Mary Elizabeth PILLEY

  General Notes:

Mary married John Francis Lepp in Ute, Iowa in 1905. John was born in Sheffield in 1861, the son of Edward Lepp. He asked Mary Elizabeth's father if they would be allowed to marry, but was refused so he emigrated to Iowa in the 1880's. By the early 1900's he had settled and wrote to her and eventually asked her to join him, which she did, what a trip for a very sheltered woman in her 40's to cross the Atlantic to meet and marry a man she had not seen for 20 years.
Mary Elizabeth and John are listed on the 1910 census in Ute, Iowa with their 2 sons where John was a butcher in a meat market. The family are also listed in Whitney Street, Carroll City, Iowa on the 1920 census, although John's occupation is not given. Towards the end of her life she went blind, but she continued to write to her relations in England.

From the 'Find a Grave' website:

Mary was the daughter of Albert Pilley and Sarah Ann Furniss. She married John Lepp on Nov 6, 1904 at Charter Oak, IA. They were the parents of Francis and Edward. Mary was blind as a result of trachoma.
May 2, 1932 - Caroll Daily Herald - Mrs. John Lepp of Whitney street, died last evening at 6:30 o'clock in St. Anthony hospital, where she had been removed yesterday morning suffering with pneumonia. She had been ill since last winter.
Funeral services will be held at 9 o'clock Wednesday morning in St Joseph's church where requiem mass will be celebrated by the Rev. Father P.T. Lynch. Burial will be in St. Joseph's cemetery.
Mary Elizabeth Pilley was born in Sheffield, England, Nov. 3, 1862, and came to the United States alone in 1904. She went immediately to Charter Oak, where she was married to John Lepp, Nov. 6, 1904. They lived there for eight or 10 years and then removed to Carroll where they have made their home for the last 16 or 18 years.
She is survived by her husband and two sons, Francis and Edward of Carroll. She also leaves three sisters, Sister M. Pilley, a sister of Charity in London, Alice and Viva, and some brothers, all living in England.
For the last 22 years Mrs. Lepp had been blind as a result of trachoma. But she was able to get about the house and was a gentle and kind companion to her husband, who is lame. She spent many hours with him when he conducted his popcorn stand at the corner of Adams and Fifth streets. She was patient in spite of her affliction and was a devoted wife and mother.

  Noted events in her life were:

• Residence: Relationship: Daughter, 1871, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.

• Residence: Relationship to Head: Daughter, 1881, Ecclesall Bierlow, Yorkshire, England.

• Residence: Relation to Head: Daughter, 1891, Ecclesall Bierlow, Yorkshire, England.

Mary married John Francis LEPP, son of Edward Austin LEPP and Sarah BUCKLETON, on 3 Nov 1904 in Charter Oak, Iowa, USA. (John Francis LEPP was born on 3 Apr 1861 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England and died on 25 Mar 1939 in National City, California.)