Beloved wife of Charles Marion Burkhart, Mary Ellen Morgan was born on March 7th, 1856 in Missouri, the daughter of William C. (1827-1911) and Pleassa J. (Dunn) Morgan (1837-1924). Her family came West to resettle in Oregon in the mid 1860's, per locations of birth of her brothers. Her parents settled in the Willamette Valley and she came to know Charles Marion Burkhart, whom she married in October, 1874, in Linn County, Oregon. The happy couple settled in Monmouth, Polk County, Oregon, farming the land and raising their two daughters, Pleassa Caroline, b.1878, and Emma Olive, b.1880. A third daughter, Edith, b.1877, married George W. Kezarta, b.1850 in Oregon, and died prior to 1910*. Pleassa married James Edwin Foster and they had three children of their own. Emma Olive never married, but stayed in the home, caring for her aging parents. Charles Burkhart was feeling ill and seeking medical aid by the early 1900's. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which caused his death Dec 9th, 1915. Mary Ellen buried her dear husband and remained, with Olive, on the family's farm. Ivan Tennant, a native of West Virginia, b.1876, had come to Oregon looking for land to purchase and farm. Charles and Mary Ellen had hired him as Charles became more and more disabled, and Ivan lived with the Burkharts on their farm. Following Charles's death, Mary Ellen and Ivan wrote up an agreement that would benefit all. Ivan would continue to work on the farm for wages with the understanding that both women could remain on the farm that he would purchase, but both mother and daughter would be allowed to live out the remainder of their lives there, in effect, a Life Estate. This way, both women had income and shelter for the remainder of their lives and Ivan would, at some point, come to own the farm where they all lived. Sadly, Ivan was the first of the three to die. He passed away on Apr 25, 1942 due to high blood pressure and an obstruction in an artery in the brain. Mary Ellen, herself, died on June 7th, 1948, at the age of 92 yrs., from bronchial pneumonia. Pleassa died from a heart attack in 1952. Olive died in 1960 due to heart problems as well. All were buried at Riverside Cemetery in Albany, Linn County, Oregon. Pleassa is buried with her husband and Olive is buried with her parents. Ivan Tennant was also buried in the same plot as Charles Marion, Mary Ellen and Emma Olive Burkhart, something I consider to be a very nice gesture. May they all Rest, at Peace, in Paradise.

[*In the 1910 Census a question asked was how many children had the women had and Mary Ellen answered "three", but when asked how many of those children were still living, she answered "two". Since Pleassa and Olive were still alive, the only child left was Edith. I've not been able to locate her in the Find A Grave system, wonder if there is/are spelling issues regarding her husband's name.]