John Mann, fifth child born on February 18, 1880 to Michael and Mary Ann Butson Mann, in Brandon Colliery, Durham County, England. He was crushed to death on December 9, 1918 during a mine collapse at the Burley Mines, Carroll Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
I was actually on a mission to find John Mann’s burial site for my good English friend, Heather. She lives near the town where my Hughes family resided in England and spent countless hours working in libraries to find my roots. The only branch of her family that immigrated to the states was the Mann family, so I was thrilled to be able to reciprocate. To make matters even more interesting, her 2nd great grand uncle, Michael Mann is reputed to be the first person who was killed in the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889. John Mann would be her 2nd cousin twice removed. Does anyone hear the words…ROAD TRIP !!!
My traveling companion, my brother Ken, and I headed east to Johnstown, PA. Ken knows just about everything involving the Great Johnstown Flood. He already had the several day trip all planned out and we saw it all. We even tried to find the area where Michael Mann was probably swept into the flood waters as they reached South Fork, PA.
I was actually on a mission to find John Mann’s burial site for my good English friend, Heather. She lives near the town where my Hughes family resided in England and spent countless hours working in libraries to find my roots. The only branch of her family that immigrated to the states was the Mann family, so I was thrilled to be able to reciprocate. To make matters even more interesting, her 2nd great grand uncle, Michael Mann is reputed to be the first person who was killed in the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889. John Mann would be her 2nd cousin twice removed. Does anyone hear the words…ROAD TRIP !!!
My traveling companion, my brother Ken, and I headed east to Johnstown, PA. Ken knows just about everything involving the Great Johnstown Flood. He already had the several day trip all planned out and we saw it all. We even tried to find the area where Michael Mann was probably swept into the flood waters as they reached South Fork, PA.
On the final day we drove up to Patton, PA and the site of Fairview Cemetery, where John Mann is buried. It didn’t take us too long to locate the tombstone and the original marker.
The Mann family were miners in England. It appears that the father, Michael and perhaps the oldest son, Joseph came to Cambria County, PA, leaving the remainder of the family in England. Following Michael’s untimely death in the flood, the remainder of his children slowly immigrated to the states and all of them ended up within a two county area of each other in Pennsylvania.
John, also a miner, married Margaret Ann Frost on April 14, 1900 in England. John, Margaret and son, John L. immigrated to the port of New York on Jan 29, 1912 on the ship Laconia. Two other children were born before John’s death, daughters Dorothy and Mary. Following John’s death, Margaret and the children returned to England.
Did you ever find the marker near south fork Micheal mann
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