The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1902-09-26

editorial management of the paper.
She deserved and was given place as
a veteran newspaper woman OF Michi-
gan. Although her business connection
with the Owosso Press ceased in 1890
her interest in and loyal support of the
paper was maintained until the last.
Second only to her work and devotion
to the Owosso Press was her labors in
behalf of The Ladies' Library Associa-
| ton, of which she was charter mem
! ber--her name appearing the first of in
corporators on the list. She was presi-
dent of the association from its organi-
cation in 1867 until 1878, and from 1901
until her death.
The following tribute was written by
Mr.. Charles H. Gould, of Chicago
former resident of this city and one of
her boys" referred to in the article:
The news of the passing away of
Mrs. Jane A. Church will give pain
not only to the people of the city,
which for so many years was her
home, but to great many who no
longer live in Owosso. For not only
was she, in her day, a conspicuously
able and successful editor, but as a
woman she reached out and touched
many lives for their own good. There
never was anybody in Owosso who to
the hearty will to help others united
! so much practical ability to help. She
aroused ambition, pointed out the
| steps worn in the rugged steep, gave
] n " hO nI1n -nia 70 a
toiling climber. So the objects of her
| thoughtfulness are many and widely
| scattered, doing their humble shares
in the worlds work the better, we
may be sure, for the encouragement
she gave so freely and so wisely. Mar
row as was the path of her daily du-
ties, and always everlasting her time
and strength, she never became mar
row. She saw the great world with
| perfect clearness,N and showed the
straight road into and through it. She
always seemed to go with her 'boys
and girls" No parent is prouder Of a
child than she was of every one Of
those who were graduated" from the
PRESS office, during all those busy
| years, and went their modest ways.
| Coming to OwOsso in 1866, fresh
from teaching in young ladies' SEM
| mary, her education, her character and
her strong interest in everything that
| affected the community, gave her q
| high place in the regard of the people.
| 1t was not long before she grew to be
| what one might even call an institu-
| ton. Her gentle, or perhaps tactful,
| nature kept her out of political and
other sorts of entanglements, and won
| for her newspaper the support Of all
| the people
| AS an editor, her consciousness
| was her most notable trait. She sat
in that old armchair before the big
table heaped with exchanges, copy,
| proofs and all the litter of her calling,
| passing upon the matters coming to
her with the same fine old-fashioned
sense of responsibility that Greeley
| and Bryant felt Her words We're as
carefully weighed, her choice of what
to say and what not to say was as
| carefully made as if she were launch
ing bolts like The Thunderer's and
| upon what the PRESS said, war or
peace. the welfare of nations de-
| pended. There is something beautiful
| in that fidelity to duty. The progress
| and happiness of the world even hang
upon it. Mrs. Church won all her
honOrs by acting well her part. Her
| Indifference to minor matters, such as
| dress, showed her devotion to her work
| and helped to give her the respect of
the people who saw her thus busy in
their interest or for their pleasure.
The modern demand for news,
| whether true or false. but news, and
all the news, never found qualification
at her hands. She had no qualms at
suppressing news which the public
curiosity rather than the public inter
est asked for, but which in print
might give pain to some of our people
And if it was necessary to print any
thing rejecting upon a person, the
\ utmost care must be taken to verify
the facts and the treatment of the
matter must be kindly. In every word
she wrote, her charity for the conduct
or the supposed motives of others was
boundless. Her loyalty to her friends
to her readers, to good people and good
work, was unshakable.
One of the earliest, if not the earli'
est, of women editors, and so the OBJ
ject of much comment by journalists
elsewhere, she conducted Il newspaper
| which metropolitan editors often called
the best country newspaper in Michi-
gan. Nothing, naturally, pleased hel
so much as to hear that her work
judged for itself, stood high, and that
I'fellow craftsmen whom she did not
know appreciated the industry and sin
cerity and conscience that went into
the making Of the Owosso WEEKLY
PRESS.
Though forced by the bereavements
which broke up her own home to fill
place in the public eye, and feeling
the power no less than the RESPONSE
bility that were hers, there was always
sort of wistful interest in those wo
men who were the centers of homes
She was never strong minded" as
they used to call it. Yet she would SCI
no limits to the work woman might
do. Was not she doing mans worl
in the world and doing it as well al
any man could? Thirty-five years age
there were not many ways in which
women might earn living. Mrs
Church did her best TO open new paths
She thought type-setting a work which
women might do well. 1t made goo(
deal of q, stir when she had her wa!
and installed a young lady in TIT
PRESS composing room. Her judgmen
was abundantly justified and many
, girl, in Owosso and elsewhere, ha
| simon had GOOD reason 70 no orotafi,