Reeve, Phebe M.

Summary

Father: Robert Reeve
Mother: Mary Addoms/Adams

Birth: 2 Jul 1800, Plattsburgh, Clinton County, New York
Birth Source: Autobio in Obituary

Death: 1 Jan 1894, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Death Source: Obituary

Spouse1: Elias Foster, m. 17 or 20 May 1819, Clark County, Indiana

Narrative

Children of Elias Foster and Phebe M. Reeve:

1. Phebe A. Foster, m. Menander Spurlock

Clarinda Herald (Clarinda, Iowa), 2 Jan 1894
Mrs. P. M. Foster died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Spurlock, in Chicago, Monday, January 1st, 1894, and the funeral services were held this afternoon at the residence of her son, C. W. Foster, in west Clarinda. The deceased was born in Plattsburgh, New York, July 2, 1800 and was therefore in her 94th year. This is a long time to live but the patient and gentle life that is ended was loveable to the last. An obituary prepared by herself will appear in our Friday's issue.

Clarinda Herald (Clarinda, Iowa), 5 Jan 1894
Funeral Services – Tuesday afternoon the funeral services of Mrs. P. M. Foster were held at the home of her son, C. W. Foster, on west hill. Rev. McDade delivered a very fine address, the principal point of which was an appeal to the living to be prepared for the great change that must come to us all, as it had already come to the deceased. A remarkable feature of the service was the reading of the written obituary by the deceased last July, showing that she was patiently waiting for the time to come when she would be released from the burdens incident to her great age. The following is just as she worded it:
"I was born in Plattsburgh, state of New York, July 2d, 1800. Joined the Methodist church when twelve years old. Removed with my parents to New Lexington, Indiana, in 1817, where I was married to Elias Foster, May 20th, 1819. Removed to Canton, Illinois in 1825, where my husband died June 20th, 1835."
An examination of this opens the field for a vast amount of speculation as to the events of this remarkable life. Her life was spent upon the frontier and of necessity she endured many hardships and trials. She was a devout church member for a period of eighty-one years and a widow for fifty-eight years. The influence of such a life can only be measured by an infinite mind during the cycles of an eternity.

Research Notes

Sources

Birth:          Obituaries
Marriage1:  FamilySearch - Indiana Marriages, 1811-2019
Death:        Obituaries
Burial:       Findagrave - Clarinda Cemetery, Clarinda, Page County, Iowa

1850 Census:  Farmington, Fulton County, Illinois
1860 Census:  Middleport, Iroquois County, Illinois
1870 Census:  Young America Village, Warren County, Illinois
1880 Census:  Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois

Obituary, Clarinda Herald (Clarinda, Iowa), 2 Jan 1894
Obituary, Clarinda Herald (Clarinda, Iowa), 5 Jan 1894