Obituaries (June 19)

Lorinda (Booth) Queal

Northern Christian Advocate, December 3, 1908

Among the more interesting personages who have recently passed away is Mrs. Lorinda Booth Queal, widow of the late Rev. William H. Queal, who for fifty years was a well known minister of our church, being first a member of the old Oneida and then of the Wyoming Conference. This excellent and beloved woman died November 6th at the home of her daughter and only surviving relative, Mrs. Nathan H. Briggs, who lives at Oneonta [Otsego Co., NY].  Services were held at Oneonta and also at West Bainbridge where the burial took place. A suitable memorial of Mrs. Queal will dauntless be prepared for publication.

 

Northern Christian Advocate, January 21, 1909

Lorinda Booth Queal departed this life Friday, November 6th, 1908, in the eighty-eighth year of her age.  Her husband, Rev. W.G. Queal, of the Wyoming conference, of honored and precious memory, preceded her by twenty years to the home land, a beloved son and daughter also awaited her coming.  For about forty years she travelled with her sainted husband, the path of the Methodist itinerant. Bravely and faithfully she met the responsibilities, endured the hardships, bore the burdens, and with queenly grace adorned the place of honor she so nobly filled. She lived in an atmosphere of faith and prayer. To her the weary came with great freedom, while she told them of the Divine rest bringer. To her the sorrowing of the parish came to hear from her lips the words of comfort. Between her soul and the Unseen there seemed to be a bond of closest sympathy and fellowship.  Never jostled by the unexpected experiences of life, always even, tender, trustful, and cheerful, her natural disposition was beautiful, but even this was refined and adorned by grace.  In revival work her husband found her a very efficient helper; and in the case of persons for whom she specially labored and prayed it often seemed as if the Lord might have said of her "O woman, great is thy faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt." Although a decade has passed since she was retired from the active duties of the church, yet in all the places where she had lived her name is held in grateful memory.  In the closing years of her life she was lovingly cared for by her only surviving daughter, Mrs. N.H. Briggs of Oneonta, N.Y.  Her every wish so far as possible was cheerfully gratified. God let her down gently, and after lingering awhile in painless weakness, she fell on sleep.  Her funeral service was held in the church at Union Valley, conducted by the writer.  Her ashes rest beside the dust of her kindred, "Until the day breaks o'er the hills."  Oneonta, N.Y.   Austin Griffin.

 

Jennie Smith

Oxford Times, January 11, 1911

Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY]:  Mrs. Jennie Smith, widow of the late Levi Smith of this place, died at the home of her brother-in-law, R.G. Lyon, last Saturday morning.  The funeral was held Monday with burial in the local cemetery.  Mrs. Smith was a sister of C.H. Acly of Coventry who with his family are the only near relatives surviving. She was most highly respected in the community where her quiet loyalty and consistent Christian life made her many friends.  Rev. Hill of Bainbridge conducted the burial services, speaking most encouragingly of the life of the deceased.

 

Elnora Clark Springsteen

1885 - 1937

Elnora Clark Springsteen, 52, died at the Binghamton State Hospital, Friday, December 10.  Mrs. Springsteen was born in Bainbridge [Chenango Co., NY] on May 31, 1885, the daughter of Adelbert and Evaline Clark.  She was united in marriage to F.L. Springsteen, then of Sidney, in September, 1909.  Since then they have always made their home in the vicinity of Bainbridge. For many years Mrs. Springsteen was an active member of the Bainbridge Methodist Church, whenever health permitted.  Besides her husband, F.L. Springsteen, of Farmington, Conn., there survive two children, a son, Wilfred, and a daughter, Mrs. Henry Thursten, both of Afton, and three brothers, Alton L. of Bainbridge, George B. of Bayonne, N.J., and Ernest, of Binghamton.  Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon at Colwell brothers Funeral Parlors, with burial made in the Greenlawn Cemetery [Bainbridge, NY]. Rev. G.N. Underwood was the officiating pastor.

 

George Emory Nichols

1857 - 1938

After a short illness George Nichols passed away at his home below the village Thursday, February 3.  He was born in the town of Afton [Chenango Co., NY] in April 1857, on the original Nichols Homestead which had been settled by his great grandfather, James [Nichols].  He lived at North Afton and was well known as a good farmer, jersey breeder and had a very fine herd.  Married to Frances Pearce in January, 1879, who survives, five children were born to them.  Three are still surviving, Leo, who resides on the farm below the village, Aldyth, the wife of a Lutheran pastor in Atlantic, Iowa, and Eric of Binghamton; eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.  Mr. Nicholl moved from the North Afton home to the present farm in Bainbridge in 19\10.  A nervous breakdown impaired his health and he retired form active work, but kept busy with lighter occupations.  He was known to all as a genial visitor, well read in all lines, a lover of his country, and much interested in genealogy.  He was very proud of the fact that his children could join many historical societies and that Charlemagne and William the Conquerer were in the branches of the family tree.  Mr. Nichols will be missed by a large circle of acquaintances, but all will feel that he had lived a useful life and this work had been well done.  Funeral services were held in the Colwell Brothers chapel, Sunday afternoon, with Rev. G.N. Underwood officiating. Burial was in the family plot in the North Afton cemetery where members of the family have been buried for the last century and a half.