Mary was the oldest of the three daughters of Eliza Jane Blee and George Washington Bennett Clark. She never married. She went by the name of May, rather than Mary. May kept a diary that gives a good picture of life in the Clark household. In her older days she took care of her aging mother and her brother John's orphaned daughters, Bessie and Ella. When her mother Eliza passed away, May went to live with her sister Famie in Harvey, Illinois, where she died at age 52.
In her diary May often wrote cryptic notes referring to an unnamed lover who apparently had jilted her but whom she still pined for. Ah, the pains of unrequited love. Interestingly, her nephew Ed also recorded the events of the family and in HIS journal, he identified May's suitor as the itinerant circuit preacher who visited the little church on Cottage Hill 4 times a year. May longed for the times when he'd come, but after a time he quit coming. Ed's book gave the man's name (I won't put it here.) Twenty-first century technology made it easy to track him down. He no longer rode the circuit because he was promoted to a high office within the church hierarchy, but the interesting part is that he was happily married and living in Chicago with his wife and four grown children! Evidently, May never knew he was married and she never stopped waiting or him to come back.
In her diary May often wrote cryptic notes referring to an unnamed lover who apparently had jilted her but whom she still pined for. Ah, the pains of unrequited love. Interestingly, her nephew Ed also recorded the events of the family and in HIS journal, he identified May's suitor as the itinerant circuit preacher who visited the little church on Cottage Hill 4 times a year. May longed for the times when he'd come, but after a time he quit coming. Ed's book gave the man's name (I won't put it here.) Twenty-first century technology made it easy to track him down. He no longer rode the circuit because he was promoted to a high office within the church hierarchy, but the interesting part is that he was happily married and living in Chicago with his wife and four grown children! Evidently, May never knew he was married and she never stopped waiting or him to come back.
Mary was the oldest of the three daughters of Eliza Jane Blee and George Washington Bennett Clark. She never married. She went by the name of May, rather than Mary. May kept a diary that gives a good picture of life in the Clark household. In her older days she took care of her aging mother and her brother John's orphaned daughters, Bessie and Ella. When her mother Eliza passed away, May went to live with her sister Famie in Harvey, Illinois, where she died at age 52.
In her diary May often wrote cryptic notes referring to an unnamed lover who apparently had jilted her but whom she still pined for. Ah, the pains of unrequited love. Interestingly, her nephew Ed also recorded the events of the family and in HIS journal, he identified May's suitor as the itinerant circuit preacher who visited the little church on Cottage Hill 4 times a year. May longed for the times when he'd come, but after a time he quit coming. Ed's book gave the man's name (I won't put it here.) Twenty-first century technology made it easy to track him down. He no longer rode the circuit because he was promoted to a high office within the church hierarchy, but the interesting part is that he was happily married and living in Chicago with his wife and four grown children! Evidently, May never knew he was married and she never stopped waiting or him to come back.
In her diary May often wrote cryptic notes referring to an unnamed lover who apparently had jilted her but whom she still pined for. Ah, the pains of unrequited love. Interestingly, her nephew Ed also recorded the events of the family and in HIS journal, he identified May's suitor as the itinerant circuit preacher who visited the little church on Cottage Hill 4 times a year. May longed for the times when he'd come, but after a time he quit coming. Ed's book gave the man's name (I won't put it here.) Twenty-first century technology made it easy to track him down. He no longer rode the circuit because he was promoted to a high office within the church hierarchy, but the interesting part is that he was happily married and living in Chicago with his wife and four grown children! Evidently, May never knew he was married and she never stopped waiting or him to come back.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
