Amanda Berkey was my great grandmother. The oldest of 8 children born to Nathan and Mary Ellen [Boyd] Berkey, she married a distant cousin with the same last name, Hugh Berkey. They had five children, the youngest of whom became my maternal grandmother Edna [Berkey] Whitehead.
For the first dozen or so years of their marriage Hugh hired himself out to farmers and at one time had a baler and baled hay for area farmers. Amanda had a respiratory problem (probably asthma) and the doctor recommended that the family move to a drier climate. Hugh was not satisfied with the quiet farming life and this turned out to be just the opportunity he craved. The Berkeys, with their three boys and two girls, headed west to Utah. Hugh was bitten hard by the mining bug and eventually had ownership in mines in Utah, Arizona and California. Amanda, however, tired of the hard life of a miner, gathered her children and returned to Elkhart County, IN. There she worked, took in a boarder, cared for her aging in-laws, Isaac and Cornelia Berkey, raised five fine children and had many grandchildren.
Hugh stayed out west, making and losing fortunes, always look for the big payoff. He rarely sent money home to the family and only occasionally came for a visit. Although he stayed with Amanda and the children, and slept in her bed on those visits, he and Amanda were essentially estranged the rest of the marriage. In fact, on a longer visit Amanda finally got fed up him and told him it was time for him to go back west.
Amanda suffered an unknown mouth injury and development mouth cancer to which she ultimately succombed.
For the first dozen or so years of their marriage Hugh hired himself out to farmers and at one time had a baler and baled hay for area farmers. Amanda had a respiratory problem (probably asthma) and the doctor recommended that the family move to a drier climate. Hugh was not satisfied with the quiet farming life and this turned out to be just the opportunity he craved. The Berkeys, with their three boys and two girls, headed west to Utah. Hugh was bitten hard by the mining bug and eventually had ownership in mines in Utah, Arizona and California. Amanda, however, tired of the hard life of a miner, gathered her children and returned to Elkhart County, IN. There she worked, took in a boarder, cared for her aging in-laws, Isaac and Cornelia Berkey, raised five fine children and had many grandchildren.
Hugh stayed out west, making and losing fortunes, always look for the big payoff. He rarely sent money home to the family and only occasionally came for a visit. Although he stayed with Amanda and the children, and slept in her bed on those visits, he and Amanda were essentially estranged the rest of the marriage. In fact, on a longer visit Amanda finally got fed up him and told him it was time for him to go back west.
Amanda suffered an unknown mouth injury and development mouth cancer to which she ultimately succombed.
Amanda Berkey was my great grandmother. The oldest of 8 children born to Nathan and Mary Ellen [Boyd] Berkey, she married a distant cousin with the same last name, Hugh Berkey. They had five children, the youngest of whom became my maternal grandmother Edna [Berkey] Whitehead.
For the first dozen or so years of their marriage Hugh hired himself out to farmers and at one time had a baler and baled hay for area farmers. Amanda had a respiratory problem (probably asthma) and the doctor recommended that the family move to a drier climate. Hugh was not satisfied with the quiet farming life and this turned out to be just the opportunity he craved. The Berkeys, with their three boys and two girls, headed west to Utah. Hugh was bitten hard by the mining bug and eventually had ownership in mines in Utah, Arizona and California. Amanda, however, tired of the hard life of a miner, gathered her children and returned to Elkhart County, IN. There she worked, took in a boarder, cared for her aging in-laws, Isaac and Cornelia Berkey, raised five fine children and had many grandchildren.
Hugh stayed out west, making and losing fortunes, always look for the big payoff. He rarely sent money home to the family and only occasionally came for a visit. Although he stayed with Amanda and the children, and slept in her bed on those visits, he and Amanda were essentially estranged the rest of the marriage. In fact, on a longer visit Amanda finally got fed up him and told him it was time for him to go back west.
Amanda suffered an unknown mouth injury and development mouth cancer to which she ultimately succombed.
For the first dozen or so years of their marriage Hugh hired himself out to farmers and at one time had a baler and baled hay for area farmers. Amanda had a respiratory problem (probably asthma) and the doctor recommended that the family move to a drier climate. Hugh was not satisfied with the quiet farming life and this turned out to be just the opportunity he craved. The Berkeys, with their three boys and two girls, headed west to Utah. Hugh was bitten hard by the mining bug and eventually had ownership in mines in Utah, Arizona and California. Amanda, however, tired of the hard life of a miner, gathered her children and returned to Elkhart County, IN. There she worked, took in a boarder, cared for her aging in-laws, Isaac and Cornelia Berkey, raised five fine children and had many grandchildren.
Hugh stayed out west, making and losing fortunes, always look for the big payoff. He rarely sent money home to the family and only occasionally came for a visit. Although he stayed with Amanda and the children, and slept in her bed on those visits, he and Amanda were essentially estranged the rest of the marriage. In fact, on a longer visit Amanda finally got fed up him and told him it was time for him to go back west.
Amanda suffered an unknown mouth injury and development mouth cancer to which she ultimately succombed.
Family Members
Spouse
Siblings
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
