"They are not dead; they have but passed
Beyond the mists that blind us here,
Into the new and larger life
Of that serener sphere.
And ever near us, though unseen,
Their dear, immortal spirits tread--
For all the boundless universe
Is Life--there are no dead."


Alice Hoerner, daughter of Jacob and Lydia (McDaniel) Hoerner, was born January 18, 1870, at their home four miles south of Lizton. She was the fifth child of a family of eight children, and the last member of the family to receive her summons home. She entered this world in a home of sorrow, as a little daughter, Elizabeth, passed away just three days previous to Alice's birth. Death also had claimed the two oldest children leaving only one child, Katie, to welcome the new baby sister.

A few years later the family moved to a farm on the Lebanon Road, and when the land was surveyed for the present B. & O. railroad, the line ran beside their home, and Alice, then a little child, watched the first train pass on the new track. Her father had a little store on the right-of-way which he later moved to Maplewood, then called "Progress," and the family moved there for residence.

It was in this little town that Alice was left an orphan at the age of fourteen years, and she and a younger sister and brother, Rose and Fred, became wards of their brother-in-law, Martin Long, of that place. Alice was placed in the family of Mr. and Mrs. D. F. Holtsclaw, of the Quebec neighborhood, where she grew to womanhood. While there she united with the Quebec Christian Church where she was a regular attendant. She was baptized by the Rev. Newton Wilson, who also officiated at her wedding, which took place in the home of her sister, Mrs. Katie Long, March 9, 1890, when Alice became the bride of James L. Rawlings of Montclair.

The couple spent the first summer in a little tenant house in the woods on his father's farm. In the autumn of that year they moved to their own home one and one-half miles west of Montclair, where with the exception of an eighteen months sojourn in Texas, they spent their entire married life of fifty-seven years.

Five children were born to this union, all of whom survive. They are Mrs. Gladys Walton of Plainfield, Mabel and Harry of Lizton, Cecil of Danville, and Ethel of Indianapolis.

Her husband passed away February 22, 1947, and, after his death, Mrs. Rawlings moved to Lizton to make her home, and her church membership, which had been with the Montclair church while she lived in that community, was placed with the Lizton Christian Church. So long as her own health and the health of her family permitted she was a faithful worker in the church. She was blessed with good health until the later years, but when sickness and suffering came she met it with the same undaunted courage with which she faced all the dark hours of her life. Death came as a blessed release from pain at 2:20 a.m., Monday, March 27th and she answered the call at the age of 80 years, 2 months and 8 days.

Besides the five children she leaves nine grandchildren, ten great grandchildren, one niece and three nephews. One grandson, Ernest Walton, preceded her in death just four months ago.

Mrs. Rawlings was a virtuous woman, looking well to the ways of her household. May her children and her children's children rise up and call her blessed.


"Another hand is beckoning us,
Another call is given;
And glows once more with Angel-steps
The path which reaches Heaven.
The blessings of her quiet life
Fell on us like the dew;
And good thoughts where her footsteps pressed
Like fairy blossoms grew.
Alone unto our Father's will
One thought hath reconciled;
That He, whose love exceedeth ours,
Hath taken home His child.
Fold her, O Father, in Thine arms,
And let her henceforth be
A messenger of love between
Our human hearts and Thee.
Still let her mild rebuking stand
Between us and the wrong,
And her dear memory serve to make
Our faith in Goodness strong."