Eunice Mariah Snow was born near Syracuse, N.Y., April 3, 1818, and died at her late residence in Bryan, O. on June 30, 1904, at the age of 86 years, 2 months and 27 days. She was the only child of her father's second marriage. But each parent, previous to the second marriage, had passed thru the valley of the shadow of death, one burying a husband and the other a wife - each being left with nine children. In 1833 she married Josiah Woodworth and three years later these young people faced westward and numbered themselves not only among the pioneers of Northwestern Ohio, but among the inhabitants of Millcreek township, Williams county, O.
Nine children blessed their happy home and became the source of those added joys that would inspire courage and impart the physical endurance so much needed in those pioneer days. One who thinks of Williams county as it is today, rivers bridged, forests nearly gone, telegraph and telephone wires along the principal highways, free delivery of mails to nearly every farmhouse; twentieth century, fast mail, and limited trains on two vast railroad systems - would hardly think that the mother of the first white child born in Millcreek township - and within a few years of the first in the county - has just responded to the summons of death, -- Hannah Woodworth-Smith, born Aug. 23, 1836, being the child. The husband of the deceased was killed by lightening July 5, 1847, and a son James was killed instantly in battle July 22, 1864, near Atlanta, Ga.
In 1850, she who was left a widow with 30 (s/b 9) children to support, married George Bachman, a widower with nine children, and to this union 3 children were born.
Again she was left a widow and in 1867 married Thomas Ansley who departed this life in 1891.
Many years ago, in the pioneer days of religious thought, Mrs. Ansley showed the courage of her convictions and the genuineness of her interest in human uplift by uniting with the Universalist society of West Unity which was then under the pastoral care of Rev. Nathaniel Crary. And she has since been a believer in the Fatherhood of God; the brotherhood of man; the spiritual leadership of Jesus; the certainty of just retribution for sin; the Bible as a guide to lead one from the plan of policy to that of principle and conscience; and the final harmony of all souls with God. As an advocate for the Universalist faith, she contended for the goodness of the Father, and the impartiality of his justice; the beneficence of law, the divinity of life, and the eternity of love; the solidarity of the human family and a common destiny for all mankind, which must harmonize with the character of God.
Mrs. Ansley was a woman of great natural talents, exceptional business ability, and entertaining as a conversationalist. She endured the hardships of pioneer life with great cheerfulness and met the depressing experiences incidental to this earthly journey across the continent of years with patience and a submissive spirit. She lived a life that showed real thoughtfulness of those about her and large confidence in her fellowmen. By her death there is removed from our midst one who has had a continuous residence in this county for 68 years; on whose energies, indirectly at least, helped to transform the malarial swamps and dense forests into fertile fields and business centers, one who saw the trial trip of the first train on the first rail road built in New York, extending from Albany to Schenectady: one who has seen Toledo grow from a single log cabin to its present proportions. "Aunt Mariah," as she is commonly called, leaves ten children, 30 grandchildren, 9 great grand children, and many friends wherever she has lived to cherish her virtues, walk in the light of her faith, enlarge the ideals towards which she aspired, and continue the work she so womanly carried forward and which she, in her declining years, was so reluctant to relinquish.
The surviving children are: Charles E. Woodworth, Des Moines, Ia.; Hannah M. Smith, Ennis, Mont.; Ray Woodworth, Moscow, Idaho; Miles Woodworth, Bryan, O.; Anna E. Renshaw, Butte, Mont.; John M. Woodworth, Ennis, Mont.; George Woodworth, Wisdom, Mont.; Amanda Saunders, Bryan, O.; Henry J. Bachman, Wauseon, O.; and Orcelia Young, Stryker, O.