VERMILLION COUNTY
OBITS
Obituary for Reverend Andrew Wimsett
February 1901
Rev. A. Wimsett
Rev. Andrew Wimsett was born in
Vermillion County, Indiana, January 7, 1823, and died at the home of
his son, at Lakeview, Kansas, on January 29, 1901, aged 78 years, 22
days. He was converted and joined the United Brethren Church in
1837. He began preaching the gospel in 1840, and one year later
received his first license from the Church. During his Christian
life he served the Church as class-leader, circuit preacher, presiding
elder, and evangelist. It is likely he reached his highest degree
of usefulness in the last named relation. This seemed to be the
sphere most congenial to him, and in this sphere of work he held
meetings in almost every county in the States of Indiana and
Illinois. Besides this, great meetings were held by him in many
other States, especially in Kansas. Eternity will make known the
number of souls saved through his instrumentality. It is believed
by some who have known him long and well that he has been the means of
bring more souls to Christ than any other man in the United Brethren
Church since the days of Otterbein. Brother Wimsett, though a
cripple from the time he began his ministry, was a man of unusual
physical energy and endurance. The incessant toils and exposures
to inclement weather, without apparent injurious results, through so
many years, gave evidence to his great powers of endurance. He
was a man of strong, clear-cut convictions, concerning the great truths
of revelation. These convictions, accompanied by a deep heart
experience in the Christian religion, gave power and keenness to
his public preaching and private conversation. What he had seen
and heard, and believed and felt, he unhesitatingly proclaimed, and
this brought results. There are large numbers of people in the
ministry and ???ity of the Church who can witness that his presence was
a benediction to their lives. Uncle Andy not only maintained his
vigor of body and mind through these years of toil, but ?? I have heard
it remarked during the past ???ar, he ""kept sweet," no complaint that
??as not appreciated, or that the church ???st its power. He
rejoiced in the mate?? Prosperity of the Church, often speaking with
pleasure of the growth of the Publishing house, and the prosperity of
our colleges. He had no words of complaint concerning the
officials of the Church, and that which saved him in these things was
the conscious presence of God, and his earnest work in
soul-winning. But the time for his departure had come, and he was
ready to be offered. About two weeks before his death, it became
evident that incessant toil and old age were doing their work of
dissolution. The brain, the organ through which the mind works,
showed signs of failure. And when his son met him, to ??ing him
home, he said, in his lucid moments, "My son, my work is done; I have
preached my last sermon." Mentioning some details as to his
funeral, he spoke of a bright cloud he had seen come to the door of
their house, upon which he stepped and was by it carried ?? {up} into
the heavens. On the date above mentioned, at 4:00 p. m., he slept
quietly away, and his spirit departed. Brother Wimsett was
married three times. He leaves his third companion, to whom he
was united in 1866. There are two sons living; three sons and two
daughters dead. The funeral was conducted ?? writer. The
text was the last words he ??: "I have fought a good fight."
? C. or G.} W. Huffman
Note: found in a scrapbook in
Roswell, New Mexico by Nancy Harvey while going though her mother's
things after her death. "The scrapbook is one which my great
grandmother, Amanda Bryan Wetzel, or perhaps my grandmother, Nettie
Wetzel Dean, pasted lots of obituaries of family and friends.
These families were from around McDonough, Fulton and Schuyler
Counties, Illinois. These obits are probably around a hundred
years old or may be more."
(Contributed by Sara Hemp)
Louise I. Ball
Clinton, Ind., April 11 - Louise I. Ball, infant daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. George Ball, of South Eighth street, died Thursday night after
a brief illness. The funeral was held from the family home
Saturday afternoon. - Terre Haute Tribune, 11 April 1914, Page 002
Contributed by James D. VanDerMark