Chapter 5
Brief look at Lydia Mack, third daughter of Solomon Mack.
1764 to January
8, 1826
Of my sister Lydia1 I shall say
but little; not that I loved her less, or that she was less
deserving of honorable mention, but she seemed to float
more with the stream of common events than those who have
occupied the foregoing pages; hence fewer incidents of striking
character are furnished for the mind to dwell upon.
She sought riches and obtained them, but in the day of prosperity
she remembered the poor, for she dealt out her substance
to the needy with a liberal hand through life and died the
object of their affection. As she was beloved in life, so
she was bewailed in death.2
Continue
to Chapter 6.
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Notes to Chapter 5
1. Lydia was born in 1764 and married prominent
citizen Samuel Bill from Gilsum
in 1786.
2. Lydia died at Gilsum
and is buried in the cemetery with two of her sisters; her
youngest brother, Solomon; and her father. Lydia’s gravestone reads: “Lydia Mack Bill
died Jan. 8, 1826, Ae. 62”
(see Anderson, Heritage, p. 179). Her epitaph indicates her spiritual
inclinations: “Now she’s gone to realms above/Where saints
and angels meet/ To realize her
Savior’s love/And worship at his feet” (see Anderson, Heritage, p. 29).