COTTLE GILHAM, Elizabeth Edwards ENDERSBY 1835 - 1929

COTTLE, GILHAM, ENDERSBY, MARCY, CHAPMAN

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/25/2021 at 20:22:51

"The Fairfield (Ia.) Daily Ledger"
Thursday, January 31, 1929
Front Page, Column 6

MRS. E. GILHAM DIED HERE TODAY
93 Years Old and a Fairfield Resident for Many Years; Funeral Pending

Mrs. Elizabeth E. GILHAM age 93 years and a highly respected resident of this city, passed away this morning at 7 oclock at her home, 301 North Court street, after being ill since the middle of December.

The funeral arrangements have not been completed at this time.

Mrs. GILHAM was formerly Miss Elizabeth E. ENDERSBY and she was born Dec. 28, 1835 in Jacksonville, Ill. She was married to Dr. C. C. COTTLE (sic - William W. COTTLE; C. C. is their son) who died in this city in 1880. Later she married C. A. GILHAM, who passed away in 1911. She is survived by two children by her first marriage Mrs. L. J. MARCY of this city and Dr. C. C. COTTLE of Los Angeles, Calif., both of whom have been with her in her last illness.

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"The Fairfield (Ia.) Daily Ledger"
Tuesday, February 5, 1929
Front Page, Column 5

MRS. E. GILHAM RITES YESTERDAY
Were Largely Attended and Were Conducted by Dr. U. S. Smith

Impressive funeral services yesterday afternoon at 2 o'clock marked the last tribute paid to Mrs. Elizabeth E. GILHAM by her many friends and relatives.

The last rites were conducted at the family home, 301 North Court, with Dr. U. S. Smith officiating(.) The many beautiful floral offerings were a silent testimony of the esteem in which Mrs. GILHAM was held. Miss Cora Ball sang the songs during the services. The pall bearers were: Col. Wilson G. Heaton, M. H. Cuddy, Charles H. Heer, R. H. Spence, Robert F. Wilson and Dr. E. C. Bock. Interment took place in Evergreen cemetery.

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"The Fairfield (Ia.) Daily Ledger"
Monday, February 18, 1929
Page TWO, Column 5

OBITUARY

Mrs Elizabeth E. GILHAM

It was the fortune of Mrs. Elizabeth E. GILHAM to have been brought to Iowa when its greater part was still "Indian country" and as nature made it. She saw the covered wagons roll in, the Indians move westward, forest land and prairie turn into cultivated fields, railroads open a way to distant markets, the telegraph daily bring in news of the outside world, the Civil war with its trials and terrors run its course, and one by one the comforts and conveniences of civilized life come in. In the wonderful transformation she was one of the unnoted workers who do their part without acclaim.

Eliabeth (sic) Edwards ENDERSBY, the daughter of Frederick and Sarah ENDERSBY, who came as emigrants from England to America in 1831, was born December 28, 1835 in Jacksonville, Illinois.

In 1840, the family moved to Hillsboro, a little settlement in the southwest corner of Henry county, territory of Iowa. The neighboring county on the west, Jefferson, had been organized a year earlier. In its "seat of justice," Fairfield, there dwelt twenty-five persons, young and old.

Her mother having died, Elizabeth from the age of twelbe (sic) until her marriage, made her home with Mrs. George CHAPMAN, a sister, who lived in Glasgow where her husband ran a tailor-shop. In those days there were no "ready-mades" and tailoring was a necessary calling in every community. Besides helping with the household duties she sewed in the shop.

She was not content to remain a mere seamstress. Her active mind sought an outlet for its energy. At Hillsboro she had received a simple elementary training which was all the place afforded. A school with some pretension at Birmingham offered instruction in more advanced studies. There she spent two winters to obtain its advantages, doing housework for room and board. Later she attended the Fairfield Female Seminary, then under the direction of the Rev. Charles H. Gates, pastor of the Congregational church. In this institution were taught "all English branches" with particular attention to "composition, reading, spelling and defining," "vocal and instrumental music", and "the Latin and French languages. It was a wholesome influence in developing and fixing the character of the community.

Living among a people avid of education for their children and being better fitted for the task than most local teachers of the period, she for a time conducted a subscription school in Glasgow. This was supplementary to the public country schools which were open for a few weeks in the fall and winter of each year and in which she taught for a salary of twelve dollars per month. Mrs. Sam Turner, James Gregg, Mrs. Elizabeth Cheeum (sic - Chezum?), and Miss Addie Craine were some of her scholars.

She was at the First Iowa State Fair, held in Fairfield in October, in 1854, which was as notable and exciting an event as it was for an Iowan in 1875 to go to the Centennial Exposition.

On February 19, 1861, she was married to Dr. W. W. COTTLE. They lived on a farm near Glasgow for six years. Four children were born to them here, twins dying in childhood, a daughter, now Mrs. L. J. MARCY of Fairfield, and a son, Dr. C. C. COTTLE of Los Angeles. Six more years were passed in various localities: one at Mt. Pleasant, two at Winfield, one at Waterloo, and two at Brookfield, Mo. From there they came to Fairfield, where they remained until death called them.

Dr. W. W. COTTLE died in 1880. After a widowhood of six years in 1886, she married C. A. GILHAM, a friend of her youth. He dying in 1911, she was again left a widow.

With mind and memory undimmed, directing her own affairs to the last, taking deep interest in public affairs and voting for Hoover in the last general election she "carried on" to the morning of January 31, 1928 (sic - 1929), when she quietly went to sleep, in her ninty-third (sic) year, the sleep from which there is no earthly awakening.

Mrs. GILHAM was a woman of an unusually strong and positive personality. She was not attracted by modern garishness. She kept her old home with its old-fashioned wall-paper, its substantial old furniture and her garden with its picket fence that still protects it. She was fond of young people and liked to have them around her. College students and teachers in the public schools were always welcome and many of them roomed in her home. She was deeply religious and an ardent Methodist. She entertained Dr. Ives who officiated at the dedication of the M. E. church built durin gthe (sic) pastorate of Rev. H. E. Wing and Bishop Ames and Bishop Fowler when they presided over the conferences held in Fairfield. Hers was a sustaining faith in a life eternal.

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*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Buried in Lot Old.P.300 under the GILHAM name. Both of her husbands (William W. COTTLE and Calvit A. GILHAM) are also buried on the same lot.