Mary Lacroix

Mary Lacroix (née Hanford) was the wife of Sebastian Lacroix, the mother of Elijah Hanford and Delphine Lacroix, and a former resident of The Bog, Charlottetown, where she used to work in the laundry service.

Biography[]

Mary was a citizen of the Bog, a slum area in Charlottetown. She worked in the laundry service with her friends, Constance and Jocelyn, and many other black women. While wandering the Bog for the first time, Sebastian Lacroix found himself at the laundry service. Sebastian was smitten with Mary from the start, though she dismissed his compliments as little more than insincere flattery that she regularly heard from most customers. However, she provided Sebastian and Gilbert Blythe with housing when they winded up staying in Charlottetown for the night.

Mary and Sebastian became good friends, and confided in one another, and their feelings gradually grew into love. When Sebastian finally decided he would like to propose to her, he went down to her home, but became upset when he saw Mary receive an unexpected visitor. She was unable to explain that her visitor was her own son, Elijah, before Sebastian ran off in despair. Mary and Gilbert found him at the laundry service, where Sebastian proposed to Mary. She accepted and they married at the church in Charlottetown.

After her wedding to Bash, Mary moved to Avonlea and began living with Bash and Gilbert at the Blythe-Lacroix farm. She became friends with the Green Gables family, and Rachel Lynde, but felt depressed that Some of her other new neighbors, like the Barry family, would regularly refuse her invitations, and acceptance, likely because of her color, and heritage. She eventually gave birth to her second child, a beautiful, black, baby girl that was named Delphine. Not long after, her son Elijah returned to Avonlea to visit his mother for the first time since she married Bash. Though Mary was overjoyed at first to see her son again, the visit quickly turned sour as Elijah was unable to reconcile with how his mother's life had changed and improved so dramatically and wonderfully, including the birth of his new half-sister, and the fact that she will likely have a better life than he had. While arguing with Mary, Elijah threw something on the ground which startled Mary, the knife she had in her hand slipped and cut her. After several arguments with Mary and Bash about their new life, Elijah abruptly ran away from Avonlea, while stealing a number of items that had belonged to Gilbert's late father, John.

Around Easter 1899, Mary became ill due to the infected cut on her hand. By the time a doctor was able to examine her, she had developed a fatal case of Sepsis and only had a week or so to live. Her illness deeply affected the people around her and they struggled to find ways to help her. At Anne's suggestion, Mary wrote a letter intended for Bash to give to Delphine when she was older and a second letter for Elijah, when Gilbert's attempt to find Elijah were unsuccessful. As a gift to Mary, her friends and family arranged a special Easter celebration at the Barrys' house, to fulfill Mary's wish to truly become part of the community she had come to call her home. Anne eventually wrote an article in the school newspaper about her.

Physical appearance[]

Mary had light brown skin, brown eyes, and curly black hair.

Personality[]

Mary was a kind, loving and caring person. She had a really great sense of humor and was often cheerful, although rejecting at times. She was helpful and tried to be positive. Due to her past, she often did not trust others.