Where an I going? Southeastern Kansas! Yes, I know it doesn't sound all that glamorous and exciting -- but to a genealogist on a quest it sounds perfect. What is my quest? Trying to find the ending story of Mary Ann Gray Meech. I first met her as a young girl in 1850 living with her grandparents, Richard and Dorcas Champion. I was finding my connection to the Champion family and didn't pay much attention to the little girl named Mary Ann. It was many years later that I made the connection to another line of ancestors the Meech boys, Dennis B and William Wallace Meech. They married cousins, Margaret Pryor and Mary Ann Gray. The girls were daughters of Champion daughters. The two Meech couples migrated to southeastern Kansas and remained there the rest of their lives. Mary Ann Gray Meech was the wife of William Wallace Meech. I am descended from Margaret Pryor and Dennis B Meech, but I have been sort of haunted by Mary Ann the last few years. Her husband died in 1905 in Cedar County Missouri and he left all of his property to his beloved wife Mary Ann. But that is the end of what I can find about her and it bothers me that I can't find her ending story. If she is buried next to her husband in Prescott, Kansas she does not have a tombstone. I find no evidence of her anywhere after 1905, She is not in the 1910 or 1920 US Censuses.
So what is the solution? Go there and snoop around. Mary Ann is typical of women in the 1800's and early 1900's. Many times they just fade into the distance with no one caring or trying to find the end of their story. Wish me luck in my latest detective adventure.
Of course, if you have read my blog for very long you know I really like travelling the little back roads. So this trip will be no different. I will report back after the trip is done.
Stay tuned, Patj
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