"Esther Quirk had a sister (name unknown) who married a Lace (name unknown).
They had John Lace and Lizzie (nickname?) Lace."

Would that be the John Lace born c1842 in the Isle of Man who married an Eliza (also born IoM), and ended up in Greenvale, Dakota in 1880?

That may be the same John Lace who was christened at Kirk Andreas on 8th Dec 1842, son of John Lace and Grace Nicholson...