Special gravestone installed in Highland Cemetery

From Gladys and Barney Consodine

This year, the Wetherelt family placed a headstone on a grave in Havre's Highland Cemetery.

It is a gesture of respect for an ancestor of special importance to the family. She was born Mary Ann Bacon on July 3, 1852 in Cainsville, Ontario, Canada. She married Thomas Wetherelt in 1873. Mary Ann and Thomas moved to Bottineau, North Dakota, in 1892. They had nine children, seven born in Ontario and two born in North Dakota. Thomas died in 1912 and Mary Ann then married William Hunter. Mr. Hunter died about 1922.

Mary Ann and Thomas' third child was Thomas Henry Wetherelt. He married Georgie Hopkins and they moved to the Broadus, Montana, area in 1922. They brought 10 children with them and added two after settling here. The youngest died in an accident when he was 6, but the others grew up in the Broadus area where the family is still well-represented.

Georgie Hopkins Wetherelt died Dec. 3 1928, during an influenza epidemic. She left 11 children. Seven were 16 or younger; the youngest was 5. The children's grandmother, now known to the Wetherelts as "Grandma Hunter," came to take care of the children. The exact dates are uncertain but she likely came to Broadus in 1929 and possibly stayed until 1935 or 1936. Alvin Wetherelt remembered that Grandma Hunter stayed for several years and that they built her a log cabin separate from the Wetherelt house so that, "Grandma Hunter could get away from us kids sometimes." Thus, she became a lasting memory in the Wetherelt family. Those who knew her, or knew of her, speak of Grandma Hunter with fondness and respect.

When she left Broadus, Mary Ann Hunter moved to Havre. Unfortunately, she broke her hip in 1937 or 1938. It did not heal properly and she could never walk again. She lived the rest of her life in the Sacred Heart Hospital, which may have doubled as what we call assisted living or a nursing home today. An obituary in the Havre newspaper says, "She has been a resident of Montana since 1913 and the last 11 years at the Sacred Heart Hospital where she was a hardworking and industrious person even in her late years." Apparently, she made hand-sewn quilts and distributed them to patients in the hospital. Myrtle and Sig Finley, Mary Ann's daughter and son-in-law, lived in Havre and looked after her care. Their daughter Evie remembers Sig bringing Mary Ann to their house every Sunday to be with the family and share their meals.

Mary Ann Bacon Wetherelt Hunter died in Havre's Sacred Heart Hospital Jan. 13, 1949. She was 96. She was buried in the Highland Cemetery in Havre. The original marker on her grave was metal and rusted to the point that the cemetery staff removed it. In remembrance of Mary Ann's importance to their family, the Wetherelt family placed a more permanent marker on the grave of this pioneer and family matriarch this summer.