I found this item in the paper - Pike County Democrat, September 2, 1891.
It is the first memorial tribute I have run across in the newspaper
microfilm (1874-1891) that was not printed from an organization such as the
GAR.
It was especially interesting as it was for a baby. Most people have the
general assumption that the death of a child was not as hard on parents a
century ago as almost all families were used to losing some of their
children due to disease and/or accidents.
I thought I would share it with you:
Memory of Little Curtis Paul Beadles - Born Dec. 5, 1890. Died Aug. 20,
1891. Age 8 months and a half. Oh, Dear Sweet, Good, and loving little
darling angel! How hard to give you up, but your loving little spirit has
gone to rest! How promising, healthy, so sweet and so good, until that
awful dreaded disease melted your sweet little fat image away to a
skeleton! That sweet little song of "Dad," "Dad," "Dad," and
"ma," did that
toungue warble until the very last!
Those sweet, earnest and sparkling little eyes have closed to open no more
to us on earth. That sweet little song has hushed, no more to be heard on
this side of the Golden shore. That Dear, sweet, little spirit is Home,
where there will be no more teething scurvey, or anything else to mar your
peace and pleasure for ever and ever! A Happy change now for you, but, oh!
So hard for us to give you up! God bless - your long and hard suffering is
over - sweet peace be your rest! Tis all we can do. W. C. Beadles