Emma Virginia (Fowler) Bretch (1859 - 1907)

Born 27 May 1859 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA

Ancestors

Wife of William R. Bretch — married 27 Apr 1878 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA

Died 26 Sep 1907 at age 48 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA

Biography

Emma was born 27 May 1859 in Pittsburgh.^[1] She was the daughter of John Leyburn Fowler and Virginia Cordell.

She married William R. Bretch on 27 April 1878.^[2] The ceremony was performed at 54 Liberty Street (probably the Parsonage of the Liberty Street Methodist Episcopal Church) by Methodist Episcopal minister J. W. Miles.

Emma died 26 September 1907 at her home on Wabash Avenue in the Thirty-sixth Ward of Pittsburgh, and she was buried three days later in the Thirty-sixth Ward Cemetery (now known as the Greentree Cemetery).^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Various records are inconsistent in reporting Emma's date of birth. Her father provided a list of his children and their birth dates when he applied for his military pension. This is the date presented. John L. Fowler (Pvt., Co. K, 13th Pa. Vol. Inf., Civil War), pension no. 936819, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications …, 1861–1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C. The year is consistent with the age given on her marriage record. Ministers’ Returns of Marriages in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1878, Microfilm P-364, Roll 3, Pennsylvania Department, Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh. The church record of her death and burial also reports the year 1859, though it says the day and month were 3 April. West End United Church of Christ, Toten Register, pp. 332–33, 1907, no. 7, Emma F. Bretch; digital image, Ancestry.com, “Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1708–1985” (http://interactive.ancestry.com/2451/40162_261468-00670/1178954?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dPAChurchTownRecords%26h%3d1178954%26ti%3d0%26indiv%3dtry%26gss%3dpt%26ssrc%3dpt_t37835005_p20394224802_kpidz0q3d20394224802z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&ssrc=pt_t37835005_p20394224802_kpidz0q3d20394224802z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&backlabel=ReturnRecord : accessed July 2015). The 1900 census supports a May birth date, though it places the year in 1857. 1900 U.S. Census, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Pittsburgh City, 36th Ward, enumeration district 324, stamped page 32A, sheet 15A, dwelling 229, family 299, Wilhelm Bradch household; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6P7C-494?i=28&cc=1325221 : accessed July 2015). Emma's husband reported a 23 April 1858 birth date for her on her death certificate, but he also provided an erroneous name for her mother. Pennsylvania Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate no. 95017 (1907), Emma Virginia Bretch, 26 September 1907, Allegheny County; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://interactive.ancestry.com/5164/41381_620305176_0788-01298/62886?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dPADeathCollection%26h%3d62886%26ti%3d0%26indiv%3dtry%26gss%3dpt%26ssrc%3dpt_t37835005_p20394224802_kpidz0q3d20394224802z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&ssrc=pt_t37835005_p20394224802_kpidz0q3d20394224802z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&backlabel=ReturnRecord : accessed July 2015).
2. ↑ Ministers’ Returns of Marriages in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1878, Microfilm P-364, Roll 3, Pennsylvania Department, Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh.
3. ↑ Pennsylvania Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate no. 95017 (1907), Emma Virginia Bretch, 26 September 1907, Allegheny County; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://interactive.ancestry.com/5164/41381_620305176_0788-01298/62886?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3dPADeathCollection%26h%3d62886%26ti%3d0%26indiv%3dtry%26gss%3dpt%26ssrc%3dpt_t37835005_p20394224802_kpidz0q3d20394224802z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&ssrc=pt_t37835005_p20394224802_kpidz0q3d20394224802z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid&backlabel=ReturnRecord : accessed July 2015).