George William Willt 1866

Seventh member in David and Mary (Jenkins) Wilt family.

George William Willt

b.3 Aug. 1866      d. 6 Jan. 1940      a. 74     bp. Tucker County, St. George, W VA.      rp. I.O.O.F. section of the Oakland cemetery, Oakland MD       m. 30 Sep. 1888 to Zerelda Alice (Merrill) Willt,      b. 26 Jul. 1868
d. 1 Jun. 1939      a. 71 bp. Oakland MD, daughter of Nicholas and Isabell (Kight) Merrill,      rp. on the Merrill plot.

The marriage was recorded in the Oakland MD court house. Marriage license was issued on 29 Sep. 1888, person age 21. Applicant George Willt; at Deer Park MD were united in marriage and the minister officiating was William E. George.

George was employed as a carpenter and some farming. He built his home on 20 or 25 acres on the east side of route 219, a mile north of Oakland. The house was still standing as of 1 Mar. 1994. Isabell told of carrying sand from the creek bed in a bucket for the construction of the house. He built a barn and several small buildings on the property and farmed while doing construction jobs else where. Isabell and her son Arthur built homes also facing route 219.

George was employed in the construction of some better homes in Oakland owned by prominent people. He fell from the roof of one home during construction, but, suffered no permanent injuries.

George contracted the construction of several homes in Crellin Maryland, when the coal mining town was being built and when coal mining was near the peak of employment in the area. Georges sons Arthur, Charlie and Robert Willt were also employed in the construction of the homes. He was later employed in the repairing of wooden coal cars which were used to haul coal out the mines. His employment was terminated because of his age. He then turned to improvement and repairs on local schools.

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Members in George W. and Zerelda A. (Merrill) Willt family:

Ethel May Willt               b. 26 Jan. 1891      d. 4 Jul. 1915      a. 24
Bertha Estella Willt          b. 10 Aug. 1894     d. 3 Jun. 1970     a. 76
Robert McKinley Willt    b. 3 Jul. 1896         d. 3 Apr. 1969     a. 73
Arthur Hobert Willt         b. 4 Jan. 1899        d. 10 Aug. 1941   a. 42
Annice Isabella Willt        b. 31 Mar. 1901    d. 15 Oct. 1985     a. 83
Thelma Willt                    b. 26 Oct. 1903     d. 30 Sep. 1921     a. 18
Charles William Willt       b. 13 Dec. 1906     d. 2 Jun. 1961        a. 54
Beatrice Alberta Willt      b. 27 Feb. 1910      d. 23 Oct. 1989     a. 79

All members were born in Garrett County, Oakland, MD

Ethel May Willt.  Ethel and her sister Thelma are buried side by side about 50 feet on the left, leading through the main gate. There are no grave markers, but, their graves are near the Catherine Colman monument.

An article published in the "Republican" of the cause of death:

On Sunday morning Ethel was engaged in feeding some chickens she was raising, and saw a rat run across the yard. She called to her father who was sitting on the front porch. Responding to her call, he picked up the shot gun. Passing through the rear door to the yard, he told his daughter to go into the house.

As she reached the door of the summer kitchen, Mr. Wilt, with gun cocked, trod upon a stick or rolling stone which caused his ankle to turn and make a slight turn. The gun went off and the load of #6 shot pierced his daughter's breast. Her death ensued about an hour an a half after.

Ethel was one of three classmates to be the first to graduate from the Oakland High School. Ethel was sixteen when she graduated. She was a member of St. Paul's M.E. church from which church her funeral occurred Thursday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.. She never married.

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