Fearless Females: Unexpected Death

March 11 — Did you have any female ancestors who died young or from tragic or unexpected circumstances? Describe and how did this affect the family?

Ellen (King) Wright, standing, third from right

Ellen (KING) WRIGHT, my maternal 2nd-great grandmother, died on Christmas Eve in 1913 at the age of 45.  The official cause of death was mitral regurgitation.  Her obituary states :

From: Alexandria, IN Times-Tribune, December 26, 1913

Mrs. John Wright, age 45 years, passed away after several years illness of heart trouble.  Mrs. Wright had been a sufferer from heart trouble for years and six weeks ago the case developed into a leakage of the heart.   She is survived by a husband and two sons, Virgil and Chester, age 17 and 18.  James King and Ben King, residing at Orestes, are brothers of the deceased, and Mrs. Mary Young of Orestes, is a sister.  The funeral will occur from the country home four miles southwest of the city tommorrow morning at 10:30 o'clock and burial will be made in the Odd Fellows cemetery.

 The story I've been told was that my great-grandfather, Virgil, didn't like to celebrate Christmas as an adult because of the memories of the death of his mother.  I can understand why.


In writing this post, I realized that I don't really have a good picture of her.  The picture above is a gathering of the King side of the family, I believe.


Once again, in honor of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

Photo: The Girl With The Doll

Ruby Lambertson [?]

This photo was one that my mom's cousin, Mike WALSH, let me scan during our recent visit.  I believe that it must be of his mother, Ruby LAMBERTSON, but the photo was not identified.  

Fearless Females: Faith

March 10 — What role did religion play in your family? How did your female ancestors practice their faith? If they did not, why didn’t they? Did you have any female ancestors who served their churches in some capacity?


Faith definitely played a role in the lives of the females of my family.  In the recent past, I'm familiar with my grandmother Wright's being a member of the church choir at a Disciples of Christ church and I know that my grandmother LeMaster was brought up in the Evangelical United Brethren church (now United Methodist).


In tracing my genealogy, I've found members of my family involved in a number of Protestant denominations, some of which allowed for more involvement by females than others.  Those who were members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) were more likely to have an active leadership role.  For example, I know that my maternal 6th-great grandmother, Charity (MENDENHALL) MILLS was appointed a clerk of the Lost Creek Monthly Meeting and in 1801 was recommended to be an elder.  I'm sure there were other examples, but this is one aspect that I've yet to research.


Once again, in honor of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.