Theresa C Biles

Family links:

Spouse:

 James Monroe Biles (1845 - 1926)

Children:

 Emma C Biles (1881 - 1960)*

 Lafayette J Biles (1886 - 1949)*

 Martin Biles (1887 - 1910)*

 Anna Blanche Biles (1893 - 1968)*

*Calculated relationship

James Monroe Biles married (2nd) Theresa C. McKernan (photos) (more info) (b. 13 May 1853, d. 24 Jul 1932 from complications of a stroke; interred 26 Jul), daughter of Peter and Mary “Polly” (Stevens) McKernan (Polly Stevens being the daughter of Seth and Polly (Lee) Stevens (generation 4 of the Stevens Annex) and, thus, sister of Emma Stevens), on 6 September 1879. James and Theresa had the following children:

c. Emma “Em” Catherine Biles: (photos) (more info)

Born 10 May 1881. Died 8 June 1960; interred in the Biles Cemetery on the hill above Homets Ferry, Wyalusing Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Named after Emma (McKernan) Steafather, who was the sister of Theresa C. (McKernan) Biles and mother of Grace (Steafather) Young. Never married.

As an adult and after her parents had passed away, Emma lived with her unmarried sister, Anna, in her parents’ home on RD #2 (Lime Hill) in Wyalusing Township. By all accounts Emma was always a little strange and reserved, if not shy. Whenever visitors were present, Emma would normally be either out of the area entirely or away from others, occasionally coming forward to whisper something into Anna’s ear, then retreating again. As a minimum, it’s clear Emma was never a social, outgoing person. Another point of interest about Emma: when possible, she always posed for photos in a side profile.

d. Helen Biles: (photos) Born 5 October 1883. Died 22 January 1893 from complications of a burst appendix.

e. Lafayette “Leaf” “Leafy” Judson Biles: (photos) Born 11 April 1886. Died 13 October 1949; interred Camptown Cemetery. Employed as a farrier (shoes horses) and blacksmith. Initially operated a blacksmith’s shop in the garage beside the house on his father’s farm. Later, for many years Leafy had a blacksmith shop in the nearby village of Camptown. During World War II Leafy was associated with the Merchant Marine, doing metal work aboard ships. It was at that time that he kept a black, 1931 Model A Ford sedan in the garage on the farm that he had initially used as a work shop.

Married (1st) Arminda Caroline/Carolyn “Callie” Patton (b. 13 Sep 1889, d. 12 Apr 1914), daughter of neighbors Edward “Ed” C. and Mary (Hankinson) Patton, on 13/23 December 1913; no children. Following Callie’s early death, Leafy married (2nd) Frances Sarah Cannon (b. 19 Dec 1893, d. 26/2 May 1922; interred Camptown Cemetery), daughter of Charles F. and Ella (Ward) Cannon, on 7 November 1917 and had the following daughter:

(1. Helen Elsie Biles: (photos) (more info) Born 12:30 PM on 26 August 1918 at Camptown, Bradford County, Pennsylvania; 8 ½ pounds. Died 14 April 1934 (age 16) while learning to drive a car; failed to negotiate a curve and drowned when the car left the road and sank in an adjacent body of water. Interred Camptown Cemetery.

Leafy Biles married (3rd) (?) Deane/Dean. Little is known of her. (Note: one report has this as Leafy’s first marriage).

f. Martin “Mart” Biles: (photos) Born 12 August 1887. Died 7 May 1910; interred Biles Cemetery on the hill above Homets Ferry.

g. Ann “Anna” or “Blanche” Biles: (photos) (more info)

Born 26 August 1893 at Lime Hill, RD #2 Wyalusing, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Died there 15 December 1968; interred Biles Cemetery. Never married. Was a school teacher and, in later life, a teacher of teachers. At some point she was teaching at Alfred, New York. In the early 1930s she had a pretty good job at Cobleskill, New York, but quit for, perhaps, health reasons, and never went back to full-time employment, except for a brief period in Kentucky. It appears this decision may also have had a lot to do with her older sister Emma, who by that time had started to loose some of her mental capacity and needed support. Anna and Emma lived together on their father’s farm. with her unmarried sister, Emma, and their step cousin, Grace Steafather, in their parents’ house on RD #2 (Lime Hill) in Wyalusing Township.

Thinking it to be more dignified, Ann unofficially changed her name from Ann Biles to Anna Blanche Biles and as an adult always signed her name Anna B. Biles. Even some Bible records refer to Ann as Anna. Thus, she became officially and unofficially: Anna Biles.

Marlin (Bryant) Drake remembered how her “Aunt Anna” and “Aunt Emma” lived together in a relatively small house (photo) on Lime Hill, Bradford County, Pennsylvania that had no electricity or other relatively modern conveniences. Their toilet was an outhouse and their water supply was hand-pumped into their pantry/food storage and preparation area. They also had a massive, wood-fired stove in the middle of their main living area that was used to cook, as well as heat the house. Marlin also remembered being amazed and in awe of how Anna could read and speak Latin flawlessly and with ease.

Anna had 2 cars: a 1930 Model A coup with rumble seat, and a 1937 Packard coup.

After Emma died, and because Anna’s health was too poor to live alone, she moved to Mansfield, Pennsylvania to reside with Earl D. and Grace (Steafather) Young (Para. h., below), where she was in February 1961. Later they all moved to Anna’s house on Lime Hill. Grace insisted on electrifying and plumbing the house to relatively modern standards, and it was done.

James and Theresa (McKernan) Biles also raised, from age 3, the following child of Theresa’s sister, Emma:

h. Grace Etta Steafather: (photos) (more info)

Born 31 January 1895 at Lopez, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, daughter of Wesley and Emma (McKernan) Steafather (d. 1898)(pronounced: steefather, a derivative of steifather), who were the sister and brother-in-law of Theresa (McKernan) Biles, wife of James Monroe Biles. Grace died 18 November 1972, age 77, at Memorial Hospital, Towanda, Bradford County, Pennsylvania; funeral in Mansfield, Pennsylvania; interment in Oakwood Cemetery in Durhare, where her parents were interred).

Grace’s mother died when she was 3 years old, and her aunt Theresa (McKernan) Biles, who had played a significant role in raising her husband’s children from his 1st marriage, prevailed over the reported objections of James Monroe Biles to take in young Grace and raise her to maturity. According to Grace, her relationship with James was never warm and welcoming, so, as soon as she graduated from Camptown High School in 1913 she left his household. Grace worked briefly for her older “brother,” “Leafy” Biles (Para. e., above), when he resided at Camptown, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, but left there as soon as possible, putting herself through the 2-year teacher’s course at Mansfield Normal School (later Mansfield University) by sewing/dress-making for people in and around Mansfield; she apparently got no help from James M. Biles. She taught school for several years at Mill Creek, Tioga County, New York, and later owned and operated a small restaurant at Milan (just south of Athens on Rt 220), Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where she met Earl Denver Young (photos) (more info) (b. 28 Jan 1898 at Roulette, Potter Co., PA, d. Fri, 9 Nov 1984 (age 86 yrs, 9 mo., 11 days) at the home of his daughter, Mirabel, RD #3 Mansfield, Richmond Township, Tioga County, PA, interred Oakwood Cemetery, Mansfield) (SSN: 183-09-0222), who was employed as a mechanic on road projects at the time on Route 220, which connects Milan to communities north and south. At that time Earl operated concrete finishing machines.

Grace subsequently married Earl on 11 August 1923 at Athens, Pennsylvania with Justice of the Peace Ward W. Watrous officiating, and they resided in the Mansfield, Pennsylvania area for many years. Earl was employed throughout his life as a welder and road worker, often having to reside away from home. During the mid 1920s Grace contemplated moving her family west to be closer to her father and siblings in California, however, it did not happen.

For obvious reasons, Grace considered Emma and Anna Biles to be her older sisters. She didn’t remember her mother well, since she was just 3 years old when Emma (McKernan) Steafather died. Her father moved with her two brothers to California shortly thereafter. One brother, Grover Steafather, did drive east and visited with Grace and her family once, and Grace and Earl drove their family to California once to visit them when their daughter, Mirabell was a small baby (of interest: following that trip Earl got his 1st driver’s license). Other than those meetings, Grace had no subsequent contact with her father and siblings.

Approximately 1960, after their children were grown and when Anna Biles was too old to live alone (Emma, her older sister, had died a few years before) and maintain what had been her parent’s house on RD #1 in Wyalusing Township, Grace and Earl Young moved into that house with Anna and made a lot of upgrades to the property (modern furnace, electricity, water system, indoor plumbing). Earl continued to live there until 2 days before his death.

Earl and Grace (Steafather) Young were members of the Camptown United Methodist Church. They had the following children, who are detailed further at generation 1 of the Young Annex.

(1. Charles Nevin Young: Born 1924.

(2. Mirabel Ann Young: Born 26 December 1925.

(3. Bruce Anson Young: Born 1933.

(4. Joan Marie Young: Born 4 June 1935.