Photos from Paint Bank Community Cemetery

I promised pictures of my grandma's grave. Below is a slideshow of the best shots I took when I visited on July 12.

You can visit a direct link to a full-sized slideshow here or view the entire album by clicking on the thumbnail below!

Paint Bank Community Cemetery

Mattie Tolbert Found at Last!

A couple of weeks ago, I made what was probably my most exciting discovery since I started researching my family history in 1997.  I finally discovered what had become of my grandmother, Mattie Tolbert.  She was my mother's mother, and I have written a little about the mystery associated with her in the past, first of all in an entry from 2009 HERE, and then later I mentioned her in my mother's biography which you can read HERE.

Honestly, I had pretty much decided that it would be impossible to find her.  My cousin, Anita, told me that Mattie's brother, Henry Tolbert, used to say that he knew where she was buried, but that he died suddenly in a car accident without ever telling anyone.  Another cousin told me at a family reunion in 2001 that many people in the family believed that Mattie's husband George had murdered her and got away with it.  I get the feeling that Mattie didn't want to be found.

Back in March, I was searching Newspapers.com and came across the following obituary for my great-grandmother, Rhoda (Webb) Tolbert Wilson.  In it, her daughter Mattie is called "Mrs. Mattie Talbert of Paint Bank, Va."  Well, that got my attention because it seemed to indicate that Mattie was still living in 1960 when her mother died and that Rhoda had been in touch with her.

I started wondering if I could use that snippet of information to find Mattie.  First of all, I found that Paint Bank is an unincorporated place in Craig County, Virginia.  That led me to a page called Craig County, VA-Cemetery Listings.  When I searched for the name Mattie from the search link, I found a transcript of a cemetery that listed:

ANDERSON, Mattie H. 28 Aug 1897 - 25 Sep 1965 (Obit Has Mattie Haven)

That transcript can be seen at:  http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/craig/cemeteries/bryan.txt

Another listing for that cemetery can be seen at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vacraig/paint-bank-community-cemetery-2014.htm which also includes photographs.

I haven't tracked down a copy of the obituary yet.  I was encouraged by the fact that this Mattie's middle name was "Haven".  Some handwritten papers I've seen in the past looked like her name was "Haner" but I could see how sloppy handwriting might mean that Haven would look like Haner.  Another "coincidence" was Mattie Anderson's birthday.  If you read my mother's bio, you'll see that she never knew when she was really born, but she celebrated her birthday on August 28.  What could make more sense than that my mother's grandfather, Mattie's father, would give my mom the same birthday as her own mother?

My next step was going to be to try to send for a copy of Mattie Anderson's death certificate.  The state of Virginia only allows close family members to request a copy, and since I couldn't know how much information would be on Mrs. Anderson's death certificate even if I did have the right person, I wasn't sure whether they would send it to me.  And wouldn't you know, my own financial status was a little iffy during that time, so I was waiting until I felt I could justify the $12 fee for what might be a wild goose chase.  I had even had to let my paid Ancestry account lapse soon after, so I wasn't following closely what new databases they were adding.  When I saw a posting somewhere that the state of Virginia had made their death certificates available on Ancestry, I did a search for Mattie Anderson and saw a possible match.  I shared the search results on a Facebook genealogy group that I belong to, and a wonderful person looked at it for me and sent me this information:

Name:	Mattie Haven Anderson [Mattie Haven Tolbert]
Gender:	Female
Race:	White
Age at Death:	68
Birth Date:	28 Aug 1897
Death Date:	25 Sep 1965
Death Place:	Clifton Forge, Virginia, USA
Registration Date:	28 Sep 1965
Father:	William Tolbert
Mother:	Rodie Ann Webb
Spouse:	Lonnie Pearl Anderson
Certificate Number:	1965024346
Military Status:	none

 I was stunned!  It really was her!

I have since renewed my paid account.  You can see the death certificate image at:

Click here

I had also found an entry for Mattie Haven Anderson on Find a Grave which the kind contributor transferred to my control.  It has been very satisfying for me to be able to connect Mattie to her children's memorials and to see the photograph of her gravestone that's posted there.  In July, I plan to drive up to Paint Bank to visit Grandma Mattie's grave in person and I hope I can find a local library where I can search for a copy of her obituary.  I will be sure to post photos when I go! 

#52Ancestors Week 8: Who was Polly Tolbert?

Last week I mentioned that I've been lazy, and this week will not change that!

Be sure to check out the recaps of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge HERE!

I'm sure we all have ancestors who we know so little about that they are only a list of dates to us.  Mary (Polly) Tolbert is one of mine. She was my 3rd great-grandma, she never married, and she was the mother of four daughters including my great-great-grandmother, Ellender Tolbert.  She was a daughter of Allen and Eleanor (Sutphin) Tolbert.

I have so many questions!

Who was the father of her children?  I don't judge, but I find it very inconvenient that she didn't make sure that future generations would be able to figure this out!  Is it a clue that Ellie Tolbert was called "Eleanor Helm" in the 1850 census?

I would be interested in knowing what the life of an unwed mother in the mountains of Virginia was like during her lifetime.  Was she looked down on?  Did her family help support her?  Did she get any help from her children's father(s)?  A cousin once told me that she believed there were so many unwed mothers in our families after the Civil War because there were so many men killed in the war that there weren't enough men to marry them all.  However, all of Polly's children were born before the war, so that couldn't have had an effect on her.

I don't know where she was buried.  The date for her death came to me from another researcher, but I have no confirmation of it's accuracy except for the fact that I trust the person who told me!

I have one tiny piece of personal information about her.  The following tidbit was taken from an email on a list I'm a member of concerning an estate sale for a man named Elijah Turman in December of 1868:

Polly Tolbert was shopping that day too. She bought 1 oven for .80, 1 sill baker for 1.50, 1 large oven for 1.60, 1 large wheel for .15 and a flax wheel for 15. 1 sifter for .75.

She's one of those people in my family history that I wish I could sit down and have a conversation with.  She left so little behind, yet I know that if she hadn't lived, then neither would I!

#52Ancestors Week 7: James P. Skiles

I've made it to the 7th week of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  I've come to realize that I tend to be a lazy blogger and that's something I have to improve on.  I've been avoiding writing about some of my more complicated ancestors because I don't have the documents and other information I need close at hand and since I want to do a thorough job, I'm saving them for a date in the future.  Unfortunately, this means that you all are only getting to read about the ancestors who I know the least about.  Several years ago, I bought a version of Adobe Acrobat with the intention of scanning and organizing all my photocopies and written notes into PDF documents.  Writing about my ancestors makes it painfully obvious to me that I need to quit putting off that project! I have papers everywhere that need to be organized!

And in the meantime, I'm sharing another lazy blog post on my 3rd g-grandfather, James P. Skiles. James was born about 1815, and he lived his whole life in Pennsylvania, probably in Peters Twp of Washington County where he was found in the census throughout his adult life.  Who were his parents, though?  I keep hoping to be able to connect him to Gideon Skiles and to Gideon's son and grandson, both named Samuel, who seem to be the Skiles family members living closest to James.  Gideon and his descendants are buried at Oak Spring Cemetery in Canonsburg, PA, and there was a short article in the Beers Project at the Chartiers.com website mentioning their Skiles family which has been transcribed HERE!

James P. Skiles was a wagonmaker and a blacksmith.  His wife's maiden name was Martha Hair (or perhaps it was spelled Hare).  He was my grandmother's great-grandfather.  He and his family were Presbyterians, and he was buried in the cemetery for Center Presbyterian Church in Peters Twp, and you can click on the photo of his gravestone to look at his Find a Grave memorial. 

James P. Skiles also left a will.  Below is what it said.  I find it interesting that he thought family photographs were important enough to mention specifically and I think that we have that in common!  I'd also be interested in knowing what happened to the pictures of his daughters Mary Anne and Rachel.

Will of James P. Skiles

(Willbook 14, FHL US/CAN Film 1318308)

I James P. Skiles of Thompsonville in the County of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, do _____ and declare my last will and testament to be as follows, viz:  I bequeath to my wife Martha all my household goods, out of which she is to give to my son Ebenezer our bedstead, one featherbed and bedding therefor.

I bequeath to my daughter Rebecca the picture now in her possession of my deceased daughter Mary Anne.

I bequeath to my daughter Martha the picture of my deceased daughter Rachel now in the possession of Wm J. Wallace.

I will that my executor sell and convey in such manner and upon such terms as to him shall seem best, all my real estate and that the proceeds thereof, and of my personal property not specifically bequeathed be applied first in payment of my debts and funeral expenses, and that the residue after payment thereof be invested by him during the life of my wife in National State or Municipal bonds, or on first mortgage or real estate that the net income therefrom be paid to her for and during her life and that at her death the principal be divided among my children then living, or hereunto born of my children who are or shall be dead, Such children to take together such share as their parent would have taken if living.  In case my wife shall elect to claim to have any part of my of my estate set apart to her by virtue of any statute allowing an exemption in her favor she shall take nothing under this will.

In case any legatee under this will shall present any claim against my estate, he or she so claiming shall receive nothing under my will but shall be excluded and not counted in the distribution.

I do hereby appoint Wm. J. Wallace to be my executor of this my last will and testament.

James P. Skiles {L.S.}

Signed sealed and declared in the presence of us in in the presence of each other and at his request this twenty fourth day of July one thousand eight and eighty-three.

George Guinn
H. D. Gilkison

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Washington County S.S.

Be it remembered.  That upon this 5th day of February 1885 before me John F. Cooper, Register for the Probate of Wills and granting Letters of Administration within and for said county came Geo. Guinn and H. D. Gilkeson the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing attached will of James P. Skiles deceased who after being duly qualified according to law depose and say :  That they were present at the execution of said will saw the testator sign the same, heard him publish it as and for his last will and testament; that they at his request, in his presence and in the presence of each other subscribed their names thereto as witnesses.

Sworn and subscribed before
John F. Cooper
Register

George Guinn
H. D. Gilkeson

And now Feb 5, 1885;  It being adjudged that the said will has been duly proved;  it is admitted to probate and letters issued to Wm J. Wallace in said testament named who was qualified by

John F. Cooper
Register

#52Ancestors Week 6: Barnabas Chase

In 2001, I received an email from a distant cousin who mentioned that our common ancestor, my 3rd g-grandmother, Nancy Jane Wolfe's maiden name had been Chase. The information she shared came from a letter that had been passed down in her family!  I was excited because before then I had no clue as to Nancy's origins.  I searched the census for West Finley, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and decided the most likely person to be Nancy's father would be Barnabas Chase who I found in both the 1850 and 1860 census.  Nancy probably married before 1832, so the census did not help me connect her to Barnabas, though.  But I continued to search for information about Barnabas.  According to the census, he was born in Massachusetts, so during a weekend when the New England Historic Genealogical Society was allowing free access to their online databases, I was able to connect that Barnabas Chase to the family of William Chase who came to America in 1630 with John Winthrop. The book embedded below shows some of William Chase's descendants.

I also found a page in an online document database for Washington County, PA, that mentioned that  Barnabas Chase had been married to Elizabeth Carroll in 1802.  I had no indication that Nancy Jane Wolfe had been his daughter, however, until I was able to visit the Family History Library in March of 2002. I was able to view the will of Barnabas Chase on microfilm, which contained this line: 

"my daught Nancy Wolff has got hir hundred"

I made an excited sound right there in the quiet library and then looked around embarrassedly at the people close by who only smiled.  I guess they understood that feeling!

The entire will reads:

Will #344,
Willbook #9, page 503
Washington County, PA

Will of Barnabas Chase

I Barnabas Chase of West Finley Township Washington County do make this my last will and testament first I commit my soule to God how give it and my body to the earth from whence it came--- 2 that my executors pay all my just debts, 3d I will my son James Chase the farm where he now lives forever, and I will my son Joseph Chase Eighty Acres of the home farm of the South west side  Going McNays so to run a parlel line so it will be an equal breuth from Southerland heirs clene thrugh land I will my son John Chase the balance of the home farm and I will my son Simen C. Chase five hundred dollars, and I will my daughter Ruth one hundred dollars-- and I will my daughter Jane Bromer One hundred dollars and my daught Nancy Wolff has got hir hundred -- and I will to my two granddaughters  Mary E. McKeag and Suny E. McKeag three hundred dollars each and will the household and kitchen furnerture and the balance of my parsonly property and money is to be equally devided ammonnge my sons and daughters and I constute and appoint my son John Chase and John Burnes my executors to settle my estate in testimony thereof I set my hand and seal this 30 day of July 1866.

Barnabas Chase (seal)
test
Wm Jordan
Millin M. Sutherland

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Washington County SS

Be it remembered that on this 1st day of June before me I. Y. Hamilton Register for the Probate of Wills and granting Letters of Adminstration within and for the said County came Wm Jordon & Wm M. Sutherland the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing attached will of Barnabas Chase deceased who after being duly qualified according to law, depose and say; that they were present at the execution of said will, saw the testator sign the same -- heard him publish that they at his request, in his presence & in the presence of each other subscribed their names thereto as witnesses and at the time of doing so the said testator was of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding to the best of their knowledge observation and belief.

Sworn and subscribed before I. Y. Hamilton Regr.

Wm Jordan
W. M. Sutherland

And now June 1 1870 it being adjudged that the said will has been duly proven and John Burns one of the executors being deceased & the other executor John Chase having renounced his right to the same, Letters are issued to J. W. Hancher by agreement who was duly sworn by

I. Y. Hamilton  Regr.

In the years since then, I have not found the burial place of Barnabas and Elizabeth Chase.  Perhaps his grave was never marked or maybe the stone is no longer legible, but I have not given up hope!  I never imagined before that time that my family had any connection to New England, much less to a family who was here in America so early! 

#52Ancestors Week 5: Charles McConnell

I've made it to week 5 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge.  Be sure to take a look at what other people are writing.  You can see the list of recaps HERE! 

This week, I've chosen Charles McConnell, my 3rd great-grandfather and, as far as I know, my most recent immigrant ancestor.  According to the information on his gravestone, he was born in County Donegal Ireland in 1800, he came to America in 1820, and he died on Christmas Day in 1871.  

I first found him in the census for Upper St Clair, Pennsylvania, for 1850 as a single man living in the household of John Morrow.  By 1860, Charles was married to John Morrow's daughter, Ann Jane and they had two daughters, Mary F. (my g-g-grandmother, Mary Frances) and Sarah C.  John Morrow also lived with the family as well as three other people whose connection to the family I have not yet determined.  Their names were George McConnell (whose name I originally recorded as Gerry because the census taker's handwriting was difficult to read), Anna McConnell, and Samuel Corti (or perhaps "Corle" which was how his name has been transcribed on Ancestry.com).  They were all born in Ireland.  At first I theorized that George and Anna were possibly children from a previous marriage of Charles.  Once I discovered that Charles McConnell immigrated in 1820, that seemed unlikely, so perhaps they were his cousins or his niece and nephew.  

Charles and Ann Jane McConnell are buried at Fawcett Methodist Church Cemetery in Bridgeville, PA.  A George McConnell is buried in the same small graveyard.  I found this interesting because my research indicated that most of my family on my dad's side were Presbyterians.  My grandma, her parents and siblings were all associated with the First Methodist Church in Canonsburg, PA, and my grandfather joined that church after he married Grandma.  Charles and Ann Jane were my grandmother's great-grandparents.  This could explain why my father grew up belonging to the Methodist church.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Randy has been coming up with Saturday Night Genealogy Fun projects, and THIS is his latest:

Provide a list of your paternal grandmother's patrilineal line. Answer these questions:

• What was your father's mother's maiden name?
• What was your father's mother's father's name?
• What is your father's mother's father's patrilineal line? That is, his father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line?
• Can you identify male sibling(s) of your father's mother, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further.
  
  

1. Grandma's maiden name was Rowene Mae Fife, born in Canonsburg, Washington Co. PA
   
   
2. Her father was Charles Edgar Fife who was born in Upper St. Clair Twp, Allegheny County, PA
   
   
3. These are his patrilineal ancestors (from earliest known to Charles E. Fife):
   William Fife 1720 - 1799 (born in Scotland, died in Pennsylvania)
   William Fife 1757 - 1838
   William Fife 1789 - 1868
   John Fife 1816 - 1892
   John Calvin Fife 1846 - 1879
   Charles Edgar Fife 1874 - 1941
   
   
4. My grandma had two bothers. Selwyn Fife who had no children, and Raymond Fife whose male descendants are my dad's first cousin Chuck and Chuck's son Paul who are both living in or around Canonsburg, PA.

That was fun! I'll have to participate again next week and maybe I'll even remember to do it on Saturday night!

Tombstone Tuesday: Mary Fife

This is the gravestone of my great-great grandmother, Mary Frances (McConnell) Fife. She is buried with her husband at Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Her husband's family were early members of the church from the 1770s, and I believe her mother's Morrow family may have been also, although I haven't found a connection, YET, between Mary's grandfather, John Morrow and the many Morrows buried at Bethel Cemetery. Mary's father, Charles, was an immigrant from County Donegal Ireland, making him my most recent immigrant ancestor. You can see my entry about his tombstone here.

This stone reads:

Mary F.
Wife of
John Calvin Fife
Born Nov 6, 1851
Died Feb 24, 1917

Mary's husband, John Calvin Fife, died young, and you can read about him HERE. As I mentioned in the post I wrote about Calvin Fife, Mary was left alone with 3 very young children and a fourth on the way, daughter Calvin (called Callie) who was born about 3 months after her father had died. The day his obituary appeared in the newspaper, there was also the following classified ad at the bottom of the same page:

PUBLIC SALE.
The undersigned will sell at the late residence of Calvin Fife, at the corner of Green and College Streets, Canonsburg.
Saturday, November 22d, 1879
Two good work Horses, 1 spring Colt, 1 two-horse Wagon, set work Harness, Collars, Bridles, set of double Buggy Harness, Plow, Harrow, double Shovel Plow, 1 single Shovel Plow, 1 barrel of Vinegar, 1 barrel of Salt, 1 riding Saddle, Double Tree, Coal Shovel, Kitchen Furniture and numerous other articles not mentioned.

Sale to commence at 1 o'clock, p. m. A credit of 6 months will be given.
Mrs. Mary F. Fife.

I've always thought it was admirable, although very sad, too, that g-g-grandma would be thinking about the practical realities of life so soon after her husband died. She never remarried, so she must have found a way to support herself. In her later years, the census listed her as a nurse.

A legacy passed down from Mary and her family was her religion. When I first started researching, I found that my dad's side of the family were almost all members of the Presbyterian Church, so I wondered how my grandparents came to be members of the First United Methodist Church in Canonsburg, PA. When I discovered that Mary's parents were buried at Fawcett Methodist Church Cemetery, I found my answer. While Mary was buried with her husband with his family in the Presbyterian cemetery, she, along with her children and grandchildren, attended a church of the same denomination as her parents. My grandfather, raised in the Presbyterian Church, joined the Methodist Church when he and Grandma got married. He served as a church administrator in his later years, as did grandma's brother, Raymond Fife, who grew up going to the Methodist Church. Much later, my brother and I were baptized in that church.

68th Carnival of Genealogy: A Tribute to Women

From Destination: Austin Family comes these instructions for the 68th Carnival of Genealogy:

And now it's time for a Call for Submissions! In keeping with the month of March being National Women's History Month, and March 8th being International Women's Day, the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will once again be: A Tribute to Women. Write a tribute to a woman on your family tree, a friend, a neighbor, or a historical female figure who has done something to impact your life. Or instead of writing, consider sharing a photo biography of one woman's life. Or create a scrapbook page dedicated to a woman you'd like to honor. The next edition will be hosted at Creative Gene. The deadline for submissions is March 15th.

My entry is not a tribute, but rather a call for information that is inspired by the hope that someday I will be able to understand the decisions of a mystery woman.

For this subject, I have decided to write about a woman in my family who is almost completely unknown to me, my maternal grandmother, Mattie (Tobert) Shrewsbury. My mother's earliest memories are of living with her grandfather William Tolbert and his second wife. Her grandfather died when she was 6, and she continued to live with her "Grandma Anna" until Anna died, and after that, she lived with Anna's brother so Mom had no contact with her birth family until 2001 when she was finally able to reunite with her two sisters who remembered her as a baby.

My mother's only memory of her "real" mother happened not long after William Tolbert died. Mattie came to visit her, perhaps to see about getting her daughter back. She came with a man who was never introduced to my mom. He scared Mom by telling her that Mattie was her real mom, causing my mom to run to Anna and say "This is my mommy!" Mattie and the man left after that and she was never heard from again...at least by anyone we've been in contact with since. My mom has often remarked that the experience must have been very hurtful for Mattie if what she wanted was a relationship with her daughter.

Grandma was born Mattie Tolbert in August of 1897 in Carroll County, Virginia. She is mentioned in her parents divorce (filed in 1898 in Carroll County and granted in 1903) as Mattie Haner Tolbert. I've often wondered if the name "Haner" might have been a phonetic misspelling of the name "Hannah". In the 1900 census, Mattie was living with her mother, Rhoda, and Rhoda's mother, Sarah Webb. The other three living children of William and Rhoda lived in William's home. Despite the fact that William and Rhoda had divorced in 1903, they reconciled sometime before 1910. In the census for Trap Hill District of Raleigh County, West Virginia, the couple was living together and had another son, Claud, aged 3 and born in WV. That's the last written record of Mattie that I have found. She seems to be completely absent from the census in 1920 & 1930, I have found no record of her marriage to the father of her children, George Shrewsbury, and none of her 4 (known) children had birth certificates. Sometime after my mother was born, she left George and took my mother to William and Anna. Her other children were farmed out to other relatives. George remarried to a woman with sons, one of whom shot George to death in 1950, claiming that George was abusive and the 17 year old step-son had feared for his life.

The circumstances of George Shrewsbury's death gives some credence to a story I was told at the reunion of my mother and her sisters in 2001 by one of my new-found cousins. She told me that some people in the family had always believed that George, thinking that Mattie had been unfaithful and that my mother was not his child, had murdered Mattie and her baby and that he had hidden their bodies so that they had never been found. Obviously, I am extremely grateful that it didn't happen that way, but it also seems that an anecdote so horrible wouldn't have been passed down if there wasn't something about George Shrewsbury that made it credible.

My mom still has a lot of anger towards Mattie for abandoning her, and can't understand how Mattie could have left her other children, either. The rumor that George had killed Mattie gives me some compassion for a woman who might have left in fear for her life.

I would love to someday find someone who could tell me where Mattie went after my mom last saw her. That encounter had to have occurred after 1939, which was when William Tolbert died. My hope is that she was able to move on and have a peaceful and productive life after she disappeared from her family.

Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

Over at GeneaBlogie, Craig Manson has come up with a new meme related to genealogy surnames that he's calling,

• Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

I'll let him tell you about it:

List the surnames you are researching and the general localities. Then tell the names of your “Most Wanted Ancestors,” that is, the ones you most want to find behind that brickwall. (You can tag people if you want; I’ve chosen not to do that here so that all readers are included). Let’s see your lists; maybe we can each help someone out!

I have dozens of names I could share because I try to research all my collateral lines, too, but I'll stick to my direct ancestors for this posting. You may notice that most of my ancestors didn't move around much. I'm going to split these up into groups based on my each of my paternal grandparents and then my mom's family. I also research my husband's family, but for now, I'm going to concentrate on my own blood relatives!

My grandfather's family surnames

• ATKINSON: Virginia/now West Virginia (Ohio County, Brooke County), Ohio (Delaware County), Pennsylvania (Washington County)
• McDAID: Pennsylvania (Greene County, Washington County), West Virginia (Marshall County)
• KIMMINS: Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County, Washington County)
• WOLFE: NJ (probably Morris County), Pennsylvania (Greene County, Washington County)
• FARIS: Virginia/now West Virginia (Ohio County), Ohio (Delaware County)
• SUPLER: Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County, Washington County)
• CHASE: Massachusetts (Barnstable County, Bristol County), Pennsylvania (Washington County)
• BROWN: Pennsylvania (Cumberland County), Virginia/now WV (Ohio County)
• CURTIS: Virginia/now WV (Berkeley County, Ohio County)
• KIRK: Pennsylvania (Chester County, Washington County)
• MITCHELL [two lines possibly related to each other]: Pennsylvania (Cumberland County), Virginia/now WV (Ohio County)
• CARROLL: Pennsylvania (Washington County)
• SHERMAN: Massachusetts (Bristol County), Rhode Island (Newport County)

My grandma's family surnames:

• FIFE: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County, Washington County)
• SKILES: Pennsylvania (Washington County)
• McCONNELL: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)
• ADAMS: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)
• MORROW: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)
• McCORMICK: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)

And from my mom's family where my information is very sparse:

• TOLBERT: Virginia (Carroll County), West Virginia (Raleigh County, Fayette County)
• SHREWSBURY: West Virginia (Raleigh County)
• WEBB: Virginia (Carroll County), West Virginia (Raleigh County, Summers County)
• COMBS: Virginia (Carroll County)

For the locations I show as "Virginia/now WV", those families were there before West Virginia was formed. If I labeled a place as "West Virginia" only, either the family moved there after WV was formed, or else I don't know when the family got there.

My most wanted ancestor? Probably my orphan g-g-grandmother, Lydia (Lafferty) Skiles who I have written about previously at My Brickwall Ancestor: Lydia (Lafferty) Skiles 1850?-1904.

Are you interested in sharing your family surnames on Twitter? Thomas MacEntree has created a Twitter Group called Genealogy Surnames and a new meme for sharing the names we're researching that he describes at Surname Saturday - A Twitter Meme. I'm planning to participate by posting one surname each week, along with it's link to my Rootsweb WorldConnect database. You can see my first tweet relating to my Atkinson surname here.

I hope someone can make a connection to a name here, but at the least, I find these types of postings useful because you never know when someone might find me through Googling one of these surnames! And if you're reading this, please feel free to participate, too!

Tombstone Tuesday: John Atkinson

These photos show the gravestone of my immigrant Atkinson ancestor, John Atkinson, who was probably born in Ireland, sailed to Baltimore and eventually came to what is now Ohio County, WV in the late 1700s. He and his wife, Eleanor (Mitchell) Atkinson were the parents of 9 children. I descend from their son, James.

The graveyard where many of the earliest Atkinson from my family doesn't seem to have an official name. It has been transcribed as both "Riley Hill Road Cemetery" and as "Atkinson Cemetery". It's located on property that was once owned by John Atkinson that was passed down to his son, David whose descendants lived there until sometime in the last 75 years, I believe.

I was first told of it by a distant cousin in 1997, but I wasn't able to find it until 10 years later, and then just last summer I was able to visit again with a GPS to record the exact location. It's in the middle of a woods behind a field, and can be difficult to find if you don't know exactly where to go, and to make it even more confusing, if you try to follow the GPS, it will try to lead you up a dirt road that washes out before you can get where it says you can, so you have to know to go around and through a residential area.

The cemetery hasn't been well taken care of, but someone has been trying to repair the graves and clean the place up recently. I don't know who that is. I wonder if this might have been a place for kids to hang out and cause trouble, some of the broken stones look as if they've been shot. It's sad that there are people who would treat the final resting place of human beings that way.

One thing I was grateful for was a photograph of a tree that marks the location of those graves. Another researcher shared it on a private Ohio County research site. I loved that she declared that the huge, ancient oak seemed to be guarding over the Atkinson family buried there. The photo below is mine, my first view of the tree which told me that I was finally on the right path to view the graves of my earliest Atkinson relatives in America!

You can view John Atkinson's entry on Find a Grave, or see my data for him on Rootsweb.

Eureka!

I couldn't wait to share an exciting piece of information I just found!

I had just read a posting on Dear Myrtle's Genealogy Blog that mentioned:

The West Virginia birth, marriage, and death records, and the South Dakota state censuses for 1915 and 1925 are now complete. Many thanks to the thousands of online FamilySearch Indexing volunteers who helped make these wonderful records available. See the chart below for more details. The new records can be searched for free at www.FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).

I've been searching for a while now for my great-grandmother's death certificate at West Virginia Vital Research Records with no luck. Her maiden name was Rhoda Ann Webb, and she had been married twice, first to William S. Tolbert, my great-grandfather, and later to another man, Joseph Wilson who apparently died between 1920 when Rhoda lived in his household with him and 1930 when Rhoda lived with her son and was listed as a widow. I kept hoping the WV Vital records would update their files so that I could find her death certificate. I hadn't checked the FamilySearch site yet, but seeing the message above gave me some incentive.

This is where I started:

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start

I entered her name, Rhoda Wilson, selected Death/Burial under Life Event, and typed West Virginia in the Place box, and I was shown a list of 7 names. The 5th name was Rhoda Ann Wilson who died in 1960 in Summers County, WV. I about jumped out of my chair because that's her! The location and month of birth are correct, the year of birth is off by one year, she was born in 1866. When I clicked her name I was taken to a page that gave me this information:

Name: Rhoda Ann Wilson
Death date: 13 Jul 1960
Death place: Hinton, Summers, West Virginia
Gender: Female
Age at death: 92 years
Birth date: Oct 1867
Birth place: Hillsville, Va
Marital status: Widowed
Spouse name:
Father name:
Father birth place:
Mother name:
Mother birth place:
Occupation:
Street address:
Residence:
Cemetery name: Talbert Cem.
Burial place:
Burial date: 14 Jul 1960
Film number: 589345
Digital GS number: 4228489
Image number: 326
Reference number: v 4 p 229
Source: County Records
Collection: West Virginia Deaths 1853-1970

Now hopefully I'll be able to get a copy of her actual death certificate. According the WV Vital Records page, Summers County only has its death certificates online up to 1958. I will try to find out if I need to contact Summers County directly, or maybe I can stop at the WV Archives the next time I drive thru Charleston if they have the record there.

Now if I can just figure out where "Talbert Cemetery" is!

Tombstone Tuesday: Josias Brown

This is the gravestone of my 5th great grandfather, Josias Brown. I first learned of him in 1997 when I made contact with a distant cousin whose main interest was in finding as much information about Josias' descendants as she could. My family filled in some blanks for her because I am descended from Josias Brown's daughter, Margaret (Brown) Atkinson.

I wasn't happy with the quality of the photographs I took that day at Peters Run Cemetery (AKA Old Tent Cemetery), especially the ones of the graves of Josias and his wife, Hannah (Mitchell) Brown. I guess that means I'll have to go back!

It took me years to find this cemetery. I think I first looked for it in the summer of 1998, driving back and forth several times along Peters Run Road outside Wheeling WV, a very curvy, 4.7 mile long road lined with thick trees that has a surprising amount of traffic, which made it impossible for me to drive along as slowly as I wanted to. I went back a few years later with my husband along and still couldn't find it. Finally, in 2006, someone was able to give me a general location for the cemetery, and in the summer of 2007 I finally found it! The people who own the property were very nice! They've been working on restoring the graveyard, and they gave me printouts of a cemetery reading done by the DAR back in the 50s or 60s. They also showed me two gravestones there that they had recently unearthed. The names of those two people never appeared on any previous transcript and they were hopeful that they would continue to find buried gravestones.

You can see more about Josias Brown and his family HERE, and you can visit his virtual grave on Find a Grave.

Tombstone Tuesday: Batte Peterson Clark

This is the gravestone of my husband's great-grandfather, Batte Peterson Clark, Jr. John and I visited this grave at Fairlawn Cemetery in the fall of 2005. We planned a trip to Dallas for John's 25 year high school reunion, and I talked him into adding a few extra days so we could drive up into Oklahoma to look for his family graves. It was a fun and fruitful trip to a part of Oklahoma that I had never visited before.

B. P. Clark has a family legend attached to him, and so far, I haven't found anything to confirm or disprove the following story that I found in some notes made by John's Uncle Terrence who passed down some of his genealogy research to his family.

My grandfather Clark

Batt Peterson, 4th child of Batte and Mary Clark, born in 1855, when about 16 years of age rode out of Alabama to La [Louisiana] to avenge the murder of his brother... He rode from there into La. soon afterwards the body of the man who killed Albert his brother was found behind a stump on a La road. Batt Clark never did say that he killed the fellow, but he did say enough to his son Albert to make him believe that the fellow was trying to waylay his papa as he had his papa's brother. Grandmother Watts always said that Batt killed the fellow and then road into Panola County, Texas. In those days one could commit a crime in La and get into Texas and be safe from the law.

Batte Peterson Clark was born in Alabama, lived in Texas for much of his adult life, and spent his final years in the area around Comanche, OK. His entry in my database can be seen HERE, and you can also visit his entry on Find a Grave.

Tombstone Tuesday: Charles McConnell

You are looking at the gravestone of my 3rd great-grandfather, Charles McConnell. Something that makes him particularly interesting to me is the fact that, as far as I know, he was my most recent immigrant ancestor. According to the inscription on the stone, he was "Born in Co. Donegal, Ireland 1800" and "Came to America 1820". I've never seen immigration information on any of my other family graves.

He died on December 25, 1871.

I actually know very little about him. I don't know who his parents were. I don't know what ship he came to America on. I do know that in 1850, he lived in the home of his future father-in-law, John Morrow. The census claimed he was 65 at that time, and his future wife, Ann Jane Morrow, was 28. They must have been married soon after because my great-great-grandmother Mary F. (McConnell) Fife was born in 1851. In the 1860 census, Charles listed his age as 60, which matches the date on his tombstone. Charles and Ann Jane lived all of their married life in Upper Saint Clair Twp, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, but they must have attended church in Bridgeville, PA. They were buried in the churchyard at Fawcett Methodist Church located there.

One mystery in my research were two people living in his home in 1860: Gerry and Anna McConnell who were born in Ireland. It seems likely that they were relatives, but I have not been able to locate them in any other census. I do not know if they were a married couple or perhaps brother and sister. I used to wonder if they were his children from an earlier marriage, but if Charles McConnell came to America in 1820, then Gerry and Anna, born in 1831 and '37, could not have been his children, perhaps his niece and nephew.

Charles and Ann Jane were the parents of two daughters, my previously mentioned g-g-grandma, Mary Fife, and Sarah (McConnell) Dunlap.

You can see Charles McConnell's entry on Find a Grave HERE.

My Genealogy Happy Dance!

From: kinexxions: The Winter Carnival has Arrived!

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: "The Happy Dance. The Joy of Genealogy." Almost everyone has experienced it. Tell us about the first time, or the last time, or the best time. What event, what document, what special find has caused you to stand up and cheer, to go crazy with joy? If you haven't ever done the Happy Dance, tell us what you think it would take for you to do so."

This is a tough one. Surely, we've all had those moments, and I know I can't share all of mine here. And I know, as soon as I make this entry, I'll remember something I should have chosen instead.

Should I pick my first? Or my latest? Or maybe I should write about the first thing that entered my mind when I read the topic?

Well, the first time I felt like doing the "Happy Dance" was way back in 1997. I had a list of names that my 1st cousin had entered into his genealogy program. In it, it mentioned that our earliest known Atkinson ancestor had lived in Ohio County VA (now WV). I didn't even have a clue where that was, but I went to the Internet to see what I could find out. That was when I discovered Genweb. After finding that there was a page for Ohio County, I started looking thru the genealogy postings until I found a query that mentioned Robert Atkinson, who might have been the earliest white settler in Guernsey County, OH. Robert was the brother of my 4th great-grandfather, James Atkinson. That was the first time I made contact with anyone researching the same family that I was and it was a turning point in my life!

Another time was something I've written about here previously. You can read about my serendipitous discovery of the graves of my 3rd great-grandparents in my first Tombstone Tuesday entry HERE.

But since most of my most happy discoveries have been by accident while browsing records (something I consider a benefit of having a family that stayed in the same area for many generations), I want to tell you about a "Happy Dance" moment that came as a result of real planning on my part! Sometime back in 2001, I received information from a distant cousin that mentioned that Nancy Jane Wolfe, the g-g-g-grandmother whose grave I found by accident in 2005, had been born Nancy Jane Chase. That obviously gave me a whole new avenue to check out. Since most of that part of my family lived in West Finley Twp, Washington County, PA, I started looking for possible Chase families in the census for that area. The most likely candidate to be her father seemed to be a man named Barnabas Chase who lived in West Finley and had been born in Massachusetts. Since Nancy was married before 1850, I knew the census wouldn't help me decide whether Barnabas was the right guy or not. I searched the Internet and found quite a bit of information about Barnabas and his family back in Massachusetts, including family trees back to the 1600s when his ancestor William Chase came to America with John Winthrop, but nothing that showed any of his children. My next hope was that Barnabas Chase had left a will. I found an index entry that indicated that he had, but no transcript or abstract that would tell me who was mentioned in that will.

In those days, my husband traveled to a computer conference in Salt Lake City every March, and I would go along and spend the whole week in the Family History Library. Since it was nearly that time of year, I added "Search for the will of Barnabas Chase" to my to-do list. And when I got to the FHL, that's the first thing I did! You can imagine how happy I was when I read this line in the will:

...my daught Nancy Wolff has got hir hundred...

I think I made a noise while I was sitting there in the dark at the microfilm and when I went to make copies, I'm sure I told everyone I came in contact with! I think what makes that experience so special is the fact that I had a hope for what I would find, and that's exactly what I found! That's the moment that always comes to mind when I think of a genealogy Happy Dance!

You can see Nancy's pedigree HERE. And below is the full text of Barnabas Chase's will, as transcribed by me from a photocopy:

Will #344,
Willbook #9, page 503
Washington County, PA

Will of Barnabas Chase

I Barnabas Chase of West Finley Township Washington County do make this my last will and testament first I commit my soule to God how give it and my body to the earth from whence it came--- 2 that my executors pay all my just debts, 3d I will my son James Chase the farm where he now lives forever, and I will my son Joseph Chase Eighty Acres of the home farm of the South west side Going McNays so to run a parlel line so it will be an equal breuth from Southerland heirs clene thrugh land I will my son John Chase the balance of the home farm and I will my son Simen C. Chase five hundred dollars, and I will my daughter Ruth one hundred dollars-- and I will my daughter Jane Bromer One hundred dollars and my daught Nancy Wolff has got hir hundred -- and I will to my two granddaughters Mary E. McKeag and Suny E. McKeag three hundred dollars each and will the household and kitchen furnerture and the balance of my parsonly property and money is to be equally devided ammonnge my sons and daughters and I constute and appoint my son John Chase and John Burnes my executors to settle my estate in testimony thereof I set my hand and seal this 30 day of July 1866.

Barnabas Chase (seal)
test
Wm Jordan
Millin M. Sutherland

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Washington County SS

Be it remembered that on this 1st day of June before me I. Y. Hamilton Register for the Probate of Wills and granting Letters of Adminstration within and for the said County came Wm Jordon & Wm M. Sutherland the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing attached will of Barnabas Chase deceased who after being duly qualified according to law, depose and say; that they were present at the execution of said will, saw the testator sign the same -- heard him publish that they at his request, in his presence & in the presence of each other subscribed their names thereto as witnesses and at the time of doing so the said testator was of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding to the best of their knowledge observation and belief.

Sworn and subscribed before I. Y. Hamilton Regr.

Wm Jordan
W. M. Sutherland

And now June 1 1870 it being adjudged that the said will has been duly proven and John Burns one of the executors being deceased & the other executor John Chase having renounced his right to the same, Letters are issued to J. W. Hancher by agreement who was duly sworn by

I. Y. Hamilton Regr.

Tombstone Tuesday: John Calvin Fife

This is the grave of my g-g-grandfather, John Calvin Fife. You may be able to see that he died young, at age 33 on November 14, 1879. He was killed in an accident while he was working on building a bridge. He and one other man were killed.

It had to have been a real struggle for his widow, Mary Frances (McConnell) Fife. She was only 28, the mother of three children and pregnant with her 4th. She never remarried and supported herself as a nurse.

When her 4th child was born in February 1880, although the baby was a girl, Mary named her Calvin after her dead father. She was called Callie.

Calvin Fife was buried at Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Bethel Park, PA. Six generations of my Fife ancestors are buried there. The church's history website mentions the Fife family being associated with them from the beginning.

The sentiment engraved at the bottom of his stone is particularly touching. It reads:

Death is certain, the hour unseen.

An article that appeared in the local newspaper at the time of his death describes the accident in especially gruesome details. The paper, which was a weekly, published his obituary the next week, along with a paid notice of a public sale being held by Mary Fife. It makes me sad that she had to deal with the practical details of having to support herself and her children at a traumatic time like that. Below are transcripts of the articles from the newspaper.

From the Canonsburg Herald, Canonsburg PA, Friday Nov. 14, 1879.

_______________
Terrible Accident
Fall of a Bridge near Canonsburg-- Samuel Cochran killed-- Calvin Fife Fatally Injured-- Five others Badly Injured and Several Slightly Hurt--Aid for the Sufferers.
_______________

One of the most heart-rending local accidents which has fallen to our sad duty to chronicle, happened on Friday afternoon last. For some time past workmen have been engaged upon a new bridge over Chartiers Creek, for J. V. H. Cook, at his coal works a short distance above the railroad station at this place.

The bridge is a private one, and is to be used for running the cars from the mines on the south side of the creek to the platform on the north side. The bridge is a frame truss, 72 feet long, 9 feet wide and nine feet high, outside measure. The height of the floor to the creek is about 10 feet. John T. Roberts had the contract for the woodwork, and had the framework all complete for raising into position on last Friday morning. A solid scaffold on tressles (sic) had been constructed, and during the forenoon the eastern frame was safely put into position. This was secured by guy ropes attached to the top of the frame at each end, and tied to stakes in the ground a few rods away on each side. In the afternoon the frame for the west side was put together on the scaffold and at half past two o'clock, twenty-eight men mounted the platform to put the frame into position. The miners had been summoned from their work and a number of neighbors had collected together to assist. Mr. Roberts, the contractor, believed everything to be safe, and as every man's aid was needed, he took a position with the others to give a lift.

The heavy frame was steadily lifted, but when it was nearing it's upright position, a projecting chord caught one of the guy ropes holding the first frame, unnoticed, and the great pressure was sufficient to cause the opposite ropes to give way and cause the first raised frame to fall inwards, and in an instant the second fell back, the one directly upon the other. When the first side began to move someone gave a warning shout, and all who could, to save themselves from being crushed, sprang through the openings of the frame to the ground and creek below. In a few remarkable cases, persons were so situated that the framework fell over and around them and left them standing untouched. Frank Coleman was left standing in an opening, which appeared scarcely large enough to allow his body to pass. Mr. Cook, himself-- suddenly aware that something was wrong--turned his head as the frame passed over him. This act saved him from being carried down with the timbers.

As soon as the men could recover themselves, a sickening spectacle presented itself, four men lay crushed and mangled beneath the heavy structure. They were Samuel Cochran, John T. Roberts, Calvin Fife, and Christopher Patterson.

Several men at work upon the new railroad abutments nearby, rushed to the spot, and assisted those not disabled in extricating the injured men. The killed and wounded were the following:

• Samuel Cochran, chest crushed, died in a few minutes after he was removed from the wreck.
• Calvin Fife, lower part of the body badly crushed. Kidneys injured. He cannot recover.
• John T. Roberts, both legs broken, below the knees, and one broken above, three ribs and jaw broken. Has suffered much but will likely recover.
• Christopher Patterson, colored, right leg broken above the ankle, and the left above the knee.
• Aaron Henderson, Sr., colored, knocked off the bridge and badly hurt on his face and side.
• Vance Donaldson, son of John Donaldson, three bones broken in his foot.
• William Dungee, colored, knee cap dislocated.

Besides these several others were slightly hurt by receiving bruises and flesh wounds. Allen Thompson was struck in the back as he jumped from the bridge. Joseph Neill was struck upon the shoulder.

As soon as the wounded were extricated from their horrible positions, messengers were dispatched for physicians, Drs. Alexander, Donaldson, and Bane, and many citizens promptly hurried to the scene, and did all in their power to give relief to the sufferers. Spring wagons were brought and stretchers were made and each carried to his home. The procession, with the dead and some of the wounded in wagons and others carried upon stretchers , as it came into town, formed one of the saddest spectacles we have seen in many a day. The three physicians, together with Dr. Barnet, and later in the evening, Dr. Lacock, gave what surgical attention was needed as rapidly as the several cases could be attended to. Dr. Dickson was absent from home at the time. The citizens did all in their power to render needed assistance.

Nothing has happened in this community for a long time that has cast so great a gloom over the people, or brought out so great an expression of sympathy. Nearly all are men of families who would suffer for want of necessities and comforts, without aid from some source.

At the request of a number of citizens the Town Council held a meeting on Saturday morning to devise some means to secure pecuniary relief fro the injured men and their families. John Chambers, Sr., was appointed Treasurer, and W. R. McConnell, Wm. Martin, and W. S. Callahan a committee to disburse contributions where and when needed. W. R. Campbell, C. M. Greer and D. C. Houston were appointed a committee to solicit contributions. To this call for aid the people of the town and vicinity have responded liberally.
***************************************************

From the Canonsburg Herald, Friday Nov. 21, 1879

_______________________
The Second Victim.--Calvin Fife, one of the persons injured at the late bridge disaster, died from the effects of his injuries, on last Friday evening. He received the most assiduous medical attention, but nothing could avert the fatal result. Mr. Fife was in the 34th year of his age, and leaves a wife and three small children to mourn his loss. His funeral took place on last Sunday from his late residence at the corner of Green and College Streets. Short services were held at Bethel Church in Allegheny County whither his remains were taken to be interred. Many persons accompanied the procession.

****************************************************
Also from the same paper listed under DIED:

FIFE.-- In Canonsburg, Pa., on Friday evening Nov. 14, 1879, John Calvin Fife, aged 33 years and nine months.

****************************************************
Just below, listed under new advertisements:

PUBLIC SALE.
The undersigned will sell at the late residence of Calvin Fife, at the corner of Green and College Streets, Canonsburg.
Saturday, November 22d, 1879

Two good work Horses, 1 spring Colt, 1 two-horse Wagon, set work Harness, Collars, Bridles, set of double Buggy Harness, Plow, Harrow, double Shovel Plow, 1 single Shovel Plow, 1 barrel of Vinegar, 1 barrel of Salt, 1 riding Saddle, Double Tree, Coal Shovel, Kitchen Furniture and numerous other articles not mentioned.
Sale to commence at 1 o'clock, p. m. A credit of 6 months will be given.
Mrs. Mary F. Fife.

My Brickwall Ancestor: Lydia (Lafferty) Skiles 1850?-1904

Miriam, who writes the blog AnceStories, came up with a great idea for posting our genealogy brick walls in her post: Who Are Our Brickwall Ancestors, and Why Aren't We Blogging About Them Regularly?

This is what she suggests as an outline:

1. A title of "My Brickwall Ancestor: [Name], [dates, if known]"
2. List what we want to know.
3. A chronological list (timeline) of known information.
4. List positive and negative searches in detail.
5. List any possible resources you can think of that you haven't checked.

I love the idea! I had been thinking for a long time about doing something like that, but as usual, it seems I need someone to give me a little push. I figure it's important to let people know what I'm looking for, you never know who might be Googling that person's name. Someday I'll write about how a Google search reconnected my mom to her birth family in 2001, all because I had made a post that mentioned her mother's name on a message board! You never know what someone might find!

For my first brick wall, I am choosing my g-g-grandmother, Lydia Catherine (Lafferty) Skiles. She may have been born in June 1850 in McKeesport, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and died 25 July 1904 in Canonsburg, Washington County, PA.

I would like to find out who her parents were and exactly when she was born. I would also like to find out if she had any blood relationship to the family who raised her. When I first started working on genealogy, my father told me that Lydia, his great-grandmother, had been an orphan. Everything seems to point to that being true.

I first found her in the 1860 Census. She was living in Peters Twp, Washington County, PA, with Joseph and Jane "Denison". It showed she was 12 years old.

In 1870, she was still living with Jane "Dennison". Joseph had died in the meantime. In 1870 they started showing relationships within the household. Lydia was listed as a domestic servant, and they said she was 26 years old.

By 1880, Lydia was married to my g-g-grandfather, James Hare Skiles, and they were living in North Strabane Twp, Washington County, PA. They had three children, Alice, Martha and William. Lydia was listed as Liddie C. Skiles and her age was 29, only a difference of 3 years from 1870!

In 1900, the family was living in Canonsburg, Washington County, PA. Lydia Skiles was listed as 50 years old, born in June 1850. It showed that she had borne 10 children but only 5 were living. I only have information about 9 of those 10.

On July 25, 1904, she died. The Record of deaths, 1893-1906, which is on FHL film #1318243 (items 1&2), lists her date of death as 1905, but that is obviously an error. I have a transcript of her obituary.

Canonsburg Herald, Thurs. 28 Jul 1904, front page:

Lydia L. Skiles -- On Monday night, July 25, at her home on East Pike Street, Mrs. Lydia L. Skiles died of lung trouble in the 55th year of her age.

She is survived by her husband, Jas. H. Skiles and the following children: Mrs. C. Fife, Mrs. H. Bowers, Alice and Maude. The funeral services were held in the First M. E. Church on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Interment was in the Center Presbyterian Cemetery.

The Record of deaths gives her place of birth as McKeesport, PA. However, at some time, Lydia's youngest daughter, Maude (Skiles) Emory, filed a delayed birth certificate for herself that listed her mother's place of birth as "Hastings, Allegheny County, PA". I cannot find a locality in Allegheny County called Hastings, although in Cambria County, more than 90 miles away, there is a town called Hastings. It seems unlikely that Lydia was born there.

I also found this mention of her in the Samuel MacMillan Manuscript which has been transcribed for the Washington County PA GenWeb site. You can read more about this document HERE.

Mrs James Skiles wife of James Jr Canonsburg July 25, 1904, 56

I have visited her burial place at Center Presbyterian Church in Peters Twp, Washington County. There are no markers for either her or her husband, although there is an empty spot next to the graves of her husband's parents where I am assuming they were buried. My dad's cousin told me a story that might explain what happened to the markers for their graves. According to the cousin, her Uncle Selwyn (my great-uncle) visited the cemetery many years ago and claimed he saw their gravestones in a rubbish pile, yet he never did anything about it. Uncle Selwyn was known as the family eccentric which makes this story seem questionable. Perhaps they never had markers. In another part of the cemetery are the graves of Joseph and Jane "Denniston", Lydia's foster-parents.

I haven't been good about keeping records of my negative searches, but I do know that I have gone page by page thru the Orphans Court Records for Washington County, PA, looking for possible guardianship information about Lydia. I have found other Laffertys listed, but none that mentioned Lydia. I also believe I have looked for information in the Allegheny County Orphans Court records, but looking thru unindexed information from Allegheny county can be daunting because the city of Pittsburgh is there.

You can see her listing in my database on Rootsweb WorldConnect at Lydia Catherine Lafferty. Her entry on Find a Grave can be seen HERE.