• Born: March 1897, Lebanon, Laclede County, Missouri, USA ⁴
• Marriage (1): Virgil Noah SHULS before 1929 in prob Missouri, USA ^{1 2}
• Died: 14 February 1933, Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA at age 35 ²
• Buried: 15 February 1933, Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA ²

   Cause of her death was Pulmonary Tuberculosis, onset 1931.²

   Other names for Mae were Mae KEEN, May KEEN, May LESSING,⁴ Mrs. Mae SHIELS, May SHULES ¹ and Mae SHULS.²

  General Notes

MAE LESSING was born March 1897 in Lebanon, LaClede County, Missouri, the daughter of Herman Lessing and Lucinda Ellen Burgess. She appeared with her family on the 1900 and 1910 censuses in Auglaize Township, Laclede County, Missouri, USA. On 18 Feb 1916, in LaClede County, Mae married local resident Joe Keen. Joseph was the son of the Levi "Bud" Keen and Frances "Fannie" Smith. Together they had three children.

In 1925, the Keens were living in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri, USA. Late in the year, Joe filed for divorce from Mae, citing her mistreatment and abuse of him. He sought custody of their 3 daughters. Mae and the children moved to Springfield, Greene County, Missouri. The divorce case dragged on, but was finally granted in October 1926.

By 1930, both Joe and Mae had remarried to other spouses. Mae married Virgil Noah Shuls; they appeared together in the Springfield City Directory in 1928. Virgil was the son of John Jacob Shuls and his second wife, Nora Williams. He was a roofer and a painter. Virgil and Mae appeared on the 1930 census in Springfield, with just the pair of them in the household. Mae's ex-husband Joe was back in Lebanon, LaClede County, Missouri with his second wife, Ota Hemphill. However, the daughters of Joe and Mae were not in his household, either. They appear to have been split up and raised by other family members — Louise was in the household of Mae's eldest half-sister, Ada Burgess Kissinger.

About 1931, Mae caught tuberculosis. The disease progressed and worsened, and Mae died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 14 July 1933 at the County [Poor] Farm in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA. She was buried the next day in Hazelwood Cemetery. The informant on her death certificate was a friend or neighbor who did not know the names of Mae's parents or exactly when she was born. However, the service was handled by Thieme Funeral Home (paid for by Mae's mother), and their records, if not entirely accurate in all respects, still serve to identify Mae Shul's family.

— bio written for FindAGrave, 15 Oct 2016, kmh

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  Burial Notes

Hazelwood Cemetery; (Old) Public Grounds, Grave# 29, Row 2a. (New) Indigent Lot# 0858

  Recorded Events in Her Life

• Other Spouses: Joseph L. Keen (1894 –1968), m. 1916, Div. 1926.

• Parents: Herman Lessing and Ellen Burgess. ⁴

• She has conflicting birth information of 7 May 1899 and Stoutland, Camden County, Missouri, USA.

• She appeared on the 1900 US Federal Census on 13 June 1900 in Auglaize Township, Laclede County, Missouri, USA. ⁴
  
  Harman Lessing       63
  Ellen Lessing       31
  Elizabeth Lessing       6
  Earickey Lessing       4
  May Lessing       3
  William F Lessing       11/12

• She has conflicting birth information of Abt 1902 and Lebanon, Laclede County, Missouri, USA. ^{1 2}

• She had a residence in 1925 in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri, USA.
  
  Keen Joe (Otie) miner h2104 Annie Baxter av [this is actually Mae's husband with his future spouse]
  Keen Joe (Mae) plstr h1210 Missouri av [Joe filed for divorce from Mae in 1925]

• She had a residence in September 1925 in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA.

• Gallery: Keen children temporarily lost, on 5 September 1925, in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA.

• She resided at 630 E. Atlantic in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA in 1928.
  
  Shuls Virgil (May) roofer r1630 E Atlantic

• She resided at 607½ N. Jefferson Avenue in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA in 1929.
  
  Shuls Virgil (May) pntr r607½ N Jefferson av

• She appeared on the 1930 US Federal Census on 1 April 1930 in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA. ¹
  
  Virgil Shules       28
  May Shules       28

Mae married Virgil Noah SHULS, son of John Jacob SHULS and Nora WILLIAMS, before 1929 in prob Missouri, USA.^{1 2} (Virgil Noah SHULS was born on 7 February 1903 in Welch Township, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, USA,¹ died on 22 September 1972 in Orange County, California, USA and was buried in 1972 in Santa Ana, Orange County, California, USA ⁵.)