Andrew Doyle, Born April 13, 1836

My great-great grandfather, Andrew Doyle, was born in northern England. He was a coal-miner before he came to America in 1869. He came alone a year before his 2nd wife, Elizabeth Jane (Laws) Doyle, came with their 4 children.

I have to admit that when I received and read his death certificate, I was surprised to find that his occupation was listed as "grocerman." I'd heard very little about my dad's side of the family while growing up and I think everything was a surprise to me.

I asked one of his great-granddaughters about the grocery store. She wrote that the store was "up across from Wesleyan Camp Meeting Ground, Fredonia Road, in Stoneboro -- it was Grandpap Andrew Doyle, who had the 'store.' It did not look like the stores of today -- merely a building with 2 or 3 men outside.... I'm quite sure it was mining supplies, tobacco, and possibly potatoes, and other garden produce. They were all coal miners, had gardens, & the things in the 'store' were available when they got home from the mines. I'm sure the building has been gone for years."

The informant on his death certificate, Mrs. H. H. Campbell, is his daughter, Mary Ann, who married Hurd Hendrickson Campbell.

I look forward to talking to Grampa Andrew. I want to learn what coal-mining in northern England was like in the middle of the 19th century. Horrid, for sure, but I want to learn details.

Happy Birthday, Grandpap. I'm looking forward to meeting you.