New Article! Grandma Barbara’s Missing Sister

Mary Lukemire left her family in 1920 for Chicago and, after a short period, was never heard from again.  Mary was the first-born child of Wilber Lukemire (1868-1946) and Trilla Blalock (1868-1921) of Williamsburg, Ohio.  Her disappearance bothered family members the rest of their lives, including my grandmother, Barbara Lukemire (1899-1974) — one of Mary’s younger sisters.

The featured photograph above shows the family in what must be 1906.  Left to right, they are — Barbara, Frank, Edith, Mary, Trilla with baby Ed, and Wilber with Maggie on his lap.  Wilber’s parents Kate Homan and Lon Lukemire are on the right.  Mary Lukemire is the teenage girl leaning on her Mom’s chair.

Although questions remain, we now know in general what happened to Mary Lukemire.  The article summarizing my findings was just published in the Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly.  Click the link below to spawn a pdf copy.

2026 OGSQ Issue 1 – Lukemire.pdf

The genesis for the article is an incident I witnessed in 1967 or so when I was 14.  Grandma Barbara lived with us in Stillwater, Minnesota for about nine months after she suffered a health scare and had to quit her job in San Bernadino, California.  At the time, she was withdrawn — and according to my father — depressed.  She really didn’t engage with us much.

However, one evening after dinner, she became strikingly animated when my father asked her about Mary.  She was still upset about it, almost 50 years later.  She couldn’t understand what happened and mentioned that everyone in the family worried that Mary might have been abducted and sold into “white slavery.”  I remember the conversation well partly because it was the first time I’d heard anyone use the term “white slavery,” kind of an anachronism now.  For someone in Barbara’s generation, it simply meant being forced into prostitution.  I had to ask my father afterward what the term meant.

I wish to thank other members of the Lukemire family who have aided me in my research, especially Janet Proknichak (now deceased), Leilani Lukemire Palmer, Glen Lukemire, Christine Marks, Teddy Lukemire, Alan Lukemire, Liz Fleming, and others.  I also wish to thank Robert Grange, a descendant of James Dwyre, for his generous help.