Person Page - 92

     Julia Smith was born on 21 June 1819 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, the daugher of Nathaniel H. Smith and Margaret Flower.

Julia Smith married Basil Brown Brashear Jr, son of Basil Brown Brashear Sr and Ann Miller, on 30 January 1840 in Christ Episcopal Church, Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Julia Smith died on 18 May 1910 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 90 at 9:20 in the evening. Her cause of death was general debility after bronchitis and old age.

     Capt Isaac C Woodward was born on 20 May 1813 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Levi Woodward and Mary Chalfont. During the Mexican war in 1846 Isaac ran a boat he built on the Rio Grande for the Government. Capt Isaac C Woodward married Maria Crow Brashear, daughter of Basil Brown Brashear Sr and Ann Miller, in 1846 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Capt Isaac C Woodward married Martha Woods before 1860.

Capt Isaac C Woodward died after 1889.

     Josephine Brashear was born in 1843 in Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle. Josephine Brashear married Phillip Fagan in 1863. Josephine (Brashear) Fagan was buried in 1915 in Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

Josephine (Brashear) Fagan died in 1915 in Pennsylvania.

     Phillip Fagan married Josephine Brashear, daughter of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle, in 1863.

Phillip Fagan died in 1890.

     Frank Phillip Fagan was born on 15 May 1876. He was the son of Phillip Fagan and Josephine Brashear.

Frank Phillip Fagan died on 1 March 1946 at age 69.

     Robert P Brashear was born in 1845 in Pennsylvania. He was the son of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle. Robert P Brashear was buried in 1884 in Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

Robert P Brashear died in 1884 in Pennsylvania.

     Laura Brashear was born in 1847 in Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle. Laura Brashear married D.J. Hoover in 1867.

     D.J. Hoover married Laura Brashear, daughter of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle, in 1867.

     Caroline Brashear was born in 1849 in Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle. Caroline Brashear married W.B. Knole in 1869.

     W.B. Knole married Caroline Brashear, daughter of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle, in 1869.

     Jane Brashear was born in 1863 in Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle. Jane Brashear married Joseph Dixon in 1883. Jane (Brashear) Dixon was buried in 1934 in Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

Jane (Brashear) Dixon died in 1934 in Pennsylvania.

     Joseph Dixon married Jane Brashear, daughter of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle, in 1883.

     George W Brashear Jr was born in 1859 in Pennsylvania. He was the son of George Washington Brashear and Eliza Lyttle. George W Brashear Jr was buried in 1892 in Hill Grove Cemetery, Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

George W Brashear Jr died in 1892 in Pennsylvania.

     Dr John Alfred Brashear was born on 24 November 1840 in Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith. Dr John Alfred Brashear married Phoebe Stewart on 24 September 1862.

John Brashear was a world famous precision lens-maker and was sought out by the educated, the wealthy, and the famous. The perfection of his work created a huge emand for his lenses, mirrors, and prisms. One of greatest contributions was his method of silvering mirrors and glass surfaces. His system remained in use for over 50 years until 1933 when a vacuum aluminizing procedure was perfected. On 16 May 1914, what was said to be the finest telescope mirror in the world, and the second largest, was finished by John and shipped to the Dominion astronomical observatory in Victoria, Canada. The mirror was 73 inches in diameter, 12 inches thick at the edge, and was pierced centrally by a hole which was 10 1/8 inches in diameter. Doctor Brashear was honored at Pennsylvania's First Citizen at the Panama-American Exposition in San Francisco, California on 23 September 1915. He had been named as the most distinguished citizen of Pennsylvania by the Governor and appointed to represent Pennsylvania at the exposition.

Dr John Alfred Brashear was described as as 5 foot 8 inches tall with a high forehead, blue-gray eyes, straight nose, gray hair, a florid complexion, an oval face, and a mustache and whiskers on his chin on 11 November 1916. John applied for a passport on 6 November 1916 for the purpose of traveling to Japan and China. He left the Unites States from the port of Vancouver, British Columbia on the Empress of Russia on 30 November 1916. On 27 January 1917 he requested and received amendents to his passport to allow travel from Shanghai to Hongkong from the American Consulate General in Shanghai, China.

Dr. Brashear had built his first telescope in 1870. Over the years he had built many instruments including spectroscopes for the observatories at Allegheny, Lick, Yerkes and Princeton, G.E. Hale's first spectroheliograph and two photographic optics for Max Wolf in Heidelberg. He served as acting director for Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory, chancellor of the University of Pennsylvania, and trustee of the Carnegie Institute.

Dr John Alfred Brashear died on 8 April 1920 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at age 79 at 7:10 in the evening. John's body lay in state in Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh for a public viewing where hundredres attended. Funeral services were conducted by Dr. A. J. Bonsall of the Sandusky Street Baptist Church. The St. Nicholas School Orchestra and the Masonic Quartet provided music and students of the Carnegie Tech formed an honary guard. Memorial services were also held in Memorial Hall by the students of the University of Pittsburg where Dr. Brashear had been acting chancellor and one of its trustees. A resolution in commermoration of John was also compoosed by members of the chamber of commerce. A tribute was also paid to John by George B. Lawson, head of the department of philosophy of the Pennsylvania College for Woman. He was buried in Allegheny Observatory, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, after being cremated at the Pittsburgh Crematory.

     Phoebe Stewart was born in 1843 in Pennsylvania. She married Dr John Alfred Brashear, son of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith, on 24 September 1862.

Phoebe (Stewart) Brashear died on 23 September 1910 in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario, Canada. She was buried in Allegheny Observatory, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

     Sarah Ella Brashear was born on 15 October 1843 in Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith. Sarah Ella Brashear married William Henry Harrison Sheets on 10 September 1862.

In May 1918 Ella was recognized by the Pittsburgh Daily Post for her support of the Preparedness Branch of the American Red Cross. She had donated a hand-knitted cover for a couch. The article said that even though she was 74 years old she was doing much war relief work. The cover she had knitted was to be sold for the Red Cross work at Liberty Hall located on Pennsylvania and Center Avenues in Pittsburgh. Sarah was educated in the Pittsburgh public schools and lived in Pittsburgh most of her life until she moved to Delaware, Ohio around 1925 to live with her daughter Isabella. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Sarah Ella (Brashear) Sheets died on 16 February 1927 in Delaware, Delaware County, Ohio, at age 83 in the home of her daughter Mrs. Isabella Fees. Funeral services were held on 19 February 1927 at the Samson Funeral Home Chapel on Neville Street. She was buried on 19 February 1927 in Brownsville, Pennsylvania.

     William Henry Harrison Sheets was born on 27 September 1840 in Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, the son of Henry Sheets and Mary Moffatt both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. He married Sarah Ella Brashear, daughter of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith, on 10 September 1862. William worked in the manufacture of iron goods including valves for steam fillage.

William Henry Harrison Sheets died on 28 May 1912 in Oakmont, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 71 at 11:00 in the morning. His cause of death was pneumonia.

     Henry William Brashear was born on 6 June 1846 in Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith. Henry William Brashear married Margaret J Bash on 24 September 1867.

Henry William Brashear died on 6 February 1920 at age 73.

     Margaret J Bash was born on 15 March 1847 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She married Henry William Brashear, son of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith, on 24 September 1867.

Margaret J Bash died on 14 July 1926 at age 79.

     Charles Brashear was born on 6 October 1848. He was the son of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith.

Charles Brashear died on 12 August 1865 at age 16.

     Francis "Frank" Brashear was born on 11 April 1851 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith. Francis "Frank" Brashear married Georgiana V. Leonard in 1870. Francis was known as Frank. He quit his job in a steel mill to go to work grinding lenses for the telescopes used by his astronomer John. His only interest in astronomy was mechanical. His brother had taught him how to grind lenses and he worked grinding lenses for 35 years until he retired in 1928. After retirement he found a hobby which was baseball. He was a longtime friend of Honus Wagner who was the Pittsburgh Pirate coach at the time. When he was hospitalized at Allegheny General Hospital he still listened to the broadcasts of the world series games in his room. Francis "Frank" Brashear married Annie L. Forbes on 27 November 1896 in Allegheny, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Francis "Frank" Brashear was found on a passenger list of United States citizens sailing on the Kroonland arriving in Los Angeles, California on 19 October 1924, after departing at Balboa, Panama, on 9 October 1924. Frank was married, however his wife was not mentioned in his obituary. His surviving children were mentioned and included his daughter Mrs. Eleanor Brashear Roth whithwhom he was living at the time of his death, and hisson William L. Brashear who was living in California.

Francis "Frank" Brashear died on 9 October 1939 in Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 88 at6:08 in the morning. His cause of death was generalized arteriosclerosis. Funeral services were held on 11 October 1939 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at 8:00 in the evening at the Frank Simons Funeral Home at 2025 Perrysville Avenue. He was buried in Mount Royal Mausolium, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

     George Brashear was born on 24 March 1854 in Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith. George Brashear married Caroline McLaughlin in 1874.

George Brashear died on 28 March 1941 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at age 87 in the hospital at 2:45 in the afternoon.

     Caroline McLaughlin married George Brashear, son of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith, in 1874.

     Mary Margaret Brashear was born on 13 September 1856 in Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith. Mary Margaret Brashear married James Monroe Stephens in 1876.

Mary Margaret (Brashear) Stephens died on 18 January 1908 in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, at age 51.

     James Monroe Stephens was born on 13 October 1854 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He married Mary Margaret Brashear, daughter of Basil Brown Brashear Jr and Julia Smith, in 1876.

     Maude E Brashear was born on 20 February 1876 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Henry William Brashear and Margaret J Bash. Maude E Brashear married Louis Emery Jones in 1902.

Maude E (Brashear) Jones died in 1965.

     Louis Emery Jones was born on 24 February 1873 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He married Maude E Brashear, daughter of Henry William Brashear and Margaret J Bash, in 1902.

     Emery Louis Jones was born on 24 October 1905. He was the son of Louis Emery Jones and Maude E Brashear.

Emery Louis Jones died on 24 May 1995 at age 89.

     Harry Basil Brashear was born on 12 February 1881 in Letonia, Ohio. He was the son of Henry William Brashear and Margaret J Bash. Harry Basil Brashear married Savilla Baker on 18 July 1902. Harry Basil Brashear was described as five foot five inches tall, weighing 150 pounds with gray eyes, brown hair and a light colored freckled complexion. He also had a scar on his nose in April 1942. He registered for the draft for World War II on 27 April 1942, while living at Latrobe, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, reporting he was employed by A.M. Locomotive Company.

Harry Basil Brashear died on 5 September 1959 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, at age 78.

     Savilla Baker was born on 19 September 1881 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She married Harry Basil Brashear, son of Henry William Brashear and Margaret J Bash, on 18 July 1902.

Savilla (Baker) Brashear died on 11 July 1960 at age 78.