Hamlin, Elizabeth Raley Bonsall 1856-1936

HAMLIN, RALEY, BONSALL, CRAVATH, BEEBE

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 1/31/2012 at 12:56:22

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register

BEAUTIFUL LIFE COMES TO ITS CLOSE
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Funeral Services for Mrs. Geo. H. Hamlin are Held Wedneday Afternoon.
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A WOMAN UNIVERSALLY ESTEEMED AND BELOVED
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Had Made Her Home in Grinnell Ever Since Her Early Girlhood.
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Elizabeth Raley Bonsall was born at Salem, Ohio, on Feb. 4, 1856, daughter of Joshua and Elazan (Raley) Bonsall, of Quaker parentage. In her early girlhood the family moved to Keokuk County, Iowa, where her early life was spent on a farm. In 1873 she came to Grinnell to enter the college academy. For a time she lived with her uncle and aunt, Dr. and Mrs. S.A. Cravath, by whom she came throught the years to be regarded as a daughter. Dr. Cravath's ownership of the Grinnell Herald at that time was probably responsible for her having been for several years a member of the Herald force. A considerable number of college students of the seventies and eighties helped themselves through college and acquired some newspaper and publication office experience by working for Dr. Cravath and he gave his niece the same opportunity. For a time during her college work she lived at the ladies boarding hall, that forerunner of the Quadrangle, conducted by Mrs. Cushman. It was during these Herald office and boarding hall days that she acquired the nickname "Bonnie Bonsall" by which she has been affectionately known by her student and town friends of that day ever since.

She was married to George Homer Hamlin on Jan. 12, 1881, at the Cravath home in southeast Grinnell by Rev. J.M. Sturtevant and was taken by her husband to live at the pioneer home of the Hamlin family in Grinnell at 619 Sixth avenue. Last January completed the 55th year of a happy married life at this home, the only interruption to which was a partial destruction of the house by the cyclone of 1882 which necessitated rebuilding. During that time she has, with her husband, become such an integral part of Grinnell life that biography is superfluous to those who know Grinnell. On April 10, 1936, after days of disquieting illness at home she went to the Community Hospital for diagnosis and treatment. Shortly after, an operation became imperative but this offered only temporary relief. On the afternoon of May 18, 1936, death brought the final relief from her suffering.

Thus the outlines of a life spent 63 years in one town, 55 years of which were as a home maker, are easily covered with a few lines. The loving regard in which she has been held over these many years both by the casual acquaintances who had but brief contacts with her as well as the more character-testing contacts of intimate friends and relatives can not be put down or measured.

Perhaps it is best summed up in the name "Bonnie" given her by her friends in student days. Bonnie she was both in character and in her face which reflected her character. "Everybody likes Bonnie," so frequently heard from those older friends who knew her best, was not simply the result of a surface popularity but was rather due to certain inherently lovable traits that were inborn and that caused another acquaintance to frequently remark that she was "born under a lucky star."

She was, as a relative put it, "the peacemaker and straighten-er-out of things for the whole family" only it went farther than the family. Her "Bonnie" nature was inherently due to being able to see the good in people in spite of an intelligent realization of their shortcomings. The deep seated beauty and serenity of her nature was never better shown than during her last weakening and distressing illness through which she maintained, without a break, a sweetness, serenity and cheerfulness that had been so characteristic of her whole life and with it all she had to her last conscious hours a quiet wit and sense of humor that were the marvel of those who visited her during her last days, as well as a delight to all those with whom she came in contact in her previous social life.

Although without children of her own she was "Aunt Elizabeth" by adoption to a large circle of children who could not claim that blood relationship. Two of such are her namesakes, Mary Elizabeth Raley of Riverton, Conn., and Beth Wakefield of San Franciso, Calif. Several nephews and nieces have "Aunt Lizzie and Uncle George" to thank for needed substantial help and encouragement during school or college days. She took, in infancy, her husband's mother-less niece, Miss Emma Beebe, who has lived with them as a daughter ever since. Her active interest in the welfare and doings of a large circle of her younger relatives continued to the last week of her life. Through violent financial reverses that have crushed or embittered many people she was always the same sweet "Bonnie" to all near her, a dependable source of comfort, cheer, and sympathy.

She has been a member of the Congregational church since 1887. The Drummond Club and the Searchlight Club have enjoyed her active participation for many years.

She is survived by her husband, prominent in the banking history of Grinnell for many years and for a time treasurer of Grinnell College, and by her niece, Miss Emma Beebe, as the immediate family in the Hamlin home, and by her brother and sister, Edward W. Bonsall of Hancock, Mich., and Ella B. Cravath of Los Angeles, Calif.

Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Robert Inglis at the Congregational Church at 2 P.M. Wednesday, May 20. Burial was in the Hamlin lot at Hazelwood cemetery. Flowers were in profusion. Organ numbers and interludes by Elsie Haggard Ryan and a violin number by Prof. Peck comprised a quiet and appropriate musical program in keeping with the simple tastes of Mrs. Hamlin. The pall bearers were C.A. Blair, F.E. Spaulding, J.G. Shifflett, Dr. March Green, V.G. Preston and A.L. Frisbie.