Mary Grace Houston was born November 27, 1889 at 297 Bissell, Chicago, Illinois. She was the eldest child of Thomas Watson and Zula Lenora Suydam Houston. Her father was studying at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago at the time of her birth. Upon his graduation in 1891, he was ordained a Presbyterian Minister and the family went to China where Thomas served as a missionary for nine years. The accompanying photo was taken in 1894 or early 1895 on a trip to Shanghai. The family was still living at the Presbyterian Mission in Nanking at the time.
Returning to the States when she was 10, Mary lived first in Beaumont,California before the family settled first in Leavenworth, then Lansing and finally in 1912 in Baldwin, Kansas. In Baldwin Mary attended the Conservatory of Music for voice and piano. Frank Allis visited the Houston home as a college friend at Baker U. of Mary's sister Lyda, but Mary was the girl who won his heart. In 1914, Mary and Frank Allis announced their engagement and were soon married . In the spring of 1917, Frank enlisted in the air force and after taking pilot training in California he was commissioned as a lieutenant and sent to France. In October of 1917, their son Howard Allis was born.
After the war Frank and Mary divorced. Mary moved to Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado where her parents had settled. She took up a homestead next to her father and her sister Zula Marjorie, and adjoining cabins were built on the three corners of land. In September 1924, Mary was traveling in a car driven by her father up the steep mountain road out of Hot Sulphur Springs when an out of control car coming down the mountain road, forced their car off the road and it rolled 60 feet down into the Canyon. Howard and his cousins Marjorie and Dorothy were thrown clear of the car and emerged with barely a scratch. Thomas suffered broken ribs and bruises, but Mary stayed in the car until it came to rest at the bottom of the canyon where she died.
Returning to the States when she was 10, Mary lived first in Beaumont,California before the family settled first in Leavenworth, then Lansing and finally in 1912 in Baldwin, Kansas. In Baldwin Mary attended the Conservatory of Music for voice and piano. Frank Allis visited the Houston home as a college friend at Baker U. of Mary's sister Lyda, but Mary was the girl who won his heart. In 1914, Mary and Frank Allis announced their engagement and were soon married . In the spring of 1917, Frank enlisted in the air force and after taking pilot training in California he was commissioned as a lieutenant and sent to France. In October of 1917, their son Howard Allis was born.
After the war Frank and Mary divorced. Mary moved to Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado where her parents had settled. She took up a homestead next to her father and her sister Zula Marjorie, and adjoining cabins were built on the three corners of land. In September 1924, Mary was traveling in a car driven by her father up the steep mountain road out of Hot Sulphur Springs when an out of control car coming down the mountain road, forced their car off the road and it rolled 60 feet down into the Canyon. Howard and his cousins Marjorie and Dorothy were thrown clear of the car and emerged with barely a scratch. Thomas suffered broken ribs and bruises, but Mary stayed in the car until it came to rest at the bottom of the canyon where she died.
Mary Grace Houston was born November 27, 1889 at 297 Bissell, Chicago, Illinois. She was the eldest child of Thomas Watson and Zula Lenora Suydam Houston. Her father was studying at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago at the time of her birth. Upon his graduation in 1891, he was ordained a Presbyterian Minister and the family went to China where Thomas served as a missionary for nine years. The accompanying photo was taken in 1894 or early 1895 on a trip to Shanghai. The family was still living at the Presbyterian Mission in Nanking at the time.
Returning to the States when she was 10, Mary lived first in Beaumont,California before the family settled first in Leavenworth, then Lansing and finally in 1912 in Baldwin, Kansas. In Baldwin Mary attended the Conservatory of Music for voice and piano. Frank Allis visited the Houston home as a college friend at Baker U. of Mary's sister Lyda, but Mary was the girl who won his heart. In 1914, Mary and Frank Allis announced their engagement and were soon married . In the spring of 1917, Frank enlisted in the air force and after taking pilot training in California he was commissioned as a lieutenant and sent to France. In October of 1917, their son Howard Allis was born.
After the war Frank and Mary divorced. Mary moved to Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado where her parents had settled. She took up a homestead next to her father and her sister Zula Marjorie, and adjoining cabins were built on the three corners of land. In September 1924, Mary was traveling in a car driven by her father up the steep mountain road out of Hot Sulphur Springs when an out of control car coming down the mountain road, forced their car off the road and it rolled 60 feet down into the Canyon. Howard and his cousins Marjorie and Dorothy were thrown clear of the car and emerged with barely a scratch. Thomas suffered broken ribs and bruises, but Mary stayed in the car until it came to rest at the bottom of the canyon where she died.
Returning to the States when she was 10, Mary lived first in Beaumont,California before the family settled first in Leavenworth, then Lansing and finally in 1912 in Baldwin, Kansas. In Baldwin Mary attended the Conservatory of Music for voice and piano. Frank Allis visited the Houston home as a college friend at Baker U. of Mary's sister Lyda, but Mary was the girl who won his heart. In 1914, Mary and Frank Allis announced their engagement and were soon married . In the spring of 1917, Frank enlisted in the air force and after taking pilot training in California he was commissioned as a lieutenant and sent to France. In October of 1917, their son Howard Allis was born.
After the war Frank and Mary divorced. Mary moved to Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado where her parents had settled. She took up a homestead next to her father and her sister Zula Marjorie, and adjoining cabins were built on the three corners of land. In September 1924, Mary was traveling in a car driven by her father up the steep mountain road out of Hot Sulphur Springs when an out of control car coming down the mountain road, forced their car off the road and it rolled 60 feet down into the Canyon. Howard and his cousins Marjorie and Dorothy were thrown clear of the car and emerged with barely a scratch. Thomas suffered broken ribs and bruises, but Mary stayed in the car until it came to rest at the bottom of the canyon where she died.
