CAME AS A CHILD
To Western Michigan in the Early Thirties.
MRS. MARY FITCH WAITE
Death of a Pioneer Resident of Kalamazoo County.
Wife of the Venerable P. S. Waite of Asylum Avenue — A Descendent of Governor Fitch.
With very few exceptions death has removed all of the true pioneers of the thirties whose axe strokes sounded in a virgin forest and whose plowshares first furrowed the oak openings of western Michigan, and those venerable residents whose loss is the cause of only two frequent mourning in Kalamazoo as elsewhere throughout the state, came as children with the early settlers, knew the privations and activities of frontier life almost as keenly as their parents, and grew up with the new country, to the matchless development of which they have borne ample testimony. Such was Mrs. Mary Fitch Waite, wife of P. S. Waite of Asylum avenue, who passed away at 5:30 this morning. May Fitch was born in Leroy, N. Y. Sept. 19. 1821. She came with her family to Michigan when she was 11 years old and often told of making a great part of the journey on foot as they moved in wagons. She had been married to Mr. Waite over fifty years. Beside her husband she leaves two daughters, Mrs. E B. Russell of this city, and Miss Margaret Waite, also five sons, George, Thomas, Edwin and Benjamin of this city and vicinity and John of Britton, South Dakota; also two sisters Mrs. B. M. Austin of Jackson and Mrs. George Whipple of Kalamazoo. Mrs. Waits was a member of the First Presbyterian church and during her younger days was very active in church work. She helped to make the carpets and cushions in the first Presbyterian church in Kalamazoo. Mrs. Waite's health failed about a year ago and her death was not unexpected, although it comes as a terrible shock to her aged husband as well as her family.
A Remarkable Woman.
In the passing of Mrs. Waite one of the true nobility of the earth has gone. As was said in a letter to the family from a friend, yesterday, "There are few such mothers as she has been." In many ways she was a very remarkable woman as her family and friends lovingly attest. She had her title to eh Society of the Daughter of the revolution and also to Colonial Dames being direct descent of Gov. Fitch of Massachusetts; but what is far better she was a daughter of the king, and her life remains to her family and friends a beautiful memory and a lasting benediction. The funeral will be held Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 from the house. Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph February 16, 1901 page 7
CAME AS A CHILD
To Western Michigan in the Early Thirties.
MRS. MARY FITCH WAITE
Death of a Pioneer Resident of Kalamazoo County.
Wife of the Venerable P. S. Waite of Asylum Avenue — A Descendent of Governor Fitch.
With very few exceptions death has removed all of the true pioneers of the thirties whose axe strokes sounded in a virgin forest and whose plowshares first furrowed the oak openings of western Michigan, and those venerable residents whose loss is the cause of only two frequent mourning in Kalamazoo as elsewhere throughout the state, came as children with the early settlers, knew the privations and activities of frontier life almost as keenly as their parents, and grew up with the new country, to the matchless development of which they have borne ample testimony. Such was Mrs. Mary Fitch Waite, wife of P. S. Waite of Asylum avenue, who passed away at 5:30 this morning. May Fitch was born in Leroy, N. Y. Sept. 19. 1821. She came with her family to Michigan when she was 11 years old and often told of making a great part of the journey on foot as they moved in wagons. She had been married to Mr. Waite over fifty years. Beside her husband she leaves two daughters, Mrs. E B. Russell of this city, and Miss Margaret Waite, also five sons, George, Thomas, Edwin and Benjamin of this city and vicinity and John of Britton, South Dakota; also two sisters Mrs. B. M. Austin of Jackson and Mrs. George Whipple of Kalamazoo. Mrs. Waits was a member of the First Presbyterian church and during her younger days was very active in church work. She helped to make the carpets and cushions in the first Presbyterian church in Kalamazoo. Mrs. Waite's health failed about a year ago and her death was not unexpected, although it comes as a terrible shock to her aged husband as well as her family.
A Remarkable Woman.
In the passing of Mrs. Waite one of the true nobility of the earth has gone. As was said in a letter to the family from a friend, yesterday, "There are few such mothers as she has been." In many ways she was a very remarkable woman as her family and friends lovingly attest. She had her title to eh Society of the Daughter of the revolution and also to Colonial Dames being direct descent of Gov. Fitch of Massachusetts; but what is far better she was a daughter of the king, and her life remains to her family and friends a beautiful memory and a lasting benediction. The funeral will be held Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 from the house. Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph February 16, 1901 page 7
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
