Mary Etta Alley was born 24 April 1878 to J.W. and Anna Alley in Iowa, one of two daughters. In the 1880 census, her grandmother Elizabeth is also living with the family in Iowa.
A glimpse of events that happened in 1878:
Rutherford B Hayes is President
Thomas Edison patents the Phonograph.
Pope Pius IX dies after 32 years as Pope.
The first phone exchange is available in Connecticut.
California St Cable Car RR Co starts service.
Harley Procter introduces Ivory Soap.
Louis Pasteur tests a Cholera vaccine in chickens.
First Lady Lucy Hayes begins egg rolling contest on White House lawn.
The Remington typewriter is introduced allowing upper and lower letters to be used.
The United States stops minting the 20 cent coin.
Sherwin and Williams introduces the first pre-mixed paint available in cans.
In 1896 Mary married Peter Baldwin Dykeman, son of James and Ruth Mabie Dykeman. They have a daughter, Ruth Dykeman in September of 1897 in Montana. In 1907 they move to Riverton in Fremont County, Wyoming. In October 1908, the department of the interior publishes a notice in the Riverton review announcing Peter B Dykeman had filed their Homestead claim.
In 1917, an article in the hometown paper mentions Peter and his wife have gone to visit Ruth in Washington DC at school. however two years later I find she is attending dances and community activities in Riverton, so she must have returned to her parents after going to school.
In 1920 they are found in the census in Los Angeles, California, where they had gone for a stay for a few months. I have yet to discover why they are there, but I do know Peter is the president of the local bank and a well established citizen of Riverton, helping to bring electricity and coal mining to the area. My guess at this point is he is in California for business.
. Mary E Alley Dykeman died 13 Jul 1954, at the age of 76 and is buried in the Riverton Cemetery with Peter. Their daughter Ruth married Arthur Ward and had a son Phillip in 1925.