Cass, Mary Jane 1832-1907

CASS, SIMONDS, GEORGE, KIRBY, WALKER, WILSON, KNAUSS

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 12/19/2012 at 08:22:43

The Grinnell (IA) Herald; July 9, 1907

MRS. LEWIS CASS

A great grief and sorrow came to the people of Grinnell last Friday morning, when Mrs. Lewis Cass closed her eyes in the last, long sleep of death.

Her sudden demise was a great shock to her family, to her friends and to the poor, the sick and afflicted to whom she has ever been a ministering angel--for she seemed to know by intuition when one needed help or sympathy and with a delicacy which never offended and is possessed but by few, she comforted and consoled all that came to her for help. She was not only ready and willing to give material aid, but she gave herself.

Mrs. Cass was born April 1, 1832 at Carlisle, Mass. Her maiden name was Mary Jane Simonds and she was the oldest of four children. She came of that sturdy, honest, energetic, self-centered, New England parentage that has given the men and women that have been the bone and sinew of our country.

Her father died when she was eight years old and her mother with her four fatherless little ones went back to her old New Hampshire home where she worked and struggled to support and educate her children and where she lived to be nearly a hundred and three years old always most tenderly loved and cared for by Mrs. Cass and her sister Mrs. George.

When 22 she was married to Lewis Cass to whom she has been a loving and helpful wife for the past fifty-three years. It is given but to few people to enjoy so many years of wedded life when perfect trust and love and loyalty have survived the stress, the sorrow and the trials of life.

Her last conscious words were to her husband, to whom she said after a most severe paroxysm of pain "I love you so."

They lived in New Hampshire for sixteen years and then moved to Grinnell in 1870 where they have lived ever since.

Probably no woman in Grinnell was better known, more highly respected, and more dearly loved than Mrs. Cass as was clearly manifested by the many messages of condolence, the large and beautiful floral contributions and the large congregation that came to take their last farewell of her Sunday afternoon at her home. The most impressive funeral services were by Prof. L.F. Parker who gave a most tender tribute to her many virtues as wife, mother, friend and neighbor.

She will long be remembered not only for her winning peronality, her great charm of manner, her loving sympathy and kindly ministrations to all--but for her stand for all that was high and holy, artistic and refining. She was a lover of flowers, of books, of everything that goes to make life worth living. But no love of husband, or child or friends could keep her longer. Her time had come--she heard the father's knock at the door, she opened it and passed out, not into a blind thoroughfare, not into the darkness and the night but into the dawn of a perfect day and all who knew her will unite in saying:

"None knew her but to love
her,
None named her but to praise."

Those who were present from out of town were: Mr. and Mrs. C. Kirby of Manitou, Colo.; Dr. Harry Walker and wife of Cedar Rapids, W.S. Walker and wife of Iowa Falls, C.C. Walker and wife of Elgin, Ill., Mrs. L.M. Wilson of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Wendall Knauss of Iowa City.