Hugh Minnis

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Husband Hugh Minnis ^{1 2}

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Abt 1798 - Mercer Co, PA
         Buried: 

       Marriage: 

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Wife

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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Children

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1 M John Minniss ^{3 4}

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           Born:  - Susquehanna Co, PA
     Christened: 
           Died: Abt 1828 - Westmoreland Co, PA
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Sarah Ann Scowden (Abt 1791-1883) 5 6

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2 M Samuel Minnis ^{1 7}

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           Born: 1775 8
     Christened: 
           Died:  - Sandy Creek Twp, Mercer Co, PA
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Nancy Williams (      -      ) 8

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General Notes: Husband - Hugh Minnis

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He was the first of the Minnis family to come to Mercer County, Pennsylvania. He was a native of Ireland, a pioneer of Washington County, and settled in Sandy Creek Township at an early period. He died before completing a house in which to locate his family, his death being the first that occurred in that township. His widow came to the county, bringing her six sons and two daughters.

Hugh Minnis had left his family behind until he could make the cabin more comfortable for their reception. The company arrived on the 28th of April, having been four days on the way. They had been but a short time in their new homes, when Hugh Minnis, who had been hitherto almost a miracle of strength and activity, and was as generous and jovial as he was strong, was taken dangerously ill. His son was dispatched at once to hasten the family, and "during his absence," says Mr. McCracken, "poor Hughey died." His grave was made near the cabin, upon the land that he had cleared, and his family came a few days later, to find merely a mound of earth that marked the spot where he lay, instead of the active form that had protected them, and toiled in the wilderness, to procure them a home. It was the saddest incident in all the settlement of Mercer county, and Mr. McCracken states that those sturdy pioneers wept like children. The field in which he was buried later formed a part of the orchard of his grandson, Asher Minnis, and the grave was distinctly marked, as was that of Mrs. Minnis, who, upon her death, a number of years later, was laid by his side.

This family is of Irish origin. Hugh Minnis was its first American emigrant, coming from the mother country to Washington County, Pennsylvania, at an early day and also becoming one of the first pioneers of Sandy Creek Township, Mercer County. He came into Mercer County, making a small clearing and commencing the erection of a crude log cabin. In the year before completing the house, however, he was seized with a fatal attack of typhoid fever and died leaving his widow and family in ignorance of his fate. Hearing no tidings from him, the wife started with her family of six sons and two daughters and one horse and a cow for the new home which her husband was preparing for her. Arriving at her destination she found only his grave and was left to care for her growing family and rear them alone. The first small crop of potatoes which she was able to raise could not be left to mature but was dug from the ground before fully ripe in order to save the children from starvation. As the years passed, however, the boys grew to maturity, and some of the burdens were taken from her shoulders, but the fact remains that she was the main factor in the rearing of this fine family to educated and useful lives. [HMC 1909, 1031]

1 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1099.

2 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 1031.

3 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1877), Pg 66.

4 —, The History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner Beers & Co., 1885), Pg 784.

5 —, The History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner Beers & Co., 1885), Pg 496, 784.

6 Samuel P. Bates, LL.D., Our County and Its People, A Historical and Memorial Record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (W. A. Fergusson & Co., 1899), Pg 476.

7 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 1031, 1038.

8 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 1038.