Mary was born in 1871. She was the daughter of Hiram Calvin Shoemaker and Elvira Hurt.
At the age of 12 (yes 12!!!! that is not a typo), she married 47 year old Abner Jefferson Nichols as his third wife. At this time in American history, the age of consent was 10 to 12 years old, depending on what state you were in. They had 12 children, 8 of whom lived to adulthood. I believe they may have divorced. I found a divorce record dated 17 Sep 1908, in Garfield County, Colorado. (I am unsure if this is the initial filing date, or the final divorce date.) And, she is not listed on his death cert as the informant, his daughter Janie is.
NOTE: In her brother's book "Pioneers of the Roaring Fork", he says she had 11 children, but I counted 12. The "extra" one I have is a baby boy named Elmer Richard, born in 1904, died in 1905. More research is needed here.
Abner died in 1909, when their youngest was just 3 years old. She then married three more times but did not have any more children. In my research, I discovered that her first three husbands died under strange circumstances. Interesting...
Spouses: 1. Abner Jefferson Nichols - died of food poisoning. 2. Thomas Roberts - died of carbolic acid poisoning, ruled a suicide. 3. Robert Harvill - died of unknown cause while walking through a field, ruled as a natural death. 4. Jack Heaton - outlived her by one year.
She passed away in 1960 of a heart attack, at age 88.
"She was nice, like a grandma should be." - Richard (grandson)
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S > Shoemaker | H > Heaton > Mary Theresa (Shoemaker) Heaton
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