Mary 'Polly' Keeler

Mary (Polly) Keeler was the daughter of David and Sarah Bearss Keeler. She was born in Brookfield, Connecticut in 1786. She was the oldest of seven children. She married Timothy Baldwin Clark on 3 May 1802 perhaps in Brookfield, Fairfield, Conn. She and her husband moved around quite a bit on the American frontier. Polly as she was known by her family had 12 children. She and Timothy Baldwin had a religious home and belonged to the Methodist church before hearing the teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In 1835 after being baptized into the Church, she and her husband moved to Missouri where Timothy raised horses and cattle on a farm about 12 miles southeast of Independence, Missouri. In October 1838 her husband and three sons were taken prisoner by an armed company under General Lucas and their farm was destroyed. She endured the persecutions the Saints in Missouri experienced. She was not well when many Saints left the state in 1839 and passed away on 27 February. She is buried in Farr West, Caldwell, Missouri.