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Bakerton 1909 - 1933
Stephen and his two older brothers, John and Charles, were recruited by steam ship company agents to work in Bakerton coal mines. They immigrated in 1909 along with several San River valley men. There doesn't seem to be any record of the brothers in the US besides the 1910 census, so they may have returned to the old country or changed their name. A cousin of Stephen's settled in Monessen, a cousin of Nancy's in Spangler. Nancy followed in 1914 as she became close to the age for marriage. Stephen and Nancy had ethnic Ukrainian heritage and leaned toward the Ukrainian Orthodox faith when those churches were available.
The census records of 1910 indicates Stephen and his brothers initially lived in a boarding house with 14 other miners on what was then Twin Rocks Road, today's Cole Road, near the entrance to the Number 5 mine. The house was on the edge of town. After they married, the couple rented a house near the Church. As the family grew they moved across the valley and rented a farm on what is now called Township Drive, across from the front of the church. Rents were $6-$8 a month in those days. It was a Ukrainian neighborhood of coal miners. Stephen worked in one or more of the several local mines, the closest ones marked in red on the map below. These all are within a mile walking distance of the houses. Nancy's father Iwan was working in Lancashire No 14 when he broke his leg in 1918. After it healed, he returned to the old country.
Stephen suffered a stroke in January 1929 and died shortly thereafter. 14 year old Frank replacing Stephen in the mine, Andy worked in #15 a bit later. The boys also operated a still and were involved in running booze. The family name was changed to Pappal sometime between the death of Stephen and April 1930. Their 1930 neighbors included the Ukrainian families Palka, Gormish, Kuzma, Zeanchock, Nelesmich, Sewalish, Muzork, Konitsky, and Puski. All were members of the Saints Peter and Paul church and most buried in the church cemetery. If the 1930 census taker recorded homes in order, there was one house between the Zeanchocks and the Pappals. The empty plot where the Zeanchock homestead once was is noted in the figure below.
The Bakerton Homesteads Through the Years
The Bakerton Number 1 Neighborhood in the 1930s.
The Zeanchock Homestead
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Dixonville 1933-1949
Nancy and the clan moved to the Dixonville area in 1933 where they rented three different houses. First the Rominoski farm house near the Biers/Beers property off Raspberry Rd, Green township and near Mumau school. The Rominoskis helped Nancy support the family. Frank was renting a house on Water Street, near the current post office in Dixonville by 1935. The 1940 census records the rest of the clan living on the Rominoski farm.
The clan moved to the Sheesley farm house, probably in 1941. Nancy was living there in 1944 when John joined the Army. By the time he returned in late 1945, Nancy was living on the Barr Slope hill outside of Dixonville (Rayne township technically). John and Mike were also living there when Nancy died unexpectedly in April 1949. By April 1950, John and Mike were living with Frank on his farm in Rayne township. John was married a month later and moved to a Dixonville apartment.
The 1940 census indicated the siblings were dropping out of school in the 8th grade, except Mike who dropped out in grade 6. Andy and Mike worked 28 hours in the mine during the 24-30 March week. John worked 60 hours on the Biers farm. Andy and Mike worked 36 weeks in 1939, John 52. But Andy and Mike made $1200 in 1939. John made $120, plus room and board.
Dixonville Homesteads, 1933 - 1949.
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From a 1975 book named Out of the Dark:
My Grandma worked as a coal miner in the old Bakerton mine for ten years or more in the early 1900's. At the same time, she raised six sons and several daughters. A lot of women worked in the mines without attracting attention. They worked beside their husbands doing the same things their husbands were doing. She used a pick and shovel to break the coal loose. They worked as a team to load the cars. Then one would get on each side and push the cars outside.
The cars would be dumped and coal hauled away. Both of them worked twelve and thirteen hours a day and never got paid more than a dollar and a half for a day's work. Their pay was determined by how much they produced. If the boss called the load 'dirty coal, they weren't paid for the car. There was no place for them to take showers or clean up after their shift ended. At the end of the day, they came home to a house that was only what they made it.
Instead of buying their clothes, she made them of cotton, taffeta and wool. Clothing was scrubbed on wash boards. Most of the clothes had to be starched and ironed before they could be worn again. Before the irons could be used, they had to be heated on a coal stove. This often made the iron sooty, so it dirtied or scorched the shirt being ironed and she had to wash it again.
Some of their meals were composed of berries and bread, stewed tomatoes and bread, beans and bread, or mustard and bread. She always made her own bread instead of buying it. If they were lucky, they had meat once a week. There were no refrigerators or freezers to keep things from spoiling, so their meat was preserved in salt. Some of the other foods were cold-packed in jars until it was ready for use.
For home lighting, kerosene lamps, fluorescent lamps, and candles were used. Light was also provided by fireplaces which, along with heating stoves, were a source of heating the homes.