Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 April 1898 — BORE AN ILLUSTRIOUS SON. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BORE AN ILLUSTRIOUS SON.

— Delia Stewart Parnell, Mother of Ireland’s Great Leader. The death of Mrs. Della Stewart Parnell, mother of the great Irish home rule leader, Charles Stewart Parnell, which occurred at her home in Avondale, County Wleklow, Ireland, not long ago, removed a woman who became famous in this country through her illustrious son and also through her labor for the Irish cause in the United States. The circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs. Parnell were of a sad nature. She was sitting by the fire in her home when her clothing became ignited. Her injuries were so severe that she failed to recover from the shock. Della • Stewart Parnell was born In Philadelphia In 1816. She came of distinguished ancestry, her father being Admiral Stewart, who commanded the frigates Constellation and Constitution daring the war of 1812. Her mother was a Miss Tudor of Boston. In 1835 she was married to John Henry Parnell, who was traveling in this country with her cousin, Lord Powerscourt. They went abroad to live on the ancestral estate of the Parnell family in County Wicklow, Ireland. It was here that her son Charles Stewart, who was destined to become the leading figure In Irish history of his day, was born In

1846. In 1869, when she became joint owner with her brother Charles of her father’s property, she returned to America and settled at Ironsides, the family estate at Bordentown, N. J. Her brother died eight years later and she became sole owner of the estate. She was accounted a wealthy woman but unfortunate stock speculations swept away her fortune. She was granted SSO a month by the government in recognition of her father’s services. At one th»e she was said to be in actual want, but friends in this country came to her assistance. Mrs. Parnell was assaulted and robbed by an unidentified man as she was entering her home at Bordentown one night in April, 1895, and she never completely recovered from the blow she received on the head. She leased Ironsides in the latter part of that year and removed to New York. After living there for a time she went abroad, where she remained until her death. Mrs. Parnell was a woman of superio* education and during her younger days was conversant with five languages.

MRS. DELIA STEWART PARNELL.