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tMrs. A. Bryan Dies at Age 97(Continued fra* Page One)st» ifc,r !!qfi[to W. H. Bilney, Sycamore’s well-known historian, for the following article, which was written in its entirety iy Mr. Bilney, when Mrs. Bryan had reached the advanced age of 93 years, Dec. 29, 1928.Let us go back about 129 years; the scene is in Bonny Scotland, the land of the mistletoe, the heather and the thistle. Numerous castles,, among them Andrew Carnegie’s “Scitoo Castle, also the late Queen Victoria’s beloved Balmoral Castle in the countryside. Near Duatrtes lived a lad and lassie—Walter Renwick, age 29, who thought that it is not good for a man to be alone,’* [ and Mary Weil, age 20 and an orphan, who agreed with him. 3n they both agreed to “love, cherish and obey” Until death do them part.They also remembered the Biblical injunction to multiply and re-. f plenish the earth.Children Bom In Scotland.Now let us see how well they kept their vows:In due time a baby boy was bom, |died,. not named. Walter Renwick, being of Scotch thrift and honesty, plodded on and on with his farm r* [work, while Mary, the young bride, * [attended the household duties. One 7 (by one the little ones came until j there were thirteen little Ben wicks,I . eight beys and five girls, living.! The father had little hope of any-II thing better than being a “hewer of[wood and drawer of water” verylikely after reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s beautiful poem,| “The Cry of the Children” of which f j I Quote a few lines:“They looked up with their palei.A - - - -- ,' [ and sunken faces, and their looks:are sad to see, your old earth, they !tsay is very dreary, our young feet, they say, are very weak. Few paces have we taken, yet are weary, our grave rest is very for to seek?”■ | Immigrated to America.! | Now Walter and Mary decided to j come to the new world, so they took | *, their 13 little ones, six boys and 1 seven girls, and boarded a sailing vessel in June, 1835. After a voyage of eight weeks or 58 days, or 1,344 hours, they landed in Canada in August. On Dec. 29, 1835, five months after landing, a new baby girl was bom, called Agnes. ’Ere long a boy babe was bom, the last of 16, eight boys and seven girls, 15 living, all at home.In 1842 they came to Canada Corners, Kane county, and lived in a log cabin of one room and a loft ir above. In 1844 they settled near Maple Park.Mrs. Agnes Bryan, the 15th child of this family of 16, is the only living survivor. She was married to William Bryan in 1858. After living in Pierce, a short time later they came to Mayfield in 1863.Mrs. Bryan has lived in Sycamore some 15 years with her daughter,Mrs. James Shaw, at 137 Mason Court. One son, George, lives taj [Randolph, Neb., and Walter or ’ “Watt” in Sycamore. She has four generations living.Age of Children 1,173 Yean. iFather Walter Renwick, Brother Walter Renwick, Son Walter Bryan, Nephews Walter McMurchy, Walter Maitland, Walter Calhoun, Walter Renwick. S9T1?sitjMr. Walter Renwick 88 9 7Mrs. Mary Weilor Renwick 52 16 children:1. Boy, died in infancy2. Mrs. Jennie McMurchy 89 4 2£Williaiii Renwick j 77 :4 .6 4. Miiry Riddle ! 88 '8j 45/ifrs.;Gene Maitland -j $93 2} 3 a WikJ Sarah Maitland ** % 10 7. George Renwick 63 6 48. Herbert Rienwick 53 2 19. John Renwick 32 110 Walter Renwick 80 1 211. Mrs. Margaret Julien 89 212; Mrs. Bess Calhoun 83 4 613. James Renwick 84 3 2.14. Thomas Renwick 87 1 215. Mrs. Agnes Bryan 93 3 1Birthday, Dec. 29, 1928.16. Robert Renwick 90 2Mrs. Bryan will observe her 93rdbirthday on Saturday, December 29. Of the family of 16, seven boys and seven girls, 15 of them grew to manhood and womanhood. All of them married and reared families. Their total ages are 1,173 years, their total number of children is 89; 48 boys and 41 girls. There was one pair of twins, Mrs. Adolph Julien and jMrs. Abner Calhoun. There have I been no divorces. There hare been , seven golden weddings, including I Mrs. Bryan’s; the other six were I Mary Riddle, William Renwick, Margaret Julien, James, Thomas and Robert Renwick. Two widows are living, Mrs. Tom and Robert Renwick. Of the 15 children there were no second marriages. jjAs Mrs. Bryan is a follower of John and Charles Wesley, when Father Time cans as he is sure to all of us, Mother Bryan will greet him with a smile and her children will rise up and call her Blessed.My simple tribute to this noblesoul will be:Soft may her body rest As on her mother’s breast,Whose love stands all confessed »Mid binding tears.But may her soul so white Rise in triumphant flight j tAnd in God’s land of Ught Spend endless years.-Wm. H. Bilney.c1IiI*c
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Sycamore True Republican
Sycamore, Illinois, US
Wed, Feb 22, 1933
Page 2
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USA 30 Aug 2020
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