The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-02-08

DIrD-At the residence of her son Abner Slrawn,
Feb. ., Mrs. LYDIA NJ. STRAwN, aged seventy.
four wears and eleven months.
III, 4 bn man npl ,vnnnn " no

neer childhood, guided her steps and nodded her
character during the mpctuous years Of carly
youth, and by their old-fashoned virtue bedrock
honesty and practical good sense prepared her
| to become queen among her sister states in her
splendid noon, are fast disappearing. II Is fit
ting that over their graves shall fall not only the
tear of tender remembrance, but also that the
reyerent hands of those for whom they have ouf-
fcrcd so many hardshps and won such suhstan.
tia! trumphs should lay above their dust the lNu-
rcls Of the victor.
Mrs. Lydia VI. Srawn was born March llth,
1904, and with her husband and family removed
to Illinois in April, 1884. 1t was before the day
of railroads Tclcgmphs, sewing machines and
all the counties combinations of brain with me
chanical form, which make our daily labor run
through its accustomed grooves with so little frIc
! ton were unknown quantities. Nature IN her
wild, untamcd beauty lay all around ;he adNeh-
.urous new conner but he was there to conquer
! and the victory was no easy one. The rich black
soil which the clumsy pillow Of that day upturned
at his feet promised to become Il regular Midas :
touch to him in the future, not its treasures were
only to be won by the literal sweat of his brow.
We who live in these days of marvellous improve.
mcnts on what was already good, who roll away
TO our shopping or calling in an easy little phae-
| ton or being too indocnt to even do that talk
with our ncighbors over the way through tclc-
phone, can scarcely imagine the loniness and
discomfort of life in the west fortyiivc year ago.
The prairies were covered with long grass, 50 tall
in marshy places that it concealed the horse and
rider passing through it. The VOLTS howl made
the night mouotonOus if not musical. Mr. Lo,
in his feathers, paint and striking original COS.
tune, was Il frequent if not always welcome visit
or La sale county was as noted then for its
magnificent distances rs Washington is now, and
ncighbors living ten or fifteen miles apart felt
perhaps a warmerth thrill of sympathy in their joys
and sorrows, than in these degenerate days when
civilization has moved them up next door to each
other. Ottawa, Il pigmy little town of scarcely
half dozen houses, was ambitionsly dreaming
of becoming city.
We groan over hard times and Strengthened
purses. In those days, taught by necessity, men
learned to do without money, and did it cheerful
ly. Their nearest wheat market was the little
city of Chicago and there were years when corn
could scarcely he given away rs gift.
| 70 this life Of toll and adventurous hardships,
| to the responsible duties of pioneer wife ana
mother, Mrs. Strawn brought magnificent
physical constitution, an energetic WILL a kindly
heart helpful hands and much executive ability.
| Her husband, Joel Strawn, was widely known
and hOnored and with the generous hospitality
of genial nature insisted that the latch string
! of his loo cabin home should always be out both
! to friend and stranger. The itcnerant minister
I of the mOspel ALWAYS found home beneath his
roof, and no man however poor or humble was
ever turned from its protecting shelter Mrs
Strawn was a sharer in ali these kindly mnstra-
tons, and many Il wandcrcr will remember to
the end of his life the bcnignant face, the cheer
full manners and genuine motherliness OF the
lady wo presided over that home; nor will he
forget the admirable vands which were the work
of her hands The grand old science of whole
some cookery Mrs. Strawn undcrstoo as few
understand it. Her bread butter, coffee, meats
and vegetables were like the Psalmsts wine,
making glad the heart of man, and her Stewcd
chicken was nimitable.
In those early days she was Il nurse OF wide eX-
pcrience Her soft steps, gentle hand and skill
full services were worth more than gold at the
bedside of suffering and in the chamber of the
~
one in the hour of supreme agony, who drops
the curtain over the dim eye and robes the still
form for its dreamless rest may not be repaid,
can never be forgotten. Scattered all over La
Sale county are men and women whose memoir
les of Mrs. Strawn are linked with the hottest af-
fections of their hearts, their beloved dead.
With the exception Of the last two, all the sew
enty-four years of her long life were filled with
active labor for those she loved For many years
all the toll of II large household was performed
by her own hands,
! She never .hrauk from any cXcrtiOn however
great if she Jur' ID that it would make happy
the children and orphan grand children who
found around the hearth of the dear old fireplace
the sunshine Of Il real home, and III the heart
which so tcndcry guarded them into woman
hood and manhood u mothers love. To the end
of her life she shrank from giving others trouble
and in her age and feebleness grievcd over the
thought that Others must render to her the SER
vices which She could no longer perform for her
self
| For the last two wears she suffered intensely.
There were days and nights and even weeks sue
cccding each other when every breath was a
breath Of pain. She bore it all with sweet pa
thence looking lOngngly yet unmurmurngy for
the hour when God should break the chain. In
her weakness she looked to the great Helper.
Perhaps to her, rs to many, there came with Il
deep regret the thought that the richness and
! fullncss of her days had not been given to her
| God, that the wonderful energy and force of her
character, her wide influence among common
men and women had not been thrown unreserv-
cdly into his work. 10 Him she looked for for
givcncss and leaning on His arm she passed
through the deep waters. At hcrevcntidc twas
| light.
Sleep swcrtly in thy deep rest, the first un-
broken one for many months dear mother Of the
olden time. May the mantle of thy sterling vir-
tues fall on Us Who take thy place. Con-.
Our Faces.
! The human face i not only ''thc index Of the
soul" Every bodilyscnSatiOn leaves ij> nde!i-
bic impress upon the features. Every human
face, if studied attentiyely, reveals the physical