Mountain Laurel & Coal

"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 suc...

I’m certain all of my female ancestors owned some sort of sewing basket, box, or tin filled with buttons, pins, scissors, needles, and thread.   My mother, Roberta, a talented sewist, couldn’t contain her supplies to a sewing kit, and instead had boxes of patterns and an extensive stash of fabric that spilled into every room of her home. Her mother, Blanche, who made most of her own clothes, also had quite a few sewing supplies. And, I believe Blanche’s mom Annabelle, who tatted lace, must have kept her supplies in some sort of container. My paternal grandmother Ruth had a tin with buttons, some needles, and thread, but her skills we limited to basic mending. I don’t think she even owned a sharp pair of scissors.  I regret that I don’t have many of their sewing notions, but I do have a couple of my mom’s patterns; a 1977 McCall’s Raggedy Ann pattern that my Grandmother Blanche used to teach me how to sew; and my Grandmother Ruth’s buttons. Yesterday, Abby and I visited an anti...

Burning a bayberry candle on New Year’s Day was something my Grandmother Blanche Shipley Phillians did every year. She was very superstitious and she did it for good luck!  I decided to honor her tradition this year after I found a beautiful bayberry taper in a gift shop.  This candle, made by Mole Hollow Candles Ltd. in Sturbridge, MA, came with a little card that explained the tradition: “A bayberry candle burnt to the socket brings food to the larder and gold to the pocket.” “Burning bayberry candles for good luck in the New Year is a tradition dating back to colonial times,” the card reads. “We hope that our long burning bayberry scented tapers will help you to continue this tradition while bringing peace and good fortune to you and your loved ones.” Here’s to good luck and good fortune in 2023! We all need it!

  Blanche Louise Shipley Phillians was born 110 years ago today in West Brownsville, Pa.  She was one of three daughters born to Howard Francis and Annabelle Ferguson Shipley. She married George Harry Phillians on June 11, 1938, in Hagerstown, Md. and on March 17, 1945, she gave birth to my mother, Roberta Lee, their only child. She died on December 11, 1997, the day before her 86th birthday.  Rumor has it she was the life of the party when she was younger and living in the booming town of Brownsville, Pa. She worked as a store clerk, rolled her own cigarettes, and baked a pretty good loaf of bread. She was a mix of superstition and anxiety and although obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) wasn’t a term back then, I’m sure she had it. In her adult years she worried and worried and then, for good measure, she worried some more. Blanche Louise Shipley &  her friend Ruth Ann She absolutely adored my grandfather and spent her whole life making sure he was happy and we...