OBITUARY OF MRS. B.C. WELLS

"It is appointed unto man once to die." Into the guarded and forbidden household of Royalty, into the gay and gilded halls of the mansions of the wealthy and great, and across the threshold of the humblest cottage alike -- the grim, unwelcome visitor, the certain silent conqueror comes.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealther e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour;
The paths of glory had but to the grave.

The subject of this sketch, Nancy Prudence Jones Wells, was born in Jennings county, Indiana, March 1, 1850, and died February 2, 1911. She was the oldest child of the late Samuel W. Jones. With her parents she came to Jefferson county, Illinois, in the year 1857 and resided in or near the city of Mt. Vernon until the time of her death.

She was married to B.C. Wells on December 24, 1875, and from this union were born two daughters -- Cora Pearl Wells, now a well-known teacher in the public schools of this city; and Winnie Wells Crosno, wife of A.O. Crosno, agent for the C. & E. I. R. R. Co. at Arthur, Illinois. Besides these and an aged mother she leaves to mourn her loss four brothers -- George H. and G.D. Jones, of this city; Dr. Wm. A. Jones, of Columbia, Mo.; and J. Clark Jones, of Birchtree, Mo. Also three sisters -- Mrs. Mary E. Walker, of Drivers, ILL., and Mrs. W.S. Payne and Mrs. Annie M. Ward, both of this city.

Mrs. Wells for many years had been a faithful and devoted member of the Church of Christ in this city, and lived and died with an abiding faith and hope in the promises of an eternal life in the Brighter Beyond.

She was educated in the common schools and for such advantage was a thorough scholar. She was not what is known as a society woman, her constant attention being given to her household affairs, except when called upon to minister to her neighbors who were sick or in trouble; and to perform such missions of charity she was ever willing and ready.

When not engaged in the work and cares of her home she devoted much of her time to reading. She was fond of books, and besides the Holy Scriptures and current literature, in which she was well versed, she read many of the popular authors, among which her favorites were Tennyson, Whittier and Bryant.

In her life, often in conversation on the subject of the final dissolution of the body she referred to the following lines of Bryant's "Thanatopsis":

So live that when the summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To the pale realms of shade where each alike shall
Enter his chamber in the silent halls of death;
Go not like the quarry slave, scourged to his dungeon; but sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.
Thus it was she lived, and thus it was at the final end she met the inevitable.

Peace be to her memory.

Source: Mt. Vernon Register-News
Date: February 11, 1911
Transcribed and submitted by: Sandy (Whalen) Bauer