She was born in Ohio in April 1831, presumably the daughter of David and Sophia Harris.  70 years, 4 months and 1 day later in August 1901, she died tragically, gored by a milk cow on her farm in Shelby County, Iowa.  In between she lived a fascinating life.

We know nothing of her childhood, or how she came to be in Indiana, but on 19 December 1850, she married Soloman D. Lacey in Kosciusko County, Indiana.  Four children were born to this marriage:

• Alice Mary, born 1853, who married into the Gardner family line.
• Emma J., born 1854, who married into the Jessup family.
• William Albert Eugene, born 15 March 1856.  He is our matriarchal Great-grandfather, whose descendants farmed, lived their lives, and built communities in Shelby County, Iowa, in the Ozarks of Missouri, and in Jerauld County, South Dakota.
• Sarah S., born 1859, and (inferring from Margaret's obituary) may have died in child birth about 1879.

Ten years later, in the 1860 Indiana Census, Margaret Harris Lacey is listed as living alone, the head of household with four children, her occupation "seamstress."  Our limited information about Soloman has him possibly dying in 1869, and we have speculated that he may have been away in the Civil War in 1860.  A more probable possibility is that he died in 1859, not 1869, and therefore she may already have been a widow in 1860.  We have also speculated that he may have been away in the Civil War in 1860.  What we know for sure, is that he was not in the household and that in 1870 Margaret was free to marry again.  As they say, the investigation continues;  we seek input from other family members.

In February 1870, Margaret married a second time.  Robert George Edsall is believed to have been born in 1816 in what is now Southern Ontario, Canada.  He, too, has a colorful past.  His birthplace, "Canada West," was very much a frontier at the time of his birth.  History buffs will recognize that Ontario and the area South of the Great Lakes were very much in flux after the War of 1812 (through 1815).  The British gave up control of what is now Indiana, Illinois, Eastern Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and American settlers surged West to take up the land.  Fort Wayne, Indiana was a "jumping-off" point for the American Western migration.

By 1851 Robert Edsall had migrated with his first wife, Mary C. Duncan, from Southern Ontario to Kosciusko County, Indiana, where she and their 3rd son died in 1855.  He married again in 1857 and in 1867 according to family lore, he and the second Mrs. Edsall, Naomi Jane (Burns) Edsall, with their four living sons set out Westward on the Oregon Trail.  However, she died on the trail West of Topeka, Kansas, and Robert returned to Indiana with the children.

So it was on February 17, 1870 that Robert Edsall and Margaret Harris Lacey were married, in Kosciusko County, Indiana.  There's some confusion about dates and details, but we believe their child was Minnie Luella, who later married David Edwin (Ed) Shew.  Minnie is Sue Hallock's Great-great grandmother.

Thus, this incredible pioneer lady generated four distinct family lines:  Gardner, Jessup, Lacey, and Shew.