Mary fields biography

African-American former slave, associated with the Ursuline nuns, who was one of the first women to drive a U.S. mail coach on a regular route and became a folk hero of the American West. Name variations: Black Mary; Stagecoach Mary.

Born around 1832 in Hickman County, Tennessee, and celebrated her birthday on both March 15 and May 15; died in Cascade, Montana, on December 5, 1914; parents un-known; never married; no children.

Following the Civil War, worked at various jobs along the Mississippi River before finding work at the Ursuline convent in Toledo, Ohio; moved to St.

Peter's mission, near Cascade, Montana (1885); forced by the area bishop to leave the mission because of her unruly temper, opened a restaurant in Cascade; became the second woman to drive a U.S. mail coach route (1895–1903); ran a laundry, became mascot and supporter of the Cascade baseball team, and a much-loved citizen.

When Mary Fields was born in Hickman County, Tennesse