All I can say is, “Mea Culpa”. For twenty years or more, I was convinced that the “Girl in the Iron Coffin” dug up in Lakeshore in the 1950’s was Mary Catherine St. Clair Morrison Wade. Dr. E. Russ Williams convinced me of it. I patted myself on the back that I was one of the few who knew who she REALLY was. Then last week, I was researching something completely unrelated in the old Ouachita Telegraph newspapers when I saw the following paragraph above where I was reading:
Ouachita Telegraph, December 18, 1874, Page 3
Mrs. Mary Wade died on the 9th inst., at the residence of her brother Col. C.H. Morrison. Mrs. Wade had endeared herself to a large circle of friends, by whom her many virtues will be held in lasting remembrance.
Soooo…. Mary can’t be the Iron Coffin girl. The date of death is much too late. What I can’t understand is how I missed it a couple of decades ago when I was carefully transcribing death notices from the Monroe papers! YIKES!
Now we are back to square one. Just WHO was this woman? Was she a Tennille after all? To all those I have told incorrectly over the years, my apologies. Isn’t the first time, won’t be the last. I have also made the past blunders of saying Cosper Cemetery was where the Colony was and Antique Alley was where the town of Trenton was. *facepalm* I know better now.
Ouachita Parish History Tidbits 