Mary Elizabeth Knott, daughter of Anna Louise (née Bell) and John Knott, was born in 1842 in or near Angola, Steuben County, Indiana. Her parents arrived in the county in the 1830s, and are counted among the earliest settlers. Mary's mother died in 1843. Her father, who remarried in 1844, died in 1849. Mary afterwards lived in Ohio with her maternal uncle the Reverend Enoch M. Bell and his wife Harriet, who had no children. Rev. Enoch M. Bell later made Mary's children his heirs.

Mary E. Knott and Gilbert B. McWhirk, a Union Army veteran, were married on 30 January 1865 in Delaware County, Ohio. The couple had four children:
• Ada Campbell McWhirk Mergenthaler
• Harriet Alvira McWhirk
• Truman Dunham McWhirk
• John Beatty McWhirk
Gilbert B. McWhirk died in 1876, aged nearly 36 years. His widow and children filed for pensions for his military service.*

Mary McWhirk married twice-widowed Dubois St. John in 1882. (A marriage record remains elusive.†) The couple lived in Fostoria, Seneca County, Ohio, and had one son:
• Dubois St. John, junior.
The couple died a day apart in February 1893. He was 66; she was 50. Their son, Dubois, junior, was enumerated in 1900 as "Dewey" in the household of his married half-sister Ada Mergenthaler (née McWhirk).

Notes

1840 U.S. Census, James[town] Twp. Steuben Co., Indiana; p. 111 (printed), p. 210 (written).
[27.] John Knott.
• Household of five persons; adult couple, three children.
• From 1838 to 1841, John Knott was postmaster of the Crooked Creek Post Office in Jamestown Twp. (Crooked Creek now called Jamestown.)

1850 U.S. Census, District 127, Blooming Grove Twp., Richland Co., Ohio; dwelling 19, family 19, lines 8-10, p. 157 (printed), p. 313 (written), 10 Sep 1850.
8. Enoch Bell, 37, farmer ($700), Ohio.
9. Harriet -----, 40, Penn.
10. Mary -----, 7, Ind.

1860 U.S. Census, Genoa Twp., Delaware Co., Ohio; dwelling 825, family 833, lines 21-24, p. 121B (printed), 110 (written), 30 Jun 1860. (P.O.: Genoa Cross Roads)
21. Enoch M. Bell, 46, minister ($3,000; $500), Ohio.
22. Harriet -----, 49, Pa.
23. Mary N. -----, 17, (-0-; $100), Ind.
24. John -----, 78, farmer, personal estate worth (-0-; $1,200), Ind.
• John Bell was Mary's maternal grandfather.
• Mary's reported middle initial, "N," may have represented a phonetic spelling of Knott.

"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZKL-XVK : accessed 12 May 2018), Gilbert B. McWhirk and Mary E. Knott, 30 Jan 1865; citing Delaware, Ohio, United States, reference 248; FHL microfilm 391396.

1870 U.S. Census, Lincoln Twp., Morrow Co., Ohio; dwelling 178, family 179, lines 25-31, p. 22 (written), 12 Jul 1870. (Post Office: Cardington)
25. Bell, Enoch M., 56, farmer ($4,000; $1,000), Ohio.
26. ----- Harriet, 59, keeping house, Pennsylvania.
27. Withim, James, 15, Ohio.
28. McWhirk, Gilbert, 30, bookkeeper in oil mill ($1,400; -0-), Ohio.
29. ----- Mary, 27, keep house, Indiana.
30. ----- Addie, 4, Ohio.
31. ----- Harriet, 1, Ohio.

1880 U.S. Census, E.D. 137, Cardington Village, Morrow Co., Ohio; dwelling 125, family 128, lines 24-25, p. 400 (printed), p. 11 (written), 15-16 Jun 1880.
24. McWhirk M E, 36, widowed, dressmaker; born in Ind., father in "not known," mother in Ohio.
25. ----- Addie C., 14, daughter, goes to school; self and father born in Ohio, mother in Ind.

1880 U.S. Census, E.D. 124, Lincoln Twp., Morrow Co., Ohio; dwelling 69, family 79, lines 37-41, p. 238 (printed), p. 7 (written), 12 Jun 1880.
37. Bell, Enoc. M., 66 [head], farmer, born in Ohio; father in New Jersey, mother in Rhode Island.
38. ----- Harriett, 70, wife, keeping house, born in Pennsylvania; father in New Jersey, mother in Connecticut.
39. McWhirk, Harriett, 11, grand daught., housework; self and father born in Ohio, mother in Ind.
40. ----- "Trumand," 9, grand son; self and father born in Ohio, mother in Ind.
41. ----- John, 6, grand son; self and father born in Ohio, mother in Ind.

1880 U.S. Census, E.D. 137, Cardington, Morrow County, Ohio; dwelling 40, family 40, lines 36-40, p. 396B (printed), p. 4 (written), 14 Jun 1880.
36. Galbreth, Joseph, 74 [head], wool carder; self and parents born in Pa.
37. ----- Mary, 74, wife, keeps house; self and parents born in Pa.
[...]
40. St John, Dubois, 54, boarder, widowed, tinner; self and parents born in NY.
• St. John resided with his late wife Eliza's parents.

* A pension card shows Gilbert McWhirk's service in "G 3 Ohio Inf": Company G, 3rd Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O. V. I.). The widow's and minors' pensions applications were filed in 1889. McWhirk mustered in as a corporal in 1861; appointed sergeant in 1862; mustered out in 1864.

† "Notices were sent out some time last week, from Lansing, Michigan, announcing the marriage of Mr. Dubois St. John and Mrs. Eva McWhirk, both of this place. The happy couple have our best wishes for their future happiness—Cardington Independent." ("Ohio Happenings, The Daily Star, Marion, Ohio, 19 Jan 1882, p. 4.)
• "Eva" appears to be the newspaper's error. In his 1902 marriage license, Dubois St. John, junior, identified his mother as: Mary E. McWhirk. Cardington is a village in Morrow Co., Ohio.
• Mary's younger half-sister Anna L. Knott was enumerated in 1870 near Lansing, and married there in 1893.

The Seneca County, Ohio, Death Record shows that Dubois St. John died from Bright's disease on 2 Feb 1893 in Fostoria, and that Mary E. St. John died from heart disease on 3 Feb 1893 in Fostoria. She was aged 50 years, 1 month, and 3 days—by calculation born on 31 Dec 1842—and was born in Angola, Indiana (vol. 4, p. 181).
• Fostoria is situated at the juncture of Hancock, Seneca, and Wood Counties. Mary E. St. John is buried in the Hancock County portion.

Also in the 3d Regiment, O. V. I.: First Lieutenant James St. John of Company I, killed in action in 1862. He was the half-brother of Dubois St. John. Colonel John Beatty commanded the regiment in 1862.

Bio. by blueheron14, reviewed 3 February 2024.