Letter to " Hon. Jeremiah Fowler of Lubec, Maine from Wm. Goodwin at Auburn, N.Y. Dec. 7, I840 Brother & Sisters It is my painful duty to announce to you the death of our beloved Daughter Emily. She died last Fryday at half past 6 oclock P M & was buried Yesterday Afternoon; Services at the Universalist Church, Sermon by Brother Montgomery -_ full of consolation; to us, bereaved mourners notwithstanding the severe snow storm through the day, the Church was filled to overflowing by all denominations showing in what estimation our beloved Emily was held by the community. Dear Emily endured her pain- ful sickness with great fortitude, & did not murmer a word, being perfectly resigned to the will of her Heavenly Father. To give you a history of her whole sickness would be too tedious for the present moment but will give you a few particulars, so you may form some idea of the state of her mind In the last of her sickness. For the last four weeks she run down verry fast (baffling all medical aid) much more so than we were aware of, & she often would say, "that she would never get well & hoped that she should not suffer through this long winter & then go hence in the Spring, that she was ready & willing to die. From last Monday she failed fast & had become nothing but skin & bones & so weak that she could not raise her head from the pillow having verry distressed turns in coughing - & on Wednesday she thought something broke or give-way in her bowels, or stomac but the Doctor said it was the breaking of an abcess on the left lobe of the lungs, & in the evening she had a verry distressed turn but when she recovered she was much weaker, & rested tolerable through the night, & it was verry evident next morning that she could not survive long, but at times she appeared much better & the Doctor thought she might live some days - but after dinner (Thursday) I went to the shop; not perceiving that she was any worse & soon after she called to her Aunt Marilla & says "dont you think I am failing verry fast I feel like I grow weaker & weaker every minute," Yes, says Marilla, I think you do, & are you willing to die Yes, says Dear Emily, & I am willing to trust myself In the hands of my Heavenly Father; & then she thinking that she Should not live long, she call all the Family round the bed & then told them( there being a number of friends in) that she should not live but a short time & that she wanted to take an Effectionate Farewell of them all, & she did so, & then wish that I might be sent for, & I was soon standing by her side, a fanning her as it was hard work for her to breath & Marilla stood on the opposite side of the bed, then says Dear Emily " here stands my Father & Mother, one on either side of the bed. will you forgive my past offenses, as they are many"l but we were so grieved that we could not answer only by kissing her; she then said " I know that my Heavenly Father will forgive all of my sins" & throughout the whole time she look so calm, serene, oh she never look so lovely, so interesting, & then looking me up in the face & saying, dont cry, dont grieve for me, I am ready & willing to die; then looking up again saying " Uncle, I know you love me, dont grieve so, I am happy going home to my God" Oh Brother & Sisters such a scene I never witness before, such calmness so resigned such faith in her blessed Redeemer, & so happy & never so lovely and pleasant not a murmur escaped from her lips. It proved to a demonstration to me, that, the Universa- list Doctrine will do to die by, & we hope it will give you the same degree of consolation that it does us to know that our beloved daughter died so happy, & is now in Heaven & happy. We feel that there is nothing in this world that can fill up the aching void & that she cannot come back to us but we shall soon go to her, where we shall all be united in singing praises to God & the Lamb. My Dear Friends Our loss is great, & of course you will sympathise with us, & hope we shall all be prepared to die & die as happy as our dear Emily.- Emily continued to run down, until the next Evening which was the usual time for her distressed to without verry little change other than through the day of Fryday, she appeared a little flighty when she drowsed but when she was awake her reason was good & sound & knew everyone, but she could not raise any.. phlegm for the last 48 hours, being so weak, her lungs filled full & when she died she did not move a muscle & one could not tell but that she was asleep other than her breathing she died so easy, about fifteen min- utes before she breathed her last she said Aunt, audibly, & then continued to talk but we could not understand her she breathed her last. We are all in tolerable good health; Marilla was pretty much wore out she spending the most of her time night & day for the last week, Emily prefering her to any body else; & she could not bear even to have her leave her., not but she was fond of her Mother, but I believe she thought that Marilla appeared the nearest to her. She was verry fond of my taking her up & holding her in my lap while Marilla made her bed, & her whole theme was for the last ten days, how we all loved her. Mothers health is verry poor , & I should not be surprised that-she follow Emily soon. She is verry much overcome by Emily death, but time will smoot the hand of affliction, & we poor worms of the dust should not murmer. Melissa is of course verry much tired out, but she bears up under her manifold troubles exceedingly well; but it is hard to tell who grieves the most, It is true we have expected this result, but Good God, who could realize it. I must now close., but I will just say to Ermina that the said Joshua Fanaden has not seen Emily since she has been confined to the house., being IO weeks, & did not attend her funeral. I am told that he feels verry bad, well he might, for the rest of his life. Brother J. your letter came duly to hand & I presume you have recd mine that I mail a few days before receiving yours, please write soon. our love to you all Melissa Love to her son. Yours in haste Wm. Goodwin Courtesy of Abgail R. Lumsden of New Gloucester, Maine (& the Androscoggin Historical Society ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.