A Sad Turn in the Tale of the Cunningham Family

Jacob Smith > William Custer Smith & Mary Ann Munson > Ella Mae Smith Cunningham

I've spent considerable time researching the middle child of William Custer Smith and Mary Ann Munson but finally this past weekend visited Moberly, Randolph County, Missouri to start putting all the pieces together of the records and stories I've compiled over the months.

624 W Rollins St

Ella Mae and Howard's basic story was told here. Their lives in Missouri were like the lives of many average families. The father went to work each day, the mother kept house. In 26 Mar 1918 Howard died of "mitral regurgitation," basically, a leaky heart valve. He'd had heart trouble for some years, but not so bad he needed to stop working as a conductor on the Wabash Railroad. They had moved "uptown" to this house after years of hard work. After Howard's death, Ella moved in with her daughter, Effie Mae and her husband, L. I. Bouque at 514 Taylor St.

514 Taylor St

In reading the paper over the years, I'd discovered that Ella Mae had fainting spells and hospitalizations for unknown causes made me think there may have been some mental health issues - especially after her stay in the Baptist Sanitarium many years before.

Mrs HS Cunningham of West Coates St, who is in St Louis taking treatment at the Baptist Sanitarium, is much improved. Her many friends hope for an early and permanent recovery.

Moberly Democrat March 19, 1899, pg 5

I have to say when I finally found the death certificate, I was still shocked and saddened. Ella Mae ended her life with a pistol shot to the head on 21 Jun 1924 at the age of 57 in her daughter's home. No obituary was published. She was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Moberly, next to her husband, Howard. What caused her despair we will never know.