Good Deeds: Lillias Jane Alston ~ 52 Ancestors #51

My third great aunt Lillias Jane Alston was born in January 1838 to John Alston and Lillias Johnston, their third child, second child born in Pennsylvania, and first daughter. Her youngest sister, Marion Helen Alston, is my second great-grandmother.

In about 1877, Lillias Jane married her first cousin Archibald Alston as his second wife. He was a widower with several children. Archibald and Lillias Jane had one son, Walter McHendry Alston, born in June 1879.

Archibald died in 1905 and Lillias Jane (Alston) Alston died in Pittsburgh (North Side, the former Allegheny City) on June 25, 1911. I found a lovely obituary for her in The Pittsburgh Press.

"Mrs. Lillias Jane Alston," Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania),  26 June 1911, p. 7, col. 1; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/142716948/ : accessed 15 December 2024).

Mrs. Lillias Jane Alston, one of the oldest and best known women of Pittsburg, died suddenly at her home, No. 1212 Buena Vista street, North Side, yesterday. She was born in the old Third ward, Allegheny, in the vicinity of North avenue and Poplar street, 73 years ago last January. Her father was John Alston, and her husband was Archibald Alston, a stone contractor, who died about five years ago. She was a lifelong member of the First United Presbyterian Church of Allegheny, and devoted much of her time and means to works of charity. She was a charter member of the Ladies' Relief Society of Allegheny, which organization she served for many years as treasurer, and she was also one of the organizers and charter members of the Children's Aid Society of Western Pennsylvania, of which she was president until the infirmities of age compelled her to relinquish the position a few years ago. Although not officially connected with these charitable organizations of late, she continued to take an active interest in them up to the hour of her demise. Only half a dozen hours before her death, she directed the handling of some matters concerning these societies. Mrs. Alston is survived by five sons and one daughter, viz: J. W. Alston, a lumber manufacturer of Alston, Michigan; Mrs. D. M. McBrier of Erie, Pa.; D. M. Alston, an attorney of No. 1212 Buena Vista street, North Side; Walter McH. Alston, a mechanical engineer, of Perrysville, Pa.; and Archibald Alston, Jr., connected with the Schoen Pressed Steel Car Co., of Bellevue.

Half of her obituary referenced the charitable organizations she served. Most of those who survived her were her step-children; only Walter was her natural-born son. (When their mother, Cynthia, died in 1876, she left ten children between the ages of 8 and 26.)

I descend from the parents of Lillias Jane (Alston) Alston as follows:

John Alston = Lillias Johnston

|

Marion Helen Alston

|

Marguerite Lysle

|

Helen Lysle Hunter

|

My mother

|

Me

This week's theme is Good Deeds.