#52Ancestors Week 10: Charles Edgar Fife

I've made it to week 10 of the 52 ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge!

Charles Edgar Fife with his daughter, Rowene, my grandma.

I never met any of my great-grandparents.  Charles Edgar Fife was my grandma's father.  I wish I had taken the time to find out more about all of the family members of my grandparents and if you're lucky enough to be able to ask your grandparents questions about their families, I hope you will take the opportunity to do that!  

Charles was born in 1874.  His father, John Calvin Fife, died in a horrible accident while helping to build a bridge in 1879.  I wonder if he remembered his father at all?  His mother, Mary (McConnell) Fife never remarried, essentially raising four children as a single mother.  How did that affect Charles Fife as he was growing up?  The Fife family was relatively prominent in Upper St. Clair PA where he was born, but the fact that his mother was advertising a sale of household items in the paper on the same day that her husband's obituary appeared in the paper makes me think that there probably wasn't much money. 

Charles E. Fife seemed to work at many jobs in his life.  In the 1910 Census, he was listed as working for a gas company; in 1920, he was listed as working for a tin plate mill.  His obituary, in 1941, said he was a machinist at the Carnegie-Illinois Company.  He owned a house on Smithfield St in Canonsburg, PA, and last I knew, that house still belongs to my Dad's cousin. 

He can be seen in this photo; I believe he's the person 4th from the left.

Written on the back of this photo is:

• Mr & Mrs WH Dunlap
• Mr & Mrs CE Fife
• Mr & Mrs John Schaufele
• Mrs. F. L. Bell (Callie) & Rowene Fife
• Canonsburg Water Dam 1920 

Please take time to visit his Find a Grave Memorial