Person Page - 506

     Margaret F. McNutt was born in 1859 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.² She was the daughter of John Evans McNutt and Catharine E. McNutt.¹ Margaret F. McNutt died on 5 July 1870.¹

     Elizabeth Evans was born in 1805 at Brush Valley, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.³ She was the daughter of Hugh Evans and Hannah Dill.^2,3 Elizabeth Evans married Joseph McNutt, son of James B. McNutt and Sarah "Sally" Armitage, on 24 December 1824 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^4,2 Elizabeth Evans died on 4 May 1880 at Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.

     Gary Howard McNutt was born on 20 May 1879 at Indiana County, Pennsylvania.¹ He was the son of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin.¹ Gary Howard McNutt married Emma Domeison in 1899.^2,3 Gary Howard McNutt died in September 1966 at Pinellas County, Florida, at age 87.³

     Emma Domeison was born in December 1879 at Pennsylvania.² She married Gary Howard McNutt, son of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin, in 1899.^3,4

     Victor Carlysle McNutt was born on 29 September 1881 at Indiana County, Pennsylvania.¹ He was the son of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin.¹ Victor Carlysle McNutt married Ivy Fern Johnson, daughter of Rufus S. Johnson and Emma Griffing, circa 1903.^1,2 Victor Carlysle McNutt died on 16 June 1970 at age 88.³ He was buried at Mount Vernon Cemetery, Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.³

     Ivy Fern Johnson was born on 1 January 1880 at Pennsylvania.² She was the daughter of Rufus S. Johnson and Emma Griffing.² Ivy Fern Johnson married Victor Carlysle McNutt, son of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin, circa 1903.^1,3 Ivy Fern Johnson died on 11 August 1945 at McKeesport, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 65.² She was buried at Mount Vernon Cemetery, Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.⁴

     Robert Judson McNutt was born on 15 February 1883 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.² He was the son of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin.¹ Robert Judson McNutt married Ulga "Olive" Wohlgemuth, daughter of Alexander Wohlgemuth and Amelia Emily Newman.¹ Robert Judson McNutt died on 5 November 1939 at Columbia Hospital, Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 56.³ He was buried at Church Hill Cemetery, Wilkins Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.^4,3

     Ulga "Olive" Wohlgemuth was born on 27 August 1896 at Dresden, Sachsen, Germany.² She was the daughter of Alexander Wohlgemuth and Amelia Emily Newman.² Ulga "Olive" Wohlgemuth married Robert Judson McNutt, son of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin.¹ Ulga "Olive" Wohlgemuth died on 29 September 1984 at Oakmont, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 88.^3,2 Her obituary read, "On Sat., Sept. 29, 1984, Olive (Wohlgemuth) of Turtle Creek, beloved wife of the late Robert
J. McNutt; mother of Dorothy Resko, Ruth Belin, Robert, Walter,
Clair, Harold, Ralph,and James McNutt, the late Catherine Damico and Donald McNutt; 22 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren; sister of Martha Betchce, Bertha Clinosky,
Walter and Raymond Wohlgemuth. Friends will be received at the John L Quinlan Funeral Home, 11th & Airbrake Aves., Turtle Creek, where service will be held Tues. at 11 a.m."⁴ She was buried at Church Hill Cemetery, Wilkins Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.⁵

     Bertha May McNutt was born on 2 December 1886 at Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^2,3,4 She was the daughter of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin.¹ Bertha May McNutt married Charles Henry Miller, son of William H. Miller and Mary Elizabeth Zug, on 3 February 1910 at Home of Rev. Lewis Hay, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^1,5 Bertha May McNutt died on 29 August 1962 at Orlando, Brevard County, Florida, at age 75.⁶

     Charles Henry Miller was born on 10 September 1882 at Philipsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania.³ He was the son of William H. Miller and Mary Elizabeth Zug.² Charles Henry Miller married Bertha May McNutt, daughter of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin, on 3 February 1910 at Home of Rev. Lewis Hay, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^1,2 Charles Henry Miller died on 6 June 1940 at Philipsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania, at age 57.³

     Harry Foster McNutt was born on 2 August 1889 at Indiana County, Pennsylvania.¹ He was the son of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin.¹ Harry Foster McNutt married Ida M. Webb, daughter of Mary B. u, circa 1915.² Harry Foster McNutt died on 6 June 1948 at Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 58.³

     Ida M. Webb was born on 10 October 1884 at Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.² She was the daughter of Mary B. u.³ Ida M. Webb married Harry Foster McNutt, son of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin, circa 1915.⁴ Ida M. Webb died on 1 October 1945 at Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 60.²

     Mary Katherine McNutt was born on 18 December 1891 at Brush Valley, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^2,3 She was the daughter of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin.¹ Mary Katherine McNutt married Harry M. Jarvis circa 1925.⁴ Mary Katherine McNutt died on 10 December 1977 at Winter Park, Orange County, Florida, at age 85.⁵

     Harry M. Jarvis married Mary Katherine McNutt, daughter of Edward Turner McNutt and Elizabeth Younkin, circa 1925.²

     Cora Belle Ross was born on 8 September 1902 at Brush Valley, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^2,3 She was the daughter of Charles Herbert Ross and Etta Maude McNutt.^4,1,5 Cora Belle Ross died in 1925 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.⁶

     Warden Meldren Ross was born on 14 August 1904 at Pennsylvania.^2,3 He was the son of Charles Herbert Ross and Etta Maude McNutt.^4,1,5 Warden Meldren Ross married Hazel Etta Aaron, daughter of Carley Vernon Aaron and Ella Mae Fox.⁶ Warden Meldren Ross died on 19 October 1965 at Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, at age 61.⁶ His obituary read, "Warden Ross, 65, of Dayton, Ohio, and Fort Myers, Fla., died unexpectedly at his Ohio home Sunday, Oct. 19, 1965, of a heart attack. A son of Charles and Maude McNutt Ross, he was born Aug. 12, 1904, in Brushvalley Twp. where he spent his early life. Mr. Ross was a retired employee of General Motors, Dayton, having worked there 38 years. He was a member of the Church of the Nazarene. Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Hazel Aaron Ross; three sisters: Mrs. Charles (Wilda) Westley, Skippock; Mrs. Warren (Arlene) Quigg, Pittsburgh; and Miss Bernice Ross, Altoona. An uncle, Robert V. McNutt, resides in Brush Valley. He was preceded in death by a sister, Mrs. Edgar (Cora) Stewart. Interment will be made in the family plot in the state of Indiana on Wednesday."⁶

     Wilda Adaline Ross was born on 2 August 1906 at Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^2,3 She was the daughter of Charles Herbert Ross and Etta Maude McNutt.^4,1,5 Wilda Adaline Ross married Charles Oscar Westley, son of William S. Westley and Annie Minerva Eshelman.⁶ Wilda Adaline Ross died on 10 March 1991 at age 84.⁷

     Arlene Roberta Ross was born on 13 October 1908 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.¹ She was the daughter of Charles Herbert Ross and Etta Maude McNutt.^2,3,4 Arlene Roberta Ross married Warren P. Quigg, son of James Charles Quigg and Mary E. Harmuth.⁵ Arlene Roberta Ross died on 30 March 1991 at Pennsylvania at age 82.¹

     Bernice Lucinda Ross was born on 22 October 1912 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^2,3,4 She was the daughter of Charles Herbert Ross and Etta Maude McNutt.^5,1,6 Bernice Lucinda Ross died on 2 May 1993 at Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania, at age 80.⁴

     Alvin Gilford McNutt was born on 19 July 1879 at Columbiana County, Ohio.^2,3 He was the son of Alvin Taylor McNutt and Lucinda Smith.^1,4,5 Alvin Gilford McNutt died on 19 July 1884 at age 5.⁴ He was buried at United Presbyterian Cemetery (now Conemaugh Township Cemetery), Conemaugh Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.⁴

     U McNutt was born on 2 November 1887.² U McNutt died after 2 November 1887.² U McNutt was the child of Alvin Taylor McNutt and Lucinda Smith.^1,2,3 U McNutt was buried at United Presbyterian Cemetery (now Conemaugh Township Cemetery), Conemaugh Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.²

     George Taylor McNutt was born on 2 March 1886 at Pennsylvania.^1,2 He was the son of Alvin Taylor McNutt and Lucinda Smith.^1,3,4 He received his education in the public school at Brush Valley and remained at home to help his father until the year 1911, which he spent in Alberta, Canada, coming home where he spent the winter. In the spring of 1912 going west, he settled in Findon, Montana, where he took up a claim and became the owner of a large ranch. He was identified with the Odd Fellow Lodge.³ He did not marry until he was about forty years old and his wife only lived one and a half years and passed away. He married again later and lived in Oregon. He was in the auto business. He left no family.⁴ George Taylor McNutt married Freida u.⁵ George Taylor McNutt died on 15 May 1941 at Grant County, Oregon, at age 55.⁴ He was buried at Canyon City, Grant County, Oregon.⁴

     Anna Cathryn McNutt was born on 21 September 1890 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^1,2,3 She was the daughter of Alvin Taylor McNutt and Lucinda Smith.^4,1,5 Anna Cathryn McNutt married Stewart G. Campbell, son of Christopher D. Campbell and Sarah Campbell, on 24 October 1917 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.⁶ Anna Cathryn McNutt died on 22 October 1964 at Homer City, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, at age 74.³

     John Smith McNutt was born on 16 October 1892 at McNutt homestead, Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^1,2 He was the son of Alvin Taylor McNutt and Lucinda Smith.^1,2,3 He taught school in Buffington and Brush Valley Townships in the years 1909-1911. He entered the Illinois Holiness University at Olivet, Illinois, where he prepared himself for the ministry, in which he engaged at Licking, Missouri. In 1921 and 1922 he preached and taught school near Pueblo, Colorado, then moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming and in 1923 was located in Pueblo, Colorado.² John Smith McNutt married Fratammie "Tammie" Farris, daughter of James Dudley Farris and Mary Frances Stockton, on 7 September 1913.² John Smith McNutt died on 22 December 1973 at Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado, at age 81.^3,4 His obituary read, "John S. McNutt, 81, formerly of Brush Valley,
died at his home in Pueblo, Colo., Saturday, Dec 22, 1973. A son of Taylor and Lucinda Smith McNutt, he was born Oct. 15, 1892, in Brushvalley Township, Indiana County. He was a school teacher for many years in Colorado and later worked for the U.S. government until his retirement in 1960. He was a charter member of the First Nazarene Church in Pueblo. Surviving are his widow, Tammie Faris McNutt; a son, Paul, Kansas City, Mo; two daughters, Marian Cadwell, Pueblo, and Ruth, Fort Garland,
Colorado; six grandchildren; a brother, Robert V., Brush Valley.
He was preceded in death by two sisters, Mrs. Charles (Maud) Ross and Mrs. Stewart (Annie) Campbell and a brother, George.
Services and interment were in Pueblo, Colorado."⁴

     Robert Vivian McNutt was born on 16 September 1897 at McNutt homestead, Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^2,3,4,5 He was the son of Alvin Taylor McNutt and Lucinda Smith.^1,6,5 Robert Vivian McNutt married Violet Ellen Wakefield, daughter of Edward Brady Wakefield and Nannie Emma Mack, on 25 August 1922 at Indiana, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^7,8 He wrote a history of the Robert McNutt clan in April of 1975 while living in St. Petersburg, Florida. In the history he wrote the following, "By request, I am going to try and put down some of our family history as I know it and as I learned it from my Grandmother McNutt. I was born on the old McNutt Homestead in Brush Valley, Pennsylvania on September 16, 1897. Being of the fifth generation to live on the Homestead, I was the son of Alvin Taylor McNutt and Lucinda Smith McNutt; he being the son of John Evans McNutt and Catherine McNutt; he being the son of Joseph and Betsy Evans McNutt; he being the son of James and Sally Armitage McNutt who brought their family from Ireland about the beginning of the 19th Century. This is uncertain as I have no exact dates, but this is about the time that the Irish were leaving Ireland and I assume that they were a part of that exodus. I never knew what sparked the desire to come to America, but I'm glad they did. Tradition says that they came through Philadelphia to Harrisburg and up the Juniata River on the Tow-Boats, which were drawn along the side of the river by long ropes and a mule. They worked there for awhile taking care of the mules. Just how they selected to settle in what we now call Brush Valley, Twp. I'll never know and it remains a mystery to our generation. They marked off a Homestead, by Tomahawk Claim, of 600 acres. That was done by marking trees around a certain area where they would file a claim to it with the U. S. Government. When father later sold the Homestead to Mr. McCrory he had the original patent papers from the Government and one thing I remember seeing in that patent paper was that the Government reserved one-eighth of all the gold and silver that might be discovered on the claim. Well there was never any such metal found, but they were totally unaware, at that time, of the vast wealth of coal that underlaid all of this area, there being two and three seams of coal which is just now, in 1975, being mined. This land was heavily covered with the finest timbers; Chestnut, Poplar, several varieties of Oak and Sugar Maple, from which they made maple syrup. Some of this generation were Carpenters, Blacksmiths and tradesmen of different kinds besides farming. The winter occupation was making hogshead barrels. That was a trade known as Coopers. These were made of the finest split oak, the staves being straight and the bottoms bigger than the tops. For the hoops they split young hickory saplings and bent them around the barrels and these barrels each held about 62 gallons. I can remember seeing them around the old Homestead, but they have all disappeared since. The barn on the Homestead was made of the finest White Oak timbers, it being one of the bigger barns of that time, there were four pieces of timber that were eight inches square and sixty feet long, all hewed out by hand from one tree, that is, each tree made one timber 8 x 8 x 60 feet long. I wondered how long it took them to make that and what a perfect tree it must have taken, straight and so on. This barn was built sometime before the Civil War. The roof was made of hand split White Pine shingles eighteen inches long. These lasted into my lifetime. I helped dad, Taylor, and older brothers to replace them with a paper roof somewhere around 1908-10. I was the youngest boy born to Taylor and Lucinda. The oldest boy, named Gilford, died at age six years with diptheria and is buried in the cemetery near the Methodist Church in Brush Valley. Another boy was born dead and is buried in Brush Valley, but of the ones that lived they were; my eldest sister Maude, then George, Annie, Smith and me. Maude was sixteen years older than I, George eleven, Annie seven and Smith five. Maude married Charlie Ross when I was four and Cora Ross was five years younger than I, and Warden seven, and Wilda nine, and Arlene eleven, and Bernice fifteen. There is tradition that our forefathers lived in Scotland at one time. When the British conquered the Scotts many of the Scotts moved to Ireland and colonized that island somewhat like the settling of America. At that time the family name was spelled in different ways such as MacNaught. There may have been a reason for this so as to hide any identity or connection with any derogatory action against the British. Just what sparked the idea of migrating to America we can only speculate, but very likely it may have been because of the potatoe famine that took place in Ireland in the early 1840's. I have always been eternally thankful that they came from the Protestant part of Ireland as a great many of the Irish were of the Catholic Faith. A little incident occured in my life one time, I was doing some business with a man and when he learned I was of Irish descent he ask me where I went to church and I told him in Brush Valley. He replied, 'Why there are no Catholic churches there,' but I replied, 'I'm not a Catholic!' He said that I was the first Irishman he ever knew that was not a Catholic. Traditionally the McNutts were Methodist and Great Grandfather was an 'Exortor.' That meant in the absence of a Minister he was in charge of the 'Class Meeting' which later was called Prayer Meeting. He also looked after the flock as often the Minister could only come maybe once a month. Great Grandfather was also a singer of some repute, as it was said he could be heard singing for miles in the evening when it was calm. His first wife was Betsy Wakefield to when he had eight children, Samuel, Merriam, Jane, Catherine, Pauline, Elizabeth, Susan and Mary. His second wife was Mahelah Sence to whom he had four children, John, Lorenza which was Doc, Minerva and Sarah. I think he is buried in the McNutt graveyard on the McCrory farm, above Cuba Manor. There is no marker. My Grandmother McNutt was a very proud lady and she liked to wear a silk dress on Sunday and liked to walk up the isle of the church with the dress swishing from one leg to the other. While she and her husband, John Evans McNutt, lived in Brush Tilley she bought a pair of corsets from the Buchanan Store for fifty cents, that's about 1895. This info I got from some old account books that were found in the Buchanan Store when Clair and Audrey bought it. In a history book of the early Methodist Church of Western Pennsylvania that in the possession of Rev. Robert Ling of St. Petersburg, Florida, I found the names of John and Samuel McNutt as being on the first Trustee Board of the Brush Valley Methodist Church. Also on that Board were such names as Jeremiah Wakefield, Benjamin Evans, Overdorffs and other old family names of the community. Great Great Grandfather James McNutt's wife whose name was Sarah Armitage may have been a sister to some of the Mack ancestors, as that same name appears on the 'Stone Pumphouse' that J. S. Mack erected in Brush Valley opposite the Trudy brick house that we lived in. This is only speculation, but could be entirely true as they were of the same generation and area. When my mother and father came back to the farm from East Liverpool, Ohio, they naturally went to the Methodist Church in Brush Valley, but on account of the distance to Brush Valley and the condition of the roads the mode of travel was rather difficult. Consequently, they did not attend very regularly. As a result of this, mother determined that her children should be in Sunday School and took us kids to the little Bethel Evangelical Church located on the McCrory farm, which was within walking distance. Mother had been raised in the Presbyterian Faith. Grandfather Smith being a strict disciplinarian, his girls, of which there were eight, and three boys, were not allowed to play on the Sabbath Day, but had to study the Bible and learn the Catechisms. This sometimes became tedious to the girls so for a little diversion, Mother's sister, Bell, who was sort of a clown, tied paper shoes on the cat, which promptly ran out where Grandfather could see it, this resulted in a more intensified course of study. After father and mother were married and they lived in East Liverpool, Ohio, mother experienced a great transformation in her spiritual welfare, coming into a closer relationship with the Lord, being converted in a Salvation Army street meeting. So when they came to Brush Valley and attended the Bethel Evangelical Church that is where she took her family and most of us later joined there. It was hard for father to go to Bethel as he still leaned towards the Methodists. I must say that the Bethel Evangelical Denomination was split off the early Methodist. When the Methodist Conference refused to send a German speaking Minister to the Pennsylvania Dutch people of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a Mr. Jacob Albright began holding meetings in the Dutch homes and out of this grew the Evangelical Church, later uniting with the United Brethren and became known as the Evangelical United Brethren Church and now is merged with the Methodist and is known as the United Methodist, they all having about the same creed and doctrine and government, etc. I was never sent to Sunday School, I was taken to Sunday School. There was never any question on Sunday morning as to whether we were going to Sunday School, but we just automatically knew we were expected to go, same as the Sunrise. Being raised in this environment, I early learned I needed a Saviour to pardon my sins, even as a boy of ten years I knew I was a sinner, so during a Revival meeting at Bethel, when I was ten years old, I went to the altar for prayer. Those Dutch people usually had some very good warm meetings and a few shouts were not unusual and I had seen other ones converted at the altar and I thought I had to feel like shouting also, but it never came that way. So after several nights of meetings, the services were coming to a close, the services in those days usually continued for a month or more, well what was I to do! I had not been satisfied in what I expected from the Lord, but on the advice of mother and the Pastor they declared I had met everything that the Lord required and I would have to take Him by faith and if I did that would be eligible to join the church. So on the last night of the meetings, after the regular service, the Pastor said he was going to take in new members and he got out his little black book and said any candidates should come up and sit on the front seat, so Weimer Hiner and I did so, and I had no more than sat down on that seat when something happened in my heart. I just seemed to want to float away, not to get up and shout but I just wanted to bawl. Well I never was the same after that and it was always an experience that I could look back to and could always remind the enemy, when tempted, that I had that crisis in my life. I must confess that my life has not always been what it should, but I am always thankful for that experience for it taught me that we live by Faith and our Blessed Lord is always ready and standing by to hear us when we honestly seek Him. When my father and mother were first married they went to East Liverpool, Ohio, where he worked in a pottery. His part was glazing dishes in the Homer Laughlin Pottery Co., and it still is in business as far as I know for I have seen dishes with Homer Laughlin on the bottom of them. Father's health was not too good so they came back to the farm in Brush Valley. His father, John E. had traded the 100 acre farm for the Homestead farm where I was raised, but by this time he was ready to retire so he and his wife Catherine moved to the village of Brush Valley and lived in the house where Curt McFeaters was raised. I think Mr. Stern lives there now, so father and mother took over the farm and that is where they raised their family. Mother was the spiritual leader in our family and always had family worship before going to bed and one of my earliest recollections of her is her spreading her skirt out for me to lay my head on as she knelt to pray, And she always ruffled my hair. We enjoyed those days as we grew up together on the farm. We always had plenty to do and mother was a good cook and what great piles of buckwheat cakes and sausage we ate in the winter. It was great delight to go with father in the sled before I was old enough to go to school. He would haul coal for the house and go to the mill in Heshbon and sometimes I got to go along. One of his treats was when he would buy some white lozenges. Father never liked chocolate fudge, but always reached for a piece when we made it, but chocolate was mother's favorite and I guess I am hooked on it too. Then going to school. The first few days in school I was too bashful to go to class with the other kids, but finally the teacher got me up before mother's threatened paddling. We had great fun in school although I preferred to sled ride rather than the confinement of the school room. I could mention some of my old school mates, but most of them are long gone. In winter when the snow was deep my brother, George, would take us to school in the sled. One such winter he would go through the 100 acres and there was four foot of snow there. Father had made a pair of wooden bob sleds for us to ride down the hill to school and we never lacked riders. We could go a long way down through the woods road which is closed now and it was a special delight to be at the bottom of the hill when the bell rang and we always took our time to get up the hill. The teachers usually excused this if it was not abused too much or too often. Mother always got us started early and I can still hear the train whistle for Claghorn stop, as it was usually about the time we were on our way to school, and if we could not hear it we knew we were late and had to hurry. There were no school buses in those days. Here is a little incident in our life here in St. Petersburg, sometimes we can hear the train whistle early in the morning and that reminds me of those times when I went to school. One incident I can very well remember and you might enjoy, my older brother George usually worked somewhere in the winter and would come back to the farm in the Spring. One such time he worked in a store in Black Lick, Penna. He had come home over the week end and on Sunday he had smoked a big cigar and about supper time before going to the barn to do the evening chores he laid the remains of the cigar on the mantel. Well now, I thought, here's my chance so I slipped it out and got my sled and up above the house I lit the cigar and started down around the house. I blew the smoke out and looked back at it curling up behind and thought boy this is the life. Well this lasted for about two trips, and the third trip when I got to the bottom of the hill it felt kind of good just to lay still. Pretty soon I began to see black spots in the snow, oh boy, did I get sick. Well, what to do now? I waited until I heard the men coming from the barn, it was now getting dark, and when I didn't appear for supper they came calling for me, so I had to go in the house and finally had to tell them what happened. They didn't administer any merited punishment as they realized I had enough punishment. Thus ended my first experience with tobacco. Father never used tobacco. The original 600 acres took in parts of what we know as the Hiner Farm, part of what Wayne Campbell now owns, part of the Motter Farm, which is what is the Cuban Manor Farm, the Bob Thompson Farm that's the corner of the woods next to where Bethel Church once stood, then, of course, the 100 acre tract which was my father's birthplace. Also parts of the Peddicord Place and probably some part of the original Wakefield home and probably part of the woods below Charlie Overdorff's house. They cut some of the trees and rolled the logs together and burned them just to clear the land. Another incident was at one of these log rollings. My Great Great Grandmother, Sarah Armitage, lifted too hard and ruptured herself and suffered ever after. Another method was to ring the bark on the big trees and let them stand until the wind blew them down, this also removed the stumps. I can remember of some of these large tree trunks still standing when I was a boy, and one in particular that had stood the storms of many years, but on a perfactly calm day it toppled over. That was near the McNutt graveyard on the McCrory's Farm. Hunting was good in those days, even bear and sometimes wolves were known. I remember a few logs that were part of the original house, had been replaced so that they made a shelter or fold for the sheep at night, and then sometimes the wolves would reach a paw in through the cracks in the logs and tear the side out of a sheep or lamb. Deer were also plentiful and small game, squirrels, grouse, and turkey were there for the taking, there being much feed in the woods; chestnuts, acorns and berries in season. I remember a bear story my father told us. The farmers let their hogs run wild in the Fall to fatten on the chestnuts, acorns, etc., and if a bear came around to get a little pig the mother pigs would surround the bear and if he took refuge on a tree stump, they would finally pull him off and tear him apart. There was a spot where my boys and I called the Bear Wallow just above the orchard where I was raised. Maybe you can identify it. My father was a hard working, honest man. One of the neighbors commented on him as being too honest to live in this world. He always said, quote, 'My word is as good as my bond,' and he meant it. He lived in an era when it was hard to make a living on the farm and at one time he went to Bolivar and worked in a brick yard. The soil of the farm was getting exausted and modern techniques of soil fertility were not available at that time. Our forefathers had depended on some sale of timber. One popular way was to make railroad ties by hand in the woods. This was a slow hard process, as they didn't have sawmills at that time. There was a water powered sawmill on Brush Creek at the sight of the steel bridge, but was a slow process as there were no circular saws then. The one saw moved up and down off an eccentric powered by water. There was no White Pine in our area, some Hemlock, but in those days Hemlock was hardly considered worth cutting, and when they wanted the White Pine lumber, for which Pennsylvania was famous, they had to go to the pine country which did not come much farther south than the vicinity of Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania. Sale for the hand made railroad ties was on the Main Line Railroad which was at Ninevah or what we now call Seward. They had to haul them over there, a long trip about eight or nine miles. Later there was some sale for ties at Homer City and later when the railroad was built up Black Lick Creek through the village of Heshbon they had a place to sell some of their ties. I can remember when this road was built. There were great gangs of foreigners, I think mostly Italian people that dug, with pick and shovel, the passes that they had to go through, they didn't have the equipment that we have today. I can remember the first car of lime that my father purchased. It became known, rather slowly, that the soil needed lime, and they had to haul it from Homer City. The average wagon load was about one ton unless you had four horses, then you could haul a little more. I often wonder what he would think of our modern way of getting lime. We had other advantages in those days, as we usually had plenty of apples of various kinds and cherries, both red and black, with prunes, plums, pears and not to forget to mention the luscious grapes that we enjoyed, also we usually had plenty of black walnuts. No need to spray in those days. I will regress a little and go back to my earliest recollections. At one time my parents had the Thompson place rented and lived there for some time, and I can remember moving back to the home farm house, which they called 'The Orchard Grove Farm.' On the occasion of the seventeen year locust, I can remember them scaring me, I think I was about three years old. The year 1911 was a year to be remembered in my life. That year both my older brothers, George and Smith, left home, never to live at home again. They, of course, visited us several times over the years, but they were never home to stay any time after that. George left in March, 1911, for Vegreville, Alberta, Canada, to work for a Mr. William Wagner, a native of West Wheatfield, Twp., Indiana County, Pa. He had gone to Alberta years before and taken up Government land and was farming on a big scale. Oats and wheat were the principle crops that they grew, it was too cold up there to grow corn. I remember George saying that Mrs. Wagner had planted a little corn in the garden and it froze in July and they had big horses in those days, no tractors, but they did have a big steam thresher that came around. One thing of interest, they fired this boiler with straw to make the steam. They had great straw piles in those days and they would drag the straw around with a hay rake and then stoke it in the engine and make steam. George came home that winter and then the next Spring, 1912, he went to Montana and Homesteaded. Smith left in August, 1911, in pursue his education in Illinois. He had taught two years in Indiana County. Later he went to Asbury College at Wilmore, Kentucky. There he met his future wife, Tammie Farris, from Missouri. They were married and later went to Missouri to live, later moving to the state of Colorado where he taught school for over thirty five years. During World War II he worked for the U. S. Government at any Army Depot. After retiring they lived in Pueblo, Colorado and he passed away December, 1973. They had three children, Miriam, married Frank Cadwell, Ruth married Burch Addington, and Paul married Esther. Why George and Smith had this grain of wonderlust goes back a long way, maybe several generations. Let us ask ourselves what sparked our forefathers to leave Scotland, Ireland and later to come to America. Well, I guess civilization has ever been westward from the time of the Garden of Eden. At any rate, I would like to mention that in my life time I had heard great glowing tales of the marvelous great Wild and Wooley West! My Grandmother's sister, Susan, married a Mr. Andrew Pittman and they had gone to the State of Iowa where they could Homestead on Government land, good prairie land at that time. A man could claim one hundred and sixty acres, his wife one hundred and sixty acres, and each child one hundred and sixty acres. Well, when Grandfather came home from the Civil War, the Spring of 1865, his wife wanted to sell their home, which was the tract known as the 100 acres and go and settle with her sister in Iowa. They had two boys, Edward and Taylor, my father, so they could have Homesteaded six hundred and forty acres or a section of good Iowa corn land, but of course, it was pioneering as they had to build houses out of sod, and had to make improvements each year and after three years they got a clear title to the land. But for some reason that I could never understand, Grandfather did not want to do this. So they remained in Pennsylvania on the original farm. My father always regretted that he never got to see the great open prairie that grew the tallest corn on earth. One item I heard through the years was that corn was sometimes cheaper than coal per ton and on occasions they actually burned corn for fuel to keep warm. There were many discouraging things also, such as prairie fires, as well as tornadoes, even the Indians were sometimes troublesome, not to mention crop failures like drouths and even locust, etc. If they got one good crop in three years they could make a living. I guess all these accounts of the West added up to wonderlust in us boys and when George and Smith had both gone West, that put more desires in my heart to follow them. I was then fourteen years old and I turned my ambitions toward a teaching career, and to this end I later attended three terms of Summer Normal School in Mechanicsburg, conducted by a Prof. Campbell. These were a cram course in Elementary Education and if you passed an exam by the County Superintendent of Schools, they issued a one year certificate to teach school. This I did for a magnificent salary of $40.00 per month. After one year of teaching, 1916-17, I decided that teaching was no career for me and as World War I was coming on and the coal mines were opening up nearby and great demand for coal to win the war and wages were better, so that in one eight hour day it paid $5.34, all in one day, and I had never seen $5.34 in one day. I wondered how long that had been going on as I had never seen so much money at one time. I had worked for Irwin Shaffer when he lived on the Peddicord place and he payed me $5.00 a week and board. I continued working at Lucuisboro coal mine for several years, wages were now $7.50 per day, and I didn't want to go back to the farm as it was not very renumerative. By the Spring of 1920 I persuaded father to sell the farm to J. G. McCrory, this he did after some negiotiations, and we had a farm sale, and we continued to live there for another year, rent free. Now I thought I could surely get my chance to go see the great big West. My brother George was now living in Oregon, but had Homesteaded in Montana after his first year in Canada. But other unexpected circumstances changed the course of my life. My sister Maude had contracted TB from taking care of her mother in law, Mrs. Rebecca Hiner Ross, and by the fall of 1920 passed away in Dec. This was a terrible blow to her family, but worse was yet to follow. By the Spring of 1921, when I had made some preparation for my long desired trip West, my brother in law, Charley Ross, took sick and we took him to Indiana Hospital where after forty nine days, he passed away. This left their family in a very bad plite. It was my sad duty to go and tell the family that they were now indeed orphans. Warden was not old enough to go ahead and run the farm, so I quit my job in the mines and on the fourth of July, 1921, Warden and I moved father and mother's furniture into the Ross home, where Clair lives now, Charley and Maude having bought the Dick farm in the Spring of 1918. Charley had made the Savings and Trust Bank in Indiana his Executor and on the fifth of October, 1921, I bought the farm at public auction for $7050.00. I was terribly surprised at that figure because I thought I was really sunk. I also bought $600.00 worth of other stuff like hay, cows, and different things. All this was to completely change the course of my life. I now settled down to be a farmer, something I had not wanted to do, but it seemed the only thing to do at the time. Aunt Gertie Stephens took Wilda to raise and educate and Arlene later went to live with the McEwen family in Pittsburg, also Bernice went later to live with Keifer McEwen. Warden stayed with us until 1926 when he went to Dayton, Ohio. Now while all these things were taking place, something else was occuring, I was casting about for someone to share my life with and who could it be other than my little school mate from the next farm. I guess it started it out for convenience sake as it was no trouble to stop my big Model T Ford at the Wakefield home since her father was the Mgr. of the McCrory Farms. Finally we were married August 25, 1922 after a somewhat turbulent courtship, and I guess you know the rest of my life. I would like to add a few things concerning my brother George and sister Annie. George did not marry until he was about forty years old and his wife only lived one and a half years and passed away. He married again later and lived in Oregon. He was in the auto business, but passed away suddenly in 1950, and is buried in Canyon City, Oregon. He left no family and we never heard any more from his wife. My sister, Annie, married Steward Campbell in 1918 and they had three children, Wayne, Dorothy and Helen. Wayne married Edna McCormick, they live on the farm. Dorothy married Herbert Skyles, they live in Johnstown, Helen married James Stephens, they live in Indiana."⁵ Robert Vivian McNutt died on 19 January 1981 at Indiana, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, at age 83.³ His obituary read, "Robert V. McNutt, 83, Homer City RD 1,
died Monday Jan 19, 1981, in the Indiana Hospital. A son of Taylor and Lucinda Smith McNutt, he was born Sept 16, 1897, in Brushvalley Township. Mr. McNutt was a member of the Church of the Nazarene, Homer City, and had been a former Sunday school superintendent and teacher. He was a member of the Brush Valley Grange No. 1785; the AARP and the Senior Citizens of Brush Valley. He had served 12 years on the Brushvalley Township School Board. Mr. McNutt was a retired farmer and had lived in Florida for 10 years and in Wyoming. Surviving are three sonsl William, Wyoming; Clair, Brush Valley; Glenn, Chicago; 16 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Violet E McNutt in 1975. Friends will be received from 7-9 p.m. today and from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. Wednesday at Robinson-Lytlels, Indiana, where services will
be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The Rev. Paul E. Kauffman and the Rev. Dwight Taylor will officiate and interment will be in the Greenwood Cemetery, Indiana."⁹ He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery, White Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.⁹

     Mary Ann McNutt was born on 23 August 1825 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.² She was the daughter of Joseph McNutt and Elizabeth Evans.^1,3 Mary Ann McNutt married Robert Swarts.^1,3

     Robert Swarts married Mary Ann McNutt, daughter of Joseph McNutt and Elizabeth Evans.^1,2

     Hugh McNutt was born in 1833.¹ He was the son of Joseph McNutt and Elizabeth Evans.^1,2 Hugh McNutt went west.²

     Hannah McNutt was born in 1836.¹ She was the daughter of Joseph McNutt and Elizabeth Evans.^1,2 Hannah McNutt married Jacob McKay.²

     Sarah Jane McNutt was born on 29 January 1839 at Brush Valley Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.² She was the daughter of Joseph McNutt and Elizabeth Evans.^1,3 Sarah Jane McNutt married James Somerville, son of William H. Somerville and Jane Laverty, on 8 May 1860 at Clearfield, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.⁴ Sarah Jane McNutt died on 14 May 1910 at Susquehanna Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, at age 71.⁴