Glassworkers - Part 3

Historically, glassworking has been considered a high risk occupation. Very tiny particles of silica become airborne and were breathed into the lungs with extended exposure leading to respiratory problems. Due to the extreme heat of the furnaces and the molten glass, burns were inevitable for many. Heavy metals and toxic chemicals created threats, especially lead poisoning, which would have led to a number of serious health issues with the heart and other organs. 

My grandfather, Herbert Samuel Kuhn, was a 13-year-old boy in school when his father died in 1912 at the young age of 38. The family (which included his mother Hattie, age 33; sister Margaret, age 12, and twins Alma and Agnes, age 4) suddenly had no means of support, so Herbert became the man of the house and began working full time at Fostoria Glass in Moundsville, West Virginia. Of course this meant that he had to quit school, receiving only an 8th grade diploma.

I don't know how long my grandfather worked at Fostoria, nor am I sure of the sequence of all of his various occupations. He and my grandmother bought a small dairy farm on Fork Ridge in 1929, and Grandpa delivered milk by wagon at some point in time.

By December 1936 when he applied for a social security number, Grandpa was employed by Imperial Glass Corporation in Bellaire, Ohio. Back again in the hard work and tough working conditions of glasswork, his doctor, Harold Ashworth, MD, eventually informed him that if he did not leave Imperial it was going to kill him. Interestingly, I found a NY Times article from 1901 entitled “Occupations That Kill” which discussed the reluctance of life insurance companies to insure glass blowers at that time, noting the certain death of the trade.

Fortunately, my grandfather listened to his doctor and put glassworking behind him. In addition to farming, he was a self-employed carpenter for many years, and lived to the age of 74.  I grew up living just across the road from my grandparents, so I saw them often and have many memories, even though Grandpa died when I was only 17.  If he had continued with glasswork, I might not have been so lucky to have those memories.


See Glassworkers - Part 4 for the final post in this series.

Glassworkers - Part 2

Adam Kuhn, my great-grandfather, was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1886 when he was 11 years old. See Part 1 of this series for info about his father, Nikolaus. I know that the Kuhn family was in Fostoria, Ohio, as two of Adam's step-siblings were born there in 1893 and 1895. Fostoria Glass Company moved from Fostoria, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, in December 1891. I've read that most of the employees moved with the company.  Adam is the only member of his family that settled in Moundsville, and as he would have been 17 years old when Fostoria Glass moved, I suspect that he may have made the move at that time.

Adam was definitely in Moundsville no later than 1897, for he married Hattie May Clark on 18 January 1898. She had been born in Moundsville and lived there with her parents, Samuel E. and Margaret (Shimp) Clark. My grandfather, Herbert Samuel Kuhn was born to Adam and Hattie on 05 November 1898, followed by sisters Margaret Marie in 1900 and twins Agnes Pauline and Alma in 1908.

Getting back to glasswork, Adam was a Glass Presser per the 1900 U.S. census; the 1910 census recorded him as a decorator in the Glass House. Adam was only 38 years old when he died on 20 October 1912 at Limestone, West Virginia. While his death record says he died from heart trouble, my grandmother (his daughter-in-law) said he died from “painter's poison,” which was common among glassworkers. She believed that it was from exposure to lead which was common in the glass manufacturing process, especially with lead crystal, ceramic glazes.

Info that I've found on the internet about lead poisoning says that it leads to a number of serious health issues with the heart and other organs. So it is quite likely that the so-called “painter's poison” contributed to the heart trouble that was his official cause of death.

When Adam died, support of the family fell on his son, Herbert ... another glassworker.   I'll continue with his story in my next blog post, Glassworkers - Part 3.

Glassworkers - Part 1

From what I've been able to piece together, the glassworking trade was key in determining where my paternal grandfather's ancestors lived. My 2nd great-grandfather, Nikolaus Kuhn (Nicholas Kuhn in the Americanized spelling), was born in November 1848 in Germany, reportedly at Wallerfangen.

According to the Porcelain Marks & More website, 

“Nicolas Villeroy … set up an earthenware factory in Vaudrevange (today called Wallerfangen) on the River Saar in the year 1789. He successfully applied decorations onto tableware ...” 

I wonder if it's possible that Nikolaus' glassworking career could have started in that very factory?

In 1886, Nikolaus and his family immigrated to America, with a destination of East Liverpool, Ohio – a city that has been known as the "Pottery Capital of the World" and as "The Crockery City." After East Liverpool's chief industry of pottery began in 1839-40, both the population and number of potteries grew rapidly. Between 1880 and 1890, the population nearly doubled, and Nikolaus' family would have been part of that growth.

Nikolaus' daughter Clara Edith and son Albert were born in July 1893 and March 1894 respectively at Fostoria, Ohio – Fostoria Glass Company had opened there in December 1887. Nikolaus became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. in November 1893 at Tiffin, Ohio – home of the Tiffin Glass Company. Both Fostoria and Tiffin are in Seneca County, with Tiffin being the county seat, which likely explains why the naturalization occurred there.  

The 1900 U.S. Census records Nikolaus as living in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, working as a china decorator. He died four years later in Monongalia County, West Virginia, at the young age of 55 or 56, with his death record indicating he was a glass cutter.

Several of Nikolaus' children settled in Morgantown, West Virginia, where sons Mathias and Albert continued the tradition. Mathias was a glassworker per his marriage license in 1899, and was a glass blower at Seneca Glass Company in 1918 per his WWI draft registration. Albert was a glassworker first in South Connellsville, Pennsylvania, per his 1917 WWI draft registration, then at Seneca Glass Company in Morgantown by 1922 per his marriage license. By 1942 when he registered for WWII, he was employed by the Morgantown Glassware Guild.

The oldest son of Nikolaus was Adam, my great-grandfather, who settled in Moundsville, West Virginia. I'll continue with his story in my next blog post, Glassworkers - Part 2.

A Woman of Many Names:Della McGary Aston

One of my maternal great-grandmothers was Cancedella McGary, born 20 February 1868 to Arthur McGary and Louisa Perkins. She married Charles Gibson Aston, as noted in a previous blog post.

The spelling of Cancedella's name seemed to be difficult for many people, especially Federal census enumerators.  She appears as:

• Cancadal in the 1870 census
• Cancedell in the 1880 census
• Cancedlea in the 1900 census

Of course other folks have struggled with her name as well:

• She was recorded as Cancedela in the birth record for her son Clarence, as well as the Marshall County Marriage Register, and that was misread by a transcriber as Canudela on a state-maintained website.
• The use of ConsalDella was found in a query on the intranet in 1998
• The person who recorded the birth of daughter Dessie took a different approach and recorded Cancedella's name using initials: C. D.

All of the variations are somewhat similar on a phonetic basis, but the uncommon name seems to have thrown a curve ball when folks actually tried to spell it.

Considering all this, it's easy to see why she was commonly known simply as Della!