Glassworkers - Part 4

This is the final post in my Glassworkers series, and if you're not a Kuhn relative, you're probably thinking … finally!

As I've noted in the previous posts, my Kuhn ancestors (my dad's paternal line) included several glassworkers … and my dad, Donald Glenn Kuhn, also did his own time at Fostoria Glass in Moundsville, West Virginia. However, my Church ancestors (my dad's maternal line) also included several glassworkers. If you read my earlier post about the marriage of my grandparents, Herbert Kuhn and Nellie Church, you'll recall that they were both working at Fostoria Glass when they eloped in 1921. I think she was a painter at that time.

Nellie was from a large family of 12 children born to Eli and Lenora (Summers) Church, and most of her siblings also worked at Fostoria at one time or another. I know some of their positions and hope to keep discovering more of them:

• Ollie was a foreman in the Etching Department per his death certificate.
• Elizabeth was a timekeeper per the 1930 federal census.
• Vera's job was to “rub on” per the 1930 federal census.
• Orrel, commonly known as Oac, “carried in” per the 1930 federal census. He was later a glass blower according to family.

It seems that I remember my grandmother, Nellie, talking about a time when she and older sister Vella were both working at Fostoria together – and if I'm correct in remembering that Grandma was a painter, then that may be what Vella did also.

According to one of my cousins, Nellie's sister Lela told the story that Eli and some of his children were working at Fostoria at the same time. Something was said that angered Eli, so he gathered up his kids and said "Come on, we're quitting." That must have been quite a sight!

In closing, I have decided that I'm not as done with glasswork as I thought, but I'll wait a few weeks before I come back to this topic.  I want to research some of the jobs that glass work entails, e.g. "rubs on" and "carrys in" and "gathers" - and I remember seeing a booklet that my dad had with some info about working at Fostoria, I just don't remember exactly where I saw it.  So while I'm looking for that booklet, you get a break and I'll have a chance to cover some other topics I have in mind.  Then one of these days when you least expect it ... I'll pick up the subject of glasswork again!