The Generosity of Howard F. Shipley Continues

"I am not a religious fanatic but God put every man on this earth with equal right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. I am simply performing my duty to my fellow beings as I understand it." ~ 

 Howard Francis Shipley who helped evicted coal miners during the Coal Strike of 1922

Howard Shipley on a trip in the 1920s with his family: from the left are his wife’s best friend Dora Kinder, his daughter Trissa, wife Annabelle, and daughter Blanche.

Howard Francis Shipley 1883-1923

My Great Grandfather Howard Francis Shipley died suddenly of pneumonia in 1923 when he was just 40 years old, leaving behind his grieving wife Annabelle and three daughters: Mildred, who was already married, and Trissa and Blanche, who were still at home.

Howard was a businessman from Brownsville who owned an automobile dealership in the bustling town on the Monongahela River in Fayette County, PA. His hard work made it possible for his family to live comfortably and allowed them to enjoy such things as beach vacations in Wildwood New Jersey.

Family friend Dora Kinder with Annabelle and Howard Shipley in Wildwood, NJ in the 1920s.

Just one year prior to his death, Howard and his brother provided refuge to evicted miners during the Coal Strike of 1922, allowing at least 40 men and their families to set up a miner's camp on a farm he owned in nearby Grindstone. He was quoted in a United Press article in the Washington Reporter on June 16, 1922, saying that his father (Diocletian Shipley) had done the same thing during the coal strike of 1892.

Shipley explained that he turned the farm over to the striking miners after a woman told him that her family was to be evicted the next day. That same night she gave birth to a child.

"It does seem strange, doesn't it? That while the rich coal operators are throwing half starved miners from their squalid houses, two comparatively poor men are offering them a place where they can find food and shelter. I am not a religious fanatic but God put every man on this earth with equal right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. I am simply performing my duty to my fellow beings as I understand it," he told the news correspondent.

After his death, things changed for Annabelle and her two younger daughters, who would soon face the Great Depression on their own. It doesn’t appear that anyone knew it at the time, but Howard had purchased insurance polices in the names of his daughters Blanche and Mildred, and I’m assuming, Trissa.

Last August, I found Blanche and Mildred’s policies through the Pennsylvania State Treasury’s unclaimed property website. My mother, her only child, is deceased so my sisters and I are Blanche’s next surviving heirs. I filled out the paperwork for my Grandmother’s property and waited. A few months later, someone from the Treasury contacted me to obtain a copy of Grandma’s death certificate and in February the claim was approved. All we knew at the time was that the claim consisted of two matured Prudential Insurance policies and some demutualization cash worth more than $100. 

When the check finally arrived it was for $664.24, which today would be the equivalent of having $12,000. I split the amount four ways, giving each of my sisters, Kelly, Morgan, Taylor, and myself $166.06. 

I didn’t know what to do with my share, and as you know $166.06 doesn’t buy much now, 102 years later. It's an amount I could easily spend at the grocery store, but I wanted to use it for something meaningful that would represent my grandmother, who lived a frugal life, never drove, and made her own clothes. Maybe I could buy something sewing related?

When I was about 14 years old Grandma taught me to sew. I didn’t really appreciate the lessons back then, but I have used this skill over and over again throughout my life. I’ve made Halloween costumes for my daughters Abby and Kate, outfits for high school musicals, curtains, and I’ve made many Raggedy Ann dolls for family and friends - always using a McCall's pattern she bought for my early sewing lessons. It was my grandmother's Aunt Blanche Ferguson Rush, her mother's sister, who taught her to sew. Grandma would stay at the Rush family farm in Farmington to help make clothes for her cousins during the summer. 

After much thought, I decided to buy a wooden Shaker sewing box. Afterall, Blanche’s husband and my grandfather, George Phillians was a woodworker who would have approved of such a thing. I also bought a little ceramic needle holder (which is still on its way) and the total for both items ended up being $165.06, just one dollar short of the amount of my share. To personalize the box, I added her thimble, a little pin cushion stitched with her maiden initials BLS, and a tiny photo of her when she was a girl. 

Now, whenever I look at this small sewing box I will be reminded of Howard Shipley's concern and care for others and the life of my dear grandmother. I think they would both like this very much.

(This is the link to the PA Treasury website if you would like to look up any of your relatives. Here's a hint: look up maiden names in addition to married names. I will be contacting Mildred’s grandchildren about her unclaimed property. I didn’t find anything for Trissa, so I'm thinking her property may have already been claimed.)

The Grandma Blanche Sewing Box 

Here I am in Clarksville, PA sitting on the porch with my Grandparents George and Blanche Shipley Phillians and their dog Barfy.

The needle holder that finally arrived!

Another Wildwood, NJ beach photo of Howard Shipley with his wife Annabella to the right and her best friend Dora Kinder on the left.

Blanche Louise Shipley, pictured here in about 1935, was born in 1911 in Brownsville, PA to Howard Francis and Annabelle Ferguson Shipley. She married George H. Phillians of Millsboro, PA and they had one daughter Roberta Lee Phillians and four granddaughters, Randi, Kelly, Morgan, and Taylor Ross. At the time of her death in 1997, she was one day shy of turning 86 and she had one great granddaughter Abigail Lee Marodi. 


by Randi Ross Marodi
randileeross@gmail.com