Mary McClaren

MCCLAREN, MARQUIN, SHEDD, SNIPOS, PECOR, BICKNER, HART, IMMING

Posted By: Volunteer (email)
Date: 7/12/2009 at 12:22:30

From Waterloo Sunday Courier, Waterloo, Iowa. Sunday, September 13, 1931.

Last Rights For Mary McClaren, 97, Iowa Pioneer—Buried at Shell Rock; Came to Iowa by Ox Team in 1857.

Funeral services for Mrs. Mary McClaren, 97, who died last Wednesday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Charles Marquin, 1101 Evergreen avenue, of heart and kidney disease, were conducted Friday afternoon in the O’Keefe & Towne chapel, Rev. F. H. Shedd, pastor of Northminster Presbyterian church, officiating. The body was taken to Shell Rock, Iowa., by Charles E. Snipos, of the Randall funeral home, Mason City, for burial in Riverside cemetery beside the grave of her husband.

Mary Pecor was born March 13, 1834, in Pennsylvania. At the age of 6 years she traveled overland with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Pecor, to near Peoria, Ill. There in 1854 she was married to John Bickner.

Raised Family of Ten—Three years later the couple came by ox to Iowa and settled on the Bremer-Butler line, five miles west of Waverly. Mrs. McClaren had her full share of the hardships endured by the pioneers who built up the west. Besides raising a family of 10 Mrs. McClaren did much of the heavy work on the farm as her husband did not enjoy robust health.

Of the 10 children born to the union, seven are living. There are Mrs. Charles Marquin, at whose home Mrs. McClaren had lived for the last five and one-half years; John Bickner, 113 Harrison street; William F. Bickner, New Hartford, Iowa; Frank and Martin Bickner, both of Kansas City; Mrs. Jennie Hart, Shell Rock, Iowa; and Miss Mary Bickner, Phoenix, Ariz.
Three Precede in Death—The three children who preceded her in death were Chris Bickner, who died in 1913 at Iowa Falls, Albert Bickner, whose death occurred at Everett, Wash. In 1918, and Mrs. Sophie Imming, who died a little more that two years ago at Allison.
In addition to the seven children, Mrs. McClaren is survived by 18 grandchildren, 42 great grandchildren and 23 great-great grandchildren, in all 90 descendants.
Mr. bickner died in 1902 at Shell Rock, and in 1915 Mrs. Bickner was married to Henry McClaren, who died in 1926. Since that time Mrs. McClaren had been with her daughter in Waterloo.
Bedfast Five Years—For more than five years she had been bedfast. Tho [sic] she was physically helpless she retained her mental faculties up to within a few weeks of her death, and recognized her children and intimate friends up to within a few days of the end.
In her childhood, Mrs. McClaren had almost no advantage of school and education, but she was exceedingly bright intellectually and possessed a strong body that enabled her to do a tremendous amount of heavy physical labor, breaking sod with an ox team, hauling grain, and a great deal of other work about the farm that usually falls to men.
Mrs. McClaren had contracted with the Mason City undertaking firm five years ago for her funeral, and had paid for it at that time.