Jennie Taylor

This is part two of a two-part series narrating the life story of Nancy Jane Mansfield Haney. This second part begins in Apollo, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Nancy, her second husband, Samuel Haney, and their children had moved from Webster, Westmoreland County to Apollo by the early 1880s. The story follows Nancy and Samuel to Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania in 1895 and ends in Oklahoma Borough, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1917. If you haven’t read part one of Nancy’s story and would like to do so before reading part two, you may do so here Nancy Jane Mansfield Haney: Moving Through Life – Part 1

Between 1881-1882, Nancy and Samuel settled in Apollo, Armstrong County, not far from where Nancy spent her childhood years. This small community along the Kiskiminetas River was well populated in the 1880s. One of the largest employers of the time was the rolling mill which had gone under various name changes with the most well-known name being the Apollo Iron & Mill Co. It is highly probable that Samuel went to work at this mill.

August 21^st, 1882 Nancy was received into the United Methodist Church in Apollo, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.[1] Her husband, Samuel, was received on August 26^th, 1883.[2] In June of 1890, Nancy’s and Samuel’s daughter, Jennie (Eliza), married Lester W. Taylor in Allegheny county.[3] It is in this county that Jennie and her husband, Lester, would take up residence.[4] Two months after Jennie’s marriage, Nancy’s daughter, Melissa, purchased property in Apollo.[5] The family was here to stay, so it seemed.

By 1890 this small community that Nancy and Samuel came to call home was thriving. Its population had grown from 449 residents in 1860 to 1,156 in 1880.[6] The population reached its peak of 2,000 about 1890. The main attraction was the available employment at the Apollo Iron & Mill Co. All seemed to be going well for this company and the small community it occupied when, in 1893 in reaction to an economic downturn, the then president of the mill, George McMurtry, cut wages by 8 to 15 percent. In protest, several rollers angry with the current situation walked out in protest. In response, McMurtry closed the mill down for several months. He reopened the mill a few months later with non-union workers. With the exception of those who chose to leave the union, the doors of this growing company were forever closed to the unionized skilled laborers who once worked there. With no alternative form of employment in the local area, these skilled laborers drifted away.

In 1895, the same year McMurtry moved the Apollo Iron & Steel Co. down the river to a newly built community, Nancy’s daughter, Melissa, and son-in-law, John, sold their property in Apollo.[7] While Melissa, John and their children moved to their newly purchased eight acres of land just north of Saltsburg in Indiana County,[8] Nancy and Samuel with their son, Samuel M., settled in Saltsburg. Their son, James, had married in 1891 and was living with his wife, Frankie Kipp,[9] on Market Street in Scottsdale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.[10]

Nancy and Samuel did not own property and appeared to have moved around in the small community of Saltsburg. In the early part of 1898, they moved from an area of Saltsburg known as the Extension to Ms. Murray’s property at Point Pleasant, at the opposite end of town.[11] By the end of the year, they were living at the Waddle’s property on the corner of Grant and Market Streets.[12] Samuel and his youngest son were employed as sheet iron workers.[13]

Samuel Haney moved from the Extension to Point Pleasant in Saltsburg, PA early 1898.

Samuel Haney and his wife, Nancy, moved from Point Pleasant to Grant and Market streets late 1898.

Nancy’s and Samuel’s youngest son move to Pittsburgh shortly after the turn of the century.[14] By World War I, he was married and living in Cleveland, Ohio near his brother James.[15] Nancy and Samuel moved to Salina, Westmoreland County as of 1907.[16]

Samuel and Nancy were living in Salina. PA in 1907.

Ten years later, Nancy passed away in the home of her granddaughter, Ruth Slicker Hardwick. Funeral services were held at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Apollo, and Nancy was laid to rest at the Riverview Cemetery in Apollo, Pennsylvania.[17] Her husband, Samuel, moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he lived with his son, Samuel, at 9342 Amesbury Avenue.[18] It was almost one year from the date of Nancy’s passing when Samuel crossed over the threshold of this mortal life joining his wife in the everlasting life leaving behind family and friends whom he loved.[19]

Nancy Jane Mansfield Haney’s Find-A-Grave Memorial

Sources:

[1] Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 for Nancy Haney, Ancestry.com, accessed 30, December 2018.

[2] Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 for Samuel Haney, Ancestry.com, accessed 30, December 2018.

[3] Pennsylvania, County Marriage Records, 1845-1963, database, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/ : accessed 30, December 2018, entry for Jennie Taylor, 25, June 1890; citing Pennsylvania County Marriages 1852-1973; County: Allegheny; Year Range: 1889-1890; Roll Number: 549747.

[4] 1900 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28, January 2018), entry for Jennie Taylor (age 31), Pittsburgh Ward 5, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

[5] Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book 75:75, S.M. Jackson to Melissa Slicker, 13 August 1890; Recorder of Deeds Office, Kittanning.

[6] Martin, Louis C., Tin Plate Towns, 1890-1910: Local Labor Movements and Workers’ Responses to the Crisis in the Steelworkers’ Union, A Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, Vol. 74, No. 4, Autumn 2007, pp. 494-495, online, https://www.jstor.org accessed 30, December 2018.

[7] Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book 84:196, John Slicker to Esther Owens, 4, November 1895; Recorder of Deeds Office, Kittanning.

[8] Indiana County, Pennsylvania, Deed Book 6976:296, Julia A. Hartlett to Malissa J. Slicker, 10 December 1895; Recorder of Deeds Office, Indiana.

[9] Pennsylvania Marriages, 1852-1968, database, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/ accessed 30, December 2018, entry for James Haney, age 20, 7 Oct 1891; citing Marriage Records. Pennsylvania Records. VariousCounty Register of Wills Offices, Pennsylvania.

[10] 1900 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (https://search.ancestry.com/ accessed 30, December 2018), entry for James Haney (age 29), Scottdale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

[11] Saltsburg, The Indiana Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Weds, 13, April 1898, pg. 13, column 1, database, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com : accessed 30, December 2018), entry for Samuel Haney.

[12] Saltsburg, The Indiana Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Weds, 12, October 1898, pg. 13, column 2, database, Newspapers.com (https://newspapers.com : accessed 30, December 2018), entry for Samuel Haney.

[13] “1900 United States Federal Census,” Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30, December 2018), entry for Samuel Haney, Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

[14] Local Correspondences, Saltsburg. The Indiana Weekly Messenger, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Weds. 11, April 1906, pg. 13, column 1, database Newspapers.com (https://newspaper.com : accessed 30, December 2018) entry for Samuel Haney.

[15] U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry.com (https:///.search.Ancestry.com : accessed 30, December 2018), entry for Samuel Haney; citing Cleveland, Ohio, City Directory, 1917.

[16] Local Correspondences, Saltsburg. The Indiana Weekly Messenger, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Weds. 29, May 1907, pg. 2, column 1, database Newspapers.com (https://newspaper.com : accessed 30, December 2018) entry for Samuel Haney.

[17] Died, Mrs. Nancy Haney. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sat. 27, January 1917, pg. 3, column

8, database Newspapers.com (https://newspaper.com : accessed 30, December 2018) entry for Nancy Haney.

[18] U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Ancestry.com (https:///.search.Ancestry.com : accessed 30, December 2018), entry for Samuel Haney; citing Cleveland, Ohio, City Directory, 1917.

[19] Ohio Department of Health, death certificate 1256 (1917), Samuel Stewart Haney, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Columbus.

I was looking through the black and white photos we had inherited from my paternal grandparents, Leonard Floyd and Wilda Pearl Boyer Slicker, when I came upon the black and white photo below – four women sitting on a front porch somewhere.

Who are these women? They must be family members, right? After all their photo is in the family album. Or are they friends of the family? What about neighbors? Unfortunately, it wasn’t common to identify the people or places in photos of the past. But, let’s flip this photo over and see if someone has left us a clue.

This is the back side of the four women sitting on a porch somewhere photo.

Okay, now we see some identification scrawled across the back in two distinct blue inks. In the lighter blue ink we see: Aunt Jen (black dress white socks), and “John Slicker’s sister.” In darker blue we read: Sam Slicker’s father. Questions arise.

Has this photo been properly identified? Who inscribed the backside of the photo? When did they inscribed the backside? Was it inscribed soon after the taken of the photo? Or was it inscribed years later when someone was trying to remember? The two distinct blue inks suggest the third line was perhaps added later.

Who is Aunt Jen? The backside of the photo tells us she is the one wearing a black dress and white socks. It also tells us she is a sister of John Slicker. The third line tells us John was the father of Sam Slicker. Problem is no documentation exists supporting John Slicker had a sister named Jen. What we have here is the typical mystery that commonly appears in the old family photo album.

We have names. We have relationships. We have faces. The names, the clothing, and the photo color and format (white borders) suggest a time period. But the names and relationships offer us our best clues. The best place to start digging for answers is in the family history. The very history that has been slowly unraveling in the posts of this website.

The relationships stated on the back of the photo suggests that John Slicker, father of Sam Slicker, had a sister named Jen. But we know from the stories posted that John Slicker did not have a sister named Jen. But what about a sister-in-law? John Slicker’s wife was Malissa Mansfield. In the three-part series documenting Malissa Mansfield Slicker’s life, we learn that Malissa had a sister, Anne Mansfield, who died within the first few years of her life, and a sister, Matilda Mansfield, who married William H. Owens. Malissa also had two half-sisters, Sarah and Elizabeth Haney. Hmmmm. No Jen. The mystery, or better yet said, the confusion deepens. Who can this Aunt Jen be? Let’s not throw the towel in yet. As all family historians know, we must leave no stone unturned. So, we set the photo aside while we go digging into the archives of the past. And with luck, we find a lead…

….such as this one: a transcription of Nancy Mansfield Haney’s obituary. Nancy is the mother of Malissa and Matilda Mansfield, and of Sarah, Elizabeth, James W. and Samuel M. Haney.

Mrs. Nancy Haney Friday, January 26, 1917

Early yesterday morning occurred the death of Mrs. Nancy Haney aged 78 yrs., wife of Samuel Haney, at the home of her granddaughter, Mrs. John Hardwick, in Oklahoma, after a short illness of pneumonia. She is survived by the following children: Mrs. Owens of N. Washington; Mrs. Slicker of Oklahoma; Mrs. L.W. Taylor of Pittsburgh; and James W. and Samuel M. of Indiana Harbor, Ind…

This transcription of the original obituary appeared in a book titled Obituaries 1916-1920, vol. 3. I believe we found this genealogical gem back in the 90’s at the Apollo Public Library in Apollo, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania. The original obituary appeared in one of the local papers of the time.

Mrs. Owens was Matilda. Mrs. Slicker was Malissa. But who was this Mrs. L.W. Taylor? Was she Sarah or Elizabeth? And if Nancy had four daughters, and the obituary names only three which of the last two mentioned died and when? The answers to these questions may be hidden in Ancestry.com’s digital trove of historical documents. Off we go!

Using the search parameters: L.W. Taylor, Pittsburgh, born 1870, I found a 1910 census record among the results returned that shows an L. Wayne Taylor living on Wylie Avenue in Pittsburgh. L. Wayne and his brother, Merrill, worked as druggist. Today they would be called pharmacists. L. Wayne had a wife named Jennie. Jennie was 41 making her birth year 1869. L. Wayne and Jennie had a daughter, Cecil. This information – L.Wayne Taylor, Jennie, and of Pittsburgh – seems to match our known information. Is this our Aunt Jen ? If so, where did she come from? Did Nancy have a daughter we did not know about? Hmmm. To answer the first question – is this Aunt Jen – let’s head back to that digital trove of historical documents and enter the search parameters: Jennie Taylor, lived in Pittsburgh, PA, and the birth year 1869.

Wow! Would you look at what appeared in the results of our Ancestry.com search – a death certificate for Jennie Haney Taylor! And look at the names of her parents: Samuel Haney and Nancy Mansfield. So, Malissa Mansfield Slicker did have a sister, Jennie. And Jennie Haney Taylor was born March 17, 1869 in Webster, Pennsylvania. And the Haney family had lived in Webster, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania for about twenty years.

Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death Certificates, 1906-1966; Certificate Number Range; 075151-078000. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 [database online].

So which sister was Jennie? Sarah or Eliza? Or did Nancy have another daughter of which I’m unaware? The answer to these question lies in the 1880 U.S. Censuses for Webster, Westmoreland County, PA.

1880 U. S. Census: Samuel and Nancy Mansfield Haney with children.

Samuel and Nancy Haney and children in the 1880 U.S. Census. This record can be found at http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 26, June 2018 for Samuel Haney (age 34), Webster, Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

Sarah was 13 in 1880. Her birth year was 1867. Eliza was eleven in 1880. Eliza was born in 1869; the same year as Jennie Haney Taylor. If we were to look at the Haney family in the 1870 U.S. census, we would see that Eliza was 1. There was no twin. It appears that Malissa’s half-sister, Eliza Haney, began using the name Jennie at some point in her life. So, now we know John Slicker had a sister-in-law named Jennie. And Sam Slicker was Aunt Jennie’s nephew. I also know this mystery photo landed in the hands of Aunt Jennie’s great-nephew, Leonard Floyd Slicker, my grandfather and son of Sam Slicker. What makes this story even more interesting is to know that Leonard Floyd shared his birthday – March 17th – with his great-Aunt Jennie.

What is disappointing about this story is without more evidence – such as more photos that clearly identify Aunt Jen – we cannot be one hundred percent certain that the woman wearing a black dress and white socks in the photo is Jennie Haney Taylor. And so as it is with the photo of four women sitting on a porch somewhere it is with so many old photos in the family album.

Do you have any photos of Aunt Jen to share and compare? Do you know the names of the other women in the photo? Do you know where this photo was taken? Do you have anything to add to Aunt Jen’s life story? If you have an answer to any of these questions, why not share in the comment section below or drop me an email?

A Slicker Family History

Preserving. Sharing. Collaborating.

Nancy Jane Mansfield Haney: Moving Through Life – Part 2

Sources:

Four Women Sitting on a Front Porch Somewhere