Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-02-10
John Wesley Stevenson.

n Des Arc, Mo-, Thursday, Janu-
ary 20, 1910, at 8:45 o'clock P.
M, Mr.. John Wesley Stevenson.
h aged 81 years, 2 months and 20
days, after a complicated illness
\ of several months.
4 The deceased was born and
reared near Des Arc, Mo-, and
{ was a resident of Des Arc COM
munity all his life. In 1864 he
was united in marriage to Miss
Ellen Shaver, and to them were
born twelve children-ten boys
I and two girls. One of the girls
died April 16, 1896, aged 21
! years; the other daughter is Mrs.
Zell Lewis, of Hiram, Arkansas.
The ten boys are all living and
married except one. Two of
them live in Des Arc and two
live at College Hill bethlehem. }
Some of the boys live in Wayne
county. They are all mer-
chants, farmers and sawmill
men.
The deceased was successful
farmer and several years ago
had teams on lumber and log
roads for T. P. Fitz, and had
successful dealings with J. M.
Morris in the pioneer days of
Des Arc. He was a very care
full man. He never gave his
note for a dollar in his life,
never gave a mortgage, never
sued any one and never was
sued. The deceased was a man
who lived a moral life and had
the respect Of the entire COM
munity.
Mr.. Stevenson was a hard
J working farmer, industrious and
thoughtful, and faithful to his
family and neighbors. l have
known the deceased for many
years. His children are of that
: kind that make friends wherever
they go and are making a sue
cess in the business life, and as
of their father--their name is as
good as gold.
\ became intimately acquaint-
ed with Mr.. Stevenson and Wis
tied him quite often this winter.
| shall never forget the beauti-
full afternoon he and | sat on
his front porch and l approached
\ him in regards to his soul
and reminded him of the fact
of eternity and the destiny of
the soul, the grave and the
Judgment, and heaven and
hell. He thanked me for my
4 interest in his welfare and asked
\ me to come again. | went sew
I eral times and talked and
4 prayed with him, and three
u weeks before he died he was
n gloriously saved. He arrived
Z at the place when his moral life
y did not satisfy his longing soul
K and was glad to seek Jesus.
\ While he had reared a family
that was the pride of his life he
\ often said, ''if I had not left
h God out Of my life how much
\ happier it would have been"
\ He left evidence beyond doubt
that he had peace with God. /
A visited him and prayed with
. him and read the bible to him
4 the day before he died, and his
countenance shone with heaven
/ ly love and spiritual life. l
I shook hands and told him
"good by" and that if we did
not meet again here | would
look for him in heaven. His
answer was, "I am ready when
n God calls" Many good things
can be said about the deceased
but the best is he died a tri-
umphant death and had saving
faith in Jesus blood.
The funeral services were
held in the Music Hall at the
y College. The writer conducted
the services and read the Sth
chapter Of Psalms. Text, 4th
verse: "What is man that thou
art mindful of him?" 1t was one
of the most touching funerals
ever witnessed and the largest
attendance | ever saw at Des
Arc. All were deeply touched
as they looked into the face of
the wife and saw her furrowed
cheeks as the tears trinkled
down, and heard her sob and
cry. Then the ten boys, heart-
broken and lonely; and the
daughter in Arkansas was too
sick to be notified of her fathers
death. VIM. Stevenson, the
Oldest son of the deceased, is 45
years old. The mother and
family weep. Forty-six years
of family ties and love sepa-
ratedl Home can never be for
this family the same again on
earth. But, thank God, there
can be a reunion in heaven,
where sickness and disease and
death are never known. Where
sorrow shall flee away! I am
ever a friend to the family and
an humble servantof Jesus.