"Died suddenly March 12, 1902." - From the records of Ridge Avenue Methodist church, removing Mary from the rolls
Mary Storkey was my great great grandmother. We have no date of birth known for her; records say only "aged 69 years", so she was born about 1833. The 1900 census shows her as born January 1833.
This lady had been an enigma for many years; it was only in getting her son's death certificate that we learn her maiden name was "Keeley". At the time she married into my family her marriage certificate named her as "Mrs. Mary Ann Lehman" suggesting she'd been married before, but not giving her own origins. Now that we know her name, let's work on her story at last.
Her probable father Charles Keeley/Keely appears on censuses in Roxborough from 1820-1840 and finally the family is viewable in total on the 1850 census. There, as a 16 year old girl, Mary Ann appears in the home of Charles (age 60, a farmer) and Margaret Keely (age 58) along with her probable siblings Susan (21) Rebecca (17) and Elmira (13). Also in the home are 58 year old William Keely (probably her uncle, listed as having no occupation) and seven year old George Stevens.
This spelling, Keely, is probably the correct one, as there is a man who matches Charles' name and age at Roxborough Presbyterian here. At an 1854 congregation meeting, he was elected a deacon along with John Levering, Joseph Layre, and Christian Rex.
Mary Storkey was the second wife of William Storkey. He had been widowed by his first wife Barbara in 1864.
William married Mary a few years later, on March 7, 1867; I can say this with certainty having seen the marriage certificate, the paperwork and marriage performed by A. W. Milby, Minister of the Gospel. Mary is listed as "Mrs. Mary Ann Lehman". Not her maiden name so finding her was a tall order.
Mary Ann appears on the 1860 census prior to her second marriage. She'd have been about age 27. In looking, there is a 25 year old Maria A Lehman in the 22nd Ward living with her probable mother in law Ann Lehman and her own daughter, Ella, but no husband is present. I did not know his name until I got the death certificate of this daughter Ella, and he is named as Samuel Lehman whom I am yet to definitely identify. Then I later learned Mary had had a son too, and his death certificate names his father as Henry Lehman... whom I also cannot find at this time.
Marital statuses were not given, so it is not known to me if she was yet married to Mr. Lehman in 1860 for that census or if she had been widowed, or even deserted. Still, it is intriguing to note there is one Lehman, by the name of James, age 26, born in Pennsylvania, who was a conductor. This resonates for me because her son, my great grandpa, would have a career as a conductor. And her husband's apparent brother also was a conductor as well, Robert.
So having found her on the 1860 census with her probable mother in law, then let's go back one more census to 1850 and see if we can find Samuel there. I looked for one close to Mary's birth in 1833, and found one born 1832. At first my jaw dropped looking at the "household" of many young boys with dissimilar surnames, but realized it is a home of some sort... oh look, it's the Colored House of Refuge and he's a black 18 year old... likely not my gent.
So then there's a Samuel on the same census born about 1820, an age stretch but possible... except he's with his wife Hannah, who is not Mary Ann by another name because his wife was born 1821 or so. There's also a 78 year old Samuel Lehman in the city, far too old, while the remaining one, born 1846 is far too young. There's also a Samuel at 444 Vine who died in 1855 and had me very excited, until searching further in obits and death records... where his wife is named as Edith.
Taking another approach... if Mary Ann had indeed been married and widowed, her husband died before she was remarried in 1867. So shall we look at city death certificates for Lehman gents who died before that? I tried to find men men on City death records who died in the logical timeframe, and none show a wife named Mary or similar, but many death records do not show a spouse's name, even when they are marked as having been married. There are plenty of dead men named Lehman though. For now, I must proceed with her narrative from what is known.
The gent who wed Mary Ann and her second husband William Storkey, Reverend Milby, seems to be Arthur W. Milby, who appears in the 1870 census in Frederica, Kent County, Delaware as a 51 year old Methodist minister. Rev. Milby became a church elder in the 1840's and was chosen by the bishop to serve on an education committee along with his regular duties. It is unknown to me what churches he served in, but genealogy found elsewhere suggests Mary and William were married at Ridge Avenue Methodist Church (location of where the vows were made is not stated on the certificate). That Rev. Milby was Methodist would make sense for our William, as many of William's kin are buried at Stony Bank Methodist church in Delaware County Pennsylvania.
We may be sure that Mary Ann had to step up to the plate and finish raising her two stepdaughters. On the 1870 census, the family appears together with William, Mary, the two girls from William's first marriage (Georgeanna and Mary E),along with Mary's daughter from her first marriage (Ella) along with their new son William, age 2.
They appear together again on the 1880 census where she was 47 years old, so the age is close and works, as does the fact this lady was recorded as a resident of Roxborough (on Ridge Avenue). Her husband William was age 58 (so born about 1822) and was a laborer at the time (though earlier in his life he had been a farmer). They show a son, Willie H., age 13, thus born about 1867. The girls have moved out by this time.
Mary's death certificate, indicating cause of death was a heart attack, also shows she was interred March 17, 1902, which would have been 10 days after the couple's 35th wedding anniversary.
The Ambler Gazette of March 20, 1902 reported on her death and her daughter, Georgeanna (with bad spelling) on page 1:
Storky, Mrs. William
Broad Axe. Mrs. William Swaincott and children attended the funeral on Monday of Mrs. William Storky, of Roxborough. Deceased was Mrs. Swaincott's mother. (Step-daughter Georgeanna's dates are 1850 - 1924.)
Sadly, Mrs. Storkey's husband (right age, same street of residence, same doctor and undertaker, and burial in same cemetery) died April 10, 1902, so he, an invalid, perhaps lacking care or perhaps heartbroken, followed her not even a month later.
I have thought about what her death meant to her family in human terms. Besides leaving a grieving husband, she was stepmother to two girls, the children from her husband's first marriage; is unknown what their relationship was with her but it was a long one since the girls' mother died when they were young. Mary had three biological children, my great grandpa William, who may have been the one to place a stone for her, and her two Lehman children from her first union, Harry and Ella. Her husband William died not long after Mary, but he is not inscribed on the stone. There is surely room for inscription though it has been further labelled "Mother". A separate stone for him has not yet been found, though he is known to be interred at Leverington Cemetery. Passing away not even a month after she did, we might draw our own conclusions of the cause.
NOTE: Please see the pictures connected to this record to view the above-mentioned obit and social mention snippets, as well as the death certificate. Though they may not appear properly on the front page view, if you click on each, the enlargement will appear viewable.
(Speculation to follow in the future: Germantown's German Reformed Church (whose records are classed as Presbyterian) records that Charles Keely and wife Margaret were the sponsors at the baptism of Henry Keely, who was born 1812 and baptized 1814, his parents named as Henry and Elizabeth Keely. Henry and Elizabeth Keely (recorded as Kiely) would have a son Jesse in 1804, who they sponsored and baptized in 1805.
Charles and Margaret are named as sponsors for Elizabeth, their own daughter, who was born and baptized 1815. The Charles Keely I think was Mary Ann's father, born 1789, would have been 26 at this birth, completely logical.)
The name of Oliver S Keely appears as an appraiser on Mary Ann's estate. Oliver married Rae/Ray C Fulmer in 1886 at First Presbyterian Church of Manayunk which is also considered as being in Roxborough depending who you ask.
Mary Storkey was my great great grandmother. We have no date of birth known for her; records say only "aged 69 years", so she was born about 1833. The 1900 census shows her as born January 1833.
This lady had been an enigma for many years; it was only in getting her son's death certificate that we learn her maiden name was "Keeley". At the time she married into my family her marriage certificate named her as "Mrs. Mary Ann Lehman" suggesting she'd been married before, but not giving her own origins. Now that we know her name, let's work on her story at last.
Her probable father Charles Keeley/Keely appears on censuses in Roxborough from 1820-1840 and finally the family is viewable in total on the 1850 census. There, as a 16 year old girl, Mary Ann appears in the home of Charles (age 60, a farmer) and Margaret Keely (age 58) along with her probable siblings Susan (21) Rebecca (17) and Elmira (13). Also in the home are 58 year old William Keely (probably her uncle, listed as having no occupation) and seven year old George Stevens.
This spelling, Keely, is probably the correct one, as there is a man who matches Charles' name and age at Roxborough Presbyterian here. At an 1854 congregation meeting, he was elected a deacon along with John Levering, Joseph Layre, and Christian Rex.
Mary Storkey was the second wife of William Storkey. He had been widowed by his first wife Barbara in 1864.
William married Mary a few years later, on March 7, 1867; I can say this with certainty having seen the marriage certificate, the paperwork and marriage performed by A. W. Milby, Minister of the Gospel. Mary is listed as "Mrs. Mary Ann Lehman". Not her maiden name so finding her was a tall order.
Mary Ann appears on the 1860 census prior to her second marriage. She'd have been about age 27. In looking, there is a 25 year old Maria A Lehman in the 22nd Ward living with her probable mother in law Ann Lehman and her own daughter, Ella, but no husband is present. I did not know his name until I got the death certificate of this daughter Ella, and he is named as Samuel Lehman whom I am yet to definitely identify. Then I later learned Mary had had a son too, and his death certificate names his father as Henry Lehman... whom I also cannot find at this time.
Marital statuses were not given, so it is not known to me if she was yet married to Mr. Lehman in 1860 for that census or if she had been widowed, or even deserted. Still, it is intriguing to note there is one Lehman, by the name of James, age 26, born in Pennsylvania, who was a conductor. This resonates for me because her son, my great grandpa, would have a career as a conductor. And her husband's apparent brother also was a conductor as well, Robert.
So having found her on the 1860 census with her probable mother in law, then let's go back one more census to 1850 and see if we can find Samuel there. I looked for one close to Mary's birth in 1833, and found one born 1832. At first my jaw dropped looking at the "household" of many young boys with dissimilar surnames, but realized it is a home of some sort... oh look, it's the Colored House of Refuge and he's a black 18 year old... likely not my gent.
So then there's a Samuel on the same census born about 1820, an age stretch but possible... except he's with his wife Hannah, who is not Mary Ann by another name because his wife was born 1821 or so. There's also a 78 year old Samuel Lehman in the city, far too old, while the remaining one, born 1846 is far too young. There's also a Samuel at 444 Vine who died in 1855 and had me very excited, until searching further in obits and death records... where his wife is named as Edith.
Taking another approach... if Mary Ann had indeed been married and widowed, her husband died before she was remarried in 1867. So shall we look at city death certificates for Lehman gents who died before that? I tried to find men men on City death records who died in the logical timeframe, and none show a wife named Mary or similar, but many death records do not show a spouse's name, even when they are marked as having been married. There are plenty of dead men named Lehman though. For now, I must proceed with her narrative from what is known.
The gent who wed Mary Ann and her second husband William Storkey, Reverend Milby, seems to be Arthur W. Milby, who appears in the 1870 census in Frederica, Kent County, Delaware as a 51 year old Methodist minister. Rev. Milby became a church elder in the 1840's and was chosen by the bishop to serve on an education committee along with his regular duties. It is unknown to me what churches he served in, but genealogy found elsewhere suggests Mary and William were married at Ridge Avenue Methodist Church (location of where the vows were made is not stated on the certificate). That Rev. Milby was Methodist would make sense for our William, as many of William's kin are buried at Stony Bank Methodist church in Delaware County Pennsylvania.
We may be sure that Mary Ann had to step up to the plate and finish raising her two stepdaughters. On the 1870 census, the family appears together with William, Mary, the two girls from William's first marriage (Georgeanna and Mary E),along with Mary's daughter from her first marriage (Ella) along with their new son William, age 2.
They appear together again on the 1880 census where she was 47 years old, so the age is close and works, as does the fact this lady was recorded as a resident of Roxborough (on Ridge Avenue). Her husband William was age 58 (so born about 1822) and was a laborer at the time (though earlier in his life he had been a farmer). They show a son, Willie H., age 13, thus born about 1867. The girls have moved out by this time.
Mary's death certificate, indicating cause of death was a heart attack, also shows she was interred March 17, 1902, which would have been 10 days after the couple's 35th wedding anniversary.
The Ambler Gazette of March 20, 1902 reported on her death and her daughter, Georgeanna (with bad spelling) on page 1:
Storky, Mrs. William
Broad Axe. Mrs. William Swaincott and children attended the funeral on Monday of Mrs. William Storky, of Roxborough. Deceased was Mrs. Swaincott's mother. (Step-daughter Georgeanna's dates are 1850 - 1924.)
Sadly, Mrs. Storkey's husband (right age, same street of residence, same doctor and undertaker, and burial in same cemetery) died April 10, 1902, so he, an invalid, perhaps lacking care or perhaps heartbroken, followed her not even a month later.
I have thought about what her death meant to her family in human terms. Besides leaving a grieving husband, she was stepmother to two girls, the children from her husband's first marriage; is unknown what their relationship was with her but it was a long one since the girls' mother died when they were young. Mary had three biological children, my great grandpa William, who may have been the one to place a stone for her, and her two Lehman children from her first union, Harry and Ella. Her husband William died not long after Mary, but he is not inscribed on the stone. There is surely room for inscription though it has been further labelled "Mother". A separate stone for him has not yet been found, though he is known to be interred at Leverington Cemetery. Passing away not even a month after she did, we might draw our own conclusions of the cause.
NOTE: Please see the pictures connected to this record to view the above-mentioned obit and social mention snippets, as well as the death certificate. Though they may not appear properly on the front page view, if you click on each, the enlargement will appear viewable.
(Speculation to follow in the future: Germantown's German Reformed Church (whose records are classed as Presbyterian) records that Charles Keely and wife Margaret were the sponsors at the baptism of Henry Keely, who was born 1812 and baptized 1814, his parents named as Henry and Elizabeth Keely. Henry and Elizabeth Keely (recorded as Kiely) would have a son Jesse in 1804, who they sponsored and baptized in 1805.
Charles and Margaret are named as sponsors for Elizabeth, their own daughter, who was born and baptized 1815. The Charles Keely I think was Mary Ann's father, born 1789, would have been 26 at this birth, completely logical.)
The name of Oliver S Keely appears as an appraiser on Mary Ann's estate. Oliver married Rae/Ray C Fulmer in 1886 at First Presbyterian Church of Manayunk which is also considered as being in Roxborough depending who you ask.
"Died suddenly March 12, 1902." - From the records of Ridge Avenue Methodist church, removing Mary from the rolls
Mary Storkey was my great great grandmother. We have no date of birth known for her; records say only "aged 69 years", so she was born about 1833. The 1900 census shows her as born January 1833.
This lady had been an enigma for many years; it was only in getting her son's death certificate that we learn her maiden name was "Keeley". At the time she married into my family her marriage certificate named her as "Mrs. Mary Ann Lehman" suggesting she'd been married before, but not giving her own origins. Now that we know her name, let's work on her story at last.
Her probable father Charles Keeley/Keely appears on censuses in Roxborough from 1820-1840 and finally the family is viewable in total on the 1850 census. There, as a 16 year old girl, Mary Ann appears in the home of Charles (age 60, a farmer) and Margaret Keely (age 58) along with her probable siblings Susan (21) Rebecca (17) and Elmira (13). Also in the home are 58 year old William Keely (probably her uncle, listed as having no occupation) and seven year old George Stevens.
This spelling, Keely, is probably the correct one, as there is a man who matches Charles' name and age at Roxborough Presbyterian here. At an 1854 congregation meeting, he was elected a deacon along with John Levering, Joseph Layre, and Christian Rex.
Mary Storkey was the second wife of William Storkey. He had been widowed by his first wife Barbara in 1864.
William married Mary a few years later, on March 7, 1867; I can say this with certainty having seen the marriage certificate, the paperwork and marriage performed by A. W. Milby, Minister of the Gospel. Mary is listed as "Mrs. Mary Ann Lehman". Not her maiden name so finding her was a tall order.
Mary Ann appears on the 1860 census prior to her second marriage. She'd have been about age 27. In looking, there is a 25 year old Maria A Lehman in the 22nd Ward living with her probable mother in law Ann Lehman and her own daughter, Ella, but no husband is present. I did not know his name until I got the death certificate of this daughter Ella, and he is named as Samuel Lehman whom I am yet to definitely identify. Then I later learned Mary had had a son too, and his death certificate names his father as Henry Lehman... whom I also cannot find at this time.
Marital statuses were not given, so it is not known to me if she was yet married to Mr. Lehman in 1860 for that census or if she had been widowed, or even deserted. Still, it is intriguing to note there is one Lehman, by the name of James, age 26, born in Pennsylvania, who was a conductor. This resonates for me because her son, my great grandpa, would have a career as a conductor. And her husband's apparent brother also was a conductor as well, Robert.
So having found her on the 1860 census with her probable mother in law, then let's go back one more census to 1850 and see if we can find Samuel there. I looked for one close to Mary's birth in 1833, and found one born 1832. At first my jaw dropped looking at the "household" of many young boys with dissimilar surnames, but realized it is a home of some sort... oh look, it's the Colored House of Refuge and he's a black 18 year old... likely not my gent.
So then there's a Samuel on the same census born about 1820, an age stretch but possible... except he's with his wife Hannah, who is not Mary Ann by another name because his wife was born 1821 or so. There's also a 78 year old Samuel Lehman in the city, far too old, while the remaining one, born 1846 is far too young. There's also a Samuel at 444 Vine who died in 1855 and had me very excited, until searching further in obits and death records... where his wife is named as Edith.
Taking another approach... if Mary Ann had indeed been married and widowed, her husband died before she was remarried in 1867. So shall we look at city death certificates for Lehman gents who died before that? I tried to find men men on City death records who died in the logical timeframe, and none show a wife named Mary or similar, but many death records do not show a spouse's name, even when they are marked as having been married. There are plenty of dead men named Lehman though. For now, I must proceed with her narrative from what is known.
The gent who wed Mary Ann and her second husband William Storkey, Reverend Milby, seems to be Arthur W. Milby, who appears in the 1870 census in Frederica, Kent County, Delaware as a 51 year old Methodist minister. Rev. Milby became a church elder in the 1840's and was chosen by the bishop to serve on an education committee along with his regular duties. It is unknown to me what churches he served in, but genealogy found elsewhere suggests Mary and William were married at Ridge Avenue Methodist Church (location of where the vows were made is not stated on the certificate). That Rev. Milby was Methodist would make sense for our William, as many of William's kin are buried at Stony Bank Methodist church in Delaware County Pennsylvania.
We may be sure that Mary Ann had to step up to the plate and finish raising her two stepdaughters. On the 1870 census, the family appears together with William, Mary, the two girls from William's first marriage (Georgeanna and Mary E),along with Mary's daughter from her first marriage (Ella) along with their new son William, age 2.
They appear together again on the 1880 census where she was 47 years old, so the age is close and works, as does the fact this lady was recorded as a resident of Roxborough (on Ridge Avenue). Her husband William was age 58 (so born about 1822) and was a laborer at the time (though earlier in his life he had been a farmer). They show a son, Willie H., age 13, thus born about 1867. The girls have moved out by this time.
Mary's death certificate, indicating cause of death was a heart attack, also shows she was interred March 17, 1902, which would have been 10 days after the couple's 35th wedding anniversary.
The Ambler Gazette of March 20, 1902 reported on her death and her daughter, Georgeanna (with bad spelling) on page 1:
Storky, Mrs. William
Broad Axe. Mrs. William Swaincott and children attended the funeral on Monday of Mrs. William Storky, of Roxborough. Deceased was Mrs. Swaincott's mother. (Step-daughter Georgeanna's dates are 1850 - 1924.)
Sadly, Mrs. Storkey's husband (right age, same street of residence, same doctor and undertaker, and burial in same cemetery) died April 10, 1902, so he, an invalid, perhaps lacking care or perhaps heartbroken, followed her not even a month later.
I have thought about what her death meant to her family in human terms. Besides leaving a grieving husband, she was stepmother to two girls, the children from her husband's first marriage; is unknown what their relationship was with her but it was a long one since the girls' mother died when they were young. Mary had three biological children, my great grandpa William, who may have been the one to place a stone for her, and her two Lehman children from her first union, Harry and Ella. Her husband William died not long after Mary, but he is not inscribed on the stone. There is surely room for inscription though it has been further labelled "Mother". A separate stone for him has not yet been found, though he is known to be interred at Leverington Cemetery. Passing away not even a month after she did, we might draw our own conclusions of the cause.
NOTE: Please see the pictures connected to this record to view the above-mentioned obit and social mention snippets, as well as the death certificate. Though they may not appear properly on the front page view, if you click on each, the enlargement will appear viewable.
(Speculation to follow in the future: Germantown's German Reformed Church (whose records are classed as Presbyterian) records that Charles Keely and wife Margaret were the sponsors at the baptism of Henry Keely, who was born 1812 and baptized 1814, his parents named as Henry and Elizabeth Keely. Henry and Elizabeth Keely (recorded as Kiely) would have a son Jesse in 1804, who they sponsored and baptized in 1805.
Charles and Margaret are named as sponsors for Elizabeth, their own daughter, who was born and baptized 1815. The Charles Keely I think was Mary Ann's father, born 1789, would have been 26 at this birth, completely logical.)
The name of Oliver S Keely appears as an appraiser on Mary Ann's estate. Oliver married Rae/Ray C Fulmer in 1886 at First Presbyterian Church of Manayunk which is also considered as being in Roxborough depending who you ask.
Mary Storkey was my great great grandmother. We have no date of birth known for her; records say only "aged 69 years", so she was born about 1833. The 1900 census shows her as born January 1833.
This lady had been an enigma for many years; it was only in getting her son's death certificate that we learn her maiden name was "Keeley". At the time she married into my family her marriage certificate named her as "Mrs. Mary Ann Lehman" suggesting she'd been married before, but not giving her own origins. Now that we know her name, let's work on her story at last.
Her probable father Charles Keeley/Keely appears on censuses in Roxborough from 1820-1840 and finally the family is viewable in total on the 1850 census. There, as a 16 year old girl, Mary Ann appears in the home of Charles (age 60, a farmer) and Margaret Keely (age 58) along with her probable siblings Susan (21) Rebecca (17) and Elmira (13). Also in the home are 58 year old William Keely (probably her uncle, listed as having no occupation) and seven year old George Stevens.
This spelling, Keely, is probably the correct one, as there is a man who matches Charles' name and age at Roxborough Presbyterian here. At an 1854 congregation meeting, he was elected a deacon along with John Levering, Joseph Layre, and Christian Rex.
Mary Storkey was the second wife of William Storkey. He had been widowed by his first wife Barbara in 1864.
William married Mary a few years later, on March 7, 1867; I can say this with certainty having seen the marriage certificate, the paperwork and marriage performed by A. W. Milby, Minister of the Gospel. Mary is listed as "Mrs. Mary Ann Lehman". Not her maiden name so finding her was a tall order.
Mary Ann appears on the 1860 census prior to her second marriage. She'd have been about age 27. In looking, there is a 25 year old Maria A Lehman in the 22nd Ward living with her probable mother in law Ann Lehman and her own daughter, Ella, but no husband is present. I did not know his name until I got the death certificate of this daughter Ella, and he is named as Samuel Lehman whom I am yet to definitely identify. Then I later learned Mary had had a son too, and his death certificate names his father as Henry Lehman... whom I also cannot find at this time.
Marital statuses were not given, so it is not known to me if she was yet married to Mr. Lehman in 1860 for that census or if she had been widowed, or even deserted. Still, it is intriguing to note there is one Lehman, by the name of James, age 26, born in Pennsylvania, who was a conductor. This resonates for me because her son, my great grandpa, would have a career as a conductor. And her husband's apparent brother also was a conductor as well, Robert.
So having found her on the 1860 census with her probable mother in law, then let's go back one more census to 1850 and see if we can find Samuel there. I looked for one close to Mary's birth in 1833, and found one born 1832. At first my jaw dropped looking at the "household" of many young boys with dissimilar surnames, but realized it is a home of some sort... oh look, it's the Colored House of Refuge and he's a black 18 year old... likely not my gent.
So then there's a Samuel on the same census born about 1820, an age stretch but possible... except he's with his wife Hannah, who is not Mary Ann by another name because his wife was born 1821 or so. There's also a 78 year old Samuel Lehman in the city, far too old, while the remaining one, born 1846 is far too young. There's also a Samuel at 444 Vine who died in 1855 and had me very excited, until searching further in obits and death records... where his wife is named as Edith.
Taking another approach... if Mary Ann had indeed been married and widowed, her husband died before she was remarried in 1867. So shall we look at city death certificates for Lehman gents who died before that? I tried to find men men on City death records who died in the logical timeframe, and none show a wife named Mary or similar, but many death records do not show a spouse's name, even when they are marked as having been married. There are plenty of dead men named Lehman though. For now, I must proceed with her narrative from what is known.
The gent who wed Mary Ann and her second husband William Storkey, Reverend Milby, seems to be Arthur W. Milby, who appears in the 1870 census in Frederica, Kent County, Delaware as a 51 year old Methodist minister. Rev. Milby became a church elder in the 1840's and was chosen by the bishop to serve on an education committee along with his regular duties. It is unknown to me what churches he served in, but genealogy found elsewhere suggests Mary and William were married at Ridge Avenue Methodist Church (location of where the vows were made is not stated on the certificate). That Rev. Milby was Methodist would make sense for our William, as many of William's kin are buried at Stony Bank Methodist church in Delaware County Pennsylvania.
We may be sure that Mary Ann had to step up to the plate and finish raising her two stepdaughters. On the 1870 census, the family appears together with William, Mary, the two girls from William's first marriage (Georgeanna and Mary E),along with Mary's daughter from her first marriage (Ella) along with their new son William, age 2.
They appear together again on the 1880 census where she was 47 years old, so the age is close and works, as does the fact this lady was recorded as a resident of Roxborough (on Ridge Avenue). Her husband William was age 58 (so born about 1822) and was a laborer at the time (though earlier in his life he had been a farmer). They show a son, Willie H., age 13, thus born about 1867. The girls have moved out by this time.
Mary's death certificate, indicating cause of death was a heart attack, also shows she was interred March 17, 1902, which would have been 10 days after the couple's 35th wedding anniversary.
The Ambler Gazette of March 20, 1902 reported on her death and her daughter, Georgeanna (with bad spelling) on page 1:
Storky, Mrs. William
Broad Axe. Mrs. William Swaincott and children attended the funeral on Monday of Mrs. William Storky, of Roxborough. Deceased was Mrs. Swaincott's mother. (Step-daughter Georgeanna's dates are 1850 - 1924.)
Sadly, Mrs. Storkey's husband (right age, same street of residence, same doctor and undertaker, and burial in same cemetery) died April 10, 1902, so he, an invalid, perhaps lacking care or perhaps heartbroken, followed her not even a month later.
I have thought about what her death meant to her family in human terms. Besides leaving a grieving husband, she was stepmother to two girls, the children from her husband's first marriage; is unknown what their relationship was with her but it was a long one since the girls' mother died when they were young. Mary had three biological children, my great grandpa William, who may have been the one to place a stone for her, and her two Lehman children from her first union, Harry and Ella. Her husband William died not long after Mary, but he is not inscribed on the stone. There is surely room for inscription though it has been further labelled "Mother". A separate stone for him has not yet been found, though he is known to be interred at Leverington Cemetery. Passing away not even a month after she did, we might draw our own conclusions of the cause.
NOTE: Please see the pictures connected to this record to view the above-mentioned obit and social mention snippets, as well as the death certificate. Though they may not appear properly on the front page view, if you click on each, the enlargement will appear viewable.
(Speculation to follow in the future: Germantown's German Reformed Church (whose records are classed as Presbyterian) records that Charles Keely and wife Margaret were the sponsors at the baptism of Henry Keely, who was born 1812 and baptized 1814, his parents named as Henry and Elizabeth Keely. Henry and Elizabeth Keely (recorded as Kiely) would have a son Jesse in 1804, who they sponsored and baptized in 1805.
Charles and Margaret are named as sponsors for Elizabeth, their own daughter, who was born and baptized 1815. The Charles Keely I think was Mary Ann's father, born 1789, would have been 26 at this birth, completely logical.)
The name of Oliver S Keely appears as an appraiser on Mary Ann's estate. Oliver married Rae/Ray C Fulmer in 1886 at First Presbyterian Church of Manayunk which is also considered as being in Roxborough depending who you ask.
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