I happened upon Sarah Wirt's 1871 obituary in northwest Missouri's Edina Sentinel the other day and it caught my attention because she died in Russell, then a growing village in just its fifth year after founding. Sarah had traveled to Russell and the home of her nephew, James F. Cook, for a visit with his father (and her brother), Solomon Cook, recently moved to Iowa from Pennsylvania to make his home with his son.
While there, and after a good visit, Sarah took sick and on Sept. 15, 1871, died. She had made her home at Edina, Missouri, for some years and so her remains were sent east to Burlington via the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, then south along the Mississippi to Edina where they were buried in the Linville Cemetery, a grave later marked with the substantial stone above, on the 19th. Noted that the dates on the tombstone do not conform to the dates on the stone.
James F. Cook and his family did not remain long in Iowa so it's unlikely that Sarah has descendants here, but her brother Solomon Cook, a war of 1812 veteran who died in 1877, and his wife, Mary (1806-1878), did. There was no cemetery at Russell when their deaths occurred, so both are buried at Bethel, nearby in Cedar Township.
Here's Sarah's obituary from The Sentinel of Oct. 12, 1871 --- nothing other than place of death about Russell, but a nicely written account that incorporates a good deal of pioneer history:
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Died at Russell, Lucas county, Iowa, at the residence of her nephew, James F. Cook, Esq., on the 15th of September, 1871, Mrs. Sarah S. Wirt, the mother of our townsman Col. S.M. Wirt --- aged 84 years, 1 month and 15 days.
The ripe old age of the deceased woman makes it excusable in saying a few words in regard to her history. She was born in the city of Trenton, N.J., August the 1st, 1786. In 1799 her father, Mr. John A. Cook, removed to the then far West and located in Pittsburg, Pa. --- then Fort Pitt, one of the frontier military posts along the line of the great West. West of the Allegheny river and north of the Ohio was then the home of the red man. What is now the great Birmingham of America was then a military station with a few hundred inhabitants settled around the protecting care of the fort. At that time all supplies came from the East. And the only mode of transportation open between the East and West was by the pack horse; turnpike roads, steamboats, canals, and railroads were unknown.
In 1807 she was married in the town of Mercer, Pa., to her husband, John Wirt. Her husband died near Burlington, Iowa, in 1852. She made a profession of religion and joined the Presbyterian church in 1811 and remained in connection with that church until 1837, when her family all removed from Pennsylvania to Burlington, Wisconsin Territory, now Iowa, then, there being no Presbyterian church convenient, she united with the Methodist Episcopal church and remained in connection with it until her death. For more than 60 years was she a daughter and humble follower of Jesus --- she claimed everyone as a brother or a sister in the church, who showed forth their love of Jesus by adhering to the divine precepts.
In 1854, her daughter removed to Minnesota, and she went there with her and her husband, and remained in that then territory until 1857. Since which time she has made her home with her son, Dr. S.M. Wirt, in this place.
Last spring, her brother, Solomon Cook, moved from Mercer, Pa., to Lucas county, Iowa. She had not seen any of her brothers or sisters for about 20 years, and she had this summer a strong desire to visit her family. With the expectation of a visit from another brother at the same place, who lives in the northern part of Iowa. She made the visit about the 15th of August, and appeared to enjoy it finely. Her brother and herself appeared to live over their youth again, in calling to mind the early days about Pittsburg. She had about completed the term allotted for her visit, when on the night of September 12 she was taken sick, and without pain or apparently active disease she gradually weakened until Friday the 15th, she sank in death, as one goes to sleep, without a struggle or a spasm. Her remains were brought here for interment, and she was buried in the Linville Cemetery on the 19th of September 1871.
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