The 5th child of Patrick and Mary Ann was born on
January 7, 1880 and before her marriage worked as a custom dressmaker,
making fine clothes for the wealthy people of Pittsburgh.
In 1915 she
married a farmer and moved near Alliance, Ohio. Maude helped build the
fences, make the hay, feed the chickens and milk the cows. She lost her
first child at birth but after the age of 37 had three more sons all by
Caesarian section, the first such woman in Alliance to have had such
courage.
Her son Jim Miller had this memory from 1922:
"Father was operating a horse drawn potato digger, while Mother was in
the field with Don and I picking up potatoes and putting them in crates
when Mother's water burst and they all headed for the house, with Mother
telling him that she would be leaving to bring home a new baby."
Her son Don wrote a touching remembrance of life on the Miller
farm (go here) and the story of
how he retrieved a photo of the family on the farm in 1937 (here).
More from Don about his parents here.
More pictures of Maude here, and
here, and pictured on the right at
her brother Joe's wedding
here. |
