90th reunion includes dedication to Civil War soldier
MILL RUN – If you are one of the 40,000 or more descendants of Jacob Minerd, you probably will be at the 90th anniversary of the first Minerd reunion in western Pennsylvania on July 12 and 13. And, according to Mark Miner of Beaver, this year’s events will include the dedication of a Revolutionary War grave marker for Jacob Minerd.
Jacob Minerd, who joined a local militia in 1777 in Berks County to protect the home front in case of an invasion by British troops, was buried in 1814 in an unmarked grave at what is now the Indian Creek Baptist Church in Mill Run.
Miner said his forefather, who served in Captain Foch’s Company, 3rd Class, migrated west in 1791 with his wife, Maria, and their large family and settled on the border of Fayette and Somerset counties.
Minerd has rested anonymously, and the federal government, until now, has never recognized his service to the nation.
“In August 1913, nearly a century after his death, a group of his great- and great-great grandchildren formed the first annual Minerd reunion, held in western Pennsylvania,” said Miner. “The reunion held at Ohiopyle, just a few miles from where Jacob is buried, drew exactly 125 people.”
Miner said the reunion was so popular that they were held for at least 17 more years until the Great Depression. In 1986, descendants again began to hold reunions and in the early 1990s opened them to all Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor cousins, forming a national reunion.
“To give you a sense of what Jacob and Maria produced, they had 12 children, at least 87 grandchildren, 434 great-grandchildren and 1,004 great-great grandchildren, virtually all born before 1900.”
Today, their known descendants number 15,000 and counting, and they probably add up to 40,000 or more.
Miner said July 12 events at Kingwood Picnic Grove, 12 miles south of Somerset on Route 281, will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will honor the descendants of the original officers.
“We will have a special reading of the Minerd history written in 1913 by cousin Allen Harbaugh, to be read aloud by his great-grandson, Donald Lawrence Harbaugh,” said Miner.
On Sunday (July 13) descendants will dedicate Jacob Minerd’s grave marker, led by the Rev. John Davis of the Indian Creek Church, as well as local officials of the Daughters of the American Revolution and American Legion Post 301 of Connellsville.
Miner said the Minerd-Miner-Minor family has suffered 21 wartime casualties, starting with the Civil War. Those casualties included Leroy Bush, 9th Indian Cavalry; Burkett M. Fawcett, 3rd West Virginia Infantry; Andrew Jackson Miner, 90th Ohio Infantry; and Leonard Rowan, John Irving White and Jacob M. Younkin, 85th Pennsylvania Infantry.
Albert H. Herrington, 20th U.S. Infantry, was the only casualty of the Philippine Insurrection, while William Curtis McKnight, 80th Division, 205th Infantry, and Harold W. Miner and Raymond G. White of the 7th U.S. Infantry lost their lives during World War I.
World War II casualties included Earl J. Peters, U.S, Navy; Jack Barr and Alvin Glen Ream, U.S. Army; Richard Nathan Reese, 6100 B.A.M. Battalion; Harold Frank Rodeheaver, 14th Armored Division; and Louis E. Younkin, U.S. Army Air Force.
Korean casualties included James W. Minerd, 24th Infantry Division; Robert L. Shipley, Air Force; Alton Glen Sterner, U.S. Army; and Minor Fay White, Air Force.
Lawrence Frederick Greer, U.S. Marines, lost his life in Vietnam.
Miner said in recognition of the reunion, Uniontown Mayor James Sileo and the city council have unanimously proclaimed July 12 and 13 as the “Jacob Minerd Weekend.”