He was the youngest son of Isaac and Lucretia (Berry) Julian, born at Chariton during 1862 to a couple who had settled here during the fall of 1853 after traveling west by ox-drawn wagon from Indiana.
A printer by trade, Stephen had traveled west in 1878 to Kearney, Nebraska, with his older brother, Rene, also a printer, to found The Nonpareil. "Ren" flourished in Kearney, but Stephen was afflicted with tuberculosis and so came home eventually to Chariton, where he died.
This graceful tribute to the young man was published in Kearney's Western New Era on Jan. 27, 1883, under the headline, "The Grim Reaper: Stephen J. Julian," and may in fact have been written by Ren.
It concludes with a four-line epitaph written specifically for a printer, something I've never seen before --- comparing the end of Stephen's life to the last line composed in a printer's stick before time is called for publication.
It's a charming way for a printer to be remembered:
DIED --- In Chariton, Iowa, on Saturday morning, Jan. 20, 1883, Stephen J. Julian, in the twenty-second year of his age.
The deceased was well and favorably known in this city, having been one of the founders of The Nonpareil. He possessed many fine traits of character, and was a whole-souled generous man. Charity for those in distress was one of his characteristics, and his hand was raised against every man who strove to oppress the poor. He was a friend to truth and uprightness, and despised the hypocrite with a deep hate. His noble impulsiveness drew around him many friends in this city whose hearts will fill with sadness on hearing of his demise.
His last "line" has been "spaced,"
"Stick" and "rule" laid away,
"Time" has been "called"
'Till Judgment Day.
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