Skip to main content

Mystery Monday: Who is John Still buried up Doe Run?

Many of my Still family members are buried at Doe Run Cemetery, across from Doe Run Presbyterian Church in East Fallowfield on Strasburg Road. In randomly searching PA Death Certificates for Stills of Chester County, I found a John S. Still who I have never heard of before and cannot find much information on so of course he is my mystery subject today!


The Death Certificate reveals that he died at the Chester County Home in Embreeville in West Bradford Township. His birthdate was unknown but he was believed to be 78. The informant, a hospital administrator no doubt, did not know who John's parents were but did indicate they had both been born in the state. Born in Pennsylvania, he had been a laborer. He was a widower.

The physician had tended to John since 13 June 1905. One could surmise then that John had been in the hospital since that time. He died 6 May 1910 from "exhaustion of senility" at 6 p.m. "Exhaustion of senility" is an archaic medical term. Today that may translate to Alzheimer's or even dementia.

I do actually have a John S. Still in my family. He is the son of my 3rd Great Grandparents, George David and Sarah Bing Still. My John was the oldest of six children, having been born 3 October 1832. He married Edith Naylor. They had one child: Clara, born 1878. He passed 7 May 1910. He is buried at Hephzibah Baptist Church in East Fallowfield.

Mystery Monday is a prompt from GeneaBloggers encouraging posts about mystery ancestors or mystery records – anything in your genealogy and family history research which is currently unsolved.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coatesville's First Serial Killer

Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...

Thaddeus Stevens at the Lancaster Convention Center

Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...

52 Ancestors: Remembering the King

Today is Elvis’ birthday. He would have been 80 today.   I was only eight when he died so obviously I am too young to have seen Elvis perform. However, when I hear his music, I go back in time. I am once again that young girl dancing in the living room to Elvis and other greats with my father. Back then girls learned to dance by dancing with their fathers not some video of scantly dressed people doing all sorts of things young ladies should not be doing in public!      What is YOUR favorite memory - either of your father or of Elvis?   52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small . Look for my weekly posts each Thursday!   © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015