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Alfred Ayres – Politician & Mining Expert
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on July 21, 2018
Alfred Ayers, sometimes spelled Ayres, was born in 1841, in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, the son of Abram Ayers (1811-1879) and Anna [Russell] Ayers (1815-1888).
At the time of the Civil War, he enrolled in the 129th Pennsylvania Infantry, Company G, at Ashland, Schuylkill County, and was mustered into service as a Private on 13 August 1862. He was about 21 years old at the time. Other than his age, there is no personal information about him on his Veterans’ File Card (above), available from the Pennsylvania Archives.
Ayers died on 3 July 1915, and the Mount Carmel Item published his obituary on 5 July 1915:
VETERAN AL. AYRES IS DEAD
Alfred Ayres, Civil War Veteran, for sixty two years, a resident of Mount Carmel, a man who in his day was regarded as a mining expert, and who fort years was a leader of the Republican Party in this section, died Saturday afternoon at 2:55 o’clock, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. John Jones, Beaverdale. Dropsy was the cause of death. He had been ill for several years, and was bedfast the past two months.
“Al” Ayres, as he was best known, was one of this region’s most prominent residents. Before the infirmities of old age laid hold on he he was a leader in Mount Carmel’s municipal affairs. Aside from the leading place he occupied in political circles, his activities were most felt in Burnside Post No. 92, Grand Army of the Republic. He was one of the original members of the Post, served as Post Commander, and until the very end the companionship of his old comrades in arms were dearest to him. His death is the passing of another of the valiant host who saved the Union.
Alfred Ayres was born in York Tunnel, Pennsylvania, 25 July 1841, In 1853 the family came to Mount Carmel, then a patch of but a few rough houses, and Al maintained continuous residence here ever since, except the time he served in the Union Army in the great Civil War. He was married in this town, in 1860, to Miss Caroline Adams.
[On] 18 May 1863, Mr. Ayres enlisted in the 129th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, in Company G, commanded by Captain C. E. Leib. He served in all nine months, two weeks and five days, then receiving an honorable discharge. During his term of enlistment he fought in several of the war’s bloodiest battles, among them Fredericksburg, and the Second Battle of the Wilderness.
Mr. Ayres worked forty-five years in the mines, seventeen of these as fire-boss, assistant foreman, and inside foreman at Alaska Colliery. He served three years as School Director, and also served as an assessor of Mount Carmel Borough.
[On] 16 January, this year [1915]. his beloved wife passed away. His immediate survivors are ten children: Mrs. Eliza Taylor, Edgewood, Rhode Island; Matthew Ayres, this city [Mount Carmel]; Bessie, now Mrs. Charles Hertzog, Wilkensburg, Pennsylvania; Matilda,. now Mrs. John Jones, Beaverdale; Caroline, now Mrs. D. W. Kehler, Esq., Mount Carmel; James Ayres, Claude Ayres, Howard Ayres, Irvin Ayres, this city; and Edith, now Mrs. Walter Schoen, Philadelphia. There are forty-three grand children and nine great-grand . There are three surviving sisters: Mrs. John Shaw, Wilkes-Barre; Mrs. John Bell, Philadelphia; and Mrs. Frank Schoener, this city.
The funeral will be Wednesday afternoon, services to be conducted at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Jones, Beaverdale, at 2:00 o’clock, by the Rev. Dr. A. W. Spooner and Rev. Henry Whitaker. Cars will be taken at 3:00 o’clock for interment in Mount Carmel Cemetery. A firing squad of the Sons of Veterans will fire the customary salute over the grave.
Previously on this blog, a brief profile of Alfred Ayers was part of New Additions Post, published on 15 May 2013.
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News clippings from Newspapers.com.
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