Mrs. E. A. Hutchings, the mother of Will O. Hutchings, of this city, died Friday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. T. R. Riggs, at Centerville. Mr. Hutchings was present at the funeral, as were also Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Clipson now of Okamulgee, Okla. CLARINDA HERALD, Clarinda, Iowa, Feb 14, 1908

Eliza A., daughter of George and Sarah Ribble, was born in Page county, Virginia, August 15, 1825. She was one of a family of ten children, some of whom reside in Clarinda, and are well known and highly respected, viz.: Mrs. Isaac Van Arsdol, Mrs. Samuel Weidner, Mrs. Gilbert Lyons and David Ribble. At the age of twenty years she removed with her parents to Delaware county, Indiana, and not long afterwards she was united in marriage to John Stout Hutchings.
The country was new, and many were the hardships to be endured, but slowly the young couple began to see the wilderness conquered, a commodious home erected, and found themselves in possession of the plenty that comes at the call of intelligent and well directed effort.
To them were born twelve children, seven boys and five girls, viz.: Samuel, Sarah, George, Emma, Cyrus, Maggie, Will, John, Geneva, Vete, Otis and Anna. On August 15th, 1865, the husband died, and in 1868 the mother and her flock came to Clarinda, where they lived until 1885, at which time the mother ceased to keep house, and made her home among her children. For the past fifteen years she had been at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Thos. R, Riggs, at Centerville, la. And at that place, on Friday, Feb. 7th, at 12 o'clock, noon, she passed into the great beyond, "as tranquil as a star meets morning."
The funeral services were held at the residence on Sunday, February 9th, at 2:30 p. m., conducted by her pastor, Rev. W. H. Perdew, of the M. E. church. Interment in Centerville cemetery.
Alfred Tennyson wrote "In Memoriam" as a funeral dirge for his dead friend, Arthur Henry Hallam.
Robert G. Ingersoll delivered the funeral oration over his own dead brother, and from the depths of the greatest grief his life had ever known, he voiced these words which are near of kin to the Christian's hope: "Yet in the night of death hope sees a star, and listening love, can hear the rustling of a wing.''
Frances E. Willard devoted a whole volume to a eulogy on the beautiful life and triumphant death of her sister. And if writers and orators such as these might with propriety publicly pay tribute to their sacred dead, why may not I, who loved my mother much, write a few words commemorative of her quiet faith-filled life; a life differing in no great degree from the lives of myriads of other good mothers, who are worthy of all honor, and upon whom we bestow our meed of praise.
The world needs its men and women of great talent and vast achievement, but none the less does it need those whose deeds are not accounted great, those who do their best and then fall asleep, leaving a legacy of love and tenderness, of sunshine and helpfulness, to gladden weary and darkened hearts and lighten the burdens that others bear. These are the ones that are truly great; living they have enobled life, dying they have proven to the world that they who will may, and in that other world where souls that knew each other here, shall meet again these are the ones who shall go in unshamed before that mighty multitude and hear the Master speak the words, "Well done!"
My mother was an optimist, the golden age was always just ahead of her, and though she never greeted the dawning of its resplendent morning, by faith she saw the reddening east, and heard the watchman call, "Morning dawns, and all is well.'' Her mind was a storehouse of the great thoughts of the masters of literature. The sweet and tender songs of the poets came down from the corridor of her memory at her beck and call. She knew the pathos and the poetry of human life, its careless shadows and its tragic depths.
Believing that this is God's world, and that he would care for his own, she kept the holy faith in Him through sunshine and shadow, storm and calm, and saw, in spite of cloud and temporary triumph of the wrong, the eternal goodness working for the betterment of the human race. Her sympathies were as wide as human woe, and her hearty handclasp and her cheering word drove from out the saddened heart the awful spectre of despair. Hers was the epic of a good and noble life, and if she missed the honors and plaudits of the world, her work brought blessedness to her own soul. Because of it her days were jewelled with delight, and the sunshine of her joyful reward fell thick upon her. But in her heart it was not always May. Great griefs had come. The husband of her youth had gone into the great beyond, then next a bright-eyed boy was taken from her side. Again, two stalwart sons died far from home and mother, and then one daughter laid her, armor off and passed into the "land of the leal." What wonder that the mother should go out to her Garden of Gethsemane, for this old world has Gethsemanes innumerable, when the Christ comes again, not as of old He came to pray, but to answer the prayers that fall from the lips of his children, and then on bended knee she prayed that the awful cup of woe might be pressed to her lips no more. Nevertheless, His will, not her's, be done. Then turning hopefully toward the future she took up her burden with trust unfaltering, and with faith sublime.
When the alloted three score years and ten had passed away she began to dwell in the land of memory, the far away land of the "used to be." To the old home, the home folks, the dear old father, the love-crowned mother, the joy-filled days, the starlit nights, and sitting in the mellow evening twilight she heard again the music that she loved in the long ago, sung now by voices that had been stilled for many years. She remembered old friendships with those who had slept beneath the sighing cypress or the trailing vine for half a century.
Calmly she heard the call, "Come home," and up the shining pathway of the stairs our mother went, to be forever with her Lord. Will. CLARINDA HERALD, Clarinda, Iowa, Feb 21, 1908

Iowa, Deaths and Burials, 1850-1990
Name: Eliza A. Hutchings
Gender: Female
Burial Date: 09 Feb 1908
Death Date: 07 Feb 1908
Death Place: Centerville, Appanoose, Iowa
Age: 81
Birth Date: 18 Aug 1825
Birthplace: Virginia
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Name: George Ribble
Father's Birthplace: Germany
Mother's Name: Sarah Surface

Iowa, State Census, 1905
Name: E A Hutchins
Event Place: Appanoose, Iowa
Gender: Female
Age: 80
Marital Status: Widowed
Birth Year (Estimated): 1825
Birthplace: Virginia
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia

United States Census, 1900
Name: Eliza Hutchings
Event Place: Center Township Centerville city Ward 1-2, Appanoose, Iowa
Gender: Female
Age: 75
Marital Status: Widowed
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Mother-in-law
Number of Living Children: 10
Birth Date: Aug 1825
Birthplace: Virginia
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother of how many children: 12
Listed in Household
T R Riggs Head M 35 Iowa
Genevera Riggs Wife F 38 Indiana
Carl Riggs Son M 10 Iowa
Lucile Riggs Daughter F 8 Iowa
Charles Riggs Son M 0 Iowa
Eliza Hutchings Mother-in-law F 75 Virginia
Harry Riggs Brother M 20 Iowa

Iowa State Census, 1885
Name: Eliza Hutchings
Event Place: Clarinda, Nodaway, Page, Iowa
Gender: Female
Age: 58
Birth Year (Estimated): 1827
Listed in Household
Eliza Hutchings F 58
Geneva Hutchings F 23
Emma Brown F 32
Clyde Brown M 8

United States Census, 1880
Name: Eliza Huching
Event Place: Clarinda, Page, Iowa
Gender: Female
Age: 63
Marital Status: Widowed
Race: White
Occupation: Keeping House
Relationship to Head of Household: Self
Birth Year (Estimated): 1817
Birthplace: Virginia
Father's Birthplace: Virginia
Mother's Birthplace: Virginia
Listed in Household
Eliza Huching Self F 63 Virginia
Will Huching Son M 23 Indiana
Geneve Huching Daughter F 19 Iowa
Maggie Huching Daughter F 27 Indiana

United States Census, 1870
Name: Eliza A Hutchings
Event Place: Nodaway, Page, Iowa
Gender: Female
Age: 43
Race: White
Birth Year (Estimated): 1826-1827
Birthplace: Virginia
Listed in Household
Eliza A Hutchings F 43 Virginia
George Hutchins M 22 Indiana
Cyrus Hutchins M 20 Indiana
Emma E Hutchins F 19 Indiana
Maggie Hutchins F 17 Indiana
John Hutchins M 16 Indiana
Wm A Hutchins M 13 Indiana
Sirvetus Hutchins M 12 Indiana
Otis Hutchins M 10 Indiana
Geneva Hutchins F 8 Indiana
Ana Hutchins F 6 Indiana
Dan W Radenem M 26 Tennessee
R G Holcomb M 25 Ohio

United States Census, 1860
Name: Eliza Ann Hutchings
Event Place: Liberty Township, Delaware, Indiana
Gender: Female
Age: 34
Race: White
Birth Year (Estimated): 1826
Birthplace: Virginia
Listed in Household
John S Hutchings M 35 Ohio
Eliza Ann Hutchings F 34 Virginia
Samuel Hutchings M 14 Indiana
Sarah Hutchings F 13 Indiana
George W Hutchings M 11 Indiana
Cyrus Hutchings M 10 Indiana
Emily Hutchings F 9 Indiana
Margaret Hutchings F 7 Indiana
John Hutchings M 5 Indiana
William Hutchings F 4 Indiana
Sernutes Hutchings M 3 Indiana
A Lincoln Hutchings M Indiana

United States Census, 1850
Name: Eliza A Hutchings
Event Place: Perry, Delaware, Indiana
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Race: White
Birth Year (Estimated): 1825
Birthplace: Virginia
Listed in Household
John Hutchings M 25 Indiana
Eliza A Hutchings F 25 Virginia
Samuel Hutchings M 4 Indiana
Sarah Hutchings F 3 Indiana
George W Hutchings M 2 Indiana
Cyrus Hutchings M 0 Indiana

Indiana, Marriages, 1811-1959
Name: John S Hutchings
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 12 Feb 1845
Event Place: Delaware, Indiana
Registration Place: , Delaware, Indiana
Marriage License Date: 06 Feb 1845
Gender: Male
Spouse's Name: Eliza Ann Ribble
Spouse's Gender: Female
Officiator's Name: John H Payton