Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1872-10-22
FANNY FERN DEAD.
The Last iilness Ofthe Wife of Parton, the Bio
g'apher-The Funeral To-Day.

1 -F-''N's
g'apher-The Funeral To-Day.
From the N. Y. Sun of Saturday.
Sara Payson Willis, the wife O
james Parton, the biographer ant
essavi-', died in her late residence
BOB East Eighteenth street, at {
O'clock Thursday evening Mrs
Parton was known 10 the literary
world as Fanny Fern" and her los,
will be sadly felt by the thousands
who have derived pleasure from hel
light and genial essays. She was in
the sixty-first year of her age, bnl
her mental powers were unimpaired
although disease has for years been
undermining her physical frame.
NJ. Parton was sister of the
poet, n thaniel z. Willis. She was
born in Portland, Me-, in 1911
Whit still small child her father
removed with his family to Boston
and ~ that city she spent her early
year She was educated in Hart
ford G mn, by Miss CathariDe Beech.
err, who esteemed her as a clever and
capable, but not brilliant girl.
While still very young ehe MARI
ried Mr. Eidridge, Of Boston, and in
1850 she was left q widow in strait
oned circumstances, with three chil-
dren. To support herself and little
ones ~he began to write sketches for
The b son weeklios, under the name
IT Fanny Fern" She became IA
nous at a single b und, and her pseu
donym is now as familiar as a house
hold word. In 1856 she was mar
ried =" Mr. James Parton, and since
that time her writings have been vol
luminous 1t is said thas Mr. Bonner
has paid her the magnificent .um OF
$3.50 900 for her contributions to the
Ledger alone.
Mr. Portion has been affi cted for
many years with inflmmatory
rheuma ism. She has been able To
ride about. however, and walk in her
garden she was an ardent admirer
of & wcrs until this fall She pass
cd last summer at the villa in Now
port ii r right arm was so affected
a. 90 be pOwertss, and she has not
left h"r room since her return To the
city She was forced to cit in an
easy ch ir, her arm being supported
by frame, TO lie down caused in
tense pain aud diff eulty 10 hrea h
ing. In this chair, where she has sat
for two months, she died, surround
ed by loving friends, and her eyes
restii z upon the beautiful fl pwers
which were her comfort in hf5.
She was perfectly conscious to the
last moment, and sent messages of
her love to distant friends. A short
time ago rhe told her husband that
she was shocked when she saw stran-
gers oi"wing the remains Of the late
Alice Carey in DR.. Damm'- church,
and 90, of her last requests was,
"Let no strangers look upon my
face" whispered as the breath of life
was passing from her. She had al
ways entertained strong aversion
to osrrDtatious funerals, and her
wishes in this respect will be fulGil-
ed t. he letter by her friends.
EsrY on Thursday morning she
knew h"r end was approaching. At
three O'Clock in the afternoon she
called her family around The arm
chair ia which she expired for her
sufferirgs prevented her from rest
ing on bed. Sadly did every mem
Der respond to the summons la the
little circle were DR. Parton, Miss
Eldredge, the dying lady's daugh-
ter, her two sisters, Miss Julia Willis,
Mrs. Bumstead, and little grand
child Dr.. Sturges, her physician,
came il. at that moment and joined
the group. The authoress, whose
life was rapidly ebbing, called each
to her side and said a few word
of admnnilicn till she reached the
last When the little grandchild
came to her she directed Parton to
send her early to bed aud if her
death occurred that night, not to tell
the child till tomorrow.
Soon after this sad scene, Dr.. Stur.
ges stepped forward and ielt her
pulse The authores- fixed her gaze
upon him and asked Fl mly:
I'D 'rt"r, am | dying n
The Doctor answered Yes
Her pulse had almost gone, and
she presented un mistakable traces Of
her approaching demise but the ar
nOnpcement of the physician made
no expression upon her At half
past 6 O'Clock those around her no.
ticed that she was unu.ualIy still
They felt her pulse it had stopped.
She had jlst closed her eyes as if to
sleep. A mirror was placed to her
lips: bat its continued brightness re
vealed be fact that she had breath
ed her last.