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.  

Places From the Past - Sherman County Kansas

I had a number of ancestors who lived in Sherman County Kansas. On 28 Oct 2017 I posted photos of the county seat, Goodland.

I found this photo postcard among my father's collection. It shows a little of how flat that part of the country is. No mountains show on the horizon. The caption handwritten on the bottom says: “Highway between Pa Albertson Place and Aunt Sis.” I believe that Pa Albertson is my gt-grandfather, Nathan Elias Albertson, and Aunt Sis is the sister of my Smalley gt-grandfather, Mary (Smalley) Morey. After Nathan's wife died in July 1901, in January 1902 he married Mary who was a widow. Their farms were enumerated next to each other on the 1900 census.We might not consider that this should be called a highway. What do you think?

Looking at Pictures of Some Females in My Family

Yesterday I posted a photo that I believe is of my 3rd great-grandmother, Elizabeth (Milligan) Hemphill. Today I am posting a cropped version of that photo plus some of her descendants. 

This is one of her daughters, Rachel (Hemphill) Smalley, my 2nd greatgrandmother

 Do you think they look alike?

                                What about two of Rachel's daughters my great-grand aunts?

                                                     Mary (Smalley) Morey Albertson                               

                                                        Rosa (Smalley) Trachsel           

Mrs. J. R. Shipman In the Newspaper

Yesterday (May 10th) I wrote about my 2nd great-grandmother, Lucy Jane Chase, who married Joshua Rodney (J. R.) Shipman. She appeared in the Goodland Republic newspaper from Goodland Kansas as Mrs. J. R. Shipman. A portion of this newspaper has been digitized and placed on the Library of Congress Chronicling America website. I found entries for her from 1898 through 1903.

It appears that the paper had local correspondents who reported what was going on in the community. In 1898 she was found under the headline New Liberty Notes. We can learn that Lucy Jane had been quite ill in the middle of May, but was improving. Many of the notations were about who visited whom. In June the Shipmans visited the L.F. Smalley home (Rosa was their daughter) and the C.C. Kipps family.

By 1900 the headline was Edson. Several of the times when Lucy Jane was mentiioned, it was due to illness. Among her ailments were: a severe attack of pleurisy, rheumatism, and a severe attack of neuralgia. This last one required Dr. Smith to come out to their home.

But more of the articles were who visited them and who they visited. Among others in the community who were mentioned were Mr. and Mrs. William Dubre, Mrs. L. F. Smalley, Mrs. J. Bobbitt, Mrs. J. W. Gogan, Mrs. G. L. Calvert, Mr. and Mrs. John Reed, Mrs. Morey, Mrs. C. W. Sigman, Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Austin.

They also went fishing. The Shipmans and the Dubres went down to the Smoky (River) on a Thursday and returned home on Saturday. They reported plenty of fishing, but few fish.

The last article I found for her was in Oct 1903 at Edson: "The quilting at Mrs. J. R. Shipman's Monday was well attended, about 17 of her friends being present, and a very enjoyable time was had."

I truly enjoy reading about the daily lives of my family. It seemed that although she had aches and pains as many of us older people do, she still was able to visit with friends and neighbors and even hosted a quilting party.

Good Words About Great-grandfather Albertson

While reading about Nathan Elias Albertson in The Goodland Republic, from Goodland, Kansas, I was delighted to find complimentary words describing him.

In January 1902, when he married his second wife, Mary (Smalley) Morey, the paper reported: "Mr and Mrs Albertson live near Edson where they are well and favorably known."

When the county commissioners met near the beginning of January 1905, the comments in the paper said: "the retiring members,....and N. E. Albertson, who holds over, have been honored and respected by their constituency. The new board.....is composed of ....and N. E. Albertson. These gentlemen are from our most substantial citizens, and enjoy the respect and confidence off all the people of Sherman County."

Then when Nathan lost the election in November 1906 with the flip of the coin, the paper wrote: "Mr. Albertson.....has been a faithful and conscientious officer..." Then when he gave up his office in January 1907, "Mr. Albertson, the retiring member of the board, has just closed his term and retires with honor."

After his death in July 1917, I was glad to see the published thank yous from the family for "kindness and sympathy during the illness and death of our dear father, N. E. Albertson" was from all five children and their families and all five step-children and their families.

Of course it might be expected that his obituary would have good words, but I did like how it was expressed: "He united with the Friends church when a boy and has since lived a devoted Christian life, and was prepared to meet his Savior in the Better world.....He was loved and trusted by all who knew him, and will be sadly missed by all."

How Many Votes Did Nathan Get?

My great-grandfather, Nathan Elias Albertson, ran for office in Sherman County Kansas in the November 1902 election. It was fun to read about this in the local newspaper, The Goodland Republic, which has a number of issues on-line at the Library of Congress website, Chronicling America.

Nathan's first wife, Mary Magdalene Hockett had died 10 Jul 1901 and he had remarried to a widow, Mary Victoria (Smalley) Morey 26 Jan 1902. Each of them had received a homestead, so together they had a large farm. But each had sons who could help with the work.

Nathan ran as the Republican candidate for county commissioner for the First District. At that time Sherman County had three commissioners which were paid positions. Apparently they had three year terms, but some were elected each two years so either one or two of them were hold-overs. When the votes were counted his opponent from the Democratic party, incumbent D. W. Dillinger, had 62 votes and Nathan had 70, so he had won. He took office in January of 1903 for his four year term. The newspaper reported the expenditures for the county and in April he had been paid $40.70 for salary and mileage. Similar amounts were paid each quarter.

Nathan was the hold-over for the 1904 election, so when two new commissioners took office in January of 1905, as senior member, he was elected board chairman. I enjoyed seeing his name often in county legal notices.

At election time in November 1906, Nathan ran for reelection. When the votes were counted, Nathan again had 70 votes, but this time his opponent, G. A. O'Neal, also had 70 votes - it was a tie. This is how the newspaper described what happened when it was agreed to break the tie by flipping a dollar, two best out of three. "Mr. Albertson took 'heads,' and Mr. O'Neal 'tails,' and the dollar went up for the first time, coming down with heads up for Albertson. The second time it showed tails up--one apiece. It was sent up the third time and rattled down on the floor with the fate-carrying index of tails, which made George ONeal county commissioner."

So it was luck which stopped Nathan's political career.