Descendants of John TOPE/Jacob DOUB
George TOPE I
Levi TOPE
Mary Catherine TOPE
William ErnestKEAR line

     William Ernest KEAR was born on 15 March 1875, in Van Wert, Ohio, to Mary Catherine TOPE and Robert Thomas KEAR [1], and died 7 November 1962, Sharon, Pennsylvania. He married Sadie Eulelia Coup, 12 December 1899, who was born 29 July 1879, and died in 1969. Both are buried in Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery, Sharon, Pennsylvania.
     Ernest and Eulelia (Lela) were married by the Rev. John Martin of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. [2]
     Ernest began his work life as a carpenter, but after leaving the military service was employed by a railroad. He became a train conductor, and later because of physical disability took a clerical position. [3]
     When he entered the Military service, Ernest was 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighed 145 pounds, had a ruddy complexion, blue eyes and dark hair. In later life, like his father, he had Bright’s disease.
     Ernest was involved in an automobile accident in April 1924, which broke the right clavicle and three ribs. From 19 April to 12 May he recuperated at the St. Luke's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. [5]
     During the Spanish-American War, Ernest enlisted as a sergeant with Company D, Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry from Van Wert, Ohio. He was enrolled at Kenton, Ohio, on 25 April 1898 for two years service, and was assigned to Macon, Georgia, from 15 November 1898 to 10 February 1899 without going to Cuba. [6]
     Prior to this assignment, Co. D was at Camp Bushnell, Columbus, Ohio, from 29 April until 16 May 1898., at Camp George H. Thomas, Chicamauga, Tennessee, from 17 May to 29 August 1898, and Knoxville, Tennessee, from 29 August until moving to Macon, [7]
     While at Chicamauga, Ernest contracted typhoid malaria that affected him the rest of his life [8], and was on sick furlough from 26 August to 12 October 1898. He was honorably discharged with CoMpari9 d on 10 February 1899. [9]
     The KEARs lived at 130 Stambaugh Ave., 645 Hull Street and 853 South Irwin in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and at 1319 Roener Boulevard in Farrell, Pennsylvania.
     Ernest graduated from Van Wert High School, and spoke on "The Country and its Heroes" at the 30 May 1894 commencement ceremony [10]
     Ernest served as Adjutant of the Major Salem Heilman Post, United Spanish War Veterans in Sharon, Pennsylvania.

Children:
  1. Robert William KEAR
  2. Ernestine Burdell KEAR, born 15 February 1906, died 28 August 1906.
  3. Eugenia Mary KEAR, born 15 July 1914, died of Amyotrophic Latereral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) .
Source:
  1. Letters, undated, 1981, Nancy Whitmore to Donald KEAR.
  2. Pension Record, Spanish-Mexican War, Ernest W. KEAR, Record Group 94, Records of the adjutant General's Office, National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Ibid.
  6. Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-1899, (Edward T. Miller Co., Columbus, Ohio, 1916), pp 71 and 94.
  7. Ibid.
  8. Pension Record.
  9. Roster.
  10. Van Wert Times, 1 June 1894, Microfilm roll #23026, Ohio Historical Center, Columbus, Ohio.
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All information on this page and pages related to the KEAR family is from The John Cears KEAR Family compiled and edited by Donald L. Kear, copyright © 1984.
Copyright © 2000 by Donald L. KEAR. All rights reserved.
This page prepared and maintained by Don Kear