Mary Frances Donner Peacock was born in St. Clair, Missouri January 20, 1909. She had two older brothers (Leo born 10-26-1903 and Harry born 11-4-1904), two older sisters (Helen born 12-24-1905 and Lillian born 7-20-1907), and two younger brothers (Ray born 2-23-1911 and Joe born 6-8-1913).

Mary's mother died (April 2, 1915) when Mary was six and the family went to stay with her paternal grandparents in Benson, Nebraska just outside of Omaha. They stayed there for several years. When the younger children became too much for the grandparents to take care of, Lillian, Mary, Ray, and Joe went to St. James Orphanage near Boy's Town in Nebraska until their father could take care of them again. The children were in the home for three school years and two summers. The family then returned to St. Clair, Missouri to live on their farm which had been rented out while the family stayed in Nebraska.

Mary remembers growing up on this 240-acre dairy farm. On the edge of this property was a small graveyard surrounded by a fence. She often walked to the graveyard but did not go in because her older brothers (Leo and Harry) had convinced her that ghosts came out of the graves at night and if she went inside the fence they might get her, even during the day. She regrets not going inside the fence to read the headstones. If she could walk that far now, she would go back and go inside the fence. She often wishes she could "roam those hills again."

Her father gave one acre of his farm to be used for a school so Mary went to school "just up the hill" from the house. Even grades (2, 4, 6, and 8) were taught one year and odd grades (1, 3, 5, and 7) the next in this one room schoolhouse. Mary did not pass seventh grade but the next year did pass eighth grade. She then went back and repeated seventh grade and earned her diploma.

Mary started quilting while still in grade school. By the end of eighth grade she had made a quilt top to display on the last day of school at the end of school year picnic. After she finished school, she would sometimes meet a friend (Marie Schlipp) at the school because of its central location. They would visit and work on their quilts in the back of the classroom while the other students worked on their lessons.

It would have been a two and one-half mile walk to go to high school "in town" so she chose not to go because she "didn't want to do that" every day.

She stayed on the farm helping with the milking, doing other chores, and cooking with her sister, Helen. Leo, Harry and Lily were working at the shoe factory in St. Clair at this time. When Helen married Aloys Mueller on Oct. 22, 1929 and moved to her own home, Mary's father told her she did not have to help with the milking anymore. Mary continued cooking and doing her other household chores on the farm.

When Mary was in her late teens or early twenties she went for an airplane ride when a "barnstormer" came to town. Her brother, Harry, paid for the ride but did not go up himself.

While in school, Mary became friends with Audrey and Alpha Peacock and visited them on their farm. This was when she met their brother, Curtis Dale Peacock. After finishing school a friend talked Curtis into going "out west" to find work as carpenters. When he could not work in Denver because of the altitude, Curtis returned to St. Clair. Mary and Curtis both were attending a pie supper when Curtis asked Mary which box lunch was hers. He bought her box and they ate dinner together.

Mary played the piano and violin. She took piano lesson for a while but quit because of the 2 1/2-mile walk into town for the lessons. Curtis played the mandolin, guitar, and violin. He asked Mary to go with him to a dance while he played the music. Afterward he walked her home. That's how they started going together. They were married May 1, 1935 when Mary was 26.

They stayed with Mary's father on the farm the first year of their marriage then moved to their own home just outside St. Clair. Joseph Curtis (May 12, 1936) and James Dale (October 28, 1937) were born in St. Clair. They moved to Gray Summit and lived there one year while Curtis worked at Purina Mills. Mary Alice (November 15, 1938) was born in Gray Summit. The family moved back to St. Clair where Elizabeth Ann (June 10, 1940) and Patricia Marie (October 3, 1942) were born.

The family moved to North St. Louis County about 1945 when Curtis found work as a carpenter. They lived there until 1956. Jimmy died on May 15, 1947. The family moved to Oakland in west St. Louis County in 1956. Mary and Curtis moved to Webster Groves in 1962.

During their marriage Mary and Curtis traveled to 49 of the 50 states. They never made it to Hawaii because Curtis could not drive there. They flew to Buffalo, New York for a family reunion of Mary's mother's family but Curtis would not ever fly again. Mary however flew several more times to visit grandchildren in North Carolina, Ohio, and Georgia.

After moving to Webster Groves in 1962, Mary joined the quilting club at Annunciation Catholic Church in Webster Groves and still quilts every Tuesday. She has worked on over 300 quilts for her church and was president of the club for many years.

She also quilted at home and has made approximately 200 quilts; many of them are documented in this quilt album presented to her at her 89 1/2-birthday party in July 1998.

This album was put together by Mary's daughters, Patricia (Pat) Doty and Elizabeth (Betty) Rosenberger. Family members were asked to take picture of all the quilts Mary had made for them. The pictures were gathered and placed in this album. Betty's daughter, Lisa Balbes, scanned the pictures into the computer and added them to Betty's Web Page, Betty's husband, Fred Rosenberger, transferred the files onto a CD, and Lisa's husband, Mark Balbes, produced the video clip and wrote the CDs. Thanks for a job well done!