I went back through Joseph West’s file to see what other facts I may have missed. Now that I have gathered more than 85 pages of information on the Eyth family, thanks to the baptism certificate.
I cleared up a few name spelling problems for the spouses of 2 of their girls. Celesta B West married Thomas Laughlin around 1900, probably in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I had originally found Celesta listed as having married an O’Laughlin. She also went by Essie Laughlin. With this change of spelling, from census records I can locate Thomas and Essie Laughlin with their daughter Anna, born about 1900, and Thomas’ brother, Frank, in Pittsburgh in 1920. Searches of the census have yet to turn them up in either 1900 or 1910 in the Pittsburgh area. Essie was one of the witnesses on her mother’s claim for widows’ pension from her father’s Civil War service.
The other spelling change that I found from the paperwork was for their daughter Mary V West. Mary was married to Thomas Lowe. I had found her last named spelled as Low. With the spelling correction I was able to find Thomas and Mary Lowe, their 3 children, Viola, Ethel and Myrtle, listed in 1900 in Pittsburgh and 1910 in North Strabane. Thomas’ signature is found on forms for increase in pension that Mary’s father, Joseph, filed.I found Mary and Thomas living in Monterey Park, Los Angeles, California in 1930. From that information I did a search in the California death index for information on Mary and Thomas or their children.
I found both Myrtle and Ethel’s death records in California. Ethel Virginia married a Garlock and died in 1952. Myrtle married a Poole and died in 1985.
The NARA sent a quote for the remaining pages of Joseph’s brother John’s pension file. This spring I will have another 175 pages of documentation to dig through for, I hope, more helpful facts.