The Amazing Edna May Chambers

My narrative is about my great, great grandmother Edna Mae Golla Chambers.  Much of the information written here was told to me by my great grandmother, Joyce Louise McMillan who is now 88 years of age.

Edna Mae was born in Etna, Pennsylvania and grew up around the major steel mills. At the time she remembered driving by car and watching the bright red fires and miners working within the glass wall.

Edna May Chambers

She was born an only child to Steven and Lillian Golla.  Her mother was a homemaker and her father, Steve entered the military of West Point in upper New York.  Sadly, he had to leave West Point due to a congenital heart condition.  She never left his side until his early death at 65 years old.

During this time, Edna met a very handsome man named Rex Chambers, who later became her husband.  She became pregnant at the age of sixteen and was forced to leave high school to care for Edward, her son.

Edna, Rex and her mother Lillian moved to Beaver, Pennsylvania.  

Edna’s love of passenger trains allowed her to visit downtown Pittsburgh, weekly to shop.
She liked to visit her tea house to have her fortune told by tea leaves.  She could be seen wearing a small live chameleon on her suit.  Wearing a chameleon was a fashion statement in those days.  Every Mother’s Day, Edna wore a white or red carnation.  In those days you wore a red carnation if your mother was alive and a white carnation if your mother was deceased.

Even though Edna had a short amount of education, she never stopped learning.  She played the ukelele and would always sing along with the music.  Her favorite song was Frankie and Johnny.  She also loved to play bridge and was a great card player.  She loved to play pranks and tell jokes to her bridge friends and family.

Edna’s husband Rex was an avid hunter.  She became extremely interested and fascinated with guns and learned as much as she could about them.  Edna joined the NRA (National Rifle Association) in her twenties and she became a valuable sharpshooter.  She was proud to bring home some great bull’s eyes on her targets.  Edna could also sew, quilt and knit. 

When Edna’s daughter, Joyce Louise was around five years old, Edna entered her into dance classes. Joyce was extremely talented, so Edna became a proud stage mother. They traveled throughout the region of Pittsburg and was proud to watch and support her talented daughter.  Joyce danced for the USO during WW11.

Joyce was awarded a scholarship to New York City to a dance academy, however, Edna would not agree to Joyce going to New York City.  Edna chose a teaching career for her daughter, Joyce.

There were many guns locked up in the attic along with many trophies that Edna won. Later, these guns would create terrible tragedies for Edna and her husband, Rex, along with the rest of the family.  

Rifle Trophy

Young Edward (Eddie) came home one Sunday morning very disturbed.  Edna asked him why he was so very upset, but he would not respond to her questions.  He proceeded to walk upstairs to the attic where seconds later, Eddie put a bullet to his heart.  He was dead on arrival to the hospital. Edna later found a note that read, “Forgive me” “Love, Eddie”.

Life was never the same for Edna.  With her insurance money from Eddie’s death, Edna purchased a record player and played music all day long to drown out her sorrow of Eddie.

Soon later, Edna became pregnant and decided to have an abortion that was not legal in those days. 

Edna’s life continued to spiral and be a continuous disaster.  She was told by her husband, 
Rex that he had a mistress.  Rex (my great grandfather) was a big deal in Gulf Oil Corporation and lived through the week in Texas and would fly home to Pittsburg on the weekend. He also informed her that he had two children with his mistress and a third baby was on the way.  The mistress did not want this third baby, so my grandfather asked Edna to raise the mistress’ baby.  She pretended to carry a baby for several months so that nobody would be suspicious of where the baby came from. Edna received Steven at two weeks of age and raised him as her own until he was twelve and a tragedy would then strike.

Steven

Let’s talk about her dedication to WW11.  Edna spent endless hours knitting sweaters for the military.  Because of her skills in sharp shooting, Edna was asked to teach rifle shooting to the US Marines at Camp Quantico and Camp Lejeune.  Many newspaper pictures are hidden away about this topic; however, we do not know where.  Edna became an accomplished writer and was known for her articles as the rifle and pistol editor in the Pittsburg Sun-Telegraph (Hearst Newspaper).  She began traveling to various rifle competitions and won the state championship for the State of Pennsylvania.

Edna tragically shot herself in the heart and left a note for her son, Steven telling him she was sleeping. She also left a handwritten note that only her husband would read and destroy.

Edna’s funeral was filled with much emotion.  The funeral was full of sadness, but at the same time, family members felt a bit of comfort knowing she was finally at peace.  She was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver due to her excessive habit of drinking alcohol.

Edna was buried in Beaver Cemetery alongside her beloved Eddie and her husband, Rex.

The headstones are small, but large enough.  There also is a large stone with the name Eachael (Edna’s family) on one side and Chambers on the other side. 

  

On my great grandmother’s wall (Joyce Louise) she has a picture of Edna along with her glasses.

Joyce claims that Edna visits her from time to time. Ironically, Edna had just visited Joyce two days before I asked my grandmother to talk to me about Edna.  Grandma Joyce felt that Edna had visited her in the nursing home to give her blessing on helping me with the facts for this paper.  My grandmother Joyce felt the message from great-great
grandmother, “Keep looking at my picture on your wall!” 

This period was also around the time the stock market fell and many lost millions of dollars.  This period was called the “Great Depression.”

Edna’s tombstone reads:

    Edna Golla Chambers

    Born 1910

    Died 1951

The grave sits high on a hill surrounded by trees and grass.  The epitaph to this is also a picture as a child of ten years old wearing her glasses.  Edna’s glasses are now displayed at my great grandmother Joyce’s room in a nursing home.  

Edna has visited many of us on occasion according to my great grandmother, Joyce.

Ednas Footstone

Rest in peace, Edna Mae Chambers.

Symbol Hunt at Bethel United Methodist

Monday.. 6:00pm, my class ventured out to another spooky graveyard at Bethel United Methodist Church. Our mission was to collect 10 pictures of grave symbols and find the meaning to them. So that's exactly what I did. 

Bethel Methodist Church

When we first got to the church we met a woman name Camille Wish. We learned a lot about Bethel United Methodist from this amazing women. She also explained the rich history of the church and all the renovating that had to do because of some problems they had in the past. All these problems are now fixed and the church stands tall and beautiful.

Camille Wish and Professor Harwood

Mrs. Wish decided to take us over and show us the old church. It is a very old and beautiful church with a lot of history to it. The Old Bethel Methodist Church was moved in 1852 to where the new Bethel United Methodist Church is located. The Old Bethel Methodist Chruch was then used for Sunday school until African Americans acquired it in 1882. 

Old Bethel Methodist Church

As we were walking back from the Old Bethel Methodist Church, we stopped in the parking lot of the "new" Bethel United Methodist Church and listen to Camille Wish talk again. Mrs. Wish said, "We are standing on top of a graveyard right now.". This frightened me because I knew that moment that I'm probably standing on graveyards all the time, I just don't know it because they are paved or built over top of.

Now let's get into the meanings of symbols on gravestones. This is very important if someone is trying to read a grave. A symbol can tell a lot about the person who was buried there. The first gravestone I came across was a die, base, and cap. Rebecca Jane is buried there and died on November 21st, 1875. The symbol on her grave is a flying angel, which symbolizes rebirth and spirituality.

Angel Symbol

 The second gravestone is a die on socket, where C.D. Bateman resides. He died on September 22nd, 1889. The symbol on his grave is a bouquet of flowers, which symbolizes grief and condolences.

Bouquet of Flowers Symbol

The third gravestone is a die on socket, where Rosa Mary resides. She died on November 2nd, 1881. She has two symbols on her grave, flowers and a drape. The flowers symbolize frailty of life and the drapes symbolize an expression of mourning to linger long after the body has been taken out the front door and the accouterments have been stowed away for the next death.

Drape and Flowers Symbol

The fourth gravestone is a die on base, where Charles H. Muckenfuss resides. He died on June 3rd, 1914. The symbol on his grave is a cross in a crown, which symbolizes Sovereignty of the Lord.

Cross in Crown Symbol

The fifth gravestone is a die on socket, where Olin B. Davis resides. He died in December of 1866. The symbol of his grave is a partially bloomed rose, which usually symbolizes a teenager. I could not read out the date he was born so I could not tell if he was a teenager.

Partially Bloomed Rose Symbol

The sixth gravestone is a headstone, where Charles C. Seyle resides. He died on February 10th, 1880. This gravestone seems to depict a cross that is ascending to heaven with ivy wrapped around it. The cross symbolizes salvation and the ivy symbolizes friendship, affection, faithfulness, strength, and immortality.

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The seventh gravestone is a headstone, where Elizabeth M. resides. She died on October 26th, 1861. The symbol on her gravestone is a flying angel, which symbolizes rebirth and spirituality. There is also an urn in this symbol, which symbolizes immortality.

Flying Angel Symbol with Urn

The eighth gravestone is a footstone, where Francis W Capers resides. He died on January 12th, 1892. The gravestone has a symbol of a circled cross, which symbolizes eternity and neverending existence. 

Circled Cross Symbol

The ninth gravestone is a headstone, where James F.M. Lobe resides. He died on February 16th, 1862. The symbol on his gravestone is a weeping willow, which symbolizes sorrow and mourning.

Weeping Willow Symbol

Finally, the tenth gravestone is a headstone, where Elizabeth M. Ainger resides. She died on October 6th, 1872. The gravestone has a symbol of a dove, which symbolizes the holy spirit. The dove also looks like it is carrying an olive branch, which symbolizes peace.

Dover Symbol

Overall this was a fun and exciting experience. It was interesting to listen to what Camille Wish had to say about Bethel United Methodist Church along with the graveyard. It was also fun to learn more about the meanings of symbols on gravestones. This is an adventure I'll never forget!