Kennisons' Meeting Place

John Francis Kennison   1900 - 1972 I wasn't thinking of tracing our dad's father but in the recent post for dad's great grandmother there was an active link to John from Ancestry.com .  I clicked on the link and went a little way down the rabbit hole and found a few interesting bits of our family history.  John was born in 1900 in Liesenring.  His father is shown as John T Mullin and mother is Mary Ellen McCullough Kennison - 1873 - 1935.  I couldn't find anything on John T Mullin without joining Ancestry but I have a clear memory that I was told that our family came from the Mullin line through John and Josephine.    I found that John T Mullin was born in 1869 in Parkersburg   WV and passed away in 1900, the year of our paternal grandfather's birth.  Dad's grandmother on John's line is Mary Ellen McMurrough Kennison, born in 1873 in Glasgow Scotland.  Six years after John's birth Mary Ellen married George W. Kennison.  It app...

  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...

ARTHUR SHUPE MECHLING 1877 - 1958   February 3 will be the 147th anniversary of Arthur Mechling's birth.  Great Grandfather Mechling was present in my young life, as the grandfather that stepped up to take care his daughter Josephine and her four little ones, abandoned by their father, John Kennison.   Arthur married on September 20,1900 in Westmoreland Co PA to Elta Lee FRICK (1873-1941)  Arthur and Elta had only one child, Josephine, born in 1901.  They lived in German Township PA for most of their lives.  We were frequent guests at their home in Ronco. Obituary Excerpt  Arthur S. MECHLING, 71, of Ronco, a native of Mt. Pleasant and employee of the Union Supply Company (USCO) for 52 yrs before retirement, died at 8:15 o'clock Friday morning. He was a member of Marion Lodge 562, F & A M of Scottdale, Lodge of Perfection of Uniontown & Pittsburgh Consistory, an honorary member & past president of the Masontown Rotary Club, and a founde...