Most of what I know about Mary DeHart was found in a newspaper obituary which was pasted into a family Bible which appears to be the Bible of the James Martin Cross family, James being the son of James Soloman and Mary DeHart Cross. The date of the article and the name of the paper are not given. The newspaper article does not give the exact date of her death, but elsewhere in the Bible it is recorded that she died "the 7 day of May 1900 Aged 78 years 1 month 27 days at Riverton Iowa". Following is the text of the article:
Mary DeHart was born in Ohio March 10, 1822. Her parents died when she was quite young. She was then adopted into the home of Mr. Lear. When she was 10 years old, Mr. Lear moved to Illinois. It was in this state she was married to James Cross in 1853. To this union were born four children, one son and three daughters. All survive, except Mrs. Susan Harding, who died in 1874. In 1849 she came to Iowa with her husband and located in Hamilton county.
When the nation's call came in 1862, James Cross volunteered. Thus she was left almost entirely in the care of her family and home.
In 1883, with her husband and family, she moved to Riverton, where they have since resided.
She was united with the Christian church in 1855. Sister Cross' life has been one of much sacrifice. This was manifested in her home life, not only to her own children, but to her grandchildren and in fact to all she loved.
She has suffered much, having been afflicted for a number of years. Yet in all of this she was very patient and when the hour came for her to depart she manifested a desire to go and be with Christ.
She leaves a husband, three children and ten grandchildren.
The funeral service was held at the home Tuesday, May 8, at 3 p.m., by W. N. Graves, pastor of the M. E. church. Interment in Riverton cemetery.
The bereaved ones have the sympathy of all.
I need to add one comment about the about article. It states that James and Mary Cross came to Iowa in 1849. Based upon other evidence, I believe that it is more probable that they came to Iowa in 1859. First, entries in the above mentioned Bible clearly state that James Martin Cross was born in 1859 in Illinois. Second, the 1870 Census for Hamilton County, Iowa, shows James S. and Mary Cross living in Marion Township of Hamilton County. Their son, James, is shown as being 11 years old and being born in Illinois. Mary, a daughter, is shown as being 9 years old and being born in Iowa. The 1870 Census, thus, gives us evidence that that sometime between James' birth in 1859 and Mary's birth in 1861, the family moved to Iowa.
Also, pasted into the family Bible is a short newspaper Card of Thanks from J. S. Cross and Family. Once again, the date of its appearance and the newspaper are not given. Even though it really does not give any insight into the Cross genealogy, below is the text of the article:
We desire to extend our most earnest and heart felt thanks to the many friends, who with loving hearts and willing hands, administered unto us during the illness and death of our beloved wife, mother, and grandmother, thus helping to bear the heavy burden in this our night of sorrow.
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