52 Ancestors 2019 – 6 – Surprise – Mary Victoria (Smalley) Morey Albertson

When I looked over the “aunts and uncles birthdays” for this week I wondered how I could choose one of them to fit the theme surprise. I decided that Mary Victoria was the closest I could find that might have had an element of surprise.

She was the older sister of my great-grandfather “Lafe” Smalley, the first child of John Wilson and Rachel Ann (Hemphill) Smalley. Mary Victoria was born 5 Feb 1857 in Adams County, Ohio. I have wondered if her middle name was in honor of the Queen of England. Victoria had been the queen for about 20 years when Mary was born.

Mary Victoria would have been 4 ½ years old when her father enlisted to fight for the Union in the Civil War in the fall of 1861. But near her 5^th birthday it appears John may have come home since he was listed as AWOL from February 1862 until August 1863. However he had to go back and be placed in confinement for awhile, until was finally mustered out in October 1864.

When Mary was about 10 years old the family moved north to Clinton County, Ohio, then when she was about 15 years old they moved west into the western part of Illinois.

She was just 20 years old when she married Myron Curtis Morey on 25 Feb 1877. In about 1878 the newlyweds moved to Nebraska, then it was probably in 1889 they moved again, this time to Sherman County Kansas, with the 6 older children: Oscar, Anna, Dennis, Dessie, Herman and Milton. One more child was born, Jay, in 1893.

The family had gains and losses during the next 10 years. Their son Herman died at the end of 1897 and Mary's husband the next May. The patent for their homestead near Edson in Sherman County was issued to Mary as Myron's widow in 1899. It was

26 Jan 1902 when Mary was remarried to a widower who lived nearby, Nathan Elias Albertson.

It was this marriage which caused what might have been a surprise. Nathan had 5 children from his previous marriage, so Mary was now a step-mother. When one of her step-sons, Oran Jesse Albertson, was married in 1906 it was to Lucie Rachel Smalley. Lucie was the daughter of Mary Victoria's brother, so Lucie was a niece and step-daughter-in-law at the same time. Then when Oran's family moved to Oregon in 1911 how did Mary sign her letters to them: grandma or aunt?

Mary died 15 Apr 1916 near Edson in Sherman County and was buried in the Goodland Cemetery using the name Mary V Morey, on a double stone with her first husband. Her obituary claimed: The funeral, which was held in the Christian church, was said by old settlers to have been one of the largest, if not the largest, ever held in the city.