Carrie Georgian (Griffith) Beckley (1881 - 1973)
Carrie Georgian Griffith was born on May 12, 1881 in Ryot (Oak Shade), St. Clair Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Richard Sylvester and Rachel (Corle) Griffith.
Carrie was the third of seven children. Her sister Jesse, the second youngest, died in infancy.
Carrie grew up in Ryot where her father was the local blacksmith.
On December 14, 1899 Carrie married Howard Wright Beckley, a local boy. Howard was born in Ryot on March 7, 1879, the son of Samuel Breckenridge and Carrie Elizabeth (Wright) Beckley.
Howard grew up on his parents' farm in Ryot, the oldest of his parents' eleven children. He also had an older half-brother named Ross Beckley; his father's first wife died during or shortly after childbirh.
Howard was a farmer like his father as well as a carpenter. Nineteen-year old Howard and his 17-year-old bride, Carrie, soon resided on a farm in Napier Township. A year or two later, they removed to Geistown, Adams Township, Cambria County where Howard ran a farm.
Carrie and Howard were the parents of ten children: Oscar Beckley, Winnifred Austie (Beckley) Mears, Nellie G. (Beckley) Humberger, Virgie L. (Beckley) Rouzer, Sewell Lester Beckley, Harry S. Beckley, Howard Raymond Beckley, Ella Mae (Beckley) Greenman-March-Welsch, Goldie F. (Beckley) Kowalski-Percell, and Howard Robert "Bud" Beckley.
Their first born, Oscar died in 1903 at the age of about 3.
Around 1912 Carrie and Howard moved to Helena (and Scott?) in Sandusky County, Ohio, where Howard rented four or five farms.
Carrie and Howard made an occasional visit to Bedford County to see their large parents and large extended families.
In 1922 Howard made an agreement to farm 300 acres of land in Adams Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania that was owned by the Berwind-Whyte Coal Company of Windber. Howard loaded up all of their farming equipment, which by then included a team of Belgian horses, named Tom and Queen, and a team of Morgans, cattle, hens, and dairy cows as well as their household items onto boxcars and shipped them by train. Howard, Carrie, and their nine children journeyed back home to Pennsylvania, and they were settled on their new farm in Adams Township, which was called the Gary Farm.
In addition to the Belgians and Morgans, they also had two teams of Mustangs as well as two tractors. Howard grew all sorts of crops on his farm: oats, wheat, barley, buckwheat, timothy, alfalfa, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, and turnips. He also had some cattle, hogs, hens, and close to 40 dairy cows. He had a truck farming business. He sold milk and eggs to a local hospital, and various vegetables and grain to other businesses. One year he grew a large patch of turnips, which he consigned to a chain of grocery stores in Pittsburgh. He also gathered sap from the maple trees, boiled it, and made delicious maple syrup.
They were a farming family, and all the kids pitched in. Harry, Ray, Sewell, and Mae milked those cows by hand. Carrie was forever cooking, cleaning, washing, and gardening. They lived in a large, 22-room building that used to serve as a company clubhouse. They had running water and electricity in their home, and a big coal-burning furnace. Their home had a lovely sunporch, which Carrie decorated with lots of flowers, including ferns and 8-foot-tall geraniums.
They had a big barn and grainery where they stored their grain and vegetables and sheltered their animals and equipment.
About 1928 Berwind-Whyte decided to strip mine the land they had been farming. It was a hard blow for a passionate farmer. Howard found work as a carpenter near York in eastern Pennsylvania, and he and Carrie and the four youngest children moved there.
By 1930 the Beckleys were back in Ohio. Eight of their children joined them on their return to Ohio. Only Virgie, with her husband Alvin Rouzer and three children, remained in Pennsylvania. They Beckleys settled in town in Toledo, Lucas County where Howard did carpentry work and was employed by the WPA, which was establishd by the US government to provide jobs during the Great Depression. Around 1933 Howard and Carrie moved to Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio.
Carrie's older sisters Emma and Savannah both died from breast cancer rather young, at ages 49 and 63 respectively, but Carrie and her others sisters and brother lived long lives--Carrie the longest.
All nine of their adult children married and had children. Carrie and Howard eventually were the grandparents of 28. In 1942 they moved to Clyde, which is quite near Fremont. Seven of their children lived within a few miles of their parents. Their daughter Virgie remained in Pennsylvania, while Goldie and her husband Stanley Kowalski moved to Michigan, where they lived for a few years, and then to California.
With such a big family, Carrie and Howard witnessed their share of good times and bad times. The years during World War II proved particularly trying. Of their four sons sons, only Bud served during World War II. In November 1942 he enlisted with the Sea Bees, the construction branch of the US Navy. He served in the Pacific Theater, spending time at Pearl Harbor and Okinawa, Japan. Bud was discharged in January 1946 and returned home safe--much to his mother's delight. During the war, Carrie and Howard had moved their small trailor onto Bud's property so they could keep their daugher-in-law Phyllis company and help her care for their young daughter and son.
However, tragedy struck on January 3, 1944 in Gibsonburg, Sandusky County due to a heart ailment. He was only 31 years of age. He had been employed as a carpenter. He left behind his wife Marjorie and two young sons.
In May 1945 their daughter Mae's husband Loren Greenman died after undergoing an unsuccesful operation at St. Vincen'ts Hospital in Toldeo. He was only 32. Suddenly, Mae was a widow at 28 with two young daughters to raise. She eventually remarried.
After Bud returned home from the war, he bought a 46 acre farm between the towns of Fremont and Tiffin, and he and Phyllis became farmers. Howard and Carrie spent a lot of time helping the young farmers, offering many years of learned advice. Bud also worked construction for many years.
Above: The Beckleys in 1949, celebrating Howard and Carrie's 50th weddning anniversary. Picured L to R are Mae, Bud, Nellie, Ray, Winnifred, Sewell, Virgie, and Goldie.
Above: Standing L to R are Bud and Phyllis, Sewell and Doris, Ray and Berniece, Roy and Nellie, Winnifred and Harley, Goldie and Stanley, and Virgie and Alvin. Seated L to R are Marjorie, widow of Harry, Howard and Carrie, and Mae. Picture taken for their 50th wedding anniversary in 1949.
On August 24, 1954 their son Sewell died at Fremont Hospital after a three-year illness. He, too, had been a carpenter, and was last employed as a cutter at the S.E. Hyman Company in Fremont. He left behind his wife Doris and four children. Sewell was just 44.
Carrie was a husky woman, while Howard was slim and small of stature.
On December 14, 1959 Carrie and Howard celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with their seven children.
On April 29, 1967 their eldest daughter Winnifred died.
Howard died on September 5, 1967 after suffering a heart attack while driving. Carrie was in the car with him, but luckily she was unhurt. His car swerved across Route 20, hit a fire hydrant, and drove into a fence at Clyde's Whirpool Plant. His death ended a marriage of 66 years.
Nellie and Roy Humberger moved Carrie's trailor to their property, and her children took turns on the weekends looking after her. They eventually moved her to Sandusky County Home in Sandusky, which is where was was living when she died on August 17, 1972 at the age of 91.
Carrie and Howard are buried at Gibsonburg West Union Cemetery, Gibsonburg, Sandusky County, OH.
Carrie and Howard were a caring and loving couple. In 2004 their daughter-in-law Phyllis recalled the very special relationship she and Bud had with them.
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