Bereavement
It is not often that we are called upon to witness so sad a bereavement as that which befallen the family of S. H. Durbin, of Sherman Tp., in this county. On Sunday afternoon, September 8th, Willie, the oldest son, complained of sore throat and distress indicating diphtheria.
The parents, having had considerable experience in the treatment of that disease, and being prepared with remedies that had been effectual in staying and dispelling the same, lost no time in applying them. Finding these remedies ineffectual, the family physician was called in, and everything that medical skill, good care, and parental affection could accomplish, was done, but to no avail. Willie, just as he had passed the line, that divides childhood from youth, was marked a victim to this terrible scourge, and on Monday morning, Sept. 16th he passed away.
On the Friday previous the disease developed itself on Mrs. Durbin, Anna, the oldest daughter, and Dora, a bright bud of three summers. These cases all seemed to yield to medical treatment until Monday forenoon, when a mother's quick perception detected another hand reaching after her choicest flower.
The physician had been gone but an hour or so, and was recalled before he got out of the neighborhood, only to confirm their fears, --croup in its worst had taken hold of Dora. While friends were paying the last tribute of respect to Willie, and Mr. Durbin and Vonie were the only ones of the family to stand by the grave, the wrestle between the beautiful flower and the hideous fiend was going on in the home. After many hours of intense suffering, on Wednesday morning Sept. 18th, Dora, the beautiful, passed away.
Before we could scarcely realize that Dora was gone, intelligence came that Vonie, who had been taken by a kind neighbor and friend for care and safety, was attacked. Steps were immediately taken to bring her back to that home from which she had gone for safety. --Her case was of the most malignant type, never yielding for an instant to medical treatment, and on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 28th, Vonie passed away, in the tenth year of her age.
After thoroughly renovating and disinfecting the house and premises, it was thought safe for Harry , the youngest boy, six years of age to return home, which he did on the evening of Oct. 1st to take his bed in a few hours thereafter, where he was watched over by parents, physician and friends, until Sunday morning, Oct. 6th, when seeing "angels and flowers above him," he departed.
We saw the parents stand by three little mounds while the fourth was building. We saw them return to that desolate home, and the wail of grief that went up from the mother's heart as she entered the threshold, can only be assuaged by the love of him who said "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven." ~ The Journal, Oct. 10, 1878.
Robert Durbin
Born: March 20, 1861 in Jasper Co., Iowa
Died: March 31, 1861 in Jasper Co., Iowa
Buried: Lot 210, plot 14
Parents: S. H. and Nancy (Caldwell) Durbin
Samuel Durbin
Born: September 17, 1862, Jasper Co., Iowa
Died: August 17, 1863, Jasper Co., Iowa
Buried: Lot 210, plot 15
Parents: S. H. and Nancy (Caldwell) Durbin
S. Livona Durbin
Born: January 13, 1869, Jasper Co., Iowa
Died: September 26, 1878, Jasper Co., Iowa
Buried: Lot 210, plot 16
Parents: S. H. and Nancy (Caldwell) Durbin
Harvey L. Durbin
Born: December 3, 1872, Jasper Co., Iowa
Died: October 6, 1878, Jasper Co., Iowa
Buried: Lot 210, plot 17
Parents: S. H. and Nancy (Caldwell) Durbin
William A. Durbin
Born: June 21, 1866, Jasper Co., Iowa
Died: September 16, 1878, Jasper Co., Iowa
Buried: Lot 210, plot 12
Parents: S. H. and Nancy (Caldwell) Durbin
Dora E. Durbin
Born: March 1, 1875, Jasper Co., Iowa
Died: September 18, 1878, Jasper Co., Iowa
Buried: Lot 210, plot 19A
Parents: S. H. and Nancy (Caldwell) Durbin
Minta (Durbin) Warner
Born: May 30, 1879, Jasper Co., Iowa
Died: August 31, 1899, Jasper Co., Iowa
Buried: Lot 210, plot 13B
Married: A. G. (Archie) Warner1 on January 22, 1895 in Newton, Jasper Co., Iowa
Children: Walter Elvin
Parents: S. H. and Nancy (Caldwell) Durbin
The Death of A Young Wife and Mother
Although for weeks friends have been daily watching for the death of Mrs. Archie Warner, yet when the final summons came and her eyes closed forever on the things of this life, the sorrow was none the less poignant nor the heartaches any the easier to bear on account of its having been sadly looked forward to for so long.
Last March Mrs. Warner had a severe attach of la grippe, which left her lungs seriously affected; and being predisposed to consumption, it was soon evident that she was a victim to that fatal disease, and all that friends could do was to cheer and make her as comfortable as possible until the end would come. A few weeks ago she was taken to the home of her mother, Mrs. Scott Durbin, in Sherman township, where every attention that a loving mother's heart could suggest was lavished upon the idolized daughter.
Minta Caldwell Durbin was a daughter of Mrs. Scott H. Durbin, and was born in the well known Durbin farm in Sherman township on the 30th day of May, 1877, and died at 10:30 o'clock, Wednesday evening, August 30, 1890. On the 22nd of January, 1895, she was united in marriage to Archie Warner of this city, and to them was born one son, Walter Elvin, now a little over two years of age -- left motherless when he most needs the tender care of a loving mother. The young husband and baby boy have the sympathy of everybody in the great loss they have sustained. Deceased also leave besides her mother, two brothers and three sisters -- Howard, Roy, Esther and Eva Durbin and Mrs. Belle Ramsey.
The funeral services were held at Sugar Grove church, on Friday, Sept. 1st, conducted by Rev. B. C. Baumgardner of the Congregational church of which denomination Mrs. Warner was a devoted and consistent member. The remains were laid to rest beside her father and six brothers and sisters in the Metz cemetery. ~ The Newton Record, September 7, 1899.
