Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Mary Long about Mary Long



My great-grandmother Mary Celecy Reiter McKee Long is remembered by her grandsons David Long and Bob Guinther as a stern woman that they were a little afraid of. Although she had been married before and had two children, her children and first husband all died---she is buried with them in Bethlehem cemetery.

She married Thomas H. Long (above) who was a widower with three children. She then bore him another 8 children (6 boys), so I imagine she needed to be stern to keep all of those children "under control."


Aunt Mary Long Wassmund recalls that as she was dying she told her son Roy Long, "Go back to Germany to settle our estates." Roy would respond, "After World War I, we have nothing." She was sick a long time and there was a caretaker that came in and looked after her and her husband Tom. She was bed-ridden at the end and would ask Mary to wind the Victrola to entertain her.

Mary also recalls doing other favors for her grandmother like chasing the hens off their nests with a broom to gather eggs and being rewarded with big sugar cookies.

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