Elsie Laura Kenney

Miss Elsie Laura Kenney was born in 1866 to Mr. and Mrs. Osburn V. Kenney. In the 1860 U.S. Census, Mr. Osborn V. Kenney, age 33, was employed as a grocer in Sandusky, Ohio. He stated that he had been born in Connecticut. His wife was Elizabeth, age 24, was a native of Canada. By 1870, Mr. Kenney had died, leaving Elizabeth a widow with two young daughters, Mattie age 5 and Elsie, age 3. Mrs. Kenney passed away in 1888, when Elsie was 21 years old. According to the 1910 and 1920 Census, Elsie Laura Kenney had moved to Columbus, where she worked as a school teacher for the Ohio State School for the Deaf. By 1930, Elsie had moved to Detroit, Michigan, where her sister’s family also lived. An article which appeared in the January 14, 1943 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News, reported that Miss Elsie Laura Kenney had passed away in Detroit on January 12, 1943. Her remains were brought back to Ohio by the New York Central Railroad, accompanied by her nephew, Lester Mancourt, the son of Mattie Kenney Mancourt. Rev. Evans of Calvary Episcopal Church officiated at funeral services for Miss Kenney, and burial was at Sandusky's Oakland Cemetery. Elsie Laura Kenney never married, and she lost her father when she was quite young. She made her way in this world as a single woman, something which was not the norm for the times in which she lived. I'm glad that I came upon Elsie's tombstone, and learned what a dynamic individual she was!