Mary Ann Wright was born May 8, 1902 in Long Run, Ohio to Oberton and Annabell Brown Dixon. Mary was the second of eleven children, seven girls and four boys. She grew up in Long Run and attended school there through elementary school.
         Her father, Oberton, worked in the coal mines and her mother was a housewife. Growing up in such a large family gave Mary plenty of experience to deal with the ups and downs of a long life. The together-ness of a large family and the ability to survive taught Mary many lessons of life early on.
         After Mary left school, she did domestic work for various families early on. She met Memford McCain in the 1920’s and was married. They then moved to Power, West Virginia where her new husband was from. In Power, West Virginia, Memford was a coal miner. Mary became a housewife as her mother before her. Memford and Mary had four children. Their names in order of birth were Helen, Pauline, Thomas and Lewis. Pauline died as a baby.                                                                                                     Later on, Mary and Memford divorced. She then moved to Wheeling, West Virginia where she worked many years doing domestic house work. She raised her family this way and was a strict disciplinarian. When the children were young, she had to punish her son. Mary told Lewis that he had to stay inside all day as punishment. However, Mary had to run an errand. To make sure he stayed inside while she was gone, Mary put a dress on him assuming he would be too ashamed to go outside and play with the other children. Mary assumed wrong. When she got home, Lewis was playing marbles outside in a dress!
          Growing up in Wheeling, West Virginia was a sharp contrast to growing up in Ashtabula. When her children went to high school, there were two high schools in Wheeling West Virginia. There were Wheeling High School and Lincoln High School. Mary’s children went to Lincoln High School, the black high school. This bit of information surprised me. Through my history lessons, I knew that the reason there was a West Virginia was because of the Civil War. The Western part of Virginia separated, created their own state and sided with the Union during the Civil War. It was certainly quite a contrast to Ashtabula where the first black student graduated in 1896 from Ashtabula High School.
        Mary also raised her children in the church. A person can tell Mary raised her children in the church just by meeting her children and grandchildren.
         Many years went by and her children were grown. Lewis, the youngest, obtained employment in Ashtabula in the late 1940’s help building apartments on West 37th Street. In 1950, Mary followed her son and moved to Ashtabula. She moved to Morton Drive and ran the St. Charles Hotel for a while at the Harbor.
         In 1953, her son, Tom McCain moved to Ashtabula. A few years later in 1956, she married William Wright of Ashtabula. The marriage was short lived as he died in 1956.
         Mary supported herself by doing domestic house work for many prominent families in Ashtabula. Some of the families she worked for were the Allens, the Cheneys and the Loebs.
          Mary’s first husband died in 1963. Her son Lewis died in 1969. Two of her sisters, Harriett and Alice still live in Wheeling, West Virginia. Her two daughters, Helen and Irene also live in Wheeling, West Virginia.
           Throughout the years Mary’s faith has kept her going. She has been a member of the Peoples Baptist Church for about fifty years. Mary feels the Lord has blessed her and given her health and strength to see her live as long as she has. Mary is in excellent physical condition and lives by herself.
Mary’s son Tom is 75 years old. Like his mother, he is excellent physical condition. He looks a lot younger than his years. Tom wishes all people could be good to their parents because they are the ones that raised you up, to train you and to nurture you to where you are today. Tom’s wife’s name is Mary Lou. There are five children. Their names are Shiela Jemison, Harry, Philip, Tommy and Chris McCain.
         I am sure everyone in Ashtabula wishes Mary many more happy birthdays to come. She will be one hundred and two on May 8.