Louisa M. (Tripp) Bosworth (1829-1902)

TRIPP, BOSWORTH, BREED

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 2/7/2026 at 20:31:30

From Ames Intelligencer July 17, 1902 (page 5)

Must we in all things seek the how and the why and the wherefore? God in his wisdom has taken from among the friends where she was so sincerely loved, one of the truest types of lovely womanhood that has been among us to enjoy. Louisa M. Bosworth led a life which all Christians might envy. The three score years and ten, the allotted time of man to accomplish his work on earth was lived and fitfully yielded. There were trials and troubles which every human must encounter, but from amidst these difficulties rose the beauty of her character, unsurpassable.

She was born at Steuben, New York, July 18, 1829, and had she lived two days longer would have reached the age of seventy-three years.

She was a daughter of Rev. William and Mrs. Clarissa Tripp. Her father fulfilled a ministry as clergyman of the Methodist church of over fifty years duration; thus she was reared in the faith.

November 21, 1850, the deceased was married to Drake S. Bosworth at Rodman, New York, and went with her husband to Smithville and later to Sandy Creek, New York, which was her home until the close of the civil war. She belonged to that noble company of women patriots who in the hours of the nations peril gave to their country the costly gift of the object of their affection. During the war tidings reached her that her husband had been slain in battle and for ten days she lived in almost unbearable suspense, to be relieved by the glad tidings that her loved one was alive and would recover. In 1867 she moved with her husband to St. Charles, Ill. and in 1880 to Ames, Ia.

Mrs. Bosworth confessed Christ early in life joining the church of which her father was pastor. While living at St. Charles, Ill. she united with the Congregational church of which her husband was a member. Her membership with the Congregational church of Ames dates from 1881. She has ever been an earnest christian, loyal to the principals taught and exemplified in her childhood. Her membership with that church is characterized by fidelity to her vows and loyalty to those who were her pastors. In her was realized the devotion of the hymn,

"I love thy Church O God,
Her walls before Thee stand,
Dear as the apple of Thine eye
And graven on Thy hand.

Beyond my highest joy
I prize her heavenly ways;
Her sweet communion solemn vows;
Her hymns of love and praise."

Her last days were filled with peace; in her weakness she leaned upon Divine strength; she feared not "the valley of the shadow of death" with her shepherd near. Quietly, peacefully she sank to rest Friday morning at half past four.

Of her father's family she was the last to survive; her husband preceded her, dying May 11, 1885. Her son Louis M. Bosworth of this city to whom she clung with strong devotion, and who with his wife ministered faithfully unto her in her decline and last illness, alone survives her. Of the more distant relatives there are many to mourn her loss, one of whom, the Rev. Dwight P. Breed, D. D., with his wife was present on the day of her burial.