John Thomas Machin

- 1891

• Name	John Thomas Machin
  Birth	Southwell in Derbyshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Death	25 Jun 1891	Maryland
  Notes	from Miners Recollections, published in Cumberland Times-News, November 4, 2020 Fairy tales often include a beautiful young woman, a prince charming and a fairy godmother; they begin with “Once upon a time” and end with “They lived happily ever after.” Our Recollections often include a lovely young woman and her prince charming; fairy godmothers and “happily ever afters” are rare. Once upon a time, in the small village of Upper Newbold, Derbyshire, England, baby Emma Hendley was born on July 28, 1849. As a child she became her papa’s helper, building chimneys in and around Derbyshire. One day, while scampering around a rooftop handing bricks to her father, a piece of mortar dislodged and fell on her, blinding her in one eye. As a mature young lady, she was skeptical that she would ever find her prince charming, but he was not far away. John Thomas Machin (pronounced MAY-kin) was from the little minster of Southwell in Derbyshire. A minster was a town given to churches and their pastors; agriculture and coal helped to enrich the area. John was an iron ore miner when he met Miss Emma Hendley. They were married on Jan. 29, 1866, and for the next six years it was just the two of them. Their son George, born on Jan. 7, 1872, was the first of their eight children. His siblings Thomas, Mary Emma and Albert were born in England. On April 27, 1880, the family left Liverpool, journeyed “across the pond” and arrived in New York City on May 12. They settled in a home in Frostburg where they lived for about a year before moving to a farm in Finzel. Four additional children (Lillie, Lavina, John and Ellen) were born in the wide-open farm country of Western Maryland. John Machin enjoyed 11 years of farming and clay mining in Finzel. Emma’s prince charming died on June 25, 1891; she became a widow at the age of 42. George, the oldest son of John and Emma Machin, married Missouri Belle Albright on Feb. 22, 1892. Missouri was the daughter of William and Christina (Emerick) Albright of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. She was certain that George was her prince charming and they would lead a fairytale life; it was not to be. Their first child, William Albert, died at 5 months of age. A daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born in 1895. The stork visited again on April 2, 1897, to deliver Mabel Gertrude. Their little house in Mount Savage was finally filled with the joyful giggles of Mary and some late-night crying from little Mabel. On April 21, 1897, George Machin met up with Henry Snyder and William Saurbrine to ride a coal hopper pulled by a C& P freight train to the New York Mine where they were employed. Riding the hopper to work was a daily standard procedure. The trio of miners sat on the bumper of the hopper with their legs dangling down between the cars. The train traveled to the mine, 1 mile east of Frostburg, where it stopped at the switch to drop off the hopper and its passengers. Before the men could disembark they were hit from behind by an engine pulling empty cars. The legs of George Machin and Henry Snyder were crushed between bumpers; they were so mangled that each had to have a leg amputated. William Saurbrine was more fortunate and limped away from the accident. George Machin died that same afternoon from his injuries, leaving his wife, Missouri, to care for 2-year-old Mary and 18-day-old Mabel. Missouri’s happily-ever-after became a nightmare; baby Mabel died on Sept. 1, 1898, when she was 18 months old. Missouri’s job opportunities were limited; with a young child who needed her momma, her only option was to work from home, perhaps as a laundress. A year after George died, she married Charles F. McKinzie, a 28-year-old widower with two small boys; John was 4 and Jerry was 2. A son, Harry, was welcomed into this blended family in November 1899. A few years later, Missouri’s health began to decline. She died at home on Thursday, Sept. 17, 1908, at 8:30 p.m. from dropsy (congestive heart failure.) Missouri left a husband and four children to mourn her loss; she is buried in St. George’s Episcopal Cemetery in Mount Savage. Within months another stone was placed in St. George’s inscribed C.F. McKinzie, born 1871-died 1908. What became of the four children (Mary, 14; (George “Babe” Ruth was also a student at St. Mary’s, having been placed there in 1902 by his parents who said he was “incorrigible.” He left the school in 1914 when he signed up to play baseball for the Baltimore Orioles’ minor league team.) What became of Henry Snyder, who lost a leg in the train accident that killed George Machin? Henry, born April 10, 1867, in Wellersburg, Pennsylvania, was the son of John Adam and Mary (Hostetter) Snyder. Little is known about Henry’s childhood. He was the fourth of six children born into a very loving and caring family. His father, John, died when Henry was 11 years old. In John’s will he describes his spouse, Mary, as “my beloved wife” and his children as “dear.” After his death, the oldest son, William, who worked as a laborer, became the sole support of the family. Henry married Ella Bittner in 1891, and together they started their own fairytale. A daughter, Annie, was born in 1893, followed by a son, Henry Earl, in 1895. The growing family had established their home in Mount Savage where Henry was employed as a coal miner. Although Henry’s leg was amputated due to the train accident, he was blessed to have survived. It can be surmised from the 1900 Census record that a child was born and died around the time of Henry’s accident, adding sorrow to injury. However, the stork remained busy; two bundles of joy were delivered in quick succession with the arrival of Raymond in 1900 and Roy in 1901. Henry, no longer able to work as a miner, was kept busy as a peddler striving to support his family. Son John was welcomed in 1905. By 1910, Henry was strong enough to resume his former occupation as a miner. The increase in salary, although small, was needed; the family expanded yet again in 1913 when Dorothy was born. Henry and Ella had been blessed with a healthy, happy family. The fairytale, although fractured in 1897, was looking brighter until the U.S. joined the war on April 6, 1917. Henry and Ella’s second child felt obliged to serve his country. Pfc. Henry Earl Snyder, 22, of Company H, 313th Infantry, 79th Division, shipped out of Hoboken, New Jersey, between June 15 and July 8, 1918. Henry and Ella prayed fervently for his safe return. They received a letter edged in black; Henry Earl was killed in action on Sept. 26, 1918, on the first day of the Meuse-Argonne offensive in France. The heartbroken family watched their happily-ever-after begin to crumble; Ella, dedicated wife and mother, died less than a month later on Oct. 17, 1918. Henry Snyder remained active and focused; he cared for his children and counted his blessings until his death on May 13, 1955, at the age of 88.
  Person ID	I06773	McKenzie Genealogy
  Last Modified	29 Oct 2021

  
  

  Family	Emma Handley,   b. 28 Jul 1849, Upper Newbold, Derbyshire, England d. UNKNOWN
  Marriage	29 Jan 1866
  Children	1. Lillie Machin,   b. Allegany County, Maryland d. UNKNOWN  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Thomas Machin,   b. England d. UNKNOWN  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. Mary Emma Machin,   b. England d. UNKNOWN  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Albert Machin,   b. England d. UNKNOWN  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   5. John Machin,   b. Allegany County, Maryland d. UNKNOWN  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   6. Ellen Machin,   b. Allegany County, Maryland d. UNKNOWN  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   7. George Machin,   b. 7 Jan 1872, England d. 21 Apr 1897, Allegany County, Maryland (Age 25 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   8. Lavina Machin,   b. 28 Jul 1884, Midlothian, Allegany County, Maryland d. 22 Jan 1948, Frostburg, Garrett County, Maryland (Age 63 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F01339	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Oct 2021