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Susan (Younkin) Lichliter was born on Aug. 5, 1819 in Somerset County, PA, the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth "Betsy" (Weimer) Younkin.
In about 1840, when she was age 21, Susan married 25-year-old John Campbell Leichliter (1815-1853), also spelled "Leichliter," son of Jacob and Jemima (Campbell) Lichliter of Turkeyfoot Township and one of 17 children in the family. He was a grandson of German immigrants John and Lydia (Green) Lichliter, who came to Bedford County, PA and thence settled in Somerset County prior to or in 1792.
The known children born to Susan and John were Henry H. Lichliter, Harriet Lichliter, Levi Lichliter and Almira Boucher. Heartache blanketed the family on Nov. 13, 1852 when daughter Harriet died as she was nearing her ninth birthday. A 1935 Meyersdale (PA) Republican article referred to the Lichliter family as "residents of what is known as the Turkeyfoot region of Somerset County..." John was "one of the first public school teachers in Somerset county," according to a 1906 biographical sketch. He also was "engaged in farming throughout his life." Sadly, John died at the age of only 36 years, three months and 16 days on Sept. 12, 1853. The cause of his untimely passing is unknown. He is buried in the Younkin Cemetery at Paddytown. [Find-a-Grave]
His untimely death left behind a widow with three mouths to feed, ranging in age from six to 12. Susan survived her husband by many decades and made her home in Salisbury, Somerset County. She passed away in 1890 at the age of 71.
John is named in a chapter about his son Levi in the 1906 book History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania. Records of this family were compiled and typed by Edith Susan Lichliter. A copy came into the possession of Ruth Robertson and thence was forwarded to Loree (Morrison) Cross in the early 1980s who in turn shared them with Joseph Warren Thomas III. When Lewis Clark Walkinshaw's book Annals of Southwestern Pennsylvania was published in 1939, the Leichliters were profiled in Vol. IV in a section headlined "Lichliter Family."
~ Son Henry H. Lichliter ~ Son Henry H. Lichliter (1841-1921) was born in October 1841 in Turkeyfoot Township. He moved to Illinois as a young adult. He married Patsy Booker (1840- ? ), a native of Tennessee. She brought a son to the marriage, William Booker, who had been born in Tennessee. The couple produced several children of their own, including Almira Lichliter and Sherman Lichliter. When the federal census count was made in 1900, the family lived on a farm in Somerset, Jackson County, IL. Henry died at about age 80 in 1921 in Murphysboro, Jackson County, IL. A son and daughter made their residences in Jackson County in 1939. Daughter Almira Lichliter (1868- ? ) was born in about 1868 in Illinois. Son Sherman R. Lichliter (1869-1948) was born in April 1869 in Illinois. At the age of 30, in Christmas week in 1899, he was married to Brittie (or "Birttie") (1876- ? ). The census of 1900 shows the newlyweds living with his parents, with Sherman helping his father on the family farm. They produced five known children -- Henry Lichliter, Edith Graff, George E. Lichliter, Homer Lichliter and Lillian Hahn. Sherman eventually became a grower of large amounts of wheat. They also owned several lots in the town of Murphysboro. Circa 1927, he used McCormick Deering combine machinery on the farm. The equipment was lubricated with high grade oils and greases, as furnished and advertised by Bantel's Service Station on 14th and Illinois Avenue in Murphysboro. The combine technology was big news for local farmers, and after a public demonstration on the Lichliters' farm, the Murphysboro Daily Independent noted in June 1927 that it "has been tried out, and is working fine. 150 farmers visited the field Saturday and were surprised to see this machine handle all kinds of wheat, doing excellent work in down and tangled straw." The following year, in January 1928, he announced his candidacy for the elected position of highway commissioner of Somerset Township. In the mid-1930s, Sherman and Brittie celebrated Christmas at the home of their daughters in St. Louis. The couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 1939 with a party at the home of their daughter Lillian Hahn in St. Louis. Sherman died in 1948.
~ Son Levi Lichliter ~ Son Levi Lichliter (1845-1925) was born on Nov. 16, 1845 near Paddytown in Upper Turkeyfoot Township. He is profiled extensively in several books, among them the 1906 History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania, authored by E. Howard Blackburn, William Henry Welfley and William H. Koontz -- and also the Annals of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Vol. IV, by Lewis Clark Walkinshaw. The 1906 profile reads that John attended public schools in Upper Turkeyfoot until 1862, when he would have reached the age of 17: He then began to teach at Walker's Mills, Addison township, and the following year went back to Upper Turkeyfoot township, where he taught for another year, the next year teaching in Middle Creek township. In 1866 he went to Monona county, Iowa, where he taught during the summer in a school afterward presided over by Dwight Hillis, of New York. On returning home he taught in 1867-68 at Salisbury, there being then only one school in the town. He then became clerk in a general store in Salisbury, remaining until 1876, when he taught one term at Elk Lick. During the ensuing twelve years he taught at Salisbury, with the exception of one term, in 1884-85 in Grantsville. In 1888 he established himself in the grocery and feed business with a capital of only five hundred dollars. His sales now amount to sixty thousand dollars yearly. In 1871-72 he held the office of burgess, and from 1880 to 1883 served as school director. From 1902 to 1905 he was president of the town council and since 1876 has held the office of justice of the peace. He is a charter member of Lodge No. 554, F. and A.M., and a Prohibitionist in politics. He is a member of the United Evangelical church.
At the age of 23, on July 11, 1869, he married Sarah A. Smith (1843-1918), daughter of John and Catharine (Dively) Smith of Salisbury. The bride was three years older than the groom. Their six children were Christian Stutzman Lichliter, Adaline Mae Keller, Emily Catherine Lichliter, Edith Susan Lichliter, John C. Lichliter, Francis Murphy Lichliter, Almira Lichliter and William Cleveland Lichliter. Sadly, Francis died in 1879 at the age of two. In September 1912, Levi was a guest speaker at a "harvest home, picnic and reunion of the descendants of the first settlers of the Turkeyfoot region, [which] took place last Saturday, with a very fair attendance. There were exercises both in the forenoon and afternoon in the historic Jersey Church, a place that is venerated by every descendant of the first settlers." Following remarks by N.B. Critchfield, Secretary of Agriculture for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Levi got up to speak. He told the audience "of a number of young men who were his comrades before the war, all of them being residents of Upper and Lower Turkeyfoot townships," reported the Meyersdale Republican. "Among these he mentioned Lieutenant Milton Black in whose memory the Addison Post of the G.A.R. is named; the Sanner boys, Captains Ross Rush Sanner and W.H. Wanner, Norman B. Ream and others." Assisting with refreshments that day was Mary Ann "Mollie" Younkin, daughter of Levi's cousin Balaam Younkin. Sarah was burdened by heart disease caused by blood regurgitation in the arteries. She died at the age of 75 on Nov. 2, 1918. Levi suffered a heart block caused by degeneration of his arteries, and passed away at the age of 79 on May 28, 1925. Burial was in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery in Salisbury.
Son Christian "Stutzman" Lichliter (1870-1951) -- often shortened to "Christ" -- was born on May 8, 1870. On Feb. 16, 1890, the 20-year-old Christian married 17-year-old Minnie Enos (Feb. 12, 1873- ? ), daughter of David and Priscilla Enos of Cumberland, Allegany County, MD. Their eight children were Emily "Mae" Lowry, Avoline "Lucille" Miller, Frances "Florede" Riley, Effie Elmira Stotler, Levi Garrett Lichliter, Wilbur B. Lichliter, David Lichliter and Heil H. Lichliter. Christian was a teachere at the time of marriage. The 1900 federal census enumeration shows this family in Elk Lick Township, with Christian employed as a clerk with a coal mine. For many years, he was employed in Salisbury with the Merchants' Coal Company. Later, he was named postmaster for Salisbury. In the 1950s, his home was on Gay Street in Salisbury. Suffering from liver cancer, hardening of the arteries, and then enduring a heart attack, Stuzman was admitted to the Hazel McGilvery Hospital in Meyersdale, where he died at the age of 80 on April 22, 1951. Burial was in the Salisbury Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Daughter Adaline Mae Lichliter (1871-1947) was born on May 30, 1871. She married Warren D. Keller (1885-1930), son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Wilt) Keller of Kimmelton, Somerset County. Their two children were Sarah Keller and Lee Lichliter Keller. Over the years, after leaving Salisbury, the Kellers lived in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia, where Warren was employed by Westinghouse Electric as a motor turbine tester. They were members of the United Evangelical Church. Sadly, suffering from a bone infection in his knee, which led to septic infection, Warren passed away in Philadelphia's Jefferson Hospital at the age of 45 on June 24, 1930. In a lengthy obituary, the Meyersdale Republican said that: Warren D. Keller came to Salisbury when still a very young man, and for several years worked in the mines of the Elk Lick coal region. He was a young man of extremely kind and friendly disposition, one who always gave the best that was in him at whatever he undertook; he was naturally industrious and in all respects a young man of fine moral character. It was while employed at Salisbury that he learned to know the splendid woman that afterwards became his wife. Mrs. Keller is a daughter of the late Levi and Sarah Smith Lichliter. Soon after his marriage Mr. Keller began to realize that there was not much chance for advancement for the average coal mine employee, and being ambitious to get employment in some other line of industry that held out more favorable inducements to young men, he went to Pittsburgh and got employment at the Westinghouse manufacturing plant. His employers soon recognized in him the qualities that make for advancement. He was advanced rapidly, and in due time his employers placed him in a very responsible position in their Philadelphia works, and he resided in that city and remained in the Westinghouse employ up to the time of his death. He gave in all about twenty years of valuable service to the Westinghouse Company in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. By his death his employers have lost a faithful and valued employee, his wife a faithful and devoted husband, and his children a kind and loving father. Moreover, humanity has lost an exemplary member, and the state a citizen of the finest type. Adaline lived as a widow for 17 years and returned to Pittsburgh. In 1947, she lived with her son at 40 C Boone Drive in Turtle Creek, in the city's eastern suburbs. Adaline suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and was admitted to the Allegheny County Institution District at Woodville. She lingered there for about 45 days, finally dying at the age of 76 on Oct. 17, 1947. Her body was brought back to Salisbury for burial beside her husband in the Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Daughter Emily Catherine Lichliter (1872-1966) was born on Nov. 10, 1872. At the age of 19, on March 22, 1892, Emily was joined in marital union with 23-year-old Frank H. Farner (1869-1943) of Salisbury, the son of Harmon aqnd Eliza (Newman) Farner. Their offspring were Glen William "Bugs" Farner, Nita Marie Farner, Mabelle K. Miller and Jean Lichliter James. They spent their entire lives in Salisbury, where Frank labored as a coal miner. They were members of the St. John's United Church of Christ, earlier known as the St. John's Evangelical and Reformed Church. At the death of Emily's brother in law Warren D. Keller in Philadelphia in 1930, Emily and her nephew David Lichliter drove across state to the city of brotherly love to accompany the widow and the body back home. Stricken with many heart problems which kept him nearly bedfast for two years, Frank died on Dec. 5, 1943. Burial was in the Salisbury IOOF Cemetery following funeral sermon preached by Rev. Ira S. Monn. Eulogized a newspaper: By the death of Mr. Farner, Salisbury has lost a fine, upright citizen, and his family a kind and loving husband and father. Mr. and Mrs. Farner were much devoted to each other and were permitted to enjoy each other's companionship as husband and wife for nearly 52 years. On the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, March 22, 1942, their numerous friends gave them a great and pleasing surprise in the form of greeting cards and many gifts of various kinds, including money. It was one of the outstanding happy days of their lives, and greatly deserved. Emily survived for 23 years. She died at home in Salisbury at the age of 94 on Nov. 9, 1966. At her death, said the Meyersdale Republican, she was survived by 11 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and seven great-great grandchildren. Rev. Paul L. Westcoat officiated at the funeral, with burial in the Salisbury Odd Fellows Cemetery.
Great-grandson Donald James served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He married (?), a native of Cheyenne, WY. They produced at least one offspring. After the war, Donald returned to Salisbury but, with no available jobs, then went to Cheyenne to pursue employment. Great-grandson G. Frank James (1923-1994) was born on Jan.13, 1923. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was deployed to India for a period of about two years. Frank was united in wedlock with Jean Hay ( ? - ? ). Their union endured for 47 years until cleaved apart by death. The two sons born to the couple were Frank E. James and William E. James. After the war, Frank earned a living as a carpenter and farmer. They belonged to Mt. Zion Hay's United Church of Christ in Meyersdale, and he was a member of the Meyersdale post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Carpenters Local 2274. As his health declined, Frank was admitted to Meyersdale Medical Center, and died there at the age of 71 on Dec. 3, 1994. Funeral services were held in the family church, led by Pastor Charles Dunn, with burial in the church cemetery. The Somerset Daily American published an obituary. Great-grandson Thomas Luke James (1924-1991) was born on Feb. 11, 1924 in Meyersdale. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was assigned to the USS Monsen in the Pacific Theatre, working as a cook. When the war ended, he spent time on the West Coast of the United States, but eventually returned to Somerset County. At the age of 23, he was employed as a store manager in Salisbury. He was joined in marriage with 23-year-old nurse Dorothy Marie Engle ( ? - ? ), daughter of John and Margaret (Bowman) Engle. They were wed on Feb. 15, 1948, in Salisbury, by the hand of Rev. A. Jay Replogle. In 1947, Thomas relocated Mt. Union, Huntingdon County, PA, where he was hired to manage the Acme Market and Hill's Drug Store. After seven years, he was employed in 1954 as a teller at Penn Central National Bank and was promoted to vice president with a seat on the board of directors. He retired in 1979. He also was an owner of Mount Union Beverage Co. He received the award of Citizen of the Year in 1989 by the Mt. Union Chapter of the Knights of Columbus. He belonged to the First United Methodist Church, American Legion Post 107, Chamber of Commerce, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and lodges of the Moose, Masons and Lions. He died in 1991. Great-grandson Mark James was on duty in Europe during World War II. After the end of the war, he was stationed in Memphis, TN. He is known to have resided in Salisbury circa 1994. Great-grandson Joseph F. James (1928-1990) was born on Jan. 11, 1928 in Salisbury. He joined the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II, working with ships of the Standard Oil Company. After the war, he settled in Vermilion, OH where he was employed by Ford Motor Company's maintenance department. Circa 1960, Joseph was united in wedlock with Marcia ( ? - ? ). They stayed together for three decades. The couple produced a family of children -- Vanda Jean James, Jeanie Lindsey, Marcia Mosijowsky and Michael James. Sadly, they endured the death of their daughter Wanda Jean in 1980. Joseph died in Lorain Community Hospital at the age of 62 on Feb. 16, 1990. Officiating at the funeral service was Rev. Louis Bertoni of the United Church of Christ Congregational in Vermilion. The Meyersdale Republic printed an obituary.
Daughter Edith Susan Lichliter (1874-1948) was born on Feb. 26, 1874. She was a longtime teacher in the Salisbury area of Somerset County. She never married and maintained a residence on Salisbury's Gay Street. Circa 1929, she was employied at the Lichliter store. She was very interested in her family roots and in 1933 attended the Harbaugh Reunion, held at Cramer's Grove in New Centerville in Somerset County. At that gathering, she met a double cousin, David F. Younkin of the family of David and Maria (Culver) Younkin and found they shared several connections of ancestry. At that reunion, cousin Edith told David that their mutual great-grandfather Henry Younkin was a heavy drinker and did not always live with his wife Betsy -- that Betsy resided with her daughter Phoebe Boucher in a small brick house near Paddytown -- and that Henry was buried in some small country churchyard near Scullton, Kingwood or New Lexington. She also became engaged with the work of the Younkin National Home-coming Reunion and in September 1936 wrote a letter to reunion president Otto Roosevelt Younkin, answering some of his questions. The two continued to correspond, and she wrote another letter dated March 27, 1939. Edith also was a subscriber to the Younkin Family News Bulletin newspaper. She is known to have shared a home with her unmarried sister Almira in the 1940s. They belonged to the Women's Missionary Society of St. John's Lutheran Church and hosted meetings in their residence. Stricken with cancer of the uterus in 1945, Edith endured the illness for three years and underwent colostomy surgery. In August 1946, Almira and Edith Susan hosted a visit in their home from a cousin, 75-year-old Levi L. Lichliter and son Leroy of Kansas City, MO. The Meyersdale Republican reported on the small reunion, saying that Levi had moved to Missouri at the age of eight and "had not been back since that time. Mr. Lichliter's father, Norman B. Lichliter, was a first cousin of the late Levi Lichliter. Accompanied by J.C. Lichliter, Sr., and Edith, they visited Mr. Lichliter's birthplace, the present home of Calvin Groff, Sr., near Confluence, where they were royally received and fully informed." The cancer spread throughout her body and led to her demise at the age of 74 on June 12, 1948. Interment was in the IOOF Cemetery in Salisbury.
Son John Calvin Lichliter (1875-1959) was born on Oct. 13, 1875 in Salisbury. At the age of 27, on April 12, 1903, John wedded to Mary "Jane" Reese ( ? - ? ), daughter of John Reese of Salisbury. They produced four children -- George Reese Lichliter, John C. Lichliter, Winifred Jean Lichliter and Emily Jane Lichliter. John was a merchant in Salisbury, and they made their home on Ord Street. John was profiled at length in the 1939 Annals of Southwestern Pennsylvania book authored by Lewis Clark Walkinshaw. He attended the public schools here until he was fourteen years of age, when he joined his father in business, a venture he has since been associated with. Upon the death of the elder Lichliter he became active head of the establishment, which originally was operated on a partnership basis with his brother and two sisters. More recently, however, he and his brother, William C. Lichliter, bought out their sisters' interest. Throughout his life here John ... has been one of the most active leaders of the community, where he is now president of the Town Council, which is supervising the installation of a water system that is costing one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. For eighteen years he served as a membe of the local School Board. he has been an active parishioner of the Reformed Church, in which he is treasurer of the Sunday school. At the age of 83, John died of a heart attack on Aug. 25, 1959. His remains were placed into repose in the Salisbury IOOF Cemetery.
Son or daughter Francis Murphy Lichliter ( ? - ? ) was deceased by 1939.
Daughter Almira Lichliter (1879-1949) -- also spelled "Elmira" -- was born on May 8, 1879 in Salisbury, Somerset County. In young womanhood she graduated from Lock Haven State Teachers College. Almira was employed as a clerk in Salisbury circa 1906. She never married, and a physician once observed in writing that she was "neurotic." She belonged to the Evangelical Church in Salisbury and, after it closed, joined St. John's Lutheran Church. She was considered an invalid in the 1920s and was bedfast for months at a time. One newspaper story in 1933 said she was afflicted with high blood pressure and heart trouble. She and her sister Edith Susan shared a residence, with the sister providing ongoing care, assisted by a professional nurse. In June 1941, she was sent for treatment to Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Hospital. She recovered by the following January 1942 and, accompanied by her nephew Reese Lichliter, traveled back home by train. Said the Meyersdale Republican, she "arrived at her home ... looking and feeling well and happy.... After the earlier treatment there had her well and on the way to complete recovery, the proper amount of light tasks that required both physical and mental concentration, finally brought about the desired results and enabled her to return home, much to the delight not only of herself, but also to her relatives and numerous friends here." After sister Edith Susan's death in 1948, Almira dwelled with another sister, Emily Farner, on Gay Street. For reasons not known today, but possibly due to a relapse of health, Almira at the age of 70 decided to end her life. On the fateful afternoon of Dec. 3, 1949, the 70-year-old left home to, as she said to her sister, take a walk and see friends. Said the Republican, "She was seen to walk out Gay street and down Union street and the fact was reported to her family who thought she was sufficiently well and suitably attired to take a walk.... When she did not return home at the approach of darkness, a search for her was started, enlisting more and more aid as time passed." Searchers found her footprints in the snow, evidence that she had walked on to the iron bridge and likely jumped off into the Casselman River below. Said the Republican, "No one saw her fall or plunge into the river which at the time was not high, but the current was strong. The water is 10 or 12 feet below the bridge at the point where her footprints were no longer visible." After a search by family, friends and firemen for several hours, her corpse finally was found in the water "about 200 yards below the iron bridge at the foot of Depot street," reported the Republican. County Coroner Dr. A.M. Uphouse ruled that the cause of death was suicide by drowning. Her pastor, Rev. George E. Bowersox Jr., preached her funeral sermon. Her remains were interred in Salisbury's Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery. Son William Cleveland Lichliter (1884-1941) was born on April 2, 1884 in Salisbury and spent his entire life there. He was married twice. His first bride was Helen Gregge Rumgay (1884-1928), a resident of Meyersdale and a native of Peale, Clearfield County, PA. She was the daughter of Scottish immigrants William and Rachel (Lemont) Rumgay. They did not reproduce. In about May 1927, Helen began suffering from "cancer of the womb," wrote her physician. Helen endured for 18 months but finally succumbed at the age of 44 on Nov. 26, Later, he married Nelle Brant ( ? - ? ). They produced one daughter, Anne Marie Lichliter. For nearly two decades, William earned a living with his elder brother John as proprietors of the Lichliter grocery store in Salisbury. He and Nelle resided in rooms above the store. They were members of the Evangelical and Reformed Church in Salisbury. In about 1936, William began to suffer from hypertension and hardening of the arteries and was treated by Dr. B.H. Hoke. Few others knew that he was ailing, and his physician urged him to avoid over-exertion. At the age of 57, on the fateful day of Nov. 25, 1941, he was at work as usual. While waiting on a customer around 2 p.m., reported the Meyersdale Republican, "he felt so ill that he ascended the stairway leading to his living quarters where he was found to be in such a serious condition that he was helped to bed and his doctor sent for. In less than an hour after being put to bed, the spark of life had fled." Word of his unexpected death quickly spread around town, along with a rumor that he "fell dead" in the store itself. Following funeral services held in the Lichliter residence, his remains were lowered into eternal repose in the Salisbury Odd Fellows Cemetery. Officiating were Rev. E.D. Bright, their former pastor, and Rev. S.D. Sigler of the Salisbury Lutheran Church. "The funeral was largely attended, and the floral tributes were numerous and beautiful," said the Republican. "Most of the business places in Salisbury were closed on the day of the funeral from 2 until 4 o'clock."
~ Daughter Almira (Lichliter) Boucher ~
Daughter Almira Lichliter (1847-1935), also spelled "Elmira," was born on Dec. 5 or 8, 1847. At the age of 12, in June 1860, she made her home with her widowed grandmother Elizabeth (Weimer) Younkin in Upper Turkeyfoot. At that same age, she joined the nearby Methodist Episcopal Church at Paddytown, a small country church where her mother's cousin Rev. Herman Younkin was affiliated. Circa 1868, when she would have been about 21 years of age, Almira married 23-year-old Walter H. Boucher (Sept. 1846-1924), also spelled "Baucher," son of John and Elizabeth (Walter) Boucher of New Lexington, Somerset County. Both were "numbered among the popular young people of their home communities," said the Meyersdale (PA) Republican. They produced a family of 11 known children -- Melissa Belle "Minnie" Boucher, Charles C. Boucher, Walter S. Boucher, George Sumner Boucher, Susan Boucher, Margaret E. "Maggie" Boucher, John C. Boucher Sr., Lester Hiram Boucher, Stanley P. Boucher, Adaline Cochrane and Elsie Gertrude Boucher. The Bouchers first lived in Lower Turkeyfoot Township, Somerset County, where in 1870 Walter made a living working for the railroad. The family migrated within the county and made their home in 1880 in Salisbury, Somerset County, where Walter was a butcher. He is believed to have served as a Salisbury school board director circa 1881. They remained in Salisbury and nearby Elk Lick Township for more than six decades. They were considered by a newspaper as "well and favorably known to most of the older citizens in Salisbury and vicinity."
Sadness enveloped the family when daughters Susan (at age 4, in 1880) and Maggie (in 1880) both died young. The little ones sleep side-by-side in the Salisbury IOOF Cemetery. For reasons not known, their grave marker was not recorded during a 1930s survey by laborers with the Works Progress Administration. But it was found and photographed by the founder of this website in August 2020. By 1900, when the federal census enumeration was made, the family remained in Salisbury, but Walter's work had changed again to carpentry. Almira in time transferred her membership from Paddytown to the Methodist Episcopal Church in Meyersdale, the closest Methodist congregation to their home in Salisbury. In 1882, when the Salisbury Methodist Episcopal Church was founded, she was a charter member, "and remained a faithful and active member until called to her reward," said the Republican. She "was not only faithful and active in the service of her church, but was also at all times active in all things that pertain to the welfare of our couintry and mankind in general. Her political affiliations were always with the Republican party, but she always had many staunch and admiring friends among the members of other political parties, as well as among the members of other churches and the people of her home community in general, wherever she was known." Suffering from organic heart disease, Walter was felled by heart failure at the age of 77 and died within 10 minutes on June 4, 1924. Almira lived on for another 11 years. She endured the agony of the deaths of her son Stanley in May 1929 and grandson Harold Boucher in March 1928. She died in her home in Salisbury, Somerset County at the age of 87 on Aug. 14, 1935. Cause of death was a cancerous tumor of the stomach which led to "starvation from inability to eat," reported a physician. Funeral services were led by her pastor, Rev. E.V. May. "The floral tributes were very beautiful and numerous," reported the Republican. Burial was in the IOOF Cemetery in Salisbury, also known as "Elk Lick." [Find-a-Grave] The Republican added in an obituary that the "closing days of her life were as serene and beautiful as the long and noble life she had lived. Of the many good women who have gone from Salisbury to the spirit world, none were held in higher esteem than Mrs. Boucher, and none possessed a more kindly and lovable disposition. She now belongs to the ages, but until the last of the many friends who knew and loved her have passed also from earth's fitful scenes, trials and tribulations forever, she will be fondly and lovingly remembered." She was survived by 16 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Nearly 20 years after her death, Almira was memorialized in the Salisbury Methodist church through a gift from her daughter Elsie, comprised of two pulpit scarfs and altar covering, handmade of white velvet and with embroidered gold monograms of the letters "I.H.S." Daughter Melissa Belle "Minnie" Boucher (1868-1953) was born on Aug. 31, 1868 in Somerset County and acquired the "Minnie" moniker in girlhood. She spent most of her growing-up years in Salisbury. When she was 25 years of age, on Dec. 19, 1893, Minnie was united in wedlock with 38-year-old Phineas Compton Boucher (1855-1928), son of Isaiah and Lucretia (Compton) Boucher. They produced six children, among them John Walter Boucher, Gordon K. Boucher, Lucretia Boucher, Almira "Myra" Keller, L. Harold Boucher and Emmons Boucher. Immediately upon their marriage, the couple settled on his father's farm near Grantsville, Garrett County, MD, and stayed there for good. It was located about a mile south of the National Turnpike and Little Meadows, where General Braddock's Army once camped in June 1755. In all, the farm remained in the Boucher family ownership for more than a century and only was sold in the mid-1950s. The family were members of the Salisbury Methodist Church. Phineas was considered one of the best known and best loved local citizens and served the public as Garrett County Surveyor, an elected position for which he did not campaign. The Meyersdale (PA) Republican once said this of Phineas: He was a man of fine physique, and meet him where you would, he was always in a genial mood and liked to mingle with his friends and acquaintances, and always took a keen interest in current events and all questions intelligent, thinking and observing people take more than ordinary interest in. He was a men of keen intellect, and even though he never had the advantage of good school facilities, he was a well-read man, a lover of books and good literature, and had a fine mathematical and literary mind. He acquired a generous store of useful knowledge through his own exetions and was a good surveyor. Moreover, he was a prince in the matter of goodfellowship, neighborliness, and good qualities in general.... His fine mental qualities, without a doubt, constituted the one thing that enabled him to live nearly three years beyond the allotted days of man, with such an affliction as he was handicapped with nearly all his life. Phineas' name was printed in a local newspaper article in 1914 in connection with public interest about an old grave marker found beside a large boulder on the Stone House Farm south of the National Turnpike near Grantsville. It was inscribed "IN MEMORY OF PATTY NEWMAN who departed this life March 26th, A.D., 1815, Aged 45 years." The article sought information about the deceased, based on a letter to the editor of the Republican sent by Leo J. Beachy. In the letter, Beachy wrote that "When Phineas Boucher was a boy he fetched in a conveyance from Salisbury, Pa., to his home, a lady from Kansas by the name of Julia Deahl, and as they passed an old building or rather an old stone chimney and logs in the Flanagan fields north of the pike, she informed Mr. Boucher that here she often played in front of that old house with Patsey Newman as a girl playmate." Stricken with asthma, Phineas died without warning in their home on May 19, 1928. An obituary in the Republican reported that he had suffered asthma from childhood. "In spite of his long battle with one of the most distressing ailments human flesh is heir to, he bore his affliction bravely and uncomplainingly, and led a rather active life, until too badly weakened by his chronic ailment to do much of anything that required physical exertion." The Republican suggested that he "might even be living still, had he not lost two very fine and intelligent sons, Emmons and Harold Boucher, within the last five years, the latter dying only about two months ago. Mr. Boucher grieved over the death of the two sons mentioned to such an extent that it is believed his life was shortened thereby. He had been quite feeble for some time before he died, yet his death was not expected so suddenly, as his breathing was better shortly before he passed away than it had been for some time, and he passed out as peacefully and quietly as a tired child going to sleep." Rev. K.H. Beck led the funeral services held in the family home, followed by interment of the remains in Grantsville Cemetery. His pallbearers included his brothers C.W. Boucher, Dr. S.A. Boucher and Arthur Boucher and brothers-in-law Leslie Boucher, Stanley Boucher and John Boucher. Minnie outlived her husband by a quarter of a century. She suffered a serious illness for the last three years of her life, the last two of which rendered her "a complete invalid," said the Republican. She died in their farmhouse on Sept. 2, 1953, at the age of 91, with interment in Grantsville Cemetery. Rev. Dr. E. Wilson Kelley officiated at the funeral service held in the Boucher home. An obituary in the Republican reported that she "was very patient in her illness and maintained to the end a very keen interest in the welfare of not only her family, but of her neighbors and many friends. Time will not erase the memory of her welcoming smile or of her little acts of thoughtfullness for those who knew her."
Great-grandson William R. Boucher (1922-1994) was born on Feb. 5, 1922 and was an infant when his father died. He married Freda Marguerite Boose (1923-1993) and dwelled in Greenville, Mercer County, PA. He died on April 18, 1994. Burial of the remains was in Shenango Valley Cemetery in Mercer County.
Great-grandson Bruce A. Boucher studied at Harvard College, majoring in the classics, with plans to pursue a doctorate in English. In January 1970, he was named as a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, giving him an opportunity to study for two to three years at Oxford University in England in any field available at the time. Great-grandson Dr. John Kean Boucher pursued medicine as his career. Circa 1970, he interned at Boones Hospital in St. Louis.
Great-granddaughter Judith Boucher married (?) Frager. They were the parents of two children. In 1971, the Fragers made a home in Natick, MA.
Son Charles Chester Boucher (1870-1913) was born on Feb. 28, 1870. He married Louisa Bath (June 2, 1872-1951), daughter of Caleb and Maria N. (Trelease) Bath of Frostburg, Allegany County, MD. The couple produced one known son, Forest Leroy Boucher. Charles obtained employment with the railroad. Circa 1913, they dwelled in Duquesne, PA, with Charles working as a yard master. Tragedy struck when Charles contracted acute peritonitis in late January 1913 and his system went into shock. He died just three days later on Feb. 1, 1913, less than a month before his 43rd birthday. His remains were transported to Salisbury for burial. C.W. Allebrand of Duquesne signed the death certificate. Louisa appears to have remained in Duquesne for the remainder of her life, with an address of 114 North Third Street. In her later years, she was burdened with hardening of the arteries and heart disease. Then in the spring of 1951, she was diagnosed with cancer of the left ovary. After suffering for a month, and just four days after her 79th birthday, she died on June 8, 1951. Her remains were shipped to Salisbury to rest at the side of her husband.
Son George Sumner Boucher (1874-1959) was born on March 27, 1874 in Salisbury. In boyhood he began working in the lumber industry, packign shingles for shiopment. When he was 25 years of age, in February 1900, he married Dorothea Charlotte Kaese (1874-1960) of Friendsville, MD. The couple produced four known children, Helen Clendennen, Walter Stanley Boucher, Ralph Emerson Boucher, Paul Boucher and Harry Kenneth Boucher. Reported the Meyersdale Republican: Then he dreamed of becoming a sawyer on a big saw mill. His idol was the late Sam Hummel who sawed many millions of feet of white pine lumber at Boynton, Pa. He sawed lumber on saw mills in various parts of Somerset County, Pa., and Garrett County, Md. His first job on a big mill was for Henry Clark and J.W. McCullough in Friendsville on a band saw mill, Later he went to Boyer, W.Va. and operated a large lumber plant for Henry Wilmoth of Meyersdale. He moved to Damascus, Va., soon after the turn of the century and remained there up till the time of his death. For a number of years he managed a huge flooring plant for the Hassingers of Bristol, Va. Later he operated a large furniture plant for the Lincoln Furniture Co., who had stores in about every state of the union. In his late years he bought lumber for the Furniture Co., and remained with the Company up until the factory closed down. He was able to work only part time the last couple years of his very active life. Heartache struck when the Grim Reaper of death swept away their 13-year-old son Walter, a Boy Scout, in March 1916 from a case of cerebro-spinal meningitis. The boy's remains were brought back to Salisbury for burial, with funeral services held at the home of George's parents, officiated by Rev. Dr. Greiner and Rev. C.V. Sporling of the Methodist Church. After reaching his 80th birthday, George was elected Mayor of Damascus even though he did not solicit any votes. He loved to go bird hunting and especially for quail. George died in Damascus on Oct. 3, 1959. He rests in eternal repose in Mock Cemetery in Damascus. In an obituary, the Republican said that he was a "rugged honest man. His word was his bond and no man ever dared to question it. Few men in the history of Washington County, Va., had so many friends and was so highly respected as he. He was charitable perhaps to a fault."
Son John C. Boucher Sr. (1878-1946) was born in about 1878 in Salisbury. He married Edith Harrington ( ? - ? ) of Brownsville, Fayette County. They had one son, John C. Boucher Jr. John was a longtime engineer with the Pennsylvania Railroad, based in Brownsville. John and son Jack are known to have traveled in January 1936 to attend the funeral of sister Adaline Cochrane in Salisbury. In about 1944, suffering from failing health, he retired. He died at home in Brownsville at the age of 67 on Jan. 14, 1946. An obituary was printed in the Meyersdale Republican.
Son Lester Hiram Boucher (1879-1967) was born on Dec. 11, 1879 in Salisbury. He married Katharine "Kate" Mier (1881-1947), daughter of Samuel and Harriet (Smith) Mier of Salisbury. Prior to marriage, Kate had taught school in Salisbury. They produced three daughters -- Theresa Forsythe, Kathryn Forsythe and Mary Gray. The Bouchers dwelled in Bairdford, PA in 1928 and in Somerset in 1936. Then in 1945, they relocated to Lafayette near Boulder, CO, where two of their married daughters lived. Kate died in one of the daughters' homes in Boulder in March 1947. Her remains were placed into rest in Green Mountain Cemetery in Boulder, with an obituary printed in the Meyersdale Republican. Lester survived his wife by two decades and remained in Boulder. While visiting his daughter Mary Gray in Baltimore, he died on June 4, 1967. Rev. Paul Madson officiated at funeral services held in Baltimore, with the remains shipped to Boulder for burial beside Kate. The Republican published an obituary.
Son Stanley P. Boucher (1882-1929) was born on Feb. 28, 1882. He never married. Stanley attended the Salisbury schools and went to work at a young age. Reported the Meyersdale Republican, he "was naturally industrious, and also a young man of more than average intelligence, as well as a person of pleasing personality and many admirable qualities. Before reachign man's estate, he did any honorable work he could find to do in his home community. In young manhood he relocated to join his brother George in Damascus, VA, and worked there as an expert saw-filer at a large sawmill. He joined the Masons lodge at Lodi, VA. Stanley later relocated to Duquesne near Pittsburgh, and joined a steel manufacturing company where he earned a living as a millwright. "He soon became a foreman there," said the Republican, and was held in high esteem by his employers. He held his position in the steel mill a long time, even long after his health was body impaired.... He was always a strong, hearty young man until ... he had a severe siege of typhoid fever, and later an attack of appendicitis, for the cure of which he underwent a surgical operation. Still later he met with a bad accident in the mill, and after that his health was never very good. [In October 1928] his condition was so bad that he was forced, in the interest of his health, to give up his employment...." Stanley was admitted to the Woodville State Hospital, also known as the Allegheny County Hospital for the Insane, located in Collier Township near Pittsburgh. There was little physicians could do. He died there of "general paralysis of the insane" at the age of 47 on May 13, 1929. The body was shipped to his mother's home for funeral services, led by Rev. W.C. Marquis of Meyersdale's First Methodist Episcopal Church. Burial was in Meyersdale Cemetery. Daughter Adaline Boucher (1884-1936) was born in 1884 in Salisbury, Somerset County and grew up in the community. Upon graduation from Salisbury High School, she became a teacher, working for a term in Garrett County, MD and eight terms in the Salisbury grade schools. In 1910, at the age of 25 or 26, she married Prof. George W. Cochrane (1881-1971), who was her school principal during the 1909-1910 term. He was a native of Duncansville, Blair PA. Two offspring were born to this union -- Clare Cochrane and Lois Cochrane. The newlyweds first lived in West Elizabeth, PA, where he was employed in 1910 as a school principal. His work in horticulture education led them to relocate over the years to Minnesota, Indiana and Oklahoma A&M College in Stillwater, OK. In about 1933, when Adaline became ill, and George was let go by Oklahoma A&M in a cost-cutting measure, the Cochranes moved back to Salisbury, hoping for a cure. When in fact Adaline recovered, George purchased a fruit farm near the village of Gardners, Adams County, PA, and they moved there in 1934. In August 1935, with her own health slipping, Adaline endured the death of her mother. Sadly, Adaline only lived for five more months. She died at the age of 52 on Jan. 20, 1936. An obituary in the Meyersdale Republican reported that "Her death came about very suddenly and unexpectedly, although her health had been poor most of the time during the last few years. She was feeling quite well the day before she died, and in the evening ate a hearty supper. She retired early, but during the night became ill and soon was in a state of coma from which she was unable to rally." An examining physician ruled the cause of death as a cerebral hemorrhage. Her remains were transported to Salisbury for the funeral and burial. Rev. E.V. May, pastor of the Salisbury and Meyersdale Methodist churches, presided at the funeral, which had to be postponed for a day due to snowdrifts and "intensely cold weather." The Republican added in its obituary that Adaline "was not only a most devoted and lovable wife and mother, but was also a person of outstanding intelligence and pleasing personality, one who always made the best of her opportunities, and was held in high esteem in the various places where she resided.... Although she will be sadly missed by her loved ones, the beautiful life she lived will leave many hallowed memories, which are a blessed heritage to the bereaved husband, children, brothers and sisters, the value of which is beyond computation." George survived her by 35 years. In May 1936, he suffered an accident and fractures two bones in one of his arms below the elbow. He married again to Mary Agnes Dittsworth (1902-1980). They made their home in later years in Petersburg, Huntingdon County, PA. George succumbed on Nov. 5, 1971. Mary Agnes died in 1980. They are buried together in Mooresville Cemetery in Mooresville, Huntingdon County.
Daughter Elsie Gertrude Boucher (1886-1969) was born on May 12, 1886 in Salisbury. She never married. During the 1930s, she lived on the old Boucher farm near Grantsville, Garrett County, MD. In 1946-1959, she made her residence in Boulder, CO, to where her brother Lester had moved. In May 1954, she and her brother sailed from New York to La Havre, France, to see his married daughter and husband, Capt. and Mrs. George Paul Forsyth. While in Europe they toured England, Germany, Holland, Switzerland and Italy, returning to the states in July. She often spent her winters back in Somerset County and made summertime visits as well. In July 1963, she received a visit from old friends from back home, Mrs. Robert McKerhan and Florence Newman. She died in Boulder on April 21, 1969, at the age of 82. Funeral services were held in the First Methodist Church in Salisbury, officiated by Rev. W.a. Cassidy. Burial was in Salisbury IOOF Cemetery. "Surviving are a number of nieces and nephews," said the Meyersdale Republican.
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