Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1896-11-19
Wbifnar1rv.
IN MEMORIAM.

| Saints Day were laid to rest the mortal
remains Of most devoted churchwOman
and singularly lovely character. who de.
serves more than the usual obituary rec
ord. Few in Maryland were more widely
known, and none more universally be
loved.
Harriet Mcpherson was born Dec. !, 1925,
and almost the whole Of her life was spent
on her beautiful estate auburn" near Catoc.
tin Furnace In Frederick county. II Is a
large, comfortable oldfashioncd house and in
all Maryland there Is no more hospitable
| home.
She and her husband were truly given to
hospitality, and she had the happy and envi.
able faculty of making her guests feel at
home and enjoy every moment Of their stay.
1t was impossible not to feel the charm Of
her presence, her genial companionship, the
exquisite refinement Of her manners and her
remarkable power of conversation.
For many years she supported almost
alone, and kept alive the little church at
Catoctin Furnace, known as Harriet chapel
The surrounding population composed al
most entirely Of the very poor the working
people Of Catoctin Furnace and their fami.
lies-and the salary Of the clergyman was in
large measure paid by her out of her limited
resources. Her generous charities, and her
daily selfsacrificc cannot be estimated, and
will never be known until that day when
the good and faithful servant shall receive
the reward and blessing of her Master and
enter into the Joy other Lord.
She was Que Of those who made you feel.
without any effort on her part, that religion
was her lite. She loved her church, and she
was an intelligent and instructed church
woman of the type of Bishop Nottingham
whom she greatly loved and admired. 1t
may truly be said Of her that her meat was
to do the will OF her Lord and Saviour.
Along with these characteristics she had
tie brightest, merriest temper 30 that her
very presence was like sunshine. whether in
her own home, or when she paid visits (Ohl
how wclcome) to her friends And no one
ever had more true and loyal friends. Of
them, many are no longer here, but those
that remain will ever cherish her memory as
q most precious possession; they feel that
she is indeed one Of those blessed saints
whom we pray TO follow in all virtuous and
godly living and that she has come to those
unspcakable joys which Almighty God has
prepared for those who unfeignedly love
Him. Her kindly voice and genial smile,
her warm affcclionate greeting when she
met you, her sympathetic interest in all you
had to tell her, whether Of joy or sorrow,
her cordial desire TO cheer and comfort and
help you If it lay in her power; all this will
live in the recollection Of her friends. As
was said of good bishop of former days,
she might have taken for her motto "Serve
God and be cheerful, casting all your care
upon Him, for He careth for you" Side by
side with her geniality, there was at ali times
the most perfect and most transparent sim.
rlicity. She could not be anything but en-.
tirely natural. Never was character more
free from any alloy of ins,ncerity. No un.
dertone Of yelled jealousy or selfshness ever
found place in her conversation. Many of
the beautiful verses in the last chapter of the
Book of Proverbs, come naturally to mind.
"She stretched out her hand to the poor;
yea, she reached out her hands to the needy.
She opened her mouth with wisdom, and in
her tongue was the law of kindness Her
children rise up and call her blessed; her
husband also and he praiseth her."
After long illness and at times great
suffering, borne with most touching patience
and submission, she was buried in the Mt.
Olivet Cemetery, Frederick, Md, on Sunday
November list, the Feast of All Saints" a
most appropriate day for one whose life had
illustrated SO many Of the precious beatitudes
in the Gospel for the day.
The pail bearers were her blood relations
and relations by marriage, viz: Jas. A. Dali,
Herman Brien, George II. Dennis. Clinton
johnson, Mcpherson Kennedy, and Buch-
anan Schley. The committal service was
read by the Rev. r Nottingham, brother
of her loved Bishop, and the Rev. Osborne
Ingle. Rector of All Saints church, Frederick
City. At Auburn" where the first part Of
the service was read by her son.in law, the
Rev. Ernest McGill, the coffin bearers we're
the gray headed workmen Of Catoctln, for
whom she had toiled and cared, and who
(such was their reverence for herr would
have deemed it an honor to touch the hem
Of her garment, or do any service to her dear
memory.
On that beautiful November day she was
laid to rest amid the tears OF her relatives
and many friends who yet thanked God for
her long and useful and blessed life, and who
rejoced that at length she rested from her
labors.