Sanderson, Catharine (McKay) 1845-1927

SANDERSON, CALDER, MCKAY, BROOKE, HOTCHKIN, HOLDEN, GASMAN

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 11/17/2013 at 13:31:12

The Grinnell (IA) Herald
Jan. 28, 1927

A PIONEER
PASSES OVER
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Mrs. Ben Sanderson Lived in Powe-
shiek and Jasper Counties Fifty
Nine Years.
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LIVED FOR MANY YEARS
IN BETHEL NEIGHBORHOOD.
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Mrs. Sanderson Passed Away Satur-
day at Home Here--Funeral
Held Monday.
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When the death of Mrs. Ben Sanderson, a resident of Jasper and Poweshiek counties for fifty-nine years, occurred, it removed from life a woman who was a pioneer in this section of the state. When she and her husband moved to the Bethel neighborhood the country was new, farms only partly fenced and roads poor and in some cases trails rather than highways.

Catharine McKay Sanderson was the daughter of Alexander and Catharine (Calder) McKay. Her father was a native of New York and her mother a native of Scotland. They had moved across the border line to what is now the Province of Ontario, but was then known as Upper Canada. Her birth occurred May 23, 1845,, in Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada. When the young child was two years old, the parents moved to Wisconsin and in 1855 when she was ten, to a farm near Empire City, Minn. This was the home of the family until the daughter Catharine was married to Benjamin Sanderson, March 16, 1866. Mr. Sanderson's boyhood residence was Waltham, Mass. In 1868 the young couple pioneered farther westward and located on a farm in Richland Township, Jasper County, where they remained until the death of the husband September 14, 1911.

Mrs. Sanderson remained at the old home until 1916 when she moved to what was to be her Grinnell residence the rest of her life, 1417 Fourth Avenue. Her death occurred January 22, 1927.

To Mr. and Mrs. Sanderson were born two children, Sadie J. and Benjamin, the latter having passed away at the age of five months and five days. She leaves to mourn her death the living daughter, Mrs. Sadie J. Brooke and two grand-daughters, Mrs. Edna Hotchkin and Miss Mabel Brooke. There are also two great-grandsons, Stanley Hotchkin and Roger Hotchkin. One brother also survives, James C. McKay, and a very large circle of friends. Two sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth Holden and Mrs. Sarah Gasman preceded her in death.

Mrs. Sanderson was a member of the Congregational church and a regular attendant at services. It was appropriate that the funeral should be held in the room where she had joined so many times in helpful service for the Master. It was held January 24 at the church, conducted by Rev. E.M. Vittum, assisted by Rev. E.F. Bosworth. Rev. S.A. Martin, in boyhood a resident of the Bethel neighborhood and an old time friend of the family, offered the prayer. Bearers at the service were John Russell, Martin Schwab, Thomas Bump, George Thompson, E.F. Norris, and Will Taylor. Burial was in Bethel cemetery beside the body of her husband.

Those who knew Mrs. Sanderson knew her as a bright, faithful woman, who scattered sunshine everywhere she went. She was unselfish in her disposition and loved to give service to others and to be helpful in every way possible. Her life has been a distinct contribution to the peaceful joyfulness of the world, and her death is a loss to all who knew and loved her.