The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-10-25
N NIEMORIAM

Dr .ToSeph Orrin Wilcox lied NJ ms
$50 II Asbe county on SUNDAY. the
s,b day If September. 1898. in the '4th
vear of his age. His disease WAS typhola
f.ver. He was born ut IiamptonVllle'
\. G. He came OF gentle, sturdy liheaE'
His father. Miles Wilcox. Z native OF
Connecticut. was noted for his force Of
! character and his fine business qualilea-
lions His mother was Temperance Car
son. 4 niece Of Judge Caldwell. and 2 rel
arrive Of Col. Kit Carson. United States
army. who was famous as the great
nothfnder and explorer Of the Rocky
Mountains. Or. Wilcox VAS twice mar
Rod His first wife was Miss Martina
Worth y niece Of the late Governor
Worth. The only child 10y this union
i Mrs. William Barber. Of Nllke>boro.
\. G. In 1879 he married Margaret. 7
granddaughter Of the Hon. Louis II.
Henry. There are six children by tbs
! marriacc-threc sons and three dau2h-
tiers. He graduated in medicine with
the highest distinction IT the University
of Baltimore. He possessed rare intel
|lectual gifts. He had a clear. fercefu!,
logical mind that went straight 10 the
heart OF II subject that he touched. rs
Il public speaker he had few SNOWY or
brilliant qualities. but his speeches Wer'
| rtAfDlete NlIn COilllIlcI StlSt- Nltf tiii'
| effective. He iIlumined and enriched
any subject that he discussed and never
| failed deeply to impress his audience. He
was a man Of striking. magnetic pres
ence. No man ever had troncer friends
lie seemed to act upon the advice given
by PoloniuS TO his SON:
The friends thou hast, and
Their adoption tried.
Graphic them to thy soul
With hoops of steel"
In the practice Of his profession he
was masterful. He had few equals. and
certainly no superiors in North Carolina.
His perceptions We're quick and accurate.
and his Judgment was almost unerring.
He was rarely mistaken as to the dag
nosiS or treatment of any case with
which he was connected. He had a very
large practice in Ashe county and in the
adjoining counties. He was a ~tirelesS
practitioner. He took little rest. work
ing night and day, and sleeping but
four or five hours ont Of the tWcnty-four.
His sacrifices for his patients were enor-
nous. and. in all probability. shortened
his life. He died with his armor on.
facing the foe. courage0usly miniStering
to the wants of suffering humanity.
Many Of his patients We're very poor
from whom he neither received nor ex-
pected any compensation. Hundreds of
Gods little ones will miss his wise cou1-
sci. his helping hand. his loving minis
trationS. His reward is sure. "InaSmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least
Of these my brethren. We have done it
unto me- In al the relations Of life
DR.. Wilcox was just. manly. honest. mer-
ciful. sincere in all that he said and did.
He moved on straight lines from point
to point: and in ali things. and 1T all
times bore himself directly and ercctly."
His domestic life was %singularly happy.
lie idoliZed his wife and children. He
had an ideal home. nesting among the
mountains. whore. with lis charming fam
lily. he loved to dispense a p~rinccly hos
pitality. But the strong staff is broken.
Death is the great mon He levels
all distinctions. Earth TO earth, ashe,
to ashes, dust to dust The writer Off
ciated at his burial. More than a hun-
dred and fifty persons We're present, NOT
a few of them poor people whom he had
helped. who knew him and loved him. 1t
was 4 touching sight. It was the strong
est possible proof of the esteem and af-
faction inv hich he was held. They
who knew him best loved him most. At
the burial of a great Englishman fifty
poor people. to whom he had been kind.
came to his grave to throw sprirS of
evergreen upon his coffin. 'ThiS." says
one of his friends, lis a nobier memorial
than the Nelson monument He is
right. At the burial of DIR. Wilcox hun
dreds Of poor people. to whom he had
been more than kind. came to his grave
to show their respect and affection for his
memory Each one seemed to feel that
his death was a personal bereavement.
lie being dead yet speaketh. The entire
State becomes 4 loOser by the death of
such a man. In the beginning Of his i'll
ness. DR.. Wilcox seemed to have a pre-
sentiment of his death. When he was
told of his unanimous nomination for
Congress by the convention in Wilkes
boro he begged his friends to say no more
about it-that he wished only to make
preparation for death. We cannot doubt
that he died in the confidence Of a GER
tain faith, in the comfort Of a reasonable.
religious and holly hope, in favor with
God. and in perfect charity with the
world"
The ways Of Providence are indeed
inscrutable. DR.. Wilcox died in the full
ness of his powers. in the maturity of
his strength. with every faculty ripened
and melloWed for the highest usefulness
to God and man. GOO, ways are not as
mans a But this we know-and
the reflection should be a source Of inf
mite strength and comfort to us-that the
Judge of all the earth can do 10 wrong
With 40 less truth than beauty has II
been said that the well which hides the
face of futurity is woven by the hand of
mercy The ceremony of the Odd Eel
lows. at the conclusion of the burial ser
vices. was most appropriate, beautiful
q md N Drncci-n W. Lea a1r 1o,, III
sleeping upon the mountain top. amid the
friends and the scenes he loved so we'll
with his face turned towards the rising
sun in hope Of q joyful resurrection AT the
last day.
JAMES 4. WESTON
Wilkesboro, y. c., Oct. IS, 1895,