Burnell, Amanda Carrier – 1853-1945

ANDERSON, BURNELL, CARRIER, RATHBONE

Posted By: JCGS Volunteer
Date: 4/2/2015 at 14:52:35

Mrs. Burnell, Nearly 93, Dies Here
Funeral Services For Pioneer Newton Woman To Be Held Tuesday
Mrs. Amanda Burnell, 92, widow of Courtland K. Burnell and daughter of the late Abram and Sarah Jane Anderson Carrier, died Saturday evening about 11:05 at her home on West Fourth Street South. She had been confined to her bed most of the time for the past several years, and during the past year, had practically lost her vision.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 in the Murdock Funeral home with Dr. James W. Bean, pastor of the First Presbyterian church in charge. Interment will be in the Newton Union cemetery. The body will lie in state at the funeral home until 2:00 Tuesday.
Born in Ohio
Amanda Carrier was born on February 28, 1853 in Morristown, Ohio and because of the ill health of a sister Emma, the family moved to Newton in 1857. They travelled first by river boat to St. Louis, Mo., and from there to Newton by covered wagon. Mrs. Burnell had the distinction of being an Iowa resident, 10 years after the state was admitted to the union.
Upon arriving in Newton, the Carriers temporarily made their home in two rooms in the vicinity of what is now East Third Street south. In Newton, Mr. Carrier went into the blacksmith business on the lot where the News Printing company plant is now located.
For several years the Carriers lived in Newton near the present site of the M. and St. L. depot. Mrs. Burnell, then Amanda Carrier, recalled many inconveniences of the early days, such as the days when the railroad only ran into Iowa as far as Iowa City; when the family carried water for household use from a distant pump; the muddy streets in summer, spring and fall, and rough with ruts in the winter months, etc.
Private Schooling
Although Amanda was only four years old when the family moved to Iowa, she became very well educated, never attending a public school. Her early education was received at the old Hazel Dell academy, a privately owned institution. In 1872, she enrolled at Iowa Wesleyan college at Mount Pleasant, leaving there the same year to marry Courtland K. Burnell, a tinsmith, later becoming a publishing house salesman. Mrs. Burnell was a member of the Eastern Star for 52 years.
To this union were born four sons, Hal Burnell of Newton, with whom she made her home; Abe Burnell Jr. of Los Angeles, Calif.; Milton Burnell of Columbus, Ohio; and Earl Burnell, who preceded his parents in death in 1902 at the age of 23; and one daughter, Mrs. John V. Rathbone of Los Angeles.
Other surviving relatives include two brothers, Will and Frank Carrier, both of Newton; four granddaughters; one grandson; and five great-grandchildren.
Mr. Burnell preceded his wife in death 15 years ago.
Source: Newton Daily News; Nov 19, 1945, pg. 1