Daughter of GEORGE ALBERT HOY & ELIZABETH KLEE/CLAY
Died: bef Feb 15, 1861
Married: JOHN H. "HAIRY JOHN" VONADA, Gregg Township, Centre Co., Pennsylvania
Four children:
1. Catharine VONADA
1831 - 1893
2. Elias VONADA
1832 - 1906
3. Israel VONADA
1834 - 1891
4. John VONADA
unkn - unkn (died young)
===========
Old timers back then said that John had once lived in the Nittany Valley, and had married Susanna Hoy, the daughter of a storekeeper. The tales say that Susanna was "feeble minded" - in the unkind terminology of the day. Supposedly in her mental instability she took her own life by hanging herself in a closet of their home. Many however blamed John for her death, spreading the story that he had hung her himself. Others spread the story, and once a rumor like this gets out of the jar, it will never ever go back in again. John was actually put on trial for the murder, but the jury was unable to find him guilty and so he was freed. But his neighbors still looked at him accusingly, and their children, hearing their parents talk of John's supposed deed, taunted him cruelly. John could take it no more and he decided to move away until he could be vindicated of the crime. So he moved away to the lonely mountain pass, preferring to live a solitary life. He also vowed never to shave or cut his hair until he was proven innocent. His hair and beard grew long, and John Voneida became "Hairy John", as vindication never came.
Eventually, sometime after the Civil War, John is reported to have married again, a woman named Twila Montray, about whom we know almost as little as we do of John. They were happy for a while so the tale goes, but just as tragic events led John Voneida to take up a lonely life in the Woodward Narrows, so would more tragedy and violence end that peaceful existence.
===========
Died: bef Feb 15, 1861
Married: JOHN H. "HAIRY JOHN" VONADA, Gregg Township, Centre Co., Pennsylvania
Four children:
1. Catharine VONADA
1831 - 1893
2. Elias VONADA
1832 - 1906
3. Israel VONADA
1834 - 1891
4. John VONADA
unkn - unkn (died young)
===========
Old timers back then said that John had once lived in the Nittany Valley, and had married Susanna Hoy, the daughter of a storekeeper. The tales say that Susanna was "feeble minded" - in the unkind terminology of the day. Supposedly in her mental instability she took her own life by hanging herself in a closet of their home. Many however blamed John for her death, spreading the story that he had hung her himself. Others spread the story, and once a rumor like this gets out of the jar, it will never ever go back in again. John was actually put on trial for the murder, but the jury was unable to find him guilty and so he was freed. But his neighbors still looked at him accusingly, and their children, hearing their parents talk of John's supposed deed, taunted him cruelly. John could take it no more and he decided to move away until he could be vindicated of the crime. So he moved away to the lonely mountain pass, preferring to live a solitary life. He also vowed never to shave or cut his hair until he was proven innocent. His hair and beard grew long, and John Voneida became "Hairy John", as vindication never came.
Eventually, sometime after the Civil War, John is reported to have married again, a woman named Twila Montray, about whom we know almost as little as we do of John. They were happy for a while so the tale goes, but just as tragic events led John Voneida to take up a lonely life in the Woodward Narrows, so would more tragedy and violence end that peaceful existence.
===========
Daughter of GEORGE ALBERT HOY & ELIZABETH KLEE/CLAY
Died: bef Feb 15, 1861
Married: JOHN H. "HAIRY JOHN" VONADA, Gregg Township, Centre Co., Pennsylvania
Four children:
1. Catharine VONADA
1831 - 1893
2. Elias VONADA
1832 - 1906
3. Israel VONADA
1834 - 1891
4. John VONADA
unkn - unkn (died young)
===========
Old timers back then said that John had once lived in the Nittany Valley, and had married Susanna Hoy, the daughter of a storekeeper. The tales say that Susanna was "feeble minded" - in the unkind terminology of the day. Supposedly in her mental instability she took her own life by hanging herself in a closet of their home. Many however blamed John for her death, spreading the story that he had hung her himself. Others spread the story, and once a rumor like this gets out of the jar, it will never ever go back in again. John was actually put on trial for the murder, but the jury was unable to find him guilty and so he was freed. But his neighbors still looked at him accusingly, and their children, hearing their parents talk of John's supposed deed, taunted him cruelly. John could take it no more and he decided to move away until he could be vindicated of the crime. So he moved away to the lonely mountain pass, preferring to live a solitary life. He also vowed never to shave or cut his hair until he was proven innocent. His hair and beard grew long, and John Voneida became "Hairy John", as vindication never came.
Eventually, sometime after the Civil War, John is reported to have married again, a woman named Twila Montray, about whom we know almost as little as we do of John. They were happy for a while so the tale goes, but just as tragic events led John Voneida to take up a lonely life in the Woodward Narrows, so would more tragedy and violence end that peaceful existence.
===========
Died: bef Feb 15, 1861
Married: JOHN H. "HAIRY JOHN" VONADA, Gregg Township, Centre Co., Pennsylvania
Four children:
1. Catharine VONADA
1831 - 1893
2. Elias VONADA
1832 - 1906
3. Israel VONADA
1834 - 1891
4. John VONADA
unkn - unkn (died young)
===========
Old timers back then said that John had once lived in the Nittany Valley, and had married Susanna Hoy, the daughter of a storekeeper. The tales say that Susanna was "feeble minded" - in the unkind terminology of the day. Supposedly in her mental instability she took her own life by hanging herself in a closet of their home. Many however blamed John for her death, spreading the story that he had hung her himself. Others spread the story, and once a rumor like this gets out of the jar, it will never ever go back in again. John was actually put on trial for the murder, but the jury was unable to find him guilty and so he was freed. But his neighbors still looked at him accusingly, and their children, hearing their parents talk of John's supposed deed, taunted him cruelly. John could take it no more and he decided to move away until he could be vindicated of the crime. So he moved away to the lonely mountain pass, preferring to live a solitary life. He also vowed never to shave or cut his hair until he was proven innocent. His hair and beard grew long, and John Voneida became "Hairy John", as vindication never came.
Eventually, sometime after the Civil War, John is reported to have married again, a woman named Twila Montray, about whom we know almost as little as we do of John. They were happy for a while so the tale goes, but just as tragic events led John Voneida to take up a lonely life in the Woodward Narrows, so would more tragedy and violence end that peaceful existence.
===========
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