SAMUEL STOWELL III

 

Stoicism is a trait that I believe many members of my family posses.  When I was seven I broke my foot after jumping out of my grandparent's hay loft into a hay stack below.  I twisted my ankle on a piece of coal while walking back to the hay loft to jump again.  I ordered my brother, Jay, to carry me into my grandparent's house for some first aid.  My mom wrapped my foot.  I went back outside and continued to jump into the hay.  When I was eighteen I fell down some stairs in college and broke the same foot in a different place.  The college nurse wrapped it for me.  I traveled home for Thanksgiving vacation.  My mom made an appointment with the doc.  I went shopping for needed school supplies until it was time for my appointment.  After an x-ray and learning my foot was broken I then received a cast which I wore for six weeks.  The third time I broke the same foot, in a different place again, I waited a few days before I went to the clinic nearby. I  was put into a walking boot which I wore for six weeks.  

When I was in labor with our son, I went to church.  Most women scream when they are in labor. Not me. I gave birth Monday morning at 4 am with no anesthesia.  I was so stoic that the nurse said that I was ready to go pick cotton.  

Both my children are stoic also.  When daughter, Heather, had to get stitches in her head, when she was three years old, she did not cry.  When son, Jes, was hit by a car when he was eleven he did not cry.  

When my sister, Evy, was dying of cancer,  she was home alone and kept the door locked.  Anytime the doorbell would ring she would get up out of her death bed to answer the door.

I thought the following obit illustrated the stoicism of my ancestor.  He stayed at home until he knew he was going to die then rode into town-- I assume on a horse, and went to stay with his son for the last few days of his life.  

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Newspaper Obituary - Thursday, June 25, 1885 Pulaski Democrat - Pulaski, New York - Orwell - Old Mr. Samuel Stowell died Saturday morning, June 20, 1885. He was over 92 years old, and has lived in town over 60 years, one of Orwell's old landmarks. He was a good citizen, a good neighbor, and will be missed.

Newspaper Obituary - Thursday, July 16, 1885 Pulaski Democrat - Pulaski, New York - Samuel Stowell, one of the oldest residents of the town of Orwell, died at the residence of a son, H. J. Stowell, in Orwell, and the 94th year of his age. The deceased was born in Connecticut, in 1791 and in 1819 he removed to Orwell, where he bought a tract of land in the almost wilderness, and commenced the arduous task of clearing the same to make a home for himself and family. During the first years his winters were engaged in teaching school and the rest of the time was employed on his land. He raised a family of nine children, and at the outbreak of the Rebellion being a strong Union man, he offered four of his sons to help save the country. Only two returned. He was, for many years, assessor of the town of Orwell, also holding the offices of town clerk, school Commissioner, and other offices of respectability in which he was always found it very accurate. He was a man of great memory and even in his last years would read readily without the aid of glasses, and would relate what he had read with remarkable correctness. He was very much attached to the old farm where he had lived for 66 years, and could not be persuaded to leave it until the Monday morning before his death, when he arose earlier than usual and put on his best clothes, which he was not accustomed to do. After eating a light breakfast he rode to the village, a distance of half a mile, and while at the store, said he presumed it to be the last time he should ever come there. He then started to walk to his son's house, a short distance from the store, arriving there very much exhausted. His daughter, Mrs. Crocker, was visiting there at the same time and remained, administering to his every want, and all that friends could do was done to make his last days comfortable. He expressed no wish to return to his home, but said to his daughter that he thought he would not go back. He suffered no pain as there seemed to be no disease, but gradually sinking till Saturday morning he departed this life and exchanged his place on earth for a home above. He was a member of the Congregational church and a regular attendant until within the past few months. His funeral was largely attended on Monday, June 22, at the Orwell Union church, Rev. Mr. Griffith officiating, taking for his text the following, found in Prov. 3:16: "Length of days is her right hand, and in her left and riches and honor." He will be greatly missed by his friends and neighbors, but they feel assured that their great loss is his eternal gain.