[William George Sharp]

Bedford Free Press

Thursday    January 5, 1911    p. 4

Passing of W. G. Sharp.

The many friends of William G. [eorge] Sharp throughout the county will be pained to learn of his death, which occurred at his home in Blockton, Sunday, January 1, 1911.  Mr. Sharp has been in poor health for some time but has been able to attend to his duties as member of the board of supervisors, of which he was also chairman.  His term of office expired this year, on January 3, and his life passed away at its completion.  Mr. Sharp is one of the staunch men of the county, whose record and life is unblemished by an unworthy act.  He was held in the highest esteem by all and every one who knew him was his friend and will feel a personal loss in his death.  He retired from the activities of farm life in the spring of 1909, and moved to Blockton.

Mr. Sharp was born in Shelby County, Indiana, April 25, 1849.  When eleven years of age he accompanied  [his] parents to Mercer County, Illinois.  There he spent a greater part of his life before moving to Taylor County.  While living there he was united in marriage to Miss Maria Nelson, on November 10, 1872.  In 1877 he moved to Taylor County and purchased a farm in Gay Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Sharp have been blessed with nine children, five sons and four daughters.  They are Warren F., John C., Arthur, Claude, all living in this county, and Walter, who died when a small boy; Mrs. Nellie Ledgerwood, Mrs. Cora Livingston, and Misses Addie and Zelda, all living in this county.

The deceased was a member of the M. E. church and also of the K. P. lodge.

To the bereaved wife and children, the sympathy of all is extended.

[Charles Oscar Dresher]

Bedford Free Press

Thursday    September 29, 1910    [p. 1]

C. O. Dresher Is Dead

Passes Away After Hard Struggle

A Beautiful Eulogy And Obituary Delivered By His Pastor S. E. Henry

After severe suffering of several weeks Charles Oscar Dresher passed away Friday, Sept. 23.  The funeral was held from the Presbyterian church Sunday afternoon, conducted by his pastor, Rev. S. E. Henry, assisted by Rev. Fred N. Willis.  The burial was at Fairview cemetery, where the I. O. O. F. had charge of the services.

Rev. Henry delivered the following obituary of the deceased, which finds a response in the hearts of all:

            Pastor's Tribute.

The tribute read at the funeral by Mr. Henry is herewith given:

Charles Oscar Dresher was born in Taylor County, Iowa, May 7, 1862; and died Sept. 23, 1910.

In this county he grew up to manhood, and here he expended the energies of his manly strength.  Here his life was lived, and his character formed, and his influence felt.  Here his friendships were formed and his home built.  All over the county he has been known and respected as a man of sterling worth.

On Christmas day, 1887, he was married to Miss Jennie Aiton.  Of that union two sons were born, William Paul and Oscar Aiton.  His home life was a happy one.  He loved his home, and he found his truest joy and his abiding pleasure there.  He loved his children with a true fatherly affection; and the love with which he wooed and won his wife never waned.  He was a kind but wise father, and a devoted husband.

Early in his life he became a follower of Christ and became a member of the Presbyterian Church.  He believed that the religion of Jesus Christ is an essential thing in human life, and was always interested in extending its blessing to others.  For several years he has been an official member of the Bedford Presbyterian Church, serving on its board of deacons.  As an officer of the church he was faithful and efficient.  He was never too busy with his private affairs to forget or neglect the claims of the church upon him.  Next to his home he loved his church, and both as a deacon and an usher served it faithfully and joyfully.

As a citizen he was interested in every thing that affected the civic life of town, state, and nation.  He loved the town in which his home was planted and always sought the things which would make for its good.  He was proud of the state of his nativity, and always rejoiced in its prosperity.  He gloried in the fact that he was an American citizen, and his heart throbbed in loyal patriotism for his country.  As a citizen he sought the highest welfare of his town and state and nation rather than the mere domination of the party with which he affiliated.

Mr. Dresher believed in the brotherhood of man, and felt that men should be bound together in fraternal organizations for benevolent and philanthropic purposes.  For this reason he became a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and of the Woodmen of the World and remained in good standing therein until the time of his death.

The characteristics of Mr. Dresher's life were those of a quiet, unassuming, honest, straightforward Christian gentleman.  All his business life was spent here in this town and county.  As a businessman he was alert, active, energetic, persevering, and successful.  He was not a slave to business, but made his business minister to his higher life.  He was a genial, warm-hearted man who made friends readily and retained them easily.  His friends were a multitude, his enemies few.  He was a man of high ideals and clean life; a man of fine character and clean career, a man of strong convictions and pure aspirations.

Until a few months ago Mr. Dresher seemed to be in perfect health, strong of body, a powerful physique.  Then disease showed itself.  Perhaps for some time, possibly for some years, a cancer unseen and unknown, had been forming and growing in his stomach.  When it began to affect him he did not dream of its seriousness.  For a few weeks his health declined.  When he consulted a physician he was told of the seriousness of his condition.  Then a specialist was called into counsel and a surgical operation was advised as the only possible hope of recovery.  It was a stunning blow to a man in the midst of life to be told that he was in the clutches of a disease for which medical science knows no cure save that of surgery.  He knew the probabilities were against his recovery.  So he set his house in order, arranged his business affairs; prepared himself either for death or life as the event might prove.  He loved life.  To him it held more of happiness than of sorrow, more of pleasure than of pain.  He desired life if that might be had at any cost.  But he was not afraid of death, did not recoil at the thought of death.  He desired to live for the sake of others.  The bonds of love bound him strongly to his wife and children, to his father and mother, to his brothers and sisters, to his friends and relatives.  The thought of being taken from them was hard to endure.  He was a man of deep feelings and tender affections, and these things bound him strongly to the life that now is.  So he left nothing undone that could be done to remove the disease that was threatening his life.

It is a brave man who in the midst of his days can face death with a smile on his face.  Yet in that spirit he went into the operating room.  He felt that he was ready, whatever awaited him; ready for life and all it held for him if that might be; ready for death and all it meant if that must be; ready to come back and do the work of a man among his fellow men if that were possible; ready to go and stand before God and give an account of his stewardship if that were required. So with a firm step, and a brave heart, and a calm smile he went to the table that would either restore him to life and health or seal his doom for death.  It was a Christian fortitude which bore him up at that trying time.  He knew that he was in the hands of a loving God, who cared for him as a father cares for his child, and who would cause all things to work together for good to him, because his trust was in Him.  The Christian faith and the Christian hope bore him up, and he felt underneath him the everlasting arms.

But even the surgeon's knife could not arrest the ravages of the disease that was preying upon him; and so he awoke from the surgeon's table a doomed man.  Soon he must have begun to suspect that the work of the surgeon was in vain.  Finally he came to realize that a few weeks at most of life on earth remained to him.  The bravery of the man then appeared in all its strength; the Christian faith of the man then shown out in all its glory.  He was not frightened because death awaited him.  He did not murmur because he was destined to be stricken down in the midst of his years.  He desired life as much as ever, the thought of separation was as bitter to him as ever, but bravely, calmly, and trustfully he faced the inevitable.  For nearly three months he lay upon his back and looked death in the face with out flinching; for nearly three months he lay upon his back and suffered without murmuring or complaining.  How patiently he endured it all.  One day as he talked with me he said "I am so tired of lying here, and my back is getting sore, but if it is God's will that I lie here two months longer, I am willing to lie here." Another time in speaking of his readiness to go he said, "I would like to stay and be with my loved ones, but whenever God calls I am ready to go."  Facing the valley of the shadow of death he feared no evil, for he felt that the Lord was with him, and His rod and staff they comforted him.  Looking down into the darkness of the tomb he felt no dread of what it could do for him; for he knew that Jesus had taken away the sting of death and robbed the grave of its victory.  Knowing that his earthly tabernacle was being dissolved he yet believed that there was an eternal mansion provided for him in heaven.  Death had no terrors for him because he believed that it is but the door into a larger and more blessed life.   He was a Christian man and the grace of Christ sustained him during the weary weeks of his suffering, and was sufficient for him unto the end.

A brother beloved has gone from the midst of us.   He was genial and winsome in his personality.  His was a bright, cheerful, sunshiny nature.  He delighted in doing good to others.  He found his pleasure where others found their duty.  He was strong and true in life; and while he rests from his labors his works do follow after him.

His earthly career is ended, but the influence of his life will live on.  He has joined "the choir invisible Of those immortal dead who live again In Minds made better by their presence."

He leaves to mourn his loss the wife who for twenty three years has depended upon him as the vine depends upon the oak; two sons, William Paul and Oscar Aiton; his aged parents, a brother, Jesse Dresher of this city, and three sisters, Mrs. Frank Hamilton [Louisa] of Polk township, Mrs. W. [alter] E. [dward] Myers [Lydia] of Conway and Anna Dresher of Bedford; a host of other relatives and a multitude of friends.

"Sunset and evening star,

And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning at

            the bar,

When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems

Asleep,

Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out

the boundless deep,

Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of

             farewell

When I embark;

For tho from out our bourne of

            Time and Place

The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face

When I have crossed the bar.

And so beside the silent sea

I wait the muffled oar;

No harm can come to me

On ocean or on shore,

I know not where His islands lift

            Their fronded palms in air;

I only know I cannot drift beyond His love and care."

[J. H. Dunlap]

Bedford Free Press

Thursday    September 29, 1910    p. 4

Clarinda Postmaster Dead.

J. H. Dunlap, postmaster at Clarinda, died Saturday, aged 73 years.  He was a member of the 29^th Iowa, Co. D, during the civil war, and later drove a freight wagon from Clarinda to St. Joe.