Mary Florence Shewmaker

Name: Mary Florence Shewmaker

Born: January 5, 1873, Decatur, Wise County, Texas

Died: March 25, 1949, Ravia, Johnston County, Oklahoma

Burial: Ravia Cemetery, Ravia, Johnston County, Oklahoma

Father: William Shewmaker (1827-1903)

Mother: Mary Isabella Cummings (1832-1917)

Married: Evert Edgar Evans (1870-1959), married February 24, 1889

Children:

Henry William Evans (1889-1952)

Albert "Frank" Evans (1891-1969)

Married: John Richard Columbus Terry (1871-1950), married September 11, 1900

Children:

Hubert Columbus Terry (1901-1992)

Grace Terry (1906-1995)

Geneva Terry (1914-2002)

Mary Florence Shewmaker was born to William and Mary Shewmaker in 1873. Her Father was a first generation American, William's Father having immigrated from Germany. The family story is that the Shewmaker family made shoes! William Shewmaker's occupation in the 1880 and 1900 census records is listed as farmer.

In 1880 Mary is listed in Wise County, Texas. She is the only child listed as born in Texas. Her older siblings were born in Illinois and Kansas. So sometime between about 1870 and Mary's birth, the family had made the move to Texas.

Mary Shewmaker married Evert Edgar Evans on Feb 24, 1889. Two sons were born to this union, Henry in December of 1889 and Albert "Frank" Evans in October of 1891. According to 1900 census, Henry and Frank were both born in Texas. Sometime after the birth of Frank the family relocated to Purcell in the Indian Territory or Oklahoma. Evert Edgar abandoned his family in the Indian Territory and never had contact with the family again. Mary wrote her family for help in returning to Texas. In the 1900 census she and her children are living with Mary's parents in Alvord, Wise County, Texas.

On September 11, 1900, Mary Shewmaker married the widower John R. Terry in Alvord, Texas. The newlyweds settled in Wise county where they are still living when the 1910 census is taken. There are three children listed in the household, Hubert and Grace from the new marriage and Albert F. (Frank) from Mary's prior Marriage. Henry Evans is not listed, nor has a census record with Henry been found for 1910 or 1920. Henry would married Erma Moore in 1922.

Mary and John Terry

On November 16, 1916 Geneva Terry was welcomed into the world. The family moved twice more inside Wise County, and are still listed in as living in Wise County in the 1920 Census. There are three children listed in the home, Hubert, Grace, and Geneva. In November of 1920 the family moved to Ravia, Oklahoma, in Johnston County. In the 1930 census John and Mary Terry are living in Johnston County, Oklahoma, with their youngest daughter, Geneva.

Mary lived the rest of her life in Oklahoma. She died in 1949. Survived by her husband and all her children. She was buried in the Ravia Cemetery, Ravia, Oklahoma.