Mary Ann was married first to Jeremiah Decker "Jerry" Peters on September 18, 1845. Jeremiah was the first of seven children of John H. and Helen (Van Riper) Peters. He was born in New York around 1818, but in 1832 he moved with his family to Monroe County, Michigan, where his father purchased almost 390 acres in Sections 7 and 8 of Ash Township. Three children were born to them: Lury (8 Aug 1846 – 7 Nov 1847), Mary E. (30 Aug 1847 – 11 Aug 1927), and Jeremy (12 Dec 1848 – 22 Sep 1849). On July 28, 1848, Jeremiah died. He left his estate to his wife Mary Ann, and to his children by her after his death. The executors of his estate were his wife Mary Ann and her brother-in-law Royal Potter, who was evidently a friend of Jeremiah.

On August 30, 1849, Mary Ann was married by the Rev. Edwards Marsh to Royal Potter in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and they made their home adjoining the Potter family farm, on land Mary Ann either inherited from her father or bought using money she inherited from him and her first husband. On Jan 16, 1851, she gave birth to Jeremiah Elmer (or Elmore) Potter, called "Elmer." She gave birth to three more children who died in infancy. So they adopted a Canadian child named Martha Smith. During that decade she and Royal expanded and developed their farm in Ash township, and by 1860 their country home was regarded as one of the finest houses in the county. A drawing of it adorned county publications, and even now a painting of it graces the office of the Monroe County Historical Society and Museum. When Royal's father Arvin died in Feb 1861, Royal inherited part of his property and bought the rest from the other heirs. So he owned the west half of the SE quarter of Section 25, and Mary Ann owned the west half of the NE quarter, which adjoined Royal's property on the north. (See map.)

When the War Between the States began, men were called to volunteer for service. On Aug 14, 1862, against the wishes of Mary Ann, her husband Royal enlisted at Detroit. The next day he was mustered into service in Company F, twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry, and on the 29th they were sent to defend Washington, DC. While in service he corresponded with Mary, and excerpts from his letters can be read on his memorial. On Oct 1 Royal's regiment moved into Maryland, and he was promoted to corporal. Then on October 20 they entered Virginia, reaching the outskirts of Fredericksburg in early December. The Battle of Fredericksburg commenced on December 11, 1862. Royal was captured on the 16th and imprisoned in Libby Prison, Richmond, where he died on January 9, 1863. As a widow with two dependent offspring, Mary was granted a military pension of $8 per month. She initiated efforts to recover his remains, but they were not rewarded.

Royal's will bequeathed to his son Elmer the land which had been his father's, and left the rest to Mary, but she may have bought his share informally and then helped him buy land in 1864 in section 36, although he was still a dependent. On Dec. 29, 1866, Mary Ann Potter paid tax on the following properties:
W ½ of SE ¼ of Sec. 25, R9E (Ash); 80 acres
W ½ of NE ¼ of Sec. 25, R9E (Ash); 80 acres
S ½ of S ½ of NE ¼, Sec. 36, R9E (Berlin); 40 a.
E part of SW ¼ of Sec. 8, R10E (Berlin); 91 a.
E part of S part of NW ¼, Sec. 8, R10E; 20 a.

On March 10, 1869, Mary Ann hosted in her home the wedding of her daughter Mary Peters to Charles A. McMillan, and on July 13, 1870, they produced her first grandchild, Lora E. McMillan. The departure of Mary Peters from the Potter home left Mary Ann with her son Elmer and her adopted daughter Martha "Mattie" Smith, as shown in the 1870 census.

On August 15, 1871, Mary was married in Monroe by Rev. James Venning to a mechanic from Ireland named Richard Gilmore, and she moved to his home in Grafton, which was five miles west of the Potter home. Richard was previously married to Mary Donnathy, but she had died a year earlier, on July 17, 1870, with children at home. So after the wedding, Mary moved into Richard's home and left her 20-year-old son Elmer in charge of the Potter farm, with her 17-year-old adopted daughter Mattie in charge of the housekeeping. Because she had remarried, Mary stopped receiving a government pension. A few months after her marriage to Richard, her son Elmer was married to Elva Haley. They had a child Lura on September 30, 1872. On Jan 13, 1873, Richard died and Mary was again a widow. Richard had owned 88 acres of land in Section 20, near Grafton, and Mary did not inherit his land, but evidently she inherited his house in Grafton, where she continued to live. She saw that her son Elmer, 21, was struggling with management of a large farm, and Lura, 18, was struggling with the baby, so Mary Ann, then 48, offered to care for the baby. They agreed, so in June, 1873, she took in baby Lura, who was nine months old. That fall Elmer sold his movable property and moved to Ann Arbor to study medicine, then on to Cincinnati, while pregnant wife Elva went to live with Mary Ann. In Feb 1874 Elva gave birth to Lillian. In 1876 Elmer set up a medical practice in Holland, Ohio, 48 miles from Grafton, and Elva and baby Lillian joined him. Lura was four, and Mary Ann had come to love her as her own, so Elmer and Elva agreed she could keep her. The 1880 census shows Mary Ann and "Laura" living in Grafton, and Lura remained there until her wedding, on December 24, 1892, which Mary Ann hosted in her home.

On Jan 25, 1881, Mary Ann, 56, was married to Job Burnap, 64. Like Mary Ann, Job had lost three previous spouses and had children from two of them, the youngest of which was 16. In 1885 Mary and Job moved a few miles west to Milan village, Washnetaw County, MI, where Mary Ann's adopted daughter Mattie lived. Eventually they owned two cottages on Hurd Street, Milan.

In January, 1897, Mary Ann’s daughter Mary Williams and her grandson Carl came from Kansas to live with them. Mary worked out of the house as a physician and presumably cared for Job. On July 6, 1897, Job Burnap passed away. Sometime after 1902 Mary Williams and her son Carl moved to Missouri, where she was reunited with her husband Benjamin. Mattie moved to Detroit, where her son Paul got a job as a stenographer with a large company. Mary Ann went with them, to 357 Stanton Avenue, and she rented out the two cottages she owned in Milan. In October, 1902, Mary Ann moved back to the Royal Potter homestead, where her son Elmer and his family were now living. The next month she celebrated her 78th birthday party at the homestead, with the following guests: “Dr. Mary Williams, (daughter) and son Carl, of Milan, Mrs. Dora Krencher [Lora Kreuscher] (granddaughter) and son Dale of St. Francis, Kan., Mrs. [Pearl Potter] H.E. Johnson (grand-daughter) and daughter Nola, of Carleton, Mrs. Mattie Necomb (daughter) of Milan, Mr. and Mrs. F.S. Peters and daughter, Mildred, (relatives) of Flat Rock.” (Monroe Record Nov 6, 1901). Later that month, while staying in Carleton and going to church on Sunday night, she “fell into a ditch about 6 feet deep containing about 18 inches of water” and “received very severe bruises and sprains” (Monroe Record Nov 20).

Around 1907, Mattie and her son Paul moved to Seattle, where Paul got a job, and Mary Ann moved in with her son Elmer in Carleton. On Nov 4, 1907, Mary Ann’s daughter-in-law Elva Potter hosted a reception for Mary Ann in Carleton, in celebration of her 83rd birthday, and introduced her to the older ladies of the village. On October 7, 1911, Mary Ann died and was buried in Potter Cemetery. Her son Elmer died shortly afterwards.


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From the memoirs of Mary Ann's son Elmer, conflated [in brackets] with some vital statistics he wrote after her death:
[We lived] on a farm in the township of Ash, Section Twenty Five, Monroe County, State of Michigan, a trifle over a mile up the stream of Swan Creek, from the village of Newport. The creek ran through my father's farm, and immediately by the house was the south bank. We lived but four miles from Lake Erie, and in consequence fish were plenty.
My father, Royal L. Potter, and mother, Mary A. lived happily and contented, enjoying each other's companionship. Never to my knowledge had they any dissension or variance. Love and affection seemed to be the ruling passions. I was taught in my youth by my mother, the principles of Christianity, she being a devout and an earnest every day practical Christian woman.
January 9th 1863 … my father a soldier in the federal army, in the war of the rebellion, died in Libby prison at Richmond Virginia … My mother was left alone, with myself, a half sister and an adopted sister which constituted the household. In [August 15, 1871 (at Monroe)], mother married a Mr. [Richard] Gilmore and moved away, leaving me on the farm, with sister Mattie as housekeeper. My mother, the backbone of good management was gone, and the responsibility was now on my shoulders.
Sept. 30th 1872 the congratulations were made manifest by a fine large baby girl coming to our home. We were delighted and proud of our little one of course. Tenderly she was cared for by loving hands, but for all that, she became sickly, and we had but little hopes of raising her. At the age of nine months she was taken by my mother, that she might have better care and nursing. This care, and the fact that this was the first child of an only son, so wrought upon mother's heart, that she soon learned to love the child as her own, and by her request we gave our consent to let the child, Lura, remain with her grandmother. This she did, until she grew to womanhood, and finally at my mother's home, was married, and started out, as one of a new family.
[Mother was left a widow again Jan. 13th, 1873.] We remained on the farm till autumn of 1873, when we sold our chattels, and I went to the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, to attend medical lectures. My wife during my absence was making her home with my mother at Grafton.
[Mother was married to Job Burnap Jan. 25th 1881, and again left a widow July 6th 1897. Taken sick Oct. 4 1911 with paralysis and died 9.45 a.m. on 7th inst. Buried in Potter cemetery on Monday Oct. 9th 1911, aged 86 yrs 11 mo 3 days.]

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Obituary from The Record-Commercial, October 12, 1911, p, 2, c. 4:
CARLETON Last Wednesday morning Mrs. M. A. Burnap, aged 87 years, living at the home of her son, Dr. Potter, was stricken with paralysis of the left side. She was rendered entirely helpless and devoid of speech, and died Saturday morning at 9:45, Funeral held at the house Monday morning, burial in Potter cemetery. Mrs. Burnap was born in Vermont and settled with her parents in Monroe Co. when wolves howled about the log houses of the settlers. Their mode of travel in the early days was with ox teams and required two weeks to make the trip. She was a member of the Episcopal church from the age of twelve years until a few years ago she became identified with the Free Methodists. She leaves one son, two daughters, seven grand children and four great grand children, besides many other distant relatives and friends to remember her many kindnesses.

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Excerpt from Hats, by Mary Ann's granddaughter Eva (Potter) Woodward. They lived in the same household 1907-1911:

When I was but a little girl
My grandma lived with us,
And I remember what she wore
With very little fuss.
Her hair was white as winter snow
And parted in a line,
Straight down the center, and its seemed
A trifle like a shrine.
My grandma had two bonnets black
To suit the season; then
At Easter, Autumn, Christmas time,
Her bonnet, plain and bare.

Excerpt from “The Good Old Days,” 1974, by Eva Woodward:

My grandma talked of husking bees
And all the games they played;
Of Hallowe'en and fancy dress
In which they were arrayed.

She told of how charades were tops
And other simple plays,
She said they were a part of life
In the good old fashioned days.

It seems that bobbing apples too
Was a favorite way of fun,
Or maybe popping popcorn
When the evening had begun.

They liked to cook up taffy balls
And pulled it o'er and o'er,
And then around the fireplace
They sat upon the floor.

Excerpt from Grandma's Pumpkin Pies, by Eva Woodward:

I like to think of bygone years,
And with my heartfelt sighs,
My memory will take me back
To grandma's pumpkin pies.
They always were an artist's dream
So smooth and shiny brown;
The scalloped flaky crust supreme
Surrounded like a crown.
And Oh, the fragrant, spicy smell
Would always tantalize!
They made Thanksgiving perfect--
My grandma's pumpkin pies
We children in reunions meet
But grandma's task is done,
We often wish we could repeat
Those days so long time gone.

Keen Sight by Eva Woodward

My Grandma wore her spectacles
And she could always see
When some one had a problem
Or were sad as they could be.
I asked her how she always saw
As she could always do
Those things to help somebody then
To lift their burdens too.
And she replied with a small smile
That it was a way she had
To see thro all her busy life
Which things are good or bad.
And so I'd like some spectacles
So I'll have a better view
When I can help some other folk
To choose the right way too.