Mary Parker

— Posted inBiography — 3 min read

Mary Parker is my second great grandmother. Mary was born 7 Jan 1839 in Ramsey Township, Lanark County, Upper Canada.1 She was the 5th of 11 known children of Patrick Parker and Mary Murphy, emigrants from Ireland. Her family moved west to Blanshard Township, Perth County, Canada West. Mary is recorded living there in the 1851 census of Canada, which was taken 11 Jan 1852.2 In 1859, her family emigrated again, and Mary is recorded living near North Andover, Wisconsin in the 1860 U.S. Census.3

On 22 Jul 1864, Mary Parker married William Dennis Ryan in Potosi, Wisconsin.4 The family had a farm near North Andover, where Mary is recorded in the 1870 U.S. Census.5 William and Mary had 6 children: Alice, Frances, Mary, Julia, Laura, and Leo. However, shortly after Leo’s birth in 1874, Mary contract typhoid fever, which led to her death on 23 Feb 1875.6 Mary’s remains are buried in St. John’s Cemetery, east of Patch Grove, Wisconsin.7

The featured image was found in the belongings of my great grand aunt, Frances Weiss, Mary Parker’s granddaughter. Someone inscribed “Mary Parker” on the back.

  1. St John the Baptist Church (Perth, Ontario). “Register of Marriages, Baptisms & Burials [1833-1839]”, page 203, item 11, baptism of Mary, daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Murphy; FHL microfilm 5077541 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9TR7-JDG?i=110 : accessed 7 Jan 2022)
  2. “Census of 1851”, database & images, Library and Archives Canada (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1851/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=1107803 : accessed 7 Jan 2022), entry for Mary Parker (age 13), Blanchard [Blanshard], Perth County, Canada West.
  3. 1860 U.S. Census, Grant County, Wisconsin, population schedule, Glen Haven township, page 73, dwelling 572, family 552; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1860 United States Federal Census” (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7667/images/4298904_00185 : accessed 7 Jan 2023).
  4. “Registrations of Marriages, 1836-1907”, Wisconsin Historical Society, Grant County, volume 3, page 248, marriage of William Ryan and Mary Parker.
  5. 1870 U.S. Census, Grant County, Wisconsin, population schedule, Glen Haven township, page 18, dwelling 122, family 128; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1870 United States Federal Census” (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4268461_00301 : accessed 7 Jan 2023).
  6. “Wisconsin, U.S., Death Records, 1959-2004”, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61483/images/47735_00030-02526 : accessed 7 Jan 2023), death register image, entry for Mary Ryan, stamped 02526. Note: the death register in these records and at the Wisconsin Historical Society is a clerk’s copy sent to the state years after Mary Ryan’s death. The date differs by three days from that on her grave marker.
  7. St. John Cemetery (Grant County, Wisconsin; 1.25 miles east of the village of Patch Grove), Mary Ryan marker, personally photographed 2 Jun 2011. Note: Mary Parker Ryan’s marker denotes her date of death as 20 Feb 1875. The date differs from her death record by three days.

Flora Sorenson

— Posted inBiography — 4 min read

Flora Sorenson is my great grandmother. She was born 1 Jan 1889, the daughter of Nils Hansen Sorenson and Katherine (Hansen) Sorenson, the 5th of 7 children.1

On 23 Jul 1910, she married my great grandfather William Solle in Chicago, Illinois.2 The couple resided in Madison, Wisconsin at 1119 Elizabeth St in 1920,3 1930,4 and 1940.5 William died in 1947.6 They had two children, my grandmother Lillian (born 1911) and William (born 1917).7

On 6 May 1950 in Dubuque, Iowa, Flora married widower Michael Lucey.8 They continued to reside in Madison until Michael’s death in 1963.9 In Aug 1965, Flora moved to the San Diego area to live with her son William.10

On 10 Nov 1970, Flora Lucey died at the Tri-City Hospital in Oceanside, California of a ruptured aneurysm. Her remains were cremated.11

By the time I was born in 1970, my grandfather was divorced from Lillian and we were estranged from her and the Solle family. I knew nothing about the Solle and Sorenson relatives as a young person. Finding out who they were was a primary motivation for starting my genealogical journey in 2009. However, I have little knowledge of what Flora was like, nor any photographs of her. I don’t even know the disposition of her cremains. All I know is what I’ve been able to find in records, and those records don’t reveal much of what kind of person Flora was.

  1. Bethel Lutheran Church (Madison, Wisconsin), Ministerial Records of Norwegian Lutheran Congregation of Madison, 1882-1890, Baptisms page 5, entry 4 for Flora daughter of Nils Hansen Sorenson; digital images, Ancestry.com, “U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969” (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/60722/images/41742_314945-00055 : accessed 2 Jan 2023). Note: Some entries on the same page note a year, but the entry for Flora does not, indicating that she was most likely baptized the same year she was born, 1889. However, her death records state a birth date of 1 Jan 1888, which could be consistent with this record if the year was mistakenly omitted.
  2. “Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1968”, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7CW-1JG : downloaded 3 Sep 2012), William Lolle [sic] and Flora Sorensen, 23 Jul 1910. Note: Images may be viewed only at a Family History Center or an affiliate library.
  3. 1920 U.S. Census, Dane County, Wisconsin, population schedule, Madison, enumeration district (ED) 56, sheet 4A, dwelling 59, family 73; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1920 United States Federal Census” (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6061/images/4390346_00874 : accessed 2 Jan 2023).
  4. 1930 U.S. Census, Dane County, Wisconsin, population schedule, Madison, ED 13-44, sheet 10A, dwelling 197, family 240; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1930 United States Federal Census” (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4547875_00266 : accessed 2 Jan 2023)
  5. 1940 U.S. Census, Dane County, Wisconsin, Madison, ED 13-42, sheet 4A, household 76; digital image, National Archives and Records Administration, “1940 Census Population Schedules, Enumeration District Maps, and Enumeration District Descriptions” (s3://nara-1940-census/population-schedules/wi/dane-county/ed/13-42/m-t0627-04469-00244.jpg : downloaded 22 Apr 2021)
  6. Dane County, Wisconsin, death certificate, local registrar’s no. 57 (1947), William Solle; Dane County Register of Deeds, Madison.
  7. 1920 U.S. Census, Dane County, Wisconsin, population schedule, Madison, ED 56, sheet 4A, dwelling 59, family 73.
  8. “Solle-Lucey Marriage Announced”, Wisconsin State Journal, 10 May 1950, section 2, page 4, column 3; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/402313645/ : accessed 2 Jan 2022)
  9. Dane County, Wisconsin, death certificate, state death no. 151 (1963), Michael Eugene Lucey; Dane County Register of Deeds, Madison.
  10. “Moves to California”, Wisconsin State Journal, 15 Aug 1965, section 5, page 2, column 4 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/402363431/ : downloaded 6 Aug 2022)
  11. San Diego County, California, death certificate, state file no. 70-146391 (1970), Flora Lucey; San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk, San Diego.