1923 road trip to Gettysburg

Among the items left behind by my husband’s grandmother, Bertha Edna Smith, are a good number of photos and a church program. The program was for a July 8, 1923 service at the Presbyterian Church in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She, along with her brother John Milton Smith, his girlfriend Virginia Johnston, brother George Nelson Smith, and his girlfriend Verda Hilty apparently attended the service that day. I know very little about the trip but thanks to the fact that she took the time to mark names on the program and labeled a particular photo, I was able to put the two items together to document the trip. At the time, they lived in the Washington Township of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, which is about 163 miles from Gettysburg. By today’s standards, that’s just under a three-hour trip. But in 1923, I’m sure it took a lot longer so my guess is they stayed overnight. As it turns out, Gettysburg had just finished celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg so perhaps they had gone there to join the festivities. 

Virginia Johnston, John Smith, Verda Hilty, Bertha Smith, George Smith

A news article published in The Chronicle in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania on July 5, 1923 reported the following:

Gettysburg Celebration Attracted Entire Nation. Gettysburg, Pa.,—Tourists from all parts of the country have been in Gettysburg this week drawn here by the 60th anniversary of the battle, the celebration of which ended Tuesday. A number of Shippensburg people spent Monday on the Battlefield.

On July 7, 1923, the church published the following information in The Gettysburg Times about the service:

Gettysburg Presbyterian. Rev. W. C. Robinson, pastor. Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. Theme: “Our Communion Reunion.” Reception of new members and baptism, C. E. at 6:45 p.m. Theme: “The March of the Sacramental Hosts.” Preparatory service Friday evening at 7:30 o’clock. Sermon theme: “The Three Alternatives—Self Examination, A Divine Judgment, and Chastisement Condemnation.”

This is the church program with her handwritten notes down the middle of the page.

click to enlarge

References

• Gettysburg Celebration Attracted Entire Nation, The Chronicle, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1923.
• Gettysburg Presbyterian, The Gettysburg Times, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 7, 1923.

52 Ancestors – John Thompson Smith (80-2016)

John Thompson Smith, son of John Milton Smith and Amanda Larimer Horne, was born December 21, 1901 in the Washington Township of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He the youngest child of seven—Benjamin Gordon Smith, George Nelson Smith, Edith McCrum Smith, Howard Stanley Smith, Helen Margaret Smith, Bertha Edna Smith, and John Thompson Smith. John’s paternal grandfather was also named John Thompson Smith (born on November 7, 1810 in St. Clairsville, Belmont County, Ohio). John was my husband’s great-uncle.

Just before John’s fifth birthday, tragedy struck the Smith family when his 18 year old sister Edith, blind as the result of measles, died on October 24, 1906 of typhoid fever at Mercy Hospital. She was buried at Riverview Cemetery in Apollo, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

On April 26, 1910, the family lived in Paulton, Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. A neighbor two doors away was John A. Stewart. Mr. Stewart was also a neighbor in 1900 so they must be living in the same house. His father and brothers Ben and George worked in a sheet mill. Two years after this census was taken, his father died in Westmoreland County on March 9, 1912. His father was buried at Riverview Cemetery in Apollo.

After suffering with endocarditis (an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart) for two years, John’s sister Helen died in Paulton on March 18, 1913. She was just 17 years old. Helen was buried on March 20 in the family plot at Apollo’s Riverview Cemetery. She shares a tombstone with her parents and sister Edith.

On January 26, 1920, 18 year old John lived with his 60 year old widowed mother in the North Washington District of Washington Township. The home was located on Greensburg – Apollo Road. Three of John’s siblings still lived in the home—Ben (age 37), George (age 34), and his remaining sister Bertha (age 22). All were able to read and write. John, Ben, and George all worked in a steel mill with John being an addressgrapher. According to Wikipedia, “an addressograph is an address labeler and labeling system” so I assume it’s how they marked the steel. Ben was a “catcher” and Ben a “ruffer.” Bertha wasn’t working. I assume she spent her time helping her mother take care of the house and her brothers.

John married Virginia Kimmel Johnston, daughter of John Frank Johnston and Emma Agnes Uncapher, about 1924 or 1925 in Pennsylvania, most likely in Westmoreland County. John was 23 years old and Virginia was 22. Together they had two children—Lois Kimmel Smith and Russell W. Smith. Lois was given her mother’s maiden name as her middle name. Kimmel was also the surname of Virginia’s paternal grandmother Sarah A. Kimmel so I guess you could say they were carrying on a family tradition.
 

Verda Hilty Smith, Bertha Edna Smith Athya,
Virginia Kimmel Johnston Smith,  John Thompson Smith,
George Nelson Smith

In 1925, John’s sister Bertha gave birth to her first child—a boy she named John Thompson Athya—a nod to her brother, their father John Milton Smith, and their grandfather John Thompson Smith.


On April 12, 1930, John, Virginia, and Lois (age one and a half) lived on the “right side” of Paulton in the Washington Township. I have no clue what the “right side” means but that’s what the census enumerator wrote. Maybe he meant the west side of Paulton. He owned his house which was valued at $5,000. They also owned a radio. John still worked in a steel mill but was now a clerk.

On April 5, 1940, John and his family still lived in Paulton, in the same house they had lived in since 1935. The family was complete now having added their son Russell in May 1934. There were two boarders living in the home—Grace Gally and Mary Witherspoon—both 30 year old teachers—the same occupation as Virginia.

Amanda Horne Smith, John Thompson Smith,
Electra Smith Jack, Howard Athya, and John Athya

John’s mother, Amanda Larimer Horne Smith, died on January 11, 1943 following a stroke in Washington, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. She was buried at Riverview Cemetery in Apollo with her husband and daughters Helen and Edith.

On December 15, 1957, John’s brother Ben died from a heart attack at the Elks Retirement Home in Bedford, Bedford County, Virginia where he had been living. Ben was buried in the Elks National Cemetery in Bedford, a section of Oakwood Cemetery designated as the burial place for residents of the Elks National Home.

John’s brother George died on April 24, 1959 in the Washington Township. He was buried at Riverview Cemetery in Apollo.

John’s brother Howard died at his residence on January 14, 1961 after suffering a heart attack. King Funeral Home handled his funeral with the Rev. Warren Martin, pastor of the Apollo Presbyterian Church, in charge of the service. Howard was buried at Riverview Cemetery in Apollo.

Virginia Kimmel Johnston Smith, John Thompson Smith,
Verda Hilty Smith, Bertha Edna Smith Athya, and George Nelson Smith

John retired from the Vandergrift plant of United States Steel Corporation after working more than 40 years in the payroll department. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Vandergrift.

John died at the age of 67 at the Belair Nursing Home on September 23, 1969 in the Lower Burrell Township of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He was buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in Lower Burrell. John was survived by his wife Virginia, daughter Lois Smith Hilty, his son Russell Smith, three grandchildren, and his sister Bertha Smith Athya. After his death, Virginia moved to Florida to live with Lois.

 

52 Ancestors – Virginia Kimmel Johnston – (week 42 – 2015)

Virginia Kimmel Johnston, daughter of John Frank Johnston and Emma Agnes Uncapher, was born January 14, 1903 in Pennsylvania. She was the third child of six—Thomas Frederick Johnston, Kathryn Louise Johnston, Virginia Kimmel Johnston, Joseph Pierpont Johnston, Emilie Elizabeth Johnston, and Margaret Meredith Johnston.

Virginia never knew her oldest brother Frederick who was born in 1900 and died in 1901. He was buried at Apollo Cemetery in Apollo, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Virginia’s brother Joseph, born a year after Virginia, died on January 15, 1911 in Vandergrift, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. He was also buried at Apollo Cemetery. Joseph was just six years old. The New Kensington, Pennsylvania, City Directory recorded Virginia’s parents living at 181 Washington Avenue in New Kensington, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1911. Her father worked in brick manufacturing. They lived in the same home in 1915. Her father worked in “billiards” at 120 Grant Avenue.

On January 3, 1920, Virginia and her family lived on North Fourth Street in Apollo. Her father worked in real estate and insurance. Virginia, a member of the class of 1921 at Apollo High School, was featured in their yearbook during her senior year:

From the “Classified Section” of the same yearbook:

Dedicated to Virginia Johnston, ’21.
She is a very modest girl
     She certainly is shy
She wears smoked glasses, so she won’t
     Expose her naked eye.

About 1925, Virginia married John Thompson Smith, son of John Milton Smith and Amanda Larimer Horne. Together they had two children—Lois Kimmel Smith and Russell W. Smith. Virginia and John welcomed Lois to the family in September 1928. They gave Lois the middle name of Kimmel which was also Virginia’s middle name. Virginia’s paternal grandmother was Sarah A. Kimmel so this was a nice way to carry on a family name.

On April 12, 1930, Virginia, John, and Lois lived in Paulton, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The census enumerator recorded Virginia as 22 and John 23 when they married. They owned their home valued at $5,000. There was a radio in the house that year. Her husband John was a clerk in a steel mill. Virginia’s mother Emma, who had been sick four years, died in Apollo on November 4, 1933 of melanotic sarcoma. She was buried at Apollo Cemetery. Virginia must have been pregnant at the time of her mother’s death as her son Russell was born in Apollo on May 27, 1934.

George Nelson Smith, Verda (Hilty) Smith, Virginia Kimmel (Johnston) Smith,
and Bertha Edna (Smith) Athya

On April 5, 1940, Virginia and her family lived in Paulton with John still working as a clerk in a mill office. They had boarders living in the home named Grace Gally and Mary Witherspoon. Both were teachers in the Washington Township which is not surprising as Virginia was a teacher herself. Virginia’s father died of coronary occlusion on July 10, 1942 in Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania after a fall. He was buried at Apollo Cemetery. He lived at 500 North Fourth Street in Apollo at the time of his death.

Virginia Kimmel (Johnston) Smith, John Thompson Smith, Verda (Hilty) Smith,
Bertha Edna (Smith) Athya, George Nelson Smith

Virginia’s husband John died at the Belair Nursing Home on September 23, 1969 in Lower Burrell, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He was buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in Lower Burrell. Virginia moved to Florida after John’s death to live with her daughter.

Virginia died at the age of 83 in Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Florida on March 12, 1986. She was brought home to Pennsylvania and buried at Greenwood Memorial Park beside her husband.