Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-09-24
Obituary..


where he has lived since early In the wear
1886, near Belleview, now Iron Iron county,
Missouri, full of years and OF honors.
The deceased was born near Bowling
Green, KY, on December Goth, 1872, and at
his death was aged 70 years months and Id
days. He emigrated to, and settled in, that
part of Washington county, Missouri, which
has since been incorporated in, and is now
part of Iron county. about the year 1924. He
and his now widow, Louiza Watt, were
joined in marriage on March oath, 1886, and
thereupon they moved to the farm one mile
east of Belleview where they lived continu-
ously until their long union was dissolved by
death.
His occupation was that of farmer, and
of stone mason. On November 18th, 1865,
he went into partnership with his son-in-
law, in the mercantile business, and therein
continued for ten years. He served as a
Judge of the County Court of Iron county
for two terms (eight years., and during
which time he further enhanced his reputa-
ton as a financier, in managing the county
affairs; after which he retired to private life,
attending only to his home duties and his
financial affairs. which latter were, by his
exceptional skill, left in a very prosperous
condition.
He leaves an aged widow who through
youth, middle age, and to senility, joyed
with his joys, and sorrowed with his sorrows;
a daughter who has already passed middle
age, a grandson whom he has watched
through early youth, and into a promising
manhood land two great grandchildren whose
innocent prattle amused his weary hours, to
mourn his loss.
AS is true that 1--WE are unwilling to go
down into the Grave even with Princes for
bed fellows" so, it is also true, that no
matter how rosy the hope, and bright the
promise for the Afterlife of our loved ones,
we are unwilling to surrender them at the call
of the dread angel of Death. But in review
ing the life of good man there is consola-
ton for the most disconsolate; and the hope
of and belief in the meeting of loved ones
after death and the knowledge of an enterni-
ty to be spent in unison by souls here lin6ed
together, in the presence, and in the Heaven
of the Great Jehovah, is and should be the
hope and consolation of the friends and kim
dred of this noble work of God-Joseph l..
Stephens.
The longest life Of man is but brief span,
soon passed; he is born, he grows, and wax
es strong, he does his life's work, and dies;
his body returns to the dust whence it came
and the places which, once, in the body,
knew him, know him no more. But there
are things which do not pass away with
mans breath. His vital, indestructible,
eternal principal, his soul never dies: nor
does his good name. By reason Of the acts
of man in life, after death his name is soon
forgotten, or transmitted to posterity as a
synonym of contempt, or is handed down to
succeeding ages as representative OF that
which should be copied; and so it is with
Joseph L. Stephens. Energetic in mind and
body, he increased the talents intrusted I'M
to him, nor did he pass his life in the sloth
condemned by Sallust. Sterling and honest
in his principles, he rendered unto Caesar
those things which were Casar's. Strong
in convictions, lie never feared to approve
the right, nor to rebuke the wrong. Char
liable by nature, he ever sought to find good
in others; "When that the poor hath cried
that" he hath not alleylated their distress
es? He did by others according to the rule by
which he patterned his life, doing unto others
as he would have them do unto him.
His name, his life, and his memory are
such as to command the respect of contem-
poraries, to be loved by companions, and to
be held up to succeeding generations as de-
serving reverence and following.
In early life he entered into the commun-
ion of the NJ. E. Church, and until the Angel
of Death brought the summons to his ready
soul, he lived in that faith, and lived up to
the doctrines of his Redeemer. II a mortal
may say it, say it, that of such is the King
dom of Heaven. Methinks l hear voice
saying, "You have been faithful over a few
things, 7 will make you ruler over many.
Enter thou into the joys Of thy Lord"
The memory of his social and religious life
endears his name to his neighbors and his
friends. His descendants may point with
pride to him as the Stem of their Genealogi-
cal tree, and his mourning relatives may
with comfort remember that his soul is in
the hands of just, merciful, and an AL
mighty God.