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Sarah (Comp) Lepley was born on Oct. 17, 1828 in Buffalo Mills, Bedford County, PA, the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth "Betsy" (Sturtz) Comp.

She married Adam Lepley III (March 5, 1821-1903), son of Adam and Elizabeth (Horn) Lepley Jr. Adam was a native of Wellersburg in Southampton Township, Somerset County.

They dwelled for decades near Wellersburg.

Wellersburg, early 1900s

Sarah and Adam were the parents of a dozen offspring -- Simon Alexander Lepley, Susannah Matilda "Susan" Broadwater, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Shumaker/Shumaker, Jacob Lepley, Emma Frances Lepley, Samuel Lepley, Minerva Jane Lepley, Norman Lincoln Lepley, Missouri Lepley, Effie Louellen Lepley, Adam Lepley and Sarah Alice Lepley.

Adam's farm comprised 146 acres adjacent to the farms of Simon Lepley, Samuel Lepley, Wilson Korns and others. He is known to have leased the mineral rights to Cumberland Basin Coal Company.

Sadly, Adam passed away at the age of 82 on June 9, 1903. Rev. B. Knepper preached the funeral sermon and was paid $2 for his services. Interment was in the Lepley family burying ground in Wellersburg. Inscribed on his grave marker was the phrase, "Gone but not forgotten."

The family farm was sold to daughter Effie Kennell, wife of William B. Kennell, for a price of $2,500, far more than could have been raised at a public sale.

With her health failing due to the debilities of old age, Sarah died at the age of 80 on Jan. 11, 1909. She was laid to rest in the family cemetery on the farm. Simon Lepley of Wellersburg, Somerset County was the informant for the certificate of death. [Find-a-Grave]

~ Son Simon Alexander Lepley ~

Son Simon Alexander Lepley (1852-1937) was born on April 27, 1852 in Southampton Township.

On Christmas Day 1882, at the age of 30, he was joined in matrimony with 23-year-old Mary Ann Shumaker (March 14, 1859-1953), daughter of Bailey and Rebecca (Kennell) Shumaker of Wellersburg.

The couple produced these known sons -- Oscar Lepley, J. Elmer Lepley and Jesse Lepley.

They were longtime farmers in and around Mount Savage, Allegany County, MD about a mile or two from the Pennsylvania state line. They were members of the Reformed Church at Gladdens, Somerset County.

Sadly, Simon died in the home of his som Oscar in Wellersburg at the age of 84 on March 27, 1937. Burial was in Cook Cemetery in Somerset County, led by Rev. R.a. Shontz, with an obituary appearing in the Cumberland Evening Times.

Mary Ann survived another 16 years as a widow. She joined her husband in death at the age of 94 two days before Christmas 1953. Rev. F.D. Oberkircher officiated at the funeral service, held in Wellersburg Reformed Church. The Bedford Gazette printed an obituary.

Son Oscar Adam Lepley (1890-1983) was born on May 9, 1890 in Southampton Township. In 1915, he wedded Cora Elizabeth Getz (1892-1981). The couple were the parents of Hazel Marie Deffenbaugh, John Getz Lepley and Howard Philip Lepley. They lived in Wellersburg in 1937 and Hyndman, Bedford County in 1953. The family worried and then grieved when son Howard joined the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and was killed when his aircraft was shot down over France. Cora passed away in 1981, ending their marital union which had endured for 66 years. Oscar died at the age of 93 on July 22, 1983. Burial was in Cook Cemetery in Somerset County.

Howard Lepley, standing, 2nd from right, with mates from the doomed Little Sheppard, shot down over France in 1944

• Howard P. Lepley Courtesy Jason Danielson, Find-a-Grave

  Grandson Howard Philip Lepley (1923-1944) was born on Sept. 14, 1923. As a young man, he earned a living as a carpenter with Consolidation Coal Company in or around Hyndman, with a home in Mount Savage, MD. He was a member and taught Sunday School in the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church in Wellersburg. During World War II, on Dec. 4, 1942, he joined the U.S. Army Air Force and trained as a radio operator. He held the rank of technical sergeant with the 714th Bomber Squadron, 448th Bomber Group. Howard lost his life in action on June 10, 1944 when his aircraft -- the Little Sheppard -- was shot down over Ebreux, France. News of his missing in action status was printed in the Pittsburgh Press and Altoona Mirror. Four years after his death, his parents and Uncle Jesse Lepley made a significant donation of chancel furniture and furnishings in his memory to the Zion church. They included an altar, altarcloths, pulpit, lectern, cross, candlesticks and vases, of of which the family had made. A story about the gesture was published in the Cumberland (MD) Evening Times on July 8, 1948. Howard's body was recovered and buried in Europe and later shipped back to the United States for re-interment. In July 1949, a funeral service was held in the family church, with graveside military honors provided by the Old Rail Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of Mount Savage. Pallbearers were George Abucevicz, Junior Robinette, Robert Gray, Alfred Pollock, Henry Pfister, Donald Lewis and Orville Bridges. His photograph appeared in a related story the Cumberland (MD) News. A grave marker for him was placed in Cook Cemetery in Somerset County. [Find-a-Grave]

Son J. Elmer Lepley dwelled in Hyndman, Bedford County in 1937.

Son Jesse Lepley made his home in 1937 in Windber, Somerset County and in 1953 in LaVale, MD.

Zion Reformed Church, Wellersburg, PA

~ Daughter Susannah Matilda (Lepley) Broadwater ~

Daughter Susannah Matilda Lepley (1855-1886) was born on Sept. 18, 1853 or 1855 in Somerset County.

She was united in holy matrimony with Charles Pierce Broadwater (March 1850-1932), reputedly the son of Ephraim and Lydia (Tressler) Broadwater.

Together, the couple produced a brood of six sons -- Gilbert Hitchcock Broadwater, Samuel L. Broadwater, Alfred Broadwater, Lloyd Broadwater, Stephen Girard Broadwater and James Broadwater. All appear to have been born in Pennsylvania, likely in Glencoe, Somerset County.

Sadness cascaded over the family when son Samuel died at age 22 months on Sept. 24, 1875. His tender remains were laid to rest in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery in Berlin, Somerset County. A modern stone marks the burial site today.

Just a month after the birth of their youngest son Stephen in October 1879, the couple pulled up stakes and left family and friends for a life in Kansas. They migrated to Rawlins County, KS, taking possession of a homestead tract on Nov. 12, 1879. The acreage, numbered 13,281, was part of the northeast quarter of Section 1, Township 4 South, Range 33 West.

But a long life together in Kansas was not to be for Susannah and Charles. Perhaps she became ill and needed to return to the care of loved ones back in the comfort of their Pennsylvania home. Or possibly the hardscrabble life of a farmer in Kansas, fighting to cultivate the hard-baked sod and endure non-stop winds, became too much to bear.

Their son James, born on July 22, 1882, who died in infancy on Dec. 6, 1882, rests in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Berlin.

Susan died at the age of 32 on April 5, 1886. The cause of death has not been found. What's known is that her remains were lowered into the sacred soil of Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in her hometown of Glencoe. [Find-a-Grave] In addition to her dates of birth and death, the face of the grave marker is inscribed "Wife of Chas. Broadwater."

Charles abandoned their Rawlins homestead property in Kansas without cultivating it. Five years after the Broadwaters' homestead began, Henry J. Ormsby filed a complaint in the U.S. Land Office in Oberlin, KS, asking that the contract be canceled. News of the case was published in the Atwood (KS) Patriot.

Charles apparently obtained a patent for another piece of Kansas real estate from the land office, made available to him in May 1889. But whether he took occupancy of the tract is not known.

As of 1887, he made his home in Mutual, Westmoreland County, PA, laboring as a farmer.

On Nov. 2, , 1887, at age 37, he wed a second time to 29-year-old dress maker Jennie Stoner (June 17, 1854-1914), daughter of Chauncey and Mary Ann Stoner. Justice of the peace W.A. Keener presided, with the wedding held in Greensburg, the seat of Westmoreland County.

They bore another 10 children, of whom six died young. Among those living to adulthood were son Roy (born Dec. 1892) and daughter Nellie (Broadwater) Gennaro (June 1894).

In February 1890, in Glencoe, PA, he applied for a tavern license.

The United States Census of 1900 shows Charles and Jennie living in Glencoe, laboring as farmers, with son Roy and daughter Nellie in the household.

The Broadwaters relocated again during the decade of the 1900s. By 1910, they dwelled on a farm in North Jackson in Milton Township, Mahoning County, OH.

Sadly, stricken for eight months with a rare cancerous tumor in the bones and soft tissues of the thigh, Jennie died on Aug. 19, 1914 in Milton Township, at the age of 60. Burial was in Newton Township Cemetery in Newton Falls, OH.

When the federal census enumeration again was made in 1920, the widowed Charles and son Roy and daughter Nellie remained together in their Milton Township farm home. At that time, Roy worked as a house painter.

After daughter Nellie wed John Gennaro, the couple moved to Florida, settling in Winter Garden, Orange County, and taking Charles and Roy with them. Son-in-law John Gennaro earned a living in 1920 selling specialties.

Evidence hints that Charles died in Winter Garden in 1932. Floyd Broadwater was named as executor of the estate.

The Gennaros are known to have opened a gift shop in December 1953, along Tampa's Nebraska Avenue, known as Jon-Nel Gift Shop and Florida Gardens. Nellie died in Bradenton at the age of 88 in June 1983. Her funeral was led by Richard R. Avis of Central Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall, with interment in the mausoleum of Myrtle Hill Memorial Park.

The religious teachings of Rev. Charles Taze Russell heavily influenced the Russell Gilbert Broadwater family. Library of Congress

Son Gilbert Hitchcock Broadwater (1872-1949) was born in March 1872 in or near Glencoe Somerset County and moved to Kansas as a boy of about seven. He was a 14-year-old when his mother died in 1886. Gilbert was twice-married. His first spouse, joined in marriage in about 1889, was Ellen "Lydia" Willison (March 22, 1869-1950), daughter of Jacob Williston of Hyndman, Bedford County, PA. They produced these known children -- Clara Isabella Campbell, Emma I. Campbell, Walter Eugene Broadwater, Bernard Bryant Broadwater and Harold Broadwater. When the federal census enumeration was made in 1900, the family dwelled on Kent Avenue in Davis, Tucker County, WV, with Gilbert working as a day laborer. Circa 1905, he tried his hand at studio photography and moved the family to Thomas, Tucker County, WV. There, sons Bernard was born in 1903 and Harold in 1905. By 1910, census records show he had relocated his studio to the town of Parsons in the Blackfork District of Tucker County. He and his brothers Lloyd and Stephen are known to have traveled to their old hometown of Glencoe, PA to visit their brother Alfred in August 1911. The news of the gathering was published in the gossip columns of the Meyersdale Republican. After a divorce, he was united in matrimony a second time with Martha Falkenstine (1893- ? ), a native of New Jersey. They were 21 years apart in age. Two known offspring born into this second marriage were Daniel Broadwater and Ruth Broadwater. The pair resided in 1922 in Akron, OH and in 1928 in Florida. They are known to have dwelled in the early 1930s in Jacksonville, FL and then relocated in 1933 to St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, FL. Gilbert was a machinist and carpenter by trade and in October 1946 advertised in the Tampa Bay Times that he would furnish carpentry and block-laying for $1.25 an hour. At that time, Gilbert had no occupation, but Martha was employed as a stenographer at a U.S. Veterans Hospital. The Broadwaters' address in 1941 was 560 54th Street South and in 1949 at 302 15th Street North, both in St. Petersburg. The family was plunged into mourning when Gilbert died at home at age 77 on Nov. 20, 1949. An obituary was published in the Times. Former wife Lydia spent her final years in Sand Patch, Somerset County, PA. Burdened with senile dementia and chronic heart disease, she was admitted to the Somerset County Home where she died at the age of 80 on June 23, 1950. Her remains were interred in Comp's Church Cemetery.

• Granddaughter Clara Isabella Broadwater (1890-1979) was born in March 1890 in Southampton Township, Somerset County, and moved to West Virginia in young girlhood. In about 1916, she was joined in wedlock with Alexander Earl Campbell (1890-1935), a native of Salineville, OH. Together, they bore three known children -- Daniel Earl Campbell, Alice Jean Campbell and Dale Campbell. The family made a home at 745 Woodland in Alliance, Stark County, OH in the early 1920s. Grief enveloped the young family when son Daniel, afflicted with inflammation of the middle ear, contracted influenza and bronchial pneumonia and died at a little more than two years of age on Feb. 9, 1923 in Alliance. The child's remains were buried in the Alliance City Cemetery. The U.S. Census of 1930 shows that the Campbells had remained in Alliance. There, Alexander earned a living as proprietor of a wallpaper store. Alexander passed away in 1935 when the family was in Salem, Columbiana County, OH. By 1940, the widowed Clara and her two children moved to Canton, Stark County, OH. Circa 1949, she is known to have resided in Miami Beach. She married again to (?) Hawkins and produced two more offspring, Elaine Shirley and Judi Dickerson. Her residence in 1968 was in Miami Beach in a year when she lost her son Dale. She passed away in Miami in March 1979.

Great-granddaughter Alice Jean Campbell (1922-2005) was born on July 23, 1922 in Alliance, OH. In 1935, her home was in Salem, Columbiana County, OH and in 1940 in Canton, Stark County, OH. She married Raymond Oliver Sanderson (1914-2007). The couple lived in North Miami Beach in 1968. Alice died in Polk County, FL on June 21, 2005.

Great-grandson Dale Taze Campbell Sr. (1924-1968) was born on Dec. 16, 1924 in Canton, Stark County, OH. He appears to have received his middle name in a nod of admiration to Rev. Charles Taze Russell, the nationally known pastor whose teachings heavily influenced the Broadwaters and whose church was a forerunner to the Jehovah's Witnesses movement. Dale grew up in Canton and served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War. After the war's end, in 1946 when he was in young manhood, he relocated to Miami, FL. In March 1956, in Dade County, FL, he wedded Anna Marie Menchaca (1935-1986). The couple's two known offspring were Dale Taze "Butch" Campbell Jr. and Elaine Campbell. Dale made a living as a partner in Mermaid Pools Inc. Their address in the 1960s was 2035 Northwest 183rd Street in Opalocka near Miami. Sadly, Dale Sr. died at the age of 43 on Jan. 22, 1968. His obituary was published in the Miami Herald. Son Dale Jr. was a carpenter in Orlando and died on April 7, 2017.

• Granddaughter Emma I. Broadwater (1892-1980) was born in Aug. 1892 in Pennsylvania. She married (?) Campbell ( ? - ? ) and bore one child. They were in St. Petersburg in 1949 and moved to Tampa in about 1955. In her later, widowed years, she dwelled at 2923 Angela Court. Sadly, she passed away at the age of 87 on May 20, 1980. A brief obituary appeared in the Tampa Tribune, saying she was survived by a grandchild.

• Navy newsletter article about Walter Broadwater, 1945. Courtesy Denise Newcomb

  Grandson Walter Eugene Broadwater (1896-1963) was born on Jan. 29, 1896 in Keyser, Mineral County, WV. He migrated as a young man to Cumberland, Allegany County, MD, where he dwelled at 69 Ascension Street. He stood 5 feet. 5 inches tall, weighed 120 lbs and had black hair and brown eyes. In 1917, he was employed by Union News Company as a news agent on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad run between Cumberland, MD and Parkersburg, WV. When required to register for the military draft during World War I, he claimed an excemption on religious grounds, stating that he belonged to the Millenium Dawnians sect of the Charles Taze Russell Church movement, a pacifist forerunner to the Jehovah's Witnesses. He was influenced by Russell's belief that Christ's Second Coming had already occurred and that World War I was the start of Armageddon, the end times. Walter spent decades at sea off and on. An article in  the souvenir edition of  The Webster Dictionary, a typewirtten newsletter of the S.S. Webster Victory, and dated Nov. 1, 1945: 

  Boatswain Walter BROADWATER who is from Hyndman, Pa., has spent 32 years of his life at sea. Before the last war he shipped on ore freighters but during World War I he served aboard ships carrying troops to and from France. One ship brought back part of the Rainbow Div. After the last war he travelled all the 7 seas entering most of the worlds ports. He made a round the world trip on the "Hartford". The outbreak of this war found him off the coast of Brazil about the tanker "James H. Clark" dodging a submarine attack. He won't tell some of his experiences but other persons aboard the Webster say he has seen a lot of rough times. He was in on the invasion of Casablanca and when VJ day came was off Saipan on a ship carrying a load of bombs for Tokyio [sic]. He has been thru a few bad hurricanes. Once in 1940 while on the "Lamont Dupont" the ship broke in two going on the rocks losing 1600 tons of ore. He was 8 days adrift before being picked up. Was on three other ships that were lost on the rocks. Without talking much to this fellow one can detect right away that he can tell his fair share of sea yarns if he would! One time while working on a ships smokestack he fell inside, falling 120 ft. into a bed of cinders in the boiler but was unhurt. He says there are several others in the deck crew that can tell plenty of good sea stories too as they are old hands at this game.   

  When the federal census enumeration was made in 1920, he may have dwelled in Cumberland, MD where he labored in a hot mill of the local tin mill. Then in 1930, he and his brother Bernard boarded in the home of David and Pauline Verdon in Cleveland, OH, both working as painters, with Walter specializing in automobile work. During World War II, he was living in Sand Patch near Larimer Township, Somerset County, and employed as a merchant seaman by Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, based at its Canton Yards facility in Baltimore, MD. When again registering for the military draft in 1942, he claimed to be crippled on both feet. Among his sailing trips to New York were from the Port of Spain in June 1943, aboard the SS Abel Parker Upshur - the port of Marseilles, France in December 1945 aboard the ship Joseph Leidy - and the port of Copenhagen, Denmark in July 1947 on the SS K.I. Luckenbach. He also shipped from Cardiff, Wales to Beaver, OR in September 1945 on the Robert Lansing. He surrendered to the spirit of death in December 1963. His death is believed to have occurred in Maryland.

• Grandson Bernard Bryant Broadwater (1903-1932) was born on Jan. 31, 1903 in Thomas, Tucker County, WV. The 1930 United States Census lists Bernard and his brother Walter living in Cleveland, OH and working as painters. He moved at some point to North Jackson, Mahoning County, OH, and lived on Route 1. Bernard married Arbella Fenton ( ? - ? ). He earned a living as an automobile painter for the Clyde Cole Motor Company. On the tragic day of Feb. 7, 1932, while driving in Warren, OH, he was instantly killed when his vehicle collided with a truck at the corner of Fulton and Main Streets. A physician ruled that the cause of death was a broken neck. Ironically, he had just turned age 29 six days earlier. Burial of the remains was in Eckis Cemetery in North Jackson. The accident received brief coverage in the New Philadelphia Daily Times.

• Grandson Harold Broadwater (1905-1951) was born on May 16, 1905 in Thomas, Tucker County, WV. Dr. W.L. Werner assisted in the birth. At the age of 22, in about 1927, he was joined in wedlock with 21-year-old Ohio native Marie O. Knorr ( ? - ? ). Circa 1930, the couple made a home in Cleveland, OH, with him working as a sprayer in an automobile plant. In time they migrated to California, where in 1945 they resided in Culver City. The Broadwaters took over ownership of the Clearview Hotel in Clipper Gap, Placer County. The pair announced their intention to sell the hotel property to Ethel Burton circa May 1949, with the legal advertisement placed in the Auburn (CA) Journal. Sadly, the angel of death carried him away at the age of 46, on Nov. 25, 1951, in Solano County, CA. His remains are at rest for all time in Vacaville-Ekmira Cemetery in Solano.

• Grandson Daniel Broadwater (1922-2001) was born on July 29, 1921 in Akron, OH. He had no middle name. Daniel moved to Florida in boyhood with his parents and grew up in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, FL. At the age of 20, he was enrolled in a vocational school in Mirror Lake, FL. On Nov. 19, 1952, he was united in matrimony with Mary Laura Carpenter ( ? - ? ). Their wedding was held at the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, by the hand of Rev. Vaughn Johnson. Reported the Tampa Times, the bride wore “an accordion pleated gown of rose crepe. With this she wore navy blue accessories and a corsage of sweetheart roses and lilies of the valley.” Daniel’s best man was his uncle, John Gennaro. Mary Laura brought two sons to the union, David Carpenter and Carl Carpenter. They couple went on to bear four more offspring of their own – Daniel Broadwater Jr., Mary L. Simms, Ruth Broadwater and Carolyn Eanell. Daniel served in the U.S. Army during World War II. After returning home, he secured a job as a heavy duty mechanic for the City of Largo. The couple belonged to the Good Samaritan Church, where he was a deacon. He died in St. Petersburg’s Kindred Hospital Bay Area at the age of 80 on Oct. 29, 2001. An obituary was printed in the Tampa Bay Times.

Step-great-grandson David Carpenter

Step-great-grandson Carl W. Carpenter ( ? - ? ) graduated from Boca Ciege High School and St. Petersburg Junior College. Circa 1972, during the Vietnam War, he served in the U.S. Air Force. On Aug. 17, 1972, in nuptials held at the First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville, AR, he married Gwynne Ann Grabill, daughter of Jerry N. Grabill of Jacksonville. Gwynne was pictured in an announcement of the wedding in the Tampa Bay Times. She was an alumna of Jacksonville High School and the State College of Arkansas. At the time of marriage, she worked at the Warren Dupree Elementary School in Jacksonville.

Great-grandson Daniel Broadwater Jr. ( ? - ? ) graduated from Boca Ciege High School. In young manhood he was employed by the Bilmar Beach Resort. On Feb. 22, 1986, he wedded Diane Todd Bowers, daughter of Earl A. and Marion C. Bowers. The ceremony was held at the Church by the Sea in Madeira Beach, FL and announced in the Tampa Bay Times. She also was a Boca Ciega graduate and had studied at St. Petersburg Junior College. At the time of marriage, she was employed by Atlantic Federal Savings & Loan.

Great-granddaughter Mary L. Broadwater ( ? - ? ) entered into marriage on Nov. 12, 1977 with John Stephen Simms, son of Thomas W. Simms of Miami. Their wedding was held at Visitation Catholic Church in North Miami Beach.

Great-granddaughter Ruth Broadwater

Great-granddaughter Carolyn Ann Eastman ( ? - ? ) lived in Sarasota in young adulthood. In a ceremony at the Ringling Museum of Art in St. Petersburg, on April 6, 1996, she was joined in matrimony with Robert Eanell ( ? - ? ), son of Wanda Eanell. The couple was pictured in the Bradenton (FL) Herald.

• Granddaughter Ruth Broadwater (1927-2010) was born  on Oct. 1, 1927 in Orlando, FL. She made a home in St. Petersburg in 1949. She was a talented musician, pianist and teacher. At the age of 34, on June 6, 1963, she wed Bernard Rosenthal ( ? - ? ). They did not reproduce. Said an obituary, she “traveled with her husband in his career as a conductor and player with several orchestras. She was able to perform as a guest soloist with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra” They lived for many years in Oklahoma City, and then in 1988 she relocated to Mountain Home, AR, with another residence in Gainesville, MO. Death swept her away at the age of 82 on July 10, 2010.

Son Alfred Broadwater (1875-1955) was born on Oct. 20, 1875 in or near Glencoe in Somerset County. He migrated to Kansas in boyhood, but returned to his home region as a teenager. An April 1893 Somerset (PA) Herald article states that he and his brother Lloyd graduated from the county's common schools at that time. He went on to teach in the one-room Roddy School in the Glencoe area in the late 1890s. On Aug. 28, 1898, when he was 22 years of age, Alfred married 24-year-old Clara F.M. Stief (Oct. 10, 1874-1953), of Glencoe, the daughter of German immigrant John M. Stief and his wife Rosanna Weaver. Rev. J.D. Hunsicker officiated the wedding, held in the Stief home. The four children born to the pair were John Stief Broadwater, Roland "Paul" Broadwater, Grace Yancey and Clarence "Lee" Broadwater. The family lived in Glencoe, Somerset County. In addition to farming, Alfred was trained as a surveyor and made that his business, performing his services in 1903 for local farmers in Southampton Township. He was a member of the Land Surveyors and Professional Engineers. As well, he was active with the Sunday School of the Reformed Church in Glencoe and in 1910 was elected superintendent of the program. He occasionally worked over the state line in Cumberland, MD. The couple appears to have separated, with Clara moving into the home of her son Paul and later to Frostburg, MD, remaining apart for years. In late 1920, having purchased a new automobile, Alfred and the children escaped a tragedy when the car stalled en route to the train station at Glencoe. Reported the Meyersdale Republican, the vehicle "choked in going up a steep hill, the lights went out and the car went down the bank at the side of the road, turning turtle. Mr. Broadwater jumped from the car at the sign of trouble, but Paul and Grace were pinned underneath the car until they were released by their father who, unaided, lifted the car. Both were hurt, but not seriously." Alfred met with a more serious injury when his car stalled again in June 1921, when heading home after Sunday School. Said the Republican, "the steering gear didn't work properly and the car ran up a bank and turned turtle. Grace and Lee jumped from the car, thereby escaping injury, but Mr. Broadwater was pined [sic] under-neath the car and had two ribs broken. Dr. Lichty of Meyersdale was immediately called..."

Circa 1923, he earned income as a distributor for "Farmelectric," a piece of equipment which furnished power and light, and regularly advertised in the local newspaper. A January 1925 Republican article said he "has a plant installed at his home and now turns midnight into noonday light." He also operated two farms and a sawmill as well as selling farm machinery, silos and refrigeration equipment. But having borrowed to finance his business, he was forced into bankruptcy by one of his creditors seeking immediate loan repayment. In reporting on the development, the Republican said Alfred had "always been regarded as an honest and industrious man, and he expects, if given time to husband his resources, to be able to pay dollar for dollar all he owes." He apparently worked through the bankruptcy and by 1932 was selling farm and home equipment from his agency in Salisbury, Somerset County. His advertisements promoted Sunbeam Automatic Electric Light and Power plants and Paul Red Knight Electric Automatic Water Systems. In late October 1936, he was jailed for fraudulent conversion, a criminal charge for taking money from one person and using it for an unrelated purpose, with the complaint brought by Edna Schrock. As Clara's health failed, she returned to the family home in Glencoe. She spent the last two years and six months of her life as a patient in the Somerset County Home, and passed away there at age 79 on Feb. 27, 1953. Her remains were interred in the Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in Glencoe, with Rev. J. Earl Dobbs, of the Mt. Lebanon Evangelical and Reformed Church, officiating. The Republican printed an obituary. Alfred's address in his final years was along Eastman Road, on what he called "Sunny Glen Farm." He died at the age of 79 in Cumberland's Memorial Hospital on July 15, 1955. His obituary appeared in the Cumberland News, which said he "was believed to have been the senior practicing surveyor in Maryland." Funeral services were presided over by Rev. Kenneth Grove of Emmanuel Methodist Church. Under the terms of his will, he left his Sunny Glen Farm to his son Paul, two tracts to son Lee and the balance to daughter Grace and other two sons.

• Grandson John Stief Broadwater ( ? - ? ) – As with his younger brothers, John was afflicted with some sort of mental deficiency and stammered in childhood. His parents sent him to a speech therapy school in Indianapolis in 1919. Apparently unable to manage his own financial and living affairs, he was assigned to a guardian in April 1926 by the Court of Common Pleas of Somerset County. The County Trust Company was given the guardianship role. A related story in the Meyersdale Republican said he was “an alleged feeble-minded person.” Later that year, in July 1926, he was “suffering from all kinds of aches and pains,” said the Republican, and went to Cumberland, MD to consult with a specialist. The solution at the time was to have a dentist pull all of his teeth. The guardianship continued at least through 1961.

• Grandson Roland "Paul" Broadwater (1902-1964) -- also spelled "Rowland," "Rollin" and "Rollan" -- was born on May 5, 1902 in Glencoe. He suffered from mental disabilities and spent his life embroiled with the law. One acquaintance said that he was "a man with the mentality of a five-year-old boy." He stood 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighed 135 lbs. had brown hair and blue eyes and a slight speech impediment. Circa 1925, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of forging government checks, as reported in the Pittsburgh Daily Post. He pleaded guilty and was placed on a one-year parole. He is known to have been the father of a daughter, born in January 1930, and a son, James Franklin Broadwater, born in about 1933. Then, on Aug. 1, 1935, at the age of 33, he shot a 71-year-old employee of the family sawmill during a heavy electrical rainstorm, while the man sat in a truck. The bullet made a superficial wound above the right eye, with the employee making a full recovery. But Paul ran to avoid capture, with charges filed against him for shooting with intent to maim, disfigure and disable, aggravated assault and battery, and discharging a deadly weapon. He hid out in an abandoned local barn for several days and eluded capture for weeks. But in late August, he finally surrendered to the county sheriff. He was found guilty at trial, with the county jail physician saying that Paul "was not insane but he was so low in mentality that he could not do things a boy of five could do." A Somerset Daily American article said he "was slightly demented, but was not vicious unless angry." He was sentenced to between one to two years of hard labor and solitary confinement at the Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh. At some point he was transferred to Rockview Penitentiary in Bellefonte, PA but escaped from the prison farm in July 1936, leading to a wide search. A United Press story about the escape described him as "slightly demented." He was captured within 24 hours and placed in Centre County jail in Bellefonte. A single man at the age of 38, in 1940, he and his mother shared a farm home in Glencoe. He appears to have remained in Glencoe through the 1950s, enduring the arrest and imprisonment of his teenage son James. At the age of 48, he was arrested again in December 1950, charged with robbery by assault and force. Then on the 2nd of August 1951, he was "brutally beaten and robbed by his 18-year-old son, another man and a woman on his farm," reported the Somerset Daily American. "Broadwater was taken to Somerset Community hospital with a lacerated head, bruises and contusions of the face, and a compound fracture of the right index finger." His life of criminal activity ebbed and flowed. For a time he lived quietly on his “Sunny Glen Farm” near Glencoe farm, comprised of 152 acres. He offered the tract for sale in 1954, advertising that it had 100 fruit trees, good buildings and good water. Circa August 1963, he shared a farmhouse on the old farm with his brother Lee. When the two men quarreled, police were called, and the brother was arrested after firing a shotgun in the direction of the officers. In July 1964, Paul was found guilty of burglary of a local cottage owned by a Connellsville man and placed on probation for a year. He appears to have moved shortly thereafter to a home along Route 220 in New Creek, Mineral County, WV. Death finally cut him down on Nov. 20, 1964, at the age of 62. An examining physician ruled that death was due to “Natural causes without evidence of foul play.” His remains were placed into eternal rest in Queens Point Cemetery in Keyser, WV.

Great-grandson James Franklin Broadwater (1933- ? ) was born in about 1933. He ran afoul of the law as a teenager and was incarcerated in the Maryland State House of Correction. Upon his release in 1951, at age 18, he returned home and then befriended another former inmate, Robert Wolf, who had served time in the house of correction for automobile theft. The two bummed around Westernport, MD, where they met some girls, and then drove to James' home. They asked James' father for a $25 loan, to be used as a down payment on a car, but when the father asked for a receipt or assurance of repayment. Reported the Meyersdale Republican, "The two men are alleged to have held Broadwater while a woman beat him over the head with a stove poker in order to make him tell them where his money was hidden. Broadwater said that he had $48 hidden in a bookcase and finally revealed the hiding place. The four then took the money and left." The group was apprehended in Romney, WV. James was sentenced to between two and four years in Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh and was fined $500 for a combination of rape, assault and battery charges.

• Granddaughter Roseanna "Grace" Broadwater (1904-1962) was born on Feb. 29, 1904. She attended Meyersdale High School and, with three brothers exhibiting signs of mental illness, may have been especially driven to succeed. When winning a trophy cup for oratory in 1924, the Meyersdale Republican referred to her as "a regular go-getter.... She is a farm girl and is one of the most popular members of the 1924 M.H.S. She not only is the best reader in her class, but is brilliant in the rest of her studies. She excels especially in literature and has written a number of clever poems for the High School paper, 'Red and Black'." She then enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh and received her degree in 1928. But the strain of overwork took its toll, and she suffered some sort of breakdown and was treated in the city's St. Francis Hospital. On June 15, 1929, having recovered, she was united in matrimony with Theodore F. Yancey Sr. (July 26, 1905-1975), of Opelika, AL. The wedding, conducted in West Palm Beach, FL where Theodore was employed as a civil engineer, was announced in the Republican. He was a 1926 graduate of Auburn College. Two children born to the couple were Theodore F. Yancey Jr. and Barbara Banks. Theodore’s employer over the years was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he eventually attained the rank of captain. In 1936, they were posted in New Orleans, and in 1941, having served at Fort Belvoir, VA, was transferred to the Army War College in Washington, DC. Circa 1951, the Yanceys were in Altamont, NY and in 1953-1955 in Jackson, LA. Grace passed away on April 11, 1962. Her remains were lowered under the sod of Farmville Baptist Church Cemetery in Lee County, AL. The widowed Theodore married a second time to Winifred Phillips (1907-1997). He succumbed to the spectre of death at age 70 on Nov. 9, 1975. His remains are in the sleep of ages in Rosemere Cemetery in Opelika.

Great-grandson Theodore F. Yancey Jr. ( ? -1988) was born in Opelika, AL. He married German immigrant Eveline Helga Horch ( ? - ? ), a native of Berlin and the daughter of Bruno Max and Gerda (Muller) Horch and stepdaughter of Hildegard (?). He spent his working career in the military, and is known to have taken part in the Korean War and Vietnam War. He appears to have retired as a sergeant first class. In 1979, as a volunteer with the Fort Jackson Museum, he helped process two Confederate cannons which had lain underwater since the Civil War sinking of the block-runner ship Georgiana in 1863. The cannons were rare, having been built in London in 1862 by the Blakely manufacturer. Theodore belonged to the Dentsville lodge of the Masons and Syria Shrine, and was a charter member of the Riverbanks Zoo. Their address in the late 1980s was 3246 Pinebelt Road in or near Columbia, SC. Sadly, at the age of 57, Theodor died on April 23, 1988. Burial was in Greenlawn Memorial Park, and an obituary appeared in the Columbia (SC) State. Eveline outlived her husband by more than two decades. Death swept her away on Dec. 13, 2009, as a resident of The Laurels of Forest Glenn in Garner, NC. She was pictured in an obituary in the State.

Great-granddaughter Barbara Yancey married (?) Banks. She made a home in Opelika, AL in 1988.

• Grandson Clarence "Lee" Broadwater ( ? - ? ) worked at the family sawmill in Glencoe in 1935. He established a home in Cumberland, MD and was there circa 1953. Circa 1955, he made a home with his widowed father, and at the father’s death later that year received an inheritance of two farm properties. Circa August 1963, at the age of 57, he shared a farmhouse with his brother Paul on the old farm. The two men quarreled one day, and the brother called for help. When Somerset County Sheriff Norman Walker arrived, Lee fired a shotgun in his direction, and then left the house. Police remained on-site from Saturday evening to Monday morning, waiting for the shooter’s return. Lee was finally discovered in a nearby field, and “surrendered without a struggle,” said the Meyersdale Republican. “It was found that barricades had been set up at the doors and windows and the house was well stocked with ammunition. The prisoner was committed to Somerset State Hospital temporarily for a determination of sanity, authorities said. If he is released as sane, he will face charges of pointing and discharging a deadly weapon and surety of the peace.”

Son Lloyd Broadwater (1877- ? ) was born on June 6, 1877 in Glencoe. He had no middle name. Lloyd relocated to Rawlins County, KS as a toddler. He was nine years of age when his mother died back in Somerset County. His whereabouts in the 1886-1900 timeframe may be lost to history. He may not have married, or perhaps was divorced. In adulthood he stood 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with brown hair, and weighed 135 lbs. He and his brothers Gilbert and Stephen visited their brother Alfred in Glencoe, PA in August 1911, with the Meyersdale Republican referring to the trio as "now from the western states..." By the time he reached the age of 42 in 1920, he had made his way to Seattle. The United States Census of 1920 lists him as rooming in the home of Daniel and Anna Gardner in Seattle, employed as a business college teacher. After a cross-country move, Lloyd dwelled in Brooklyn, NY in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. In 1930, he lodged in the Hotel Margaret annex, with the International Bible Students Association, engaged in missionary work for the publishing house. Federal census records for 1940 show him as a lodger at the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society Inc., in Columbia Heights, selling religious books to earn a living. He remained with Watchtower circa 1942 when required to register for the military draft during World War II.

Marcy (NY) State Hospital for the Insane near Utica, where Stephen Girard Broadwater resided in the 1930s and '40s.

Son Stephen Girard Broadwater (1879-1943) was born in Aug. 17, 1879 in Pennsylvania and in infancy moved with his parents to Kansas. He may have been named for the Philadelphia banker known to have helped save the federal financial system from collapse during the War of 1812. What became of the boy immediately after his mother's death in 1886 is not known. In manhood, he had brown eyes and black hair, and was of medium build and height. On Aug. 18, 1904, Stephen was joined in wedlock with Alice Mary Burney (May 8, 1872-1916), daughter of Robert S. and Mary J. (Adams) Burney and a native of Canyon County, CO. Their nuptials were held in Warrensburg, Johnson County, MO, where both were living at the time. A daughter born to this union was Mary Gladys Reid. The marriage apparently fell apart, with Alice moving to Raymore, Cass County, MO, a suburb to the south of Kansas City, and working as a school teacher. He may have inherited his father's wanderlust, and in 1910 made a home by himself in the School District of Yellowstone in Montana, earning a living as a public school teacher. On March 1, 1911, he agreed to purchase a tract of 160 acres in Musselshell, MT in an agreement with the General Land Office in Lewistown. The property was in Township 5 North, Range 24 East, Section 34. By 1917, Stephen migrated to Ohio where his father was residing in North Jackson, Mahoning County, OH. When required to register for the military draft during World War I, he disclosed that his occupation was missionary work, employed in Brooklyn, NY. At the age of 50, in 1930, he was a patient in Kings Park State Hospital in Smithtown, Suffolk County, NY. Census records show that in 1935-1940, he was institutionalized in the Marcy (NY) State Hospital for the Insane near Utica in Oneida County, NY. Death mercifully swept him away from his sufferings on June 11, 1943. Burial was in Evergreen Cemetery in Lee, Oneida County. His former wife Alice, burdened with "cerebral softening," died on Oct. 21, 1917 in Kansas City, with burial in Peculiar, MO..

• Granddaughter Mary Gladys Broadwater (1905-1999) was born in 1905. She entered into marriage with Virgil P. Reid (1902-1999). She succumbed to death in 1999. Interment of the remains was in Benton Cemetery in Butler County, KS.

~ Son Jacob Lepley ~

Son Jacob Lepley (1857-1871) was born on Feb. 1, 1857. He only lived into his early teens.

Sadly, Jacob passed away at the age of 14 years, 10 months and 20 days on Dec. 21, 1871.

The cause of his untimely death is not yet known.

He rests for all time in the Lepley Family Cemetery in Southampton Township. His upright grave marker, still legible today, features a handshake illustration at the top. [Find-a-Grave]

~ Daughter Emma Frances (Lepley) Baker ~

Daughter Emma Frances Lepley (1859-1935) was born on May 19, 1859.

Circa 1875, when she was about 16 years of age, she was united in holy wedlock with George Baker (April 1857-1922).

They are known to have produced a family of three sons, the eldest and youngest born 19 years apart -- Earl Baker, Roy Ervin Baker and Dallas Benjamin Baker.

The couple relocated to Iowa sometime between 1877 and 1880. The United States Census of 1880 shows the couple in Highland, Tama County, IA, residing on a farm. At that time, George's older brother, 39-year-old Chatan Baker, lived under their roof.

When the federal census enumeration was made in 1900, the Bakers dwelled on a farm in Hickory Grove, Jasper County. Emma returned to her home region of Gladdens, Somerset County for a visit in August 1902. Her vacation was reported in the gossip columns of the Meyersdale Republican.

Railroad station in the Bakers' home region of Marshalltown, IA

The pair's whereabouts in 1910 have not yet been found, but two of their sons were living independently elsewhere in Hickory Grove at that time.

Emma and George returned to Somerset County in November 1919, and are known to have visited at the home of Emma's sister and brother in law, Effie and William B. Kennell.

In 1920, the family residence was near Marshalltown, Marshall County, IA. the 62-year-old George had no occupation at that time, but the couple provided a home for their married son Dallas and his wife.

George died on June 24, 1922. Burial was in Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown.

Emma Frances survived him by a baker's dozen of years. She succumbed at the age of 76 on Nov. 5, 1935.

Son Earl H. Baker (1876-1943) was born on Nov. 22, 1876 in Somerset County. Having migrated to Iowa in childhood, he grew up helping his father with farmwork in Hickory Grove, Jasper County, IA. In young manhood he lived in Gilman, IA. When he was 25 years of age, on Jan. 9, 1901, he entered into the bonds of marriage with 17-year-old Mahala Green (1885-1925), a native of Jasper County, IA and the daughter of William A. and Emily C. (Saylor/Taylor) Green. The couple bore at least one son, Louis Baker. Early in their married years, in October 1908, Earl was one of five Marshall Countians to win a free 160-acre farm in Tripp County, SD, an area considered part of the Rosebud Indian Agency. He and Mahala decided to move there to make their future. The federal census enumeration of 1910 shows the couple on a farm in Huggins, Tripp County, SD. The Bakers remained in Tripp County during the decade of the 1910s and are listed there in the 1920 census, but having moved to the town of Winner. Earl's occupation changed during that time to carpentry. The couple appears to have moved back to Marshalltown in about 1922, making a home at 206 North Fourth Street. Sadly, having undergone surgery at Marshalltown's Deaconess Hospital to remove her gallbladder ("cholecystectomy"), the 41-year-old Mahala died on Sept. 1, 1925. Burial was in Riverside Cemetery. Earl outlived his wife by 18 years. The 1930 United States Census lists Earl as widowed and residing in his mother's household in Marshalltown, earning a living as a common laborer. After his mother's death, he remained in town, with a room in the Anson Hotel. Toward the end, Earl suffered from heart disease and was admitted to Marshall County Hospital. Two weeks later, he passed away as a patient there on Jan. 22, 1943.

• Grandson Louis E. Baker (1902- ? ) was born in about 1902 in Iowa. He moved to South Dakota in childhood. Circa 1943, at the death of his father, Louis dwelled in El Paso, TX. Nothing more is known.

Son Roy Ervin Baker (1886-1975) was born on April 19, 1886 in Iowa. Single at age 24, in 1910, he was a farmer in Hickory Grove and provided a home for his 13-year-old brother Dallas. He appears to have moved to a farm in Gilman, Marshall County later that year or early the next. He was tall and slender in young manhood, with grey eyes and dark hair. On Jan. 11, 1911, now 24 years of age, Roy wed 22-year-old Gladys Lillian Adams (Jan. 5, 1888-1948), a Nebraskan by birth but a Mason City resident and the daughter of Frederick and Carrie (McTaggart) Adams. Their nuptials were held in Mason City, by the hand of Rev. L.C. Clark. During the early years of marriage, the couple made a home in Clear Lake, IA. But by 1920, they relocated to Nebraska, with a home at that time on a farm near Pawnee City, Pawnee County, NE. They became the parents of Walter Dale Baker, Warren Adam Baker and Lucille V. Baker. Roy was required to register for the military draft during World War I, and disclosed that he was a self-employed farmer. The Bakers as shown in the 1930 census were still making a living on a farm in Sheridan. Then in the early 1930s, they moved to a farm in South Fork, near Pawnee City, Pawnee County, NE, and were enumerated there in the 1940 U.S. Census. Grief blanketed the family when Gladys passed away on Sept. 19, 1948. Burial was in Pawnee City Cemetery. A year later, Roy married a second time to Olive May (Cruse) Fournell (1887-1976). She brought two stepchildren to the union, Leonard Fournell and Naomi Eisenbarth. Their home in 1954 was in Tecumseh. In addition to farming, Roy is known to have generated income through carpentry. He succumbed to the angel of death at age 88, in Tecumseh, on Jan. 6, 1975. A brief notice of his death was published in the Lincoln (NE) Star, saying he was survived by five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

• Grandson Walter Dale Baker (1913-1954) was born on Dec. 16, 1913 in Clear Lake, IA and moved to Nebraska as a five-year-old. In his youth, he joined the Methodist Church. Walter attended the rural school district no. 14 and graduated from Pawnee City High School. Interested in a career in public education, he attended Peru State Teacher's College, and then went on to teach for four years in rural schools and for three years in DuBois, NE. When he was 23 years of age, on April 17, 1937, he married Irene Benson (Aug. 12, 1909-2005). One daughter known to have been produced by this couple was Carol Lynette Baker. During World War II, the family relocated to Columbus, OH, where he obtained employment in an airplane manufacturing plant for Curtiss-Wright Company. With the war still aflame in December 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving for 27 months until discharge. The Bakers returned to Pawnee City after the war's end. They belonged to the United Presbyterian Church in Pawnee City, where Walter served as treasurer of the congregation. circa 1950, he was hired by England Oil Company. Sadly, Walter died in their home at the age of 40 on May 22, 1954. His remains were laid to rest in Pawnee City Cemetery. Said an obituary in the Pawnee Republican, "Walter was a kind and loving father and husband, and he will be sadly missed by the family. Pleasant memories will be their heritage. He loved his home and spent many hours of labor making it more pleasant and modern." Irene outlived her husband by an extraordinary 51 years. She passed away at age 96 on Dec. 9, 2005. Interment was in Pawnee City Cemetery.

• Grandson Warren Adam Baker (1920-2012) was born on May 19, 1920 in Pawnee City, Pawnee County, NE. Single at the age of 19, in 1940, he helped his father with farm labor in South Fork near Pawnee City, Pawnee County, NE. On Sept. 20, 1943, he was joined in holy wedlock with Cenith Josephine Votroubek (June 18, 1920-2010), daughter of Louie Votroubek, also of Pawnee City. Their wedding ceremony was led by Rev. S.M. Finch in the Methodist Church of Seneca, KS. News of the marriage was announced in the Beatrice (NE) Times, which said that the newlyweds would resided on a farm near Pawnee City. The two offspring they bore together were Dennis Warren Baker and Janis Colleen Baker. By 1954, the Bakers had migrated to Long Beach, CA. By 1975, he was living in Lakewood, CA, and remained there as of 2007. Cenith passed into the arms of the angels at age 89 on June 1, 2010. Interment was in Whittier's Rose Hills Memorial Park. Warren lived on for another two years. Death carried him into eternity at age 91 on Feb. 26, 2012.

• Granddaughter Lucille Virginia Baker (1926-2007) was born on Jan. 11, 1926 in Pawnee City, Pawnee County, NE. She entered into marriage with Lawrence Bradbury ( ? - ? ). They resided in Pawnee City, NE during their married lives and bore two sons together, Larry Bradbury and Robert Bradbury. Lucille is known to have been active with the Baptist Missionary Society of her church. Death swept her away at the age of 81 on Oct. 29, 2007. Her obituary appeared in the Lincoln (NE) Journal Star. Funeral services were held at the Pawnee City Christian Church, and burial was in Pawnee City Cemetery.

Bird's-eye look at downtown Marshalltown, IA

Son Dallas Benjamin Baker (1896- ? ) was born in Sept. 1896 in Gilman, IA. In 1910, Dallas at age 13 resided on a farm with with his 24-year-old bachelor brother Roy in Hickory Grove. On Oct. 25, 1916, Dallas was united in holy matrimony with 18-year-old Anna B. Dressen (1899- ? ), daughter of Peter and Anna (Koepneny) Dressen of Montour, IA. Rev. B.F. Martin officiated the wedding, held in Marshalltown. The newlyweds made their first home with Dallas' parents in or near Marshalltown, Marshall County, IA. By 1928, the marriage ended. Dallas wed again on Oct. 22, 1928 to Rella (Johnson) Simpson (1901- ? ), an Iowa native and the daughter of J.P. and Ida Belle (Winters) Johnson. Presiding at the marriage was Rev. H.W. Cope of the Friends Church. At the time, Dallas was working as a painter and living in Marshalltown.

~ Son Samuel Lepley ~

Son Samuel Lepley (1861-1947) was born on Jan. 28 or 29, 1861 in Southampton Township.

He was wedded to a Gaumer cousin, Ida Elizabeth Emerick (March 19, 1864-1941), daughter of Solomon and Mary Ellen "Ella" (Albright) Emerick of Gladdens, Somerset County, of the family of Jonathan and Rachel (Sturtz) Emerick.

They were the parents of Cora Alice Lepley, Earl Theodore Lepley, Ella "Sarah" Korns, James Albert Lepley, Harvey Victor Lepley, Bertha Rebecca Bittner, Alonzo S. Lepley and Mary Edna Lepley.

They were lifelong farmers and made their residence near Wellersburg. The couple belonged to the Wellersburg Reformed Church.

In March 1899, Samuel was a candidate for constable of Southampton Township and was named in the Somerset Herald. The federal censuses of 1900-1920 show the family on a farm in Southampton.

Sadness descended on the family on Oct. 9, 1941, when Ida, age 77, was found dead in bed. Said the Meyersdale Republican, "She had been in failing health for a number of months.... Her death broke a marriage of 57 years." Rev. G.R. Winters officiated at the funeral service held in the family home. Her remains were placed into eternal repose in the Lepley Cemetery in Hyndman. She was survived by her brothers John Emerick and George Emerick and sister Mrs. Christ Emerick as well as 20 grandchildren and a dozen great-grandchildren.

Samuel survived for another six years. At the age of 86, suffering from general arterial and heart valve disease, Samuel died on Nov. 10, 1947. In obituaries, the Bedford Gazette and Cumberland Evening Times reported that Rev. John Bucher, of the Wellersburg Reformed Church, officiated at the funeral service. The headcount of his survivors included 20 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. His remains are at eternal rest in Lepley Family Cemetery in Wellersburg.

Daughter Cora Alice Lepley (1884-1926) was born on Nov. 20, 1884 in Southampton Township. She appears not to have married but to have "spent her entire life at the place of her birth," said the Meyersdale (PA) Republican. At the age of 25, in 1910, she lived at home with her parents. In 1923, at the age of 39, she was confirmed in the Gladdens Reformed Church by the hand of Rev. C.A. Hauser. Sadly, Cora succumbed to death at the age of 42, in Southampton, on Nov. 27, 1926. Following funeral services held at the residence, led by Rev. George Ealey of Hyndman, her remains were lowered into eternal sleep in the home cemetery.

Son Earl Theodore Lepley (1886-1956) was born on July 6, 1886 or 1887 near Wellersburg in Southampton Township, Somerset County. He grew up working on the home farm in Southampton, and made farming his life's occupation. He entered into marriage with his first bride, Anna Mae Delbrook (1888-1928). The known offspring in this family were Ida C. Lepley, Cecil H. Lepley, Irwin Theodore Lepley, Raymond Robert Lepley and Earl Harvey Lepley. Sadly, their daughter Ida died in infancy in 1924. Grief swept over the family when Anna Mae succumbed to death in 1928, at the age of about 40. The widowed Earl lived across the state line in Allegany County, MD as of 1930. Earl wedded a second time to Mary Staggs ( ? - ? ). She had been married previously and brought these additional children into the marriage -- Grant L. Staggs, Carroll H. Staggs and Ida B. Moore. The Lepleys were in Mt. Savage, MD  for decades, living along the Mt. Savage Road. They belonged to the Wellersburg Evangelical United Brethren Church, where he served as an elder. Earl died in their home at the age of 70 on Feb. 24, 1957. His remains are in eternal repose in Cook Cemetery, following services conducted by Rev. F.D. Oberkircher. An obituary appeared in the Meyersdale Republican.

• Grandson Cecil H. Lepley (1912-1986) was born on March 7, 1912 in Mount Savage, MD. He grew to manhood laboring on the family farm. Cecil was twice-married. His first bride was Gladys Spiker ( ? -1961). Their four children were Ronald C. Lepley, Barbara Bittner, Janet Taccino and Diane Mosholder. For four decades, Cecil was emploiyed by Celanese Fibers Company at its Amcelle plant in Cumberland. He retired from the position of supervisor of the spinning department. In 1957, the family dwelled in Wellersburg. He belonged to the Wellersburg Volunteer Fire Company and was a lifelong member of the Zion Lutheran and Reformed Church of Wellersburg. Sadly, Gladys died on March 3, 1961. Cecil outlived his first wife by a quarter of a century and wed again to Dorothy O'Neal ( ? - ? ). His final years were spent at 12 Decatur Street, Cumberland. He passed away at age 74 in Cumberland's Memorial Hospital on Nov. 13, 1986. Rev. Harold W. Crabtree presided at the funeral service. An obituary appeared in the Meyersdale New Republic. He sleeps for the ages in Restlawn Memorial Gardens in LaVale.

Great-grandson Ronald C. Lepley (1937-2006) was bon in 1937. He put down roots in Wellersburg.

Great-granddaughter Barbara Lepley married (?) Bittner. Their home in 1986 was in LaVale, MD.

Great-granddaughter Janet G. Lepley (1941-2009) was born in 1941. She wedded (?) Taccino. She was in Frederick, MD in the mid-1980s.

Great-granddaughter Diane Lepley entered into marriage with (?) Mosholder. She dwelled in Meyersdale in 1986.

• Grandson Irwin Theodore Lepley (1916-1978) was born on July 23, 1916 in Maryland. He resided in Mt. Savage, MD in 1957. Irwin was united in the bonds of matrimony with Beryle Cleo Skipper (Jan. 2, 1918-2003), daughter of John and Elizabeth (O'Neal) Skipper of Six Mile Run, PA. Their marriage endured for four decades. Together they produced four offspring -- Patricia Ann "Patty" Fleegle, Linda Kay Bridges, Donna Lee Carpenter and Richard Irvin "Rick" Lepley. The spirit of death whisked Irwin away at age 62 on Oct. 20, 1978. His remains were laid to rest in Restlawn Memorial Gardens in LaVale. Beryle lived for another 25 years as a widow and made a home along Barrelville Road in Mt. Savage. She held a membership in the Zion Reformed Church of Wellersburg and belonged to its Ladies Guild. She also enjoyed attending a Friday morning Bible study class in Mt. Savage. She passed away on April 5, 2003. Rev. Ray Perkins led the funeral service, with an obituary appearing in the Cumberland Times-News.

Great-granddaugher Patricia Ann "Patty" Lepley wedded Wayne Fleegle. They established a home in Corriganville, MD.

Great-granddaughter Linda Kay Lepley was joined in wedlock with Ronald Bridges. The couple relocated to Beaufort, SC.

Great-granddaughter Donna Lee Lepley was united in matrimony with Howard "Bub: Carpenter. Circa 2003, they were in Cumberland.

Great-grandson Richard Irvin "Rick" Lepley married Cindy Snyder. They have dwelled in Cumberland.

• Grandson Raymond Robert Lepley (1920-2009) was born in 1920 in Maryland. His wife was Edna M. (1923-2002). He relocated to Mt. Savage, MD and was there in 1986. Sadly, Edna died in 2002, at the age of about 78. Raymond outlived her by seven years, dying in 2009. They sleep side by side in LaVale's Restlawn Memorial Gardens.

• Grandson Earl Harvey Lepley (1926-2019) was born on Nov. 8, 1926 in Mt. Savage, MD. He entered into wedlock with Grace Lotz ( ? - ? ). Their union endured the ups and downs of an extraordinary 72 years. Together, the couple produced a brood of children -- Glenn Earl Lepley, Portia Ann Blank and Connie Mae Crabtree. They made a farm home for years in the community where he was born, raising cattle and dairy herds. Earl belonged to the Soil Conservation Society and Farm Bureau Association and at one point was awarded Farmer of the Year for Allegany County, MD. The family held a membership in the Barrelville Presbyterian Church. In his free time, Earl liked to carve wood, complete puzzles and work in his garden. At the age of 92, he died on Sept. 9, 2019. Burial was in Restlawn Memorial Gardens in LaVale, with Pastor Gary Barkley presiding.

Great-grandson Glenn Earl Lepley was deceased by 2019.

Great-granddaughter Portia Ann Lepley married Allen Blank. In 2019, they were in Mt. Savage.

Great-granddaughter Connie Mae Lepley wedded Robert Crabtree. They have made a residence in LaVale, MD.

Schellsburg Street in Hyndman, early 1900s

Son James Albert Lepley (1888-1984) was born on Nov. 8, 1888. He grew up working on the home farm in Southampton. He tied the knot with Emma Catherine Delbrook (July 27, 1892-1984). The only known children of this union were Gladys Edna Graham and Wilbert H. Lepley, and possibly also Victor Lepley and Lucella Lepley. The couple dwelled in Wellersburg/Hyndman circa 1926-1941. Research is underway to confirm whether he is the same man who served as president of the Wellersburg School Board and resigned in 1931 to become tax collector of the borough. James and Emma passed into eternity just a month-and-a-half apart, with her dying on Oct. 14, 1984 and him on Nov. 26, 1984. Burial was in Cook Cemetery.

• Granddaughter Gladys Edna Lepley (1916-1979) was born on April 23, 1916 in Kennells Mill, Somerset County. She was married twice in her lifetime. Her first spouse was Clyde O'Baker ( ? - ? ). She later wedded widower Henry Jackson Graham (May 28, 1903-1968), son of John and Mary (Ward) Graham of Tennessee. The couple made a home in the 1960s on Parkwood Court in Fairfax, VA. Henry was a construction carpenter by trade. He passed away from the effects of hypertension and heart disease, at age 65, on May 31, 1968. The remains were shipped to Telford, TN for burial in Mt. Wesley Cemetery. Gladys lived for another 11 years. She died at age 63 on Dec. 14, 1979, and rests with her parents in Cook Cemetery.

• Grandson Wilbert H. Lepley (1918-2004)

Daughter Ella "Sarah" Lepley (1891-1969) was born on May 8, 1891 in Southampton Township. She was joined in the bonds of wedlock with Earl Theodore Korns (Feb. 21, 1888-1970), son of John Wilson and Mary Elizabeth (Geiger) Korns. The family dwelled in or near Hyndman, Bedford County and Ellerslie, MD, near the state line. The pair were the parents of Lester H. Korns and Lucretia Sturtz. Sadness blanketed the family when Ella died at age 77 on April 8, 1969 in Cumberland's Memorial Hospital. An obituary appeared in the Cumberland Evening Times. Earl only lived for another 10 months. The grim reaper cut him away at the age of 81 on Feb. 2, 1970. Interments were in Cook Cemetery, with Rev. C.D. Larson preaching the funeral sermon.

• Grandson Lester H. Korns resided in Hyndman in 1969.

• Granddaughter Lucretia Korns wedded (?) Sturtz. Circa 1969, she was in Wellersburg.

Daughter Bertha Rebecca Lepley (1893-1950) was born in Jan. 1893 in Southampton Township. In about 1915, when she was about 23 years of age, she wedded widower Allen Bittner (1883-1957), a native of Wittenberg, Somerset County and the son of John F. and Matilda (May) Bittner. Allen's first wife, Annie Elizabeth (Weimer) Bittner, had died in 1913. He brought a daughter from the first marriage into the second, Ruth Viola Kennell. Children of the second union were were Alverta Bittner, Merle Theodore Bittner, Harvey Samuel Bittner and Lester Vernon Bittner. Circa 1926, the family dwelled near Ellerslie, MD and in 1941-1947, resided in Hyndman. Death took away Bertha in 1950. Burial was in the Lepley Family Cemetery.

• Step-granddaughter Ruth Viola Bittner married Kennell.

• Granddaughter Alverta Bittner

• Grandson Merle Theodore Bittner

• Grandson Harvey Samuel Bittner

• Grandson Lester Vernon Bittner

Son Harvey Victor Lepley (1896- ? ) was born in about 1896. He made a home in Wellersburg in 1926-1941 and by 1947 was in Sand Patch, Somerset County. He entered into wedlock with Bessie Hall ( ? - ? ). Their children were Alvin H. Lepley, Stanley H. Lepley, Ida Lepley, Marie Lepley, Galen Lepley, Mary Lepley and Faye Lepley. He is known to have been in Meyersdale in 1969.

• Grandson Alvin H. Lepley ( ? - ? ) made a residence in Cumberland, MD in 1981.

• Grandson Stanley H. Lepley (1924-1981) was born on Aug. 30, 1924 in Berlin, Somerset County. He served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II. He was joined in wedlock with Lois Jean Bowman ( ? - ? ). Together, they produced two children, Weldon Lepley and Sandy Lepley. The family resided in Meyersdale. Stanley was considered a "Well-known farmer in the Meyersdale area," said the Somerset Daily American. They belonged to the Grace Independent Reformed Church. The family was plunged into mourning when Stanley died at home at the ae of 56 on Feb. 8, 1981. His obituary was published in the Daily American, which noted that his survivors included 17 nieced and nephews.

• Granddaughter Ida Lepley ( ? - ? )

• Granddaughter Marie Lepley ( ? - ? ) was united in matrimony with (?) Gnagey. They relocated to New Brighton, Beaver County, PA.

• Grandson Galen Lepley ( ? - ? ) dwelled in rural Meyersdale in the early 1980s.

• Granddaughter Mary Lepley ( ? - ? ) wedded (?) Wahl. They migrated to Indiana and in 1981 were in Michigan City, IN.

• Granddaughter Faye Lepley ( ? - ? ) married (?) Ellis. They made a home in 1981 in Baltimore, MD.

Son Alonzo S. Lepley (1899-1973) was born on April 30, 1899 in Southampton Township. He was united in matrimony with Edna P. (March 8, 1908-1971). Edna passed first, on Dec. 12, 1971. At the age of 74, on July 7, 1973, he succumbed to death. Their remains are in eternal sleep in Lepley Family Cemetery. Inscribed on the face of their grave marker are these words: "Our love for each other will last forever."

Daughter Mary Edna Lepley (1902- ? ) was born in about 1902. She established a residence as of 1941 in Cumberland, MD, when she was named in the newspaper obituary of her mother. She remained as of 1969.

~ Son Norman Lincoln Lepley ~

Son Norman Lincoln Lepley (1864-1940) was born on April 15, 1864 in Wellersburg and named in part for the President of the United States.

He was twice married. His first spouse was Martha E. Boyer (1869-1897).

Their offspring were Gertrude Lydia Emerick, Elsie Nevada Gnagey and Allen M. Lepley.

Sadly, Martha died in 1897, possibly in childbirth with their son Allen. The son died the following year in 1898.

Norman's second bride was Hannah Elizabeth Troutman (Jan. 12, 1868-1931), daughter of David and Mary (Knippenberg) Troutman.

Their children were Erma Edna Kennell and Carlton R. Lepley.

The Lepleys lived in Gladdens Run in the early 1930s.

Sadly, stricken with heart disesae and severe gallbladder inflammation, Hannah passed away three days before Christmas 1931. Burial was in Comps Cemetery.

Norman survived his wife by nine years and resided in Hyndman. In about 1937, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and bore the illness for three years until death swept him away on Aug. 14, 1940. Interment was in Comp Cemetery, with son Calton Lepley of Hyndman serving as informant for the death certificate.

Daughter Gertrude Lydia Lepley (1889-1969) was born in 1889. She married a cousin, Jesse Emerick (1884-1972), son of John J. and Elizabeth (Albright) Emerick. See the Emerick biography for more.

Daughter Elsie Nevada Lepley (1890-1965) was born on Oct. 27, 1890 in Southampton Township. In June 1923, not yet married, she and (?) Murphy bore a son together, Merle E. Murphy. The father's precise identity is not yet known. In January 1915, she wedded Alvin C. Gnagey (Nov. 6, 1878-1949), son of Conrad and Mary (Handwerk) Gnagey of Summit Township near Meyersdale. Their wedding ceremony was held in Cumberland, MD. Seven children produced by the couple were Glenn Gnagey, Rev. Ray E. Gnagey, Bruce E. Gnagey, Mrs. Robert Fike, Guy E. Gnagey, Clay Gnagey and Max Gnagey. Just a few months after their wedding, in May 1915, Alvin purchased a farm from his father on the outskirts of Meyersdale and purchased 95,000 shingles for re-roofing the old barn. During his working career, Alvin was a self-employed farmer. Sadly, Alvin was felled by a cerebral hemorrhage and died at home two days later on Feb. 16, 1949. During the final years of Elsie's life, she endured diabetes, hardening of the arteries and heart disease. She passed away at the age of 74 on July 17, 1965. Roy E. Gnagey of Sarver, PA signed the official Pennsylvania certificate of death. Her remains were laid to rest in Lichty Cemetery in Meyersdale following a funeral serviceled by Rev. Donald Hursh. An obituary appeared in the Meyersdale Republican.

• Grandson Merle E. Murphy (1913-1957) was born on June 3, 1913 in Somerset County. He never married. Merle earned a living over the years as a laborer with the Western Maryland Railroad and belonged to the Western Maryland Brotherhood of Railroaders. He also held a membershiop in the Center Lutheran Church of Garrett, PA. Stricken with stomach cancer, death claimed him at age 44, in Meyersdale Community Hospital, on Aug. 18, 1957. Rev. Glenn Keidel preached the funeral sermon. His remains are in eternal repose in Meyersdale's Union Cemetery, with an obituary published in the Meyersdale Republican.

• Grandson Glenn Gnagey ( ? - ? ) - In 1965, he lived in Carolina, WV.

• Grandson Rev. Ray E. Gnagey ( ? - ? ) served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II and went on to study at the University of Pittsburgh. He was joined in the bonds of wedlock with Marie Lepley, daughter of Harvey Lepley of Sand Patch. At the time of marriage, Marie worked for Meyersdale Manufacturing Company. The couple resided in Sarver, PA.

• Grandson Bruce E. Gnagey made his home in Meyersdale in1965.

• Granddaughter (?) Gnagey married Robert Fike. She dwelled in Meyersdale.

• Grandson Guy E. Gnagey ( ? - ? ) was in Meyersdale in the mid-1960s.

• Grandson Clay Gnagey ( ? - ? ) put down roots in Meyersdale.

• Grandson Max Gnagey ( ? - ? ) - Circa 1958, Max was employed by Saylor Motor Company in Somerset as a machanic. He made his residence in the mid-1960s in the rural outskirts of Rockwood.

Daughter Erma Edna Lepley (1901-1987) was born in 1901. She was joined in wedlock with a cousin, Hobart James Kennell (1896-1975), son of Franklin Perry "Frank" and Susanna (Emerick) Kennell of the family of John J. and Elizabeth (Albright) Emerick. See the Emerick biography for more.

Son Carlton R. Lepley (1910-1968) was born in 1910. In 1940, he lived in Hyndman.

~ Daughter Missouri Lepley ~

Daughter Missouri Lepley (1865-1893) was born two days after Christmas 1865 in Southampton Township.

She may never have married but in 1889, at age 23 or 24, bore a daughter Virginia "Virgie Bell" Lepley. The chid's father was James Emerick.

Sadly, at the age of 28, Missouri succumbed on Oct. 25, 1893 in Southampton. The cause of her untimely death is unknown.

Missouri's remains are at repose in Lepley Family Cemetery.

Daughter Virginia "Virgie Bell" Lepley (1889- ? ) was born on April 8, 1889 in Southampton Township and was age four at the time of her mother's demise. She was taken into the home of her mother's parents and lived with them in Southampton in 1900. Then in 1906, after the death of her grandfather Adam Lepley, she learned that she was entitled to an inheritance of $500. She submitted a petition to the Orphans Court of Somerset County, saying that she "resides too far from Somerset to make it convenient to appear in court," and asking that her uncle, William B. Kennell of Southampton Township, be named as her guardian. At the age of 17, circa 1906, she was joined in marriage with her first husband, Amos "Cleveland" Troutman (Nov. 21, 1885-1918), son of Amos and Isabel (Bluebought) Troutman. The known children born to the pair were Merle Troutman, Hazel Troutman, William Troutman, Stewart Troutman, Lewis Troutman and Grace Troutman. The couple moved to Ohio after the birth of their eldest son and by 1910 settled on a farm in North Jackson, near Youngstown, Mahoning County. Grief rocked the family when, at age 33, Cleveland was stricken with a ruptured appendix and developed an infection of peritonitis. He died in Youngstown's City Hospital on June 29, 1918. Virgie Bell lived as a widow for just under four years, remaining on their North Jackson farm. When she was age 31, on Feb. 11, 1922, she married again to 47-year-old widower Frank Carnes ( ? - ? ), also a farmer of North Jackson and the son of Joshua and Almeda (Bolman) Carnes. Methodist Episcopal Church minister Rev. G.S. Hoover presided. Frank brought a daughter from his first marriage into the second union -- Grace Carnes. The Carneses went on to produce at least two more daughters, Edith G. Carnes and Edna Carnes.

• Grandson Merle Troutman (1908- ? )

• Granddaughter Hazel Isabelle Troutman (1909- ? ) was born on Sept. 3, 1909 in Milton Township. On Aug. 18, 1927, at age 18, she entered into marriage with 19-year-old landscaper Ray Irvin Rhodes (Aug. 8, 1908- ? ), son of William and Daisy (Petters) Rhodes of Canfield, OH. Their nuptials were conducted in Mahoning County, by the hand of Rev. Albert S. Glessner.

• Grandson William Hobart Troutman (1910- ? ) was born on March 18, 1910 in Milton Township. He worked in farming as a young man. When he was age 26, on June 4, 1936, he wedded 27-year-old teacher Clara Esther (Williams) Grishkat ( ? - ? ), daughter of Roy and Ella (Saurwein) Williams. She was divorced from her first spouse, Herman Grishkat. Rev. George A. Gibson, of the Canfield Methodist Episcopal Church, led the ceremony.

• Grandson Stewart Cleveland Troutman (1913- ? ) was born on Oct. 30, 1913 in Milton Township. On Nov. 21, 1939, in a wedding held in Mahoning County, he and 19-year-old Minnie Ella Young ( ? - ? ) tied the knot. She was the daughter of Leroy B. and Mary A. (Straup) Young. Local Presbyterian pastor Rev. C.M. Rohrbaugh led the wedding.

• Granddaughter Hazel Troutman

• Grandson Lewis Troutman (1916- ? ) was born in about 1916.

• Granddaughter Grace Carnes (1919- ? ) was born in about 1919

• Granddaughter Edith G. Carnes (1925- ? ) was born in about 1925 in North Jackson, OH.

• Granddaughter Edna Carnes (1930? - ? ) was born in about 1930 in North Jackson, OH. In young womanhood, she was employed as a nurse at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Youngstown. On March 3, 1951, in nuptials held at the North Jackson Federated Church, she was united in matrimony with Melvin Boston ( ? - ? ), son of Leslie Boston. Rev. Lewis Raymond presided. The marriage was announced in the Salem (OH) News, which reported that Edna "was attired in a light blue taffeta, ballerina-style dress with white accessories. Her corsage was of yellow roses." Melvin at the time worked for Slagle Trucking Company.

~ Daughter Effie Louellen (Lepley) Kennell ~

Daughter Effie Louellen Lepley (1868-1958) was born on March 13, 1868 in Southampton Township.

She was joined in wedlock with William B. Kennell (1863-1938).

The couple produced nine children, among them Dora Alice Kennell, Guy Filmore Kennell, Roy Edward Kennell, Robert Harry Kennell, James Lewis Kennell, Clinton Wilbert Kennell, Albert Adam Kennell, Pearl Emerick, Viola Getz, Jennie Weimer and Clara Kennell.

After the death of Effie's father, the Kennells purchased the old home farm for a price of $2,500, far more than could have been realized at a public auction. At about that time, William was named as legal guardian for their underage and motherless niece Virginia Lepley.

They were members of the Gladden Reformed Church and in 1947 made their residence in Hyndman.

A five-generation photograph published in the Sept. 4, 1957 edition of the Cumberland Evening Times featured Effie, her daughter Pearl Emerick, granddaughter Nellie Witt, great-grandson Richard Witt and infant great-great grandson Richard Witt Jr.  

Effie passed into eternity at the age of 90 on April 9, 1958. Funeral services were held in the family church, with burial following in Cook Cemetery. In an obituary, the Cumberland Evening Times reported that her survivors included 46 grandchildren, 60 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

Humorous Pennsylvania German postcard featuring Wellersburg

Son Guy Filmore Kennell (1889-1967) was born in about 1889 near Hyndman. He dwelled in the early 1910s in Southampton Township. In 1911, he and James Lepley operated the Berkey lime kiln near Cumberland, as reported in the gossip columns of the Meyersdale Republican. He is known to have helped his friend Jesse Lepley move to Windber, PA in April 1912, where Jesse had rented a farm. He married Blanche Shaffer (1893- ? ),daughter of Enoch and Susie (Hendrickson) Shaffer. Blanche brought a daughter to the marriage, Helen Shaffer. They went on to bear two more children of their own -- Mildred Martha Kennell and Clifton Kennell. As he and Blanche built a life together. he purchased the "Benjamin Baker farm" from Jefferson Emerick. In noting the transaction, the Republican said that "The lumber firm of C.H. Poorbaugh has been cutting timber on this land all summer and Mr. Emerick has realized a nice little sum from the proceeds. Mr. Kennell is well and favorably known in this locality and is known as a hustler." When his aunt and uncle Emma and George Baker returned from Iowa in November 1919, at the home of Guy's parents, Guy and Blanche went for a visit. In addition to farm work, Guy served as an auditor of Southampton Township circa 1924-1935 and is known to have attended annual Somerset County Supervisors conventions during that time. In July 1927, with fortunes going well, he purchased a Dodge automobile. Their homeplace was considered Wellersburg, and they belonged to the Reformed Church. Their social lives included church services and events, family gatherings, weiner roasts, corn cuttings and other activity. In the 1940s and '50s, he was elected to the position of tax collector for Southampton Township. Sadly, at the age of 77, Guy died in Cumberland's Memorial Hospital on Feb. 20, 1967. An obituary in the Cumberland News said that Rev. John Klindt would lead the funeral service, followed by burial in Hyndman Cemetery.

• Granddaughter Mildred Martha Kennell (1917- ? ) was born in about 1917 in Southampton Township. She was joined in wedlock with (?) Whisler ( ? - ? ). Circa 1967, they lived near Ellerslie, MD.

• Grandson Clifton Kennell (1920- ? ) was born in late December 1920. The Meyersdale Republican announced his birth, saying that the "stork carried a big boy to Mr. and Mrs. Guy Kennell last Sunday..." He lived near Mt. Savage, MD in 1967.

• Step-granddaughter Helen Shaffer resided in rural Hyndman in 1967.

Son Roy Edward Kennell (1891-1948) was born in 1891. On May 13, 1917, at the age of about 26, he wed Naomi Emerick (April 27, 1894-1952), a native of Fairhope and the daughter of John T. and Emma (Martz) Emerick. Together, living in Southampton, they produced a family of 11 children. The known names were Idella May Weese Lucero, Madeline Marie Dom, Stanley Warren Kennell, Emma Ronelda Bittner, Marybelle Elaine White, Arvada "Ruth" Imler, Alzene Sweitzer, John William Kennell, Marion E. "Toodie" Romesberg, Gerald W. "Jerry" Kennell and Frances Faye Troutman. Circa 1920, Roy labored in a sawmill while Naomi was employed as a school teacher, rare for a married woman at the time. Then in 1930, he had become foreman of a lumbering operation. The Great Depression of the 1930s may have changed Roy's fortunes, as by 1940 he had turned to farming, assisted by his son Stanley. He belonged to the Cumberland Aerie of the Order of Eagles. Tragedy plunged the family into unspeakable grief when, in the wee hours of May 12, 1948, Roy was critically injured in what the Everett (PA) Press called "a highway accident" along a rural road near Wellersburg. Family members discovered him about two hours later and took him into the house. When a Hyndman physician was called, he ordered that Roy be rushed to Cumberland's Memorial Hospital. There was no hope, and Roy died there later that day at age 56, on May 13, 1948. The Pittsburgh Press first reported it as a hit-and-run. But as police dug deeper, they learned that Roy and his cousin Jesse Kennell had been "out during the evening," said the Everett newspaper. Jesse "said he left his uncle out of a truck near his home and drove off. It is believed Mr. Kennell may have fallen under the wheels of the truck after climbing out of the vehicle." A longer article in the Bedford (PA) Gazette referred to him as a "sawmill worker and father of 11 children..." Rev. Carl H. Clapp presided at the funeral, with burial at Comps Church Cemetery. The widowed Naomi only outlived her husband by four years. She was stricken and admitted to Memorial Hospital in Cumberland, where she succumbed to the spirit of death at age 57 on Feb. 8, 1952. Rev. George Bittner led the funeral service and burial at Comp Cemetery, with an obituary appearing in the Gazette.

• Granddaughter Idella May Kennell (1917-1983) was born on Aug. 10, 1917. She first wedded John L. Weese ( ? - ? ), son of A.L Weese of Cumberland, MD. He is known to have been a state and radio entertainer. When the United States Census was made in 1940, she was married but residing in her parents' home in Southampton. Then during World War II, she and John relocated to East Orange, NJ. John served as a private in the U.S. Armed Forces and trained with a mortar squad. He is known to have been wounded in action in the invasion of Anzio, Italy. The news of his wound was printed in the Cumberland News. She won first prize in a beauty contest in 1946, sponsored by the Liberty Theatre. Then inJune 1950, she was united in marriage with Modesto Lucero (Feb. 25, 1923-2006), a native of Lima, Peru. Their nuptials were held in Washington, DC in the Grace Reformed Church. Modesto formerly had been part of the Embassy of Peru in Washington, and at the time of marriage was attached to the Pan American Union, today known as the Organization of American States. The Luceros resided in Washington, DC in 1952. Perhaps in retirement, the Luceros appear to have relocated to Idella's hometown of Wellersburg. She died at the age of 66 in Dec. 1983. Interment was in Comps Church Cemetery. Modesto outlived his wife by 22-plus years. Death spirited him away at age 83 on July 20, 2006.

• Granddaughter Madeline Marie Kennell (1919-1990) was born on Feb. 22, 1919. She married Wilbert Homer Dom (1914-1998). The couple was in Wellersburg in the early 1950s and were the parents of Ray Dom. Sadly, Madeline died on Jan. 31, 1990. Burial of the remains was in Restlawn Memorial Gardens in LaVale, MD.

• Grandson Stanley Warren Kennell (1920-1999) was born on Feb. 24, 1920. During World War II, he served as a tech sergeant in the U.S. Army. In 1949, he wed Florence Betty Schrock (Dec. 30, 1925-2003), daughter of Lewis Franklin and Laura Mae (Troutman) Schrock. They were in Hyndman in 1952 and in Glen Burnie, MD in 1997. He surrendered to the spirit of death at age 79 on Nov. 6, 1999. His remains were laid to honored rest in the Maryland Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville, Anne Arundel County, MD. She lived for another four years. Death enveloped her on June 12, 2003.

• Granddaughter Emma Ronelda Kennell (1921-1997) was born on March 16, 1921 in Southampton Township. She was united in wedlock with Merle T. Bittner ( ? - ? ). Their union endured for a remarkable 56 years. Together, they bore two known offspring -- Yvonne L. Kennell and Edward Francis Kennell. In 1952, their home was in rural Hyndman, and they held a membership in the Central Christian Church. Circa 1997, they dwelled along Kennells Mills Road. Emma passed away at age 75, in Sacred Heart Hospital in Cumberland, on Feb. 27, 1997. Evangelist Galen Beitzel preached the funeral service. Burial was in Comps Church Cemetery.

• Granddaughter Marybelle Elaine Kennell (1922- ? ) was born on St. Patrick's Day 1922. She was joined in matrimony with Norman J. White (1919-1979), son of Norman D. White of Weston, Lewis County, WV. Norman was a graduate of Pennsylvania Avenue High School and went on to work in young manhood for the Celanese Corporation of America plant in Cumberland, MD. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Army Air Forces in January 1944 and attained the rank of staff sergeant. Reported the Cumberland Evening Times, he was based at a bomber station in England and was a "veteran of more than a score of aerial assaults on targets in Berlin, Coblenz, Bonn, Bitburg, Sterkrade, Siegen, Cologne, Hopsten, Luneburg, Halle, Munich and other war centers." The couple settled in Baltimore but later returned to Southampton Township. Sadly, Norman passed into eternity on Aug. 13, 1979. Burial was in Comps Church Cemetery. Marybelle survived him by 37 years. She died in Maryland at age 93 on March 10, 2016. The body was brought back to her hometown to be interred at Comps.

• Granddaughter Arvada "Ruth" Kennell (1924-2009) was born on Oct. 3, 1924. She entered into marriage with Floyd Belmont Imler (Oct. 23, 1919-1998). The pair put down roots in the outskirts of Hyndman. Floyd was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. Four children produced by the couple were Glorida Frazier, Floyd B. Imler Jr., Mark A. Imler and Duane Douglas Imler. The family belonged to the Calvary Bible Church. Tragedy struck on the fateful Sunday of June 16, 1968. While swimming in a farm pond near Kennells Mill, son Duane drowned at the age of 16. Rev. Ken Korns had the task of leading the funeral, with burial in Comps Church Cemetery. The couple lived for another three decades with that heartache. Floyd succumbed to death at age 78 on March 28, 1998. His remains were lowered into the sacred soil of Comps Church Cemetery. Ruth survived him by 11 years, spending all or part of that time in Cumberland, MD. She passed away at age 85, in Golden Living Center, on Dec. 15, 2009. An obituary in the Cumberland Times-News said she was survived by five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

• Granddaughter Alzene L. Kennell (1927-2010) was born on Nov. 24, 1927 in Kennels Mill. She was twice-wed. Her first spouse, circa 1944, was Harvey Samuel Bittner (1920-1976), son of Allen and Bertha (Lepley) Bittner. News of their marriage license was printed in the Cumberland Evening Times. The two sons born to this couple were Allen Edward "Pete" Bittner and Harry Bittner. Harvey served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He later was employed by Cumberland Cement & Supply Company as a heavy equipment operator and belonged to the Teamsters Local 453. Circa the early 1950s, they lived in rural Hyndman and were members of Gladdens Church. Harvey was stricken on the fateful day of March 22, 1976 and rushed to Cumberland's Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. An obituary appeared in the Meyersdale Republican. Alzene's second husband was Millard J. Sweitzer (1913-1982). They endured the untimely passing of son Harry. As a resident of the Goodwill Mennonite Home in Grantsville, MD, she was swept away in death at age 82 on March 15, 2010. An obituary in the Cumberland Times-News said that Rev. Lance Tucker preached the funeral. The couple sleeps side-by-side for all time in Comps Church Cemetery.

  Great-grandson Harry Bittner ( ? - ? ) was deceased by 2022.

  Great-grandson Allen Edward "Pete" Bittner (1956-2022) was born on Dec. 19, 1956 in Cumberland. When he was 18 years of age, on Feb. 16, 1975, he entered into marriage with Denise "Kim" Baker ( ? -living). Their marriage endured for 47 years. Four children produced by the pair were Michael C. Bittner, Lisa D. Smith, Jason A. Bittner and Derek L. Bittner. The family dwelled over the years in Kennells Mill. Allen was employed for 24 years as a heavy equipment operator for Cumberland Cement and Supply. He then went to work for Martin's Grocery Store where for two decades he managed ordering. He coached little league baseball and played softball and belonged to the Kennells Mill Sportsmen's Club. He also liked to golf and tend his garden. Sadly, Allen died at home on Sept. 29, 2022. His obituary appeared in the Somerset Daily American. Pastor Ken Korns led the funeral service. The remains were lowered into the sacred soil of Comps Church Cemetery. 

Cumberland's Celanese Corporation plant, employer of many in the extended Kennell family over the years.

• Grandson John William Kennell (1928-2006) was born on Jan. 14, 1928. During or after World War II, he joined the U.S. Army and was deployed to the Pacific Theatre. He is known to have been part of occupied Okinawa in May 1948. HOn June 30, 1950, he entered into the sacrament of marriage with Martha M. Clites ( ? - ? ). Their marriage stood the test of time, lasting for 56 years until cleaved apart by death. Two daughters in this family were Beverly A. Kennell and Alicia Kennell. John earned a living through employment with the Celanese Corporation of America's plant in Cumberland. He went on to a working career of 20 years as a supervisor for Londonderry Township in Bedford County. The family dwelled in Ellerslie, MD and in 1997 in rural Hyndman and belonged to Grace United Methodist Church. John's memberships over the years included the Hyndman lodge of the Masons and Lions Club of Hyndman-Londonderry. At the age of 77, John died as a patient in Western Maryland Health System's Sacred Heart Hospital on Nov. 13, 2006. Interment of the remains was under the sod of Comps Church Cemetery. Inscribed on their grave marker are these words and Scripture verse: "Together Forever. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live."

• Granddaughter Marion E. "Toodie" Kennell (1930-2017) was born on May 25, 1930 in Kennells Mill. She wedded Thomas I. Romesburg ( ? -2008)). They dwelled in Kennells Mill and were the parents of Thomas I. Romesberg Jr. and Kathy McCoy. The family attended the Central Christian Church in Hyndman. Sadly, Thomas died in 2008. As her health declined, in about 2012, Marion was admitted to the Rest Assured facility in Meyersdale. There, after a stay of five years, she passed away at age 86 on March 9, 2017. Her obituary was published in the Somerset Daily American. Pastor Terry Elliott officiated the funeral service, with interment in Comps Church Cemetery.

• Grandson Gerald W. "Jerry" Kennell (1932-2012) was born on March 21, 1932 in Kennells Mill. He joined the U.S. Army during the Korean War. When he was 25 years of age, on Oct. 12, 1957, he married Ilene Emerick ( ? - ? ). The couple stayed together over a remarkable 54-year span of time. They did not reproduce and resided near Hyndman for decades. Gerald held a number of jobs over the years, ranging from railroad and steel mill employment to timbering for four decades and serving as a forest fire warden. At the age of 80, he was carried away by the angel of death on March 22, 2012. Burial of the remains was in Comps Church Cemetery. Pastor Roger Huffman led the funeral service. Burial was in Comps Church Cemetery.

• Granddaughter Frances Faye Kennell (1933-2019) was born on Oct. 4, 1933 in Kennells Mill. She was married two known times. Her first spouse was (?) McCormick ( ? - ? ). Together, they bore five known offspring -- Candace Fisher, Patrick W. McCormick, Michael T. McCormick, Jennifer A. Diehl and Jeffrey R. Troutman. On Jan. 3, 1973, when she was 40 years of age, she married Richard "Rich" Troutman ( ? - ? ) and made a home in Kennells Mill. Their union endured the ups and downs of 46 yars. Frances Faye was employed at DeVore's Market and the Fruit Bowl for a number of years. The family were members of Hyndman's Central Christian Church. Sadly, she passed into the arms of the angels on June 27, 2019 at the age of 85. As with most of her siblings, her remains were placed into eternal repose in Comps Church Cemetery. An obituary appeared in the Cumberland Times-News, saying she "was the last surviving member of her immediate family."

Daughter Pearl Kennell (1893-1987) was born on Aug. 13,1893. When she was 20 or 21 years of age, circa July 1914, she married Orrie Vernon Emerick (April 17, 1891-1889), son of William and Sarah Ann (Clites) Emerick. Their union endured the ups and downs of an extraordinary 73 years. Five known children produced by the marriage were Melvin Emerick, Nellie Edna Witt, Alma Elizabeth Burkett, Helen I. Clites and Ruby Mae Jordan. The couple's residence over the years was about 2.4 miles south of Hyndman, along Route 96. In January 1973, their home was badly damaged when a vehicle lost control, hit a stone culvert and plowed into the house. When marking their golden wedding anniversary in July 1964, they held an open house, announced on the pages of the Cumberland News. Sadly, Pearl passed away at age 94 on Sept. 16, 1987. Orrie outlived her by a little more than two years. Death enveloped him at age 98 on Dec. 12, 1989. The pair sleeps for all of eternity in Hyndman Cemetery.

• Grandson Melvin Emerick ( ? - ? ) was near Hyndman in the mid-1970s.

• Granddaughter Nellie Edna Emerick (1915-1976) was born on Jan. 25, 1915 in Hyndman. She was joined in wedlock with Marshall E. Witt (Oct. 17, 1910-1991). They put down roots in Wellersburg and were the parents of Richard M. Witt and Elsie Mae Hilliard. With her health in decline, Nellie was admitted to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Sadly, she was gathered away there by the angel of death at age 61 on May 1, 1976. Burial was in White Oak Cemetery in Wittenberg near Meyersdale, Somerset County, with Rev. Lloyd Trout leading the funeral service. The Cumberland News carried an obituary. Marshall survived his wife by 16 years. He died at age 80 on May 25, 1991.

  Great-granddaughter Elsie Mae Hilliard (1939-2000) was born on June 17, 1939. She may not have married. She passed away at age 61 on Oct. 19, 2000. Interment of the remains was in Cook Cemetery in Somerset County. 

• Granddaughter Alma Elizabeth Emerick (1922-1951) was born on Jan. 29, 1922 in Somerset County. She married Kenneth A. Burkett (Jan. 28, 1922-2015), son of William and Violet Burkett. At least one son born to the pair was Kenneth Burkett. During World War II, Kenneth served in the Merchant Marine and was assigned to France. They relocated to Oklahoma and in 1951 resided in Tulsa. Tragically, Alma was killed in an automobile accident at the age of 29 on July 15, 1951. The Sapulpa (OK) Daily Record reported that death occurred as a passenger in a car which "went out of control and plunged into a ditch three miles east of Inola on [State Highway] 33. Highway patrolmen said the auto was sideswiped by one driven" by a 19-year-old Tulsa man. Her remains were transported back to Hyndman for interment. The widowed Kenneth married twice again in his lifetime and remained in Oklahoma. He opened Ken's Daylight Donut Shop in 1979 in Glenpool, OK. He died at age 93 on July 5, 2015. His body was brought to Hyndman for burial.  

• Granddaughter Helen I. Emerick (1928-2004) was born on Nov. 1, 1928. She wed Raymond Milton Clites (1923-1986), son of George Samuel and Minerva Viola (Mull) Clites. Their home in 1976 was in Point Marion, PA. Sadly, Raymond died in 1986. She succumbed to the spectre of death at age 75 on Jan. 31, 2004. Their remains are in eternal repose in Hyndman Cemetery.

• Granddaughter Ruby Mae Emerick (1931-2005) was born on April 22, 1931. She was united in matrimony with a cousin, James Robert Jordan (1928-2005), son of Oscar George and Gertrude May "Gerty" (Tharp) Jordan of the family of John J. and Elizabeth (Albright) Emerick. Sadly, Ruby and James died within six months of each other in 2005 -- she first on June 27, and he on Dec. 29. Burial was in Hyndman Cemetery.

Son Albert Adam "Jack" Kennell (1895-1991) was born on June 29, 1895 in Southampton Township, Somerset County. During World War I, he joined the U.S. Army and served with the rank of private. He was deployed to France and was wounded in action. Albert was thrice-married in his lifetime. His first bride was Clue Alma Troutman (1906-1923). Albert was 11 years older than Clue. The two children they bore together were Ray W. Kennell and Dolly Clue Bishop. Grief blanketed the family just after Clue delivered their baby girl Dolly on April 16, 1923. Her health plummeted, and she passed away in early May 1923, at the age of just 17. Her remains were interred in Getz Cemetery. No obituary is known to have been printed. However, her death was noted a few weeks later in the Meyersdale Republican when her 18-year-old sister Hazel Marie Wingerd also met an untimely death following childbirth. Albert's second wife was Josephine Rebecca Kerr (Aug. 2, 1891-1942), a native of Manns Choice, Bedford County and the daughter of John C. and V. Alice Kerr. They lived in Wellersburg and belonged to the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church of Cumberland, MD. They were the parents of two more offspring -- Alice L. Booth and Albert "Kerr" Kennell. Albert was a longtime coal miner and carpenter. For the last three-and-a-half years of her life, Josephine suffered frm a malignancy of her left ovary. She finally succumbed to the spectre of death at age 48 on Feb. 1, 1942. Her remains were lowered into rest in Cook Cemetery. An obituary was published in the Cumberland Evening Times. His third and last spouse was a cousin, Edna Elizabeth Gomer (March 8, 1920-2007), daughter of James T. and Maude (Beall) Gomer of the family of Charles and Sarah Ann "Sally" (Shoemaker) Gaumer. They lived in Wellersburg and attended Calvary Bible Church in Ellerslie, MD. Albert held a membership in the Cumberland aerie of Eagle and the American Legion post in Bedford. Death overtook him at the age of 96, in Southampton Township, on Nov. 22, 1991. Rev. Kenneth L. Korns officiated at the funeral service. He sleeps for the ages in Cook Cemetery. See the Gomer/Gaumer biography for more about the pair.

• Grandson Ray W. Kennell (1922-2008) was born on March 25, 1922 in Wellersburg. News of his birth was published in the "Southampton Twp." section of the Meyersdale Republican. He was only a year old at the untimely death of his mother. Ray dwelled in rural Hyndman in 1991. He died at age 86 in Cumberland, MD on Nov. 1, 2008.

• Bishops' graves, Arlington National Cemetery

  Granddaughter Dolly Clue Kennell (1923-2003) was born on April 16, 1923. Her birth was announced in the "Southampton Twp." section of the Meyersdale Republican. Sadly, the mother died when Dolly was just a few weeks old. She married Kenneth Theinel Bishop (May 21, 1924-1988). Kenneth was a U.S. Army veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, attaining the rank of master sergeant. They appear to have lived in Arlington, VA. Kenneth died on Feb. 5, 1988. His body was laid to honored rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Dolly survived him by 15 years. She passed into eternity at age 79 on Feb. 2, 2003 and sleeps for all time next to her spouse in Arlington. Their graves were photographed by the founder of this website in September 2022. 

• Granddaughter Alice L. Kennell ( ? - ? ) wed (?) Booth ( ? - ? ). She is known to have been in rural Frostburg, MD circa 1991. 

• Grandson Albert "Kerr" Kennell ( ? - ? ) dwelled in Wellersburg in 1991.

• Grandson James Albert Kennell (1949-2014) lived in Wellersburg in 1991.

• Granddaughter Linda Lou Kennell (1956-2008) was at home with her parents in 1991 in Wellersburg. 

Daughter Jennie Mae Kennell (1897-1987) was born on nov. 27, 1897 in Kennells Mill, Somerset County. She was united in marriage with Charles T. Weimer (1895-1956), son of Theodore and Alpharetta (Bittner) Weimer. The three daughters produced by the pair were Mrs. Charles Powers, Mrs. Albert McKenzie and Violet Shockey. Charles earned a living as a coal miner, working in the Wellersburg area. The couple held a membership in the White Oak Reformed Church, and he belonged to the Cumberland aerie of Eagles. Tragedy struck on the fateful morning of Sept. 4, 1956. While at work in a mine owned by Robert Meyers, reported the Meyersdale Republican, Charles:

...met instant death when he was caught under a ton of coal and rock... According to Dr. Deming, fellow miners located Weimer buried under the huge pile of rock and coal in his mine entry, where he had been working alone. They told authorities that at about 10:30 a.m. they realized that Weimer was not digging as they could hear no sounds from his working spot. When they called and received no answer, they investigated and found him lying under the rock fall. He had been a miner his entire lifetime.

With a fractured skull, broken nose and severe lacerations over his body, he was rushed by a Mt. Savage ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in nearby Cumberland, MD, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Stories about the fatal accident were printed in the Cumberland (MD) News, Somerset (PA) Daily American and Connellsville (PA) Daily Courier as well as in newspapers in Scranton, Latrobe and Kane, PA. The widowed Jennie survived for another three-plus decades and dwelled in Wellersburg. Just two days before Christmas 1987, the spirit of death swept Jennie away at the age of 90. The remains were interred in White Oak Cemetery in Wittenberg, near Meyersdale.

• Granddaughter (?) Weimer wed Charles Powers. Their home in 1956 was in Wellersburg.

• Granddaughter (?) Weimer entered into marriage with Albert McKenzie. Circa 1956, they resided in Wellersburg.

• Granddaughter Violet Weimer ( ? - ? ) was born in (?). On Christmas Day 1953, she joined in wedlock with Korean War veteran Rev. Edward E. Shockey (May 31, 1933-2012), a native of Confluence, Somerset County and the son of Lewis and Naomi (Mankemyer) Shockey. Their union endured for a remarkable 56 years. They lived for decades in Wellersburg. They became the parents of two -- Gary Shockey and Denise Bonner. Edward was employed as a railroad heavy equipment operator for 42 years, from about 1953 to retirement in 1995. For 31 years, he served as pastor of the congregation of Comps Church, a historic building erected in part by some of Violet's distant relatives. He was active in local politics and spent a decade on the Wellersburg Town Council. In his free time, he liked to hunt and held memberships in several outdoors and sporting clubs. Edward was called into eternal life at age 78 on May 22, 2012. His photograph appeared in his Somerset Daily American obituary. Funeral services were held in Comps Church, led by Pastors Robert Williams and Roger Huffman. Burial followed in White Oak Cemetery. 

  Grat-grandson Gary Shockey married Terry. Their home in 2012 was in Barrelville, MD.

  Great-granddaughter Denise Shockey wed John Bonner. They put down roots in Wellersburg. 

Son Robert Harry Kennell (1899-1978) was born on March 13, 1899. He entered into marriage with Velma Lillian Hall (Aug. 26, 1900-1992). They resided in Wellersburg (1969) and Hyndman. Sadness cascaded over the family when Robert died at age 79 on July 12, 1978. Velma spent the next 14 years as a widow. She passed away on the third day of the new year in 1992. Their remains are at rest in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Berlin, Somerset County.

Daughter Viola Emma Kennell (1901-1984) was born on Aug. 26, 1901. She wedded John Bernard Getz (Nov. 28, 1898-1952), a native of Southampton Township and the son of Phillip and Mary (Ashley) Getz. Five offspring born to this union were Robert Getz, Jay Getz, John Getz, Mary Louise Diehl and Mrs. Homer Murray. Their home was in Hyndman in the 1940s and in Wellersburg in the early 1950s. John was self-employed, owning a gasoline service station near Wellersburg. The family belonged to the Wellersburg Reformed Church. On the fateful day of Aug. 17, 1952, John was involved in a minor automobile accident and shortly afterward suffered a massive heart attack. Reported the Cumberland (MD) Evening Times, the mishap occurred near Hopwood on the outskirts of Uniontown, PA: "The car driven by Getz, who was returning from a family reunion in Uniontown, was rammed from behind when he stopped suddenly to avoid running into a car that had stopped in front of him. Upon returning to his car after the accidenthe slumped over the wheel and died instantly." He was pronounced dead on arrival at Uniontown Hospital. The remains were shipped to Cumberland, MD for interment in Hillcrest Cemetery, with the family's pastor, Rev. Carl H. Clapp, leading the funeral service. Viola is known to have resided in Wellersburg. At the age of 82, she surrendered to the spirit of death on Jan. 31, 1984, in Hyndman. Burial was in Restlawn Memorial Gardens in nearby LaVale, near Cumberland, MD.

• Grandson Robert Getz relocated to Pittsburgh.

• Grandson Jay Getz put down roots in Cumberland, MD.

• Grandson John Getz in 1952 lived in Cumberland, MD.

• Granddaughter Mary Louise Getz (1928-2015) married Blaine Diehl. The couple dwelled in Manns Choice, Bedford County, PA circa 1952.

• Granddaughter (?) Getz wed Homer Murray. They dwelled in 1952 in Cumberland, MD.

Daughter Clara Edna Kennell (1903-1977) was born on Nov. 19, 1903 in the rural outskirts of Hyndman. She never married. For many years, she  lived at home with her parents. Clara belonged to the Kennell's Mills Church. As her health failed, she became a resident of the Somerset County Home for the Aged in Berlin. Death carried her away there at age 73 on Feb. 19, 1977. Rev. Kenneth L. Korns presided over the funeral service, and an obituary appeared in the Cumberland (MD) News. She sleeps for all time in the family plot in Cook Cemetery in Somerset County.

Son John J. Kennell (1905-1956) was born on March 27, 1905 in Somerset County. He was a lifelong bachelor. In adulthood, John at one time owned a tavern near Wellersburg. Later, he labored as a lumberman and farmer and was considered "prominent" in the community. He shared a home in Kennell's Mills with his widowed mother and single sister Clara. John held a membership in the Evangelical and Reformed Church and belonged to the Eagles aerie in Cumberland, MD. In his later years, he was burdened by heart disease. At age 51, while working at home on July 8, 1956, he was stricken by a cerebral hemorrhage and died suddenly. Rev. Carl Clapp and Rev. Charles Evans co-officiated the funeral. Burial was in Cook Cemetery near Wellersburg. The Somerset Daily American  and Cumberland News both printed an obituary.

Son James Lewis Kennell (1907-1990) was born on Aug. 10, 1907. He was joined in the bonds of wedlock with a cousin, Pauline Ida Shroyer (1910-1990), daughter of Solomon and Rebecca (Emerick Devore) Shroyer of the family of Solomon and Mary Ellen "Ella" (Albright) Emerick. See the Shroyer/Emerick biography for more about this couple.

Son Clinton Wilbert Kennell (1909-1969) was born in 1909 near Hyndman. He entered into marriage with Thelma Lowery ( ? - ? ). Four known children borne by the pair were Richard Kennell, Leroy Kennell, Wayne Kennell and Anna Abe. Over the years, he was employed by the George F. Hazelwood Company as a construction worker, and he held a membership in Local 616 of the Carpenters Union. Clinton and Thelma dwelled in the late 1950s in Hyndman and belonged to the Reformed Church. After enduring a lengthy ilness, he was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh where he died at age 59 on Jan. 12, 1969. An obituary in the Cumberland (MD) News said he was survived by five grandchildren. Rev. Milton M. Benny and Rev. Kenneth Korns co-officiated the funeral, followed by burial in Rest Lawn Memorial Gardens.

• Grandson Richard Kennell made his home in 1969 in Short Gap, WV.

• Grandson Leroy Kennell dwelled in Ellerslie, MD in the late 1960s.

• Grandson Wayne Kennell lived at home in 1969 at the death of his father.

• Granddaughter Anna Kennell married (?) Abe. Their residence in 1969 was in Corriganville, MD. 

~ Daughter Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Lepley) Shumaker ~

Daughter Elizabeth "Lizzie" Lepley (1855-1947) was born on Aug. 4, 1855 in Wellersburg, Somerset County.

Circa 1877, when she was about age 21, she was joined in marriage with Samuel Shumaker (April 19, 1854-1925), son of Bailey and Rebecca (Kennell) Shumaker.

The couple together produced three children -- Harvey Hayes Shumaker, Clara Elsie Shumaker and Roscoe E. "Ross" Shumaker.

Circa 1880, the family dwelled on a farm near Wellersburg, as near neighbors to his cousins Lafayette and Mary (Clites) Emerick, John J. and Elizabeth (Albright) Emerick, Solomon and Mary Ellen (Albright) Emerick and Daniel and Hannah (Cone) Gomer of the family of Charles and Sarah Ann (Shoemaker) Gaumer.

They stayed there until about 1900, when they relocated to Cooks Mills in rural Bedford County, PA. There, they remained for good. Samuel earned a living in 1900 as a butcher.

Samuel later was employed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a watchman. He was severely injured one day when the handcar on which he and other trackmen were riding were struck by another train. Said the Meyersdale Republican, "He recovered from the accident in a manner which, from all accounts, left him a far less robust man during the remainder of his life then he otherwise would have been. He undoubtedly was entitled to a considerable sum of money for the injuries he sustained, but being a peace-loving citizen who hated litigation, he generously released the railroad company from all responsibilities and damages except for the doctor's bill and renumeration for time lost while recovering from his injuries, which terms of settlement the railroad company eagerly accepted."

After suffering a series of strokes, Samuel died at home on Nov. 29, 1925. An obituary in the Republican said that "By the death of Mr. Shoemaker [sic], the community in which he lived has lost one of its most exemplary citizens and the bereaved family a most kind and loving husband and father."

The last two-and-a-half years of Elizabeth's life were spent in the residence of her son Harvey in Philadelphia at 3701 Locust Street. During that time, she was burdened with heart disease and hardening of the arteries.

When contracting pneumonia, she died a day later in Philadelphia, at the age of 91, on Feb. 23, 1947. Her remains were transported cross-state to rest for all time in Cooks Mills Cemetery. Rev. John Bucher conducted the funeral service. Her obituary was published in the Bedford Gazette and Somerset Daily American.

Son Harvey Hayes Shumaker (1877-1951) was born on Feb. 9, 1877 in Cook's Mills, Bedford County, PA. He showed an aptitude for business in young manhood. When the federal census enumeration was made in 1900, he lived in nearby Johnstown, Cambria County, PA, where he was employed as an office clerk, and boarded with a local family. At the age of about 24, on Sept. 6, 1901, he was united in holy matrimony with Viola Devore (1880-1953), also a native of Bedford County. The couple's five known children were Victor Hayes Shumaker, Violet Armbruster, Mildred Barr, Richard K. Shumaker and Meredith S. Shumaker. After marriage, Harvey and Viola moved to Rockwood, Somerset County, where he had secured a position as a railroad clerk and later as a bank cashier. They held a membership in the Reformed Church, with Harvey serving as superintendent of Sunday School and secretary of the local district of the Somerset County Sunday School Association. Harvey was politically active and in 1924 ran for a seat in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives. He lost the race, coming "within a few votes of being nominated," said the Meyersdale Republican, but did not give up hope. He ran again in 1926, with the Republican stating that he was:

...one of the substantial citizens of Rockwood. He is well and favorably known throughout this section. He came to Rockwood a number of years ago as clerk for Michael Foley who was then supervisor for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company at Rockwood. Some years ago he became identified with the First National Bank of Rockwood, of which he is now cashier. Mr. Shumaker is a progressive citizen and has been connected with various movements for the betterment of conditions in town, county, state and nation. For many years he has been a member of the Rockwood Board of Education, acting as its secretary, and has been honored on different occasions by the Somerset County School Directors Association. Mr. Shumaker's qualifications are unquestioned, and his friends are determined that he shall be one of the men to represent this county in the State Legislature during the next two years.

During the 1926 campaign, he suffered a painful injury at home one night when stepping on a shard of broken water glass and sliced deeply into his foot. But he went on to win the election that November. As he began his term in the state capitol of Harrisburg, he is known to have supported road bills among other legislation. Once his term ended, Harvey was hired in the 1920s by the federal government to work on its business census records. To perform this work, the family migrated to Philadelphia, where they stayed for good. Their address in 1930 was on Spruce Street and in the 1950s was 236 South 38th Street. In about 1939, he accepted a position as an accountant with Hertz Driv-Ur-Self Stations, Inc., with offices at 711 Vine Street in Philadelphia. As he was preparing to retire in late summer 1951, he vacationed at the home of his married daughter Violet in Easthampton, Long Island, NY. But fate intervened. While in Easthampton, he was stricken and died at the age of 74 on Sept. 6, 1951. The body was brought back to Bedford County for funeral services led by Rev. Frederick D. Oberkircher, in the Hyndman Reformed Church, and burial in Hyndman Cemetery. The Bedford Gazette printed an obituary. As a widow, Viola remained in their South 38th Street residence. Death enveloped her in Southampton Hospital on Long Island at age 72 on Jan. 31, 1953. Her remains also were placed into eternal repose in Hyndman Cemetery.

• Granddaughter Mildred E. Shumaker (1907- ? ) was born in about 1907. At the age of 23, single, she lived with her parents in Philadelphia and worked for a publishing company as a compiler. In time she married James Barr ( ? - ? ). She dwelled in Summit, NJ in 1951.

• Granddaughter Violet Shumaker (1908- ? ) was born in about 1908. She wed (?) Armbruster. In 1951, she resided in Easthampton, Long Island, NY.

• Grandson Victor Hayes Shumaker (1912-1996) was born in about 1912 in Rockwood. He made a home in Philadelphia in 1935-1958. He received a bachelor of science degree in finance in 1935 from Temple University. Circa 1940, he earned a living as a timekeeper in a personnel office in Philadelphia, and in 1959 by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. On Oct. 24, 1959, when he was 47 years of age, he was joined in wedlock with Mildred Long ( ? - ? ), daughter of William A Long of Greenwood, DE. The nuptials were held in the Old St. James Episcopal Church in Stanton. Their wedding reception was held in the DuPont Country Club, with a related article appearing in the Wilmington News Journal. At the time, as a graduate of the University of Delaware, Mildred was a faculty member at Aronimink Elementary School in the Philadelphia suburb of Drexel Hill. The couple did not reproduce. Victor was employed by the Federal Reserve for 32 years, during which time he was active with the blood donor program of the American Red Cross. He also belonged to the Pennsylvania Banking Association. In later years, the couple lived in or near Lebanon, PA, where they were members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. As Victor's health declined in old age, he went to live in Cornwall Manor in Cornwall, PA. He died in Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, PA at age 84 on April 27, 1996. Victor's obituary was published in the Lebanon (PA) Daily News.

• Grandson Meredith S. Shumaker (1915- ? ) was born in about 1915. He joined the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was stationed in 1951 in Tucson, AZ and deployed to Japan, attaining the rank of major. By February 1953, he had transferred to Fort Sam Houston, TX. Eventually he was promoted to colonel. In retirement, Meredith lived in Caimesa, CA.

• Grandson Richard K. Shumaker (1918-1979) was born on Sept. 22, 1918 in Rockwood, Somerset County. He grew up in Rockwood, PA and in Philadelphia. While in Philadelphia, he entered into marriage with Marion Gilroy Jones (Feb. 26, 1920-2016), daughter of Josiah and Marion Gilroy (Disher) Jones, also of Philadelphia. Their family of children were Gerri Jasperson and Richard "Rick" Shumaker. He attended North Carolina State College and in 1940 took flight trainnig through the Civil Aereonautics Authority in Raleigh. During World War II, he served as a flying officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces. His home was in Raleigh, NC in 1951 and by 1953 transferred to Panama City, FL. He attainced the rank of captain with the Air Force. In June 1974, he is known to have served as head of the Mine Countermeasures Department of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, and received a special citation for his "dedicated service and personal contribution to the airborne mine countermeasures program," said the Panama City News-Herald. He "has been involved in the ... program at the Naval Coastal Systems Laboratory some 20 years [and] has accepted an early retirement from government services because of his health." Marion was active with Panama City's First Presbyterian Church and its Sunday School Class and was a 50-year member of Panama City Women's Club, Garden Club, Does group of the Elks Club, Gray Ladies of Bay Medical Center and the Navy and Civilian Women's Club. She also volunteered her time with the American Red Cross and Girl Scouts and was a board director of the NACS. The couple enjoyed traveling all over the world. In 1990, Richard and Louis F. Jones were awarded a patent for a submarine minesweeper, assigned to the U.S. Navy. He passed away at the age of 61 on Oct. 28, 1979. Interment of the remains was in Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Panama City. Marion lived for another 37 years and wed again to Edgar Jospeh Caillouet (1920-1987) and Stephen "Steve" Ring (1918-1993). Marion surrendered to death at the age of 96, in Panama City's Bay Medical Center, on July 2, 2016. She rests for all time beside her first spouse. An obituary appeared in the Panama City News Herald.

Great-granddaughter Gerri Shumaker married (?) Jasperson. They established a home in Panama City.

Great-grandson Richard "Rick" Shumaker has dwelled in Panama City.

Daughter Clara Elsie Shumaker (1885-1944) was born on Oct. 20, 1885 in Wellersburg. She never married and "spent almost her entire life in Hyndman," PA, said the Bedford (PA) Gazette. Clara held a membership in the Reformed Church. In her late 50s, Clara was burdened with hardening of the arteries. Sadly, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, she passed away at home three days later, on New Year's Day 1944, at the age of 58. Burial was in Cooks Cemetery, with funeral services led by Rev. G.R. Winters.

NC State architect Ross Shumaker

Son Roscoe Edward "Ross" Shumaker (1889-1960) was born on Jan. 31, 1889 in Gladdens, Somerset County, PA. He was united in matrimony with Mozelle Huste (1899- ? ), a North Carolina native. She brought a stepson to the union, James H. Huste. Together, Ross and Mozelle bore four daughters -- Elizabeth L. "Betsy" Massey, Frances M. Rhyne, Margaret R. "Peggy" Braswell and Rose "Elaine" Wilks. Single at the age of 20, in 1900, he made a home with his married brother Harvey in Rockwood, Somerset County. He was deeply interested in architecture and in 1916 received a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University. Ross went on to pursue graduate education at Penn State University and then at Harvard University. He is known to have taught architecture in 1916 and 1919 at Penn State and to have worked in the field in 1917-1918 in Beckley, WV. Then in January 1920, Ross relocated to Raleigh, NC, where he was named as professor of architecture at North Carolina State University, then known as the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering. Mozelle was employed as a nurse. Three years into his career at NC State, in 1923, he was tapped to be head of the college's Department of Architecture. He remained on the faculty for 22 more years, with the family making its residence in North Raleigh. Ross's initial focus of teaching was on classical and Beaux-Arts styles of design, but as tastes changed, he adapted in the late 1930 to include more modern design styles. Ross also served as NC State's in-house architect for decades, supporting consulting architects such as Hobart Upjohn from New York in the design of Morris Hall. During the Great Depression, in 1939, he secured funding from the Works Progress Administration to design and construct eight buiildings on campus, among them Alexander Hall, Becton Hall, Berry Hall, Turlington Hall and a wing of Broughton Hall. He also personally led the design of renovations and remodeling projects. Beyond campus, he designed structures during the 1948-1950 timeframe for the University of North Carolina at Ashville and Pembroke. His Pembroke portfolio included the Arts Building, Library and Administration Building, Science and Agriculture Building and the President's Home. Circa 1956, at the age of 66, he retired and spent the balance of his life in active positions within the profession. Among his later roles was as president, executive secretary and regional director of the American Institute of Architects, North Carolina Chapter. He also spent 28 years with the North Carolina Architectural Registration Board as an officer and executive secretary. Additional memberships included the Society of Architectural Examiners and Society of Architectural Historians. On April 8, 1960, he passed away in Rex Hospital in Raleigh. Mozelle surived her husband by 17 years. Death swept her away on Oct. 2, 1977. Interment was in Maplewood Cemeltery in Clayton, NC. Her obituary was published in the Raleigh News and Observer. Photo of Ross Shumaker sourced with permission from NCSU589953_20210930_27006, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, North Carolina.

• Step-grandson James H. Huste (1919- ? ) was born in about 1919 in North Carolina. He was deceased by 1977.

• Granddaughter Elizabeth L. "Betsy" Shumaker (1923-2015) was born on May 12, 1923 in Johnston County, NC, apparently a twin with her sister Frances. Elizabeth was joined in wedlock with Dr. P. Howard Massey ( ? - ? ). Their marriage endured for an extraordinary 72 years. For 52 of those years, the family dwelled in Blacksburg, VA. Three daughters born into this family were Betsy Alls, Carol Wiswall and Suzanne Shoemaker. The Raleigh News and Observer noted Elizabeth's "gift of hospitality" and service to others. Howard once served a term as District Governor for Rotary International. She passed away on Feb. 9, 2015. She was pictured in an obituary in the News and Observer. A funeral service was held at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church.

Great-granddaughter Betsy Massey married Curtis Alls.

Great-granddaughter Carol Massey wed Stuart Wiswall.

Great-granddaughter Suzanne Massey entered into marriage with Michael Shoemaker.

• Granddaughter Frances Mozelle Shumaker (1923- ? ) was born in about 1923 in North Carolina, a twin with her sister Elizabeth. On St. Patrick's Day 1943, when she was 19 years of age, she entered into marriage with Charles Thomas Rhyne Jr. ( ? - ? ), a resident of Newport, TN and the son of C.T. and Matelle Rhyne. Rev. John H. Grey Jr. officiated at the wedding, held in Raleigh. Circa 1977, Frances made her home in Newport, TN.

• Granddaughter Margaret R. "Peggy" Shumaker (1927- ? ) was born in about 1927 in North Carolina. She was united in matrimony with (?) Braswell ( ? - ? ). She dwelled in Bowling Green, KY in 1977.

• Granddaughter Rose "Elaine" Shumaker (1933- ? ) was born in about 1933 in North Carolina. She wed (?) Wilks ( ? - ? ). She resided in 1977 in Wilmington, DE.

~ Daughter Minerva Jane Lepley ~

Daughter Minerva Jane Lepley ( ? - ? )

~ Son Adam Lepley IV ~

Son Adam Lepley IV ( ? - ? )

~ Daughter Sarah Alice Lepley ~

Daughter Sarah Alice Lepley ( ? - ? )