#10-2020 Strong Women. The Heath Sisters
I have always admired the story of Mary Heath and her sister Lois.
They were the daughters of William Heath (a Revolutionary War veteran) and Polly Heath.
Lois Heath was born 1787 in Pendleton County, South Carolina.
Lois never married
Mary “Polly” Heath (my 3rd great grandmother) was born on 14 October 1807 in Somerset, Pulaski, Kentucky.
The birth dates are from family information, not confirmed yet.
Mary was married to John McHenry Jasper on 27 March 1828 in Somerset, Pulaski, Kentucky. Seven children (Elizabeth, Andrew, Nancy, William, Thomas, Gilead and Lois) were born to Mary & John in Kentucky before they followed the trail to Missouri in 1841. Lois Heath Jasper (who was named for her aunt) born in 1841, was a baby when they journeyed to Missouri. Another daughter, Minerva was born in 1844 in Missouri.
Family story indicates that Lois joined the Jasper family after her father had died in 1829.
Tragedy struck the family when John Jasper died in 1845 near Whiteville, Missouri. Mary was left with 8 children, the oldest, Elizabeth was 16. In 1848, two daughters, Elizabeth and Nancy (age 16) married on the same day in December.
In the 1850 (4 November 1850) Census, Mary was living in Tremont Township, Buchanan County, Missouri. Mary was the head of the household at age 39 but she can not read or write. The children living in the house were Andrew (19), William (16), Thomas (14), Gillard (11), Lois (8) and Minerva (6). I have yet to locate her sister Lois in 1850 census.
In 1851 Mary's oldest son, Andrew as well as his sister Elizabeth Jasper Ownby & her family crossed the plains to Oregon. Another daughter, Nancy Jasper Langston, losing her husband on the trip, crossed the plains in 1852. Andrew came back to Missouri and escorted his mother Mary, her old maid sister Lois, and his siblings to Oregon in 1854. The wagon load consisted of Andrew, William, Thomas, Gilead, Lois and Minerva along with Polly and Lois Heath.
Mary carried this tin of scrap material and notes in her pocket across the plains.
The family story is that after enduring many hardships and privations, much of the stock having died; when they reached Green River, Wyoming; the family stayed there while an older son went on to obtain food and supplies. These he got from other members of the party who had gone in advance of the train to locate a home for the family. The Jasper family crossed with an ox team, but not all of the family was able to ride at one time. Gilead Ann walked the major part of the trip and carried a small baby part of the way. Gilead would have been 15 and Minerva, the youngest would have been 10. (I am not sure what baby she carried.) Lois, my Great Great grandmother was 13 years old. The family settled in Benton County, Oregon where Mary’s daughters lived.
With children to support and feed, Mary often was a housekeeper or operated a boarding house.
In the 1860 Census, Mary is living in the Butte Precinct of Benton County, Oregon. The children living with her were Andrew, William, Thomas and Minivera. The other daughters, Lois and Gillard (Gilla) had married. Lois Heath is living with her niece’s family, Elizabeth and Jesse Owenby in the Lloyd Precinct of Benton County, Oregon.
About 1864 Mary & Lois moved to Waitsburg, Washington where Mary’s daughter, Lois Jasper Lloyd and her husband A. G. Lloyd lived.
In the 1870 census, the sisters were living with Mary’s son, Andrew Jasper in Waitsburg, Washington. Lois was 84 years old. And Mary was 68 years old.
Both sisters are buried in Waitsburg at the City Cemetery. Mary died in 1876 at the age of 69 and Lois died in 1878 at the age of 90.
The sisters had traveled from one coast to another—Lois from South Carolina to Oregon, while Mary traveled from Kentucky to Oregon—mostly by oxen team. I can’t imagine the hard life that these women endured throughout their life. But they survived. The hard work these women did is the reason that their descendants were successful. They did not know the word "quit".
