Mary Ann (While) (Raite) (Kuhns) - John "Jack" Raite and Edward Kuhns
Page by Bob Leathers with contributions from Kimberly Aluise, Charles Kuhns and Richard Kuhns
Mary Ann (While) (Raite) (Kuhns). Not dated. (While Family Collection from Kim Aluise)
Life Story
1876: John "Jack" Raite was born in Scotland to James and Jane "Jennie" (Harkess) Raite.
1877 April 12: Edward Emmanuel Kuhns was born in Pennsylvania to Mary and Eli Kuhns.
1883 September 24: Mary Ann While was born to James and Emma (Lord) While. They were living at the time of her birth at 24 Barnsley Street in in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England. (UK Birth Document) (JWhile)
1885 About: John "Jack" Raite immigrated from Scotland to America.
1885: Mary Ann While immigrated from England to the United States with her parents James and Emma (Lord) While and brother James While Jr. She could read, write and speak English. (1900 U.S. Census)
1900: Mary Ann While was living in Hanna, Wyoming with her parents and siblings.
1900: Mary Ann While, age 17, married John "Jack" Raite, age 24.
1900 September 12: John "Jack" Raite's brother Archibald "Archie" Raite, longtime resident and coal miner in Hanna who was very unpopular with other Hanna miners, especially the Finnish miners, died in Cherokee, Kansas. Archie Raite's wife Agnes Purdie Raite returned to Hanna from Kansas with her family after her husband's death. She later died in Hanna and is buried in the Hanna, Cemetery.
1900-1903: John "Jack" Raite worked in the Union Pacific Coal Company's Hanna No. 1 Mine.
1903 June 30: Mary Ann's husband John "Jack" Raite, age 27, was killed in the Hanna Mine No.1 Mine Explosion. (1903 State Mine Inspectors Report)
1903 December 3: John Raite's body was removed from the mine. He was found at entry Number 28. John was buried in the Hanna, Wyoming Cemetery in lot 244. He was buried in the same lot as his father James Raite and Anges (Purdie) Raite. (Hanna Cemetery Records) (1903 State Mine Inspector Report)
The first deaths in the family occurred on June 30, 1903, when the Union Pacific Coal Company’s No. 1 mine in Hanna exploded killing 169 men. Five of 169 men, James While Sr., James While Jr., Job While, David B. Jones and John Raite were family.
John Raite, age 27, the husband of Mary Ann (While) Raite, the daughter of James While Sr. and a mother of 2 children, was an English miner, killed in the June 30, 1903 explosion of Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna. He was found outside the 5th crosscut of entry 28 at room 28, identified and removed from the mine on August 18, 1903, day 51 after the explosion. John’s body was so mangled he could be identified only by his teeth and a piece of gunnysack wrapped around his ankle to keep the coal dust out of his shoes. He was buried in Plot 244 in the Hanna cemetery. (HANNA MINER: At the Bottom of the Mine by Bob Leathers)
Mary Ann (While) and John Raite had two children together:
- Emma Lord Raite (1900 - 1969) Born October 8, 1900 in Hanna, Wyoming.
- Jeannette Raite (1902 - 1976) Born November 13, 1888 in Hanna, Wyoming.
1905 May 31: Approximately 2 years after the death of John "Jack" Raite, Mary Ann (While) (Raite) married Edward Kuhns in Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
The marriage of Emma (Lord) (While) from Hanna, Wyoming and John Baum in Pennsylvania was most likely arranged by the Cox family. The same family that recruited James and Emma to Carbon, Wyoming from England - Richard and Elizabeth along with their children Joseph, Jane and Robert - immigrated to St. Claire, Pennsylvania from Netherton, England in 1869. The Cox family spent nearly 10 years in the Pennsylvania coal fields until they moved in 1879 to the Carbon Coal Camp in Wyoming. The Cox family most likely knew John Baum and knew that he was single and was willing to accept a wife and a large family.
Mary Ann (While) (Raite), the daughter of James "Jim" and Emma While, lost her husband, in the 1903 explosion as well. She married Edward Kuhns, a single coal miner in Allegheny, Pennsylvania about 3 months after her mother Emma married John Baum in Pennsylvania. (BL)
Mary Ann (While) (Raite), the daughter of James "Jim" and Emma While, lost her husband, in the 1903 explosion as well. She married Edward Kuhns, a single coal miner in Allegheny, Pennsylvania about 3 months after her mother Emma married John Baum in Pennsylvania. (BL)
1910: Edward Kuhns, head of house, age 33, a coal miner, married six years, born in 1877 in Pennsylvania, and his wife Mary Kuhns, age 29, born in 1881 in England, immigrated in 1884, married for 6 years with 4 children born and 4 children still alive were living at 524 third street in Charleroi, Pennsylvania. Living with them was Emma Kuhns, age 10, Stepdaughter, born in Wyoming; Jeanette Kuhns, age 6, Stepdaughter, born in Wyoming; Stella Kuhns, age 4 daughter, born in Pennsylvania; and Viola Kuhns, age 2, born in Pennsylvania. (1910 US Census)
1934 September 10: Edward Emmanuel Kuhns died in Hawthorn, Pennsylvania, at the age of 58, and was buried there.
1958: Mary Ann (While) (Raite) (Kuhns), age 75, died in New Kensington, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania and was buried next to her husband Edward Emanuel Kuhns.
Mary Ann (While) (Raite) and Edward Emanuel Kuhns had nine children together.
- Stella Kuhns (1906 - 1967)
- Viola Kuhns (1908 - 1988)
- Edward Kuhns (1910 - 1962)
- Patricia Kuhns (1913 - 1997)
- Beatrice Kuhns (1915 - 1959)
- Mildred Elizabeth Kuhns (1918 - 2006)
- Mary Priscilla Kuhns (1922 - 1988)
- Charles Kuhns (1924 - 2001)
- Joseph Richard Kuhns (1926 - 2005)
Raite, John (Inquest) (Monument); Aka: Rait, John (MIR); Raite, J. (MM)
Cemetery: Hanna
Headstone: "June 30, 1903; Aged 27 yrs. 10 mo."
Plot: 244
Born: Aug. 30, 1876
Died: June 30, 1903
Age: 27 y's, 10 m's
Note: John, an English speaking miner from the United Kingdom, metal mine identification check number #6, married, was killed in the June 30, 1903 explosion of Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna. He was found outside the 5th crosscut of entry 28 at room 28, identified and removed from the mine on August 18, 1903 day 51 after the explosion. He was buried in Plot 244 in the Hanna cemetery. (BL)
Note: John Raite could be identified by his teeth and a piece of gunny sack wrapped around his ankle to keep the dirt out of his shoes. (Rawlins Republican, Dec. 5, 1903) (BL)
More at: The Hanna Miner Monument
Cemetery: Hanna
Headstone: "June 30, 1903; Aged 27 yrs. 10 mo."
Plot: 244
Born: Aug. 30, 1876
Died: June 30, 1903
Age: 27 y's, 10 m's
Note: John, an English speaking miner from the United Kingdom, metal mine identification check number #6, married, was killed in the June 30, 1903 explosion of Union Pacific Coal Company's No. 1 mine in Hanna. He was found outside the 5th crosscut of entry 28 at room 28, identified and removed from the mine on August 18, 1903 day 51 after the explosion. He was buried in Plot 244 in the Hanna cemetery. (BL)
Note: John Raite could be identified by his teeth and a piece of gunny sack wrapped around his ankle to keep the dirt out of his shoes. (Rawlins Republican, Dec. 5, 1903) (BL)
More at: The Hanna Miner Monument
(Image by Bob Leathers. 2021)
Mary Ann (While) (Raite) (Kuhns) - New Kensington, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania
