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Margaret (Bean) Housel   DEATH COMES AT GALESBURG MRS. WILLIAM H. HOUSEL DIED YESTERDAY AT THE COTTAGE HOSPITAL. A Woman Prominent in Temperance Work – Member of the D. A. R. - Burial at Mendon.      Mrs. Mary Edwards of this city, the county president of the W. C. T. U., is in receipt of a telegram informing her of the death at the Cottage hospital in Galesburg of Mrs. William H. Housel of Galesburg, formerly of Camp Point and Mendon, the latter place being her family home. Death came to this good woman at 10 o'clock yesterday morning, after an illness of several months' standing, her trouble being gall stones. Yet at the last her death was unexpected, her friends, although they realized her serious condition, not thinking of a fatal termination, at least so soon.      Mrs. Housel spent the winter in Alexandria, Va., with her step-son, Oscar L. Housel. On her return to her home in Galesburg, she was taken ill, and ten days ago was removed to the Cottage hospital, where death came yesterday.         Mrs. Housel was prominently identified with the cause of the W. C.T. U., in which she had been for years an indefatigable worker. She was practically the founder of the union in Adams county, of which she was a charter member, and in which she held many offices. She became its president in the second year of its existence, and after holding office in the county organization, she was placed at the head of the district organization, and was from that time continually in an official position of responsibility. At the time of her death she was superintendent of the press department in the state of Illinois, in which she did splendid work, bringing it up to a degree of perfection which placed it ahead of any other state in the temperance work. She was recognized as a woman of rare executive ability , and was a skilled parliamentarian.    Sketch of Her Life      Mrs. Housel was born Margaret Bean, Mendon being her native town. She was twice married, her first husband being Vincent Francis of Camp Point, which was then her home for several years, or until the death of Mr. Francis. Her husband was in deep sympathy with her work, and to them must be given the credit of organizing the temperance workers in Camp Point.      A few years following the death of Mr. Francis, his widow was united in marriage to W. H. Housel of Galesburg, who survives her.      In Galesburg Mrs. Housel continued her work, and the Galesburg union benefited materially from her labors in the cause. It was during her residence in Galesburg, and just prior to her trip to Virginia, that she took for a time the place of the state president of the W. C. T. U., during that official's absence.      Mrs. Housel was a devout member of the Methodist church, and in that, too, was an active worker. Her residence in Galesburg extended over a period of thirteen years. She was also a charter member of the first chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution founded in this city, and retained her membership in this chapter until her death. Mrs. T. Dewey Woodruff of the Dorothy Quincy chapter received a telegram announcing the death of Mrs. Housel, and the local chapter will take suitable cognizance, and will be represented at the funeral, which will take place at Mendon tomorrow morning, the remains to be sent from Galesburg at the conclusion of a brief funeral service, which will be held at the undertaker's chapel of Horton & Foley, at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. The body lies in state in this chapel from 2 to 4 o'clock this afternoon.      Mrs. Housel is survived by her aged husband; two step-children, Oscar L. of Alexandria, Va., and Miss Ethel Housel, of Mexico City, Mexico. Then there are two sisters, Mrs. Benson, of Mendon, and Mrs. Pearson, of Denver, Colo. Fred Clarke of Camp Point is a nephew. There are a number of relatives of lesser kin.      The funeral will no doubt be a large and imposing one, owing to the prominence of Mrs. Housel, and her many activities in which she will be sadly missed. [The Quincy Daily Journal, Apr 10, 1912 - Transcribed by Debbie Gibson] Margaret J. Bean Housel is listed in the Cemeteries of Adams County Vol. III, Page 148, She is buried in Lot 4, Margaret is buried by first husband Vincent Francis.