Early Pioneer and Mother of First Child Born in Washington County
 
The death of Mrs. Samuel A. Francis at Arlington, Friday, August 2, marked the passing from our midst one of the oldest of Nebraska's pioneers. She came to Nebraska with her husband in 1855, having lived in Washington County 63 years.
 
Samuel A. Francis, a veteran of both the Mexican war of 1849 and the Civil War in 1861, died in 1899.
 
Their daughter, Martha Ellen, was born in the same hour as Marlin Corliss (?) on October 1st, 1855. They were the first children born in Washington County. Martha Francis was the mother of Mrs. Henry and Will Lallman and John Francis of this place. She died in 1882 and Mrs. Francis brought up her grandchildren as her own.
 
For many years she was a member of the Methodist Church.
 
Mrs. Ida ______ of Beatrice, and Mrs. Lettie Bartlett of Council Bluffs, nieces of Mrs. Francis, came to attend the funeral. Mrs. Murphy, a sister, of Charlton, Iowa, and a brother, John Waynick (?) of Milford, who on account of poor health were unable to come for the funeral. Services were held Monday afternoon at the Methodist Church, Rev. Hammel officiating. Interment took place in Arlington Cemetery.
 
The many friends of the deceased unite with the Review-Herald in extending sincere sympathy and condolence to the relatives.
 
Card of Thanks—We desire to take this means of extending our heartfelt thanks to the many kind friends who offered their assistance during our recent bereavement in the loss of our beloved grandmother, Mrs. S.A. Francis. We especially desire to thank the minister, choir and donors of the many beautiful flowers. –Henry Lallman and family; Will Lallman and family; John Francis
 
Typist's note: The original obituary as published in the 1918 newspaper was in extremely poor condition. We regret any errors.
 
~~~Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library~~~

 Source of middle initial--in Hartung Cemetery (also in Washington County, by one of the oldest towns of our state, Fontanelle) is a tall stone with only SA & LJ Francis on it (and no dates). Beside it are the graves of 5 children, according to Washington County cemetery records, and the records list "5 Francis children".
Contributor: MrsB (47910340) • [email protected]

#2 Printed in the August 9, 1918 Enterprise

Mrs. Louisa J. Francis, widow of Samuel Francis, a widely known pioneer settler of the Fontanelle settlement in early times, died at Arlington last Friday at the age of 89 years. She had been a resident of the county for sixty-three years, doubtless the oldest pioneer settler in the county. "Aunt" Louisa, as she was universally known in middle life, was the Good Samaritan of the Fontanelle region for miles around in the early days. I have heard my friend, John T. Bell, discourse so feelingly of her goodness to him and his brothers and sisters, in their childhood days at Fontanelle, where the two families were neighbors, and extol her character so highly that I am going to write him and ask him to send the Enterprise, for publication, an obituary that will do justice to her memory.

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska. ~~~
Contributor: MrsB (47910340) • [email protected]

#2 Printed in the August 23, 1918 Enterprise

MRS. LOUISA FRANCIS

AN APPRECIATION OF THE CHARACTER OF THE DECEASED, BY JOHN T. BELL

Editor of the Enterprise: I cheerfully comply with your request for an obituary of Mrs. Louisa Francis of Arlington.

The mention of her death in your letter of the 10th inst., brings back to my memory scenes and incidents of my boyhood at Fontanelle, of which town Samuel A. Francis and his good wife, who so recently passed away, were among the earliest settlers. To the children of the Bell family they soon became "Uncle Sam" and "Aunt Louisa" and God bless their memory, they could not have been kinder to us if we had been of their own flesh and blood.

Their home was, at first, in a log house on the west side of the public square in the little settlement, and it was there that their first child was born, Mattie, who married a son of a man who was a colonel in the Union army in the Civil war, and who was a warm personal friend of Gen. O.A. Howard.

The clipping you enclosed, taken from the Arlington paper, says that this daughter was born Oct. 1st 1855, the same hour as Martha Corliss, also in Fontanelle, and that the two were the first children born in Washington county. At that time, Fontanelle was in Dodge county. It was a younger daughter, not Martha, who was also born, to the parents of the child referred to. The parents were W.H. Davis and wife and the child born on the date mentioned was named Fontanella, in honor of the town. She was later adopted by the late Christy Achilles and wife of Blair, as Martha was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Corliss. She married Dudley Perkins, son of Judge Alonzo Perkins, formerly of Blair, now of Portland, Oregon.

Mrs. Francis' family name was Waynick and her father was an ex________ farmer near Chariton, Iowa. When her daughter died she left a family of six young children. Of these, five were formally adopted by Samuel and Louisa Francis, the adoption papers signed at my home in Omaha. It was characteristic of this man and his good wife to assume the responsibility for the care and rearing of these helpless children. The youngest of the family was a babe, of which the father's parents took charge. Combined with a kind heart Mrs. Francis possessed a cheerful disposition and, when in middle ife, her husband met with business reverses and was compelled to "begin again", was found in her one ready to share whatever hardships might come with never-failing courage.

--John T. Bell, Seattle, Washington, Aug. 14, 1918
Contributor: MrsB (47910340) • [email protected]

note: Reg - contributor #48324227 requested that Louisa's maiden name was Waynick instead of Hane as had been listed.