Elizabeth was one of eleven children of James Harvey Kier (my great grandfather) and Matilda D. Belle Meserve Kier (my great grandmother), who were married on October 6, 1867 in Mt. Sterling, llinois. She was the older sister of my grandmother, Bertha Mae Kier, who was born in June 17, 1877 in Sheridan County, Missouri and died on December 24, 1951, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when I was 1 year old. Their siblings were: Dora - 19 October 1868 - she died in infancy); Ella F. Kier - 27 September 1869, in Sheridan County, Missouri and died in 1932; William V. Kier - 4 April 1873, in LaFayette County, Missouri and died on 29 April 29 1953 in Mesa, Arizona; James Harvey Kier Jr. - 15 May 1874, in Sheridan County, Missouri; my grandmother - Bertha Mae - 17 June 1877 - 24 December 1951 and is buried at Franklin Cemetery in Okemah Cemetery; Cora M. Kier - 19 February 1879 in Jefferson County, Kansas and died 3 August 1962; Bell Kier (unsure of all information except death) September 1962; Ethel Kier - born 28 December 1887 - Woodson County, Kansas; Dorvan Kier - 1 October 1890 - in Dade County, Missouri and died in Roseburg, Oregon on 6 July, 1957; Elsie Kier - born 21 January 1893 - born in Bourbob County, Kansas.

This bio was lovingly written by Patricia Ann Tapley Irwin,a great niece using information from my Aunt Mayme Tapley Brown's notes of Tapley family history. Mayme Tapley was the oldest child of ten born (1899) to my Grandmother Bertha Mae Kier and my Grandfather William Gouin Tapley.∼Mary Elizabeth KIER Gilmore was the daughter of James Harvey Kier and Matilda Belle "Meserve" Kier. She was born in Chariton County, Missouri on 6 July 1871. As a child the family moved to Jackson County, KS where she attended elementary school. By 1888, the family had moved to Dade County, MO where she married William Alfred Gilmore on 18 September 1889. Thier children include Claude Alfred Gilmore, Hughie James Gilmore, and Goldie M Gilmore Lovey.

One family anecdote: She was pregnant with her first child in 1890 and her mom, Matilda, came to stay with her to be able to help her. Somehow, Matilda was unaware that she herself was also pregnant. Mary Elizabeth gave birth to Claude Alfred Gilmore on 22 Sept 1890 and Matilda went into labor on 1 Oct 1890 while she was still staying with Mary Elizabeth. Mary Elizabeth's husband had to assist in the birth of his mother in law's baby. Because of his help in such an unusual sitution, Matilda named her new son Dorven Alfred Kier. "Alfred" being the middle name of Mary Elizabeth's husband, William Alfred Gilmore.