Elizabeth (Lizzie) Louise Petske Knox was born February 26, 1878 in Denver, Colorado. Lizzie was a happy,friendly child who loved helping her parents with their livery stable. Unfortunately, her sister Annie had other ideas. Annie convinced their parents that Lizzie's mental status was so low that she would never find a husband. So Annie invited Lizzie to come and live with her, promising that she would take good care of her little sister. Lizzie moved to Hershey,Nebraska in the summer of 1900 and thus began her lifetime of abuse by Annie. But Lizzie had a secret no one knew about. She had struck a friendship with a man from Hyannis,Nebraska named Joe Knox while she was still living in Denver with her parents. After moving to Annie's farm, she wrote Joe letters telling him of all the abuse that occurred in Annie's house and Joe asked her to marry. So in May of 1901 Lizzie ran away from Annie's and married Joe in North Platte, Nebraska. They left immediately for Hyannis and a new life for Lizzie. It didn't last long. Lizzie and Joe's daughter, Mary, was born in July of 1902 which just added fuel to Annie's fire. It was another warm body to put to work on the farm. Annie just had to convince Lizzie to come back. Finally in 1905, after much trying on Annie's part, it worked. Annie wrote a letter to Lizzie telling her to come for a visit so she could meet her new daughter. Lizzie, being the nice person she was, fell for it. As soon as she got to the farm the abuse started again. Annie also chased Joe off after he made several attempts to save Lizzie and Mary. He eventually stopped trying to rescue Lizzie and Mary, and Lizzie never saw him again. Lizzie and Mary experienced unspeakable horrors and abuse until 1924;when Mary had a chance to get away. One evening Annie tried to force Mary into prostitution. A fight started and Annie stabbed Mary. Mary ran away and kept running until she got a ride to North Platte. Mary went on to marry three men who all died before she did. She spent the rest of her life worrying about her mother and trying to figure out a way to rescue her. She got her chance in 1952 when Annie died. Mary brought Lizzie back to North Platte to live with her . But the years and years of abuse had taken it's toll on poor old Lizzie. Before Lizzie died she asked Mary, "When I die, don't bury me next to Annie". She died the next morning quietly in her sleep... and she got her last wish.