Surnames: Blakselee, Bebee, Boardman

----Source: NEILLSVILLE TIMES (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.) 01/08/1903

Blakeslee, Maria S. #2 (9 DEC 1836 - 4 JAN 1903)

Mrs. C. S. Blakeslee of Sparta passed away Sunday, Jan. 4, 1903, dissolution resulting from pneumonia of the heart.

She was a grand, good woman; and her death was the result of weakness brought on by over work in caring fro grandchildren whose mother, her daughter, Mrs. Minnie Bebee, was ill in a hospital.

We have had the pleasure of Mrs. Blakeslee’s friendship for twenty-five years, and have known her to be a devoted mother, a loyal friend and faithful to every duty and every trust. She had many personal cares and responsibilities, and bore them with spirit, always with a good word for those about her. She was a wise counselor, and a broad minded woman. Much of her life was passed at Neillsville (Clark Co., Wis.), where her late husband was for years a leading lumberman and merchant. He died leaving ample wealth, which added to her cares. It was a coincidence that she and Mrs. S. C. Boardman, her sister-in-law, died within a week of each other. The Blakeslee home in years gone by was one of open-doored hospitality, and Neillsville enjoyed many a pleasant gather there.

The Sparta Herald-Advertiser of Monday contained the following:

"Today the people of Sparta mourn the loss of a good woman in the death of Mrs. C. Blakeslee. On Christmas morning she was taken suddenly and seriously ill. The disease proved to be pneumonia. From the first she suffered intensely. Three of her children had come to share the Christmas festivities with her, and remained a few days, but hoping she would recover, returned to their homes. On Sunday night she rapidly grew worse, and there seemed no hope that she could rally. On Monday morning telegrams were sent to all her children, and at night her sons George and Oscar Blakeslee of Minneapolis, her daughter Cora and husband, Dr. Spencer Bebee of Elroy, and her daughter Minnie and husband Dr. Carl Bebee, were anxious watchers at her bedside. Frank arrived Thursday. She still lingered - a patient sufferer—sometimes so near to death that it seemed a breath would ender her life - then rallying all her vital forces and conversing with her loved ones. Her sufferings were so intense that she longed to be freed from them, and at 8 o’clock Sunday night she quietly and gently passed out from under the bondage.

"Thus has gone from our midst one of Sparta’s foremost women - a devoted mother, a true friend, a woman of tender sympathy, of generous deeds, always ready to lend a helping hand, full of the spirit of progress in her home town, and ready with her means and strength to assist in helpful public enterprise. In her family she was queen and mother. For several years her time had been divided between her children, and the little ones always looked forward with eagerness and affection to the homecoming of ‘dear Grandma Blakeslee.’

"Her maiden name was Maria S. Boardman. She was born Dec. 9, 1836; married to Chauncey Blakeslee at La Crosse May 26, 1859; moved to Neillsville and from thence to Sparta in 1883. Her husband died April 15, 1888."

The funeral took place Tuesday at 2 o’clock from the residence of Dr. C. M. Bebee, services by Rev. E. W. Huelster, assisted by Rev. D. Ferguson. The burial was in beautiful woodlawn cemetery.