2023 National Reunion Marks 110th Anniversary of Inaugural 1913 Family Gathering

60 Cousins Attend from 7 States and 17 Pennsylvania Towns

Ribbon worn at the 1913 reunion

On Thursday, Aug. 21, 1913, the pioneer Minerd family of southwestern Pennsylvania held their first reunion at the old Ferncliff Hotel in picturesque Ohiopyle, known today for its famed whitewater rapids. The organizers and elected leaders included Rev. Isaac Herschel Minerd, president; Martin Miner, vice president; Esther (Barnhouse) Freed, treasurer; and Roy Sheppard Minerd, secretary. 

In an article published eight days before the event, the Uniontown Morning Herald said that "All arrangements have been made to make this one of the most enjoyable occasions in the history of the Minerd family. The grounds at the Ferncliff Hotel have been secured for the occasion. Notices have been sent to all with an earnest request to be present." 

Red ribbons were worn by the women, while the men apparently wore a white or lighter version.

Connellsville PA news story.

Cousin Allen Edward Harbaugh, the "Mountain Poet" of Mill Run, PA, and whose grandmother was a Minerd, recited a landmark history of the family that he had authored, which has survived to this day and is a vital key to our understanding of the early family and its many branches.

Attendance at the event was was "exactly 125," according to an article in the Uniontown, PA newspaper. Secretary Roy Minerd kept a detailed list of all the names, but which unfortunately today is lost. The news of the election of officers was published in the Connellsville Daily Courier on Aug. 23, 1913.

The group posed for a photograph, at the base of the Western Maryland Railroad bridge abutment, along the Youghiogheny River. The image most likely was made by Secretary Roy Minerd and distributed to those who wanted one. Click to see an enlarged view and one with faces numbered and identified. 

1913 group photo, likely taken by Roy Sheppard Minerd. Enlarge>>>

1913 reunion founders, L-R: Rev. Isaac Herschel Minerd, president; Martin Miner, vice president; Esther (Barnhouse) Freed, treasurer; Roy Sheppard Minerd, secretary; and Allen Edward Harbaugh, historian.

The 1914 reunion was held on Sept. 12 at Killarney Park in Mill Run. Rev. Isaac H. Minerd again served as president, while Rev. David Ewing Minerd, the famed "Blacksmith Preacher" of Fayette County, was the guest speaker. Games are known to have been held. The event was promoted in advance in the Uniontown Daily News Standard on Aug. 22, 1914.

Above and below: back in the days when Camp Christian was called Killarney Park, along the Indian Creek Valley Railway, site of the 1914 and 2023 Minerd Reunions.