Mary grew up on her Father's farm next door to the Peter Baker farm. She certainly knew Alfred, but with an age difference of 5 years, he might not have paid much attention to her. She, also, was an excellent student and got her Teachers Certificate in June of 1903. However, teaching would not last long as they married in 1905 and had a child in 1906. When Alfred turned to Mine Management, she became the manager of the company store and accounts, handing out the weekly payroll. In this capacity, she carried a pearl handled pistol, which, unfortunately has been misplaced by the family.

Mary had little time to grieve her husband's death as she had less than a month to decide to move the boys to Russellville when they entered Bethel College. She rented two rooms in a house less than a block from the campus. With a kitchen that she could use, she took one room, the boys the other, and she cooked their meals. Whether this arrangement lasted for the two years at Bethel or not, I'm sure she didn't follow them to Lexington and the UK. She remarried in the late 20s or early 30s to a Central City paint store owner, "Uncle" Jim Dempsey.

As she died before I was 10, I have limited remembrance of her. She was a taller woman, slender like the Henrys, and rarely smiled. She and Jim lived on a small farm just outside Central City and they cared for her 80-year-old Mother. They had a small barn with a fenced in area with a cow, a hog, and chickens. The house had a metal roof and a rain catching cistern for washing water. The kitchen had a hand pump by the sink and Mary had two cast iron stoves: one fired by wood, the other by coal. This gave her the controlled heat required for her delicious meals and deserts. She had a pedal sewing machine and a windup record player with a fold-out horn. And the book case had a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica.