Mallie's Story - Part One
Mallie Marie Doby Victery Kepler found me through a Find-A-Grave request for a photo of her headstone. She’s buried in Glenwood Cemetery, one of my favorite places to wander, and since the morning temperature and humidity are finally teasing reasonable mid-October levels, I convinced David and Tillie we needed to go look for her.
Locating the section (bearing the romantic name New Strangers Rest) from the cemetery map was easy enough, but finding individual plots by number proved a bit more challenging. From what I found, she’s most likely buried alone, so I focused on the individual graves outside of the often-elaborate family groups. A complete search of the section resulted in no sign of Mallie.
I’m new to grave-hunting so my first thought was to return when the cemetery office was open and ask questions. However, later that day I found Mallie listed in the cemetery website database (both her first and last names are misspelled in their records) which confirmed that there is no marker on her grave. I found her, I’m just not sure exactly where she was. I still plan to visit the cemetery office to get a better fix on her location so I can spend some time with her there.
I felt the pull to listen to Mallie tell me her story, as I did with my Wexford ancestors, with my former next-door neighbors at Huckabee Cemetery, and with Nina Ledoux, whose photograph was rescued from the dumpster by one of my neighbors a few years ago.
Listening to the dead, the way I do it anyway, means combining intuition with tangible research through Ancestry records, newspaper articles, city directories, census records and such. This time, I also used the tarot method I’ve created to help people connect and communicate with their beloved dead. Mallie seems to want to be remembered. I’m recreating her story here, best I can, to do exactly that.
Mallie was born on January 21, 1908, to Laban Grier Doby and Mary “Mamie” Northington. Her sister, Dorothy, was four years older, and her sister, Mildred, was four years younger. The two youngest siblings, a twin girl and boy named Gilbert and Louise, were born in January 1917.
Mamie died in December 1917, after contracting Lobar Pneumonia, leaving Laban with five children ranging in age from 11 months (the twins) to 13 years old. By the 1920 census, the family was split into two halves, with Laban moving to California with Dorothy (the oldest) and Louise (the youngest). Gilbert, the other one of the twins, disappears from the family at this point. My research indicates that he was adopted out of the family, but I haven’t explored his trail any further. We can assume that Dorothy bore the responsibility for raising Louise. I’ve also found Dorothy and Louise living with a maternal aunt in California, after their father moved to Arizona to manage a poultry farm. At that time, or any, it was probably no life for young girls and they were better off in San Franscico.
Mallie and Mildred stayed in Houston, living with another maternal aunt. It appears they kept in touch with their sisters on the West Coast as I found a newspaper article about a party thrown in Mallie’s honor, in 1926, with her sister in attendance. She was lauded for teaching the party goers how to do the Charleston and it was noted she went home “minus a heel”. It seems she was the Belle of the Ball.
Mallie returned to Houston and married an oil company scout named Harry Clopton Victery in April 1927 and divorced her in July 1928. Mallie married Keller Kepler two months later in September 1928. We could speculate that Keller was at least one of the reasons for the divorce, or maybe the timing is coincidental. In either case, this relationship appeared to deteriorate quickly as well.
Mallie is listed in the 1929 Houston City directory as MISS Mallie Kepler (titles were important distinctions at the time). Keller is listed living at a different address in the same directory. In the 1930 directory they are again living at different addresses (Keller is living at the Tennison Hotel, this is notable for later) and Mallie is listed as Miss Mallie Doby (her maiden name). They are recorded together in the 1930 census at an address different from both directory addresses. I will note here that genealogists know to take census records should be taken with a grain of salt because there is often a difference between what people told the census takers for recording purposes, and what was actually true.
Mallie died on June 10, 1931, less than three years after marrying Keller and only living with him sporadically during their marriage. The coroner’s note said her cause of death was “by take (sp) Lysol Poison” and ruled a suicide.
Her residence on the death certificate was the Tennison Hotel, where Keller was recorded living in 1930.
Did Keller have anything to do with her death? Was he there? Were they living together, or did he simply note his own address because it was easier, especially if that’s where she died? All I know for certain is he buried her in an unmarked grave, never remarried, and continued to live in Houston until his death in 1952. He’s buried in his hometown of China Spring, Texas.
Mallie is surrounded by people in Glenwood, but she’s all alone. None of her family is buried there and because there is no marker, no one even knows she’s there. Everyone who might have known her is gone, until now. I know her and if you want to, you can get to know her too. I think she’d like that.
I’ll be back with Part Two of Mallie’s story, as much as she’ll tell me through an Ancestral Connection tarot reading, soon. Pretty soon, I think. She’s persistent and when the dead talk, I listen.
Now, for the housekeeping segment of our time together:
If you'd like help learning how to listen to your beloved dead, I can help with research, an ancestral connection reading, or both. Contact me at the email address below.
I host live tarot readings and ramble sessions on Sundays as part of the Trusted Tarot group on Facebook. You can join in (or just watch) here: Trusted Tarot
I am the Tableau Module Trainer for TABI’s Intermediate Tarot course that will be starting again in October. I also host the North American Time monthly zoom meetup. If you’re interested in either the course, or joining TABI, please reach out and I’ll point you in the right direction.
I’m talking with Victoria Duman, host of TABI’s Tarot World podcast, about blended spiritual paths as their October guest. Look for this excellent series (there are much more knowledgeable and interesting guests, I promise) wherever you prefer to listen.
I’m presenting Marseille Tableau – By the Numbers at the TABI Midwinter Conference on January 30th and 31st, and The Dao of Witchcraft at WitchCon in February 2027 https://www.witchcon.com/workshop.php?presenter=mary-du-plessis
More events and offerings to follow but you can always reach me via email at themysticsparlour@gmail.com, follow me on Instagram as @the.mystics.parlour, or send me a friend request on Facebook.
I appreciate your continued support and encouragement. If you would like to know more about my ancestral connection work, my Daoist path, or my other offerings such as tarot readings and classes, spiritual guidance, and mindset mentoring, you can find more detailed information by using the drop-down menu on my website: The Mystic's Parlour