Maple Hill ? The three sisters — Margery Blythe, Mary Gleason and Margaret Phillips — sit at a dining room table in the family farmhouse near Maple Hill and reminisce about their childhood years.

They glance and grin at each other as the stories are told, as if they know what the others are thinking or about to say.

“Remember the time we got into the grape jelly? We smeared it all over our white dresses.”

“Remember when we got into the lard? We were so greasy we couldn’t stand up.”

Across from the dining room table is the living room. Seventy years ago, that’s where they were born — first Margaret, then Mary and then Margery.

Within a matter of minutes, the triplets had joined the Tom and Edith Logan family, which already included four sons.

“They brought a bed down (from the second floor),” Margaret said. “Mother was ill before we were born, so they brought it down so she didn’t have to climb the stairs.”

Margery Blythe holds one of the bracelets that were given to all three girls by an uncle when they were born 70 years ago. All three girls have the same initials M.E.L. — which also spells “Mel,” their grandfather’s name.

Newsmaking births

A visiting doctor from Rossville and Ethel Starbird, a local midwife, oversaw the births on April 28, 1933, which was six weeks premature and their parents’ 16th wedding anniversary. When it became apparent that the births were nearing, the boys — Martin, 15, Dale, 12, Marion, 7, and Duane, 5 — were sent to stay at the neighbor’s house.

From left, the Logan triplets, Margaret Phillips, Mary Gleason and Margery Blythe, will celebrate their birthday together Monday. Seventy years ago, the triplets joined the Tom and Edith Logan family, which already included four sons.

The triplets were a surprise — and big news.

“The mailman came, and our brother Martin told him,” Margaret said, adding that the postman then relayed the news of their birth to everyone along his route.

Area newspapers were eager to write about the triplets. A Topeka Daily Capital writer penned: “Old Joe Stork celebrated the sixteenth wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Logan Friday by leaving triplet daughters at their home near Maplehill. Mother and babies are doing well, thank you … Mr. and Mrs. Logan were unprepared for the rush on feminine names and will wait until they can find the proper triplet combination before deciding what to call their new little girls.”

It didn’t take long for the Logans to figure out the names: Margaret Edith, Mary Elizabeth and Margery Ethel. The names came from family members — aunts, grandmothers, mother — and the midwife who fed them drops of milk from a spoon. Their initials spelled out “Mel,” for their grandfather Mel Moran.

“They said we weighed around 4 pounds, but that couldn’t be,” Margaret said. “They said you could set us in dad’s hand.”

“It’s a miracle we all three lived and mother lived,” Mary added.

As the girls grew, their distinguishing personalties and physical features became more evident. Margaret had the darkest hair and liked to stay in the house. Margery had the next darkest hair and liked to be outside helping her brothers. Mary had blond hair and liked being indoors and outdoors.

Staying together

“We didn’t feel like we were any different than our brothers, but everybody said, ‘You don’t pick on the Logan girls because you’ll have three (to deal with).’ We’ve always wanted to be together and do things together,” Margaret said.

The girls dressed alike as youngsters and often find themselves showing up at gatherings today in outfits that are similar although they haven’t consulted each other beforehand.

“Mother made all our clothes out of chicken-feed sacks,” Margery said.

Life was hard when they were young. Their father died when they were 9, and their mother and brothers worked hard to support the family.

“Mother did very well to keep the family together after dad died,” Margaret said. “We had chickens, a big garden, cows to milk. We butchered (our livestock) for meat. We all helped.”

The triplets went to Sunnyside Grade School and then enrolled at Dover High School. Margery liked sports, of course. Mary liked typing best. Margaret excelled in math and history, and eventually was named class valedictorian.

The sisters were in band, pep club and chorus. They were cheerleaders. And their brothers, still protective of the “baby girls,” drove them to games and other school events.

After high school graduation in 1951, the triplets enrolled at Clark’s Business School in Topeka, and when they were finished there, they went to work at an office building.

Mary was first to marry — on Feb. 7, 1953, to Maurice Gleason. They have four children and a dozen grandchildren. Margaret married next — on April 3, 1954, to James Phillips. They have two children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Margery married 10 months later — on Feb. 12, 1955, to Gail Blythe. They have three children and six grandchildren.

The sisters were bridesmaids for the others’ weddings. Their mother baked their cakes, and each sister used the same candleholder at their receptions.

“We didn’t have wedding gowns,” Margery said, adding that they wore dressy store-brought suits instead. “We were married at our mother’s home in Dover.”

The sisters said they were lucky to have found husbands who understood their bond.

“Our husbands always wanted us to do things together,” Mary said. “Our husbands were good to see we celebrated our birthdays together.”

Margery worked for the office building for 10 years, Mary for five years and Margaret for 4 1/2 years. They left their jobs to raise their families.

“We all stopped for our children,” Margery said. “We didn’t have baby sitters the way they do now.”

Margery, who now lives on the family farm, continued to be a homemaker after her children were grown, while Margaret worked 12 years for the Americus school district and 18 years for a bank in Americus. Mary worked about 12 years for the Wabaunsee County water district and seven years at Trinity Insurance in Topeka.

Margaret and her husband lived in Americus for six years but moved back to the Maple Hill area so they could be near family.

The six surviving Logan children — Dale died three years ago — remain close. The sisters, who may be the oldest living triplets in Kansas, call each other every day. They attend the Dover Federated Church each Sunday.

“It’s about being together,” Mary said.

“We’ve been a close, loving family,” her sisters added.