About Maggie Lancaster

Margaret Fulton was born in County Antrim, Ireland, November 15, 1842. She came to America with her mother, brother and three sisters in May, 1847, her father already having come the year before. The journey across the sea from Londonderry, Ireland on the small sailing vessel, The Mary Campbell, was long and extremely harrowing, but they all survived. The family settled in Philadelphia where Margaret spent her childhood and young womanhood.

Margaret met William Lancaster while working in the local woolen mill and they were married on July 23, 1861. William referred to her as "Maggie" in the letters he later wrote to her and presumably during their relationship. A short time later William enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War. During their marriage was born one daughter, Elizabeth, whom they called "Lizzie". Their marriage ended upon William's death near the end of the War in April of 1865. For the next four years Maggie remained in Philadelphia, spending much of her time dealing with the arrangements and paperwork related to William's death in the War.

Four years later in February of 1869 she again married, this time to Theodore Marshall, a Civil War veteran. Immediately following their marriage in Philadelphia they moved to Kansas, settling in Douglas County near Lawrence. A few months later they moved to the Sac and Fox reservation near Quenemo, which territory had recently been open to settlers. From then on the family was closely identified with the history of Osage county for 40 years, living a classic middle west pioneering life, much of the time in a log cabin on the plains.

After leaving the reservation they lived successfully in Burlingame and Scranton, moving to Osage City in 1880, where they made their home for more than a quarter of a century.

Theodore passed away on March 14, 1915. Maggie lived another nine years and died in Osage City, Kansas on February 11, 1924 at the age of 81. They are buried in the family plot in Burlingame, Kansas.

Maggie was survived by Lizzie and four other daughters and a son, seven grand daughters and one great grandson. It was through Lizzie's daughter, Margaret, that the letters and related documents of the William Lancaster collection, which Maggie had faithfully kept, were preserved and passed down to her son William D. Sims.