MT. PLEASANT CHURCH AND CEMETERY,  COOPER COUNTY, MO

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My grandmother, Mary E. Howard O'Bryan, died when my mother was about three years old.  Mother had no memory of her and always said that she did not know where her mother was buried.  This little mystery is what originally got me interested in family history.  I thought that it would be nice if I could find Grandmother's grave and visit it in honor of my mother.  The only clue I had was a statement in a little typed family history that one of Mother's cousins had done for her. It stated that Mary O'Bryan died in Laclede, Mo.  I discovered that there is a Laclede county, as well as a town called Laclede.  For a couple of years I followed both possibilities and could find no record of Grandmother being in either place, much less buried there. I could not even come up with a reason why she would have been in either place.  Her family was from Moniteau county and her husband Burt O'Bryan lived and worked in Cooper county most of his life. Each time I came across a Missouri cemetery book or an online listing of Missouri cemeteries, I would look for her name. I found very few O'Bryan/O'Briens and not even one Mary O'Bryan until one day I stumbled across a listing of Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. There was listed a Mary O'Brien.  Mt. Pleasant Church is associated with the family of David Allee and I had recently discovered that David Allee was the 2nd great-grandfather of Mary Howard O'Bryan. It is located near California, Mo., almost on the border of Moniteau and Cooper counties.  I feel certain that this is the grave of my grandmother, Mary E. Howard O'Bryan. 

This spring my sister and I were able to visit Mt. Pleasant and visit the grave our mother never had the opportunity to visit. The lovely little Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church is directly across the road from the cemetery. Below are some pictures that we took that day. I want to thank my dear sister for always being ready to wander through cemeteries and libraries with me and for understanding my love of family history.

Click here for a map to the cemetery.

Click on the pictures for a larger view.

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