Immigration: March 18, 1853, S/S/ Wurttemburg

Annie has a variety of spellings for her name. No one is really sure what her maiden name was and evidently they don't know what her middle name is either. So her name until someone can check the fact is: Ann(e) Elizabeth/Ellen Leppart/Lipert/Leopard.

The following was written by Annie's grandaughter, Anna Bell Bridgewater Herring to her own daughter Lucille Davidson (the date on the letter shows it to be 1980).

"Anne married Jean Richards at the age of 16. They arrived in Louisiana near Baton Rouge being six weeks on the water. (however, Ann is the only one listed as coming over in 1854 with 2 other Richard women and Jean not with her). However, did find a record of a Jean Richard arriving in USA in 1853.

After Jean died or left, Ann came up the river on a boat to Illinois. She married Tom Gilleland. A son and a daughter were born, Martha and Tom. Cornelius (Neal) was not Granny Ann's son, but she raised him. His mother was Nancy Ann Barrett Gilleland. Widower Thomas Gilleland went to St. Louis to choose a future wife and chose Anne. St. Louis was a place for widows to meet responsible men for future husbands. Anne and Thomas lived on the Gilleland farm in Woodville, IL After Tom died, she married George McCormack.

Granny Anne as most people called her was a registered mid wife, she delivered many babies all around the neighborhood. She came by horseback and she had a little black satchel she always took along. I think $3 was what she charged. The way she got started as a midwife was when she came across the ocean, a woman was holding a small baby who died.

Granny Anne smoked a clay pipe. I remember seeing her getting a coal of fire from the fire place or the hearth of the cook stove to light her pipe. The enclosed picture was taken at Lillie Vandersand's home. I think the sun was bright, she never wore her specks only to read or sew.

After she was widowed for the last time, she lived near her son Thomas Gillelan Jr.. She became active in Pleasant Grove Church, always helping others help themselves. She planned her own funeral service and her favorite dress to war. The Gillelan grandaughters had their own burial ideas, blue silk lace trimmed shroud, white satin slippers with heels, gray velvet brocade casket, gray granite monument. The name on the monument is Ann E. Mccormick."

Lucille Herring Davidson, wife of Marcus Davidson remembers that" Granny Anne was great at directing vistors on how to bake. She waould take a trip to the cellar for crock of milk, skim off the heavy cream, mix flour, sugar, eggs and cream. The kids got to stir the cookies, sprinkle them with sugar and then bake them. They would eat them with milk.

Granny Ann had the "Dutchy" speech of Germany. Granny Anne would tell of her childhood days in Germany where she and her brother cared for geese. They herded milk goats on hillsides."

No proof of death for Jean/John Richard(s) so don't know if she was widowed or if she just left him.