“Although her death will bring sorrow to many a friend, the remembrance of her kindly life and true, Christian character will remain as an inspiration to them for all time to come. Earnest and steadfast as were her life and character, so she died trusting in the faith that has always shone through her kind words and deeds. She will never be forgotten, for her influence, with that of other good women, has done more to make the civilization of the west a possibility than the many inventions of modern science. Her great strength of character, manifested by her earnest and energetic life, was a part of the truly essential civilizing influence that sustained the early settlers in the rough experiences of the frontier. It was her intention before she died to publish reminiscences of these stirring times, and her sudden death left several manuscripts unfinished. What has been missed by her sudden taking off, leaving this work incomplete, can only be judged by those who knew her best.
“LARGE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS.
“Mrs. Bloomer’s circle of friends in Council Bluffs was large, and she was highly esteemed and loved by all who knew her. She was an excellent entertainer, and was a great favorite among the young people of the Episcopal Church of which she was a faithful member. She was very fond of society and took an active part in church and charitable work. Her death, although she has been an invalid for several years, was very sudden. On Christmas day, she was able to be about and with her husband took dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. N. P. Dodge. She was in excellent spirits at the time and enjoyed the holiday festivities with much interest. On the day of her last attack, a number of friends called upon her and she spent the afternoon pleasantly chatting with them. The sudden announcement of her death came as a shock, for the fact of her serious illness had not yet become generally known.”
MEMORIAL DISCOURSE.
On the thirteenth of January, 1895, her rector, Rev. Eugene J. Babcock, delivered a memorial discourse on the life and character of Mrs. Bloomer in St. Paul’s Church, Council Bluffs. In this he reviewed the main incidents in Mrs. Bloomer’s life, and concluded as follows:
“Mrs. Bloomer also held the relation of pioneer to this parish. On the two registers in my possession the first woman’s name is hers.
“On my journey hither to assume the rectorship, I visited by the way at my former home in Michigan. There I first learned of Mrs. Bloomer from a gentleman whom I had met in a college connection while I was an undergraduate. He was a former resident of Seneca Falls, and informed me that in my new home I should meet a unique and striking person in Mrs. Bloomer, whose early days were associated with a remarkable career; that she was now living quietly, ill health having compelled her to forego active duties; and that she was now advanced in years.
“Our arrival here was signalized by becoming guests in the Senior Warden’s home. In this we did as all the clergy had done before, for no other home in this city has been the hospitable asylum for so many of the cloth. Among ourselves, the happy descriptive of ‘Saints’ Rest’ has come in vogue. From Mrs. Bloomer that pleasant smile, which often had to triumph over bodily ailment, was my greeting. This showing of hospitality was in keeping with her ambition, which she frequently sacrificed to her personal discomfort.
“Going back to a view of her early days, we are prepared now to forecast her activity in church affairs. Such a nature could not sit by with hands folded. Following her acceptance of gospel privileges through which she came into this church, she immediately entered into parish activities at Seneca Falls. Being a woman of action, she did her part in the then somewhat limited sphere of woman’s church work. Little as it may have been comparatively, it was another demand upon her already enlarging engagements.
“Her removal to this city deprived her of the worship of her own church. The then line of demarcation of the religious public into ‘Mormons’ and ‘Gentiles’ very likely infused into the latter a fellow sympathy. Soon after her settlement here, the Rev. Mr. Rice invited her to attend a meeting of a sewing society which was held at his house. This happened to be the annual meeting; she was elected president of the society, and Mrs. Douglas first director. In her ‘Early Recollections’ her felicitous comment is this: ‘Thus putting their affairs in the hands of two Episcopalians.’ But evidently affairs did not suffer at their hands, for they ‘carried through a successful fair’ which secured money to put the first church of the Congregationalists into shape for use.