Wednesday's Child - Alma Mary Speck

Alma Mary Speck was the daughter of Frank Speck and Elisabeth Linneman Speck and would have been the younger sister of my grandmother, Agnes Speck. Alma was born in Monessen, Pennsylvania and died just one day later. The cause of death was "premature infant" and she was buried that same day at Grandview Cemetery in Monessen.

I never knew of Alma until the Pennsylvania death certificates from 1906-1963 were made available on Ancestry.com. As most of us did when these records were released, I searched for my surnames that had lived in Pennsylvania to see if I could find death certificates for collateral relatives or ancestors whose date of death was unknown. Through these searches I have found several children that died young between census years, and had no other records of their short lives.

I asked my father about Alma and he was not aware that Frank and Elizabeth had another child. We visited Grandview Cemetery in 2007 and found the tombstone for Alma's father, Frank Speck, but did not see anything for Alma. She many have been buried in another location or did not have a headstone.

Besides finding another ancestor, I was able to learn a few more things about the Speck family from this record. They were living at 223 Alliquipa Street at the time of her death. In addition, the name Alma Mary may provide some clues for family names. Their other children seem to have been named after family members ... Agnes (Frank's mother) Elizabeth (Elizabeth and her mother Elizabeth Barbara) and Frank (Frank) Rudolph (Elizabeth's two brothers who died as children). I know the names of Elizabeth's siblings and parents, so Mary may be from her side (Maria was Elizabeth's middle name and her grandmother's name). Alma could possibly be from Frank's side of the family, as I do not know much about his family or where they were from in Germany. Maybe Alma was Frank's sister or grandmother??  Another possible clue to add to the mysterious Speck family.

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SOURCE:

Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963, No. 73103, Alma Mary Speck, 1 July 1916; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 30 March 2015); citing Pennsylvania (state). Death certificates, 1906-1963. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Easter!

"Art & Agnes, Easter 1938"

This is a photo from my Cubbage family collection of my grandparents on Easter Sunday in 1938. Art Cubbage and Agnes Speck were probably dating at this time and were married a year later. This was most likely In Monessen, Pennsylvania where they were both living at the time.

The pictures below appear to be taken at the same time, but have nothing written on the back. The unknown couple must have been friend with Art and Agnes and can be found in other pictures with them from the late 1930s. 

 

I love the face that my grandfather was making in this picture. Happy Easter!

Friday Funny - 1933 Editorial

Oh, how times have changed (thankfully!). I found this little nugget in The Gazette, a publication of Monessen High School in Monessen, Pennsylvania. So in honor of Women's History Month and Pi Day (a little late), I thought I'd post this for some laughs. I wonder which high school student wrote this ... and wish that he could see what his female descendants are doing today!

An interesting side-note about how I found a few pages from this high school publication. I was searching in The Monessen Daily Independent on Ancestry.com (you know how I love old newspapers) for any articles about my grandmother, Agnes Speck who graduated in 1933.
I found that there are a few issues between 1933 and 1935 that have the first page of The Gazette and then the remaining pages of the issue are from The Monessen Daily Independent. I'm not sure where the glitch, happened, but it I was able to find a mention of my grandmother in one of the issues!

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SOURCE:

"Editorial," The Gazette (Monessen High School, Monessen, PA), 22 March 1933, p. 1, col. 6; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 March 2015) [indexed as The Monessen Daily Independent].

Black Sheep Sunday - Arrest by Prohibition Agents

I love old newspapers! I know that I have posted about them before, but I always seem to find something interesting in a newspaper search! I received an email offer from fold3 for a half-off subscription to newspapers.com. Since starting the subscription, I have been slowly going through each state to look for newspapers in the areas of my ancestors. I found The Daily Republican in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, which is only a few miles from Monessen.

In my search for Cubbage, Linneman and Speck families in The Daily Republican, I found some hospital admissions and reports of surgery, a few car accidents, a few articles about my great-grandfather's business, and this article about my great grand uncle, Christian "Christ" Linneman.

click image for a larger view

"At East Monogahela, the officers visited the East Monongahela hotel where they arrested Peter Yalch, 46, of Monongahela and Christ Linneman, of Monessen. They were released on bond in the sum of $1,000 for hearings November 20 before U. S. Commissioner Roger Knox. Beer on tap was found here, the officers say. The warrant was sworn out when a federal officer reported that he purchased four drinks at fifty cents each."

Christ Linneman was my great-grandmother's oldest brother. He never married and lived much of his life in Monessen with his mother or siblings. I have his Gesangbuch (German hymnal) and a photo of him from World War I. On several records he lists his occupation as bartender or "hotel clerk", so in some ways it was not surprising to find this article. 

A similar article ran in The Monessen Daily Independent, but Christ's name was not mentioned, just Peter Yalch (listed as Yehak). I looked in both papers after the stated November 20th hearing date, but found nothing. Next up is to see if I can locate those court records. Any suggestions? The county seat?

This was the only article that I have found about Christ's involvement with alcohol during Prohibition. I did perform a quick search on Peter Yalch in those papers and found a few other arrests, one after a raid on his "speakeasy" in Monessen. I guess it was hard to be a bartender during Prohibition!

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SOURCES:

"Dry Agents Hit Six Places In District," The Daily Republican (Monongahela, Pennsylvania), 12 November 1928, p. 1, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://newspapers.com : accessed 31 January 2014).

"County Detectives and Federal Officer Make Raids Over Week-end," The Monessen Daily Independent (Monessen, Pennsylvania), 12 November 1928, p. 1, col. 7; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 January 2014).  

"Six Monessen Buildings Hit By Dry Agents," The Daily Republican (Monongahela, Pennsylvania), 16 December 1932, p. 1, col. 6; digital images, Newspapers.com (http://newspapers.com : accessed 31 January 2014).

Sunday's Obituary - Mary Swank

This article was on the front page of The Monessen Daily Independent on September 20, 1927.[1]  Mary Swank was my second great grandmother and had died three days earlier while visiting her daughter in Cape May, NJ. She was born Marian Burd, but also went by "Mary" and "Mary Ann". She married Charles Schwenk in 1871 and they had four children before he died in 1893. The surname Schwenk evolved over time to Schwank and finally to Swank. Mary has been a difficult person to research at times due to the variations of both her first and last names! As of now, I still cannot find a death record for her in either New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

Mary was visiting her daughter Margaret Speedy, who was living in Cape May at the time. Margaret's husband, William Arthur Speedy, had died at sea just over a year earlier (you can read about him here). I can't imagine how difficult it was for Margaret to be alone after losing both her husband and her mother in Cape May, while the rest of her family was in Pittsburgh and Monessen. Margaret eventually moved back to Monessen and lived with her sister Maine Cubbage and her family.

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SOURCE:

[1] "Mother Dead," The Monessen Daily Independent (Monessen, PA), 20 September 1927, p. 1, col. 1; digital images Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 20 August 2013).  

 

Thankful Thursday - Happy Birthday Nanny!

Agnes Elizabeth Speck Cubbage, my grandmother, was born on 26 September 1915 in Monessen, PA. She was the daughter of Frank Speck and Elizabeth Linneman. This picture was probably taken around 1930 in or near Monessen. Agnes is with her younger brother Frank.

Maritime Monday - Captain Speedy Lost at Sea

William Arthur Speedy was the husband of my great grand aunt, Margaret Schwenk Speedy. William was born on 24 January 1874 in Pittsburgh [1] and married Maggie Schwenk on 12 April 1899 in Braddock, PA.[2] They lived in Swissvale, PA for most of the next 15 years where William worked as a laborer (millworker and wireman) at Carrie Furnace.

Between 1914 and 1921, William and Maggie traveled to and/or lived in St. Augustine and Daytona, Florida. The details on his time in Florida are fuzzy and still need further research. I found William and Maggie in a city directory in St. Augustine in 1914 [3], as well as a statement from her sister-in-law Della Groves Swank about them living in Florida. Della's divorce testimony states that her husband Charles was visiting his sister (Maggie) in St. Augustine, FL in 1914.[4] 

In September of 1918, William and Maggie were back in Swissvale. William's World War I Draft Registration Card states that they were living on Schley Avenue, at the same address as Maggie's brother George. Under "Description of Registrant" it states "left index entirely gone, also 1st & second joint of second finger left hand." I don't know how or when his hand was injured.[5] 

 

Neither William nor Maggie can be located in the 1920 Census in either Pennsylvania or Florida (or anywhere else). In July of 1920, Maggie is visiting in Braddock, PA when her niece Leah dies, and the obituary states that she is from St. Augustine, FL.[6]  I also have a photocopy of a picture from an unknown family member of William's boat "Marian C" in Daytona in 1921. Marian was the name of both Maggie's mother and niece.

Sometime around 1925, William and Maggie moved to Cape May, New Jersey. The Monessen Daily Independent mentions Marian Cubbage (Maggie's niece) visiting them in Cape May in July of 1925.[7]

According to newspaper reports in the Cape May Star and Wave, William Speedy, age 52, went out alone on Saturday morning, 7 August 1926 to fish and did not return that evening. He only had some lunch and water with him. It is believed that his boat "Merion" sank and he died when an electrical storm swept through the area. About 3 weeks later on August 28th, the Cape May Star and Wave reported that a piece of the wreckage, with "Merion" painted on it, was found by the Coast Guard.[8, 9] Click on either article to enlarge for reading.

My grandfather, William Arthur Cubbage, was named after his uncle, William Arthur Speedy. He was 13 years old when his uncle died. Maggie, also know as "Aunt Mag", moved in the with Cubbage family in Monessen, PA a few years after Captain Speedy's death.[10] As far as I know, his body was never found (there was no death certificate issued). There is a tombstone for William A. Speedy in Russell Cemetery in Braddock, PA.

The image of the Speedy's boat (above) was found in a photocopy from an unknown family photo album (my father believes it was from Marian or Babe Cubbage, both nieces of Maggie). This page also had a photo of Captain Speedy, some articles that appear to be from Pittsburgh newspapers, "Behold the Fisherman" poem, a handwritten poem "Dead at Sea," and another newspaper article about waiting for fishermen who were lost at sea. A family member must have complied these into the album and I wonder if the pieces were at one time Maggie's. I wish that we had the originals of these photos and articles!

 

 

I also wonder if Maggie or another family member wrote the poem "Dead at Sea." Below is a quote from the article in the center above, and sums up what it must have been like for his wife Maggie.

"Of all the agonies that rack the human heart, such waiting is the cruelest. The uncertainty of

hope deferred plunges the heart into a constancy of the bitterest grief. Better far to know the

worst than to hope on and on, without even the poignant consolation of knowledge of the

dear one's fate."

My family talks about Captain Speedy whenever we visit Cape May, especially when we stop at the Fishermen's Memorial. Family lore is that Captain Speedy and Maggie lived on Washington Street. I think it's time to plan another trip to this beautiful beach town and do some local research to see if I can find out more about them!

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SOURCES:

[1] "Pennsylvania, Births and Christenings, 1709-1950," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 05 Aug 2013), William Arthur Speady, 24 Jan 1874.

[2] "Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 05 Aug 2013), William A. Speedy and Maggie A. Schwenk, 1899.

[3] "St Augustine, Florida, City Directory, 1914," Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (https://ancestry.com : accessed 05 August 2013), William Arthur Speedy.

[4] Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 700 April Term 1916, Della E. Swank vs. Charles W. Swank, Transcript of Official Notes of Testimony, 17 May 1916, Department of Court Records, Pittsburgh.

[5] "United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 05 Aug 2013), William Arthur Speedy, 1917-1918.

[6] Undated clipping, ca. 1920, from unidentified newspaper; photocopy privately held [address for private use] NJ, 2011.

[7] "Out of the Files, Twenty Years Ago, Monday July 13, 1925," The Monessen Daily Independent (Monessen, PA), 13 July 1945, p. 7, col. 3; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 August 2013).  

[8] "Fisherman Still Missing," Cape May Star and Wave (Cape May, NJ), 14 August 1926, p.1; photocopy of clipping, privately held [address for private use] NJ, 2011.

[9] "Searching for Speedy's Body," Cape May Star and Wave (Cape May, NJ), 28 August 1926; photocopy of clipping, privately held [address for private use] NJ, 2011.

[10] 1930 U.S. census, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Monessen, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 65-98. sheet 5-A, p. 106 (stamped), dwelling 119, family 163, Charles A Cubbage; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 August 2013) citing National Archives publication T626; imaged from FHL microfilm 2341891.

 

Workday Wednesday - Streetcar Motorman

This is a picture of my great uncle Frank R. Speck (left) who was a streetcar motorman in Pittsburgh. The back of the picture has 1946 written on it, so he would have been about 28 years old. Frank was born in Monessen, PA and lived there until the mid 1940's when he moved to Pittsburgh's North Side. A few years earlier, Frank was a Seaman with the Merchant Marines, and later became a police officer in Pittsburgh. I'm glad we have this picture of him!

Friday's Faces from the Past - Agnes' Graduation

As we celebrated graduations this month, I thought of these pictures of my grandmother. Agnes Elizabeth Speck graduated from Monessen High School in 1933. I don't know if this was taken near her home or who took the picture. They were living at 228 Donner Avenue in Monessen, PA at the time. At Monessen High School, Agnes was in the Glee Club, participated in operettas, and represented the school at a national speech competition. Agnes later went to Douglas Business College in Charleroi, PA and worked at Page Wire and Steel in Monessen. Agnes went to nursing school when she was 40's and worked as a nurse after her children were grown.

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Father's Day!

I posted a few pictures on Mother's Day last month and last year. Now it's time for the Dads! I did find that we don't have many pictures of our family's fathers. Many were behind the camera, and several died before their spouses. Here are a few from the family collection:

 This is the only picture of my grandmother, Agnes Speck, with her father, Frank F. Speck. This was taken in or near Monessen, PA in the late 1920's.

 

 

My father, Corky, and his brother Jeff pose with their father, Art Cubbage before the Memorial Day Parade in New Providence, NJ in 1954.

My mother and her father Adolf in 1959.

Here I am with my Dad at around one year old.

 

 

Sunday's Obituary - Marian Barbara Cubbage

Below is the obituary for my great aunt, Marian Cubbage. It was printed in The Valley Independent (Monessen, PA) on May 10, 1990. Marian was the second of the eight Cubbage children, and she outlived five of her siblings. Marian never married or had any children.

Tombstone Tuesday - Gerhard Linneman

Gerhard Linneman was my great grand uncle. He was born in Germany and died in Pittsburgh, PA, although he lived most of his life in Monessen, PA. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Sheraden, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh.

Wordless Wednesday - Art Cubbage

 

"Artie at sixteen"

 

This is a picture of my grandfather, Art Cubbage, at age sixteen. It would have been the summer of 1929 and he was living in Monessen, PA at the time. I need to do a little research to see where he would have been swimming in the Monessen area.

 

 

Workday Wednesday - Nurses

 

 

In 1926, my great-grandmother Elizabeth Linnemann Speck graduated from the Memorial Hospital Training School for nurses, located in Monongahela, just north of Monessen. The Charerloi Mail (left and The Monessen Daily Independent (right) both ran articles about the commencement ceremony. Elizabeth was 29 years old and her children were 11 (Agnes) and 8 (Frank).

 

This is the only time I find any mention of her nursing background. In both the 1930 and 1940 census, Elizabeth has no occupation listed. In 1942 when she married her second husband, her occupation is listed as "Manager, Specks Transfer". This was her first husband's business. I don't know if Elizabeth ever worked as a nurse, or did and it was never recorded anywhere. In 1931, the newspaper reported that a nursing student from the Cannonsburg Hospital was recuperating from surgery at the home of Elizabeth and her husband Frank.

 

In 1963, Agnes Speck Cubbage (Elizabeth's daughter) became a nurse at Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ. Agnes and her family had been living in New Providence for about 10 years. She was 48 years old and both of her children had graduated from high school.

 

 

Here is Agnes receiving her nurse's cap at Overlook Hospital.

 



Church Record Sunday - Sunday School Certificate

This is a Sunday School Certificate for my grandmother from the Methodist Church in Monessen, PA in 1929. Agnes Speck was 14 years old and was "hereby promoted to the Intermediate Department". The certificate is signed by Rev L.S. Elliott. Ten years later, Agnes and Art Cubbage would travel to Connellsville, PA to have Rev. Elliott preside over their marriage ceremony.

Fearless Female - Elisabeth Barbara Nilkowski

I have written and posted pictures about some of the Fearless Females on the branches of my family tree. Another of these strong women was Elisabeth Barbara Nilkowski, my great- great-grandmother.

I don't know too much (yet) about Elisabeth's childhood. From her marriage record I have learned that she was born on 15 April 1865 in Alt Muensterberg which was at the time in West Prussia in Germany (that area is now in Poland). Her parents were Johan Nilkowski and Maria Schild.

On 4 November 1886, Elisabeth married Christian Fasel in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Her first son, also named Christian, was born on 24 August 1887 also in Gelsenkirchen. His birth record states that his father Christian had died on 8 June 1887 (I do not know how, but he was a miner). So Elisabeth was widowed at age 22, just a few months before her first child is born.

Sometime before January 1889, Elisabeth married Gerhard Linnemann. Between 1889 and 1899, Elisabeth and Gerhard had six children in Gelsenkirchen. Two of their children (both named Rudolph) died as young children.

Gerhard Bernard (1899)

Wilhelm Julius (1890)

Rudolph (1893-1896)

Georg Adolf (1895)

Elisabeth Maria (1897)

Rudolph (1899-1891)

In 1904, Elisabeth travel from Bremen to the America to meet her husband (who left in December 1903). The picture above was probably taken in the year before they left. I don't have many details about the Linnemann family during their early years in the America. They spent time in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and settled in Monessen, PA.

By 1915, her son William had moved to Chicago, and the remaining Linnemans had moved the Monseen. Children George and Elisabeth had married. In 1918, her husband Gerhard committed suicide while the family was out for a walk. This strong woman had to endure yet another tragic loss and was widowed again at age 53. The newspaper article stated that he had been injured in a coal mining accident years ago and had "seemed irrational as a result" and would "take to spells of anger and brooding".

Elisabeth Barbara with her daughter Elisabeth and grandchildren Agnes and Frank in Monessen

In 1920 she was working as a Stuart at Turner Hall in Monessen, as was her son Christian. Elisabeth (who also went by Barbara) lived with her sons Christian and Gerhard, both never married, for the next 17 years. She died in her sleep of a heart attack in 1935 at the age of 70 and was buried next to her husband in Grandview Cemetery in Monessen.

Elisabeth was known as "Mem" to her grandchildren (her daughter's children). Below are a few snapshots of Elisabeth from our family memorabilia. I have yet to find a picture of her smiling, but thinking of her life and losses, she may have become one tough woman.

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Agnes Speck

I love this picture of my grandmother, Agnes Speck. I think it was taken by my grandfather (Art Cubbage) before they were married, probably around 1937 or 1938 in or near Monessen, PA.

Talented Tuesday - Agnes' Many Talents!

I mentioned a few weeks ago how thankful I am for local newspapers ... especially The Monessen Daily Independent. Through searches for my grandmother Agnes Speck, I learned about her many talents! 

I first found Agnes listed in a piano recital program for the Sherwood Music School in 1926. She was 11 years old and she played "Under the Mistletoe." In 1927 she played "Gypsy Song." Above is part of  the program from 1927. The students were under the instruction of Edgar E. Drake.

 

In 1932 and 1933, Agnes's talents were also mentioned several times in The Gazette, a publication of Monessen High School. She placed second in a humorous reading contest in her junior year, and went to the "Pennsylvania elimination" of the National Speech Competition at Bucknell University in her senior year. A newspaper clipping from our family collection (below) states that she won first place and was going on to the national competition in Wooster, Ohio! Another article in The Gazette speculates that she won the first three rounds. I don't believe that Agnes ended up winning though. I can find no other mention in either newspapers, and there was an article in The Monessen Daily Independent about midwest states sweeping the competition I confirmed that on the National Forensic League website). Even so, it is still very impressive how far she went in the competition!

 

The Gazette also listed her as a member of an upcoming high school operetta in March of 1933. After high school, Agnes' talented continued to be mentioned in local newspapers. She did a reading and played the piano to accompany a solo a the Ladies Auxiliary of the local fire department, was a judge at a humorous reading tournament, and acted in a local play.

 

This cast picture was found with old family photos and memorabilia. Agnes is on the far left, sitting in a chair. From the article below, I was able to match the date and the name of the play, and the ticket stub with the picture!

This was the last mention in the newspaper of Agnes' many talents. These wonderful articles helped me to understand more about my grandmother and who she was growing up as a young woman in Monessen. Below is one more cast picture that was found with old family photos (I haven't been able to determine a date or name of the play). Agnes is sitting directly in the center, to the left of the woman in the black dress and black hat.

Wordless Wednesday - Elizabeth Linneman Speck

This is a picture of my great-grandmother, Elizabeth Linneman Speck in Monessen, PA. She was  probably in front of her home on Donner Avenue. We can see the train tracks and trains behind her. My grandmother, Agnes, wrote on many of the Speck family photos ... not the best, but it has helped me to identify some people.

Matrilineal Monday - Elisabeth Maria Linnemann

Elisabeth Maria Linnemann is my great-grandmother on my paternal side. She was the only grandparent that my father knew - his other grandparents died in 1938, 1939 and 1940, shortly before he was born.

Elisabeth was born on 12 June 1897 in Schalke, Germany which is a part of Gelsenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia. Elisabeth was the fifth of six children, and the only daughter born to Elisabeth Barbara Nilkowski and Gerhard Linnemann. Two of those children, both named Rudolph, died in Germany. Elisabeth Barbara also had another son with her first husband who died before the baby was born.

In 1904, when Elisabeth was seven years old, her mother and five children boarded the SS Cassel in Bremen and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on August 31st. This photo was probably taken in the year before they left Germany.

Elisabeth's father Gerhard arrived in Baltimore in December 1903. The family was meeting him in Windber, Pennsylvania. At some point over the next ten years, the family lived in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and settled in Monessen, PA around 1915.

Elisabeth (who was now Elizabeth Linneman) married Frank Friedrich Speck on 18 January 1915 in Pittsburgh. Her marriage license application states that "Lizzie" was 22 (she was 18) and that she was living in Sprigg, WV. I do not know how she and Frank met. This picture was probably taken around the time of their wedding.

Elizabeth and Frank had a daughter just nine months later. Agnes Elizabeth Speck was born on 26 September 1915 in Monessen. A son, Frank Rudolph was born on 2 May 1918. This is a picture of Elizabeth with one of her newborn children. Just six weeks after Frank's birth, Elizabeth's father Gerhard committed suicide.

The Speck family raised their children in Monessen and lived on Donner Avenue for about 20 years. Elizabeth's mother and three of her brothers lived in Monessen as well. Frank owned a moving and storage company and they were active in the community. Their travels, parties and life events were often listed in the "Locals" section of The Monessen Daily Independent.

On 7 April 1940, Elizabeth's husband Frank died suddenly of a heart attack. She continued to run Franks' moving business for a few years until she remarried. On 18 July 1942 she married Charles August Merz, also widowed, in Winchester, Virginia. She moved from Monessen to the North Side of Pittsburgh to Charles' home on Thelma Street.

 

Elizabeth's daughter Agnes married William Arthur (Art) Cubbage, moved to Ohio and had two children (Corky and Jeff). In 1944, not long after Jeff was born, Agnes and her boys moved to Pittsburgh to live with Elizabeth and Charles while Art was in the Navy. Agnes and her children would move back in with Elizabeth again around 1950 while Art was working in New York and living in New Jersey.

 

 

During this time, Elizabeth's son Frank married Elizabeth (Libby) O'Brien. They lived in the the same neighborhood on the North Side and eventually bought the home next to Elizabeth and Charles. In 1953, Agnes, Art, Corky and Jeff moved to New Jersey permanently.

 

 

Over the next ten years, Elizabeth and Charles would live for long periods of time in New Providence with Agnes and her family, and then return to Pittsburgh. They had a room upstairs in the Cubbage home and enjoyed being close with their grandsons. This is a picture of Elizabeth and her grandson Corky working on a tree in the yard!

 

 

On 30 June 1964, Charles Merz died in New Jersey and was buried at the Presbyterian Church Cemetery in New Providence. Less than two years later on 20 April 1966, Elizabeth died in Pittsburgh. She was buried next to her husband in New Providence. This is a picture of her (far left) at her grandson Corky's wedding in March of 1965 - one of the last pictures taken of her.