Margaret Anna Eisenhuth 1 2 3
- Born: 10 Feb 1840, Bellefonte, Centre, PA 1 2 3
- Marriage (1): Isaac Edwards
- Died: 23 Feb 1939, Frackville, Schuylkill, PA at age 99 1 3
- Buried: 27 Feb 1939, Frackville: Odd Fellows Cemetery, Schuylkill, PA 3
FamilySearch ID: 9C6N-KPZ.
Noted events in her life were:
1. Census in 1850 in Rush Twp., Schuylkill, PA. 2 The 1850 census recorded Jacob Isenhuth, laborer, 58; Lydia, 56; Lydia, 20; Jacob, 18; Mary, 16; Benjamin 13; and Margaret, 10. Also in the home is Jacob's father Barnard Eisenhuth, 87; Thomas Heiser, teamster, 25; and Jacob's son, Barnard, laborer, 29; with his wife Catharine, 21; and their daughter Mary Alice, 2. Everyone was born in Pennsylvania.
2. Census in 1860 in Mahanoy City, Schuylkill, PA. 4 The 1860 census recorded Jacob Eisenhuth [indexed as Eisenhood due to poor handwriting], laborer, 70, living with wife Lydia, 65; son Jacob, day laborer, 28, and daughter Margaret, 19. Everyone was born in Pennsylvania. The post office as DIt Man.
3. Newspaper: Republican and Herald, 6 Oct 1937, Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA. 5 FRACKVILLE'S GRAND OLD LADY NOW NEARING HER 98TH BIRTHDAY
One of Schuylkill County's oldest women resides in Frackville. She is Mrs. Margaret Anna Edwards of 116 South Balliet street. Mrs. Edwards, who is nearing her 98th birthday, was born when there were only 26 stars in our flag, when there were but twelve amendments to the Constitution, and when the eighth President, Martin Van Buren, occupied the White House.
This woman, who appears no more than 75 years of age, saw the era before kerosene lamps were universally used and she had to wait until she was 36 years old before the invention of the telephone.
This "grand old lady" was born in Bellefonte, Centre County, on February 10, 1840, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Eisenhuth. When she was very young her family moved to Mahanoy Plane. There were only two houses in the place at the time, one of them occupied by her uncle. According to her, there was only one house each in Frackville, Mahanoy City and Shenandoah at the time. The one in Mahanoy City served as a country hotel and was located on South Main street, opposite to where the entrance of the Mansion is now. Ashland had no houses at the time; workmen were just clearing the brush and trees away. Pottsville was a very small village with one church, while Girardville had three houses.
Recalls Childhood Days
Not long after Mrs. Edwards took up her residence in Mahanoy Plane, Stephen Girard drove a tunnel into a rich vein of coal near her parents' home and she recalls vividly how she and members of her family picked the family supply of coal in this tunnel.
Mrs. Edwards was married in 1863 and came to live in Ashland, where she resided a few years and then moved to Aristes. From Aristes she moved to Frackville, where she has made her abode for the past 57 years.
Her husband was a track-layer for the Pennsylvania Railroad and is credited with laying the first rail on the famous Horseshoe Curve near Altoona. He died 42 years ago. She is the last and youngest of twelve children, some of whom died at various ages of 92, 89 and 84 years.
Her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Bernard Eisenhuth, was burned to death when her clothes caught fire while she was warming herself before an open grate. She was blind and 80 years of age.
Grandfather Attained 108 Years
Her paternal grandfather, husband of the lady who met this tragic death, lived to be 108 years old and died at New Castle. Mrs. Edwards remembers that her grandfather, even when he was past the century milestone, walked from Mahanoy Plane to Pottsville and then home again.
According to Mrs. Edwards, her great grandfather went to fight in the Revolutionary War when he was only 12 years old. Prior to his joining the army, the family buried the kitchen utensils in the ground near Reading and all rode horseback to Fort Henry, west of Orwigsburg.
On the journey her great grandfather became tired and he walked and picked berries. While in the woods he came upon a sight he never forgot. There ahead of him was an Indian kneeling above a white man, holding his hair as he scalped him. Her great grandfather rushed back, burst out with the sad tale and post haste they all rode at fast as they could to Fort Henry.
Mother of Eight
Mrs. Edwards is the mother of eight children, three of whom survive. They are Mrs. Wesley Berger and Mrs. Richard Moll of Frackville and Lawrence Edwards of Hershey. Mrs. Edwards belies her age. She bears few age wrinkles, her hearing and sight are of the best and her faculties are unimpaired. She is a good walker and a brilliant, rapid conversationalist, and goes to Sunday school and church every Sunday. She has read the Bible from cover to cover eleven times and is often called "The Living Bible." She lives with her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Moll. Mrs. Moll is her oldest daughter, being 73 years of age.
4. Cause of Death: senility, acute bronchitis, chronic myocarditis, 23 Feb 1939, Frackville, Schuylkill, PA. 3
5. Obituary: Repubican Herald: obituary of Mrs. Margaret Edwards on 23 Feb 1939 in Pottsville, Schuylkill, PA. 6 Oldest Resident Of Frackville Called By Death
Mrs. Margaret Edwards, one of Schuylkill County's oldest residents, died this morning at 6:40 o'clock at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mrs. Richard W. Moll, 116 South Balliet street, Frackville, after an illness of two weeks. Mrs. Edwards observed her 99th birthday anniversary on February 10. Born in Bellefonte, Center County, she was a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Eisenhuth. At the time of her birth, there were only 26 stars in the American flag, only 12 amendments to the Constitution, and Martin Van Buren was serving as the eighth President of the United States. When a young girl, her family moved to Mahanoy Plane, where she resided until her marriage to Isaac Edwards, of Delaware County. At the time of the family's removal to Mahanoy Plane, there were only two houses in the place, one house in Mahanoy City, Frackville and Shenandoah, three in Girardville, and Pottsville was a small village with one church. Ashland had no houses at the time, workmen were just clearing away the brush and trees. Mrs. Edwards, who saw the era before kerosene lamps were universally used and who had to wait until she was 36 years old before the invention of the telephone, found keen pleasure in discussing her childhood days, particularly of the time when the first mine tunnel was driven at Mahanoy Plane.
In Frackville 59 Years
Shortly after her marriage in 1863, Mrs. Edwards moved to Ashland and lived there for several years before moving to Aristes. About 58 years ago, she moved to Frackville and had resided there ever since. Her husband, who died 42 years ago, was a track-layer for the Pennsylvania Railroad and was credited with laying the first rail on the famous Horseshoe Curve, near Altoona.
Mrs. Edwards was the last and youngest of 12 children, some of whom died at various ages of 92, 89 and 84. Her paternal grandmother died at the age of 80, while her paternal grandfather reached the age of 108. Her great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War. She was a member of the Trinity Church; and attended church every Sunday until stricken with illness. She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Richard W. Moll and Mrs. W. G. Berger, both of Frackville: one son Lawrence, Hershey; 11 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren. Nice will announce the funeral arrangements.
6. Residence: 116 South Balliet St., Frackville, PA on 23 Feb 1939 in Frackville, Schuylkill, PA. 3
Margaret married Isaac Edwards. (Isaac Edwards was born on 26 Feb 1825 in Middletown, Delaware, PA and died on 17 Sep 1894 in Frackville, Schuylkill, PA.)
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