Mrs. Hannah Loftfield

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 18, 1913

Mrs. Hannah Loftfield

Obituaries

Mrs. Hannah Loftfield

Mrs. Hannah Loftfield was born Feb. 22, 1877, near Mondovi, Buffalo Co., Wis., to which place her parents, John J. Gilbert and wife, had immigrated from Norway. When she was two years old, the family moved to Polk County, Minnesota. Here on a pioneer farm, near Crookston, Hannah Gilbert passed her childhood and received her early education in the public and parochial (Lutheran) schools. In 1892 she entered Concordia College, a Lutheran school at Moorhead, Minn. Later she went to Crookston Normal College to prepare for the special work of teaching, for which she was so well adapted by natural endowment. During vacations she taught in the public schools with excellent success. When Crookston Normal was moved to Minneapolis, she continued as a student and embraced the opportunity for special training in elocution and oratory. She also spent some time in the University of Minnesota. While a student at Crookston, Miss Gilbert first met Prof. Gabriel Loftfield, who was a member of the college faculty. They were married in St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Dec. 28, 1895. The following year the Minnesota Normal School was organized, with Mrs. Loftfield as secretary and director of the department of elocution and oratory. She remained in this position for six years, when her husband's failing health required a change. In the year 1904 they removed to Southern California, where later they heard and both embraced the third angel's message through the preaching of Elder Simpson, and united with the church at Los Angeles in the spring of 1906. The following year they spent in San Fernando Academy, and in 1908 came to Takoma Park, in response to a call from the General Conference, to connect with the Foreign Mission Seminary. Here Mrs. Loftfield acted as instructor in elocution and public speaking for two years. It has been two years and a half since the dread disease to which she finally succumbed first laid hold on her. After her return from southern California last May she gradually sank lower and lower. Her last hours were passed in the full consciousness of her true condition. She counseled her husband and children with regard

to their future, and urged that they do all in their power to lead her relatives to prepare to meet the Lord, a burden which had been on her heart for a long time. To her many friends she left the message that she was dying in the consciousness of full acceptance with God through the grace of Christ. She fell asleep on Thursday morning, November 13, to await the coming of her Lord. Besides her sorrowing husband and two children, Cordelia and Hamlet, she leaves to mourn their loss a father, two brothers, and a host of friends in many places. The funeral services were conducted from the Takoma Park church, Sabbath, November 15, by Elder F. M. Wilcox, assisted by Elders A. G. Daniells and W. T. Knox and the writer. Special music was rendered by Prof. and Mrs. Clement Hamer, Mr. N. D. Staughton, and Mrs. A. J. S. Bourdeau. Beautiful floral offerings were made by the Seminary-Sanitarium and Takoma Park churches, as well as by many individuals. Sister Loftfield was laid to rest in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D. C.

J. N. Anderson.

Herman Feaster Ketring

Herman Feaster Ketring was born in New Enterprise, Bedford Co., Pa., Sept. 3, 1873, and fell asleep at the home of his mother in Escondido, Cal., Nov. 5, 1913. He was baptized when fourteen years of age at a camp-meeting held in Williamsport, Pa., the third angel's message having been brought to his family by Elder Joel Robinson three years previous. Shortly after this the family moved to Moline, Kans., where at the age of eighteen he entered the canvassing work, spending some time in this line of work in Arkansas and Kansas. Later he entered Union College to prepare for the ministry, which work he entered upon in the State of Kansas when twenty years of age, during the presidency of Elder C. McReynolds, to whose kind encouragement he always felt greatly indebted. Brother Ketring also labored some time in the Wyoming Mission field with Elder O. S. Ferren. April 18, 1896, he was married to Miss Elva Riggs, and returned to work in Kansas, where the Lord greatly blessed his efforts in different places. At the General Conference held at Battle Creek in 1901 he volunteered for work in South America, and soon after the meeting, in company with Elders J. W. Westphal and A. R. Ogden, sailed for Chile. He labored in the West Coast Mission field from the fall of 1901 until the spring of 1905. The last two years of this period he served as superintendent of the field. After attending the first General Conference held in Takoma Park, in 1905, he engaged in labor for a time in the Kansas Conference again, but later accepted a call to the presidency of the New England Conference. Having acquired a good command of the Spanish language, he had an earnest desire to labor again in some Spanish-speaking field, but circumstances hindered. In his work in New England the burdens he carried in connection with the Melrose sanitarium, which was then passing through a crisis, and the administrative work, proved to be too heavy for his strength, and in the fourth year his health failed. Brother Ketring then spent some time at the Massachusetts State Sanitarium for Tuberculosis, and left it apparently well. However, on the advice of friends and physicians, he went to Denver, Colo., with his family, and undertook to build himself a home while doing pastoral work in the Capitol Hill church of that place. However, he overrated his strength and endurance, and during the severe winter weather exposed himself too much in his work of building. Later he exhausted his remaining strength in a protracted debate with a Christian minister at Greeley, Colo. Pneumonia and nervous prostration followed, and he never again, during the three years left to him, rallied to any marked degree. The last four years of his life were long and weary, attended with alternate periods of hope and dejection, and of peculiar trials and sorrows. The deceased spent the winter of 1910-11 in Cuba with our family, returning the following year to Denver. However, he could not endure the severe climate, and finally decided to accept the invitation of the writer and his sister, Mrs. Snyder, to pass last winter at our home in California. Finding the climate favorable, he was very anxious to have his family with him, and accordingly last June he returned to Denver, though not strong enough for so long a trip, to arrange for moving. He returned in a weak condition, and following the advice of his physicians at Glendale, went with his mother and younger sister to Escondido, Cal., to spend the winter. At first he seemed to improve, but the disease gradually conquered. He fell asleep at peace with God and resigned to his will. “Not my will, but thine be done,” he repeated to his mother and sisters, to whom he was so dear, and he often spoke of the short time he would be asleep before the Master would come to awaken him. His last message to his absent brother and his children was, “Meet me when Jesus comes.” Words of comfort were spoken by Elder R. S. Owen, of San Diego, assisted by Elder Black, of Escondido. At our brother's request, he was laid to rest in the cemetery at Escondido to await the call of the Life-giver. He is survived by a wife, three children, a mother, two sisters, and a brother. They sorrow, however, not as those who have no hope, believing that they will meet him when Jesus comes.

E. W. Snyder.

A Pioneer Laid to Rest

Sister Marion Stowell Crawford died at the home of her sister, Mrs. P. F. Chase, in Monroe, Wis., Oct. 25, 1913. Sister Crawford was born in Paris, Maine, in the year 1829. Her education was obtained in the schools of North Paris. She was an ambitious young woman, and her keen mind improved every opportunity for advancement. The truths of the three angels' messages were very dear to her, and she was a teacher of them throughout her long life. When the publishing work was carried on in Rochester, N. Y., she was closely associated with Elder Uriah Smith, Elder J. N. Andrews, Sister White, and others. In the year 1854 the family moved from Maine to Warren, Ill., where Miss Stowell was united in marriage with Delos Truesdail. Later she and her husband moved to northern Missouri, where they lived for nearly twenty years, until the death of Mr. Truesdail. Following this, she spent several years in Battle Creek, Mich., where in the year 1892 she was married to Mr. Franklin Crawford, a childhood friend. Until the death of Mr. Crawford she lived in Kankakee, Ill., where she was an active member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She was always true to the message, and was unusually active as a home missionary. Thousands of pages of literature have been scattered by her, and her letters and her articles for local papers have brought the message to a great many persons. For the past forty years it has been her custom to take clubs of our various publications and send them out from week to week, and this was continued until a few weeks before her death, even though for the last two years she was nearly blind. Sister Crawford had no children of her own, but from time to time she had in her home a number of orphan children. My own knowledge of the truth is the result of her faithful care of two children, who, bereaved of a mother, had been placed in a Catholic convent for lack of a better place. Her daily instruction led us to become Sabbath-keepers, although all our relatives were opposed to it. Various phases of the message appealed very strongly to her. Elder F. C. Gilbert's work for the Israelites elicited her generous support. She was generous in helping the colored work, and today a students' cottage on the Hillcrest School farm witnesses to this interest. She has assisted one or more of the highland schools in the South, and in many places her help will be missed. Sister Crawford spent the last year of her life at the Madison (Wis.) Sanitarium, leaving there only a few weeks before her death. She has a wide circle of friends among the older Sabbath-keepers. She is survived by her brother, Oswald Stowell, who now lives with some of his children in Riverside, Cal., and who belonged to the Review and Herald Office force in its earliest years. A second brother is still living in Chicago, and she has three sisters—Mrs. P. F. Chase, of Monroe, Wis., Mrs. Augusta Barton, of Warren, Ill., and Mrs. Lizzie A. Day, of Lewiston, Maine. Sister Crawford followed the history of the third angel's message from its very beginning, and always expressed a hope that she might live to see the coming of the Saviour. She fell asleep with a strong hope in the resurrection.

M. Bessie DeGraw.

Harry Lyman Tenny

Harry Lyman Tenny was born April 24, 1890, in Belleville, Ontario, and died in New York City, Nov. 7, 1913, aged 23 years, 6 months, and 13 days. From an early age he manifested a determination to prepare himself for a place of usefulness in the Lord's work. Most of his education was secured in our own schools, first at Lorne Park, Ontario, and then at South Lancaster Academy. After serving some time as an office assistant in connection with the Greater New York Conference, he was called to fill the responsible position of conference and tract society secretary and treasurer, which position he held at the time of his death. It was unusual for one so young to have such responsibilities placed upon him, but he was equal to every demand of his position. When he left the office for the last time, his books were all posted and every entry made. For some time he had been troubled with a nasal affliction; and after consultation with one of New York's leading specialists, an operation was advised. He went to the hospital Friday, November 7, and was operated on, the operation lasting from 2:30 to 4:30 P. M. For a time he rallied, but about 7:15 P. M. he had a sinking spell, and died suddenly without having regained consciousness. The relatives in Canada were communicated with and arrangements immediately made for sending the remains home for burial. The writer accompanied the body and remained until after the funeral, which took place on Tuesday, November 11, at 2:30 P. M. Elder M. C. Kirkendall, president of the Ontario Conference, assisted the writer in the services. Brother Tenny is survived by his father, mother, and four sisters, who deeply mourn the loss of an affectionate son and brother. He was beloved by all who knew him, and his many friends unite with the family in mourning the loss of this devoted young life.

J. L. McElhany.