More about Gust and the Strawberry Farm, Plus a Research Tip

I lived in a family that did not pass down family stories.  In fact, I didn't learn that my father grew up on a farm where his father, Gust Doyle, grew and harvested strawberries until I was a teen.  And it was even later that I learned that my great-grandfather William Doyle had started the strawberry business.  Bit by bit, I keep learning about these ancestors of mine.

A number of years ago I published the post, Banner Week at Doyle's Berry Farm, June 13, 1908.  It has some good information, however, at the time I wrote that post I didn't know how many acres of strawberries grew on the farm.  Since that post I've uncovered a little more information. 

In 1908 the owner of the berry farm was William Doyle.  At that time his son, Gust, was 19.  This newest information comes from 1916, when Gust, then age 28, was the owner of the farm.

Below is part of page 99 from the 1916 Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Volume 22. 

This report indicates that Augustus Doyle of Stoneboro had five acres of land planted with berries or small fruit plants only.  It's possible that Gust grew other small fruit plants but since my original source of information about the strawberry farm, my father's half-sister, Tressa (Doyle) Wilson, never mentioned growing other fruits, I believe all five acres were devoted to strawberries.

Surprising is that this is a list of licensed nurseries.  Does that mean Gust also sold strawberry plants?

It's hard to tell from this 1916 report and the earlier postcards in the post about the Doyle Berry Farm in 1908 whether there were more acres devoted to strawberries in 1916 or fewer.  

Research Tip
If you're trying to find information about your farming ancestors, remember to search for state agricultural reports at Google Books or other state sources.  For Pennsylvania, Google Books has reports from 1879 through 1917 with only a few exceptions.  Some reports have more information than others but it's always worth checking if you want to learn more about an ancestor's farming activities.

—Nancy.

Copyright © 2023 Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
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Christmas Greetings from Robert Meinzen, Your Barber

When using OCR to search old newspapers it is always a delightful surprise to find advertisements for the business of one of my ancestors.  In this case, I found four ads from four different years placed by my grandfather, William Carl Robert Meinzen, most often known as Robert Meinzen during his lifetime.  I believe newspapers sent representatives to local businesses to ask them to buy ads in the newspapers.  So glad my grandfather did.  From left to right, these ads are from

• The Niles Times, Monday, December 24, 1945
• The Niles Daily Times, Wednesday, December 24, 1947
• The Niles Daily Times, Saturday, December 23, 1950
• The Niles Daily Times, Wednesday, December 24, 1952

In his younger years Grampa trained and worked as a barber in Steubenville, Ohio.  By 1920, when he was 28, he had become an electrician in a boiler shop, but by 1930 he and his family had settled in Mineral Ridge and he had returned to barbering.  He opened a shop on Main Street where he barbered until his retirement in the late 1950s.

Grampa worked at his shop well into the evening hours.  Because of this, Gramma sent a hot meal to the shop every night.  The older grandchildren were enlisted to carry the basket the two or three blocks to his shop to deliver it and were paid to do it.  I looked forward to this honor but, sadly for me, he retired before I became old enough.

With my grandfather I send you Cordial Greetings and wish you Happy Holidays and a Very Merry Christmas.

-–Nancy.

Copyright © 2021 Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
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A 600-Bushel Harvest

I knew the Doyles of Stoneboro, Pennsylvania, grew strawberries because both my father, Lee Doyle, and his half-sister, Tressa, mentioned them.  My father had little to say about that fact and seemed uninterested in strawberries.  My aunt had more to say:  "Strawberries are a lot of work."

I had no idea how large the Doyle strawberry patch was but I knew they hired people to help pick because one of my grand-aunts remembered earning a penny per quart to pick berries.  (U. S. Inflation Calculator tells me the value of that penny today would be 24¢.)

It wasn't until about two years ago, after I saw these postcards, that I had a broader sense of the quantity of berries the Doyles grew.  They didn't just grow strawberries, they sold strawberries.

Berries arriving Stoneboro Depot, from Doyle's Farm

June 23, 08.    Banner Week    600 Bus
Scene at Doyls [sic] Berry Farm  Stoneboro Pa.

Yes, caring for the berry plants that supplied 600 bushels of strawberries in one week would be a lot of work!

My parents attended Stoneboro's Centennial Celebration in 1967.  Not long ago I discovered the program my mom saved.  In it were poor copies of the above photographs and the account below.  The photos above are in reverse order to their descriptions below.

     William Doyle, a native of Cambois Colliery near Blythe, Northumberland, England, was owner of the farm, which employed many local citizens during berry picking time in late June and early July.  Many residents will recall picking berries for Mr. Doyle.
     The top picture, with a scene from the farm, notes the banner week of June 23, 1908, as producing 600 bushels.  Many local people are pictured, including Mr. Doyle and members of his family.  The man in the suit, white shirt, bow tie and hat is the "berry man" who came to the farm and made arrangements for shipping the berries.
     The bottom picture shows the produce arriving at the Stoneboro Railroad Station, in horse-drawn wagons, ready for shipments on trains to various points.  One of the destinations was Franklin, where a hotel maintained a standing order for the large "William-Belt" berries which were of such size that 18 filled a quart berry basket.  Among the men pictured at the station are the late George Proud, John Gustafson, John Berrisford, and Gust Doyle, son of William Doyle, the farm owner.

I think 600 bushels -- 19,200 quarts! -- is a lot of berries, but I still didn't have a sense of how large the strawberry patch was.  In a recent search of Google Books I discovered my grandfather, Gust, mentioned in Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 1916. 

Under "List of Nurseries Licensed" in Mercer County, is Augustus Doyle, Stoneboro, with 5 acres of berries or small fruit plants.  There is no family record of Gust growing any small fruit plants other than strawberries.

So let's think about size.  An acre measures 4,840 square yards or 43,560 square feet.  Gust had five times that:  24,200 square yards or 217,800 square feet.  I now hesitate to call what the Doyles had a strawberry patch. 

Next I wanted to know how many strawberry plants might grow in five acres of land.  Strawberry Plants.org gives me the following information. 
If there are 36" between the rows, and if the plants are planted
> 24" apart, there would be 7,260 plants/acre, equaling 36,300 plants on 5 acres.
> 18" apart, there would be 9,680 plants/acre, equaling 48,400 plants on 5 acres.
> 12" apart, there would be 14,520 plants/acre, equaling 72,600 plants on 5 acres.
However, if the rows are closer together, there will be more plants per acre.

These are my Aunt Tressa (Doyle) Wilson's memories of strawberry care on the farm.  By the time she was old enough to help with the plants, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the strawberry "patch" had decreased to two acres.  She wrote,

     In the spring the 2 acre patch had to be prepared for the strawberries we’d be planting for next year’s crop.  Strawberries were a lot of work.  After the plants started to grow – they had to be hoed to keep the soil away from the heart of the plant, to destroy the weeds, and to keep the soil mellow....  When the blossoms came out on the newly planted plants, we children had to pick off every blossom so the plants could use their strength to send out runners with little plants on.  As the new plants grew and formed roots we had to set the plants in line with the mother plant.  This was to keep them from being uprooted by the cultivator.
     By the time the new strawberry patch had been planted and taken care of with tender, loving care – the berries in the other patch were starting to ripen.  This meant more “back breaking” work.  The berries were picked and brought into the garage to be crated.  Each crate held 32 quarts [which equals a bushel].  After the berries were picked and crated they’d be taken by horse and wagon to the Rail Road Station downtown to be shipped to Franklin to be sold.  In later years we sold the berries to a man who took them to Pittsburgh by truck.  The berries had to be picked every other day.  We never got more than $4.00 a bushel for them.  As the season progressed the price kept dropping – like 3 quarts for a quarter.  The pickers were paid 1¢ (yes - 1 cent) a quart for picking.

Imagine tending 72,000 strawberry plants.  Oh my goodness, what a lot of work!  All by hand in those days.  I don't know what the average harvest of strawberries on the Doyle's five acres of strawberries plants was but isn't it sad that with all those wonderful, fresh strawberries, neither my father nor my Aunt Tressa liked to eat strawberries?

I'm linking this post to Sepia Saturday 496 : 16 November 2019.

–Nancy.

Copyright ©2019, Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
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The Work of My Ancestors

I'm thinking of my ancestors on this Labor Day.  They worked most days of their lives while today most of us have had a day of leisure.  I liked this quote by D. Todd Christofferson suggesting the need for both. 

Just as honest toil gives rest its sweetness, wholesome recreation is the friend and steadying companion of work.

In honor of this year's holiday I compiled a list of occupations, professions, and employment of my ancestors through my great-great-grandparents.  It was interesting to see the collective results of the list.

Parents
Lee Doyle, 1913-1987:  coal miner, farmer, steel mill worker, insurance salesman, clock repairer and jeweler, clock builder, handyman
Audrey (Meinzen) Doyle, 1915-1997:  nurse, house keeper

Grandparents
Gust Doyle, 1888-1933:  farmer, coal miner
Beulah Mae (Gerner) Doyle, 1888-1913:  milliner, house keeper

W. C. Robert Meinzen, 1892-1979:  barber, electrician
Emma (Bickerstaff) Meinzen, 1893-1973:  house keeper

Great-grandparents
William Doyle, 1863-1941:  coal miner, farmer
Tressa (Froman) Doyle, 1867-1936:  house keeper

Frederick K. Gerner, ~1848-1926:  farmer
Elvira (Bartley) Gerner, 1954-1943:  house keeper, midwife

Henry Carl Meinzen, 1837-1926:  carpenter, gardener, confectionery shop owner
Elizabeth (Armitage) Meinzen, 1852-1920:  house keeper

Edward Jesse Bickerstaff, 1871-1945:  carpenter
Mary (Thompson) Bickerstaff:  1872-1940:  house keeper

Great-great-grandparents
Andrew Doyle, 1836-1908:  coal miner, grocer
Elizabeth (Laws) Doyle, 1845-1910:  house keeper

John Froman, 1841-1871:  coal miner
Catherine (Saylor) Froman, 1844-1928:  house keeper

Christian Gerner, ~1820-1899:  farmer
Elizabeth (Stahl?) Gerner, uncertain dates:  house keeper

Dixon Bartley, ~1806-1900:  farmer, wagon maker
Rebecca (Smith) Bartley, 1820-1899:  house keeper

Abel Armitage, 1821- after 1881:  coal miner
Eliza (Hartley) Armitage, 1813-1856:  house keeper

Ellis H. Bickerstaff, 1840-1907:  carpenter
Virginia (Nelson) Bickerstaff, ~1846-1878:  house keeper

John Thomas Thompson, ~1850-1923:  laborer
Lydia (Bell) Thompson, 1851-1930:  keeping home

Except for a smattering of other occupations, the work of my male ancestors generally falls into two major categories:



     >  those who provided food, the farmers, and
     >  those who provided fuel, the coal miners
It's interesting to me that one group worked in the light of day, the other group worked below ground in the darkness of the earth.  What a contrast!

Of course all of my female ancestors were homemakers at least part of their lives.  I believe women get short shrift when it comes to the work of keeping a home.  Their work was different than those of the men and had more variety throughout a day or season but was no less laborious.  And the hours were often longer, at least in days of yore before labor-saving conveniences.

I hope you have or had a great Labor Day.

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2018, Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
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Banner Week at Doyle's Berry Farm, June 13, 1908

That banner week that ended Saturday, June 13, 1908, 600 bushels of strawberries were harvested at Doyle's Strawberry Farm in Stoneboro, Pa.  At that time the owner of the farm was William Doyle, my great-grandfather, known to family as Pap. 

Gust, my paternal grandfather and William's son, is the young man standing third from the right in the above photo.  The lady standing to the right of Gust (from our view) looks like his mother, Tressa (Froman) Doyle.  I believe William (short with a big mustache) is the man standing fifth from the left with the dark hat.  The man wearing a suit, white shirt, and bow tie was the "berry man," the one who made arrangements for transportation of the berries.

If you look closely you can see several carrier baskets with quarts of strawberries.  The man at right is sitting on what appears to be a nearly empty crate of quart strawberry baskets.  Another crate is beside it and empty crates are piled on the far left of the photo.

I've known for years that Dad's family had a strawberry "patch" but only upon finding this postcard did I realize what a misnomer the word "patch" is.  Strawberry farm is more accurate. 

The berries were recorded in bushels but were clearly neither collected nor transported in bushel baskets.  I try to imagine 600 bushels of strawberries, but can't quite.  Research tells me that one bushel of strawberries equals 32 quarts and 48 pounds.  Calculated further, 600 bushels of strawberries equals 19,200 quarts or 28,800 pounds.  Research did not help me find how many acres might have been needed to produce 600 pounds in one week.  My father's half-sister wrote that during Gust's stewardship of the farm there were two acres devoted to berries.  Could two acres produce 600 bushels of strawberries in one week?  Or were more acres planted with berries when William was the farm's owner?

It's hard to know how much income the berries brought to the Doyle family.  A great-aunt recalled payment of 1¢ per quart (worth about 27¢ now) for picking berries at about the time of these photographs.  Another aunt recorded that during her father Gust's time as the primary farmer, 25 years after this photo, berry pickers were also paid 1¢ per quart.   


After picking, the berries were transported by horse-pulled wagons to the train depot.  This photo shows "Berries arriving Stoneboro Depot, from Doyle's Farm."  Imagine transporting strawberries in June, 1908, at the slow speed of a train and without refrigeration.  How fresh could they have been upon arrival, even to Franklin, less than 20 miles away?

I gleaned a little more information about the farm from an article in a Stoneboro Anniversary pamphlet my mother saved.  The article was published in Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, in 1962, but I don't have any publication information.

Strawberry Time In Stoneboro -- Remember?
     In days of yore Strawberry Time was a big event in the Stoneboro community.  Doyle's Berry Farm, located on the Fredonia Road on the outskirts of town was well-known throughout the area as the strawberry "patch."  The late William Doyle, a native of Cambois Colliery near Blythe, Northumberland, England, was owner of the farm, which employed many local citizens during berry picking time in late June and early July.  Many residents will recall picking berries for Mr. Doyle.
     The top picture, with a scene from the farm, notes the banner week of June 23, 1908, as producing 600 bushels.  Many local people are pictured, including Mr. Doyle and members of his family.  The man in the suit, white shirt, bow tie and hat is the "berry man" who came to the farm and made arrangements for shipping the berries.
     The bottom picture shows the produce arriving at the Stoneboro Railroad Station, in horse-drawn wagons, ready for shipments on trains to various points.  One of the destinations was Franklin [a distance of about 17 miles using today's roads], where a hotel maintained a standing order for the large "William-Belt" berries which were of such size that 18 filled a quart berry basket.  Among the men pictured at the station are the late George Proud, John Gustafson, John Berrisford, and Gust Doyle, son of William Doyle, the farm owner....

Both sepia photographs in this post were published by Bob Cowan on facebook in a collection of "38 Stoneboro photographs" with the note, "Photos scanned from my friend Lyda for your use and enjoyment."  (Click right and left arrows on facebook screen to see all Stoneboro photos.)  Lyda and I are cousins:  her grandmother, Liz Jane Doyle, and my great-grandfather, William Doyle, are siblings.  Thank you, Bob Cowan, for scanning and sharing Lyda's photos.

Strawberry season is nearly at its end in Ohio this season and I haven't picked a single berry.  I think I'll forego the picking and just eat them this year.  Whenever I eat strawberries I always think of my ancestors' Doyle Strawberry Farm.

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2017-2023 Nancy Messier. 
All Rights Reserved.
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On Break at Copperweld Steel - Workday Wednesday

These are photos of my father and some coworkers at Copperweld Steel Company, Warren, Ohio, in 1946.  Perhaps they are on break or just finished lunch.

Joe Mack on the left, Lee Doyle, my father, on the right. 

This was probably taken inside the mill.  I like the effects of the back lighting.  To me it looks dramatic, almost eerie, and very late-1940s. 

Two men, Joe and Dad again.

Three men.  H. Baker joins Joe and Lee.

My father always preferred shirts with two pockets.  His preference must have started before this photo was taken.

H. Baker leaves and Einhorn, Joe Weaver, and an unnamed man join Lee.

The way my father has his head down it looks like he's being teased.  He smoked cigarettes for a number of years.  I tried to use the length of the cigarette to put these photos in sequence.

Men come and go, Dad remains.
Left to right, K. Ambrose, Lee Doyle, J. Weaver, and the same unnamed man as above.

The group gets bigger.
Left to right:  H. Baker, Joe Mack, Lee Doyle, Joe Weaver, and another unnamed man.

With all heads (except one) turned his way, it looks to me like Joe Mack is telling a story.

I don't remember my father speaking about work or his coworkers often but I do remember the name "Einhorn" and it seems that Einhorn was a "character" -- an interesting person who did things differently than most others. To the right is "Einhorn."  In the vernacular of the time and place, I believe most men were called by their last names.

For the longest time I couldn't find these photos.  They surfaced when I was looking through the scanned pages of my mother's photo album.  They were taken after Dad had been at Copperweld for five or six years but before he became a foreman.

I cropped the backgrounds out of these and could probably improve them by adjusting the contrast but am posting them as is.

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2017 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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Dashed Excitement and a Caution

Abel Armitage has been one of my elusive ancestors.  I have information about his birth, his marriages, his immigration to the U.S., and I know he was a coal miner.  But his death has eluded meduring the years I've been searching for him.  The fact is, I would be pleased to learn almost anything more about him.

When I typed his name in the search box at My Heritage two entries from the 39th annual mine report of 1875 turned up.  I was excited.  The transcribed info mentions Abel Armitage, mine boss.  Abel would have been 54 in 1875, within age range for the position.

I clicked on the first link and saw image 938.

Jefferson County.
Walnut Hill Nos. 1 and 2.
     Located at Yorkville, O.  Owned and operated by the O. & P. Coal Co., Cleveland, O.  Drift opening, 132 miners and 44 day men employed.  Wm. Neath, Yorkville, O., superintendent; Abel Armitage, same place, mine boss....

The entry continues with a report about the physical conditions of the mine including dates of other inspections, accidents, and repairs.  This report was on image 938 (of 982).

I was excited to think that my second great-grandfather was a mine boss (though always sorrowful that he was a miner at all).

The second link led to the same book, image 445/page 432.

Annual Report
Jefferson County.  Walnut Hill Nos. 1 and 2.
     Located at Yorkville on the C. & P. R. R.  Owned and operated by the O. & P. Coal Co., Cleveland, Ohio.  Wm. Neath, Yorkville, superintendent; Abel Armitage, same place, mine boss...

To the right was the information accompanying this source.  That's helpful but I always try to find the beginning pages of books at sites like MyHeritage and Ancestry so that I can create a more accurate citation that includes title, publication date, etc.  You would think it would be easy enough to go to the first image and page forward until you come to the cover page but it isn't always that easy.

When I arrived at image 7, I thought I found the cover of the book I'd been looking at.  Except it was the 34th annual report and the year was 1908.

But information on the link said the 39th report and the date was 1875.  The numbering was off or there was a transcription error.  I guessed there were two or more reports in this "document," so I began to page forward to see if I could find the 1875 report.

After more searching I found that another annual report was included in this "collection."  The report for 1908 is contained in images 7 - 475.  The report for 1909 is contained in images 478 - 974.  Despite the information in the link on MyHeritage, there is no report for 1875 in these images.  I don't know how they obtained the date but it is wrong.  Image 938, above, is from the 1909 report; image 445 is from the 1908 report.

So much for my excitement about finding more information about my second great-grandfather.  (Since my Abel was born in 1821 I strongly doubt he was a mine boss in 1908 at the age of 88.)  I believe this information is about his son, also named Abel, also a coal miner, also living in Jefferson County, Ohio, who would have been 40 in 1909.

My caution:  never accept as fact the source information in the links at MyHeritage, Ancestry, or any other website that transcribes and posts digital images.  Find the cover pages of the volumes:  county record books of births, marriages, and deaths; annual reports; deed books; will books, etc.  While it takes a little time to find the pages it may save you time in the end and prevent you from being led astray.

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2016 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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Celebrating, Honoring, Thanking Three Generations of Nurses

To commemorate National Nurses Day today I'm celebrating three generations of
nurses in my family.


Both my mom and my sister graduated from Trumbull Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Warren, Ohio; my mom in 1937, my sister almost 30 years later.  My daughter received her associate degree a few years ago and her B.S.N. this past December.

It's interesting to note the changes between nurses' dress 50 to 75 years ago and now.  When my mom and sister graduated they were required to wear white dresses, white shoes and stockings, and white caps (which indicated the school they attended).  These days, nurses wear scrubs, sometimes in hospital colors, and comfortable shoes.  In earlier times nurses went through nurses' training, taking courses and working in the hospital as early as their first few weeks in training.  These days nurses attend college and must have a bachelor's degree.

I've been in the hospital enough times to appreciate a good nurse but it wasn't until last month, when I read The Shift:  One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives by Theresa Brown, R.N., that I truly began to realize and appreciate the attention, knowledge, and skill of nurses and the juggling act they perform on behalf of their patients.  My mom worked for only a short time as a nurse but my sister worked for many years and my daughter has worked in a hospital for a few years.  I'm grateful for the service they performed/perform for their patients.

Well done, Mom, Marsha, and Brenna!  Thank you.  Happy Nurses Day.

The date for National Nurses Day is always the same, May 6, as are the dates for National Nurses Week, May 6-12. 

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2016 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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A Birthday Letter - Workday Wednesday

On February 24, 1956, D. G. Baxter, General Superintendent of Copperweld Steel in Warren, Ohio, sent my father, Lee Doyle, a birthday letter.  Dad had been an employee of Copperweld for 15 or more years.  On February 27 that year Dad turned 43.  Did the superintendent send all employees birthday letters?  Considering that the greeting is not personalized I think it's possible.  It still surprises me that my mother saved both the letter and the envelope.

It reads,

Dear Copperwelder:

As we advance in age I would like to pass along my formula for life which is to keep busy so that the years go by unnoticed.  To despise nothing except selfishness, meanness and corruption; Covet nothing that is my neighbor's except his kindness of heart and his gentleness of spirit; Think many times of my friends and seldom of my enemies.  So long as I can work and enjoy the kind words of approval of my associates and the warm handclasp of the younger generation, I see no reason why everyday should not be as much of a challenge to a man of ninety as to a man of thirty.  As I see it, age is not a question of years...it is a state of mind.  You are as young as your faith.

On this birthday may I add my personal wish for your health, long life and happiness.

The letter makes me wonder how old D. G. Baxter was.

This is nearly the end of the Copperweld posts.  Floating around somewhere are several photographs of my father with some of his coworkers.  When I can put my hands on them (or my mouse), I'll post those.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2009-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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Dale Carnegie Course at Copperweld Steel - Workday Wednesday

A Dale Carnegie course was offered at Copperweld Steel while my father, Lee Doyle, worked there.  Dad attended but I don't know if received an invitation or if he was mandated to attend.  I do remember discussion about the course at home, including ways to remember people's names and some talk about Dad giving a speech. 

My father is seated in the second row from the back, second from the left (with the light glinting off his glasses).  The only other person I know in the photo is Gene Haas, standing in the back row, fourth from the left.

From the sign in the front we can tell the names of some of those who attended the class.  Click to enlarge the image to read it better.

My father's name appears twice.  First under "No. 2 Best Speech" and again in "No. 3 Achievement."  I know no details.

I still have the book he used for the course.  It's title is, of course, How to Win Friends and Influence People. 

Dad finished this course in December, 1966, the same month and year he received a certificate in Management Development.  It's likely the Carnegie course was part of the management development course.

His certificate reads

Dale Carnegie Courses
This certifies that
Lee Doyle
has successfully completed the
Dale Carnegie Course
in Effective Speaking
and Human Relations

In Witness Whereof this certificate
is issued under our hands and seal
this 7th day of December, 1966

Dorothy Carnegie
Warren H. Knox

It's fun to see a photo of Dad in a classroom setting with the other students, however, my father was a lifelong learner (as we say these days) whether at work or taking courses at the mill, and more often at home while making repairs around the house, learning the new skills of woodworking and clock building, or reading the newspaper. 

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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Courses at Copperweld Steel - Workday Wednesday

My father, Lee Doyle, took several courses at Copperweld Steel during the time he  worked there.  The first two were from the the Metals Engineering Institute.  The certificates are dated June 22 and October 15, 1959.  Dad would would have been working at Copperweld for about 18 years by that time.  I assume he took the courses after he became a foreman.

The first course was "Elements of Metallurgy" and the second was "Heat Treatment of Steel."  I could find no information about the courses themselves.  I believe they were offered in the offices of Copperweld and that he went early to work or stayed late.  I don't remember him studying a textbook at home but it's possible he did, or studied at work.

The Metals Engineering Institute was (and still is) a division of the American Society for Metals, currently known as ASM International.  Internet research tells me that the ASM was created in 1913.  Its headquarters are in Metals Park or Materials Park (depending on which resource one uses), Ohio.  The Park is home to the world's largest open-air geodesic dome.

ASM International's website is thorough but doesn't have information about the Metals Engineering Institute's courses in 1959.  Further information about ASM can be found in Scientific, Technical, and Related Societies of the United States at Google Books.

Another course my father took in 1966 was "Management Development."  It was offered through the Industrial Information Institute, Inc., and The Human Engineering Institute, Inc.  At this link is a little information about the Industrial Information Institute, Inc.  It seems to have been an organization local to Mahoning and surrounding counties.  I was unable to find reliable information about The Human Engineering Institute, Inc.  (With so much information available on the internet I am often surprised that, when researching my ancestors, I'm unable to locate information.  So it goes.)

There in one other course my father took at Copperweld Steel.  I'll leave that for a separate post.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2009-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.Copyright © 2009-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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A Daughter's View of Her Father's Work - Workday Wednesday

From before the time I was born my father, Lee Doyle, worked at Copperweld Steel Company's mill in Warren, Ohio.  He began working there in 1940 or soon after, a few years before the photo at right was taken.  He'd been there about 10 years by the time I was born and longer from the time my memories begin.

Dad worked what we called "turns."  These days it's called swing shift.  He worked five days then was off two.  After the two days off, he switched turns:  from days, to afternoons, to nights.  It sounds simple and seems like he would have been able to keep a straight Monday-through-Friday schedule, but it didn't work that way.  Between some turns there was really only a day and a half off.  At the end of a round of turns (that is, after he'd worked all three) he had three or four days off.  That work schedule must have been a nightmare for my father, with no regular sleep schedule and probably little sleep when he worked night-turn with children at home during the day.  I know it was hard for my mom when it came to meal preparation.  She always served a hearty evening meal but when Dad worked afternoons, she had to serve it 5 hours earlier -- and then hold it over or reheat it for those of us who were in school.  As hard as that might have been for my mom, I think it was much worse for my father.

Working turns presented an added challenge when one realizes we were a one-car family living in a small community some distance from a city.  Mom had to carefully plan and coordinate her use of the car for any appointments, errands, and/or piano lessons.  Emergencies were out of the question.

I remember rare times that my mother asked my grandparents to borrow their car.  Still rare, but more common, were times when Mom drove Dad to work so she could have the car. 

Copperweld was located at 4000 Mahoning Avenue NW in Warren.  The drive from home to the mill was nearly 11 miles and, in those days, took 30 to 45 minutes.  It always seemed like such a trek.  We drove back roads except through a section of the city that wasn't particularly safe.  (My father kept a hammer under the seat of the car.  Never, he said, as a weapon, but should he need it for that purpose, it was there.)  The driveway from the road to the mill, left, was long, too.


It wasn't until I was eight or 10 years old that my parents bought a second car.  It made all the difference for my mom.  She was no longer limited to having a car only when Dad wasn't working.

I don't know what year Dad became a foreman but at least by the time I was 10.  He must have been pleased to know his employer thought him capable of the work and also happy to have the increased pay but I remember many days when he worked 12-hour shifts, sometimes for days on end.  Being a foreman meant that as a salaried employee his pay was the same no matter how many hours he worked.  And he was no longer a union member.  He and the men he had previously worked with were on different sides of the union line.  I remember him talking about how difficult it was to motivate the union men to do the work they were being paid to do.  I think that was frustrating for him.

Dad wore steel-toed boots to work.  It was not mandated by law until 1975 but he must have realized the importance of protecting his feet in an environment with heavy materials and equipment.  I know the mill was very large and required a lot of walking and standing with very little time, if any, to sit.  I think his feet often hurt though he never said so to me.  In addition to steel-toed boots his work clothes consisted of pants, shirt, and jacket.  He insisted on shirts with two pockets.  Mom mended and patched his work clothes until they were suited only for cleaning cloths or to be ripped into strips for rag rugs. 

When I was a child Copperweld offered tours to employees' family members.  I desperately wanted to go but was told I was too young.  When I was old enough they were no longer giving tours.  I suppose safety laws came into effect preventing non-employees from being in the work area. 

Copperweld is now being torn down, but it was in disuse for a decade.  There are a few photos of the mill at Rust Wire and at this pinterest board.

My images and knowledge of work at a steel mill come primarily from the links are below.  The adjectives that come to mind when I think of work there are hot, hard, dangerous, and that mills are monstrous large.

• A Bessemer Converter at Republic Steel in 1941
• A blast furnace (in disuse) at Carnegie-Illinois Steel
• Blast furnaces and iron ore at Carnegie-Illinois Steel 
• Steel ingot on table of the blooming mill, Pittsburgh, PA
• Slag run-off at Republic Steel
• The Steel Book
• A Steel Mill pinterest board 

Dad was a life-long believer in American-made steel.  He would not buy a foreign-made car, no matter how highly it may have been rated.  American steel gave American men jobs to provide for their families.  He was still alive when Japanese- and German-made car became common and he never had a good work for buying them.

Dad retired from Copperweld Steel in the late 1970s after working there nearly 35 years.  If I could guess at his opinion about it, he'd say it was none too soon.

Copperweld closed in 2001.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2009-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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Copperweld Steel, From Mite to Giant - Workday Wednesday

The Youngstown Vindicator published the following article on Sunday, February 14, 1943, page B-44.  This particular issue of The Vindicator was filled with articles about businesses in Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley and their production for the war effort.  Copperweld was mentioned in several other articles.

From Mite to Giant
Copperweld Steel's Expansion Puts It High Among Alloy Firms
(Special To the Vindicator)

50-ton furnace at Copperweld Steel

    Warren, Feb. 13.---Copperweld Steel Company's plant, still expanding, is a giant war producer.  It began as a comparative baby in October, 1939, and this summer will be producing a substantial proportion of the electric furnace steel made in America.
    Its products go into airplanes, ships and tanks with the United States Navy its principal receiver.
    A telegram from the Navy Department, read at a rally in the new cold draw building a few weeks ago, declared:  "The navy has given Copperweld a big job to do.  When your present expansion is completed you will be producing a substantial part of the electric furnace steel made in America.  The navy gives such assignments only to proven leaders.  The founder of your company, S. E. Bramer, is such a leader[.]"
    The telegram was signed by Clark H. Woodward, real [sic] admiral, chief of the incentive division of the U.S. Navy.
    Since Oct. 1, 1940, Copperweld's Warren plant has been in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Specializes in Specialties

    Copperweld's Warren plant makes virtually any kind of specialty steel.  Originally it was established for the dual purpose of supplying its Glassport, Pa., plant with the materials for the widely known Copperweld wire, rods and related products and other customers with high-grade alloy steels.
    The Glassport plant took billets of special steel, coated them with copper and molten-welded the two into a perfect bond.  The billets were than rolled into bars and rods.  From rods of about a half-inch thick, wire of all sizes down to as fine as a human hair was drawn.  In all sizes the same percentage of copper sheathing was maintained.  The advantages of the tensile strength of the steel with the electrical conductivity and corrosion-resistant properties of the copper made the product in high demand for the electric power and light industry.

Long Experience

    War brought new and tremendous demand for high-grade specialty steels.  President Bramer and his associates had 25 years experience in steel making and knew production design and methods to greatly expand efficient manufacture of specialty steels.  High ranking U. S. Navy officials frankly say they are glad this nation had Copperweld Steel's personnel.

    Electric furnace steel manufacture is a highly specialized process.

    The furnaces takes [sic] a charge of scrap iron with various combinations of iron, chromium, nickel, tungsten, spiegeleisen (bright iron), vanadium, silicon and other elements, reduces the mix to a molten mass at terrific temperature and in three or four hours disgorge alloy steel in ladles and thence to molds.

Finishing capacity Rises

    In Copperweld's plant there are 35-ton furnaces, 50-ton furnaces and a few as small as six-ton capacity to produce limited quantities of specialty steel.  Furnaces must be small enough to permit good control of the mixes and speedy enough to be efficient producers.
    The complete process of Copperweld's planned plant was casting ingots from the various proportional mixes, re-heating and then rolling the billets into bars or rods of the various sizes demanded by customers.
    Now, however, Copperweld not only makes thousands of tons more steel than originally planned, but has vastly increased finishing capacity.  There are 12, 18, 24, and 29-inch mills, a new 21-inch nearly completed and enlargements of all others.  There are greatly expanded finishing and fabricating units including large heat treating and cold drawing capacities.
    Men---and women also, nowadays---at Copperweld realize the importance of their jobs in the war effort.  Men of Copperweld last fall tore down and erected in 12 days the 29-inch mill.  It was a miracle of modern industry, but typical of Copperweld production.

Had my father, Lee Doyle, not worked at Copperweld I would probably have read this article with passing interest, but knowing he was working there during the war it helped me gain an appreciation for Copperweld's contribution to the war effort and for the work Dad performed there.  

Previous posts about Copperweld:
Copperweld Steel Mill - Workday Wednesday
Copperweld, Dad, and the War Years - Workday Wednesday

--Nancy.
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Copperweld, Dad, and the War Years - Workday Wednesday

In 1939 and 1940 my father, Lee Doyle, worked at the Niles Rolling Mill but sometime after June, 1940, he began work at Copperweld Steel Company in Warren, Ohio.  The parent Copperweld Steel Company was in Pennsylvania but this mill in Warren was new.  It had just opened in 1939.  As I understand it, a friend recommended my father for a job there.

I believe the badge, right, is the one created for my father when he first began work at Copperweld.  It is the only badge he used during his 34 years of employment there.  (Those who know my father will recognize his (contained) expression of satisfaction.)

By October, 1940, Copperweld had increased production to 24-hour days, seven days per week.  It had been a successful first year.  The Pittsburgh Press's October 31, 1940, article "Copperweld Steel Co. Building New Furnaces," reported,

Copperweld Steel Co., today declared a dividend of 20 cents on its common stock and the regular quarterly dividend of 61½ cents on its cumulative convertible preferred 5 per cent series.  Both dividends are payable Dec. 10 to stockholders of record Dec. 1.
     President S. E. Bramer announced that construction is well under way on one 25-ton and one 10-ton top charging electric furnaces at the Warren, O., alloys steel plant.
     The company recently added two additional heat-treating furnaces, bringing the total heat-treating capacity of the company to 12,000 tons a month; and two additional annealing furnaces which increased the annealing capacity of the company to 3000 tons a month.

In the years before the United States' involvement in World War II, Americans had an isolationist view.  But there must have been some Americans who imagined that the war in Europe would expand to involve the United States.  When France fell to Germany in June, 1940, Americans began to worry that Great Britain wasn't strong enough to defeat Germany without help.  Citizens and leaders, both political and business, must have sensed the changes that would come to an America at war.  As hard as the war made life for many, the production of steel mills -- including Copperweld -- increased and the mills thrived.

With the possibility of the nation's involvement in the war, a draft was initiated.  The National World War II Museum website informs that the United States required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft beginning on September 16, 1940.  Having been born in February, 1913, my father was 27 years old and would have been in one of the first groups to register.  However, because he worked in a steel mill involved in war production he would have been classified as either II-A or II-B and was exempt from military service.  I've been unable to find a World War II Draft Registration Card for my father because the only images currently available online (to my knowledge) are for the fourth registration, for men over the age of 45.  It's a high calling to serve one's country in the Armed Forces and I'm grateful to those who do.  I'm also grateful that my father served at home.

Copperweld Steel's high-grade alloy steel was essential for the war effort and the company had government contracts.  The Youngstown Vindicator reported on Jun 9, 1942,

The big steel producers here [in Youngstown] are turning virtually 100 percent of their output to the war effort.  So is the rapidly-expanding Copperweld Steel Co. of Warren which is becoming one of the nation's largest high-quality steel producers, although its Warren plant was built only a few years ago. . . .  Most of the larger fabricating concerns are entirely or in part on war work already. . . .

Copperweld Steel Company may have done well even without the war but there is no doubt in my mind that World War II helped the company grow.  The war years were good to Copperweld.

You can read the previous post about Copperweld Steel and my father's association with the company here.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2009-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

Copperweld Steel Mill - Workday Wednesday

My father, Lee Doyle, had a long association with the Warren location of the Copperweld Steel Company.  He began working there between 1940 and 1941 and retired in 1974.  In this first in a brief series of posts about Dad and Copperweld, you can read about the opening of the Warren plant in 1939.  With the war in Europe expanding, it was great timing for the company to increase its operations, although its owners had no way of knowing that the U.S. would be drawn into that war less than two years later.

Copperweld Steel of Glassport, Pa, announced in a Vindicator article on September 14, 1939, that it had planned to erect a new mill in Glassport but last minute changes indicated that it would be built in an undisclosed location in Ohio.  It was the first new mill since the outbreak of the war in Europe.  (From the article it's unclear whether it's the first new steel mill in the U.S. or the state, or by some other criteria.)

Then, the construction of a steel mill in Warren, Ohio, was announced on the front page of the September 27, 1939, issue of The Youngstown Vindicator.  Like it's parent company, Copperweld Steel Company of Glassport, Pennsylvania, the new mill would also be called Copperweld Steel.  It was to sit on 423 acres on N. Mahoning Avenue, Ext., where five buildings, one a fifth of a mile long, were to be constructed.  Of the 700 men it was to employ, 90% of them would be local men.

The Vindicator reported,

$2,000,000 Mill Will Employ 700 Men Next Spring
     Copperweld Steel manufactures copper-covered steel wire, rods and related products, used principally in the electric field.  A molten welding process is used to unite a thick jacket of copper with a heated steel billet.  The welded billet is rolled into rods which are drawn into wire, the proportion of copper to the steel core being the same whether in rods or in the finest wire....
     Copperweld will make its own steel here.  Two 35-ton electric furnaces with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons have been ordered for delivery within 90 days.  Rolling capacity of 250,000 tons annually is planned.
     The three buildings on the property, on 71x526 feet and the others 40x264 feet will be used.  Present buildings have 49,776 square feet of floor space while the proposed five new ones will provide a total of 263,676 square feet.

Copperweld was expected to be fully operational by March, 1940.

The 1940 U.S. Census, taken April 1 of that year, indicates that my father was working as a fire man at a sheet steel mill in Niles, Ohio.  My brother remembers that he was working at the Niles Rolling Mill.

 My father was likely not one of the very first employees of the Copperweld Steel Mill in Warren, but he probably began work there within a year or two of its opening.

More about my father and Copperweld Steel to follow.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2009-2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

Coal Mine, Steel Mill - Sepia Saturday 279

There is a history of hard-working miners and steel workers in my family, aside from my hard-working men and women of other occupations.  These men worked in coal mines and steel mills in England and the U.S.  The Sepia Saturday 279 photo is an image of a factory scene with suggested themes of safety, danger, and industry.  Sadly, I have few photographs of my ancestors at work.

Coal Miners

Inside #7 Mine, Stoneboro, Pa.  Gust Doyle is center back.

When I imagine the depth and darkness of coal mines I am grateful to live above-ground with daily light.  When I think of the narrowness and confines of a coal mine I feel claustrophobic.  Were my miner ancestors drawn into that work out of necessity -- they needed work and it was available -- or were there other reasons for their choices?  I know the dangers were great and I can imagine the concern and anxiety their wives might have felt all the while they were at work.  As far as I know none of my mining ancestors worked for "company mines" to which they were indebted. 

My coal miners included my father, his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, Lee, Gust, William, and Andrew Doyle.  The three younger of them dug a mine on their farming property.  They may have used the coal to heat their own home or sold it for additional income.  After Gust died in 1933, there was a bill to the hospital.  Lee and William traded hand-dug coal to pay that bill.

Andrew and William emigrated from England in the mid 1870s.  They had both been coal miners in the Northumberland area of England.

Abel Armitage, an ancestor on my mother's side of the family, was also a coal miner.  He grew up in West Yorkshire and emigrated from Durham, England in the mid 1860s.  He worked in the mines in both areas of England and in his new home in the Steubenville area of Ohio.  His sons followed his footsteps and worked in the mines, too.

I don't believe any of the Doyle men were hurt in mining accidents but it's possible that Abel may have been hurt:  he appears as disabled in the 1880 U.S. Census.

For other posts about my coal mining ancestors click here, here, and here.

Steel Mill Workers

My father emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1933 after his father died.  He moved from farming and mining into the steel mills where he spent the rest of his life.  He worked first for the Niles Rolling Mill, then moved on to Copperweld Steel in Warren, Ohio, sometime after the 1940 U.S. Census.  He spent the rest of his working years there. 

My brother, Bob, and my brother-in-law, Chuck, also worked at Copperweld Steel.  It was summer work for my brother, but Chuck retired from Copperweld.

There were steel workers on my mother's side of the family, too.  They worked at La Belle Iron Works.  With a name like La Belle you might imagine a beautiful place but its only beauty may have been because it was a source of income for a family.

Two of my mother's paternal uncles were killed at La Belle.  Walter Meinzen, an engineer, was just 24 in 1907 when he was "instantly killed while at work in the blooming mill at the LaBelle . . . when he had the right side of his head and face crushed in by being struck with a large piece of iron."  So reported the June 7, 1907 issue of The Steubenville Weekly Gazette.  The article describes what happened but since I'm not familiar with the workings of a steel mill, I don't quite understand other than that a 600-pound piece of metal snapped off and flew 20 feet to hit Walter in the head.  He left a wife, parents, and 10 siblings.

The second death in the family happened 10 years later when one of Walter's younger brothers, Jacob Meinzen, was killed.  Jacob was a pipe fitter at the mill.  His death was caused by a 100-foot fall in the blast furnace department.  Jacob left a wife, a 2-month-old daughter, his parents, and 7 siblings.

Accidents can happen at any time, of course, but some places of employment are more dangerous than others.  I'm grateful so many of my ancestors and relatives came safely through the work environment and sorry for those who didn't and their families.

Please visit Sepia Saturday 279 for more more photographs and some stories and experiences.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

From Horses to Tractor

Barn on the Doyle Farm.  Photo taken about 1992.

I knew little about the workings of the dairy farm of my father's childhood in Stoneboro -- Dad rarely spoke of his youth -- so several years after he died I contacted his half-sister to learn more.  I wrote lists of questions and she patiently and thoroughly responded.  (Those letters are treasures to me now for all the family history information they contain.)  We corresponded by mail for a few months and then arranged a visit to Stoneboro.  She took us to see and explore the farm of their childhood.  The barn, unused for many years, was in a sad state of disrepair.

About farm work during the fall and winter months my aunt wrote,

The farm machinery had to be checked over and repaired, if needed, before storing it for winter.  The farming was all done by horses . . .

The 1927 Pennsylvania Census tells me that of Gust Doyle's 140 acres he devoted 35 to corn, wheat, oats, and Irish potatoes.  An additional 21 acres were given over to hay for the horses and the farm's 24 cows. 

Farming with horses was labor-intensive.  In addition to the work of plowing and harvesting, part of the work included the care and feeding of the animals and care of the harnesses, not to mention the work of harnessing and unharnessing the horses each day. 

I wish I'd asked my aunt about the horses.  Perhaps they were Belgians, like the ones shown here.

My aunt's letter continued,

. . . until we bought our first Fordson Tractor.  I don’t remember when that was – about 1930 – I think. 

Fordson tractors were manufactured in the U.S. from 1917 to 1920 by Henry Ford & Sons, Inc.  At right is an advertisement (with enlargement below) for a new Fordson tractor from the May 27, 1918, issue of the Youngstown Vindicator.  

Gust was 28 when this advertisement was published.  I wonder if he learned of the tractors from a newspaper ad similar to this one or by word of mouth.  Was his first view of a Fordson in Pittsburgh or another nearby city at a showing like the one advertised, at a county or state fair, or at the farm of a neighbor who had already purchased one?  Did a group of farmers gather around the new machine to debate the pros and cons of a tractor over horses, or had they already made up their minds that a tractor was a definite improvement over horses, the only other considerations being repairs, buying gasoline, the cost, and having the money in one lump sum?  

From my aunt's letters I know that Gust and his family already owned a Model T Ford.  Perhaps he already had the skills and knowledge to keep a tractor in good running order.  Unless he purchased the tractor from England, whose production of them extended from 1920, it's likely the Fordson he purchased was a used model.  Even so....

How exciting it must have been for Gust and his family to have a tractor!

How I wish I had contemporary photographs of Gust on the tractor.  Lacking one, the story is less personal.  Still, I'm pleased to have found bits and pieces from other resources to create the history of Gust Doyle, his farm, and a Fordson tractor. 

How I wish I knew what happened to the horses.

Drive on over to Sepia Saturday 272 to see what others are sharing in this week's posts.;

Sources
Unaltered image of Belgian horses courtesy of Dave in Lincolnshire.
Color photo of Fordson tractor courtesy of Wikipedia.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.