Obituary: Adams County, Wisconsin: Fred Nicholas WILBER ************************************************************************ Submitted by Joan Benner, May 2005 © All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************************************ From the Adams County Times, Saturday 28 January 1899, Page 5 Column 3 DIED--WILBUR--At St. Mary's Hospital, Duluth, Minnesota, January 20, 1899, of hemorrhage, Fred Nicholas WILBER, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. J. A. WILBER, of Friendship, Wisconsin, aged 31 years, 3 months and 15 days. Fred Nicholas WILBER was born at Riverside, in the State of Illinois, on the 5th day of October, 1867. In the autumn of 1870, his parents removed to Wisconsin and settled on the farm now owned by them, and adjoining the Fair Grounds on the west. It was here that Fred grew to manhood. He was a pleasant, sturdy, good-natured young man and a general favorite. The vices that seem so attractive to some young people had no allurement for him. In 1889 he went to Duluth and there formed those business relations which were never broken until severed by death. For nine years he was in the employ of the Geyser Bottling Company, of Duluth, of which E. F. Berg was the general manager. In 1896, he secured a vacation with his sister, Miss Mayme WILBER, and spent a share of the summer visiting important points in Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin, and then returned to his labors with the Geyser Bottling Company. On the 2nd of January, 1898, he was married to Miss Minnie Lucy JEFFREY, of Duluth, an accomplished and beautiful young lady. The union proved a most happy one, and the home proved to Fred the brightest and dearest spot on earth for him. He became intensely domestic in taste and habit. On the 31st of December last he and his wife arrived in Friendship for a visit with his parents, relatives and friends here. He seemed the embodiment of health and happiness... January 11th he and his wife started on their return home. Saturday night following he was taken extremely ill. Physicians were promptly summoned, and devoted friends gathered about to tenderly care for him. His ailment was pronounced to be appendicitis, and only by the skillful use of the surgeon's knife could his life be saved. He was then removed to St. Mary's Hospital and the necessary operation performed. The vital forces of his being rallied nobly and it was thought the most dangerous crisis had been safely passed. Until Thursday every symptom indicated a speedy recovery; but that disclosed a new danger--internal hemorrhage had occurred and every effort ot save his life proved futile and he passed away at 5:30 on Friday morning. Funeral services were held in Duluth under the auspices of the A. O. U. W. No. 10 of Duluth, with large delegations present...including a delegation from the Ojebwa (sic) tribe of West Superior. The floral offerings... The remains were then brought to Friendship for burial, and on Monday last, at 11 a.m., accompanied by Mrs. WILBER, her brother, Mr. W. H. JEFFREY, Harmon E. WILBER, brother of the deceased, and Mr. Albert BINGHAM of West Superior, arrived in Friendship. The funeral here Tuesday was a solemn and affecting one. Rev. Stevenson officiated; the attendance was large, the flowers a repetition of the scene at Duluth...in such an hour words become meaningless. The heart can throb but it cannot speak. The remains were buried in Mt. Repose cemetery, but a little way from the home of his childhood, and where he would have best liked to be laid. NOTE: Obit spanned entire length of one newspaper column, '...' indicates where some general information was left out