Mary Mordy

F, b. 21 November 1872, d. 4 December 1942
FatherJoseph Mordy1 b. 19 Aug 1838, d. 17 May 1916
MotherAgnes McKillop1 b. 1849, d. 27 Mar 1936
ChartsMordy Descendants
Birth*21 November 1872 Mary Mordy was born on 21 November 1872 at Ross Twp, Renfrew County, Ontario.1 
(Witness) Immigration1880 She immigrated with Joseph Mordy and Agnes McKillop in 1880 at Pembina County, Dakota Territory.2 
(with Parents) Census18801 June 1880 Mary Mordy appeared on the 1880 Census of Twp 159N Range 51W Sec 2, Pembina County, Dakota Territory in the household of her parents, Joseph Mordy and Agnes McKillop.3 
Marriage*10 March 1897 Mary Mordy married Robert Sutherland, son of John Sutherland and Bessie (?), on 10 March 1897. 
Census190020 June 1900 Mary Mordy and Robert Sutherland appeared on the 1900 Census of Twp 162 Range 50, Kittson County, Minnesota, enumerated 20 June 1900. Their children John Douglas and Joseph Wesley were listed as living with them. 
Census1910*25 April 1910 Mary Mordy and Robert Sutherland appeared on the 1910 Census of Hill Twp, Kittson County, Minnesota, enumerated 25 April 1910. Their children John Douglas, Bessie Agnes, George Raymond and Bertha Marion were listed as living with them. 
Census1920*28 January 1920 Mary Mordy and Robert Sutherland appeared on the 1920 Census of Hill Twp, Kittson County, Minnesota, enumerated 28 January 1920. Their children John Douglas, Joseph Wesley, Bessie Agnes, George Raymond, Bertha Marion, Harry Daniel and Margaret Isabel were listed as living with them. 
Census1930*10 April 1930 Mary Mordy and Robert Sutherland appeared on the 1930 Census of Hill Twp, Kittson County, Minnesota, enumerated 10 April 1930. Their children John Douglas, George Raymond, Bertha Marion, Harry Daniel and Margaret Isabel were listed as living with them. 
Census1940*7 May 1940 Mary Mordy appeared on the 1940 Census of Hill Twp, Kittson County, Minnesota, enumerated 7 May 1940. Her children John Douglas and Bertha Marion were listed as living with her. 
Death*4 December 1942 Mary Mordy died on 4 December 1942 at Kittson County, Minnesota, at age 70, registration number 1942-MN-006898. 
Burial* She was buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Hallock, Kittson County, Minnesota. 
Anecdote* GRANDMA SUTHERLAND

By Mary Gillie, Amirant-Coffee-Lobaty

Mary Mordy Sutherland as I remember her was a very complicated woman. She did not have an easy life living on a farm in a small house with many children. Mother always said that the first five were born in seven years. Grandma sent several of the children to live with Grandma Mordy. I think this may have been a matter of survival for her. She was very heavy and at some point became diabetic and had to give herself insulin shots every day. She had problems with ulcers on her legs as did her mother and I remember bandages and heavy hose. This must have developed after the last three children were born. She was a miracle in that she survived a ruptured appendix. This must have been an almost certain death sentence in the time before the modern medications to fight off infection. She was left with a rupture that was a problem for the rest of her life. I don’t know how this was treated but remember the family talking about it. Several times I remember that she was in the hospital very ill and we all stayed in town at the Mordy house to be near because she was in critical condition.


She had a big challenge in teaching me how to knit since she was right handed and I am very left handed.

She was very patient as I struggled to knit a pair of mittens for Allen. I don’t know if he ever wore them and I’m sure he was too little at the time to remember now. One Easter she gave me a lily that she had raised and I was thrilled. She knew I loved flowers because I was always begging to go find tiger lilies which grew wild in several places. She took me to pick mushrooms which grew in the feeder lot near the farm yard and also to pick “pig weed” which grew wild near the farm in the spring. It was a delicious green at a time when fresh greens were not available. She was very concerned with “what will people think” and tried to make sure we all behaved well. I remembered one of her favorite sayings “pride goeth before a fall” this morning when I had almost a full page typed and was very satisfied with myself when I hit a wrong key and it all disappeared. Guess she was still right.


When I was twelve years old she was back in the hospital again and I think this was a usual enough thing that none of us were too concerned. I went up to the hospital on lunch hour from school to see her but chickened out when a very stern nurse asked what I was doing there and went back to school without seeing Grandma. That night I stayed in town with Agnes because there was a movie that we wanted to see and before the movie we went up to see Grandma. The nurse must have told her that I was there earlier because she asked me why I hadn’t come in. Anyway we visited for awhile and didn’t have any idea that we wouldn’t see her again. In the middle of the night mother came in with Ruth who was an infant and said that she had a call to come to the hospital right away and she left Ruth with us. She wasn’t gone long when she came back and said that Grandma was already gone when the call was made. Mother said she was so afraid of going to the hospital because Grandpa had fought so hard to live at the end and it was so hard to deal with. I know that I had daydreamed about how I was going to grow up and make Grandma very proud of me and I was disappointed that now I wouldn’t have the chance but was grateful for that last visit.


Grandma died early in Dec. and I was amazed after the big family Christmas dinner to find a gift from her under the tree. I don’t remember just what the gift was except it was made of wood brightly painted and made by someone in the neighborhood who did woodworking. 

Family

Robert Sutherland b. Mar 1860, d. 1 Oct 1934
Children

Citations

  1. [S553] Mary Mordy, Birth Registration (1872).
  2. [S1273] Agnes McKillop household, 1920 United States Census, Kittson, population schedule, Hallock.
  3. [S178] Joseph Mordy household, 1880 United States Census, Pembina, population schedule, Twp 159N Range 51W.