(1 September 1904 – 7 February 1971)1
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU) curates at least 65 vascular plant specimens collected by Mary Caughey Helms. Many of her specimens at NCU have handwritten labels signed “Mary C. Helms”. As we continue to catalog our collections it is likely that we will find more specimens collected by her. NCU uses “Caughey Helms, Mary” when cataloging her specimens, as she collected plants using her maiden name, and then her married name.
It can be assumed that the Duke University Herbarium (DUKE) curates many vascular plant specimens collected by Dr. Caughey Helms as that is where she did her doctoral work. However, while DUKE specimens from the southeastern United States have digital images, few have complete records in sernecportal.org, so without doubt they curate more than the 27 specimens currently attributed to her. As her study sites for her thesis, “A physiological and ecologial study of certain pocosin plants,” were in Beaufort County, North Carolina, that county should be a focus for anyone searching for Dr. Caughey Helms’ specimens in the DUKE herbarium.11 DUKE has cataloged 8 bryophytes collected in Pitt and Hyde Counties of North Carolina in 1939 collected by Mary Caughey Helms. Likewise, the herbarium of East Carolina University (ECUH) likely curates far more specimens than the 20 currently attributed to her. It is curious that the Rutgers University Herbarium (CHRB) curates 90 vascular plant specimens collected by Dr. Caughey Helms. Other herbaria curating her vascular plant specimens include the University of Texas at Austin (TEX), University of Nevada (RENO:V), University of Minnesota (MIN), North Carolina State University (NCSC), Marshall University (MUHW), University of Indiana (IND), Harvard Herbaria (GH), Butler University (BUT), and Brigham Young University (BRY:V).2
Mary Gladys Caughey was born at Darlington, Pennsylvania on 1 September 1904 to Phema S. Sheerer Caughey (1878-1966) and Elmer Clarence Caughey (1879-1953).3 ,4,11 By 1910 the family had moved to Chester, West Virginia where Mr. Caughey worked as a doubler in a tin mill.4 Mary attended Chester, West Virginia elementary schools and high schools (1910-19190, and East Liverpool, Ohio high school (1919-1923).11 Mary earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1927 from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. She earned a Master of Arts degree from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City in December, 1936 by attending summer terms in 1931, 1932, 1936 and 1936.8,11
Ms. Caughey lived with her parents in Chester, West Virginia, and taught biology at Wells High School in Newell, West Virginia from 1927-1937.7,11 Ms. Caughey began teaching at East Carolina Teachers College in 1937, just after she earned her M.A. from Columbia University. 8,11
Ms. Caughey began collecting plant specimens in August, 1938, likely as part of her graduate studies at Duke University. She attended Duke University during summer terms in 1938, 1939, and 1940. Ms. Caughey was a full-time graduate student at Duke University from 1941-1943.11 She collected many specimens in the summer of 1939 in the mountains of North Carolina. The few specimens that are cataloged from 1940 reveal that her collecting focus had switched the coastal plain of North Carolina, likely reflecting her thesis research interests. Mary earned a Ph.D. from Duke University in 1943. The title of her thesis was “A physiological and ecological study of certain pocosin plants.” Dr. Caughey’s thesis committee members were Dr. Paul J. Kramer, Dr. Ruth Margery Addoms, Dr. Henry J. Oosting, Dr. Hugo Leander Blomquist, and Dr. Irving Emery Gray.11
Map of Dr. Caughey Helms’ study sites for her doctoral thesis, “A physiological and ecological study of certain pocosin plants” (page 10)
On 19 August, 1951 Mary Caughey married Rufus Marshall Helms (1907-2002) in Chester, West Virginia. The wedding announcement noted they were faculty of East Carolina College in Greenville, North Carolina.5 , 6 Marshall Helms taught Physics at East Carolina College beginning in 1948 and and retired in 1972. Dr. Marshall Helms was inducted into the East Carolina University College of Education’s “Educators Hall of Fame” in 2001.9,8
From 1956 onward, Dr. Caughey Helms’ collecting focused on Pitt County, North Carolina. She retired from East Carolina University in 1966.8
Mary Caughey Helms died suddenly of a heart attack at age 66 at her home in Greenville on 7 February 1971.1
The Mary Caughey Helms Scholarship within the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences is awarded to the graduating senior biology major with the most outstanding record in scholarship and contribution to the department, the university, and the community.10
NCSC Accession 67691, Saponaria officinalis, collected 2 August 1967 by Dr. Mary Caughey Helms and Dr. Ocra Christine Wilton in Pitt County, North Carolina. After Mary’s death in 1971, Dr. Marshall Helms married Dr. Wilton, who had been a colleague of Mary’s in the Biology Department at East Carolina University.
PUBLICATIONS:
Causey, Mary Gladys. 1945. Water relations of pocosin or bog shrubs. Plant Physiol. 20 (4): 671-89. doi: 10.1104/pp.20.4.671. PMID: 16654015; PMCID: PMC437256.
Caughey, Mary Gladys. 1943. A physiological and ecological study of certain pocosin plants. Thesis (Ph.D.), Duke University, Durham.
SOURCES:
1. Death Certificate, Mary C. Helms. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.
2. SERNEC Data Portal. 2025. http//:sernecportal.org/index.php. Accessed on February 01.
3. Mary Gladys Helms. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112017143/mary_gladys_helms Accessed on 1 February 2025
4. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
5. Rufus Marshall Helms. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/219587520/rufus-marshall-helms Accessed on 1 February 2025
6. Miss Mary Caughey Marries Mr. Helms. The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC Sunday 26 August 1951, page 55. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer-marriage-of-caughe/67240497/ Accessed on 1 February 2025
7. Chester City, Hancock County, West Virginia Census. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
8. Ms. Alston Cobourn, University Archivist, Joyner Library Special Collections, East Carolina University Library. email Cobourn to McCormick 3 February 2025
9. Educators Hall of Fame 2001 Inductees. East Carolina University School of Education. https://education.ecu.edu/ehof/2001-inductees/ Accessed on 1 February 2025
10. The Mary Caughey Helms Scholarship. https://ecu.academicworks.com/opportunities/30401 Accessed on 1 February 2025
11. Caughey, Mary Gladys. 1943. A physiological and ecological study of certain pocosin plants. Thesis (Ph.D.), Duke University, Durham. (page 68, “Curriculum Vitae”)