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Mary Alice ("Alice") Gilchrist was born March 13, 1868 in La Salle, La Salle County, Illinois, near Aurora and Naperville (which were about five miles apart). Aurora is where her husband was born, and his family also lived in Naperville for a while, though it is doubtful (but possible) that the Gilchrist and Reagan families knew each other when they were living in Illinois. La Salle is about sixty miles to the southwest of Aurora. All of these places are very close to Chicago but in those days they were out in the country. Alice's parents, Mary Hannagan (and various other spellings), and Thomas Gilchrist, were both born in Ireland. Alice was the fifth child, and the fifth daughter (after she was born there were two sons, though one, John Baptist Gilchrist, died at age twenty-two; he is buried near his parents' graves in St. Patrick's Catholic Cemetery in Bristol Township, Worth County, Iowa). Her name was either Mary Alice or Alice Mary. An older sister, Mary A., was called "Mary," so of course they wouldn't want to call a second daughter the same thing, yet they gave her the name (though she wasn't called by it). Possibly one of the girls was named after their mother (Mary Hennegan Gilchrist) and the other after Thomas Gilchrist's mother (we don't know what her name was, but a lot of people were named Mary, so it's possible she was). Alice and Charles Henry Reagan were married on April 18, 1887 in Leland, Winnebago County, Iowa, where both their families lived; in fact they lived only about a mile apart. Charles was a schoolteacher at that time.
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These are pictures of Alice Gilchrist Reagan through her life, in chronological order but without exact dates. We do know that the wedding picture was taken in 1887, as they were married on April 18, 1887, but it may have been taken before the wedding - though why they'd dress all up like that twice is a good question. Most of these pictures are just parts of pictures. They are all on other pages, where you can see who else is in some of them. Alice Regan ("Reagan" became "Regan" in about the year 1900) seemed to keep very much in touch with at least some of her sisters and their families as you can see by her photographs. Her brother, Robert Gilchrist, and his family lived in Fort Dodge, very close by. Alice was very sociable and quilted with other ladies at her home. She was also a devoted member of Sacred Heart Church. Sacred Heart Hospital was directly across the street from their home. There is more about Alice Gilchrist on the "Memories of Charles and Alice Regan" page. See the link near the bottom of this page.
Inside Sacred Heart Church - Fort Dodge, Iowa
Sacred Heart Church - Fort Dodge, IowaAlice died on February 14, 1934 in Fort Dodge (you can see her death notice, death record, and funeral notice on other pages). She was not quite sixty-six years old. It is thought that she had diabetes. It was not a sudden death and she was prepared. She was buried in Corpus Christi Catholic Cemetery in Fort Dodge, where her husband is also buried. Be sure to read "Memories of Alice Reagan," below.
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...OUR IOWA FAMILY |
