Winchester - Helen Hobbs
Source: Waveland Independent Waveland, Montgomery County, Indiana Nov 24, 1933
Mrs. Helen K. WINCHESTER died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Cecil FRANKLIN in Browns Valley on Saturday evening. While she has been in poor health her death was totally unexpected as she was listening to the radio but a few minutes before her death. Funeral services at the Browns Valley Christian Church in charge of Rev. WH Newlin of Crawfordsville, were deferred until this Friday afternoon on account of children living at a distance. The following sketch of her life written by her daughter, Mrs. Nannie WHITE of Topeka, KS was read: Into the little Macon Co, ILL home of Jacob I. HOBBS on October 4, 1850 came a baby girl, who was given the name of Helen Keturah. Two other little sisters came also - Mary and Alice. Eleven years passed, with the young father supporting the family by working as a cabinet maker and finisher. In 1861, when President Lincoln's call for voluntees was heard, Jacob I. Hobbs answered the call and, bravely leaving his dear wife and little daughters, enlisted, Nov 8 in Co. E, 116th Ill Vol. Bravely the lonely mother worked and struggled to keep the family together and to send the girls to school. Helen, the oldest, spent much of her time in the home of Uncle Jeff and Aunt Aliff Willard near Harristown. A sad day came. On July 22nd, 1864, when the bloody battle of Atlanta, George was fought, the death list recorded the name of Jacob I Hobbs of Illinois. His body was buried with his brave comrades on the field of battle. The widowed mother struggled on with courage and patience. Helen, after finishing the little Harristown school, entered the Illiopolis HS and secured a certificate to teach. But a dashing young man with black eyes and curly hair - a lover of the beautiful - appeared in the neighborhood and became interested in the fair Helen. Gallantly the young Allen Winchester wooed and won "Our Mother." The wedding bells rang out from the little Harristown Christian Church on February 16, 1873 and Helen Winchester began her life and wife and mother. Soon a little home was established at Carbondale, ill. Three little daughters were given to Allen and Helen - Ada, May 9th, 1874; Alice, July 2, 1875; and Nannie Nov 15, 1877. In the fall of 1879 the "Call of the Prairie" reached the ears of these home builders and the journey to Kansas plains began in a covered wagon drawn by a fine span of valuable mules. A crude dug-out in the banks of the Smoky Hill River near Bridgeport, KS was their first home in the West. Changes came - victories and also trials, discouragements, crop failures, and sickness; but the brave parents kept the faith through sunshine and showers. The family kept enlarging until the number grew to 7 daughters and one son: Sophia, born Feb 23, 1880; Nell, born April 19, 1882; Alma born Aug 13, 1884; Flossie, born Nov 22, 1888 and Ralph, born Oct 19, 1903. All grew to womanhood and manhood and today 7 daughters and one son, 20 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren live to call our mother BLESSED. Grandmother Hobbs was called home July 22, 1909; Father Winchester left us, Aug 10, 1910. Aunt Alice Gilcrest died Sept 15, 1912; Aunt Mary Lanham died Oct 28, 1938. Mother Winchester went to be with those whom she has "loved and lost awhile." Saturday evening, Nov 18 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Sophie Franklin in Browns Valley, Indiana. She has always lived an active Christian life and on coming to make her home with the Franklins she took fellowship with the Browns Valley Christian Church.--kbz