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Christopher Walker wins the prize! If you recall, according to Hazel, her father Albert Henry’s mother Mary Elizabeth Morton died in childbirth with Albert. His father Hiram remarried soon after and his second wife Hannah Evans did not want his children, so Albert was raised by his mother’s sister Dica Jane Morton Ebey a.k.a. Aunt Dicey.

Christopher found indexes to possible records for Albert’s birth and Mary’s death. I have ordered the records from Brown County, Illinois and we will just have to wait and see what arrives!

* June 2024 Update *

I didn’t have access to this site for a few years but I did order the above mentioned documents back in 2016. The indexed death record appears to be a different Mary. I uploaded it for posterity but we still have no record for Mary Elizabeth Morton Henry’s death. We can say, however, that she died on or after 10 May 1885 but before 17 Oct 1885 when Hiram married Hannah.

However, we do now have Albert Henry’s birth record! He was born 10 May 1885 in Cooperstown, Brown County, Illinois. There’s no first name listed on the certificate, however the birth date is correct (although some records erroneously say Albert was born 10 May 1884) and the birth certificate states the baby was Mary’s 4th child, which tracks. It also tells us Mary and Hiram were both born in Illinois and they were aged 26 and 28 years, respectively, the family lived in Cooperstown, and Hiram’s occupation was laborer.

In other very exciting news, we now have our first ever image of Mary Elizabeth Morton Henry! Above you can see a portrait if Mary and Hiram uploaded by Ancestry user CynaraTracieKluever40.

Mystery

In summary, great progress has been made but the question remains:

• Where and when did Mary die?
• Where is she buried?

Here’s what we do know:

• Mary’s parents were both born in Kentucky they married 10 Aug 1848 in Brown County, Illinois
  • Samuel K. Morton, cooper, sometimes listed as Saul on documents
    • d. before 1900
  • Julia Ann Riddle
    • b. July 1826 in Kentucky.
    • Julia’s father was born in NC & her mother in VA.
• Mary was born about 1859 in Illinois.
• Mary was one of 4 children of Samuel Morton and Julia Ann Riddle
  1. Lydia Ann (Morton) Hagerty b. about 1853 in Illinois; m. John Buskirk 26 Jan 1868 in Adams County; m. Paul Hagerty 1878 in Brown County; d. after 1880
  2. Samuel Morton b. about 1857 in Illinois; d. after 1870
  3. Mary Elizabeth Morton (1858-1885)
  4. Dica Jane “Dicey” Morton b. about 1862 in Illinois; m. Charles William Ebey 13 Oct 1878 in Cooperstown, Brown County; d. before 1900
• In 1860 the family lived in Marion Township, Monroe County, Missouri
• Mary is often listed by her middle name Elizabeth on documents.
• Dicey was also sometimes listed by her middle name Jane.
• In 1870 the Mortons lived in Concord, Adams County.
• Mary and Hiram were married on 21 March 1876 in Adams County
• In 1880, the Mary and Hiram lived in Lee Township, Brown County.
• At the time of Albert’s birth, the family lived in Cooperstown, Brown County.
• Mary died between 10 May 1885-17 Oct 1885.
• Mary was survived by 4 children:
  1. Roxie L. (Henry) Martin (1877-1967)
  2. Charles B. Henry b. 27 Nov 1879 (link to record) in Lee Township, Brown County; m. Magdalena “Lena” E. Bruckmann 24 Aug 1904 in Covington, Kenton County, Kentucky; d. 3 Jul 1937 in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio
  3. Otis Lloyd Henry (1882-1918)
  4. Albert Levi Henry (1884-1954)
• At the time of Hiram’s remarriage, he lived in Clayton, Adams County.
• Hiram Henry and Hannah (sometimes listed as Anna) Evans had 7 children:
  1. Franklin Hurley Henry
  2. Earl Howard Henry
  3. Lawrence H Henry
  4. Bessie M (Henry) Wages (1895-1991)
  5. Jesse Martin Henry (1897-1941)
  6. Gladys M Henry (b. 1899)
  7. Helen M. Henry Rasch (1901-1966)
• In 1900, the Hiram Henry Family lived in Mound Township, McDonough County, Illinois. Mary’s son Charles, who was 21 years old and unmarried, lived with them.
• In 1900, Dicey’s children lived with their grandmother Julia in Cooperstown, Brown County.