual reports, courthouse records, university archives and Internet websites. Many other cousins added significantly to our body of knowledge through their letters and emails. In some instances we relied on cousins' information and did not cross-check their data elsewhere for accuracy.
Interesting statistics emerged from a review of the 223 cousin-educators originally listed in A Sense of Wonder:
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Only 39 educators have carried some form of the family name as adults. The remainder changed or were different due to marriage.
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158 are blood-related, and 65 are spouses.
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115 are women, and 108 are men.
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Educators have worked in 28 states.
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The first known male educator in the family was James R. Brown, husband of Lydia A. Miner of Cardington, Morrow County, OH. (The Browns later were pioneer settlers of Oklahoma.)
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The first known male educator in Fayette County, PA was Charles Minerd, a Stewart Twp. School Director in 1869. At least 19 of his direct descendants and spouses have worked in the field. The earliest known male educator in Somerset County, PA was John R. Jennings, husband of Martha J. Knight, who taught prior to serving in the Civil War in 1862.
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The first known woman educator in Fayette County, PA was Laura Jane 'Jennie' (Minerd) Williams at Egypt School in 1892. The first known woman teacher in Somerset County, PA was Ruby (Harbaugh) Peck-Miller at Middlecreek School in 1915.
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The earliest known male educator to receive a college education was Joseph M. Luckey, husband of Sarah 'Sadie' Minerd, in 1889 at what is now California University of PA. At least 13 of their direct descendants have been educators.
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The earliest known woman educator to receive a college degree was Nell (Penn) Minerd, wife of Dr. Roy S. Minerd, in 1909 from California University of PA. Five of their descendants and spouses have worked in the field.
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The earliest known educator to teach at the college level was Albert 'Ross' Minor at Waynesburg (PA) College in the early 1920s.
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California University of PA has produced the most educators in the family (43), followed by the University of Pittsburgh (12), Penn State University (10) and Indiana University of PA (9).
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Family educators have taught at such faraway places as Alaska, Australia and Poland.
Well more than 100 more cousin-educators have been identified since publication in 1997.
A Sense of Wonder is divided into three sections: School Board Directors, Administrators and Teachers; and Support Services. Each entry contains each educator's name, higher education, career information and lineage. The booklet is part of an ongoing effort to publish interesting results of the research about our family.
Thank you to all who shared a little of themselves through their career information and precious photos. Sincerely,
Mark
A. Miner, President
Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion - July
1997
To Start Your Tour:
School Board Directors - click
here
Administrators and Teachers - last names beginning with: A-L
~ M-M-M ~ N-Z
Support Staff - click here
Copyright © 1997, 2001, 2007 Mark A. Miner