Susan Caroline Mitchell

Death of Mrs. James Mitchell

Last Tuesday evening [September 13, 1898], as twilight deepened into darkness and hushed the toil of man, a voice through the dusk conveyed the intelligence to us of the death of one of our “old settlers”, Mrs. James Mitchell. Although it was not unexpected, the words were the most unwelcome that have greeted our ears for years – they complete the period on the page of one human life that speaks of friendship’s separation of a link dropped out of the chain of kinship’s tie. The flight of time pressed itself vividly upon us, and we could see the panorama of life, a life of many years – flit fleetingly by. We mused, and our thoughts were these: In the early autumn of thy days, ere the twilight of evening had fully come, thy life went out to the great fountain from whence all life comes and wither all life is swiftly hastening. With sad hearts we lay thee to rest, made doubly sad as “fond memory” recalls the happy past in which many days were made sweet and dear to us by thy approving smile, thy timely council or they helpful benevolence. As retrospectively we view the past and behold again on memory’s canvass the country around one vast grassy lea, with here and there an unpretentious, humble home, behold our social footsteps as of yore, drawn to thy abode where we beheld on all occasions the same mile, thoughtful, hopeful, benevolent nature. But alas, those days have departed.

She first saw the light of day among the picturesque scenes of Forfairshire, Scotland, where the white winged sails of the merchantmen were seen gliding across the German ocean. Her maiden name was Susan [Ogilvie] MacFarlane. She married James Mitchell in 1851, and lived in England about two years. Sixteen years of her life were spent in Canada, and the remainder of her days on what was once the wild prairies of eastern Emmet county, Iowa, where she departed this life, aged 68 years, 4 months and 22 days. She leaves three sons and three daughters to mourn her departure, with many friends in whose memories a lasting monument was erected by her kind disposition. The funeral services were held in the Presbyterian church and the remains laid to rest in the cemetery west of Armstrong where a beloved son was laid but a few short years ago. To her we say farewell, but in the garden of our hearts she will never droop nor die. – An Old Settler. (Estherville Democrat, Estherville, IA, September 21, 1898)