Earley, Carrie L.

EARLEY

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/22/2009 at 12:54:36

Earley, Carrie L.

No history of Jasper county, published in the beginning of the twentieth century would be complete if special mention were not made of the well remembered lady of talent whose name forms the caption of this biographical memoir, whose beautiful and idyllic life has been transplanted to higher planes, but whose influence will long continue to pervade and uplift the lives of her many, many warm friends left to continue the "farce men call life."

Carrie L. Earley was born near Newton, Iowa, February 2, 1880, and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George G. Earley, a well-known and highly respected early Jasper county family. Her girlhood years were spent on the farm near Newton and her education was begun in the country schools. Later she graduated from the Newton high school and, having applied herself very assiduously to her text-books, received a good education, and afterward became one of the faithful and popular teachers in the schools of her home city, continuing her work until frail health compelled her to desist. In 1904 she was nominated on the Democratic ticket for county superintendent of schools and reduced the Republican majority of six hundred to one hundred and seventy-five.

The local newspapers reflected from time to time her literary tendencies and her writings were always read with interest and pleasure, for hers was a very versatile and trenchant pen, such as only the truly gifted can wield. Her mind was exceedingly keen; her information was general and her grasp of matters pertaining to the interests of the people was broad and comprehensive. She had a faculty of close analysis and was quick at repartee and unusually strong and apt in debate. Her mind and heart were absolutely pure and very sympathetic. She always aligned herself on the side of right and was completely against oppression of any sort, no matter against whom nor by whom directed.

From girlhood she had a passion for writing verses. She wrote simply because her mind was overflowing with thoughts too big to be retained, yet she was conservative and was seldom heard to speak of her writings, even to intimate friends. It was not until "afterward" that the volumes and quality of what she had written were fully comprehended and that her friends and acquaintances realized that they had had in their midst a soul gifted with poetic fire.

On August 24, 1907, Miss Earley passed into larger life. The splendid beauty of her character and the strong undercurrent of love, which dominated her every impulse were more clearly understood when what she had written was revealed.

A book of her poems, containing eighty pages, has been published and even the closest friends of the author were surprised at the diversity of the subject matter, showing a breadth of thought and comprehensiveness unsurmised. Some of her verses have been set to music and have thus touched the hearts of many.

Although her span of years was short, she wielded an influence that shall be ever widening and deepening and her work will not be finished until the "great book" is closed. Her beautiful Christian character was the finished product of the Master Builder, whose skill she reflected in her work, in school, in church and in literary pursuits.

As a further perpetuation of her sweet memory it may be said that one of her gems of verses has been adapted to a pleasing air and has now been published and adopted in many of the public schools of the state. The words of this popular song are as follows:

IOWA, FAIREST OF EARTH.

You may sing of the glorious mountains
And their snow-capped peaks so high;
I can sing of a sight that is fairer,
That delights while it rests the eye;
'Tis the beautiful rolling prairie
Where the green hills meet the blue sky.

Chorus:

There's a land that is fairer and dearer
Than any strange country on earth,
Where the breezes sweep over the prairie,
In the beautiful land of my birth,
And the sunlight kisses the green fields
Of old Iowa, fairest of earth.

You may sing of the grand old ocean
When the white sails its breast adorn;
I am sure there is a sight that is grander
In the dear land where I was born.
When the warm wind ruffles the green waves
In a field of old Iowa's corn. You may sing of magnificent mansions,
Of the castles on the Rhine;
They can never bring rest to the homesick
For their splendor I do not pine,
But I long for the little old farmhouse

Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 563

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• Earley, Carrie L. (views: 499)
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  Volunteer Transcriber -- 8/22/2009 at 12:54:36