Mary was born in Missouri about 1871, the oldest child of Newton Hackney and Elizabeth Silver. Her parents were living in North Fork Township, Jasper County Missouri where her father worked as a nurseryman.
Prior to 1880, Mary’s parents moved to Leadville, Colorado,
so her father could work as a miner in the silver boomtown. By 1885 Mary had three siblings: Hattie,
Martin and Fred.
Mary’s family moved again and, in 1890, the family was
homesteading 10 miles south of Mesa (the area is located near Pecos and Cooper
Roads in Chandler, Arizona today). Newton
Hackney hoped to return to farming, but he was not familiar with desert
conditions. He planted 15,000 grape
plants, but the crop failed miserably because of a lack of available water. He attempted a crop of alfalfa, but that too
failed. To support his family and hold
on his land, Newton went to Globe to seek work in the mines there.
Neighbors in rural Maricopa County were few and far
between. Mary’s sister Hattie had
married Prentice Phillips in 1891 and moved into Phoenix, so Mary went to
Phoenix occasionally to visit Hattie and attend meetings of the Independent
Order of Good Templars. IOGT was a
fraternal temperance organization that admitted women.
Early in October, Mary’s father had a series of disturbing
dreams. For three consecutive nights, he had a presentiment of danger to one of
his family members. In one dream, he saw
his wife dressed in mourning. Concerned,
he hurried home from Globe but found everyone at a neighbors’ house…all seemed
fine.
The next day, October 5, 1892, Newton and his wife left to
visit a neighbor a mile from their house.
Mary remained at home. Her
parents returned later in the day to find Mary in severe pain. She told them she had taken poison. It turned out to be strychnine. Speculation was that Mary had put the poison
in a bowl of bread and milk that was on a table nearby.
Mary had complained of loneliness and not having any close
friends nearby, but no one guessed she was so despondent as to commit
suicide. She did have friends in Phoenix
and generally seemed in good spirits. Nevertheless,
her father’s premonition had come true.
Mary’s body was taken to Phoenix and her funeral service
held at her sister Hattie’s home. She
was buried in the City/Loosley cemetery.
-by Patricia
