Each week we are following the lives of members of my Great Grandfather William's family as they appear in this 1890 family portrait. Last time we focused on John Fraser (front row second from left) and this week we focus on the back bone of the family, Mary Ann (to his right).
Mary Ann was the oldest girl in the family and was born in Inverness Scotland in 1866. As was the case for many of the oldest females in families, Mary became her mothers assistant in caring for the many children in this family and taking responsibility for much of the house hold chores.
Known as "Miss Mae" she never married but devoted her life to helping raise her parent's other children and the children of her siblings.
No sooner were her siblings raised than her brother Alex wife died leaving eleven children. Mary Ann and her parents immediately stepped in to care for them until Alex remarried and moved his family to Chicago.
Then her younger sister Isobella and Isobella's husband passed away (see next weeks post for details) and "Aunt Mae" moved on to caring for Isobella's three children.
Mary Ann passed away in 1935. Although a strict disciplinarian, she was greatly loved and her death brought together this enormous family in shared grief.
However, perhaps significantly, we have no photo's of her smiling.
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