Obituary

The funeral services of Mrs. Tresa Josephina Scovill were held in the M. E. Church, on Tuesday afternoon of this week. At the request of the bereaved husband, the services were conducted by the Rev. W. F. Cooley, of the Seward Congregational Church, assisted by the Rev. J. H. Thomas, pastor of the M. E. Church of this place.

The many friends of Mrs. Scovill, however, needed no request to secure their attendance; but, undeterred by miry roads, they came in, from near and from far, to pay their tribute of respect and affection to the memory of one whom they had loved and honored.

Mrs. Scovill is of Canadian birth, having been born at Cold Spring, Canada, Oct. 10 1855. Her parents, John and Sarah M. Thompson, of whom she was the first child, removed to Paynes Point, this county, when she was but one year old; so that, to all intents and purposes, she is one of the daughters of Illinois. When still a girl,--but fifteen years of age--she experienced a change of heart and united with the Lutheran Church at Paynes Point, of which Rev. G. H. Crofts, now of Omaha, Neb., was then pastor. But this formal statement fails to convey an adequate idea of Mrs. Scovill’ s religious standing; for all who knew her recognized that she was a Christian not only in name but in deed, one who not only received gladly the comforts and promises, but discharged faithfully the duties and sought earnestly to win the prizes of the Christian faith. Probably no one ever became much acquainted with her without perceiving that she was walking with the Savior of men; so that the preacher at the funeral very properly chose for the theme of his discourse, the words: “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.”

On the 29th of September, 1876 she became the wife of W. P. Scovill who is now left, with two children, --Luella five, and Hiram T. two years of age--to mourn her departure. Such a sorrow as his is sacred and will be treated as such by us; but we believe we express a simple fact when we say that he has not a friend who does not sympathize with him in this hour of trial.

Mrs. Scovill’s mother, a highly respected and Christian woman, died some thirteen years ago; but her father, now of Wesley, Iowa, and three brothers survive her, besides whom there is a wide circle of friends who will continue to keep her in affectionate rememberance.

Owen Meredith’s lines on Lucile seem peculiarly appropriate in this instance,
“Honest love, honest sorrow, Honest work for the day, honest hope for the morrow, are these worth nothing more than the hand they make weary, the heart they have saddened, the life they leave dreary: Hush! the sevenfold heavens to the voice of the spirit. Echo: He that overcometh shall all things inherit.”

Byron Express, Mar. 25, 1887, p. 1