JEFFREY L - Key Persons

A.B. EYNON, Hyde Park, formerly a merchant but for some time cashier of the Miners' and Mechanics' Loan Association, was born at Carbondale, September 4th, 1847, and married Annie B. Hughes of Hyde Park. (Annie was the daughter of the above-mentioned Benjamin Hughes.) Note: Albert B. Eynon was the son of Thomas J. Eynon, a Welsh immigrant who became one of Hyde Park's most influential and respected citizens. Follow this link to read a biography of Thomas Eynon.

Aaron Anderson Christman died at his home in Sonestown on 1 June 1915 at an age of 70 years. His death certificate, though difficult to read, lists the cause of death as "chronic heart disease" although my grandmother says she was always told that her grandfather died of a stroke. He was buried a few days later in Hillcrest Cemetery in Sonestown. Although I don't know how soon after, Aaron's widow Anna eventually moved in with her daughter Dollie Kresge and her family in Scranton, which brings us to the census of 1920. My grandmother Dorothy Boorem Thomas-Kott and her sister Anne Boorem Dawson remember their grandfather Christman. One story was that he used to keep a pet bear for entertainment! They also remember that their grandfather was considered something of a "home remedy" doctor, as Aaron was known to successfully treat a variety of illness and injuries using his own special concoctions. On one particular occasion after one of his sons was cut deeply with an axe, Aaron applied a "cow-flop" (dung) to successfully stem the bleeding and save the arm. There were apparently a lot of cats around the Christman household too, because Aaron always gave the kids a new kitten when they came to visit. As for family history, for some reason Aaron used to tell people that he and his family were from Bavaria in Germany, while the records clearly show that Aaron and his father were born in Pennsylvania. Dorothy and Anne also remember that the Christman family held a large family reunion almost every year while they lived in Sonestown, and we have several photographs of these large reunions. However, these annual reunions apparently began after Aaron's death. The 1920 census shows us that Anna Christman was living with her daughter Dollie Kresge and grandson Edward Keller in Scranton's 15th ward. Edward was Dollie's son from her first marriage. Edward Keller, (age 20) is listed as the head of the family, followed by his mother Dollie Kresge, (age 38), and her children Bessie, (age 14), Clarence, (age 9), and Lawrence, (age 7). Listed last is Dollie's mother Anna Christman, listed as Mrs. Anna Christman. Unfortunately the returns are not very readable and therefore I have been unable to decipher Edward Keller's occupation. As was the case in 1910, Anna's daughter Celeste Christman Boorem and her family were also living in Scranton. The 1920 census lists Joseph H. Boorem, (age 48), as the head of the household and the owner of 816 and 818 Archbald Street. Also present at 816 are wife Celeste, (age 48), and daughters Dorothy, (age 13), Gertrude, (age 11), and Jean, (age 7). Hooker's occupation is given as "Flu Welder - Coal Shops." In 1920 we also find Burlington Christman living in Kushequa with his wife Jennie and his children Howard, Ethel and Lamont. This is the same Kushequa in McKean County where we found Aaron and Anna Christman and their extended family in the 1900 returns. Burlington is listed as "B.W. Crisman," age 45, occupation, "foreman - tile plant." Brother Asher and his family were still living in Sonestown. In 1930, 80-year-old Anna Kresge was still living on south Main Avenue in Scranton with her daughter Dollie Kresge and her children Edward Keller, and Bessie, Clarence and Lawrence Kresge. This is the exact same family group and the exact same location where we found the family ten years earlier in 1920 (which something of an oddity in census research). Again, Edward Keller is listed as the head of the family, age 30, occupation, Salesman - Cigar Store," followed by Dollie Kresge, (misnamed "Dorothy" age 49) and her children Bessie, (age 23), Clarence, (age 19), and Lawrence, (age 17). Anna is again listed last, as Anna Christman. At 80 years old, Anna still had some ten years left to live, and still had a long way to go to beat her mother, Catherine Green Kresge-Brong, who had passed away in 1925 at the age of 97! In the 1930 census we find the family of Hooker and Celeste Christman Boorem on Archbald Street in the Hyde Park section of Scranton. The family was living in a duplex at 816 and 818 Archbald Street. In 816 we find Hooker, (age 57), Celestia, (age 57), and daughter Jeanne (Gene, age 17). Son Asher Christman died in 1928 and was buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in Sonestown. In 1930 his widow Esther and children Gladys and Carl were living with their mother in Sonestown, as was son Russell Christman and his family. By 1930 some of Asher and Esther's children moved to upstate New York. Harry Christman and his family, his sister Nellie and her husband Dewey Whipple, and brother Percy Christman, were all living in Horsehead's Village in Chemung Co., New York. Harry was living with his wife and four children, while Percy was living with his sister Nellie and her husband. Back in Kushequa in McKean County we find Burlington Christman and his wife Jennie living with two of their children. Next-door are their sons Chester and Lamont Christman and their families, and Robert Christman and his wife Mabel, son of Burlington's older brother Oresdes. The 1930 Census also shows us that daughter Ella Utt, her husband Allen, their daughter Gertie (Gertrude), and her daughter Ina, were all living on Davis Street in Bradford, McKean County. Allen Utt was the head of a household that included his wife and three boarders, while the widowed Gertie Farquhar and Ina were living next door. Her Boorem cousins knew Ina as "Little Ina." Over in Franklin Township in Venango County we find the family of Lillian Christman and her husband Frank Buxton, including daughters Frances and Delores. So, by 1930 the status of the Christman family was as follows: Aaron Christman and his sons Reed and Asher were dead; wife Anna was living with her daughter Dollie Kresge in Scranton; most of Reed's children were living in Stroudsburg; Celeste was living with her husband and family in Scranton; Asher's widow Esther and some of her children were still living in Sonestown (others had moved to New York); Burlington and family were living in Kushequa close to Ella and her family in Bradford, and Lillian and her family were living in Vanango County in Western Pennsylvania. Burlington Christman died in Kushequa in 1935, and Ella and her husband Allen Utt both died in Bradford in 1939.

Anna Christman had a total of 7 children; Oresdes, or "Reed" (1867-1911?) married Flora Bond and raised a family of eight children. Ella (1869-1939) married Allen Utt, and had one child Gertie, who lived to be 104 years old. Asher (1878-1928) married Esther Whalen and raised a large family of ten children in Sonestown, Sullivan Co., Pa. Celestia (1872-1948) married Joseph Hooker Boorem and raised a family of 5 daughters in Scranton, Pa., including my grandmother, Dorothy. Burlington (1874-1935) married Jennie Larson and raised a family of four children in Kushequa, McKean Co., Pennsylvania. Lillian (1878-1963) married Thomas Campbell and they had one son, Thomas. Thomas Campbell died in a tragic hunting accident in 1897 soon after he and Lil were married, and his widow eventually remarried Frank Buxton and had three additional children for a total of four. Dollie (1880-1963) married Edward Keller, and had two children, Edward and Wayne. She eventually divorced Edward and married secondly, George Kresge, by whom she had an additional three children. The 1870 returns show that Aaron and Anna were living next to Aaron's parents, William and Elizabeth Christman, in Tunkhannock Township, Monroe County. At this point it seems logical to assume that this was the same community where we found William and Elizabeth living in 1860. The census lists Aaron, (age 25), as the head of the household, occupation, "laborer." Next is his wife Anna, (age 22), followed by son Oresdes, or Reed Christman, (age 4), Ellen, (age 1), and Henrietta, (age 5 months). Henrietta is something of a problem because she is absent in the next set of returns in 1880, leading to the conclusion that she died as a child. However, the 1900 census indicates that Anna gave birth to only seven children, all seven of whom were still living and accounted for in 1900. Henrietta would have been an eighth child. Was she the daughter of Aaron and Anna Christman, or was she perhaps a niece simply staying with the family? At this point in time we can't be certain. Next door to Aaron and Anna were Aaron's parents William (age 52), and Elizabeth Christman (age 49). The family also includes children Alvesta, (age 17), Catherine, (age 16), Cyrus, (age 12), and William R. , (age 6), the last of the Christman children. William is described as a laborer, owning real estate valued at $500.00 and personal property valued at $300.00. The fact that Aaron is not shown owning any real estate is an indication that he and his family were probably living on his parents land. Anna Kresge Christman died 2 March 1940, at the age of 90 years, 7 months. According to her death certificate, she died of a "coronary artery occlusion," or a heart attack. She was still living at the home of her daughter Dollie Kresge at 606 South Main Avenue in Scranton at the time of her death. The informant on her death certificate was Mrs. Ruth Kresge, wife of Dollie's son Clarence. Anna was buried next to her husband Aaron Christman and close to her son Asher, in Hillcrest Cemetery, Sonestown, on 5 March 1940. Daughter Celeste's Husband Hooker Boorem died in early 1948, and by that time Celeste herself was also in failing health. She had been suffering from a series of small strokes for years, and by the 1940s they had begun to take a serious toll on her health. Six months following the death of her husband, Celeste succumbed to one of these strokes while being cared for by her daughter Ina in Scranton. She was buried with her husband in Abington Hills Cemetery in nearby Clark's Summit. Dollie Christman Kresge was the last of the children of Aaron and Anna Christman to pass away. She died in 1963 and was buried close to her mother and father and brother Asher in Hillcrest Cemetery, Sonestown. We thus conclude the story of our Christman ancestors. The family has come a long way since Heinrich Christman first set foot in America (or rather the British colonies) in 1741. As the years passed his descendants put down strong roots in their native Monroe County, in Kushequa in McKean County, in Sonestown in Sullivan County, and in Scranton, in Lackawanna County. Although today the descendants of old Heinrich Christman can be found across America, the family will always be linked with their intrepid pioneering ancestors of Monroe County, Pennsylvania.

B.G. MORGAN, druggist and notary public, Hyde Park, formerly engaged in mining, teaching and clerking, was born in Merthyr Tydvil, Glamorganshire, South Wales, November 25th, 1839, and married Emily C. Wade of Hyde Park. Note: In the1880 census we find the family of B(enjamin) G. Morgan living on Main Street in Hyde Park (4th Ward, Scranton). The family included B. G. Morgan (age 41, Druggist), his wife Elizabeth (age 40, born in Illinois), and their children Annie E. (age 6), Raymond W. (age 5), Edith I. (age 3), and Benjamin's father James Morgan (age 79). In the 1900 census the Morgan family was living on Main Ave, Hyde Park, in Scranton's 5th ward. Here the family included Benjamin G. Morgan (60, Notary Public), wife Emily C. (59, 5/2, born in Illinois), Ann (age 26), and Raymond (age 24, Steamship Agent). Benjamin gives his date of arrival in the U.S. as 1850, and Emily is listed as the mother of 5 children, only two of which were living (Ann & Raymond). It seems odd that Benjamin's wife is listed as Elizabeth by the 1880 census, because it would certainly appear that Benjamin's wife is the same individual in both returns; same place of birth (Illinois) and same place of birth for her father and mother (Massachusetts and Pennsylvania).

Benjamin Franklin Thomas (1868-1925), or Frank Thomas never married and there is little tradition concerning his life, although we do know that he lived with his older brother Hosie for some time. He died in Scranton in 1925, and was the final family member buried in the family plot in the Washburn Street cemetery.

Benjamin Hughes is perhaps the most visible connection between Brynmawr, Wales and Scranton, Pennsylvania. Hughes was born near Brynmawr in 1824. He was the son of Daniel and Esther Hughes. Daniel Hughes was a miner and it seems that early on the young Benjamin showed great talent for learning and mastering his father's trade. We see the Hughes family for the first time in the 1841 census of Brynmawr, and in subsequent returns. In 1845 Benjamin married Mary Davies, also from Brynmawr, and their first child, Esther was born the following year. Daniel and Esther Hughes remained in Brynmawr, while most of their children eventually emigrated to the United States. In 1848 Benjamin, Mary and Esther emigrated to America and eventually settled in Hyde Park. Within the next decade Hughes rose to prominent positions both with his employer and within the Hyde Park community. He was eventually put in charge of all underground mining operations for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, who owned several large mines in Scranton, and in this capacity Hughes was responsible for recruiting hundreds of his fellow countrymen to Scranton. We know that many of these individuals were recruited from Hughes' home town of Brynmawr and from other communities of the Ebbw Vale. Because of his recruitment of Welsh mining talent to Scranton (along with other reasons not mentioned here), Benjamin Hughes is arguably one of the most important figures in the history of Hyde Park. This page features biographical information on Benjamin Hughes, much of which has been taken from his obituary found immediately below. I welcome any additions or corrections to this record.

Blanche Thomas (1898-1966) married Wilfred J. Harris (1897-1983), and spent most of her life in Scranton. Although Wilfred and Blanche had no children of their own, they stepped in and helped raise sister Elizabeth's children after her separation from Jack Ahearn. Wilfred and Blanche were members of the Green Ridge Baptist Church, where Blanche taught Sunday School for many years. Blanche also gave all the children swimming lessons at her home on the lake, and each child was rewarded with a dollar upon completing her swimming test (including your's truly). Wilfred was very interested in the history of the Thomas family, and later in life he complied the first known genealogy of the descendants of John J. Thomas. His work, in turn, formed the basis for my own research on the Thomas family. Blanche died in 1966, and both she and Wilfred are buried in Shady Lane Cemetery near Scranton in the same plot as Wilfred's parents.

Job Titles:

• History & Records

Clyde Joseph Staub, infant son Harry J. Staub of McSherrystown, died Thursday evening, Feb 6th from spasms. The mother of the child had died about a week previous. The child was buried beside the mother on (in) the family lot in St. Mary's cemetery, February 7th. Following the death of his wife, Harry Staub found himself unable and/or unwilling to cope with the responsibilities of raising his family, a decision that had disastrous consequences for most of his children. In Harry's defense, it has to be admitted that, with a full time job and without a wife, raising a family would have been quite difficult. We also know that at the time of his wife's death, Harry's mother, Margaret was living with the family and apparently in need of much care as she approached the end of her life, which ended a few months later on 22 May 1913. Margaret's obituary appeared in the local paper, as follows:

Job Titles:

• Superintendent

DANIEL D. EVANS was born in Merthyr Tydvil, South Wales, February 12th, 1822, and married Elizabeth Jones of his native place. He was formerly a miner and is now a merchant in Hyde Park. His son David D. Evans was born in Merthyr Tydvil, South Wales, August 31st, 1848, married Margaret Jones, a native of Carbondale, Pa., and is a member of the mercantile firm of Daniel D. Evans & Son. Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of both Daniel D. Evans and his son David D. Evans living in Scranton's 15th Ward. The family of Daniel D. Evans was living in North Hampton Street, and included the following individuals: Daniel (age 58, born in Wales, Retail Grocer), wife Ann (age 51, born in Wales), Roger (Son, age 26, born in Wales, miner), Elias E. (Son, age 19, born in Wales, Clerk in Store), and Mary Williams (Other, age 15, born in Wales, Servant.) Daniel D. Evans is buried in the Washburn Street cemetery in Hyde Park, with his first wife Elizabeth and his second wife Ann. His inscription notes that he was born 12 Feb 1822, died 19 Dec 1890, and was the husband of Elizabeth and Ann Evans. Elizabeth's inscription tells us that she was the wife of Daniel D. Evans, was born 10 Aug 1822, and died 8 Dec 1864, while Ann's inscription tells us that she was born 2 Mar 1829, died 10 June 1891, and was the wife of Daniel D. Evans. In 1880 the family of David D. Evans was living on South Eynon Street and included the following individuals: David (age 31, born in Wales, Retail Dry Goods and Groceries), Margaret (Wife, age 27, born in Wales), Elizabeth (Dau, age 6, born PA), and Edna (Dau, age 11 months, born PA). By the time of the 1900 census, David and family had moved to South Main Avenue (still in the 15th Ward of Scranton). In 1900 the household included David, (age 51, Retail Merchant), wife Margaret (age 47, 7/5) and children Edna D. (age 19, School Teacher), Estella (age 15), Mary V. (age 10) and Gertrude L. (age 8). The returns further indicate that David came to America in 1861 and of the seven children that Margaret had given birth to, five were still living at the time the census was taken. There is no sign of Daniel's mother and father in 1900. REV. E.B. EVANS, MD, formerly pastor of the Welsh Congregational church, Hyde Park, was born in Glamorganshire, Wales, December 14th, 1810; came to America in 1832 and to Scranton in 1857, and married Jane Jones of Utica, N.Y. Note: In the 1880 census the family of E. B. Evans was living on Jackson Street in Hyde Park (Scranton's 4th Ward). The family included D. E. B. Evans (age 69, Physician), his wife Jane (age 63) and their daughter Ella (age 34). I have been unable to positively identify this family in earlier returns. There is an E. B. Evans buried in the Washburn Street Cemetery that is likely the individual above, his inscription reading E. B. Evans, born 11 Dec 1810 and died 3 Sept 1881. E.S. EVANS, miner, Hyde Park, was born in Breconshire, South Wales, November 28th 1846, and married Mary E. Evans of Monmouthshire, South Wales. Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of E. S. Evans living on Prospect Street in Hyde Park. The family included E. S. (age 32, occupation works in coal mines), his wife Mary (age 34) and children Rachel (age 10), and Hattie (age 7). The 1900 census reveals that the "E" in E. S. Evans stood for "Eleazer" and here we find the family living on North Bromley Avenue in Hyde Park. Present are Eleazer S. Evans (age 53), wife Mary (age 54), their son-in-law and daughter, Charles R. ??? (age 27) daughter Hattie (age 27).The census also tells us that E. S. Evans immigrated to the U.S. in 1855 and that his occupation was "mail carrier." JAMES W. EVANS, miner, Hyde Park, was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales, on June 5th 1845, and married Margaret Jones, of his native place. Note: The 1880 census shows that James and Margaret Evans were living in Hyde Park (5th Ward - Scranton) on Jackson Street. The family included James W. Evans (age 35, Laborer), wife Margaret (age 33), and children John (age 5) and Jane (age 2). In the 1900 census there was a widowed 54-year-old James W. Evans (possibly the same individual from the 1880 census) living with his son-in-law and daughter William B. and Janie Evans (born 1878) on North Hyde Park Avenue in Scranton's 4th Ward.

Job Titles:

• President of the Merchants

DANIEL HOWELL, president of the Merchants' Bank, Hyde Park, was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales, September 27th 1826. He came to Scranton in 1854, and was formerly a coal operator. He married Mary Richards of Carbondale. She died April 23rd, 1873. His present wife is Sophia Stevens of Macedonia, Pa. Note: In the 1870 census we find Daniel Howell living in Hyde Park in Scranton's 5th Ward. The family included Daniel (age 43, General Merchant/Dry Goods & Groceries?), his wife Mary (age 35, born in PA), and Frank (age 8), Jane (age 2), and Jeremiah (age 18). Relationships were not given in the 1870 census, so we can't be certain that all of these were Daniel's children. The returns also indicate that Daniel was in possession of real estate valued at a whopping $100,000 and personal property valued at $70,000! I have been unable to trace this family in later returns. B(enjamin) HUGHES, general foreman of the mines of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, with which he has been connected for twenty-five years, and president of the Cambrian Mutual Fire Insurance Company, Hyde Park, was born in Breconshire, Wales, October 25th, 1824, and married Mary Davis of Bryn Mawr, Breconshire. He was formerly a miner and has been school director and councilman.

Daniel Thomas (ca. 1872-1888) was the youngest of John and Elizabeth's children. Daniel, also a mule driver in the mines, and was killed in an accident at age sixteen. He was buried in the Thomas family plot in the Washburn Street cemetery. Daniel's story is covered in more detail in a later essay. Daniel Thomas was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on February 19, 1888. He was one of three children born to Hosiah (Hosie) Thomas and his wife Elizabeth Davis, and was the grandson of immigrant Welsh coal miner John J. Thomas, who arrived in America in 1848. Hosie's other two children were Bertha, born in 1886, and Harry, born in 1891. Like most Welsh families who came to Scranton in the mid to late 1800s, the Thomas' were coal miners, and the sons of John J. Thomas, including Hosie, followed their father into the mines at an early age. As his first-born son, it is likely that Hosie's son Daniel was named after his father's younger brother Daniel, who lost his life in a mine accident in 1888 at the age of sixteen. As I began to investigate the family of Hosie and Elizabeth Thomas, I noted that the late Wilfred Harris had made a notation on his Thomas Family Tree, that sons Daniel and Harry had both been killed in mining accidents. While I have been unable to discover the circumstances surrounding Harry's death, I have recently discovered the details concerning the tragic death of Daniel Thomas. In addition to indicating that Daniel had been killed in a mining accident, Uncle Wilfred also made the notation "Carnegie Medal" immediately beneath Daniel's name. I began searching the Internet to see if I could find any information on the Carnegie Medal, and soon came across the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission web site, with an explanation of what this award is all about. Daniel Thomas, 29, mine plane runner, died attempting to save Joseph Stepanich, 17, driver, and Joseph Rogne, driver, from suffocation, Scranton, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1916. An explosion occurred in a gangway a third of a mile from the shaft of a coal mine. Stepanich and Rogne were within about 400 feet of the scene of the explosion. Thomas and others, who were nearer to the shaft, started for the shaft. Thomas, who had shortly before been with Stepanich and Rogne, proposed returning for them. The miners with Thomas refused to accompany him and urged him to go on to the shaft, but Thomas turned back alone. His body was later found near the scene of the explosion. Stepanich and Rogne escaped by a course less direct than that taken by Thomas. 17464-1369 In this unfortunate accident, it seems that Daniel died as the result of inhaling gasses, or "black damp," an often fatal byproduct of mining that was the primary cause of affixations, explosions and fires in the mines. News of the accident and the report of Daniel's funeral soon appeared in the local Scranton newspapers, as follows: The funeral of Daniel Thomas, the young man who died a hero's death in the Mt. Pleasant mine of the Scranton Coal company last Saturday morning while attempting to rescue another workman who was burned to death in the explosion of a pocket of gas, was held yesterday afternoon with a short service at the residence, 550 North Decker court. Daniel Thomas, a mine runner, of 526 Decker court, employed at the Mount Pleasant colliery in West Scranton, sacrificed his life Saturday to help an unknown, who was in danger. Thomas was working at 9 o'clock Saturday morning when he heard agonizing screams of a fellow employee. He ran in the direction where the screams came. Whether he reached the man then struggling with life is not known. Some time later, employees found Thomas, a victim of black damp. The man he tried to help was Harry Skavinski of Old Forge. Skavinski was burned to death as the result of the ignition of a pocket of gas. Both men struggled with death in a section of the mine where few are employed. They were working in the Dunmore, No. 2 vein. Mine Foreman Matthew Morris, of Railroad avenue, declared yesterday that the men were found in a part of the mine where Skavinski had no right to be. Gas accumulated, he said, by the miner having left a door open in the airway interfering with the circulation. The miner was wearing a naked lamp, and this caused the explosion. Flames enveloped him, and he shouted for help. Without thought for his own safety, Thomas left his work and rushed into the gas-filled chamber. Thomas leaves his wife and one child. He is also survived by his parents, Mr. And Mrs. Hosie Thomas, of Decker court; one sister, Mrs. Bertha Hill, and one brother, Harry, all of this city. The funeral will be held Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, with interment in Washburn Street cemetery. Services will be conducted at the home by Rev. W.A. Edwards of the Tabernacle Congregational church, and the Rev. T. Tiefion Richards, of the First Welsh Baptist church. For his heroic sacrifice, Daniel Thomas was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal, given to "a civilian who voluntarily risks his or her own life, knowingly, to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the life of another person." Unfortunately sometime between Daniel's death in 1916 and 1920 Hosie's other son Harry lost his life in the mines as well, although I have not yet discovered the details of this accident. By 1930 Hosie and Elizabeth Thomas were living alone in their home on Decker court. Their daughter Bertha married Harry Hill and was busy raising her family of four children nearby. The 1930 census indicates that Hosie had given up mining by then (who could blame him), as he is listed in the census simply as a city laborer. By 1932 the 72 year old Hosie Thomas had witnessed more tragedy in the mines of Scranton than any other family member, and again, we can imagine that these events exacted a heavy psychological toll. A newspaper article found in the Scranton Times describes the unfortunate incident that caused Hosie's death in that year. Daniel Thomas was the youngest child of John J. Thomas and his wife Elizabeth Davis. He was born in 1872 and was only three or four years old when his father died in either 1875 or 1876. At the time of their father's death, the older Thomas children were married and/or already on their own (Hannah, John Jr., David, Thomas and probably Jeremiah), while children Hosiah, William, Benjamin and Daniel were still underage. City directories for the 2nd half of the 1870s indicate that the widowed Elizabeth Thomas and her underage children either remained at their home on Hyde Park avenue, or moved in with oldest son John Jr. and his family, prior to Elizabeth remarrying John E. Jones in 1880. This may have been the same John Jones who was living next to the Thomas family in the 1860 census, with his wife Caroline and infant son John Jr. As such, Elizabeth's underage children became the step-sons of John E. Jones, who would have been the father Daniel Thomas knew for the majority of his life. The 1880 census shows us that the Jones family lived in Scranton's 2nd ward rather than the 4th ward, where most members of the Thomas family lived. In the returns John E. Jones is listed as the head of the family, occupation, "Saloon Keeper." Elizabeth is listed as his wife, and her children, Hosie Thomas, Frank Thomas, and Dannie Thomas, are listed as John's stepsons. Son William Thomas is inexplicably missing from the family group. This would be Daniel's first and only census appearance. Daniel Thomas was buried in the Washburn Street Cemetery in Hyde Park, on April 6th, 1888. Since no stone has been found to mark his final resting place, it would appear that, like his older sister Hannah who died two years earlier in 1886, he lies in an unmarked grave. We know that his father John J. Thomas purchased two cemetery plots in Washburn Street in 1865. John and his wife Elizabeth are buried in one plot, and it's possible that Dannie is buried in the other. Until recently, all we knew about Daniel Thomas was that he was his parent's youngest child, and he was killed in a mining accident. Now, the pieces of this family puzzle have finally come together, so that today we understand most of the details concerning Daniel's tragically short life and death. It is likely that Daniel was not the first Thomas family member to lose his life in the mines, nor would he be the last, as the coal fields of Scranton had other relatives yet to claim.

Job Titles:

• Head

David Davies, born ca. 1822, was David and Hannah's oldest child. He appears with his parents in the 1841 and 1851 census for Brynmawr. Both returns tell us that, like his father, David was an iron miner.

David John Price, born ca. 1860, married Rachel John and raised a family in Clydach, Glamorgan. He is last identified in the 1901 census.

David O. Thomas (1852-1923), married Jeannie Griffiths (1852-1914), and had eight children, only six of whom lived to maturity. Thomas and his wife are both buried at the Washburn Street Cemetery in Hyde Park.

Job Titles:

• Head

Dinah Davies was the daughter of David and Hannah Davies and was born in Aberystruth Parish, Brynmawr, Wales in 1833. Census returns from 1851 and 1861 indicate that her father was born in Llangeler in Carmarthenshire, while her mother was from the industrial town of Merthyr Tydfil in Glamorganshire. The first of David and Hannah's ten known children were, like Dinah, born in Aberystruth Parish, while their remaining children are listed as being born in Brynmawr. David Davies was an iron ore miner, and was likely among the thousands of his fellow countrymen who flocked to the Ebbw Vale in the early 19th century to take part in the region's booming industrial revolution.

Job Titles:

• President of the NWAF Was One of the Day 's Speakers

Dr. Philip Davies, President of the NWAF was one of the day's speakers

Elizabeth Davies, born 1827, appears with her parents in the 1841 census of Brynmawr. In 1844 she married her neighbor, miner John J. Thomas at the parish church in Llanelly. In 1848 Elizabeth left her native Wales and sailed with her husband and family to America (Scranton Pennsylvania). Her life is covered in a later essay.

Elizabeth Davis was the daughter of David and Hannah Davies and her obituary says that she was born in Brynmawr in 1827. The census returns of 1851 and 1861 indicate that Elizabeth's father was born in Llangeler in Carmarthenshire, while her mother was from the industrial town of Merthyr Tydfil in Glamorganshire. David Davies was an iron ore miner, and was likely among the thousands of his fellow countrymen who flocked to the Ebbw Vale in the early 19th century to take part in the region's booming industrial revolution. Sometime between 1835 and 1837, the Davies family moved to Glamorgan Street in Brynmawr, and it is here that we find the family in the 1841 census, as follows: Elizabeth Davis, who married John J. Thomas in 1844, was the daughter of David and Hannah Davies of Brynmawr, Wales. Her obituary says that she was born in Brynmawr in 1827. The census returns of 1851 and 1861 indicate that Elizabeth's father was born in Llangeler in Carmarthenshire, while her mother was from the industrial town of Merthyr Tydfil in Glamorganshire. We have a description of the parish of Llangeler from "A Topographical Dictionary of Wales" (S. Lewis, 1844):

Elizabeth Hares was christened 25 July 1813. It appears that she never married, as she appears with her widowed mother Susanna in the 1851 census of Shipham. Elizabeth Hares was christened 11 Oct 1840, although, again, census returns indicate she was likely born in 1838. She married late in life, a collier from Pontypridd named John Bassett, and had one child, a son named John. She was the informant on her father's death certificate, and appears in the 1891 census of Nantyglo. Elizabeth died 4 June 1900, at her home On Chapel Row in Nantyglo, from "Accidental Death, Fall in Kitchen." There appears to have been some doubt as to the cause of Elizabeth's death, because her death certificate also indicates that an inquest was held into the circumstances of her death on 8 June 1900. Since the certificate makes no mention of the outcome of the investigation, we have to assume that the verdict of accidental death was upheld. She was buried with her mother and father in the Brynmawr cemetery. Elizabeth Williams Hares-Morley died on January 15, 1915 at age 70. She was buried in the large Williams-Morley plot in the Washburn Street cemetery, joining her parents William and Mary Williams, and her two husbands, George Hares and William Morley. Notices regarding her death and funeral appeared in Scranton newspapers in the days that followed. Elizabeth Williams had arrived in America as a young girl, settled in Scranton and married two Welsh coal miners, and two Civil War veterans, George Hares, who died prematurely at age 29, and William Morley, who became one of Scranton's many industrial causalities, dying from "miner's asthma" at age 55. She raised a family through the turbulent times of Scranton's labor unrest, and today the success of her descendants are a tribute to her and her two husbands.

Aaron then pledged a bond of $1,400.00 to administer his father's estate, and signed several documents, giving us valuable samples of his handwriting. An inventory of William's possessions was taken, his goods were sold at auction on November 15, 1884. It is this inventory that gives us our intimate look into the lives of William and Elizabeth Christman, as most of the items they owned and used in their day-to-day lives are listed. The inventory tells us that several items were purchased family members, Elizabeth herself, along with Aaron's sons Reed and Asher Christman. The amount realized by the sale was $93.16. Further credits to the estate were added for a final estate value of $151.21. Against this credit were charges of $159.60, most items having to do with the sale of William's goods. The largest expense item was $35.05, granted to William's widow Elizabeth as her rightful share of her husband's estate. The final account of the estate was entered and confirmed on December 23, 1885, with a balance of $9.49 due the administrator. The census of 1890 was destroyed by fire, however, because we know that Aaron's daughter Celestia married Joseph Hooker Boorem in Cresco, Monroe County, in 1892, we know that the Christman family was still in Cresco in 1890. However, by 1900 the family of Aaron and Anna Christman had moved once again. The 1900 census tells us that Aaron and Anna Christman, along with other family members, had moved from Monroe County to the village of Kushequa in far north McKean County, Pennsylvania. In fact, I have identified about 40 individuals living in Kushequa in 1900 who were somehow related to Aaron and Anna, including members from the Christman, Kresge, and Boorem families. This included the large family of Aaron and Anna's son Burlington Christman. Living at the Boorem household were Hooker, Celeste, Ina, Anne, Hooker's half-brother Sedgwick Boorem, and two borders that were working at the local cloths pin factory. Hooker's occupation is listed simply as "laborer" although Hooker's daughter Anne definitely remembers that her father worked as a lumberman. It is thought that the Christmans and the Boorems moved to Kushequa to find work, possibly at the local cloths pin factory, or in the area's thriving lumber industry. The census shows that in Kushequa Aaron was listed as the head of family that included ten individuals, eight family members and two borders. The family included Aaron, age 54, occupation, "day laborer," wife Annie, (age 50), daughter Lillie Campbell, (widowed, age 22), and her son Thomas, (age 3), daughter Dollie, (age 19), her husband Edward Keller, (age 19), and their son Creson, (age 3).

Job Titles:

• Boss of the Plymouth

Lewis Davis was a single man who boarded with Evan Hughes, inside boss of the Plymouth mine, who was also a victim of the Avondale Disaster. Evan Hughes was the inside mine boss at Avondale on that fateful day, and was the brother of Benjamin Hughes, an official with the D.L.& W. railroad who eventually became superintendent of all the company's underground mine operations. Benjamin and Evan were from Brynmawr, Wales. During the investigation into the accident, although there was conflicting testimony as to whether Evan Hughes believed the Avondale mine to be safe, most parties agreed that he was a careful and professional boss.

Job Titles:

• Head

Job Titles:

• Father

George Hares was christened 31 Aug 1834, and is present in the 1841 and 1851 census. He emigrated to America in 1854, and settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a coal miner. He became a U.S. citizen in 1860, and enlisted in the Civil War in 1861, serving three years in Company I of the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry. He was discharged at the end of the war and married Elizabeth Williams in Scranton in 1865. George died two years later, in 1867, and is buried in the Washburn Street cemetery in the Hyde Park section of Scranton. His life is examined in greater detail in another essay. George Hares had come to America as a young man. He became a citizen, and soon thereafter answered his country's call to arms in the early days of the Civil War. His record shows that he served honorably during the war, returned home to Hyde Park, resumed his career as a miner, married and started a family. Unfortunately, for reasons not yet known, he died in his early 30s, and we are left to wonder what George, Elizabeth and their family might have accomplished had he survived.

George W. Thomas (1886-1934) was the oldest of William and Mary Jane's children. As a teenager George worked with his father as a stove mounter, and towards the end of his life worked as a milk man. He married Catherine Campbell and raised a family of six children in Scranton, Howard, George, Catherine, Dorothy, Ruth, and Emma Jane. George Thomas died suddenly in 1934 at age 48, and was buried in the Thomas family plot at the North Chinchilla Cemetery in Scranton. Today his descendants represent the largest branch of the William H. Thomas family.

Hannah Davies, born ca. 1835, appears with her parents in the 1841 and 1851 census of Brynmawr. She may be the "Anna Thomas" that was living in Hyde Park/Scranton, Pa. in the 1870 census (explanation below).

Hannah Price, born ca. 1862, married Henry Pierce (Pearce) and raised a family in Clydach. She is present in the 1901 census. Henry was born in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, where his father, also Henry, was a Captain in the Militia. The Pierce family is found on "Shipbuilder's Row" in Aberystwyth in the 1871 census.

Hannah Thomas (1896-1964) married David I. Richards and had two sons, William and John. After they were married Hannah and David lived close to Hannah's mother and father in Green Ridge, before moving to Washington D.C. In Washington David secured a government job as a printer, and later helped his brother-in-law Willard Thomas get a job in Washington in the printing industry. Hannah Thomas Richards died in Washington in 1964, and was buried in Abington Hills cemetery in Clark's Summit near Scranton. Hannah Thomas (ca. 1848-1886) was the first of John & Elizabeth's children born in Pennsylvania. She married Tunis Thomas, settled in Scranton and raised a family of five children. Tunis Thomas was a private in Company H of the 76th Pa Regiment during the Civil War. He was rendered deaf by an exploding shell while fighting at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, towards the end of the war, and later received a pension for his disability. Hannah died on August 30, 1886 at age 38, and was buried in the Washburn Street Cemetery in Hyde Park. The location of her grave is not known, and no marker stands today to indicate Hannah's final resting place. Tunis Thomas died in 1913 and is buried in the Civil War veteran's section of the Dunmore Cemetery. John J. (Drummer) Thomas (1850-1923), the namesake of his father and his grandfather, was the eldest son, and like his father was a coal miner. His wife was named Mary and they raised a family of six children initially in Hyde Park. John also worked as a fireman and later purchased and ran two hotels, the Bull's Head Inn in the community of the same name just north of Hyde Park, and later the historic Dalton House in the community of Dalton. John was known to his friends and acquaintances as "Drummer Thomas," because of his skill in playing the snare drum, which he learned in his youth. Hannah Thomas died unexpectedly on August 30, 1886 at age 37 or 38, and was buried in the Washburn Street Cemetery in Hyde Park. There is no stone to mark her final resting place. Hannah's death at this early age has yet to be explained, however there is a potential clue found in the burial records of Washburn Street. The records note Hannah's death, as well as the death of her son William in 1951. Hannah's record states that she was the "wife of Tunis J. Thomas," while William's record notes, "son of Toonis Thomas." The intriguing entry is found directly above Hannah, where a Bertha Thomas (infant) is noted as having died on April 12, 1886. Bertha's record indicates that she was the daughter of "Titus? J. Thomas," and the question mark next to "Titus" is an indication that the transcriber was unsure about the spelling of the father's first name. A recent check of the death records at the Albright Library in Scranton reveals that this Bertha was indeed the infant daughter of Tunis and Hannah Thomas, and this opens up the possibility that Hannah may have died due to lingering childbirth complications. It must be stressed that we do not know that Bertha was the cause of Hannah's death, only that such a scenario is now a possibility. Bertha is not listed in earlier Thomas family genealogies and this discovery has enabled her to take her rightful place among her surviving brothers and sisters.

Heinrich Christman's date of emigration to the U.S. is also found in the book "Early Immigrants from Germany and Switzerland to Eastern Pennsylvania, by Russell George LaVan, Gateway Press, Baltimore, MD, 1990. These sources help firmly establish our immigrant ancestor in colonial America, while his will of 1768 helps establish the next generation of Christman family members. Heinrich Christman married a woman named Anna and they raised seven children in Chestnuthill Township in what would eventually become Monroe County in 1836. (Prior to 1836 that area of Pennsylvania was still a part of Northampton County.) Their children were Elizabeth, Magdalena, Christopher (b.1741), Catherine (b.1743), Sophia (b.1755), Henry (b.1758), and Margaret. In Chestnuthill, the Christmans were neighbors of the Kresge family, another Monroe County pioneering family. When our ancestor Aaron Christman married Anna Kresge in the 1860s, they were repeating a long tradition of Christman-Kresge intermarriage. Given the general lack of population, it was not unusual for cousins to marry in colonial times, and this was true with the Christman family. Our Aaron Christman was actually descended from two of Heinrich's children, Christopher and Henry. As such, until we reach Aaron's father William Christman, it will be necessary to list our ancestors from both branches! In one branch we have Heinrich's son Christopher Christman who was born 31 Oct 1741 and died in 1813. He married a woman named Eve and had a total of 11 children, including our next ancestor, Christopher II. In the other branch we have Heinrich's son Henry Christman who was born 29 Oct 1758 and died circa 1836. Henry married Eve Kleintop, (d. 6 Mar 1828), daughter of Joseph Kleintop and Catherine Keoser. Christopher II's son Melchior (b.1801) married Henry's daughter Sarah (or Salmi), who was born 25 Apr 1802. Melchior and Sarah Christman were the parents of Aaron Christman's father William. To make things a bit more clear, here's the line of descent on both sides leading to Aaron Anderson Christman:

HON. BENJAMIN HUGHES. This recognized leader among the Welsh people of the county, and one, too, who enjoys the esteem and confidence of people of all nationalities in the community, is Benjamin Hughes of Scranton, who, since 1865 has held the responsible position of general mine superintendent for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, and is also the president of the West Side Bank. Mr. Hughes was born near Bryn-Mawr, Breconshire, Wales, and is a member of a family identified for many generations with the history of that locality. He is a son of Daniel and Esther Hughes, the latter of whom died at the age of ninety-seven and the former, who was proprietor of a leased iron ore mine, died when sixty-eight. Both were workers in the Baptist Church and were hard-working, kind and pious. They reared the majority of their sixteen children, but only three are now living, two of these being in America. Evan, who was foreman in the mines at Avondale, Pa., was killed in the nine disaster there in 1869. Elias, who was foreman at Crystal Springs, West Pittston, Pa., died in September, 1894. The education of Benjamin Hughes was limited to the knowledge acquired during a brief attendance at the pay schools of his native land. When ten years old he began to assist his father in the mine, and later was employed in coal mines, but afterward returned to assist in the management of his father's business. In the fall of 1848, when twenty-four years of age, he left Liverpool on the sailer "Mary Pleasant," and after a voyage of thirty-six days arrived in Philadelphia, whence he went to Pottsville. There he was employed in mining for the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company until January of 1850, when he came to Slocum's Hollow and entered the employ of the Scranton Iron & Coal Company. That position he resigned in July, 1853, in order to accept a position with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company in the Diamond mine. After two years he became foreman of the mine, and in 1856 was promoted to be general mine superintendent, in which capacity he has since been retained. At the time he became connected with the company there were only five shafts here, but this number has since been increased to thirty, with twenty-one breakers. Six thousand nine hundred and forty-seven men are employed inside and three thousand three hundred and ninety outside, making the total number of men ten thousand three hundred and thirty-seven. The work at the mines is superintended by wire from his office in the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western depot. In 1895 one hundred and seven thousand, four hundred and forty and one-half kegs of powder were used in the mines. Of these mines all but six are in Lackawanna County, the remainder being in Luzerne. In 1853 Mr. Hughes established his home on the west side, and since 1870 has resided at No. 1201 Washburn Street. He has built other houses in the neighborhood, having for years been interested in real estate operations. When the West Side Bank was organized in the early '70s, he was vice president and assisted in its establishment, but for a number of years he has been its president. He was one of the organizers of the Cambrian Mutual Fire Insurance Company on the west side and has been its president from the first. Before leaving Wales Mr. Hughes married Miss Mary Davis, who accompanied him to this country and remained here until her death. They were parents of five daughters and one son. Those living are: Esther, wife of Rev. John Evans, of Westerly, R.I.; Elizabeth, Mrs. Luther Jones, of Hyde Park; Annie, wife of A.B. Eynon, cashier of the West Side Bank of Scranton; Norma, the wife of Jenkin T. Reese, a mining engineer with the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western road. In November, 1881, Mr. Hughes married Mrs. Ann Rosser, of Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pa., a native of the same town as her husband. In 1859 Mr. Hughes was elected a member of the council of the borough of Hyde Park and served until 1862. In 1861 he was school director. For three years he was a member of the select council of Scranton, being president of the board for one year. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic Order. In the Baptist Church he holds the office of president of the board of trustees, served on the building committee and had been superintendent of the Sunday school for years. He assisted in organizing the Ivorites Society at Scranton and was the first grand president, which office he held for about nine years; he is still actively associated with the society. He has never wavered in his political affiliations, having always been a champion of Republican principles. In 1892 he was a delegate to the convention at Minneapolis that nominated Benjamin Harrison for the presidency, and had the honor of casting one of the original eleven votes from Pennsylvania for Harrison. He also attended the national convention of 1896 at St Louis. Personally, he is liberal and enterprising, and merits the success he has attained. In spite of advancing years, his body retains much of the vigor of his prime, while his mental faculties are as keen as in early life. His has been a busy and useful career, and not only has he succeeded in raising himself from poverty to a position of influence, but he has also helped many another who was struggling against adverse fortune, and by his kindly nature and generosity has gained the respect of all with whom he has business or social relations. Hughes is mentioned prominently in the book by William D. Jones, Wales in America, Scranton and the Welsh, 1860-1920, University of Wales Press, 1993. In his book Mr. Jones explains why Benjamin Hughes was so important to the development of Hyde Park/Scranton: Benjamin Hughes (1824-1900) was one of the most important men in late-nineteenth-century Scranton, and undoubtedly the most important Welshman. A leading figure in Hyde Park's political, cultural and commercial life, his influence was ultimately a consequence of the powerful position he occupied in the D.L. & W. Hughes was born in Brynmawr, Breconshire, in 1824, the son of a foreman at the Nantyglo Ironworks. He emigrated to the United States in 1848. In 1855, after working as a miner in Pottsville for seven years, he became superintendent of the D.L. & W.'s Diamond Mine in Hyde Park, and ten years later he was appointed as that company's general inside superintendent, the second most important position in the industry throughout the Lackawanna Valley. As such, he was in charge of underground operations in all the D.L. & W.'s mines, which by 1890 included responsibility for around 7,000 men. Hughes mining credentials were impeccable: widely regarded as the foremost expert on mining in the north-east Pennsylvania coalfield, he was a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers and served on the Pennsylvania Board of Examiners for mine inspectors. Throughout his life Hughes dedicated himself to furthering the interests of his countrymen, particularly in the mining industry. He was in many ways the father of the Welsh community in Scranton, since he actively recruited Welsh miners to the city and provided them with jobs. He was also largely responsible for setting up the Welsh Philosophical Society, which was a training ground for Welsh mining supervisors. ...Such was his devotion to ensuring that the Welsh maintained their predominant position in the company's hierarchy that he often wrote to his subordinates in the Welsh language, especially regarding misdemeanors on their past which he did not wish the company and his superior, W.R. Storrs, to know about.

Job Titles:

• 17, Collier

The 71-year-old Hannah and her son Hosea Davies (23, "Labourer in the Mines") appear in the 1870 census for Scranton/Hyde Park, living with the family of Thomas and Anna Thomas. Since there is no sign of David here or anywhere else in Scranton, and since the returns list Hannah as owning a modest amount of personal property, it is likely that David Davies died sometime between late 1865 and when the census was taken in 1870. In addition, given her name and age, it is possible that the Anna Thomas listed here was David and Hannah's daughter Hannah. If this is true, that means that David, Hannah, and at least three of their children (Elizabeth, Hannah and Hosea) all came to Scranton. There is no sign of either Hannah or Hosea in the 1880 census, although by this time Hannah would have been more than 80 years old. If David and Hannah Davies did die in Scranton, they were likely buried in the Washburn Street cemetery in Hyde Park, although I have yet to discover any details regarding their deaths or final resting places. The fate of Hosea Davies is less certain. Did he return to Wales? Was he killed in a mine accident in Scranton? More research is needed to answer these important questions. In 1867-68 John J. Thomas makes his first appearance in the city directory for Scranton as a miner living on Hyde Park Avenue. He would continue to be listed in the directory every year until his death. These family records, the home purchases, the cemetery lot purchase, and the directory listings, are all an indication that John J. Thomas and his family were doing quite well in Hyde Park, and there is little doubt that John had become a respected member of his community.

Hoseah Davies, born ca. 1848, was David and Hannah's youngest child. He appears with his parents in the 1851 and 1861 census. The 1861 census lists him as a collier at age 13! By the time of the 1870 census he had emigrated to the U.S. and joined his sister Elizabeth Thomas in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Job Titles:

• Head

Isaac B. Morgans was the third husband of Elizabeth Davis Thomas, widow of John J. Thomas. He was the son of Isaac and Sarah Morgans, and was born in 1828 in the industrial city of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, south Wales. At this point in time I have identified only one of Isaac's siblings, a younger sister Ann, (b.ca.1835), who appears with the family in the 1841 census. We get our first glimpse of family of Isaac and Sarah Morgan in the aforementioned 1841 census, as follows:

Job Titles:

• Head

Job Titles:

• Head

Israel Hares was christened 2 Mar 1800, and married Mary Ann Collins in 1823. He and his family eventually moved to south Wales where they followed the mining trade. Israel and his family are discussed in greater detail below. Mary Hares was christened 12 Apr 1807, and I have no additional information regarding her life. Our next ancestor is Samuel and Susanna's son Israel Hares. Israel married Mary Ann Collins on 26 Mar 1823, and the first of their children were born the following year. Israel Hares died in Nantyglo on 25 May 1883, following a 2-month bout with bronchitis, his death being reported by his daughter Elizabeth Bassett. Although Israel died in Nantyglo, he was buried in the Brynmawr municipal cemetery, likely due to the fact that by then many of Nantyglo's smaller chapel cemeteries had essentially closed due to overcrowding. With his death, the story of our Hares ancestors from Shipham, Somerset comes to a close. Although he was a miner or mine laborer for nearly all his life, Israel Hares managed to live into his early 80s, at a time when such an age was obtained by few individuals. At least two of his children, Hannah and George, (and perhaps Susanna), emigrated to America, while granddaughter Elizabeth Haines emigrated to Australia. As such, the descendants of Samuel Hares and Susannah Wookey and Israel Hares and Mary Ann Collins, came to inhabit several different corners of the globe, including, England, Wales, the United States, and Australia, where their descendants remain today. It hoped that this web site and this essay will cause other family members to contact me directly so that their family information can be added to this record. The Israel Hares plot is located in the Brynmawr cemetery, Section 6, Row 1, Grave 3. My wife and I visited the cemetery in May of 2006 where we located the grave of Israel Hares and family. Below you will find a photograph of Israel's unmarked grave, along with a photo of the front portion of section 6, showing some of the other graves nearby. Arrangements are currently being made to erect a permanent marker mentioning Israel, his wife Mary Ann, and their daughter Elizabeth Bassett.

Job Titles:

• Owner of Dalton House, Is Dead

Although I have been unable to find the details of this accident, it would appear that Jacob Morgan died in the colliery rather than in the mine. He was buried in the Washburn Street cemetery in Hyde Park.

James Davies, born ca. 1837, appears with his parents in the 1841 and 1851 census in Brynmawr. In the latter he is listed as a "haulier" in the mines, a typical occupation for a boy before becoming a miner.

Job Titles:

• Head

James Price, born ca. 1858, appears in the 1861 census of Aberdre living with his father, and the 1871 census living with his mother and father and brothers and sisters in Clydach Vale, Glamorganshire. He married Rachel Maria Johns in 1878, and appears with her and their baby daughter Rachel in the 1881 census on Llanfoist Street, Clydach. James was a coal miner and, he and his family are also found in Clydach in 1891 and 1901.

The 1841 census is the first and last time we see the complete family of John and Mary Thomas. The returns indicate that the Thomas family was living in a single family home on Somerset Street, that John Thomas Sr. and his son John were working as (coal) miners (colliers), and that all members of the family were born in Breconshire. As colliers, it is likely that John and his father were mining coal for use by the numerous iron furnaces in the region. The total population of Brynmawr in 1841 was 2,603. Of that number, only 1,054 persons (40%) were identified as being born in Breconshire, while 60% of the town's inhabitants were listed as being born outside the county or outside of England. The returns show that most of the male workers of Brynmawr were employed by the coal mining industry, 384 individuals in all, including 233 miners and mine laborers, and 151 colliers. The iron industry was next with a total of 80 workers. Below: 19th century map of central Brynmawr showing the location of Somerset Street. We get some sense of the hazards of mining coal in Wales in the early 19th century from the book, "and They Worked us to Death, Volume 1" Casualties of the Mines, Who they were and Where they died, by Ben Fieldhouse and Jackie Dunn, Gwent Family History Society, 3rd Edition, 1999. From about 1790 the steam raising properties of coal was making it a very desirable commodity. The demand curve for it was soon to become exponential and the thin broken seams of South Wales that lay at inconvenient depths were being pressed to yield their harvest. Coal in inseparable from methane, firedamp to those who braved it, the gas being a product of rotting vegetation for which latter the word coal is a synonym.

Game, set, and match. Not only had I found the Thomas family in Brynmawr, the census also identified Mary's husband John, who likely died before the family came to America, and an unknown daughter named Elizabeth. Here finally was my match with the Ivanhoe's passenger records. The census even named the street the Thomas family lived on. As I sat staring at the entry, barely believing what I was seeing, I was engulfed by a tremendous sense of excitement and relief at having finally solved a family mystery that some had said would likely never be solved. It was about 10:30 PM and I quickly rushed into the bedroom to tell Parthene, and we celebrated by cracking open a bottle of good champagne! Needless to say, I had great difficulty sleeping that night, as the implications of the discovery along with some 15 years of research flashed before my eyes. In the end, tracking down the Thomas family's Welsh origins represents a remarkable chain of events and discoveries, aided by persistent and solid research. The decision to go to Scranton in 1986 and visit Betty and Mike Barrett was critical, because it uncovered Uncle Wilfred's Thomas family tree and led us to the final resting place of John and Elizabeth Thomas. The 1850 census was important because it demonstrated that John and Elizabeth were married in Wales, and had a daughter named Elizabeth who was born in Wales. This information enabled me to narrow the time frame of the family's immigration to the U.S., which led to the discovery of John's naturalization record at the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre. The naturalization record provided John's date and place of arrival in America. That in turn led to the discovery of the ship's passenger list at the National Archives in Washington D.C. The ship's passenger list provided an unexpected glimpse of John's extended family, and provided a blueprint of how the Thomas family should have appeared in the 1841 census of Wales. Persistence in visiting the library in Scranton paid off in July of 2003 when I discovered Elizabeth's obituary in the Scranton Republican. Finally, the timely release of the 1841 census of Wales on CD ROM allowed me to quickly and easily locate the family in Brynmawr. However, had it not been for Charlotte and Jeremiah and their less-than-common names, we may have never identified the family in Wales. Remove any one piece of this research equation, and the results may have been quite different. Solid research, persistence, and just plain luck, had finally conspired to solve our family riddle. Having replanted our Thomas family roots firmly in Brynmawr, I've moved on to the next research phase, with the goal of finding further evidence of our family in Wales and perhaps discovering earlier generations of ancestors. So, while one chapter of the Thomas family has been closed, a brand new chapter has been opened. Now the focus shifts to Wales, where further progress will be difficult, or perhaps impossible. Then again, I have recently learned to disregard notions of the latter. Jeremiah Thomas (ca. 1856-1891), married Alice Fletcher, and settled initially in Hyde Park. Like his brothers, as a boy Jeremiah worked as a mule driver in the mines, and later became a full-fledged miner. Jeremiah and Alice had two daughters born in Scranton, Mary Emily (1883) and Gertrude (1885), before the family emigrated to Hamilton, Ontario in 1885, where Jeremiah became a fireman for the city of Hamilton. Unfortunately Jeremiah was killed in the line of duty on 23 Feb 1891. His wife and daughters remained in Hamilton and are buried there in Woodlawn Cemetery. Jeremiah Thomas was the sixth child of John and Elizabeth Davies Thomas of Brynmawr, Wales and Scranton, Pennsylvania, and until recently very little was known about his life. Although his name was included on the Thomas Family Tree, complied by the late Wilfred Harris of Scranton, Pennsylvania, the only information given about him on the tree were three words, fireman - Canada - killed. Fortunately, the recent discovery of certain records related to Jeremiah, have uncovered his story. Jeremiah, or "Jerry," was born in Hyde Park/Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1856, and lived most of his life in Scranton. We first encounter Jeremiah in the 1860 census of Scranton as a 4 year old living with his mother and father and brothers and sisters in Hyde Park's 4th Ward. He appears again in the 1870 census of Hyde Park and is listed as a "mule driver in the mines," a familiar occupation of the Thomas boys, and one that would claim the life of Jeremiah's younger brother Daniel (see below). Sometime prior to 1880 Jeremiah married Alice E. Fletcher, the daughter of Charles and Mary Ann Fletcher. The 1861 census tells us that she was born in 1857 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. Ship's passenger records tell us that the Fletcher family emigrated from England to America in 1870, arriving at the port of New York on board the ship "Wisconsin" on 17 July of that year. The Fletcher family makes it first appearance in U.S. census records in 1870 (Scranton), the census being taken barely a month after the family arrived in America. Unfortunately, Reports of the Inspectors of Mines of the Anthracite Coal Regions of Pennsylvania for the Year 1879, indicate that Charles Fletcher was killed in a mining accident on 3 Feb 1879, as evidenced by the below entry:

Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of John B. and Janet Davis living on Williams Street in Scranton's 1st Ward. The family included John B. (age 35, miner), wife Janet (age 29), and sons Alfred (age 5) and David J. (age 2). In the 1900 census we find the Davis family on Mountain Place in Dickson City near Scranton. Here the family includes John B. Davis (age 53, coal miner), wife Jannett (age 50 13/4), and sons Alfred (age 24, day laborer), David J. (age 21, coal mine laborer), and daughters Bernice? (age 14), and Alonzo (age 8). The census also indicates that John came to America in 1867, Janet in 1853. If the 13/4 for Janet is correct, that means she had given birth to 14 children, but only the four living with her in the 1900 census had survived. With nine of her children dying before reaching maturity, we can imagine that the Davis household suffered through more grief than most. Both John and Janet Davis are buried in the Washburn Street cemetery in Hyde Park. John's inscription tells us that he was born in 1846, died in 1928, and was the husband of Janet Davis, while Janet's inscription tells us that she was born in 1850, died in 1938, and was the wife of John B. Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of John F. Davis living on Monroe Avenue in Scranton's 17th ward. The family included John (age 72), his wife Ann (age 68), daughters Ruth A. Snover (age 31), Ruth's daughter Fannie (age 6) and grandson Joseph Davis (age 15). The census lists John as having no occupation. In the 1870 census we find John an Ann living in Hyde Park (8th ward) with daughters Elizabeth (28), Martha (23). John is still listed as having no occupation, however the value of property owned is placed at $25,000.00.

John D. Evans lived in Plymouth and left a wife and five children. This marker has only recently been dug from the ground and the top portion of the stone is missing. There is other information on the marker that will hopefully be deciphered soon.

Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of John D. Jones and his second wife Janet, mentioned above, living on Hyde Park Ave in Scranton's 4th Ward. The family included, John (age 45, works in coal mines), Janet (age 32), and their children Elvira (age 19), David (age 17), Ada (age 10), Lena (age 8), Annie (age 6), Sidney (age 4), Hattie (age1) and Nettie (age 1). If the above information is correct and John's first wife Lucretia died in 1865, that means that Elvira and David would have been by John's first wife, and the remainder by his second wife Janet. STEPHEN JONES, formerly a machinist, dealer in sewing machines, No. 322 Lackawanna avenue, residence Main street, Hyde park, was born in Breconshire, South Wales, May 20th 1843, and married Agnes M. Barrowman of Hyde Park. Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of Stephen Jones living in the 14th ward of Scranton. The family includes Stephen (age 37, Sewing Machine Agt.), his wife Agnes (age 35, born in Scotland), and their children Eddie (age 11), Mamie (age 7), and Walter (age 9 months). In the 1900 census we find Stephen and Agnes Jones living on Adams Avenue in Dunmore with their children Mamie (age 27) and Walter (age 20). The portion of the return listing Stephen's occupation and date of arrival in the U.S. is unreadable, although the latter may be 1853 or 1857.

Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of John D. (age 35, moulder) & Ann Phillips (age 40) living on Orchard Street in Scranton. In addition to John & Ann, the family included children Daniel (age 14), Maggie (age 10), Sidney (age 7) and Tallieson (age 4). In the 1900 census we find John and Ann Phillips living on Academy Street in Scranton's 5th ward, along with their children Tallie (age 25) and Sanford (age 18). The census also tells us that John was still working as a moulder, and that he came to the U.S. in 1865. John D. and Ann Phillips are buried in the Washburn Street Cemetery in Hyde Park. John's inscription tells us that he was born 2 Sept 1845, died 14 May 1932, and was the husband of Ann Phillips. Ann's inscription tells us that she was born 17 Aug 1840, died 19 Sept 1919, and was the wife of John D. Phillips. JOSEPH P. PHILLIPS, Hyde Park, who served three years as a member of the city select council and one year as its president, was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales, December 30th, 1845, and is a mining engineer. He married Esther H. Hughes, of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne Co., Pa. Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of Joseph and Esther Phillips living on Adams Avenue in Scranton's 4th Ward, Hyde Park. The family included Joseph (age 34, Mining Engineer), Esther (age 27), and their children William T. (age 8), Franklin (age 5), Frances J. (age 4), and Mary (age 10 months). In the 1900 census we again find Joseph, Esther and family living in Hyde Park (4th ward - street not mentioned). In 1900 the family included Joseph (53, Civil Engineer), Esther (47), and children Fannie (24), Frank (25), Nellie (18), Geraldine (12), Orissia? (10), Joseph (11), and Harrie (8). The 1900 census also indicates that Esther had given birth to 13 children, 9 of which were still living, and that Joseph had arrived in America in the year 1867.

Job Titles:

• Boss, Was Born in Monmouthshire South Wales, April 10th 1852 and Married Nellie Louisa Norton of Durham, England.

Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of John and Nellie Richardson living on Main Street in Scranton's 1st district. The family included John (age 28, Works on Tracks), wife Nellie (age 21), and children Robert J. (age 5), and Margaret (age 1). John's wife Nellie died sometime before 1900 because in the census taken that year we find the 48-year-old and widowed John Richardson living on Von Storch Avenue as a border with his children Robert J. (born 1875) and John Jr. (born 1880). John and his sons are working as day laborers, and the census indicates that John arrived in America in the year 1860.

John Davies, born ca. 1831, appears with his mother and father in the 1841 and 1851 census of Brynmawr. Like his father and brothers, he also worked as an iron miner.

Job Titles:

• Saloon Keeper

Job Titles:

• Formerly Superintendent

JOHN F. DAVIES, formerly superintendent of iron furnaces, now resides on Monroe avenue, Scranton, was born in Breconshire, South Wales, January 12th 1809, and first came to Scranton in 1842. He married Ann Clinton of Glamorganshire, South Wales, born March 8th, 1812.

Job Titles:

• Chief Engineer

JOHN H. WILLIAMS, chief engineer, formerly a machinist, was born in Dowlais, Wales, March 12th, 1848. He married Mary E. Smith of Scranton. Mr. Williams served nine months on the 50th N.Y. engineers. T.R. WILLIAMS, clerk, was born in Breconshire, South Wales, February 7th, 1827, and married Ann Jones of his native shire. Residence at Providence. This individual was likely the Thomas R. Williams identified by the 1880 census as living on Orchard Street in Scranton's 1st Ward. The family included Thomas (53, Clerk in Store), his wife Ann (age 52) and a 54-year-old Welsh miner named Davis Andrews. W.W. WILLIAMS, builder and county auditor for Lackawanna county, residence at Providence, was born in Glamorganshire, Wales, December 31st, 1836, and married Elizabeth Jenkins, of Bangor, Wis. WILLIAM B. WILLIAMS, served as common councilman and member of the select council of the city of Scranton. He was born in Breconshire, Wales, November 16th 1825, and resides in Hyde Park. He married Elizabeth Morris of his native shire. Note: The 1880 census shows that William B. Williams (age 54) and his wife Elizabeth (age 56) were living on Prospect Street in Scranton's 1st district. William Sr.'s occupation is listed as Tax Collector. Next door was a William B. Williams Jr. and family, who was likely William and Elizabeth's son. William B. and Elizabeth Williams are buried in the Washburn Street cemetery in Hyde Park. Williams's inscription reads, William B. Williams, born 17 Nov 1825, died 16 Jan 1892, Husband of Elizabeth Williams. Elizabeth's inscription reads, Elizabeth Williams, born 10 Feb 1821, died 12 Nov 1908, Wife of William B. Williams. W.O. WILLIAMS, miner, formerly a merchant, residence Bellevue, Hyde Park, was born in Breconshire, South Wales, August 20th, 1840, and married Margaret James of Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Note: In the 1880 census William O. Williams (age 39) was living in Lackawanna Township, Lackawanna Co., Pa., with his wife Margaret (age 42) and their children Gwen J. (age 9) and William J. Williams (age 4). William's occupation is listed as coal miner.

According to descendant Shawn Presser, John was born in Cornwall, England about 1843, and was living in Monmouthshire at the time of the 1851 census. John's wife Mary was pregnant with their last child, Margaret, at the time of the Avondale Disaster. Mary Harris remarried John Y. Morgan in 1879 and for many years the family lived at 338 North Hyde Park Avenue. Mary Harris Morgan died 3 Jan 1927. Her obituary appeared in the Scranton Times the day of her death, and her funeral notice mentions that "Mrs. Morgan is the last of the women widowed as a result of the Avondale disaster which killed 110 men."

Job Titles:

• Boss, Formerly a Miner, Residence Jackson Street, Hyde Park, Was Born April 5th 1824 in Monmouthshire, South Wales, and Married Jane Williams.

We begin the story of the Faulkner family by looking at Fletcher's parents, Joseph Faulkner (ca.1812-1879) Lucy Mangum (1823-1913) of Granville and Franking counties, North Carolina. Much of what we know about Joseph and Lucy comes from family tradition lovingly preserved by Miss Maria P. Faulkner of Henderson, NC, granddaughter of Joseph and Lucy's son Lorenza D. "L.D." Faulkner. The Descendants of Joseph Faulkner & Lucy Mangum (3 generation pdf descendant register file) The first record of Joseph and Lucy comes from Granville county marriage records, which show that Joseph Faulkner married Lucy Mangum on 12 Oct 1837 in Granville county. "Lucy eloped with Joseph on horseback while her father and brothers were on a "possum hunt." It was prearranged for she already had her bags packed. One of the sagas told, said she left on horseback from the spring with Joseph after telling her mother who was at the house spinning cloth. The next day when here father came from the hunt, they went and found that they had already married, so they returned without her."

Lettice Morgans had the following children, all born in Wales; the aforementioned Thomas B. Morgans, was born ca.1850, emigrated with the family to Scranton, Pennsylvania, but had moved to Ohio by the time of his father's death; Joseph B. Morgans (b.ca.1852), married a woman named Miriam in Scranton, where they had at least one daughter, Sarah Ann; Matilda (b.1854), married Evan Williams and also remained in Scranton; Jacob B. Morgans (1857-1875) died when he was 18 years old and was buried at the Washburn Street cemetery in Scranton; Moses B. Morgans (b.1860), married Sarah A. Griffiths in 1889 and had two children, Edward and Rebecca; Sarah Ann Morgans (b.1862), married John Wagstaff and had three children, Verna, Lettie and Arthur; Rachel Morgans (b.1865), married David M. Jones and had a daughter Freda. With the 1861 census we are introduced to most of the rest of the family of Isaac Morgan. The returns for that year show that Isaac and Lettice were still living in Merthyr Tydvil, at No. 61 Bargoed House, and that their family had grown to include children Joseph, Matilda, Jacob and Moses, as follows:

Lillie Faulkner, was born ca. 1884, never married, and apparently for most of her life lived with her mother and father. She was the informant on her father's death certificate.

The most exciting job for the boys was mule driver. The job was usually held by an older boy in his early teens. The mule driver traveled all through the mine coupling full cars together and leaving an empty car behind in the work chamber. The boy started out with one mule and then worked up to a six-mule team. When he was able to drive a six-mule team, he was given a man's wages. The mule driver sat on the front bumper of the coal car and used his voice to direct the mules. If the mule was stubborn, he used a black snake whip. A good mule driver was respected by both the miners and bosses. He had no problem obtaining a job as a miner when he was older. The miners often felt the mules were more important than men were to the company. If a mule died, the company had to buy a new one. If the miner was killed or injured, they only had to hire a replacement.

Lucy Faulkner, was born 23 Apr 1871 and married William R. Wiggs. Lucy raised a family in Wake and Davidson counties. She died 30 Aug 1932 in Lexington, Davidson Co., NC, and was buried in Lexington.

Lucy Mangum Faulkner died 29 June 1913. She was buried in Liberty Christian Church cemetery in Epsom, just over the border in Vance County, in a plot shared by her son Lorenza, his wife Nannie and their son Norman. Maria Faulkner has recently replaced the tall stone that formerly marked Lucy's grave with a handsome ground marker (below). Lucy Faulkner's obituary appeared in a local religious paper in September of 1913, as follows:

Lula Faulkner, was born in March 1870 and is present with her mother and father in the 1870 census of Sandy Creek, Warren Co. She married Thomas H. O'Neal and raised a family in Wake, Johnston, and Durham counties. She died 8 Jan 1935 in Leesville, Wake Co., NC, and was buried in the Ferguson family cemetery, Carr Township, Durham County, NC.

Lynn Parham in his book, "Pleasant Mangum and All His Kin," claims that the Lucy Mangum who married Joseph Faulkner in 1837, was the daughter of Pleasant Mangum of Granville County, NC, the notion is based on certain family tradition that Lynn uncovered in preparation for his book on the Mangum family. In the course of his research, Lynn interviewed many family members, including descendants of Pleasant's son Archibald Jefferson Mangum. Through these interviews he discovered that Archibald's granddaughter, Ida Mangum Powell, (born 1889), attended the funeral of Lucy Faulkner and knew that Lucy was the daughter of Pleasant Mangum. According to Ida, this kinship was common knowledge within the Mangum family.

Maggie Faulkner, is mentioned in the obituary of her sister Lula O'Neal, which lists three surviving sisters, including a Maggie Jefferies of Wake county. The 1930 census does reveal a Richard L. and Maggie Jeffreys living in Wake county, however further research is needed in order to determine whether of not this individual and Maggie Faulkner are one and the same.

Ann Hares was christened 12 Apr 1807. She may be the Ann Hares who married Samuel Stock in Shipham 27 Jan 1825. Mary Ann Hares was christened 5 May 1833, married James Haines, and raised a family in Nantyglo, Wales. Sons John and William Haines married raised families in Nantyglo, where they appear in the 1901 census. In March of 1876, daughter Elizabeth married Arthur Saunders in Brynmawr, and in October of that same year the couple emigrated to Australia where they raised a large family, and where descendants remain today. According to her death certificate Mary Ann Haines died in Nantyglo on 15 July 1883 after a 5-day bout with gastritis, and was buried in the Brynmawr Municipal cemetery with her husband James who died in 1875. Mary Ann Hares died in Nantyglo of "senile decay" on 1 May 1880, and was buried in the Brynmawr Municipal Cemetery, opened in the early 1850s to help relieve the region's overcrowded chapel cemeteries. The certificate mentions that Mary Ann was the "wife of Israel Hares, a Labourer," and the informant was daughter Mary Ann Haines. Mary Ann Haines would die just three years later in 1883 and is also buried in the Brynmawr cemetery. In the 1881 census we find the widowed Israel Hares living in Aberystruth parish, likely just outside Nantyglo, with his daughters Mary Ann Haines and Elizabeth Bassett (Bossett in the census) and several grandchildren, as follows:

Mary Davies, born ca. 1824, was the eldest daughter. She appears with her parents in the 1841 census but has not been identified in subsequent returns.

Mary Price, born ca. 1857, appears in the 1861 and 1871 census with her mother and father. She may be the Mary Rees, (wife of David Rees), who appears with James Price (below) in the 1881 census of Clydach. Although all the details fit, I have yet to prove definitively that this Mary Rees and Mary Price are the same individuals.

Although in this final deposition, Mary mentions her husband's alleged illness, the one that caused him to be sent home, she had failed to do so in her earlier testimony. On the surface it appears that Mary added this important detail only after talking to the soldier Abraham McKeel, who testified on her behalf and in her favor on the same day her own deposition was taken. Prior to this Mary had been uncertain about how long or even when her husband had been away, and knew of no other soldier who had served with her husband.

Grace Thomas (1900-1976) never married, and helped care for both her mother and father in their declining years. Like her brother Willard and her brother-in-law Dave Richards, Grace eventually moved to Washington D.C. where she worked in the printing department of the U.S. Civil Service Commission for over 30 years. After retiring she returned to Scranton and lived in a small apartment owned by her brother Jack. Grace cared for both her mother and father in their declining years, and because Grace lived with her parents for so long, certain Thomas family traditions were passed down through her, including the Thomas family recipe for making Welsh cakes. Grace died in Scranton in 1976 and is buried with her brother Jack and his wife Helen in Abington Hills Cemetery in Clark's Summit.

MORGAN BOWEN, residence Chestnut Street, Hyde Park, inside foreman in the School Fund Association's mines, was born in Llangonyd, Glamorganshire, South Wales, April 27th, 1828, and married Margaret Williams of Bryn Mawr, Breconshire, South Wales. He was formerly a miner, and has served as common councilman. Note: The family of Morgan and Margaret Bowen is present in the 1880 census of Scranton, however the family is difficult to trace in subsequent returns. Sons Evan and (Abram) Lincoln Bowen appear in the 1910 census for Springbrook Township, Lackawanna Co., Pa. Information from the Lackawanna County, Pa. GenWeb site indicates that there was an estate filed at the courthouse in Scranton for a Morgan Bowen who died 7 Jan 1898 (Estate #4308), and this is possibly the Morgan Bowen mentioned above.

MORGAN W. THOMAS, formerly miner, now a machinist, Providence, was born in Glamorganshire, South Wales, March 27th 1828, and was there married to Sophia Myles. Note: I have located an individual in the 1880 census who I believe to be the Morgan Thomas mentioned above. The family was living in Scranton's 1st Ward, which agrees with the short bio above that mentions that Morgan Thomas lived in Providence. In 1880 this Morgan Thomas (age 53, Machinist) was already widowed, and living with his children David M. (age 23, Engineer), Mary J. (age 21), William (age 17, Coal Laborer), John (age 14, Picking Coal), and Arthur (age 11, Picking Coal). All members of the household are listed as being born in Wales.

Job Titles:

• Proprietor

Marriage records from Warren Co., NC show that Fletcher Faulkner married Parthenia Loyd on 24 March 1869 in Granville county. Parthenia was the daughter of Thomas and Rhoda Loyd of Granville county. We get a final glimpse of Fletcher Faulkner in the 1930 census of Louisburg, where we find him living on Main street with his daughter Lillie. This time Fletcher is listed as a "poultry dealer." The 1930 census also seems to indicate that Fletcher was a veteran of the Civil War, a claim that has yet to be substantiated. Here, it should be mentioned that, having been born in 1850, Fletcher would have been just 15 years old at the end of the Civil War in 1865, therefore this claim must be treated with some skepticism until further evidence is found. Fletcher Faulkner died in Louisburg 6 April 1931 of ????? paralysis. The informant on the death certificate was his daughter Lillie. The certificate indicates that he was buried in Clayton (Johnston Co.) however the cemetery where he was buried is not mentioned. Although his death certificate and obituary indicate that Fletcher Faulkner was buried in Clayton, I have yet to discover his final resting place. With his death, the story of our Faulkner ancestors comes to a close. Although Fletcher Faulkner and his family eventually moved from Granville and Franklin counties, other descendants of Joseph and Lucy Faulkner remain in the area to this day. As always, I welcome any comments about or additions and corrections to this record. I look forward to hearing from you!

Mrs. Ann Hughes, relict of the late venerable Benjamin Hughes, died yesterday at her home at the corner of Washburn street and South Hyde Park avenue, where for many years her beloved husband resided prior to his demise on the first day of April last. The announcement of her death came with unusual suddenness and surprise, inasmuch as it was not generally known that she was ill. Old age and a complication of ailments aggravated by a recent severe illness, caused her death. For years she had not been feeling well, and the absence of her husband hastened the end of her career. Although able to be about the house and to receive her numerous friends, she did not enjoy her usual health. On Sunday, a week or more ago, she became ill and was obliged to seek her bed. She gradually became weaker until on Monday last it was noticeable to those in almost constant attendance upon her that she could not long survive the malady with which she was afflicted, and at 10 o'clock that night she lapsed into unconsciousness and never rallied. At 3:30 o'clock yesterday morning she passed peacefully away to join the dear ones who had preceded her. Mrs. Hughes was a woman of strong character and possessed qualities that endeared her to a wide and loyal legion of friends. She was kind and generous to those whom she knew and were in need of substantial assistance. These many deeds of kindness were done in silence and with the modesty that was a chief characteristic of her whole life. It was latterly spent in quietude and comfort at home, but in her earlier days she was a most active and useful woman. She was known to only those of West Scranton as the loving and devoted wife of one of the few of nature's noblemen, the lamented Benjamin Hughes. By the death of Mrs. Hughes, a most exemplary and most highly respected husband and wife have been called to the great and uncertain beyond, each responding to almost the same bugle call. Born in Bryn Mawr, South Wales, in May 1820, she spent her childhood days in that town, receiving her education in the schools of that quaint old town. It is remarking strange that she died on the same day as the queen of England, who the deceased loved devotedly and of whom she was a subject for many years. Sixty-one years ago she emigrated to this country, first locating at St. Clair, Schuylkill county, Pa., where she remained until 1852, when she moved to Shamokin, Pa. There she was wedded to Mr. John Prosser, then a wealthy coal operator of that town. He subsequently died. In 1881 she was united at Shamokin to the late Mr. B. Hughes. During those years she was prominently connected with the First Baptist church where her husband rendered many years of effectual service. Mrs. Hughes was closely affiliated with him in these duties and for years was the president of the Ladies Aid society of the church. Deceased never had any children but is survived by the following step-children; Mrs. A. B. Eynon, Mrs. John Evans, Westerly, R. I.,; Mrs. Luther Jones, Mrs. Jenkin T. Reese and Mrs. Jennie Stephens, a number of grandchildren and a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Hughes, the only survivor of eight children. Ann Rosser Hughes was buried with her first husband, John Rosser, in the family plot in the cemetery at Shamokin. The large obelisk marker here mentions John, Ann, John's brother Thomas Rosser, and a woman names Mary Rees Jones, whose relationship to the family is unknown. In the same plot are John T. Eddy and his wife Mary Ann Hughes. Mary Ann was the daughter of Ann's sister Elizabeth Thomas, who married Joseph Hughes in Brynmawr, Wales, and, like John and Ann, emigrated to Pennsylvania in the 1840s. Below are several photographs of the Rosser-Hughes plot in the Shamokin cemetery taken in October of 2006.

Mrs. Elizabeth Morgan, wife of Isaac B. Morgan, died last evening about 8 o'clock at her home, 508 North Hyde Park Avenue. Deceased was born in Bryn Mawr 68 years ago. She had been sick for some time, and last night succumbed to a complication of diseases. She is survived by the following children, all of whom are residents of this city: John, Dave, Hosea, Tom and Frank. Funeral announcement will be made later.

Job Titles:

• Seal

Elizabeth Morley composed her last will and testament on May 13, 1910. The details of her will seem to be at odds with how Elizabeth is depicted in her pension application, poor widow very much in need of assistance: In 1910 did Elizabeth really have the financial means to give five of her children $100 each upon her death? If so, this is a far cry from Elizabeth's desperate circumstances as reported a decade earlier by documents in the pension file of George Hares. We know that she owned her house at 538/540 North Hyde Park avenue, and perhaps she was counting on the funds coming from the sale of her home. There are no final administration documents in Elizabeth's estate file, so we don't know how her estate was finally settled, no how much Elizabeth was worth at the time of her death. Elizabeth Williams Hares-Morley died on January 15, 1915 at age 70. She was buried in the large Williams-Morley plot in the Washburn Street cemetery, joining her parents William and Mary Williams, and her two husbands, George Hares and William Morley. Notices regarding her death and funeral appeared in Scranton newspapers in the days that followed.

Elizabeth Thomas (1888-1957) married John "Jack" Ahearn, and had three children, Eileen, John, and Betty. Her marriage to Jack Ahearn was not a happy one, and their separation meant that Elizabeth had to work to support her family. Because of this, Eileen and Betty spent a lot of time with Elizabeth's sister and brother-in-law Blanche and Wilfred Harris. For years Elizabeth worked for the Hadon Craftsman Company in Scranton. She died in 1957 and is buried in the Thomas family plot in North Chinchilla. Chester Howard Thomas (1890-1927) worked in the coal mines as a young man, and later became a seaman 2nd class with the U.S. Naval Reserve, serving as a cook in the during the First World War. After the war he returned to Scranton where he worked as a restaurant cook. Chester spent several years in Detroit Michigan, but returned to home to Scranton shortly before his death in 1927. He died from tuberculosis on June 29, 1927 at the West Mountain Sanatorium in Scranton. He was the first family member buried in the Thomas plot in North Chinchilla, and a WWI military stone marks his final resting place. I have always wondered if spending time in the mines as a youth in any way contributed to Chester's early death at age thirty-seven. Although I was new to genealogy, I knew that this arrangement of names likely meant that Mary was the mother of John, Thomas, Charlotte and Jeremiah. This is clearly indicated by the fact that Mary is listed first (as the head of the family) while the two Elizabeths are listed last. It took only seconds to realize that, not only had I found John, his wife and daughter, but I had likely found his mother and brothers and sisters as well. Although I had always entertained dreams that one day I might be able to discover the origins of the Thomas family in Wales, I realized that I now had the key that could make that dream a reality. Little did I know that it would take another decade to finally solve the riddle. The problem was, although the ship's passenger lists provided valuable information, the passenger records did not indicate where the family came from in Wales, only that they came from Wales. I knew that my best chance to locate the family in Wales was to look for the family group I had found on the Ivanhoe (minus the two Elizabeths) in the 1841 census of Britain. But, where to look? I knew that John Thomas was a coal miner from south Wales, but that statement covers a lot of territory. After consulting with genealogists both here and in Britain, I was told that my task was impossible unless I was able to determine the parish in Wales my family had belonged to prior to coming to America. In Britain, parishes are a sets of local regions that comprise the larger shires. Within a few months I hired a British genealogist to search for the marriage record of John and Elizabeth in Wales, in the hope that their marriage certificate would tell me what area they came from. This proved a useless and expensive folly, so I made up my mind to try another course of action. In the U.S., local LDS Family History Centers have the ability to order British census returns on microfilm for viewing in their libraries. I decided to test the waters by ordering a single real for the 1841 census of Carmarthenshire. I chose Carmarthen because I knew it was a coal mining region, and because a survey of the Washburn Street cemetery had noted that several Welshmen interred there had been born in Carmarthen. When I ordered the reel from the library, the enormity of the task ahead of me became depressingly apparent. The single roll of film I ordered would take several days to search, and was only one of many for the shire. Plus, I still had at least two coal-mining shires to consider as well, Glamorgan and Monmouth. When the film arrived it indeed took several visits to the library to search the reel, all to no avail. Although I again examined census returns for Carmarthen during our first trip to Wales in 1992, I knew that I was basically wasting my time. I would have to find some other way. I decided to attack the problem by searching for the obituary of John J. Thomas at the Albright Library in Scranton. I thought that perhaps his obituary would mention his place of birth in Wales. The library has a wing dedicated to genealogy, that features birth and death certificates, census returns, and old newspapers on microfilm, among other records. I was in luck because the library had the Scranton Times on microfilm for the time period I was interested in. Unfortunately, the paper failed to turn up any mention of the death of John J. Thomas, who, according to his grave marker, died on February 13, 1876. I did eventually find an obituary for his wife Elizabeth that mentioned only her residence and the details of her funeral. Elizabeth Thomas (ca. 1847-?) was John and Elizabeth's first child and the only one born in Wales. She is present with her mother and father on board the Ivanhoe, (age 1), and we see her again in the 1850 census, (age 5), and in the 1860 Census, (age 14). The 1860 census is the last time we see Elizabeth. As such, it is likely that she either married or died before the next census was taken in 1870. Since there appears to be no surviving family tradition concerning Elizabeth, it seems likely that she died as a teenager or young adult. Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, 1426 North Sumner Avenue, a resident of Scranton for 71 years, died yesterday morning at 9:30 o'clock in the state hospital. She was a native of Wales and came to this country when she was three years old. She formerly had resided in West Scranton. Mrs. Thomas, the widow of Hoisea Thomas, who died four years ago, was a member of the First Welsh Baptist Church and a member of Mrs. Rome's Bible class. She is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Harry H. Hill, with whom she made her home; a son, Harry Thomas; six grandchildren, and a sister, Mrs. Catherine Evans, all of Scranton. The funeral will be held Monday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock from the home with them Rev. Dr. T. Teifion Richards officiating. Interment will be in Abington Hills Cemetery. Howard J. Snowdon is in charge of funeral arrangements. Hosie and Elizabeth were finally at rest. In his long life Hosie Thomas endured a number of family tragedies, none worse than the death of his brother and son Daniel. It is somewhat ironic that because of Daniel's heroic sacrifice, the Thomas family will be forever linked with the mining history of Scranton.

Harry Joseph Staub was born 30 Sept 1870, probably in Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, where he spent most of his life. He was the only child of Daniel Staub and his second wife Margaret Adams, and had one half-sister, Rosanna, from his father's previous marriage to Mary Sneeringer. Our first glimpse of Harry is in the 1880 census for Conewago Township, where we find Daniel Staub, (carpenter - age 47), wife Margaret, (age 39), and son Harry, (age 10). I know of no surviving family traditions regarding Harry's early life, and the next record we have of him concerns his marriage. In 1892 Harry married Sarah Anastasia (Sallie) Eltz in nearby Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. She was born on 24 Dec 1869, and was one of eleven children of John and Savilla Weaver Eltz. She likely spent most of her young life in White Hall, also in Adams County. During the next 21 years Sallie Staub would give birth to no less than 13 children, 11 of whom lived to maturity: Roy, born 1892, married Goldie Shorb, Grace, born 1893, married Gilbert McMaster, Margaret Ruth, born 1895, died before her 2nd birthday, Mamie G., born 1897, married David Shanabrook, Edwin Daniel, born 1899, Eugene Ellis, born 1900, married Louise Stonesifer, Marguerite, born 1902, married Edward Blettner, Thelma Agnes, born 1904, married Arthur Stauffer, Ruth Margaret, born 1906, married Earl Leppo, Rodney Joseph, born 1908, married Marion Reeves, Helen Cecelia (my grandmother), born 1910, married Sterling Groft, Robert Francis, born 1911, and Joseph C., born 1913 died a few days following his birth. Several years ago while going through the Quarter Session dockets at the Adams County Courthouse in Gettysburg, I came across the case of "The Commonwealth vs. Harry Staub" from January 1896. It seems that Harry was accused of badly beating a man on New Year's Eve, 1895. Given the date it would be logical to assume that he was drunk at the time. Unfortunately the man Harry was accused of beating was none other than the District Attorney for Adam's County! The reason for the altercation, which took place on the streets of McSherrystown, is not given. As a result, the Adams Co., D.A. quickly brought assault charges against Harry. Prior to the actual trial the court ordered an inventory of all of Harry's possessions, supposedly to determine if Harry had enough wealth to pay compensation to his victim. Fortunately this gives us a rare (but sad) opportunity to see our ancestor's net worth at the time. The grand total of all of Harry Staub's possessions was about $100.00, consisting of clothing and cigar maker's tools. As such, there was nothing of value that could have been sold. At the actual trial a jury of 12 men found Harry Staub guilty of assault and battery. The judge in the case sentenced him to 30 days in jail and fined him $5.00. Assuming that Harry was working at the time, missing a month's worth of wages would have placed a great burden on his family. The fact that Harry Staub was in trouble with the law and spent at least some time in jail, tends to support the notion that our ancestor was perhaps of questionable character. Family tradition claims that Harry Staub was a gambler and a drinker. It is thought that his parents Daniel Staub and Margaret Adams had money (possibly from Margaret's side of the family), but over the years Harry lost what money he got from his parents through a combination of drinking and gambling. Shortly after their marriage, Harry and Sallie Staub settled in McSherrystown, Conewago Township in Adams County. For most of his life Harry Staub was a cigar maker, following his trade for over 40 years, many of those with the B.P. Topper Company in McSherrystown. Our first glimpse of Harry, Sallie and family is in the census of 1900. The returns show them living in McSherrystown (Conewago Township) next door to Harry's parents Daniel and Margaret Staub. At the time the family included Harry (age 30), Sarah A. (age 30), and children Roy (age 8), Mary Grace (age 6), Mary Gertrude (age 3), and Daniel (age 1). Harry's occupation is given as "cigar maker". There is another interesting aspect regarding Harry Staub that I recently discovered (April 2006). Now that certain Adams County newspapers are available via the Internet, I have managed to collect various tidbits of information regarding the Staub family, including information about Harry and some of his children. Beginning in 1910, a Harry J. Staub from McSherrystown starts appearing in the "Adams County News" and "Gettysburg Compiler" as being associated with the local Socialist Party. In fact, Harry is mentioned as one of the party's founding members and its first financial secretary. During the next few years his name is mentioned in the local papers several times in association with the party, including several advertisements urging readers to vote for local and state Socialist candidates. Since the census reveals that there was only one individual named Harry J. Staub in McSherrystown at this time, we have to assume that this was indeed our Harry. Since I have no knowledge of the history of the socialist party in Adams County, it is difficult at this point in time to make an informed judgement regarding our ancestor's involvement in this organization. History tells us that while sometimes socialist organizations were closely aligned with communist ideals and populated with communist sympathizers, often these organizations were little more than extended unions, formed to help protect the basic rights of workers. Harry Staub, champion of the worker or subversive? Perhaps one day this question will be answered. Either way, given this new information, we now have to consider the possibility that Harry's involvement in the party perhaps contributed to his questionable reputation. By the 1910 census the family had moved to a house on 2nd Street (or Church street) in McSherrystown. By then the family included Harry, Sallie, Roy, Grace, Gertrude, Edwin, Ellis, Marguerite, Thelma, Ruth, Rodney, and Harry's 69 year old widowed mother Margaret Adams Staub. The census was taken about a week before the birth of my grandmother Helen. Sallie's mother, 76 year old widowed Savilla Eltz, is living next door with the family of her daughter Mary Small. We have a wonderful picture of the Staub family taken in 1912, that includes most of Sallie's children, at least one grandchild, and Sallie's mother-in-law, Margaret. Harry is not in the photograph. Unfortunately the family would be shattered by a tragic event not too long after this photograph was taken. Mrs. Sallie Anna Staub, wife of Harry J. Staub, died at her late home No. 103 Church Street, McSherrystown, Tuesday evening, Jan 28, following the birth of a child on the Friday previous. She was aged 43 years, 1 month and 4 days. The deceased was a daughter of the late John and Sevilla Eltz of White Hall, and was married Nov. 20th 1892 to Mr. Staub, after which they moved to McSherrystown. Besides her husband, she is survived by 12 children, as follows - Chas. R., Midway, Grace M., Mamie G., Marguerite M., Thelma A., Ruth M., Helen C., Edwin D., Ellis E., Rodney J., Robert F., and Joseph C., an infant; three brothers, Thomas of York, John and Francis Eltz, and two sisters, Mrs. Ellen Small and Mrs. William Zinn of McSherrystown, also survive. She leaves one grandson, Donald Staub, of Midway. Funeral Saturday, Feb 1st, requiem high mass in St. Mary's church, McSherrystown, at 9 a.m., Rev. L Aug. Reudter officiating. Internment in St Mary's cemetery. Harry Joseph Staub, 66-year-old cigarmaker, 313 Ridge avenue, McSherrystown, died suddenly last night at 11:30 o'clock in the Eagles home, McSherrystown. Death was due to a heart attack, according to Dr. E.A. Miller, Gettysburg, Adams county coroner. Mr. Staub, a member of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, was visiting the lodge home last evening when he was stricken. Dr M.N. Harris, Hanover, was summoned but the man died within a short time. The deceased was the son of the late Daniel and Margaret (Adams) Staub. Surviving are the following children, Roy Staub, Mrs. Gilbert McMaster, Mrs. David Shanabrook, Edwin Staub, Ellis Staub, Mrs. Edward Blettner, Mrs. Arthur Stauffer, Mrs. Earl Leppo, and Mrs. Sterling Groft, all of Hanover and McSherrystown; Rodney Staub, Buffalo, N.Y. and Robert Staub, St Mary's Pa. Twenty-eight grandchildren also survive. Funeral arrangements have not been completed. Harry Staub was buried next to his wife in St. Mary's cemetery in McSherrystown, and his death certificate and obituary actually give us a remarkable insight into his last few moments on earth. So, in the end, what is there to be said about my great grandfather Harry Staub? Although no man is perfect, what we know about Harry via family tradition and official records does not paint a very flattering picture. A family reputation as a drinker and gambler, in trouble with the law on at least one memorable occasion, and failing to live up to his responsibilities as a father following the death of his wife, all point to a greatly flawed individual. While I suppose if one looks hard enough, one can find some redeeming value in nearly every human being, I find it difficult to excuse Harry's lack of responsibility in regards to caring for his children. In particular, I hold him responsible for the harsh childhood endured by my grandmother Helen at the hands of her abusive foster parents.

John Hares "Jack" Thomas (1904-1970) married Helen Seel and eventually settled in Scranton, where he opened his own printing business, the Jack Thomas Printing Company. In 1967 Jack Thomas was named Scranton's "Printing Man of the Year." Jack and Helen had one child, Mary Jane. Late in life Jack purchased a home on Winola road in Clark's Summit, where he lived until his death in 1970. Towards the end of her life, Jack's sister Grace lived in a small apartment on the same property. Jack, Helen, and Grace Thomas are buried in Abington Hills in Clark's Summit. The census of 1900 gives us our first glimpse of the family of William and Mary Jane Thomas. The census shows that in 1900 the Thomas family were renting a house at 530 Evans Court, just off North Hyde Park Avenue. William is 35 years old, his occupation listed as "Stove Mounter". These were undoubtedly the years William was employed by the Scranton Stove Company, using the skills he learned as an apprentice in his youth (see the 1880 census). Mary Jane is listed as the mother of 6 children, 5 of whom are still living. The 6th child is the aforementioned Stella. Eldest son George (age 13), like his father is listed as a stove mounter, while daughter Elizabeth (age 11) and son Chester (age 10) are listed as "at school". Hannah (age 3) and Blanche (age 1) round out the Thomas family. The Scranton Stove Manufacturing Company was founded in 1865, the year after William Thomas was born. The company was originally located on West Lackawanna avenue in Hyde Park, but later moved to Dunmore. The business consisted of a foundry building, two fitting, mounting and machine buildings, and two warehouses. William spent much of his adult life working for the Scranton Stove Co. He began as a "stove mounter," moved to the foundry, and later worked for the company as a stationary engineer, before retiring from the company ca. 1934 at age seventy. Some of William's skills as a metal worker can still be seen today. Following the death of his wife Mary Jane, William made a metal flower urn that can still be seen in the Thomas family plot at the North Chinchilla Cemetery. John J. Thomas is listed as a coal miner owning real estate valued at $2,500.00 and personal property valued at $800.00. The returns show that John and three of his sons were employed in the mining industry. By 1870 daughters Elizabeth and Hannah were no longer living with their parents. Elizabeth's fate is unknown, while Hannah had already married Tunis Thomas and was busy raising her own family nearby. Along with William, sons Hosie and Frank Thomas make their first appearance in the census. Emma Thomas, who would appear again with the family in 1880, was likely a niece or cousin. John J. Thomas died either February 10, 1875 or February 13, 1876, and was buried at the Washburn Street Cemetery in one of the plots he purchased in 1865. In 1879/80 the widowed Elizabeth Thomas remarried John E. Jones, (mentioned above), himself a recent widower, and Elizabeth's underage children became part of the Jones household. The 1880 census shows us that the Jones family lived in the 2nd ward of Scranton rather than the 4th (Hyde Park). In the census John E. Jones is listed as the head of the family, Elizabeth is listed as his wife, and her children, Hosie Thomas, Frank Thomas, and Dannie Thomas, are listed as John's stepsons. The census also tells us that John occupation was "Saloon Keeper". John J. Thomas, Jr. was the third child of Welsh immigrants John J. Thomas and Elizabeth Davis, and the first of their sons born in America. He was the namesake of both his father and grandfather. The Thomas family was from the town of Brynmawr in Breconshire, south Wales, where John's father and his grandfather had worked as coal miners. In 1848 the Thomas family emigrated from Wales to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where John Sr. continued his work as a miner. John's oldest sister Elizabeth was born in Wales in 1847 and traveled to America with her mother and father. Sister Hannah was born 1849, followed by John Jr. who was born in south Scranton on July 27, 1850. According to his obituary, shortly after his birth the Thomas family moved from south Scranton to west Scranton in what would eventually become the community of Hyde Park. John Jr. makes his first appearance in the 1850 census for Providence Township, a large area that at the time included Scranton, Hyde Park, as well as other surrounding communities. The next time we see John is in the 1860 census. By 1860 the boroughs of Hyde Park and Scranton had been formed from parts of Providence Township. By this time the Thomas family had grown to include seven children. The returns of 1860 again list John Thomas Sr. as a miner, this time owning real estate valued at $350.00 and personal property valued at $100.00. This piece of information tell us that John J. Thomas was making progress in his adopted country, and had managed to purchase a home within 10 years of the family's arrival. John Jr. is listed as a 10 year old. In addition to Elizabeth, Hannah and John, by 1860 the Thomas family included brothers David, Thomas, Jeremiah, and Mary. Although John Jr. eventually followed his father into the mines, becoming a full-fledged miner by the age of 21, at sixteen years of age he took up playing the drum, specifically the snare drum. Far from being just an idle pastime, John's skill on the drums soon earned him critical acclaim that extended beyond his own community. According to his obituary: "Mr. Thomas at sixteen years was one of the famed manipulators of the snare drum in this section of the country and was a member of Diller's band famous a half century ago. His work attracted the attention of band leaders far and near and many tempting propositions were made to him." His expertise with the drum and his local popularity soon earned him the nickname "Drummer Thomas," and for the rest of his life he was known and commonly called by this name. In addition to being a miner, as a boy John also began training as a fireman. In the early days of the Franklin Fire company he was chosen as a torch boy and eventually became a regular fireman. Later he became a member of Hook and Ladder company, No.1, of the volunteer fire department when it was organized and continued in its service until it became a part of the regular city fire department. By the time of the 1870 census, the 20-year-old John Thomas was a full-fledged coal miner, working alongside his father and brothers in the D.L.& W's Diamond mines in Hyde Park. Sometime before 1875 John married Mary ? who was born in Wales, and emigrated with her family to Scranton circa 1861. They had the following children: Elizabeth, 1875-1944), married Benjamin R. Evans; Frank, (1877-1892); Burton, born 1879, married Doris Kitchner; Edith, born (1882-1967) married Richard Purdon; Oscar W., (1885-1958), married Grace Smith; Daniel, (1890-1953), married Margaret Conway. z We finally see the family of John and Mary Thomas in the 1880 census, living on Decker's Alley in Scranton's 4th Ward (Hyde Park). Living next door were John's brother Jeremiah and his wife Alice, and Alice's mother Mary Fletcher and her children still at home. John's occupation is given as "works in C mines," and his household included his wife Mary, and their children Elizabeth, Frank and Burton. We have little other information about the family during the next two decades. By 1900 children Edith, Grace and Daniel had been born, while son Frank died in 1891. The census of 1890 was destroyed by fire and is no longer available. The recently-discovered death certificate of son Frank Thomas, shows that he died in what appears to be a mining accident on February 20, 1892, at the age of fifteen. His cause of death is listed as "crushed thigh/skull fracture," and his occupation is given as "driver boy," an indication that he was a mule driver in the mines. If so, Frank's death is eerily similar to the death of Daniel Thomas, his father's brother, a mule driver who died in the mines in 1888 at the age of sixteen. In the late 1890s, John J. Thomas purchased the Bull's Head hotel in the community of the same name, located at the corner of North Main avenue and Providence road. The small community of Bull's Head was located in Scranton's 2nd Ward, between Hyde Park and Green Ridge. It is not know when the Thomas family moved to this section of town, but it is here that we find the family of John J. Thomas, Jr. in the 1900 census. The 1900 census shows that John J. Thomas was a "hotel keeper" and the owner of his residence. Present in the Thomas family were his wife Mary, children Elizabeth, Bert, Edith, Oscar, Daniel, and Elizabeth's husband Benjamin Evans. Son Burt's occupation is listed as "bar tender," (for the hotel), while Benjamin Evans is listed simply as a laborer. The returns also indicate that Mary Thomas was the mother of seven children, only five of whom were living at the time. If true, then there is a seventh child of John and Mary Thomas that remains unidentified. Circa 1908, John Thomas sold the Bull's Head hotel and moved further north to the community of Dalton, where he purchased yet another hotel, the historic Dalton House, and resumed his occupation of hotel keeper. The Dalton House was built in 1810 and at one time had been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately the hotel was later de-listed from the register, and sadly torn down in 1999. John J. Thomas, aged seventy-three years, for fifteen years the proprietor of the Dalton House, died yesterday afternoon at 5:30 o'clock at the family home in Dalton. Mr. Thomas was one of the best known citizens of this section of the state and was familiarly called "Drummer" Thomas because of his marked ability in playing drums. He was born in South Scranton, a son of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Thomas, Sr., and early in life removed with his parents to West Scranton, where for more than a quarter of a century he took a prominent part in the affairs of the then thriving borough of Hyde Park. In the early days of the Franklin Fire company he was chosen as a torch boy and made a record as a fire fighter. Later he became a member of Hook and Ladder company, No.1, of the volunteer fire department when it was organized and continued in its service until it became a part of the present city department. Mr. Thomas at sixteen years was one of the famed manipulators of the snare drum in this section of the country and was a member of Diller's band famous a half century ago. His work attracted the attention of band leaders far and near and many tempting propositions were made to him. John J. Thomas, Jr., or "Drummer Thomas" as he was known to his friends and acquaintances, had spent his formative years in Hyde Park, where he contributed to the tremendous growth of what was arguably the most significant Welsh community in America at that time. As a young man he worked as a coal miner and a fireman, and when the Welsh mining community began declining towards the end of the century, he was one of many former miners who made the transition to successful businessman. He purchased and operated two different hotels, and in his later years helped establish a new fire department in the community of Dalton. As such, Drummer Thomas had succeeded in making the transition from Welsh coal miner to American entrepreneur. Mr. Thomas at sixteen years was one of the famed manipulators of the snare drum in this section of the country and was a member of Diller's band famous a half century ago. His work attracted the attention of band leaders far and near and many tempting propositions were made to him. The leader of Diller's Band was Scranton resident Henry G. Diller. Diller was born in Germany in 1833 and died in Scranton 20 Sept 1914. Diller's obituary mentions his band and its members, including John "Drummer" Thomas: "In 1855 he organized a band in Honesdale with William H Ham, Thomas J Ham, Thomas Benny, Miles & Thomas Tracy, John Dudley, George Seely and William Fuller. He moved to Scranton in 1864 and formed another band. When it broke up 2 members H.J. Bauer & Professor Cogswell organized bands. The members of the band in Scranton were : John Thomas, Jacob Smith, Frank Gardner, Chris Buller, Anthony Weinschenck, Fred Oettinger, Simon Birgley, John Gefrerer, Ferdinand Burger, George Hartman And Mr Diller".

Mrs. Lucy Ann Faulkner, age ninety-two years and nine months, died at the home of her son, Lorenzo Faulkner, in Franklin Co., NC, June 29, 1913. Sister Faulkner professed faith in Christ under the preaching of Rev. J. W. Wellons at Coghill's Arbor before the War. Later she united with Liberty Christian Church and remained a member till death. In 1838 she married Joseph Faulkner. There were ten children in the home. Four boys and two girls living. The four sons and one daughter were present at the funeral and their ages averaged 66 years. There are one hundred (grand) children and great grandchildren. Sister Faulkner was a Christian woman and her end was triumphant. She was in her usual health until stricken with paralysis on Thursday night, and suffered but little till the end. Although mother and grandmother has gone to her reward, the influence of such a life as she lived cannot end with death, but remains to bless her children and children's children.

Mrs. Margaret E. Staub, widow of Daniel F. Staub, died at the home of her son, Harry J. Staub, in McSherrystown, at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, after an illness of over four weeks. She was aged 72 years, 17 months and 17 days. She was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Jacob L. Adams of Conewago township, and was married to Daniel Staub about 46 years ago. Her husband died about five years ago. She leaves one son, H. J. Staub, with whom she resided, and two brothers, George Adams of Hanover; Thomas Adams of McSherrystown. There are also eleven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Funeral Monday, May 26th, from St. Mary's church, high mass of requiem at 9 a.m., Rev L. August Reudter officiating. Interment at Conewago Chapel. Despite the possible hardships created by the loss of his wife and mother, it nevertheless appears that following the death of his wife Harry Staub had little interest in keeping his family together, a notion that is supported by family tradition and certain records. Family tradition has always claimed that most of Harry's underage daughters were taken by relatives in the area, while the boys were sent away to an orphanage. This notion is supported by the 1920 census, which reveals the following information regarding the children:

In response to your recent inquiry, you are advised that your pension claim No. 504,767, as widow of John J. Starner, late of Co. D, 67th Pa. Vol. Inf., requires further special examination in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, to determine its merits. The case will be taken up in its regular order, and the examination completed with the least delay consistent with the demands of the service.

Mary Jane Thomas celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on February 13, 1936. There was a big family party at the couple's home in Green Ridge, the result of which was a marvelous family photograph, featuring practically all of William and Mary Jane's living descendants. At age seventy, William Thomas was the oldest member of the group, while Lee Thomas (my father), was the youngest, at age six. Sadly, almost one year later to the day, the matriarch of the Thomas family was gone. Mary Jane Hares Thomas died on February 9, 1937 at her home on Monsay avenue. She was ill for some time, and fell into a "uremic coma" several days before her death. She was buried in the Thomas family plot in the North Chinchilla Cemetery, joining her sons Chester and George. Eventually William Thomas placed a metal urn he had made with his own hands near her grave. In late 1944 William H. Thomas composed his last will and testament, (Page 1 and Page 2) naming his son Jack and daughter Grace as co-executors. In his will, dated October 17, 1940, he leaves $25.00 to the six children of his deceased son George, and an equal share to each of his surviving children, with the exception of Grace, who received a double share "in consideration of services rendered to me and my wife during our lifetime." He also directed that he was to be buried in the family plot in North Chinchilla, with his date of death to be cut on the family stone. Although William drafted his will in 1940, he still had several years of life remaining. He remained in his home on Monsay avenue until 1944, when failing health forced him to move in with his daughter Grace in Washington D.C. William was almost 80 years old at the time of the move, and since Grace worked, it was difficult for her to care for her father full time. Fortunately, Grace's brother Willard and his wife Dorothy lived nearby, and Dorothy often helped out by staying with her father-in-law while Grace worked. By the time William approached his 83rd birthday in 1947, he had become almost completely dependent, and on one particular evening Dorothy remembers that William's doctor confided in her that her father-in-law was in fact dying. Hosiah "Hosie" Thomas (1862-1932) married Elizabeth Davis and raised a family of three children in Hyde Park. Hosie was also a miner, as were his son's Daniel and Harry. Tragically, both Daniel and Harry were killed in mining accidents. Daniel Thomas received the Carnegie Medal posthumously in recognition of an act of heroism during the accident that claimed his life. Mrs. Mary Thomas, aged sixty-eight years, widow of John J. (Drummer) Thomas, died yesterday afternoon at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Edith Purdon, 1530 Green Ridge street. Death resulted from and illness that became critical on Saturday, Her death came as a sudden blow to her many friends. Mrs. Thomas was a native of Wales, and came to this country during her childhood. Her family settled in West Scranton, later removing to the Bull's Head section, where the late husband of the deceased became proprietor of the Bull's Head hotel. After removing to Dalton, he became owner of the hotel at that place. Mrs. Thomas had made her home with her daughter since February. She was a member of the First Welsh Baptist church, West Scranton, and the Woman's Welsh Society. Surviving are the following children: Mrs. Ben R. Evans, Burton Thomas, Mrs. Edith Purdon, and Oscar and Daniel Thomas. Funeral services at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Edith Purdon, 1530 Green Ridge street, at 2:30 o'clock Friday afternoon. Burial will be in the Forest Hill Cemetery. John and Mary Thomas would eventually be joined in the family plot in Forest Hill, by their children Elizabeth, Edith, Oscar and Daniel. Although Drummer Thomas was the father of six children, my research shows that those children produced only one grandchild, daughter Elizabeth's son John Evans, who died in 1941 at age thirty-eight. At this point it is not known if John Evans married and had children, hence the unfortunate possibility that Drummer Thomas has no living descendants.

Mrs. Mary V. Starner who died at Tobyhanna the first part of last week and was buried at Jones' church cemetery on Friday, October 1, the funeral services being preached by Rev Francis J.S. Morrow, of Tobyhanna, was 94 years, three months and 23 days old. Ten children were born to her, four of whom are still living; 30 grandchildren, 32 of them living; 68 great-grandchildren, 59 living. One brother, Barnet Van Horn of Harvey's Lake, Pa., and one sister, Mrs. Julia Lewis, of Providence, Pa., still survive. Mary Van Horn Starner lived a long and eventful life, during which she had witnessed the transformation of Monroe County from a mostly rural wilderness into a collection of thriving communities. Her death in 1909 marked the passing of our final Van Horn ancestor, bringing to a close a chapter in our family's history that began when Christian Barentsen Van Horn emigrated from Holland to New Amsterdam in the mid 1600s. Mary was born and raised in Jackson Corners, a small community her grandfather Benjamin Van Horn and his sawmill had literally helped build. She married and raised a family in then-remote Tobyhanna Mills, saw one son serve proudly in the Civil War, and another die in his prime as the result of a tragic train accident. She fought long and hard for her husband's Civil War pension, and although she ultimately failed in her efforts, her determination during the application and examination process at least says something about our ancestor's tenacious character.

MRS. ROBERT J. JAMES, formerly Jane Rosser was born in Breconshire, South Wales, April 15th, 1848. Her late husband was born in Glamorganshire, South Wales, March 7th, 1825, and died October 6th, 1879 at Hyde Park, where he had lived since January 1866. He came to America in August, 1863, and located in Schuylkill county, Pa; was engaged in mining until 1872; general agent of the Cambrian Mutual Insurance Company of Hyde Park until 1876, when he was elected clerk of the Luzerne county courts. In 1866 he organized a musical society - The Cambro-American Choral Society-" of which he was leader until his death. Robert J. James was buried in the Washburn Streeet cemetery, Hyde Park.

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Parthenia Faulkner was born 22 Nov 1876 and married Calvin Henry "Callie" Council. She raised a large family in Raleigh's mill district (Pilot Mill) where she died 20 May 1917 following childbirth complications. She is buried in Raleigh's City Cemetery.

Peter Hares christened 12 Apr 1807. He is likely the Peter Hares that married Elizabeth Hares on 26 Mar 1823 on the same day his brother Israel married. Church records from St. Leonard's show that there were seven children born to Peter and Elizabeth Hares between 1823 and 1836, and three of these children, Joseph (age 17), Peter (age 15) and Betsey (age 5), are present in the 1841 census of Shipham, living by themselves without either of their parents. In fact, Peter and Elizabeth Hares are not present in the 1841 census of Shipham, and their fate remains a mystery. Parish records indicate that there was an Elizabeth Hares who was buried 11 Jan 1838, and, although this could be Peter's wife, conclusive proof is lacking.

Passenger lists indicate that there was an Isaac Morgan who arrived in New York from Liverpool in March of 1869, however I have been unable to determine if this individual was our Isaac Morgans. Isaac's obituary goes on to state that upon his arrival, Isaac was immediately employed by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad company as a machinist.

Lumley lived in Turkey Hill and was survived by a wife and three children. He is referred to as "Rouse Lunley" in the official accident report.

Note: Information from the 1900 census tells us that Reese Griffith came to America in 1862. He first appears in the 1870 census for Hyde Park, 4th Ward, Scranton Luzerne Co. The family included Reese (age 32, miner), his wife Elizabeth (age 31), Harriet (age 4), and William (age 11). Harriet was Reese and Elizabeth's daughter, however I do not know if William was their son or perhaps some other relation. The returns also show that Reese was in possession of property valued at $2,000 and personal property valued at $150. In the 1880 census we find the family living in Scranton's 21st Ward and including R. R. Griffith (age 40, Tonman), Elizabeth (age 38), and children Harriet (14), Reese (age 9), Mary Jane (age 6), John (age 5), and Anne (age 3). It appears that Elizabeth died in the early 1880s because in 1900 we find Reese Griffith living with his second wife Hannah in Winton Borough in Lackawanna County. The family includes Reese (age 61, Mine Foreman), Hannah (age 49, 2/2 born in Wales), Reese Jr. (age 29, Grocer's Clerk), and John (age 25, Coal Mine Laborer). We can assume that Reese' first wife Elizabeth died in the early 1880s because Reese and Hannah state that in 1900 they had been married for 15 years. The returns also show that Hannah was the mother of two children, both of which were still living in 1900. I have been unable to find Reese in the census of 1910. JOHN HALE, of Bellevue, Hyde Park, mine foreman, was born in Wilts county, England, June 3rd 1832, and married Miss Ann J. Griffiths of Merthyr, South Wales. He has served as school director and justice of the peace, and held other official positions. DANIEL HOWELL, president of the Merchants' Bank, Hyde Park, was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales, September 27th 1826. He came to Scranton in 1854, and was formerly a coal operator. He married Mary Richards of Carbondale. She died April 23rd, 1873. His present wife is Sophia Stevens of Macedonia, Pa. Note: In the 1870 census we find Daniel Howell living in Hyde Park in Scranton's 5th Ward. The family included Daniel (age 43, General Merchant/Dry Goods & Groceries?), his wife Mary (age 35, born in PA), and Frank (age 8), Jane (age 2), and Jeremiah (age 18). Relationships were not given in the 1870 census, so we can't be certain that all of these were Daniel's children. The returns also indicate that Daniel was in possession of real estate valued at a whopping $100,000 and personal property valued at $70,000! I have been unable to trace this family in later returns.

Job Titles:

• Master of Ceremonies

Roy Staub, age 27, was grown and already busy raising his own family by the time his mother died in 1913. In the 1920 census we find Roy and his family living on Commerce Street in nearby Penn Township, York County. His occupation is given as "wood worker - furniture factory." Mary Grace Staub, age 26 was living with her husband Gilbert McMaster on North Street in McSherrystown. Her younger sister Marguerite Staub was also living with the family. Mamie G. Staub was living with her husband David Shanabrook in Parkville, Penn Township. The family included her sister Thelma Staub, age 13. Daniel Staub, age 20, was living with his wife Annie on Pine St. in Penn Township, occupation "wood worker - furniture factory." Ellis Staub, age 19, was living close to Daniel on Pine Street with his wife Louise, occupation, "laborer - furniture factory." Ruth Staub, age 13, was living with the family of Eli & Amanda Shanabrook in Penn Township. It is likely that the Shanabrooks were related to Ruth's brother-in-law David. Rodney Staub, age 13 (s/b 11) was living with his adoptive parents Edward & Elizabeth Korab(?) in Erie County, New York. This confirms that at least one of the boys did indeed end up in New York. Helen Staub, age 9, was living with her foster father Jacob Althoff (widowed), in Akron Ohio. She was the only daughter not to remain in the McSherrystown area, although she would return later in the decade. Robert Francis Staub was adopted and his name was changed to Claire Pistner. In 1920 he is living with his adoptive parents Charles and Selina? Pistner in St Mary's Township in Elk County, Pa. The 1920 census confirms family tradition claiming that most of the daughters remained in the area, while some of the boys were scattered among non-related families. My grandmother Helen always said that while she knew most of her sisters, she really didn't know any of her brothers, something she said she always regretted.

This is an important letter, because it corroborates the information found on the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission's web site, and finally makes clear the circumstances of Daniel's ill-fated rescue attempt. It seems that although Daniel Thomas went back into the mine when he heard Skavinski's screams, his real concern was the safety of his own drivers. Again, Daniel's entry on the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission web site tells us that the two drivers Daniel was trying to rescue, Stepanich and Rogne, ironically, managed to escape the danger on their own. In the final analysis, however, these details are unimportant because, regardless of who he was attempting to rescue, the selfless nature of his sacrifice remains the same, and this is why Daniel Thomas was awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal posthumously in 1918. In 1923 Daniel's widow Elizabeth remarried Benjamin Jones, a miner from Wales also living in Hyde Park.

Samuel Hares was christened 25 Oct 1796. He married flower Tripp on 17 Dec 1819 and raised a family of four known children, Samuel, Paul, Edwin and David. The family eventually moved to St. George - Bristol in Gloucestershire, where Samuel died in 1872. His son Samuel (1822-1890) and family moved to south Wales in the mid 1860s. Samuel's (1822) son James and family eventually emigrated to Pennsylvania in the U.S. Mary Hares was christened 20 Nov 1798. Some genealogies claim that Mary was the Maria Hares who married Samuel Roe in Shipham in 1817, however I have yet to see conclusive proof that this is correct. Samuel Hares died was buried at the parish church on 19 Nov 1815, age 53 years. Corroboration of Samuel's death can also be found in the Overseers Accounts for the parish between 1786 and 1823. The accounts are basically a listing of monies collected from parishioners for the purpose of aiding the poor as well as those members of the parish that were listed as being "in distress." Samuel's wife Susanna makes her first appearance in the overseer's accounts in June of 1815, and these entries provide us with a clue as the state of the family shortly before Samuel's death. In the records she appears as "Samuel Hares wife in distress." This tells us that the family was in need of assistance even before Samuel died. Perhaps he had recently become ill or suffered an injury. Either way, there was something that was preventing him from earning a living shortly before his death. Susanna appears a couple more times in 1815, always as "wife of Samuel Hares." In April of 1816 she makes her first appearance in the records as "Samuel Hares widow," and continues in the records for the remainder of 1816. Then in 1817 she begins appearing as "Susan Hares," and continues under that name until the records end in 1823. Susan's appearance in the overseer's accounts from 1815-1818 are summarized in the table below, and, by clicking on the individual entries you can view a photocopy of the actual parish register entries. To help with readability I have underlined in red the year and the entries that pertain to Susan, several of which are contained on the same page. Samuel died in Nov of 1815 and here Susanna makes her first appearance as his widow Samuel Hares was christened 17 July 1825 and was Israel and Mary Ann's eldest son. He appears to be missing from the 1841 and 1851 census, however we know that Samuel (like the rest of his family), by the late 1840s had moved to Brynmawr, Wales, because he stood as witness to the marriage of his sister Hannah in Brynmawr in 1849. In 1856 he married Ann Harries at Rehoboth Chapel, Brynmawr, and their only known child, Samuel, was born in 1868 Dowlais, Glamorganshire. In the 1861 census we find that Samuel, Ann and Ann's mother Mary were living next to Samuel's sister Mary Ann Haines and family outside Nantyglo, Monmouthshire, however by the time of the 1871 census the family had moved to Dowlais, where the aforementioned Samuel Jr. was born. By 1881 the family had moved to southern Glamorganshire (Swansea), and soon after settled in the town of Barry in extreme southern Glamorganshire, where we find Samuel and family in census returns for 1891 and 1901. Samuel Hares died from "Senile Decay," and "Exhaustion" at his home on Barry Road in Barry, 23 April 1905, at age 79. Having reached this age, he appears to have been the longest surviving child of Israel and Mary Ann Hares.

Sarah Davies, born ca. 1842. She had at least 8 children by three different husbands, (1) Stephen Williams, (2) Samuel Cartwright, and (3) Francis Brellisford. She spent most of her married life in Stockton and Hartlepool, Durham, England, where she died in 1910. I am currently preparing a short essay on her life (January 2012).

Job Titles:

• Christened 25 Dec 1780

Parish records indicate that Samuel Hares married Fanny Lovell on 25 Oct 1784, and that the widowed Samuel Hares remarried Susanna Wookey on 26 Dec 1793. Susanna was the daughter of James and Mary Wookey of Shipham and was also baptized at St. Leonard's, however her baptism entry is a bit curious. It is one of the three final entries (baptisms) written in the register for the year 1771, and inexplicably all three entries, though legible, have been lined through. The entry for Susannah's baptism appears to lack a date, although a date of 22 December found immediately below the 2nd entry in the group could conceivably be the correct for both baptisms. The third and final entry contains a baptism date of 24 November. Even with this bit of ambiguity surrounding Susannah's baptism date, most researchers (including myself) have adopted a date of December 1771 for Susannah's baptism. Having identified Susannah's baptism date, the next challenge is to identify any mention of a James and Mary Wookey contained in the registers.

Stella Thomas (1894-1895). Although Stella (Estella) is mentioned in the family tree complied by the late Wilfred Harris, little else was known about this member of the family. We know that she died sometime before 1900, because her mother Mary Jane is listed as having lost one child by the time the census for that year was taken, however we had no idea how old Stella was at the time of her death. Then in June of 2007, I finally located her death certificate, (City of Scranton), which tells us that Stella was born in August of 1894 and died 24 Oct 1895 at the age of 14 months. The certificate indicates that she died of bronchitis and was buried in the Washburn Street cemetery. It is not known if a permanent marker ever marked her final resting place. If it did, no such marker exists today.

Hannah Hares was christened 28 March 1824 and appears with her mother and father in the 1841 census of Shipham. She married John Cottrill in February of 1849 at Rehoboth Chapel in Brynmawr, and appears with her husband and baby daughter Charlotte in the 1851 census of Beaufort, Monmouthshire. Her first husband died and she remarried John Harding and had additional children by her second husband. The family emigrated to America in the early 1870s and settled in Yatesville, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania, where Hannah died 17 Sept 1884. Susannah Hares was christened 11 Oct 1840 and is present with the family in the 1841 and 1851 census. In 1860 she married George Griffiths or Griffin at Siloam Chapel in Brynmawr, and appears in the 1871 census of Cwmtillery, Monmouthshire. Like Hannah and George, Susannah and family may have emigrated to America in the 1870s. John(?) Hares. There is a baptism record for a son of Israel and Mary Hares dated 20 Feb 1843. Although the first name is difficult to read, it appears to be John. Since there is no individual matching this description with Israel and family in the 1841 census of Shipham, it is likely that "John" died in infancy or early childhood. Jane Hares was christened 30 May 1845, and is present with the family in the 1851 and 1861 census. I have been unable to identify her in later returns and therefore it is possible that she either married or died prior to the 1871 census.

Job Titles:

• Foreman at the Hampton

THOMAS CARSON, inside foreman at the Hampton mine, was born in Breconshire, South Wales, June 11th, 1827, and married Catherine Eynon of Glamorganshire, South Wales. Residence Washburn Street, Hyde Park.

Thomas Davies, born ca. 1829, appears with his mother and father in the 1841 and 1851 census of Brynmawr. Thomas was also an iron miner.

Through the course of a long life and in the development of the various industries which he has been connected, Mr. Eynon has won and maintained a reputation for honesty, energy and perseverance. He is partner in the firm of G. F. Eynon & Co., proprietors of a general store at No. 105 North Main Avenue, Scranton, and is well known in business circles of this city. The fact that he has risen from a humble position in youth to rank among the well-to-do residents of the city, adds another striking illustration of the power of determined purpose. Mr. Eynon was born in Wales July 18, 1821, and in 1832 accompanied his father, John Eynon, to Canada, but the following year came to the United States, settling in Pottsville, Pa. When fifteen years of age he began to work at the carpenter's trade and this he followed continuously for ten years. From Pottsville he removed to Carbondale, where eight years were spent, and in 1850 he came to Scranton. Here he assisted in opening the Diamond mines and worked at mining for two years, after which for three years he engaged in trade. Afterward, for four years, he was foreman of the Hampton mines. From mining and carpentering Mr. Eynon turned his attention to the mercantile business and opened a store on the corner of Main Avenue and Scranton Street, Scranton, where he carried on a profitable trade for six years. On closing out the business, he went to Summit Hill and was foreman in mines there for three years. He held a similar position in Irondale, Ohio, and later had a mercantile store in Alliance, Ohio, for four years. Going from there to Steubenville, the same state, he erected a rolling mill and remained two years in that place. Since his return to Scranton he has been engaged, first in merchandising, then for fifteen years as foreman of the Diamond mines, and since 1893 as a member of the firm of G. F. Eynon & Co. He makes his home at No. 322 South Main Avenue. In 1840 Mr. Eynon married Miss Jane Leyshon, who was born in Wales, but has spent her life principally in America. Seven children were born to them, of whom three are living. Albert B., who is cashier of the West Side Bank, is one of the expert financiers of Scranton and is recognized as one of the ablest men of the city. George F. is a successful business man and carries on the general store in which his father owns an interest. Jennie is the wife of Dr. B. G. Beddoe of Hyde Park. During the late war Mr. Eynon was treasurer of the Hyde Park borough. He is a man who maintains a keen interest in all public matters and favors schemes for the promotion of the welfare of the people. He is a member of Plymouth Church and contributor to its maintenance, as well as to the carrying forward of philanthropic plans. The Welsh citizens of Scranton have in him an able representative, and he is an honor both to the land of his birth and the home of his adoption.

Jones lived in Plymouth and left behind a wife and children. This marker was broken in two and therefore in danger of being lost, however it has recently been repaired and reinforced, the Welsh inscription being revealed for the first time in years.

Job Titles:

• Head

Note: Although the Thomas T. Morgans I found in the 1880 census living on Main Avenue in Scranton's 15th Ward, gives his date of birth as 1840, it is no doubt the individual referred to above. The family includes Thomas (age 40, Miner) his wife Caroline (32, born England) and their daughters Mary Lewis (age 6, born in Wales) and Morvie Morgans (age 2, born in PA). As such, it would appear that perhaps Caroline was married previously to a man named Lewis. Despite the inconsistencies with the short biography above, we can be certain that this is indeed the above-mentioned family, because living right next door is the family of Thomas and Mary Gore (Caroline's maiden name), who were of the correct age (58 & 60) to have been Caroline's father and mother. A likely scenario is that Thomas and Mary Gore, who were born in England, moved their family to Wales, where their daughter Caroline married a man named Lewis and had a child named Mary, and the family eventually moved to Scranton. In fact, the England-to-Wales-to-Pennsylvania scenario was quite common in the 19th century. JAMES OLIVER, tax collector, formerly a miner, residence Northampton street, Hyde Park, was born in Monmouthshire, South Wales, March 10th, 1835, and married Margaret Price of Breconshire, South Wales. Note: In the 1880 census we find the family of James and Margaret Oliver living on North Hampton Street in Scranton's 15th Ward. The family included James (age 45, tax collector), Margaret (age 49), and children Thomas (age 18), James (age 16), Mary (age 11), James' father Joseph (age 80, born in England), and a James Oliver (age 24), possibly a brother or cousin.

Tunis J. Thomas was born October 21, 1845 in Brooklyn, New York. He was one of at least seven children of William W. and Ann Thomas, who emigrated from Wales to New York sometime before their first child William Jr. was born in 1836/37. William W. Thomas was born in Wales about 1812, while Ann was born around 1813. At this point in time it is not known if William and Anne were married in Wales, and therefore arrived in America together as husband and wife. The 1860 census indicates that their first five children were born in New York, while their last two children were born in Pennsylvania. The 1860 census also makes it clear that William and family moved from New York to Pennsylvania sometime between 1848 and 1850, between the birth of their son John in 1848 and the 1850 census. William and family make their first appearance in the 1850 census for Providence, Luzerne County, an area that would eventually become Hyde Park/Scranton in Lackawanna County. In 1850 the Thomas family included William W., age 37, farmer, wife Ann, age 37, and children William Jr., age 13, Mary J., age 9, Tunis J., age 5, and John R., age 3. The census taker erred in listing Pennsylvania as the children's place of birth, as evidenced by subsequent returns. The 1850 census is the first record we have of Tunis Thomas in America. By 1860 the borough of Hyde Park and the City of Scranton had been split from Providence Township, and it is in Hyde Park that we find the Thomas family in the next census taken in 1860. The family included William, age 48, miner, wife Ann, age 48, and children William Jr., age 22, moulder, Julia A., age 15, John R., age 12, David W., age 7, and Ann M., age 4. Tunis Thomas, who would have been about 15, is missing from the family, while Julia, age 15 in 1860, was not included in the Thomas family ten years earlier in 1850. Actually, neither circumstance is that unusual. In 1860 Tunis was likely living elsewhere working as an apprentice blacksmith or ironworker. The next record we have of Tunis Thomas is his Civil War record. Late in the war, on March 25 1864, he enlisted in Company H of the 76th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry for a three year term. Although the 76th PA took part in many battles, including the assault on Fort Wagner in 1863 which resulted in heavy casualties, by 1864, most of the regiment's fighting was behind them. In May 1864 the regiment saw action in Virginia, and later participated in the capture of Fort Harrison, where again, the regiment sustained heavy losses. Late in 1864 the 76th took part in the Battle for Fort Fisher in Wilmington, North Carolina. During the battle, Tunis Thomas received a concussion from an exploding shell that rendered him completely deaf in his right ear and severely deaf in his left. He was mustered out of service with the rest of his company the following year on July 18, 1865, at Raleigh, North Carolina. Following the war, we assume that Tunis returned home to Scranton, where he married Hannah Thomas sometime before 1870. Hannah was the daughter of Welsh immigrants John J. Thomas (1823-1875/6) and Elizabeth Davis (1827-1896), who arrived in America in 1848. We get our first look at Tunis and Hannah Thomas in the 1870 census, 4th Ward (Hyde Park), City of Scranton, Luzerne Co., Pa. The census shows that Tunis and Hannah were living in a boarding house along with several other families. Tunis is listed as age 25, iron moulder, Hannah is listed as age 21, and living with them was 22-year-old John Bevan, also an iron moulder. It's logical to assume that Tunis and Hannah were newly married, since the returns shows that none of their children had been born by the time of the census. Also living in Hyde Park were Tunis' parents William and Ann Thomas and their three youngest children, John, David, and Maria. Like his brothers William and Tunis, John's occupation was "Iron Moulder", and William is listed as a blacksmith. It appears that the "Ann M." from 1860 is the same person as "Maria" in 1870. In 1878 Lackawanna County was created from portions of Luzerne County, which included Hyde Park and the city of Scranton. In the 1880 census we find the family of Tunis and Hannah Thomas living in Hyde Park. The family included Tunis, age 35, "works in C(oal) mines", Hannah, age 31, and their children Gertrude (Gertie), age 7, John, age 5, and Rupert, age 1. It seems that by 1880 Tunis was working in the coal mines rather than in the iron industry. There is no sign of Tunis' mother and father in the returns, therefore it is possible that both died prior to 1880. Tunis Thomas died February 18, 1913 and was buried in the Civil War veteran's section of the Dunmore Cemetery, near Scranton. His death certificate tells us that he died from pneumonia at the West Side Hospital in Scranton. His occupation was given as "Retired Moulder" and the informant was his son John Thomas. John lists Tunis' father as William Thomas, but did not know the name of his mother, perhaps a symptom of the family breakup that occurred following the death of Hannah Thomas in 1886. He was buried two days later on February 20, in the Civil War veteran's section of the Dunmore Cemetery, where today a Civil War marker marks his final resting place. His death and the report of his funeral were featured prominently in the Scranton Tribune-Republican, as follows: Tunis Thomas, veteran of the Civil War, was buried yesterday afternoon with military honors and a large attendance of relatives and neighbors. Mr. Thomas died at the West Scranton hospital Monday morning, aged sixty-eight years. He was admitted to the hospital Sunday evening. Tunis Thomas had spent most of his adult life working in Scranton's booming iron industry. The record shows that he served his country admirably during the Civil War, after which he returned home, married, and apparently settled down comfortably in Hyde Park. All of that changed with the death of his wife Hannah in 1886, and it is uncertain at this point if the resulting fracture in the Thomas family was ever completely healed.

Job Titles:

• Engineer, Hyde Park, Was Born in Bryn Mawr, Wales, December 26th, 1845, and Married Elizabeth James, of Neath, South Wales.

J.D. LLOYD, formerly a miner, now inside boss at Jermyn mines, residence, Hyde Park, was born in Glamorganshire, Wales, February 22nd, 1844, and married Hannah Jones of his native shire. Note: In the 1880 census we see the family of Joseph Dal Lloyd living on North Eynon Street in Scranton's the 15th Ward. The family included Joseph (age 36, Inside Foreman of Mines), his wife Hannah (age 30), and their children Josephine (age 10), Frank (age 8), John (age 5), Alfred (age 3), and Gertie (age 2). All children are listed as being born in Pennsylvania, parents born in Wales. In the 1900 census we find the family living on North Main Avenue in the 14th Ward. The family includes Joseph D. Lloyd (56), Hannah (50, 5/5), and children Frank (28), John (25), Frederick (23) and Gertrude (22). Joseph is listed as a foreman in the mines, and states that he arrived in America in 1863. The returns indicate that Hannah arrived in 1858 and was the mother of five children, all five still living. Son Frank was working as a machinist.

Willard Thomas (1902-1953) my grandfather, married Dorothy Ellen Boorem and had one son, Lee. After the marriage in 1926 Willard and Dorothy lived in Scranton, but later moved to Washington, D.C. after Willard found work at the government printing office. Willard died in a hit-and-run car accident in Washington on July 21, 1953, and was buried in Abington Hills Cemetery. We will cover his life in greater detail in a later chapter.

William B. Morley, an old and respected resident of this side, passed away at an early hour yesterday morning after suffering for many years from miner's asthma. Mr. Morley was well known on this side, having passed forty years of his life here, and he is mourned by a host of friends and relatives. He was a veteran of the Civil War and a member of some of the local societies. The surviving members of his family are his widow and the following children: Mrs. William Thomas, Catherine, Minerva, Ellsworth, David and Daniel. The funeral services will be held from the late home tomorrow at 2 o'clock.

William C. Williams was born circa 1815 in Bettws, Monmouthshire, Wales. At this point in time we know nothing about his parents, or how he spent his time as a youth. The 1851 census tells us that William married a woman named Mary. Their daughter Elizabeth (1844-1915) was born circa 1844, followed by David C. in 1846, the two being their only known children. Elizabeth married first George Hares and secondly William B. Morley, while David (1836-1923) married Mary Watkins, both children raising families in Scranton/Hyde Park.

William Christman died in Coolbaugh Township on October 11, 1884. His final resting place is unknown. His estate papers, on file at the Monroe County courthouse in Stroudsburg, provide a valuable and intimate glimpse into the Christman family. Among other things, the papers give us William's date of death, and his middle initial, "D". The first item in the estate file is a letter dated October 15, 1884, signed by William's widow Elizabeth, renouncing her rights to administer her husband's estate in favor of her son Aaron, as follows:

Job Titles:

• Head

William Henry Thomas was born on August 12, 1864 in Hyde Park, Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. He was one of eleven children of John J. and Elizabeth Davis Thomas, Welsh immigrants that arrived in America in 1848. Our first glimpse of William is from the 1870 census. By 1870 Hyde Park had been incorporated into the City of Scranton, and it is here in Scranton's 4th Ward (Hyde Park) that we find the Thomas family in the 1870 returns. William Henry Thomas died on April 27, 1947 at the home of his daughter Grace in Washington, D.C. He suffered a massive stroke while in the upstairs bathroom and died soon thereafter. Although his obituary (below) appeared in the Scranton Times the following day, there was no death certificate filed in D.C. William was transported back to Scranton, where he was buried, according to his instructions, in the family plot in the North Chinchilla Cemetery. William H. Thomas, eighty-two, formerly of 1360 Monsey Avenue, died at the home of his daughter, Miss Grace Thomas, Washington, D.C., last night following a year's illness. Mr. Thomas was born in West Scranton and had resided there until 1921 when he moved to Green Ridge. He was employed as a stationary engineer by the Scranton Stove Company prior to his retirement fourteen years ago. He had made his home in Washington for the past three years. The deceased was a member of Hyde Park Camp, Patriotic Sons of America, and Green Ridge Baptist Church. Surviving are four daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth Ahearn, this city; Mrs. David I. Richards, Washington; Mrs. Wilfred J. Harris, this city, and Miss Grace (Thomas); two sons, Willard, Washington, and Jack H. Thomas, Clark's Summit a local printer. Funeral services will be held at the Snowdon Funeral Home, 1810 Sanders Avenue, on Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock. Rev. Alpha Finch will officiate. Burial will be in North Chinchilla Cemetery. Friends may call after 4 o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Some have said that William Thomas was a hard man and a stern father, while others claim that he became hardened following the death of his wife Mary Jane in 1937. Irregardless of my great-grandfather's personality, William and Mary Jane Thomas deserve a great deal of credit for successfully raising a large family through the difficult years of Scranton's economic decline. The record clearly shows that William H. Thomas worked hard at providing a decent living for his wife and children, and today this legacy of success is carried forward by his descendants.

William Harding was from Plymouth and was survived by his wife. The official accident report also notes that William was the "uncle of Isaac Williams," and "came from Hyde Park." This marker was standing in 2000 but today is lying on the ground and is practically unreadable.

William N. Williams was from Plymouth and was survived by a wife and three children. His is one of only two Avondale markers at Washburn Street that are still entirely legible.

Job Titles:

• Head