The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-06-25
DEATH OF MRS. WILLIAM CONNELL

gressman Connell, died yesterday af-
ternoon, at 315 o'clock, at the family
home on Vine street, after a prOtracted
Illness. She was taken i'll Easter Sum
day and has declined gradually ever
since. Death was expected for several
days and all the members Of the fam
lily were at the bedside when the end
came.
Mrs. Annie Lawrence Connell was
born Aug. 4. 1885, in Wales. She was the
daughter Of an Englishman, who, just
before his death, came to this country.
Through her fathers family she was
connected with the famous Lawrences,
Of whom Sir Thomas Lawrence, the
eminent painter, was a member. When
only sixteen she became the wife of
William Connell. The marriage took
place in Minersville, Pa. She was the
mother Of eleven children, seven of
whom are living. They are: James L.,
Charles r., Alfred E., Theodore F.. and
Ezra II. Connell, Mrs. James S. Nc
Anulty and Mrs. Charles w. Fulton.
The earth is very much poorer for
the death of Mrs. Connell. The world
Is very ready to say kind words Of the
dead, but here was one who received
them in ungrudging need during all
the days of her beautiful life, and there
can be no one who knew her who will
not regret that her years were all too
brief for the gentle deeds which she
performed
Less. than six months ago she stood
surrounded by her family to greet a
throng of friends who called to pay
congratulations to Mr.. and Mrs. Con-
nell on their golden anniversary day.
She never looked happier than on that
occasion, and it might have been pre-
dicted that she would enjoy many USE
full years. TO almost all who We're
present as guests it was the last time
they were to see her face.
Perhaps the most marked character
istic of Mrs. Connell was her utter
simplicity. Deprived of much in her
earlier years, yet when vast wealth
came it made no change. With the
rare adaptability of the truly well-bred
she needed no new adjusting of her
point of view, but accepted the bright
days as she had the dark ones, with a
sunny grace untinged by self-conscious-
ness.
Because new friends crowded about
her. the old ones were never forgotten.
Back in fondly guarded chamber Of
memory she treasured them all, the
forlorn, the poor. There will be many
a sad heart this day among the humble
homes of miners up and down this
valley that We're brighter all the years
because this woman, whose tenderness
at last is checked was in the world.
Scarcely a month passed before her
last sickness when she did not go to
take tea or sit for an hour with some
of those old friends, in the old places,
where once she lived. The gladness
she has shed in many OF the dark
spots of earth can never be estimated.
Generous to a degree, no one knocked
at the door of her heart in vain. With
an infinite capacity for suffering, she
had an infinite capacity for sympathy,
and it touched the lives of multitudes.
Her benefactions We're seldom of the
kind that We're known of men. but they
We're wide and deep, indeed. Some
times they lay in the way of tracing
out a poor little child, seen from sta
tion window in distant city while she
waited for train. Sometimes they
went to help needy church or to edu-
cate a young girl or put some bright
ness in an old woman's sombre life.
Always with her gifts went the giver-
the loving spirit without which the gift
is bare.
Mrs. Connell had an unusually fine
mind. and was possessed of cleverness
of wit which her friends often envied.
The advantages which fate denied in
early life she was quick to employ
later, and read deeply and we'll. hav-
ing exceptional grasp of languages.
With her, religion was simple and
beautiful fact, so true. so unmistak-
able that the soul of her glowed
through her countenance and blessed
those on whom 1t shone. What she was
to her family can only be limited at, for
her passionate devotion to those dear
est was deeper than words
The funeral will take place Friday
afternoon. Services will be conducted
at the house at o'clock. and interment
will be made In Forest Hill cemetery.