Strombotne / Specht

Andrew Jackson Coulter was the fifth and youngest son of James Coulter & Cynthia Rose. He taught school for 20 years, starting at $25 a month. His first schoolhouse was an eight-sided building in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He farmed in summer and kept a herd of milk cows, which his six daughters milked. He inherited the north half of his father's farm south of Grove City, PA. He later farmed in Butler County, PA. He and his two sons cut down much of the hickory and white ash in three counties and sawed the wood into wheel spokes.

Andrew was mowing a field in 1903 when the team of colts encountered a nest of bumblebees. Startled by the bee stings, the young horses bolted, pulling the cutting bar over Andrew. He lost his left hand, and 43 stitches were required to close a gash in his hip. The accident happened in a field in Mercer County; the horses were found in Lawrence County; and Andrew was operated on atop his kitchen table at his home in Butler County, PA. Thereafter, Andrew and his wife lived with and were supported by their youngest son William.

In 1963, I visited William Coulter, and he told me about his father's accident 60 years earlier. Bill said he saw his father hitching the frisky colts to the mower, and he suggested using the older, more sedate mares because of the dangerous cutting bar. His father said, Billy, I've been handling horses since many years before you were born. I know what I'm doing.

And off he went to the field. We know the tragic outcome. Lucky he survived!

Andrew Coulter was a United Presbyterian. He raised his children with a strict discipline: on Sundays, balls and other games were forbidden, as was reading novels. But Andrew & Mary Coulter enjoyed life and were excellent dancers of the schottische and polka, as well as the waltz and two-step.

Andrew married 13 Sept 1864 in Pine Township, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, to Mary Elizabeth Black, daughter of James S. Black & Emily Gordon; Mary was born 4 March 1845 in Pine Township; died 28 Feb 1924 at Conneautville, PA; buried beside her husband. They had eight children:
Viola Amanda
Charles Carroll "Carroll"
Laura Jane
Mary Myrtle "Myrtle"
Cynthia Rose (named after her paternal grandmother)
Henrietta Dale "Dale"
William Andrew "Bill"
Ada Bertha "Bertha"

In the 1893 photo, Andrew & Mary are flanked by Bertha & Bill. Back row from left: Dale, Cynthia, Laura, Carroll, Myrtle, & Viola. Please click on the photo to enlarge it.