From Chillicothe Gazette about 1965

Royalty's Buried in S. Salem?

By BETTE SNYDER

In the shady, storybook community of South Salem lies a quaint, haunting tale. The story of Queen Victoria's half sister. For a brief and tragic year, Mary A. Morter daughter of England's Edward Duke of Kent lived in the little community with her husband and five children. All that is left to remind Ross Countains of her existence is her beautifully engraved headstone and her white frame home, not far from where she lies in South Salem Cemetery.

Mary Morter quietly came and left South Salem in the early 1850's. There was no whoop-la when she arrived with her sculptor husband and children and her death went un-mentioned in the Gazette. None-the less this mysterious woman is believed to have been of royal stock, even an heir apparent to the English throne.

The story, handed down by her descendants, and investigated by Highland County historian Frank Raymond Harris, goes like this:

Mary A. Harrison was born March 12, 1818 in London, England the daughter of Queen Victoria's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. Edward, the fourth son of King George III married Victoria's mother in May of that year and Victoria was then born in 1819. Mary's mother remains a mystery. According to the legend, Mary was primed for the role of Queen, but lost all hope of obtaining the throne when she married a commoner, Blyth Jagward Morter. The couple received a marriage settlement of anywhere between 1,000 and 5,000 pounds. However, with the dowry, Mary was ostracized from her royal family. History indicates that in those days marriage to a commoner was a serious offense, and thus Mary's lot differed drastically from that of the modern day Princess Margaret and King Edward VIII.

The Morter family then decided to give up their unhappy life in England and migrate to the United States. Mr. Morter went ahead to build a home and set himself up in business. Why he chose South Salem is another mystery. When he was ready to send for Mary and the children, he wrote them saying he would meet them in New York. However he heard nothing from his wife and concern for his family's welfare took him back to England. She apparently had received the letter since she was crossing the Atlantic at the same time Morter was returning for her.

When she and the children arrived in New York and found no one to meet them, fear and poverty set in. Mary took up sewing and tutoring to keep the wolf away from the door. After what must have seemed an endless few months, Morter arrived back in this country.

The family then traveled by canal and stagecoach to South Salem. The year was 1851 when Victoria's husband, Albert, staged the triumphal opening of the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace. The family moved into their home, but it was not yet completed. The windows were still not in place and the plaster was wet. Mary, her condition probably weakened by her journey to Ohio, developed a cold, and then tuberculosis, known as consumption in those days.

Mr. Morter carved his wife's headstone, according to the legend, and buried her in the little cemetery next to South Salem's Academy which was then flourishing. Her tombstone reads: "Mary A. wife of B. J. Morter, native of England, Died April 16, 1852, aged 34 years, 1 mo. 4 days." Then at the very bottom of the monument is the single word "THINK."

John "Bud" Rinehart, the cemetery's custodian for the Last 10 years explained that Mr. Morter carved many of the tombstones in the little cemetery. This is backed up by the fact that the Hesters, present occupants of the Morter house, found a tombstone when they tore down a building adjacent to the home, probably Morter's workshop.

The house, since remodeled to some extent, by Harry Hester, a jobber handling produce and poultry, has a living room, kitchen, and four other rooms. The old pump can still be seen in back of the place.

After his wife died, Morter left Ross County and married again. His children were then split up and put in foster homes. One of the daughters, Emily, married Isaiah Mowbray and their son Forrest is now living in Greenfield. In a phone conversation with Mr. Mowbray, a retired school teacher, the story of his

Grandmother’s heritage was confirmed. Another child of Mary Morter's, William, also left descendants in the nearby area. What happened to the other four children, no one knows.

When Blyth Morter carved the word "Think" on his wife's tombstone, perhaps he knew that future generations would stop and look at the lonely grave and would indeed Think.

(House believed to have sold in late 1990's - CWM)

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The following is what is in the Family Tree and is a brief overview of the Legend of Mary Morter and why the story is doubted. Like most legends, it probably has an element of truth to it.

(CWM)

According to stories handed down through the family, Mary was the stepsister of Queen Victoria.

Unfortunately we have yet to prove this relationship. Queen Victoria's birth parents were Edward

Augustus Hanover-Duke of Kent and Victoria Mary Louisa-Princess of Leiningen.

Victoria Mary Louisa was the widow of Emich Karl Leiningen-2nd Prince of Leiningen, who died July 04, 1814 in Germany. Mary Ann Harriett was born in March of 1818 so we know she is not the daughter of Emich Karl Leiningen. Edward Augustus Hanover and Victoria Mary Louisa met in November of 1817 and were married in July of 1818. It's not likely that Mary Ann Harriett was the daughter of these two parents because they did not know each other at the time of conception. Victoria Mary Louisa lived in Coburg, Bavaria, Germany and came to England shortly before the marriage date.

(From Jim Neal who has done a lot of research on this)