Photos

John C. Mottice was the father of Grant Mottice. His middle initial "C" evidently stands for "Creighton", although I have little documentation to support this. His wife was Catharine Gross.

Here is another example of a photo that I have no information about, yet was kept by my father for years. So I assume it had some significance to him and his brother Merle.

This is a photo that looks to be from the 1940s or 1950s found in an envelope labeled only "Pictures for Merle and Kathleen Ex . . ." The last 3 letters of Kathleen's name are unreadable. It looks like "ver", but that makes no sense. The people are unidentified.

This a postcard dated 1920 that shows the Case camp near Waynesburg, but is otherwise unidentified.

The postcard was among loose photos and other items in the possession of my father, Bob Mottice. Since he was born in 1916 and only 4 years old at the time of this camp, it is likely that it came from one of his older relatives.

I am, however, unaware of what "Case" might refer to. Too late for WWI, so probably not military in nature, it could be associated with an educational institution instead -- perhaps Case Western University.

The caption on this undated postcard picture says "View from Whitacre Hill, Waynesburg."

Although the area has changed a great deal, the scene looks similar to the view looking north across the railroad tracks and creek from what is now N. Main Street. Whitacre Hill could reference the old Whitacre Fireproofing Co., but I don't know where this business was located.

This is a reprint from an undated newspaper article showing the members of all the classes at Waynesburg High School during the school year 1919-20.

Don Mottice is third row, second from left (beside teacher); Arnold Mottice is third row, fourth from left; and Willam Dieringer is sixth row, first on left. Also in the photo are Ida Dieringer and Mildred Mottice.

This photo was probably taken in Canton, or perhaps Waynesburg, evidently sometime between 1870 and 1880 and is captioned "Fiala Military Band."

Grant Edgar Mottice was born on Dec. 6, 1865 in Waynesburg.

In his father's Bible he is referred to at two separate pages as "Edwin Grant" and "Grant Edgar".

He was the son of John C. Mottice and Catherine Gross.  He married Frances Dieringer on Dec. 28, 1903, and they had eight children.  He died unexpectedly on March 9, 1938 of a ruptured gastric ulcer.  He is buried in Waynesburg cemetery.

The photo to the right is undated, but probably before the turn of the century although it could be a wedding photo.  It is the best photo of him I know of.

Catherine Gross was the wife of John C. Mottice and mother of Grant.

She was born March 6, 1837 and died June 24, 1901.  She married John C. on Sept. 23, 1862.  I believe both she and John C. are buried in the "new" Waynesburg cemetery  west of town towards Magnolia.

The photo at the right has her name written on the back.  It is of a type where there are slight color painting-like enhancements made to it.

Here are a couple of pictures of a house on Mottice Rd. outside of Waynesburg that -- maybe -- are of the building that housed Peter Mottice's tavern in the early 1800s. The photos belong to a woman who grew up there in the 1950s. Both photos were taken around that time and show her family in front of the house.

This is a framed photo formerly in the collection of Robert N. Mottice of his grandfather Andrew Dieringer and 4 of his brothers.  Andrew, who was born in Germany, was the father of Frances Dieringer who married Grant Mottice.

These brothers were the sons of Mathaus Dieringer and Katharina Strobel.  From left to right they are Andrew, John, Jacob, Frank, and Gervatius.  There was evidently a sixth brother, Theodore, not in this picture.

Robert Neil Mottice was the 6th child (out of 8) of Grant and Frances Mottice. He was born in 1916 at North Industry, OH, which is between Waynesburg and Canton. Apparently his middle name was originally "Neal", as this is the name that shows on some early documents.  The photo to the right is his high school graduation picture.

He served in the U.S. Army during WWII and upon the end of the war, attended college at Glenville State University in Glenville, WV.  There he met his future wife, Maxine Elliott.  They were married in 1951.

Frances Dieringer was the daughter of Andrew Dieringer and Mary Holshoy, and later wife to Grant Mottice.

She was 8th of 12 Dieringer children, ten of whom were girls.  Of her 9 sisters, six were older than she.  She was born in Waynesburg and lived there most of her life.  In the 1950s (perhaps earlier), she moved to Canton with her daughter, Ruth, after Ruth's husband Verle Garster died.

She married Grant Mottice in 1903, and they had 8 children before he died in 1938.

Ruth Mottice was the oldest daughter of Grant and Frances Mottice. Born in 1908, her obituary lists the location as Canton although it is not clear if perhaps the actual location wasn't North Industry. Grant and Frances lived in North Industry around this time, and there are suggestions that children were born at home rather than in a hospital.

Bob Mottice, son of Grant Mottice, graduated from Glenville State College (WV) in 1952. 

He began his college studies on the GI Bill after he was discharged from the Army at the end of WWII.  I don't know how he came to be aware of Glenville, or why he chose to attend there. But he thoroughly enjoyed his four years there, and made many lifelong friends.

While at Glenville, he majored in education and earned a number of honors, including the ones shown here.

The attached article from the Canton Repository sometime in 1944 announces that Merle Mottice has received a military honor while fighting at the Battle of Guam in the Pacific.

He was a leader of an ammunition and pioneer squad during that battle and received the combat infantryman badge for "outstanding performance of duty and exemplary conduct in action in the Guam operation."

The article pictured here appeared in the Canton Repository sometime in 1942. It announces the induction into the military of two of Grant and Frances Mottice's sons, Bob and Merle.

William (Will) Dieringer (1870-1940) was the brother of Frances Dieringer, wife of Grant Mottice.  His father was Andrew Dieringer and mother was Katharina Stroble.  This photo album was in the possession of my father, Robert Mottice.  I suspect it came to him by way of his sister, Ruth Garster Mottice, after Frances Dieringer Mottice passed away.