Mary T. (Decorah) Lowe (abt. 1864 - bef. 1929)

Born about 1864 in Nebraska Territory, United States

Died before 1929 before about age 65 in Wisconsin, United States

Mary was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Birth

Mary was born about 1864 in Nebraska Territory. (1910 Fed. census)

Name

Her Hocąk name is given as KahNooRayWinKah (1910 census), which appears to be for Kanurewiga, of unknown meaning.

The middle initial "T" of her name is almost certainly for "Thunderking", the name of her husband. We see this practice, for instance, with Mary S. Decorah, whose middle initial stood for her husband's name "Sam". (See also Emma Decorah whose middle initial "J" was for her husband John.)

Marriages

Her daughter Dora's marriage license to William Smith showed that her actual father was King Thunder, a well known person among the Wisconsin Winnebago. She, however, gave her name as "Miss Dora Lowe," the surname being that of her parents, but generally not used by her father, King of Thunder. Later censuses describe her as a "des[erted] wife". This is the result of Anglo authorities trying to suppress multiple marriages, which forced the husband to "desert" one of his wives. Nevertheless, in 1895, Mary is found living next to King Thunder. (1895 Wisc. census)

Casselman says (p.11): "John Stacy is of the Bear clan, one of Those-who-are-on-earth, and that Mrs. Stacy, a sister of King-of-Thunder, is of the Thunderbird clan, one of Those-who-are-above." So John Stacy and King of Thunder are brothers-in-law. This makes King of Thunder's sons and daughter's the nephews and nieces of John Stacy and his wife. In fact, the 1910 Federal census shows that Dora, Minnie, and Theodore, the children of Mary T. Lowe, were living with Martha and John Stacy, and are recorded as being their nieces and nephew.

Children

The known children of Mary T. Lowe are the following (Jones, et alia):

Albert T. (b. 1888)

Gilbert (b. 1890)

Sam (b. 1892)

Lucy (b. 1895)

Annie (b. 1897)

Dora (b. 1901)

Minnie (b. 1902)

Theodore (b. 1904)

David Norbert Lincoln (b. 1915)

In 1915, Mary had a child, David Norbert (1915 - 23 Jan 1969), with a young David Lincoln, Sr. (1917 census)

Death

She died sometime before 1929, since she is missing from that census.

Sources

• 1895 Wisconsin, State Census. Wisconsin State Census, 1895 Microfilm, 10 reels. Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin.
• 1910 Indian census, Roll: M595_671; Line: 8; Agency: Wittenberg. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1910 Federal Census for Brockway, Jackson, Wisconsin; Roll: T624_1713; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0074; FHL microfilm: 1375726. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA.
• 1917 Indian census; Roll: M595_168; Page: 40; Line: 17; Agency: Grand Rapids. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1929 Indian census; Roll: M595_570; Page: 55; Line: 1; Agency: Tomah. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• Arthur Vale Casselman (1874-1957), The Winnebago Finds a Friend (Philadelphia: Heidelberg Press, ca. 1932).
• Tom Jones, Michael Schmudlach, Matthew Daniel Mason, Amy Lonetree, and George A. Greendeer, People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942 (Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2011).