JESSIE OGDEN (MALLORY) THAYER/O'NEAL Part 1 of 4 Frank D. Myers Jessie Ogden Mallory, photographed as a young adult, appears serene and lovely, exquisitely dressed with brown hair upswept, looking directly into the camera with large and intelligent eyes framed by spectacles. Although photographs can lie, just as people do, there seems to be a presence about her, a determined but not unpleasant self-confidence. She looks as one would expect the most privileged, accomplished and widely-traveled women Lucas County produced during the last quarter of the 19th Century to look. Jessie was born during September of 1863 in Naperville, Illinois, during a period when her father, Smith Henderson Mallory, was engineer on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad from Chicago to Aurora, Illinois, headquartered in Chicago. Her mother was Annie Louise (Ogden) Mallory. Jessie was their only child. During 1867, when Jessie was 4, the family moved to Chariton. Although the Mallorys would become in later years Chariton's first family, there is no indication that Jessie was raised in a manner that differed significantly from the way other children of moderately affluent parents were raised in small but optimistic Midwest county seat towns only a few years away from pioneer days. Among the elaborate embroidery applied to Jessie's 1923 obituary is the statement that she was "educated entirely abroad, chiefly in Germany." Actually, she was an 1879 graduate of Chariton High School - the same year the family's new home, the Ilion, was completed on Chariton's north edge. The move into the Ilion, as well as Smith Mallory's increasing wealth and influence, cemented the Mallory's position in their hometown. The Mallorys were enthusiastic travelers, and so the years that followed were filled with extended trips, socializing at Ilion and, perhaps, more formal education for Jessie. During 1886, when she was 22, Jessie was married in Chariton to a civil engineer protégé of her father, Deming Jarves Thayer, who was about 10 years her senior.. The following account of their marriage was published in The Chariton Democrat of 10 June 1886. WEDDING BELLS: Thayer-Mallory Married at Ilion, the home of the bride's parents in Chariton, on Wednesday evening, June 9, 1886, Miss Jessie Ogden Mallory, only child of Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Mallory, to Mr. Deming J. Thayer, of Neponset, Massachusetts. Rt. Rev. William Stevens Perry, of Davenport, Bishop of the (Episcopal) diocese of Iowa, performed the ceremony. At eight o'clock about seventy guests, the majority of whom were relatives of the parties from abroad, had assembled in the parlor to witness the happy event. Of those from a distance were: Mrs. Jane Mallory, Mr. and Mrs. E.S. Smith, and their son Frank and daughters May and Jessie, Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Van Nortwick and Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Van Norwick, all of Batavia, Ill.; Mr. Barnum Mallory, of St. Charles Ill.; Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Harvey and their daughter Louise and son George, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Mallory, Colonel and Mrs. Swain, Mrs. G. G. Cooke, Miss Young, Mr. J. C. Turner, Mr. George Harvey, all of Chicago; Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Morehouse, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Merrill and Miss Fessenden, of Burlington; Miss Florence Perry, of Albia; Rev. and Mrs. Wolcott and Miss McCormick, of Davenport; Clement Chase, Omaha; David Baum, Lincoln, Neb.; Miss Tuell, Lewistown, Ill.; Mrs. George C. Brownell, Frankfort, Kansas; Mr. and Mrs. Allen Mallory and their daughters Josie and Ruth, Creston; and Mrs. And Mrs. A. D. Mallory, Lucas. At half past eight the bride and groom preceded by the bride's parents, entered the parlor and took their positions beneath the canopy of beautiful foliage and flowers, from the center of which hung an immense bell of white roses. The bride was elegantly attired in rich cream satin en train, and the groom in full evening dress. Bishop Perry immediately proceeded with the beautiful and impressive marriage service of the Episcopal church, and the happy couple received the congratulations and earnest well-wishes of their friends, after which all partook of the wedding feast. The presents were numerous, elegant and appropriate, well worthy of those who gave and those who received them. The house and grounds were tastefully decorated and illuminated, the weather was as delightful as could be asked, and all went merrily and happily. The special Pullman coach, which brought the Illinois visitors yesterday noon, started homeward with them at midnight. The bride and groom left on the night train for Southern Kansas where Mr. Thayer will immediately resume his duties as Chief Engineer of the D.M. & A.R.R. now building. Though pressed with the many duties of his busy position, he has learned that other duty: "Seek a good wife of thy God, for she is the best gift of his providence."