Apparently, I never did a Tombstone Tuesday blog on my paternal great grandparents. Or, if I did, I was not able to find it doing a search on Flipside. No matter, I do have one new piece of information on my paternal great grandfather that has never been included on a blog.
My paternal great grandfather, John George Hughes, died at age forty-seven, one month shy of his forty-eighth birthday. Obituaries reveal that he had been ill for some time. He and his wife, Elizabeth, spent over six months visiting family in England a year before he died. It begs the question, was he beginning to become ill and took the trip to see his parents and siblings in West Hartlepool before he died? Or did the onset of the illness begin sometime after his return to the states?
John died in the Hughes home, 131 Spring Street, Woodlawn, Beaver County, Pennsylvania on May 20, 1921. Woodlawn was a company town built by Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. Today, Woodlawn is part of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.
Primary cause of death was laryngeal abscess and secondary was pneumonia. There is plenty of information on the net regarding this condition. This is a medical journal I chose to take a quote from, "An acute laryngeal abscess is rare in the post-antibiotic era. It is a serious condition characterized by rapid deterioration in the size of the laryngeal inlet necessitating urgent airway management."
My great grandfather worked with and around unhealthy agents during his life. In West Hartlepool he was a coal dealer. When he came to the United States, he worked in steel mills. I just assumed his condition was work related. Breathing in coal dust and dust that contains metallic particles tends to cause throat and lung issues.
I did know my Great Grandmother Hughes and certainly my Grandfather Hughes; however, never thought to ask them about their husband and father. Once they passed, the opportunity to learn more was gone. John George Hughes died before his grandchildren were born. My Dad was the oldest of the grandchildren and was born 41 days after his grandfather's death.
Also of interest, George Henry Hughes, my paternal grandfather and the Hughes' only child, supplied the information and signed the death certificate.
John George Hughes was buried in a family plot, purchased by his wife, Elizabeth Ferdinande Olesen Hughes. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery on May 23, 1921. Other's buried there are Elizabeth Olesen Hughes, her mother, Ferdinande Weiss Olesen and her brother, William Christian Olesen.
There was one obituary announcing my paternal great grandfather's death in the local newspaper. I learned that my great grandfather attended church, that he was a member of the Loyal Order of Moose (LOOM) and the International Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF). The three interconnected rings on John George's headstone represent the IOOF.
My UK friend and fellow genealogy researcher sent me this obituary from the West Hartlepool, England newspaper years ago. This week I just relocated it. This is the new piece of information mentioned above and finding it lead me to at long last, write the blog.
© 2021, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser
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