James Conroy burial - crushed in mine accident Pennsylvania28 November 1909

[River Tyne Lass]

Hi RJ137,

I owe you a huge thank you for the articles you have sent via RootsChat.  This really helps fill out the family history on James' side.  To me family history is about much more than names and dates - it is the stories that bring people to life! I really appreciate the trouble you have taken to send these.  I really, really appreciate this.

I am sorry I have not thanked you sooner.  I think there must be some blip occurring on RootsChat, as some posts keep disappearing.   However, I can see three of the attachments you have sent on another device.  However, on this computer they seemed to have disappeared.  Most strange!

Thanks for your help.  I am truly grateful.  I wonder what the outcome was in the court case regarding Rose's daughter?  The article seems to go onto another page.  Poor Rose - to lose both her daughter and husband so close together! And both to such tragic circumstances!:'(

It is shocking to read about Thomas' amputation too.  What a horrific accident!  I wonder if he survived?  This seems to add to a long catalogue of misfortune in my family tree, unfortunately.   Amongst other newspaper stories, I have come across articles about my Great Grandfather Simon having his head fractured in an unprovoked attack in the street; his brother Thomas had his leg broken in the mine and their sister Mary Watson was attacked by a male intruder in my Great Grandfather, Simon's house, when they were both living in North Shields and was beaten black and blue and suffered a broken arm and punctured lung!  

[RJ137]

You're welcome,

Yes Thomas survived, but died died a few years later.

The Evening Standard
Uniontown, Pennsylvania
Wednesday, August 12, 1936 - Page 5

THOMAS CONROY, SR

Thomas Conroy, Sr., 57, of Shady Grove, died at 1:30 o'clock Tuesday morning, August 11, 1936, in Connellsville State hospital.

Surviving are six children: Lawrence Conroy, ETna; Thomas, Jr., John and Mary J Conroy at home. Mrs. Thomas E. Lawson, Shady Grove; Mrs. T. D. Swift, Jeanette and the following brothers and sisters: Michael, Footedale; Joseph, Filbert; John, Connellsville road; William, Edenborn;  Mrs. Thomas Landham, Shady Grove;  Mrs. Peter Steiger, Shady Grove. and Mrs George Matthews  Sr. of Footedale.

Funeral services will be conducted in St John's R.C. churh, Uniontown, Thursday morning at 9  o'clock. Burial will be in Oak Grove cemetery.

[johnnyboy]

Hi River Tyne Lass (and Sandra and others)

The snippet of James Conroy's death certificate that Sandra posted has his place of burial as Slavish Cemetery (nowadays we would say Slavic). Slavish Cemetery is another name for the "old" cemetery of St. Emery's R.C. Church in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, which is several miles southeast of the Shamrock Mine and Coke Works, where James died.

It took some sleuthing, but I think James is buried that far away from where he lived because the Slavish Cemetery was the burial place of 239 miners who were killed in an explosion in December 1907 at another mine in the area, and there are other burials there of coal miners. I couldn't find the burial records for the cemetery online, and St. Emery's church has apparently closed, unfortunately.

Edited: There actually are burials on Findagrave for St. Emery's (Slavish) Cemetery. However, only 99 records have been posted. Here's a link to the Findagrave page for the cemetery: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GScid=2457354&GRid=139696358&CRid=2457354&

There is a very thorough website about coal mining in southwestern Pennsylvania. Here's a link to the page with a map showing many coal mining towns in Fayette County, with Shamrock listed: http://www.coalcampusa.com/westpa/klondike/klondike.htm. Shamrock is just to the left of Uniontown.

Scroll down the list on the left to find Shamrock and click on it to see a few pictures.

That first page is just a few pictures of the coke ovens. Here's a website with some further info about Shamrock and many more pictures (mostly of the coke ovens, which are know as beehive ovens): http://coalandcoke.blogspot.com/2016/12/shamrock-coke-works.html

Shamrock the mining town is pretty much gone, but here is a link to a topographical map that shows Shamrock in relation to New Salem and Buffington, the nearest settlements: http://usgwarchives.net/maps/pa/county/fayett/usgs/menallen.jpg

And if you go to Bing Maps and search "Buffington, Pennsylvania", you will be able to zoom in, using the Birdseye view, to see what Buffington and New Salem look like today. As far as I can make Shamrock would have been to the southeast (the right) of New Salem and just to the left of the intersection of New Salem Road and Krulock Road. The Shamrock coke ovens might have been somewhere on the south (lower) side of New Salem Road, where the straight line in the foliage and the roundish black spot (an old coal pile, perhaps) are.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
John

[johnnyboy]

Here's one additional link to more information about Fayette County, Pennsylvania and its coal industry: http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2D0

John

[River Tyne Lass]

Hi johnnyboy,
Wow!  Many thanks!  This is some marvellous sleuthing that you have done.  I will now add this to my family history information that James was buried at St Emery's RC Church Cemetery.  I can't see his name amongst those listed but possibly those listed were people with headstones.  He was a coal miner with a large family so I doubt that money would have been spent on a headstone.  Thank you for all your hard work and for the interesting links which you have added.  There is a lot to look at and read there.

What a long journey James ended up having through his life.  He was born on 19 February 1853 in Northumberland and baptised at St Francis Xavier, in Cheeseburn Grange.  He married Rose Rorke on 24 June 1886 at Our Blessed Lady & St Cuthbert in Brooms.  On the Freebmd marriages her name is spelled 'Rook'.  (Her father was called Edward).

At one point they moved to New York, in Northumberland where James' brother Thomas eventually settled with his family.  James and Rose's son Thomaswas born on 13 March 1880 and was baptised at Willington Quay 'Our Lady and St Aidan on 6 April 1880.   I have not found out where Michael was baptised yet but I know that his birth was not registered until the March quarter of 1878 in Lanchester. MMN Rook.  Or son James who was also registered in Lanchester in the September quarter of 1882 - MMN Rooke.  Their daughter Mary was born in Scotland in 1883.
Who knows - perhaps this information may be helpful to any of James descendants in America one day.

Some of James' sister Mary's children also went to America.  I also believe that James brother Joseph also went to America.  He married a Bridget Conway at St Mary's RC Cathedral in Newcastle in Northumberland on 5 February 1874  and they had a daughter called Mary. 

I have now found out that James' brother (My Great Grandfather Simon Peter and my Great Grandmother Bridget McCabe) had a total of ten children!  One of them is a bit of a mystery.  He was born on 7 May 1883 and baptised on 20 May 1883 at St John RC in Birtley.  However, he does not appear on a census and I have not been able to find a death for him.  I now wonder if at some point the family might have gone over to America too in between the England Census and perhaps Thomas may have died there.  I may never find the answer to this puzzle about what became of Thomas but on the remotest chance that a descendant may know more I would appreciate hearing about this.

Thank you so much Johnnyboy for all your hard work on the end part of James' story.  This is so much appreciated by me. I am just so sorry that he came to such a sad end  when he probably left all he knew to try to get a much better life for his family and himself.