Wyoming democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Wyoming Co., Pa.) 1867-1940, 1869-04-28
OBITUARY.

DEBORAH BEDFORD ONE or THE SrRvI-
voRs CT THE WYoHnNG MAssAc@r.--We clip
| from the Lnzerne County papers, the fol-
! lowing tributc to the memory of DEBORAH
BEDFORD. probably the last survivor OF the
! Wyoming massacre From the initials, as
| well as from its neat, chaste style, We feel
! quite certain that it comes from the pen of
that accomplished and christian gentleman,
| Caleb L. Wright Esq, of Wilkcs-BaTe,
who is a most Jealous and earnest cowork-
er in the church of which Mrs. Bedford was
! so long an honorcd member.
DIED.-On the 81 inst. at the residence
of her son. DIR. Andrew Bedford, in Way
erIy, LuzeIne county, Mrs. Deborah Bed
ford, aged 80 years, month and 2G days.
Mrs Bedford, whose maiden name was
! Sutton. was born at North Castle, State of
| New York, the Sth Of February, 1773-
| When between two and three years of age
she came with her parents to the Valley of
| Wyoming, then in the dawn of its settle
ment by the whites AZ the time of the
| incursion OF Butler and Brandt. very soon
after, her fathers family were inmates of
! Forty Fort, the strongest hold of the set
| tiers 1T was her chance to be witness Of
the dread scenes Of that disastrous day,
when, the battle lost, the stockade was CIV
en- up to pillage and many IF its occupants
to slaughter. The Suttons, however, shar-
| ed better fate mt the hands of the savage
! captOrS, than many Of their felloTSA They
were made prisoners Of war but through
| some unexplained clem"ncy of Butler, the
1 i / L
passagein p rudely-coustructed boat, pur-
sued their wav down the Susquehanna to
! Middietown-a few miles below the site of
| Harrisburg Here the familvremair1ed IN
til the withdrawal of the invaders to their
| homes in the North permitted their safe re-
| turn.
ON taking up their residence once more
in the Valley, the Sutton family occupied
ahause on the river bank OF Wilkes Barre
erected on the ground now covered by the
mansion OfJudge ConyuGLanl. Shortly
| after they moved across the river to hmgs-
| ton, aud it WAS ut that place in September
! 17SS, when girl OF 10, the subject of our
SKETCH through the iustrumcntality of the
pioneer labOrers Of the of J.. Church, be
came the subject Of converting grace. She
at once became IL member of the first class
formed in Northern Pennsylvania, was in
dne time after taking in full connection
and sustained the relation with undertaking
fidelity through period Of more than 50
wears Perhaps no person in America was
a longer time member She was eotem-
porary in membership with John Wesley
(who died in 1871, and the honored faith
ers who were his cO-labOrerS IN the building
up of that church, which now reflects such
imperishable honors on their names.
Mrs. Bedford, by family ties, was con-
nected with names not soon to be forgot
ten, She was the granddaughter of DR..
VIM. Hooker Smith, a man noted in this
vicinity, whose foresight Outran by half a
century that of the community in which he
lived, in comprehending the ultimate value
of anthracite coal George Catlin, whose
name will become historic as the represen-
tative on canvass of tribes and nations of
men, even now, many of them extinct, was
her nephew.
But in this region of country, the re-
membrance of Mrs Bedford will rest on the
reputation she acquired for earnest zeal
enduring Christian purity. The apartment
III her sons house, where lii many of the
last years of her life passed away, was truly
the sanctuary in which the children of the
church We're wont to gather, in order ia
hold commune with the heavenly-minded
invalid. At no time did her interest in the
Redeemers cause and kingdom flag. Nev-
er did doubt Overspread her mind, tnat
the crown would be to her n vain hope
Her long age was infused with the terms
of the sanctuary and the texts of the Bible
She had a message of cheer to every absent
saint 4 lesson OF encouragement for every
visitor. ...s... a -s..ss... -.-s
The last twenty-five years of her life were
passed under the hospitable roof of her son