Catherine Froman Turner - 52 Ancestors

Catherine Froman Turner is the youngest child of seven born to John and Catherine (Saylor) Froman.  She had four brothers and two sisters.

Name
Catherine sometimes appears as Kate, as Katherine, or as Catherine.

Birth Date and Location
29 January 1872 (her father's intestate court file)
January 1871, in Ohio (1900 U.S. Census)
born Ohio (1910)
born Penna (1920)
born Ohio (1930)

John and Catherine Froman, her parents, had been living in West Salem Township at the time of John's death.  It lies on the border of Trumbull County, Ohio, and at least one village straddles the state line so it's possible Catherine could have been born in Trumbull County, Ohio.  I haven't found a record for her birth in either Ohio or Pennsylvania.

Marriage
Catherine married William Turner on December 25, 1888, in Stoneboro, Pennsylvania.  William claimed the age of 24, Catherine, 16.  Because of her age, Catherine's mother, "Mrs. Catherine Froman Mother and only Living Parent," signed her permission for the marriage.  William was a miner, Catherine a housekeeper.

Children 

• Clyde was born October, 1890 (1900 U.S. Census).  In the 1920 census Clyde is married with 2 children and lives next door to his parents.
• Edwin was born August, 1898 (1900 U.S. Census)

Census Records
In 1900 the couple lived on Linden Street in Stoneboro.  William was a coal miner who had been unemployed for 4 months.   There were two children in the family.

By 1910 the couple had purchased a farm, free of a mortgage, and were living in Sandy Lake Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  Their two children were included in the census and their oldest son was a coal miner.

In 1920 William, Katherine, and one son  were still living in Sandy Lake Township, presumably on the farm since William is listed on the farm schedule.  However, William and both sons were working in the coal mines.

By 1930, William, Catherine, and one son were living in the home.  They were in Sandy Lake Township and the son was a "poultryman" on his father's farm.  William was 65, Catherine was 56, and their son was 31.

Death
Catherine died on October 14, 1933.  My aunt, Tressa (Doyle) Wilson, remembered that "Catherine committed suicide soon after Dad [Gust Doyle] died [on October 3].  I remember your Dad [Lee Doyle] coming back from taking the milk to the factory and excitedly telling us about her death."

I have no insight into Catherine's personality or mental state in 1933.  Her husband had died in 1931 but I suppose her son was probably still living at home.  The New Castle News issue of October 14, 1933, reported that Catherine had hung herself by a towel from her bathroom door.  I always feel sad to learn of deaths by suicide.  I always wish help had arrived before it came to suicide.

Catherine is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Sandy Lake Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

--Nancy.

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