Following Mary’s death, Will broke up housekeeping
and went to work for his oldest brother, John W. McCulloh.[16] His infant son, Archie, was cared for by his sister, Haddie McCulloh
George, until Will remarried.[17]
An interesting addendum to this account of Mary’s life is the foreshadowing that occurred
in the months preceding her death. One day in the summer of 1892 Mary and Will, who were acquainted with the Samuel Longanecker
family, were riding past the Longanecker farm. Mary pointed out a teen-aged girl in the yard tending to some small children.
She commented to Will that Maria Longanecker was a “nice, motherly girl” and “will make some man a good wife and lovely mother for
their children.” In December of that year, Maria Gsell Longanecker (Mrs. Samuel) helped prepare the body of Mary McCulloh for
burial. Two years later, in the summer of 1894, when Will was riding past the Longanecker farm he heard Mary’s voice once again
telling him about Maria…”a nice motherly girl…and she will make some man a good wife and a lovely mother for their children.” Will heeded Mary’s words and got Samuel Longanecker’s permission to court Maria.[18] In December of that year, Will McCulloh
and Maria Longanecker were married and she did, in fact, become a devoted and loving mother to Mary’s and Will’s son, Archie.
Endnotes
[1] Mary’s date of birth was determined using her date of death and her age at death (32 years 11 months 18 days) as inscribed on her grave stone.
[2] 1860, 1870 and 1880 Federal Census records
[3] Sweigert family history posted on Ancestry.com by Sweigert descendents
[4] Oral family history told by Archie McCulloh to Merlin McCulloh to Maureen McCulloh Hollmeyer
[5] Sterling Gazette, Monday, November 7, 1938, page 3 and Emma Cleverstone descendent
[6] Sweigert family history posted on Ancestry.com by descendents of Gideon and George Sweigert; 1900, 1910 and 1920 Federal Census records
[7]
[8]
[9] The Whiteside Sentinel, December 22, 1892, page 1 (dateline December 19, 1892)
[10] Vida M. Yoder, “Scenes from a Brethren in Christ Childhood in
[11]Oral family history told by Haddie McCulloh George to Abbie Sider McCulloh to Merlin McCulloh to Maureen McCulloh Hollmeyer
[12] The Whiteside Sentinel, page 1 (dateline December 19, 1892)
[13] Yoder, p. 349
[14] Presumed cause of death held by three generations of Mary’s descendents
[15] The Whiteside Sentinel, December 29, 1892, page 1 (dateline December 26, 1892)
[16] The Whiteside Sentinel, page 1 (dateline December 26, 1892)
[17]Oral family history told by Archie McCulloh to Merlin McCulloh to Maureen McCulloh Hollmeyer
[18] Yoder, pp. 350-351
