Descendants of Captain Arthur Fenner

Alfred Gerald Fenner

 

[b 1 Nov. 1914 at Hebron, Potter Co., PA; d Jan. 1972 at Olean, Cattaraugas Co., NY] Alfred Gerald Fenner m Helen Lunn on 5 Oct. 1940. Alfred worked in New York and Pennsylvanian oilfields, specializing in Nitroglycerin handling.

Al worked in the oil fields of New York as a “shooter,” the extremely dangerous profession of handling the nitroglycerin used to “blow” oil wells. A photograph of Al and three co-workers is preserved in the Pioneer Oil Museum of New York in Bolivar, Allegany County, New York, where he and his family lived in company-provided housing, with an out-building designed to store the nitroglycerin. In the summer of 1967, [nephew Rick Buckingham], then sixteen, had the opportunity once of rising early in the morning and accompanying relatives to a local oil field, where they observed his great-uncle Al bringing in and placing the nitroglycerin in the bottom of a drilled hole, filling the hole with water to force the blast impact downwards, and then “blowing” the well. No oil was found, but the sight of the geyser of water and the general atmosphere were quite exciting.[1]

Al was buried in the Rathbone Cemetery at Oswayo, Potter County, Pennsylvania.

  1. Constance Elaine [b 30 Oct. 1941]; m 1st Raymond Westcott, United States Air Force, on 15 Sept. 1959. She m 2nd John Nitsche. They had John Nitsche, Jr.

  2. Gerald Edward [b 17 Sept. 1944].

  3. Lucinda Marie [b 31 Aug. 1950].

  4. Richard Allan [b 16 July 1953].


Lineage:
Arthur | Thomas | Thomas | William | Stephen | Isaac | Elisha | Olin | Alfred

Sources:
1. Rick Buckingham, The Book of Begats (rev. 2021), Line 2.
2. Alfred’s memorial at FindAGrave.com, no. 27569033