Dates

• Existence: 1834 - 1912

Biography

Mary Sears was born in Massachusetts, December 30, 1834, and moved to northern Illinois with her family. She graduated from Rockford Female Seminary before marrying William A. McHenry in 1864. After their marriage, he returned to his regiment fighting in the Civil War and she joined his brother in a journey to Denison, Iowa, where the brothers had contracts to operate the new telegraph company. In Denison, Mary Sears McHenry became the deputy county treasurer and recorder. When her husband was discharged, she met him in Rockford and together they returned to Denison. The McHenrys became prominent in banking, livestock breeding, and community affairs. In 1890, Mary McHenry served as president of the Women's Relief Corps, then the largest fraternal association in America; she was also active in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She died July 26, 1912 at their lake home in Okoboji, Iowa.

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