Iowa
Old Press
The Renwick Times
Renwick, Humboldt County, Iowa
Friday, May 16, 1884
THE DEATH OF MRS. JUDGE CHASE
[Hamilton Freeman] This sad but long expected event
occurred on Wednesday forenoon of last week, and was only briefly
announced in the Freeman of that date. It is of course a
familiar fact, not only to the citizens of our town and county,
but to hundreds throughout the State, that Mrs. Chase had been
for several years suffering from that most dreaded and malignant
disease—cancer. A person of less determination and
endurance, or of less physical constitution, would long ago have
succumbed to the power of this wasting destroyer. But she bore
her sufferings with the greatest fortitude—striving by her
own strong will, seconded at every point by the highest medical
skill, and the tenderest ministrations of her friends—to
throw off the coils of the terrible fate which had too from
lately surrounded her. The unequal [unreadable] of time, the only
question in the case being—"How long can she
last?" It is very sad, but it only illustrates the weakness
of all human science and skill, that a disease like this, so
wearying, wearing and wasting, utterly baffles all efforts to
stay its progress; and that in addition to the thousands whom it
has sent down to the welcome rest of the grave, it has other
thousands in its fell grasp, and will destroy other thousands in
time to come.
Mrs. Chase may truly be said to have been one of the early
settlers of Webster City, though the town was two or three years
old and contained 900 or more inhabitants when Judge Chase
settled here in 1858. They came here soon after their marriage
and have resided here ever since.—Good fortune attended them
until Mrs. Chase was stricken with this fatal disease, and none
in our community have been accorded a higher social position.
Mrs. Chase was a woman of education and intelligence, possessing
a clear, bright intellect, and much force of character. She would
have become noted in any direction in which her tastes might have
led her to higher cultivation and greater effort, but her
ambition was centered as that of the good wife and mother always
are—in her own home and the comfort and welfare of those
nearest and dearest to her. Her life was one of much
self-denial—carrying ever with her the highest sense of the
duty she felt she owed to others. It was not until quite recent
years that she allowed herself freely to enjoy the general
society to which she would have always been so cordially
welcomed. But while she was thus ever solicitous for the welfare
of those of her own home circle, she was a person of most kindly
impulses, firm and abiding in her friendships, generous in the
estimate she places upon others, and with ever an encouraging,
appreciative word for those who were striving and deserving.
Outside of her own family relationships, she had a wide circle of
friends who have been filled with the keenest sorrow over her
mournful fate.—Few invalids in any community have been the
subjects of deeper general solicitude—though years have
passed since it became evident that her malady was a mortal one.
"She died lamented in the strength of life,
A valued mother and a faithful wife.
Called not away, when time had loosed each hold
On the fond heart, and each desire grew cold;
Not when the ills of age, its pains, its care,
The drooping spirit for its fate prepare;
And, each affection failing, leaves the heart
Loosed from life's charm, and willing to depart
But when to all that knit us to our kind
She felt fast bound as charity can bind!"
During the long illness of his wife, and now that she has so prematurely and so sadly passed away, Judge Chase has had the most sincere and heartfelt sympathy wherever he is known. He has been a constant attendant at her bedside, his efforts to mitigate her suffering and to restore her to health, absorbing every faculty of his mind and every element of his nature. It has been a prolonged, terrible strain, thus to see the wife of his youth so gradually but so surely fading away into the silent land, and feel himself so utterly powerless to invoke any sort of relief. His own suffering could have been little less than that of the stricken invalid herself. But it is a blessed consolation that when the end came, it was quiet and painless. There was no agony—no suffering.
"They thought her dying when she slept
And sleeping when she died!"
Mrs. Chase was born in Perry, N.Y., on the 14th day of Jan.,
1838, and was therefore 46 years of age. Her maiden name was
Harriet E. Bell, and she was the second daughter of Col. Ralph
Bell. A husband, an only son, three sisters—Mrs. Judge
Miracle, Mrs. J. H. Andrews, of Boone, and Mrs. S. E. Morse, of
New Woodstock, N.Y., and two brothers, Jerry and Ralph Bell, are
left to mourn their irreparable loss, while the sincerest
sympathies of all who have known the family for many years past
go out towards them in this hour of their sad and overwhelming
bereavement.
LOCAL NEWS
-Sunny days.
-Corn is mostly planted.
-Spring chickens are sprouting.
-Mrs. A. J. Clark is visiting friends here.
-Gardening is quite a profession with the ladies.
-Mrs. Lockwood was down to Humboldt last Saturday.
-It pays to buy goods at A. B. Richardson, because he sells
cheap.
-Alex. Owens, of Thrall, was in town a few minutes on Monday
last.
-Miss Ocey Parr, of Eagle Grove, is visiting her sister, Mrs. A.
B. Richardson.
-Mrs. Lizzie Brink has opened up a millinery store in Griebel's
furniture rooms.
-Funk & Smith are having their land fenced west of the depot
for a pasture.
-My, didn't Bob have a tussle with that mustang of Taylor's
yesterday, but he shod her all the same.
-John D. Warren, of the wholesale firm of Pratt, Warren &
Craig, of Des Moines, was in town one day last week.
MARRIED — At the residence of the bride's parents west
of town, Miss Fannie McQuaid and Mr. Wm. McCurry.
--
E. J. Martin draws the ribbon over a team of spanking bays that
he purchased of J. V. Robinson, of Boone Twp.
J. J. Worthy, of Webster City, made a short stop between trains
Tuesday. He was accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Engle, of Eagle
Grove.
Business men, mechanics, and farmers looking for locations in
Northern Iowa will find it to their advantage to visit Renwick
before permanently locating.
Our fellow townsman, F. I. Stoddard, has returned from Hastings,
Neb., whither he went a short time ago on business, and reports
business lively in that region.
So far as we have been able to interview the farmers, they report
corn as coming up well, and in some instances they say their corn
is up sufficient to see the rows across the field.
That efficient carpenter and joiner, L. Selders, of Webster City,
is putting the front in the new bank building today, which, by
the way, when completed, will be the noblest front in town.
J. W. Estey, our harness maker, is still crowded with new work.
J. W. puts up a No. one harness, and the farmers of this
community, being of the intelligent class, it don't take them
long to discern this fact.
On the 8th inst., at Drennen's store, the contract for building a
bridge across Prairie creek, on the county line between Humboldt
and Wright counties, was awarded to a Mr. Austin, of Webster
City, for $450.
On coming down town this morning we noticed floating to the
breeze from the office door of the Renwick hotel the dental
shingle of D. R. Bradshaw, of Wyoming, Jones Co., Iowa, who, by
the way, is a brother of our old friend, Z. C. Bradshaw, of
Clarion.
We noticed our old friend, W. A. Crosley, on our streets on
Tuesday. We were very glad to see him and know that he realizes
the importance of visiting Renwick for business purposes. He is
still traveling for the extensive grocery house of A. J. Tolman
& Co., of Chicago.
C. V. Brown, of Boone Tp., has his herd started again. He brought
up over 200 head from the vicinity of Webster City. Skafte &
Brimmer also have started a herd on the Upper Boone, and are
herding over 100 head of Hamilton county cattle, besides the
neighborhood cattle.
Even before the melodious songs of the meadow lark greets our
ears these beautiful spring mornings, the sound of the Rob't
Kinney's hammer is heard at the anvil. We are glad to note that
our farmer friends appreciate the efforts of our blacksmith to do
their work on short notice.
T. H. Adams, of Lu Verne, has [unreadable] with Mr. Needham, and
the new firm start out with very flattering prospects. They are
now running ten teams gathering the cream from nearly 2,000 cows.
We bespeak for the firm the implicit confidence of their many
patrons, as we know Messrs. Adams and Needham both to be square
dealing men. This week they shipped 4,000 pounds of choice
creamery butter to New York, the product of one week.
THE RENWICK TIMES
A company of the enterprising business men and citizens of the
sprightly new town of Renwick, on the line of the Northwestern
road, in the corner of Humboldt county, have made arrangements
for the publication of a weekly paper in that town, and will
issue number one of The Renwick Times on Friday of this
week. It will be a six-column folio, devoted to the interests of
the growing and progressive community in which it is published,
and will be a potent agency in bringing into public notice the
advantages of the splendid farming region with which the town is
surrounded. The enterprise is certainly a laudable one, and the Freeman
wishes The Renwick Times the fullest measure of prosperity
and success.—Webster City Freeman.
Work on the new bank building is progressing finely, and when
completed will be one of the best and most convenient structures
of its kind in this part of the state. The building is 22 x 30,
two stories high, and is built in the best manner possible. The
vault contains 4 car-load of stone and ½ car-load of brick,
making a wall two feet in thickness and proof against fire. Mr.
Smith has just returned from Chicago, where he purchased one of
the most approved burglar proof safes that is manufactured at the
present time at a cost of upwards of $1,000. It has the best time
lock known, and is absolutely burglar proof. Mess. Funk, Smith
& Co., the proprietors, are straightforward business men, of
means and enterprise, and we bespeak for them a degree of success
that is justly due them. Aside from the general banking business
they will deal quite extensively in real estate, and represent
some of the best insurance Co's in existence. Call and see them
in their new office, corner Field and Main Streets.
Hiram Carpenter dug up on his farm and exhibited in town the
other day, a red clover root that measured two feet and nine
inches in length. The root ran straight down, and was nearly an
inch through at the top of the ground. This explains the great
tenacity of the clover plant, and shows why it yields so
abundantly year after year.— Webster City Freeman.
[transcribed by P.E., February 2007]