Family Contacts

 Elta Lee Frick Mechling

1873 - 1941

The Kennison kids did not get to meet and know our great-grandmother Elta, as she passed in 1941 at the age of 68 as the result of an apparent heart attack.  We surely know of Elta's love and care for family from the character of her only daughter Josephine and the gentle demeanor of her husband Arthur.  This couple helped raise our dad and his siblings when John Kennison abandoned his young family.  This photo of Elta was on display for many years in the foyer area of Ginny's home.  

Elta is laid to rest alongside of her husband Arthur Shupe Mechling in the Sylvan Heights Cemetery in Uniontown.  I traced her ancestry on Find A Grave and find that her roots are similar to Arthur's, coming from humble backgrounds in Europe, ultimately arriving in Philadelphia in 1767.  Grandmother Jo proudly served in the Daughters Of The American Revolution due to this heritage.  Here is the linage on her dad's side.

Father: David Z Frick 1833 - 1879  Grave marker is the Hoffman Cemetery in Smithton PA

David was a Civil War Veteran serving as a private in Company F 103rd PA Infantry.  I didn't find how long he served but did search and save the action this company saw in the course of the war.  This regiment formed in Kittanning PA was moved south to DC early in the war and found action in Virginia for the duration.  Our dad surely heard of this service from his grandmother.  

Grandfather: John George Frick Jr.  1790 - 1855  Grave marker is in the Hoffman Cemetery Smithton PA

Great Grandfather: John George Frick Sr.  1753 - 1804  Buried in the Greenwood Cemetery - New Orleans LA.  John Sr. inherited his father's 200 acre farm when his father passed away in 1786.  This was a large tract and speaks to the industry and success of the family.    In 1855 John took a boatload of wheat down the Ohio and Mississippi to sell in New Orleans. He contracted malaria and died and was buried in this far away and foreign place.  Many of these flat bottomed river boats were made in Brownsville on the Monongahela river and made the one way trip to markets in New Orleans.  They were broken up and sold for lumber at the end of voyage.

2nd Great Grandfather: Johann Nicholas Frick  1735 - 1786  Johann emigrated from Switzerland and arrived in Philadelphia in 1767.  Johann was an indentured servant to William & Morris for three years to pay for his passage.  A search of this period in Philadelphia for William & Morris comes to the opinion that the sponsor is one William Morris that had wealth and properties and operated a brewery.  Let's just imagine that Johann learned the craft of brewing and took that with him west to Westmoreland County along with his family when he had paid his debt.