Mrs. Barbara FARMERIE

LONG LIFE ENDED
Mrs. Barbara Farmerie, Etna's Oldest Resident, is Dead

It was in Deceased's Father's Home That Catholics First Gathered and Received Spiritual Comfort-One of a Family of Pioneers

Mrs. Barbara Farmerie, one of the best-known and, it is thought, the oldest resident of Etna borough, died last night at her home at that place from a paralytic stroke. Deceased was 88 years old and was born in Alsace. She came to America with her parents nearly three quarters of a century ago. Her father, John Schneider, being one of the first settlers in the wilderness which is now Etna and Sharpsburg. The family was Catholic, and it was in the old Schneider homstead in Sharpsburg that the first mass in that section was celebrated. At that time there were but a handful of Catholics there, and as there was no church, they met at Mr. Schneider's house, where a missionary administered to their spiritual needs.

Mrs. Farmerie came from a long-lived family. Her father died at the age of 96, and in the several hundred relatives in the funeral cortege five generations were represented. His mother lived to be over 100. Mrs. Farmerie is survived by one son and five daughters. There are 39 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren, the eldest of the last named being a boy of 17. Her daughters are Mrs. Mary Lynch, Mrs. Joseph Wernert of Etna and Sharpsburg, Mrs. Elizabeth Brady of 326 Oakland avenue, Mrs. James Smith of Thirty- third street and Mrs. Orth of Allegheny. Her son is John C. Farmerie of Etna. One of her daughters was married to Frank Golla, and his daughter is the wife of Florence Jageman. E. F. Hartman of Sharpsburg is also one of Mrs. Farmerie's descendants. Mrs. Margaret Hartman and Mrs. Catherine Zwick of Sharpsburg are sisters of the dead woman.

(From The Pittsburg Dispatch, 19 Sept 1900, p. 5.)

From: Mary A. McDonough. E-Mail [email protected]


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