I love this picture of Mary.  She clearly valued education so this must have been a proud moment.  Her confidence and optimism for the future are evident.

The note on the back of the photo, however, discloses a far different story.

Transcription of photo back:

Mary Rumping (1895) Schenk (1900) Schaffer (1916)¹, Marysville, Montana

I graduated in May 1895, was 16 years old March-3-1895.²  I had a teachers certificate in the Fall of 1895.  Taught two weeks in Wilborn, Mont.  Somebody told I wasn’t 18 and I lost my position.  I asked my father to let me go normal³ he said no “you ___ ___ ___ go and work out.[“]  My heart was broke then and is yet as I preferred that work instead of working in an old house or kitchen.  1929-6-29  M.G.S.

To provide some context, it’s important to note that at the time Mary made this request of her father, her parents were in the midst of a long and contentious separation.  In the final divorce proceeding years later, her father testified that Mary’s mother had turned the children’s hearts against him.  Perhaps this explains, in part, her father’s hostile response.

1.  Mary Rumping (1895) . . . Schaffer (1916).  The year after each surname appears to reference the surname used on the occasion of each date (i.e., she was single in 1895 and used her maiden name Rumping; in 1900 she married for the first time and used the surname Schenk; etc.)

2.  16 years old March-3-1895.  Mary herself stated on several occasions that she was born March 3, 1878 – which would have made her 17 years old on March 3, 1895, instead of 16.  I have not yet located any record to confirm her birth date.

3.  go normal.  “A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name. Most such schools are now called teachers’ colleges.” Normal school. (June 27, 2015). Retrieved July 5, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Normal_school&id=668969191.