Comment by JULES SISK on July 9, 2019 at 2:14pm

Hello!
I am wondering if anyone can tell me more about this woman - I have reason to believe that she was the older sister to my GGGGrandmother, Ann Maria Keene, of Sumner, Oxford Co.

2 specific questions:

1. What did the "P." stand for? (I've seen "Prentice", but no supporting documentation)

2. Can anyone confirm her parents?

Thanks!!

Comment by Chris Dunham on July 18, 2019 at 2:20am

Mary P. Keen was a resident of Greenwood when she married James Packard in 1848. Sarah Keen, daughter of Shadrach and Sarah (Churchill) Keen, was also a resident of Greenwood when her marriage intentions to James' brother Charles L. Packard were published later the same year. I have not been able to find Mary's death record. A brief obituary does not give her parents' names, but I do suspect that she and Sarah were sisters.

I have also seen Mary's middle name given as "Prentice" or "Prentiss" without documentation. There was a woman from Paris named Mary Prentiss whose poetry was published in a local paper in the 1820s. Mary might have been named for her. A girl born in Greenwood in 1833 was named Mary Prentiss Cordwell.

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