Elizabeth Gardiner Eastman 1848-1934

EASTMAN, GARDINER, ROGERS

Posted By: Michael J. Kearney (email)
Date: 11/19/2005 at 20:21:42

The Clinton Herald Monday June 11, 1934 p. 5 Mrs. Elizabeth Gardiner Eastman, 86, widow of the late Lauren C. Eastman, died unexpectedly about 3:30 o'clock Sunday morning in the home at 338 Fifth avenue, South, in which she had lived the last half a century. The death of the pioneer Clinton woman, a resident here since 1868 and widely known and beloved for her high character and her benevolences, was a shock to her relatives and friends as apparently she had been recovering her strength, following a period of weakness due to the frailities of her advanced age. Funeral services are to be held at the home at 10:30 o'clock Tuesday morning with Dr. J.M. Duer, pastor of the First Presbyterian church of which the deceased was a member, officiating. Interment will be in the Eastman family lot in Springdale cemetery. Her son-in-law, Wallace B. Rogers of Laurel, Miss., is expected this afternoon but Mrs. Rogers will be unable to accompany him because she is convelesing following an operation. Mrs. Eastman was born in Penn Yan, N.Y., March 9, 1848, the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Stimson B. Gardiner, who also became early residents of Clinton, preceding their daughter here. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Eastman was solemnized in Penn Yan, October 17, 1866, and two years later they came to Clinton, where Mr. Eastman became identified with the lumbering interests of C. Lamb & Sons. Two daughters were born to them, Ida Gardiner Eastman, who died February 5, 1902, and Nina L. Eastman, now Mrs. Wallace B. Rogers, of Laurel, where Mr. Eastman in later years acquired large lumbering interests in which his son-in-law also was interested. There a greatly beloved grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Eastman, Laruen Eastman Rogers was born and died several years ago. From the time of their arrival in Clinton, Mr. and Mrs. Eastman took an active interest in the affairs of the community and were identified with many of its activities and in its upbuildng. Fifty years ago they built the present Eastman home in Fifth avenue, South, and there,, in 1916, celebrated the golden anniversary of their wedding. A similar celebration was held in the home, also, at the time of the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Mrs. Eastman's parents. Like her husband, Mrs. Eastman was generous in her benefactions, taking particular delight in making it possible for young men and women of the community to attend college. Unknown dozens of such young people owe their opportunity to attain higher education to her generosity. Together, too, they contributed liberally to the support of such Clinton institutions as the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. and have continued to maintain the Gardiner room in Jane Lamb Memorial hospital. Most recent of their contributions to the city's material possessions was a substantial bequest by Mr. Eastman, to which Mrs. Eastman made a generous addition, which formed the nucleus of the building fund for the erection of the new First Presbyterian church and kirk house, directly across South Fourth street from the Eastman home. Always devoted workers in the church, Mr. and Mrs. Eastman haad long anticipated the time when the congregation could have a new church home and Mrs. Eastman took delight in carrying out her husband's expressed wishes in making that home possible, after his death, which occurred February 28, 1924. In addition to their benefactions in Clinton, Mr. and Mrs. Eastman gave liberally also to civic projects in Laurel. One of their outstanding gifts to that community is the Lauren Eastman Rogers Memorial Library built in memory of their grandson, which has been expanded to include also a museum and which houses many of the treasured works of art and other valuable collections owned by the Eastman and Rogers' families. Mrs. Eastman centered much of her interest in Clinton in the Presbyterian church, where she and her husband were held in the highest esteem and regareded as the foremost members of the congregation. She also was a member of the Clinton chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and of the Colonial Dames. "In the death of Mrs. Eastman," said a family friend today "another gentlewoman of a generation that is all too rapidly becoming only a treasured me Thanatopsis, a caravan 'which move to that mysterious realm where each shall take his chamber in the silent halls of death.' "And it was in the spirit of the poet's words that Mrs. Eastman, 'sustained and soothed by unfaltering trust,' approached the end, 'like the one that wraps the drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.' "Thus the pioneer Clinton woman had lived her years of usefulness, of kiindness and thoughtfulness in Clinton, a benediction to husband, family, friends and all with whom she came in contact. Like her husband, she leaves behind her memorials hewn from tangible materials but more imperishibly still in the form of memories that shall live always in the hearts and minds of those who knew her best and, knowing her, loved her. "Her friends cans well say with James Whitcomb Riley; "I cannot say, and I will not say That she is dead. She is just away! With a cherry smile and a wave of the hand. She has wandered into an unknown land. And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be, since she lingers there." "That was her own favorite source of consolation when loved ones went on before."