| Notes |
- http://www.minerd.com/bio-mcknight,_laurahorstman.htm
(With photo)
Obituary: Laura Edna (McKnight) Horstman was born on Sept. 9, 1881 in Fayette County, PA, the daughter of Henry and Martha (Nutt) McKnight
On May 11, 1899, approaching her 18th birthday, Laura married Samuel W. Horstman (1877-1956). The ceremony took place at the Brownsville First Presbyterian Church in Fayette County.
In 1919, Laura and Sam moved to a house on Short Street in Canonsburg, Washington County, PA where they resided for more than 30 years. Sam is seen here with his grandson and his trusty coal miner's lunch bucket.
They had 9 children -- Samuel W. Horstman, George Howard Horstman, Annabelle Smith, Margaret Horr, Henry Horstman, Lillian Aline Blanock, Wilbert 'Bic' Horstman, Arthur Rabe Horstman and Dora Estelle Horstman.
Sam was a longtime coal miner in the Canonsburg area. An undated newspaper article, seen here, said that:
...Horstman, who joined the old Knights of Labor when he entered mining at the age of 11, possesses a gold medal denoting 50 years of membership in the UMWA. Though unable to work now, he is known and liked, as he was during his active years in the mines, for his eager willingness to be of service to his fellow men. Recently, Horstman received his first check from the UMWA Welfare and Retirement Fund, for which he expressed thanks to President [John L.] Lewis and all who made it possible. He believes the Welfare Fund is the greatest single accomplishment in the history of the UMWA and of very real benefit to coal miners.
On May 11, 1949, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and were profiled in an article in the Canonsburg Daily Notes.
Laura died on Jan. 7, 1951. Sam outlived her by 5 years, and died on Sept. 16, 1956. They are buried at Oak Spring Cemetery in Canonsburg.
Son Bic worked at Continental Can Company in Canonsburg, making tin cans and, during World War II, airplane parts. The company's administration building is seen here, in a rare old postcard photograph, standing next to facilities of the Standard Tin Plate Co. Later, he was a shearman, cutting steel for power transformers for Pennsylvania Transformer.
Son in law Gregory 'Gus' Blanock was an ironworker in Western Pennsylvania.
Grandson Dr. Henry M. Horstman played key roles in astrophysics research related to the NASA space program. While his work is being researched more fully, he is known to have served at the Instituto di Astronomia , Universita di Bologna, Italy. Henry's specialty was researching cosmic fireballs and gamma ray bursts -- the most powerful type of explosion in the universe, found in deep space -- using balloon observation techniques. He also is said to have been involved with the development of solid rocket fuel. Some results of his 'burst camera''gamma cam' experiments are posted on NASA's website. Between 1977 and 1984, he is known to have published at least 6 scholarly papers, listed on the A Gamma-Ray Burst Bibliography, 1973-2001 of the Space Sciences Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley His wife Elena Horstman-Moretti was a co-author on at least one paper, and served with the Laboratorio TESRA/CNR in Bologna, Italy. The first of Henry's known papers, authored in 1977, was "Effect of Multiple Scattering on Balloon Observation of Gamma Ray Bursts," published in Astrophysics and Space Science.
Great-grandson Daniel Strimel is a police officer of North Strabane Township near Canonsburg.
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The H600 Project Genealogy DB
, d. Mar 1977, Canonsburg, Washington Co, Pennsylvania, USA