Written by Edythe Bright Casper, a great-granddaughter:

Cordelia Hussey Brower Bright was only 28 years old when she died after the birth of her sixth child. She left no written records that would tell her posterity anything about herself, and the only memento we have of her is a photograph that shows her to be a beautiful young woman. However, the lives of her children reveal clues to her personality and talents.

She must have been musically talented, probably a singer; her children all sang well and many of her posterity are professional musicians. She must have had a keen mind and been ambitious and hard-working; those qualities are exemplified in the lives of her children and their descendants. She must have been very loving; the two children who became hers when she married and the six to whom she gave birth cared deeply about each other, enjoyed being together, and stayed close throughout their lives. She was also likely fun-loving, as were her children and her siblings, who had a well-deserved reputation for practical jokes and teasing.

I think she was fairly tall, because her children were, and her husband, Isaac Preston Bright, was not, according to my father, who remembered him well. Their sons were over six feet tall, and their daughters were what one might call statuesque.

My father, Clifford Monroe Bright, often said that he couldn't understand why a beautiful young girl like Cordelia would want to marry an old man, which is also how he remembered his grandfather. But he remembered him, too, as a very kind man. When they married, Cordelia was 15 and Ike was 28, almost twice her age but still young, and Cordelia was probably mature for her years, having helped care for two younger brothers. It is very likely that this could have been an arranged marriage, as many were then, but it was a happy one.

Isaac (Ike) and Cordelia were married February 17, 1873. About 1879, Isaac obtained a farm near Lewiston. Problems with Indians arose occasionally, but Isaac could speak their language and was considered their friend, according to my grandfather, who remembered when Indians would sometimes come to their home. They were welcomed by Ike and Cordelia, given food. and allowed to throw their blankets down on the kitchen floor to sleep overnight.

Ike & Cordelia had six children during their short marriage. Three weeks after the birth of their daughter Zaloma in 1886, Cordelia died on May 23. My grandfather said in his own life story: "That was the most sorrowful time of my life. I was nearly eleven at the time of her death. I was herding sheep, and I'll never forget when my oldest sister, Florie, came and woke me up about three o'clock in the morning to tell me about it. I well remember the funeral. No rigs of any kind except lumber wagons were available, so everyone went in wagons."

Cordelia was buried in the Richmond Cemetery