Mary Jane Houseworth was born March 13, 1841 to John and Margaret Houseworth in Nockamixon, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Nothing more is known of her childhood years. Some of her descendents have visited Bucks County and there are quite a few Houseworths still in the area.

When she was 18 years old she married John McCammon who lived next to her in Nockamixon. They built a home in Nockamixon and started their life together.

Mary Jane had a difficult life. She would eventually be a mother to 14 children most of who she never had the opportunity to raise to adulthood. Several died as infants. At the time of her death in 1920 she was survived by only three children.

Not long after her marriage to John they began to move from one area of the country to another. Their first move was to Junction City, Kansas. During that move she and John were accompanied by her sister Anna Lane Houseworth. They did not stay there very long but moved to Osborne, Kansas. There is no record of any of her family making that move with them. It would be the last time it is known that she saw any of her family. Several other moves occurred, each of a relative short duration. The next move was to Corrine, Utah, followed by a move to Willard, Utah. From Willard the family moved to a homestead in the Bear Lake area of Idaho. It was located about ten miles north of Georgetown near the Bear River.

They hadn't been there too long and John wanted to move again. This time to Boise, Idaho. Not much has been documented about this part of her life but for whatever reason, she refused to make the move to Boise. John went to Boise and lived at the veteran's home there. He had some kind of employment there but did not seem to contribute much for the support of Mary Jane and her family. She was alone for several years while John stayed in Boise. (He had been seriously wounded in the civil war and may not have been able to do the kind of work required to run a farm. It is possible that she was simply tired of moving around the country.)

She not only had her own family to support but she had the added burden of her son William's two children. His wife, Effie May, died following a farm accident. William (Bill) was away much of the time and so she took Jesse and Emily to raise.

A granddaughter, Lavoi Smith, made the following observation. "Grandma endured some very difficult times. She told my grandmother that her children would have so few clothes that she had to wash their clothes at night and dry them while the children were in bed. She learned to get along with what she had and couldn't bear to see waste of any kind."

The following is her obituary from Montpelier News Examiner

Mrs. Mary Jane McCammon died in this city last Tuesday morning at the house of her daughter, Mrs. Charles Gaskins. Death was caused from neuralgia, with which she suffered for many years.

The deceased, whose maiden name was Houseworth, was born in Bucks County Pa. on March 13, 1841. She grew to womanhood there and on October 18, 1859 she was united in marriage to John McCammon. They came to Kansas in 1865 where they lived until Mr. McCammon took up a homestead near Georgetown. Twelve years later he passed to the great beyond.

Mrs. McCammon was the mother of 14 children, three being triplets—the first triplets born in the state of Utah, two girls and one boy. The three died in their infancy. The three surviving children are John, William of Georgetown, and Mrs. Charles Gaskins of this city.

For several years, Mrs. McCammon had made her home in Montpelier, living with her daughter for the past six months owing to her failing health.

Short funeral services were held at the home of her daughter yesterday afternoon and the body was taken to the home of William McCammon in Georgetown where it remained until this afternoon when funeral services will be held in the Georgetown Meeting House.

**Note: the statement about the triplets is incorrect. Research shows an earlier set of triplets being born in Utah.

Mary Jane was buried next to her son Thomas McCammon in the Georgetown, Idaho Cemetery.