Charles and Martha Cheesebrough

The historical research of the life, ancestors and descendants of Charles and Martha Cheesebrough.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

First Daughter Nannie


Sarah Nancy Cheesebrough (Nannie) was born on October 27, 1891 in Cecil Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.  She was the first daughter of Charles and Martha Cheesebrough.  At the age of 17, Sarah married Earl T. Crowe.  They had six children between the years of 1909 and 1931. 


Nellie Bell Cheesebrough was the first born on about July of 1909.  Her father was 23 and working as a coal miner.  Earl and Nannie had made their home in Avella, Pennsylvania.






During the next ten years three more children were added to the family.  Mabel A. Cheesebrough was the second daughter born in about 1913.  Her younger brother Donald C. Cheesebrough was born the following year.  Ruth E. Cheesebrough was the fourth child born in about 1919. The 1920 census record shows that Earl and Nannie lived with their four children in a home purchased in Avella.  Earl was now working as a clerk at a hardware store.  




The year 1921 must have been a very hard year for the family.  Their daughter, Clara Dale Cheesebrough, was born on the 11th of January.  She subsequently died at nine months-of-age on October 6, 1921.  Her cause of death is not known at this time, but diphtheria and smallpox were very common and fatal ailments in the very young.  In the 1920's, diphtheria was a major cause of illness and death for children in the U.S. In 1921, a total of 206,000 cases and 15,520 deaths were reported. With vaccine development in 1923, new cases of diphtheria began to fall in the U.S., until in 2001 only two cases were reported.1  In the United States, more than 100,000 cases of smallpox were recorded in 1921. Strong declines occurred after that because of the widespread use of preventive vaccines. By 1939, fewer than 50 Americans per year died of smallpox.2

The 1930 census shows Earl and Nannie still living in Avella with three children.  It appears that Nellie Bell has married at this point and moved away from home.  Earl continues to work as a clerk at a hardware store and they live in a home they own worth $4,200 on Avella Heights Rd.


The discovery of a sixth child born to Earl and Nannie came as a surprise.  A search of marriage records on Ancestry.com yielded this marriage certificate showing 
Norma Lee Cheesebrough who was born on February 27, 1931.


1 comment:

  1. I enjoyed how you used the documentation with the narrative and the photos of the gravestones. Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete