Mary Jane Abbott McAllister

Mary Jane Abbott McAllister (Mother of Mary Cullen Pratt) daughter of W.J.F. McAllister and Elizabeth or Eliza Thompson was born 2 Feb 1829, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her home as a child was in the South-East corner of the city. It was called Southwark. She was the only daughter, having 3 older brothers. She attended school regularly and received a very good education and acted as a substitute teacher for one of her cousins – called John's Mary, as John was a brother to her father. Later she became a very good school teacher. She taught for many years. She was gifted with a very beautiful voice and was a trained singer and sang in prominent concerts, which she was well paid for. She also sang in the choir in the Episcopalian Church. She married Edward Cullen (Mother spelled it here "Culen - (having gone over her pencil notes with a pen on the l-e-n.) She had one daughter, Mary. After a few years she and her husband separated. After her father's death she cared for her mother. They rented a furnished house at about $10.00 a month and she had a lovely piano of her own. The houses were all built in one straight line, each house joined on the other. Space between the foundation was of marble and the remainder of the building was of red brick with a beautiful polished finish. It was pressed brick, made in Philadelphia, a very good, substantial brick. She was employed in the sacred concert for which she received $700.00 a year. She sang twice a week. This required much work, practicing and preparing costumes. She sang the solos. She was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by her brother, John Daniel Thompson McAllister, with other elders, at the home of her other brother Richard Wesley McAllister. The elders remained there a few days, preaching and teaching the gospel to them. They burned the midnight oil listening and asking questions, which resulted in the whole family being converted – mother, daughter, granddaughter, son and his family were all baptized January 1, New Year’s Day, 1861 at the bath house, by J.D.T. McAllister. [Some sources say she and her daughter were baptized later, on January 31.] They went to the church where they were confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were to remain in Philadelphia for a year and prepare to come to Utah while J.D.T. filled his mission in England, then travel west with him. But the Civil War broke out and due to this Elders Orson Hyde and Erastus Snow, who presided over the Eastern States mission, had the missionaries under them rally the eastern Saints to gather to Zion. Around a thousand Saints from Philadelphia, New York, and Boston boarded a train for Florence. The McAllisters rushed and left Philadelphia for Florence, Nebraska on this train on June 15, 1861. “The train was so lengthy and heavy,” Orson reported to Brigham, “that two engines were required to drag it along.” Five hundred Church members from the midwestern states also started west on foot and by wagon. [See “Saints”, vol. 2, ch. 21.] The group went by train to St. Joseph’s, Missouri, then by a steam boat to Florence. They reached Florence on June 25. They camped in tents waiting for an out-and-back company to come from Utah to take them onward. Mary Jane, Mary her daughter, and her mother were invited to come in the Independent Company with Eliza’s friend Mrs. Ottinger, mother of George Ottinger (an early artist in Utah). She had fitted out her own wagon. Two yoke of oxen, one yoke of cows. Mrs. Ottinger's daughter Ann and son George were in the company also. May Jane’s nephew, William James Frazier McAllister was a very delicate child and they were anxious for him to get into the Mountains to see if it would help him, so he came as chore boy. They helped make up the Independent Company. Milo Andrus was captain. Brother Martindale was assistant captain. They did not suffer for anything, but they endured the same privations all the saints did to a certain extent. But her privations had an added pleasure. She was courted by George Ottinger on the trip. They reached the beautiful Salt Lake Valley, Sept 25, 1861. She went, with her mother, to the home of her brother, John D.T., where she remained until she married George Ottinger. I do not know much about her after she reached Salt Lake. She died and was buried in Salt Lake City. Her daughter Mary married Harmel Pratt, a son of Orson Pratt, by his first wife. They had one daughter, Ada, a wonderful school teacher. Penned notes: “Beautiful woman”. Mary Jane and George had one son before Mary Jane’s passing. William McAllister Ottinger grew to marry Hortense Christine Goddard. They had one daughter, Helene Ottinger, who married Emerson Linton Crawley. They adopted one son, Michael Goddard Crawley. George Martin Ottinger went on to marry Phoebe Neslen. THE ABOVE WAS RECORDED APRIL 20, 1979 BY LUCILE M. GOATES, FROM PENCILED NOTE OF ELIZABETH D. HATCH McALLISTER WRITTEN WHILE W.J.F. McALLISTER WAS LIVING IN HER HOME PRIOR TO HIS PASSING. THE FOLLOWING IS FROM: FAMILY NEWSLETTER WINTER 1978-79 VOLUME I NUMBER I The youngest child and only daughter of William J.F. and Elizabeth Thompson McAllister was born on Ground Hog Day, Feb 2, 1829 at Philadelphia. A choice spirit of whom we know very little. She married Edward Cullen of Philadelphia in late 1849 or early 1850. The couple were listed as "married within the Year" in the household of her father in the 1850 census. Her father died 24 August, 1857. In the 1860 census Aunt Mary is living with her widowed mother, Elizabeth Thompson McCallister(sp) who shows as the head of a household at 1021 Anita Street, Philadelphia. Mary Jane Abbott Cullin McAllister was a music teacher, and her widowed mother and her 9-year-old daughter made-up the household. We get another glimpse into her life in the fall of 1860, when her brother, John D.T. returned to Philadelphia and made his way to her home at 1021 Anita Street, where he was received by his mother and sister with open arms. His diary also mentions him visiting his brother Richard and the widow of his brother James. MYSTERY There is a peculiar circumstance about little Mary E. Cullen, who was 9 years old when the 1860 census was taken, and who was baptized January 1, 1861 by her Uncle John D.T. McAllister. Elda Urry Hailes, a few months ago, said she heard a voice in the night. She identified it as that of our great, great, grandmother Elizabeth Thompson McAllister. The voice stated a name that came so clearly and distinctly Elda felt she would always remember it. When morning came the name was no longer that impressive. For several weeks Elda worried over the loss of that name. Then little Mary E. showed in the 1860 census. Elda shouted, "That's it! That's the name that was spoken to me that night." That little girl is MARY ELLEN CULLEN; That is who Great Grandmother Elizabeth wants us to do something for." We wondered why she wasn't baptized with her mother on the 30th of January 1861 and why we had no record of her emigrating to Utah with the family. We studied numerous death, burial and mortician records in the Philadelphia area from 1860 when she appeared in the census to 1862 when the family were known to have been in Utah. A review of the diary of Uncle John cleared the mystery of her baptism. His journal reads, “Tuesday January 1, 1861 I baptized 11 persons, among the number my mother, brother Richard, his son William, and my sister's daughter Mary E. Cullen.” He later wrote on January 31, 1861, “I baptized five persons. Two of them my sister, Mary Jane Abbott Cullen and my sister-in-law Elizabeth Eleanor Bell McAllister.” So! The little girl was baptized 30 days before her mother. Did she come to Utah? It appears that Mary Ellen did accompany her mother to Utah in the Milo Andrus Company. Does anyone know what happened to her? Aunt Mary Jane came to Utah in the Milo Andrus Company. That company included George Martin Ottinger, the famous Utah Artist. Aunt Mary Jane and George M. Ottinger were married in the Endowment House on January 9, 1862. Aunt Mary Jane died December 17, 1862 of consumption. Her son grew up in the Ottinger family, of course. June 21, 1905, he married Hortense Christine Goddard and they removed to Los Angles, California to live. Can anyone help us find a record of their descendants?