Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1938-01-06
ONLY A LITTLE TRIRuTE

ONLI "A LlIILII TRIBUTE
Sunday, Dec. 20, the portals Of
the tomb closed over one of the
most remarkable women in the com.
vicissitudes of life for almost
century, and because of the upright
life she had lived, she won a just
and lasting esteem among a large
circle of friends. 1t was the writ
er's privilege, yea, by reason of a.
long acquaintance it was his duty
to be present at the last obsequies.
We paid close attention to what the
minister, (the Rev. w. S. MoWery),
had to say, and the obituary that
preceded the message, and knowing
this estlmable woman SO we'll, we
observed that the minister's words,
and the Biographical sketch, in con-
nection With the deceased woman's
writings of prose and poetry, which
she had composed in her latter days,
clearly reflected her true character.
swept off our feet on some funeral
occasions. 1t seemed that the preach
er was skillful sky-pilot, and the.
obituary ferry~boat, and the two
together landed their passenger i'm
a port where they didn't belong. It
was said that the biographical
sketch which was read at this dear
old ladys funeral was not written
for publication; simply to be read
before the congregation who gath
cred for the funeral which was held
in the little church almost, 'sin the
Wildwood" where this good old lady
belonged. Our acquaintance having
extended over long period of time,
we felt that something additional
might be given out for publication.
During the life and ministry of the
ic
that he was passing through a vii
lage when a man near the outskirts
heard in some way, that Jesus of
Nazareth was passing by. This man
was seized with desire to get sight
of the Great Physician, who was
completely surrounded by multi
tude. The man being of small
nearby tree eean and climbed sei' it to OF get
the best view possible of this Won
derful Healer Divine. This mans
curiosity, and the way the Mighty
Counselor, and Prince of Peace
treated him was brought to the at.
tention of the historian and the lit
tie man found place in Dr. Luke's
an of small stature, and we shall
designate her as a little woman,
Verify it is true as she never tipped
the scales to as much as a hundred
pounds 1t is said that when she
was going on two years of age, and
toddling around, the top of her head
was only on a level with the old
fashioned split-bottom chairs. Truly
in this sense she was little wom
an. AS was said at the beginning,
having a long acquaintance with thc
family, and fearing that the obituary
would go with the wind, and know
ing that the flowers streWn on the
grave would soon wither and die,
and that kind word would often
outline marble slab, we are offer
ing this as our tribute to her mem.
ory. We know Of no one in her old
neighborhood who knew the little
woman much better than we, as our
life was lived in close proximity to
the deceased's home. She had a son
who was only two years younger
than the writer and we were to-
gether much of the time. Many
time have we staid all night there
and this boy and l would occupy
the trundle~bed at the side of the
bed where this little woman and
younger children slept. What
struck us SO forcibly was that the
mother, upon rising in the morning,
would pray to the Father above for
divine guidance and the oversight
of her children. This was in an
audible whisper and it seemed that
she was bringing God right down to
ton. What appealed to us was that
while she was praying for her fam
lily it included us too. Many are
the years that have gone by but we
can never forget that one thing.
There was another thing which we
observed in her daily walk of life.
We didn't think SO much about this
nt Gnrf Ixr,4 =
the longer she was in our midst,
the more noticeable it became In
truth it seemed to be somewhat
against her in a social way. But to-
day, as we see it, it was a virtue
rather than a fault. 1t was strength
instead of weakness. 1t was cour-
age where many would recoil. 1t
was the way she kept from falling
when some of Satan's agents were
her way. She was a Christian and
belonged to a church. People who
knew her and attended the funeral
knew that. The major part of her
life was lived more than two miles
from the nearest church, really be-
tween two church communities.
There are those who scoff at relig-
It appears sometimes that the
more remote people live from
church community the more scoffers
you find. And when these unbeliev.
ers, who neither fear God nor man,
or the devil get together. the con-
versatiOn never gains such mo-
mentum as when they lay their
poison tongues on someone who is
standing up for the cause of Christ
an was assailed. How the fiery darts
of the evil one flew about her. Will
she yield? She did not, she firmly
stood her ground. We recall one
poisoned dart that sank deep into
her soul. They hadn't a thing
against her only that she belonged
to church. A certain woman de-
names with which she thought to
besmirch the little woman's char
acter. But she bore the sings and
arrows as best one can do who has
the grace of God in their heart. But
a day of reckoning came. 1t was
an opportunity for the little woman
to take revenge. The worldly wom~
an was stricken with sickness, she
was down on her back. The thresh-
had to be prepared. The little
woman heard about it, SO she rush
ed her own work through, walked
mile, yea it was more than mile,
and very Unexpectedly appeared in
the door of the sick woman's cot"
tage. The poor woman gasped for
The little woman told
her that she had come to cook the
dinner for the threshers, or render
whatever service was needed. The
sick woman was so dumb founded
at the turn of affairs that all she
could do was to stammer and blub-
ber, trying to make amends for the
way she had done. When the hour
came for the little woman to take
her departure, the poor misguided
thing called for Johnny to hand her