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Born 04 Nov 1834 Died 22 March 1917 |
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Born 04 Nov 1834 Died 22 March 1917 |
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The following originally appeared in 1917 in the local newspaper in Bloomfield, Davis Couny, Iowa. For more on this line and the HASTINGS family, see our link to Molly's ancestry. For more on S.C. and Keziah ALLEN, go here .
Mrs. Isaac S. Hastings
Mary Jane Allen, the eldest child of S.C. and Keziah Allen was born in Athens Co, Ohio, November 2, 1834. She died at her home 2 miles northeast of Floris, March 22, 1917, aged 82 years, 4 months and 20 days. At this home she had resided 46 years. Her father, ( familiarly known as " Squire " Allen ) came with his family to Pittsburg in Van Buren County, Iowa, in 1845. In the spring of 1846, they came to what is now the town of Floris, and located on what is now the Harward farm. The house stoood near the place where Ross Harward now resides. A few months after coming to Floris, her father exchanged farms with J. W. Hoisington, thus coming in possession of what is now the Grant Smith farm and south part of Steckel's farm. That part of Floris, north of Joe Rouch residence and west from the bank, was a part of this farm. The first dwelling house on it stood where Mrs. C. A. Davis now resides. Later a house was built where Grant Smith's dwelling house now stands. Here the deceased grew to womanhood, attending school in the log school house that stood on the east side of the Peden farm, just south of the old channel of Soap Creek on what was known as " Peden's Prairie " ; one of her teachers was Dr. J. W. LaForce.
On 23rd of January, 1853, she was married to Isaac S. Hastings, who survives her, now in his 84th year. She was the mother of 8 children. The first born, a son, died in infancy. The eldest daughter, Clara, next younger than Dan, died March 22, 1867, just over 50 years before her mother's death, and was the last death in the family before the mother's. Mrs. Hastings became a Christian in the winter of 1868, at a revival held by Father Childs, in the building in which the Floris switch board is now located.
She united with the Methodist Protestant church of which her father was a steward, and continued in that communion until the spring of 1884, when she united with the Floris Christian Church, of which she was a consistent member at the time of her death. Besides her husband and children, she leaves behind a sister, Mrs. C. A. Davis, and Mrs. A.T. Quigley and Mrs. Esther Perry, half sisters, and Alvin Allen, a half brother. The surviving children are: Dan, Henry, Alva, and Ed Hastings, Sarah Swinney and Flora Meredith. Excepting a few months spent in Kansas, the deceased had spent seventy-one years in Floris and vicinity. Of the companions of her young womanhood, besides her husband, only two remain, Mrs. C. A. Davis, and Aunt Eliza Hart. During her last illness Mrs. Hastings expressed her desire to remain with her family, but when she realized that recovery was impossible she desired to depart and be with Christ. Like a weary child on its mother's breast, she fell asleep without a struggle, and found rest with him who said: Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, from henceforth; yea, sayeth the spirit that they may rest their labors; and their works follow them.
Funeral services were held at the Floris Christian church, Sunday March 25, conducted by J.W. Altheide, after which the body was laid to rest in the I.O.O.F. cemetery in Floris.
Mrs. C. A. Davis is Caroline A. ALLEN DAVIS, younger sister of Mary, dau. of S.C.ALLEN and first wife Keziah DAY ALLEN.
Mrs. A. T. Quigley is Amanda T. ALLEN QUIGLEY, younger sister, dau. of S.C.ALLEN and second wife Susan HINTON ALLEN. Mrs. Esther Perry is Esther ALLEN PERRY, younger sister, dau. of S.C. ALLEN and second wife Susan HINTON ALLEN.
