Born: 1852
Died: November 1934
Sister Mary Mercy McCue, a nun for 62 years, died at Gabriels Sanatorium where she was one of the founders. She was buried in the private cemetery on the sanatorium grounds.
"For 27 years she had the honor of being the only nun postmistress in the United States. She received her initial appointment to the Gabriels post office, which is housed in the institution, in 1907, during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, and served in that capacity until her death. . . . Taking her final vows in 1879, she, with the late Mother Mary Kiernan, went to Malone where they founded their first convent in the Ogdensburg diocese. In 1896 they left Malone and journeyed thru the wilderness of the Adirondacks to Gabriels, where they began their second convent under the Sisters of Mercy Order, which now includes Gabriels sanatorium."
From the Syracuse Post-Standard, November 19, 1934; reprinted in Howard Riley's column in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 7, 2015.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 7, 2015
Founder of Gabriels Sanitorium Dies
A requiem high mass for Mother Mercy, a nun for 62 years, who died Saturday at Gabriels Sanitorium of which she was one of the founders, will be held at 9 o'clock Tuesday morning in the chapel of the sanatorium. Burial will be in the private cemetery on the sanatorium grounds.
For 27 years she had the honor of being the only nun postmistress in the United States. She received her initial appointment to the Gabriels post office, which is housed in the institution, in 1907, during the administration of Theodore Roosevelt, and served in that capacity until her death.
Born in 1852 in Batavia, daughter of William and Margaret McCue, she received her early education in that city, entering the sisterhood when she was 20. Taking her final vows in 1879, she, with the late Mother Mary Kiernan, went to Malone where they founded their first convent in the Ogdensburg diocese. In 1896 they left Malone and journeyed thru the wilderness of the Adirondacks to Gabriels, where they began their second convent under the Sisters of Mercy Order, which now includes Gabriels sanatorium. The tract of land upon which the sanatorium stands, was given to them by the late Paul Smith, noted hotel man of the Adirondacks.
Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, whose grave in St. John's of the Wilderness cemetery, Paul Smith's, is only a short distance from the sanatorium, aided the nuns in their medical work. Mother Mercy is survived by one cousin, Father Michael O'Hara of Buffalo.
