Blessington, Charles F. 1856-1878

BLESSINGTON

Posted By: Nettie Mae (email)
Date: 5/23/2021 at 17:43:30

The Lyons Mirror 01 June 1878

Died, in Washington township, at the residence of his parents, Saturday evening, the 25th, after a lingering illness of pulmonary consumption, Mr. Charles Francis Blessington, aged twenty-two years two months and four days. Many who read this item were acquainted with the deceased, and to them this item will come with peculiar sadness. Born in Hampshire township in this county, March 21st, 1856, he has lived and become widely known throughout this part of the county; having taught school a number of terms in Washington and other townships, and at one time been employed as bookkeeper and clerk for Mr. W. F. Hanrahan of Charlotte, but for the past three years employed in the responsible position of bookkeeper for Mr. Peter Flannery of DeWitt. No young man in this county occupied a higher place in the esteem of the people among whom he moved than Charley Blessington, and none will be more sincerely mourned. Honest to a fault, modest and refined as a girl, unassuming, yet with a force of character that, had he lived, would have placed him in the front rank of society, he has passed down to an early grave leaving behind a spotless record that should be the emulation of all young men. During his last illness Charley had every care and attention bestowed upon him that fond parents and friends could give; and nothing was left untried or undone to arrest his fatal malady or add to his comfort; and with an iron will he held out to the last, only taking to his bed three days before his death. During his residence in Lyons he became widely and well known; and many of his former associates attested their respect for him by coming out to attend his funeral, which took place on Monday, and was the largest seen in this section for some time. The remains were taken to the Prairie Church, where a solemn mass was said for the repose of the soul of the departed; after which the procession was reformed and proceeded to the Catholic cemetery at Mill Creek where other members of the family are interred, and where all that was mortal of our friend was sadly and reverently laid away to rest.