Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1891-07-02
MOI eLoPEp. But DEAL.
7as Body of Young Woman Found Forty
Years After Her Disappearance.

1ne Body of Young Woman Found Forty
Years After Her Disappearance.
Mary Ann Grier disappeared from her
fathers home, two miles south of Michigan
City. nearly forty years ago A few days
ago her body was recovered in an aban-
doned bog iron ore pit, without one vestige
of change from the appearance 1t had
known in life The last shred of clothing
was long ago destroyed by the action Vt
the water in which she had met her death,
but the same chemicals which removed the
garments preserved the flesh.
Not only is the contour of the firm per-
feet as in life. but the color has remained
unchanged. The arms and shoulders are
as white as marble, the hands are brown,
but suffused with rudy flush, which old
settlers here will remember as one Of the
girls chief charms, and, were it not for the
unsightly cavities that once contained the
eyes, that petrified frame which has lain
almost half century in the soil would APP
pear the peacefully sleeping figure of a
healthy, handsome young woman.
The story of Mary Ann Grier is easily
told. In the first place, it should be known
that this country is full of kind of iron
called bog ore In an early day it was ex-
tensively mined by the farmers and hauled
by them to Michigan City and South
Bend, where it commanded ready sale.
In many instances it was the one product
of the soil which brought in money.
The iron is in small particles, much like
the ore from larger mines. and is excellent
in quality, though not rich enough in
quantity to repay the trouble of mining it
since the day of railroads and the develop
ment of Pennsylvania mines. None of the
ore has been taken from these swamps
since 1850, although the swamp lands all
over northern Indiana are full of it,
Mary Grier was the eldest daughter of
Nicholas Grer, and was belle in those
old days of 1915 TO 1850. She was famous
all over the country, which was then new
and sparsely settled, and was sought in
marriage by many an excellent young
man. She was known as worker, as a
good cook and as a famous housekeeper,
and besides had had the unusual advan-
tage of far English education.
With the perversity of her sex she had
chosen harebrained fellow named Whit
EEL and had told her parents she meant to
marry him. Whitsel owned an OK team
and made a living hauling ore from the
shallow mines TO the forge at Michigan
City. He was warned away from the farm
~ oAlti anu us P'fHf Cat IttHAShtA al hi,
attentions, and finally received a sound
drubbing from the old man.
The following day he started north with
load of ore, and early in the evening
Mary left the house, saying that she was
going to neghbor to return some Urife
she had borrowed the day before She was
never again seen in life.
Her parents and the neighbors believed
that Whitsel had deeoyed her away, and
they followed him clear to Michigan City;
but they could find no trace of the girl.
Fearing to return to the neighborhood
Whitsel sold his oxen and left the country.
He has never since been heard from It
was known at the time that Mary Ann had
never reached the home of the neighbor
for which she had started
In the light Of events now known it Is
probable she meant to meet her lover, and
started across the lower prairie land to
meet him near the creek road. She must
have fallen into one of the pits from which
the ore had been taken, drawing down
upon her as she fell an avalanche of the
loose but terribly heavy soil. There must
have been water in this pit, as was almost
invariably the case, and this, with the iron,
must have produced a solution that tended
TO preserve the body. = Cor. St. Louis
Globe-Democrat