Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 April 1912 — Obituary of Lyman Barce. [ARTICLE]

Obituary of Lyman Barce.

The' following obituary of Lyman Baree, with minor corrections, is taken from tiie Fowler Republican-Lead-er: Lyman M. Barce was born in Scituate, Mass., April 17, 1848. The hamlet is on the coast about twenty miles south of Boston and his people were seafaring men. Four of his brothers repose on the bottom of the Atlantic ocean. Another wished to be buried where he could hear the sound of the ocean and his grave is near the everbeating waves of the Pacific ocean at San Pedro, California. John Barce, the father, came west in 1854 with his family and settled in Will county, Illinois, where he raised his family and where two of the sons enlisted in the Union army. One of these became a disinguished officer in the Civil war. Mr. Barce died in 1871. Lyman Barce was married February 7, 1872, to Rebecca F. Ricker. They were schoolmates back in Massachusetts; the families came west the same year. Their entire wedded life of more than forty years was one continuous honeymoon. Mrs. Elizabeth Barce with her sons, Samuel and Lyman, with his family, came to Benton county in I*7B, and developed out of the wild prairie the homes which was theirs for so long a time. The mother died in 1893 and was buried in the Fowler cemetery. Mr. Barce was a life long republican. He-served one term of four years as trustee es his township. He had a high regard for the schools. One teacher, a girl with her first school, was having, difficulty. He walked seven miles to be present at a meeting. “Looky here, men, What is the am ter here? If there is anything wrong with this girl, I want you to speak out. No one will hurt you. What I want is fair play,” No one spoke. “There will be school here if I have to put a militia around the house.” Elmore Barce, of this place, is the first born; Mrs. Anna Michaels, of near Templeton, Mrs. Grant Rishling, with whom her parents lived near Rensselaer, and John Barce, of Chicago, are the children and that of the father is the first death which occurred in the family. Mr. Barce was troubled with rheumatism. He was able to attend the Taft meeting at Hazelden four years ago. A day or two after this he was stricken with paralysis and has since been a cripple. It was during the long wait that he arranged all of the details of his affairs, including his burial. It was his desire t sleep beside bis mother. He was sure that she would come to meet him when life’s . work was done. The body was taken to Fowler and after a prayer at the borne, the funeral services were conducted at the Christian church by Elder J. C. Cantrell at 2 o’clock Sunday afternoon. Mr. Barce was one of nature’s noblemen. The close contact with nature and nature’s God, the solitude and grandeur of the grand prairie, developed a character fearless and kindly, thrifty and generous, and ever giving a helping hand as he had needed help in the struggle of the pioneer days. To have known him is a benediction.