Notes for Margret Amanda Burgner: Margret also had two children who "died young," probably at birth. These births probably occurred between those of her sons Claude and Archie, judging by dates. Margret died two weeks after giving birth to a son, Frederick (FRED) Lee French. A beautiful obituary was printed in the "Atchison County Mail," Rockport, MO, 19 March 1897:
OBITUARY OF MARGARET AMANDA BURGENER FRENCH
In Memory of departed Mother Mrs. Margarette French.
When duty is pleasure And labor is joy How sweet is the leisure Of endless employ.
She is gone, never to return to her home any more. She hath no more any portion in anything that is done under the sun. Although it was understood for a few days that she was dangerously sick, friends were shocked by the announcement of her death Saturday morning Feb 13, 1897 at 1 o'clock a.m.
Dear relatives and friends, do not mourn for this loved one, but try and meet her in that beautiful home above where there is no more sorrow, but all is happiness And peace.
Margarette Amanda Burgner was born and raised near Greenville, Green County Tennesee October 2, 1858 and fell asleep in Jesus February 13, 1897. Her age being thirty eight years, four months, and eleven days. She united with the ME Church at Pleasant Hill, Tennessee at thirteen years of age. She was married to Gentry French October 24, 1878. Moved to Caroll Ccunty, Mo. Dec. 7, 1878 and to Atchison County Missouri in 1885. To this union were born nine children, two having died when small and we feel sure the mother will clasp them in a happier land where there is no parting. She was a loving mother and the sons and daughters miss her sweet voice in the family circle, and the bereaved husband--we sympathize with him. If he is faithful he will one day meet her in the sweet by and by. 0 How sweet it will be to meet that dear mother in the sweet home of the soul.
How changed a home is without a mother. The only consolation is that in that mysterious life beyond the grave there is rest. Mother so fills a home with joy that the silence that is felt is heartbreaking. Too much cannot be said in praise of her. Truly to know her was to love her and those that have known her longest loved her most.
The Reverends Laughlin and Jeffers read select passages of scripture and spoke words of comfort to the sorrowing ones but her life is ended, her work finished, her words of loving counsel heard no more. She will be missed from her home forever but the good she has done will live after she has gone from earth. Pen is too weak to portray a fitting tribute to the memory of one so beloved as Mother. One to whom we have ever looked for guidance and for words of encouragement when cast down or in misfortune and whose tender solicitude and loving sympathy has ever served to allay our trouble and banish care from the world.
To us so great an affliction has never come before. It fills the heart with sadness, without the warmth of a mother love that has shed its prevailing influence through our life. The world seems cold, empty and desolate, yet we know and find comfort in the thought that the cause of our affliction is the beginning of bright joy somewhere else. It is in heaven where one who has borne with patience and fortitude the tribulations of this life lays them down.
The practice of all that is noble, womanly, pure and good has been learned in this world, and for the exercise of these virtues there is a happier better world beyond and that bright home is the home of this Mother.
Mother's gone and we're so lonely Mother, sweetest name ere spoken In her love, our hearts find shelter When life's storms and tempests broke.
Mother's gone--the Master called her He who died her soul to save And she's gone in triumph homeward Though her path is through the grave.
Thou has left us, and we miss thee Sadly miss thee mother dear In vain we listen for thy footsteps Still thinking thou art near.
Weep not that her toils are over Weep not that her race is run God grant we may rest as calmly When our work like hers is done.
A. L. (A. L. may be Rev. Laughlin)
Marguerite Amanda Burgner French (known in this report as "Margret") has a variety of spellings of her first name: 1. "Marguerite" on a census record; 2. "Margret" on her tombstone; 3. "Margarette" in her obituary; 4. and the family called her "Mattie" according to a letter from Josephine French (sister-in-law of James Gentry French, wife of George A. French); 5. Margaret Irene French Olson was named for this grandmother. She was told by Gilbert and Rose French, her parents, that Grandmother's name was "Marguerite," but that they preferred the spelling of "M-A-R-G-A-R-E-T." Margaret Olson has found a card in her scrapbook which says "Compliments of Margret A. French"--perhaps the tombstone spelling is the one this ancestor herself preferred.
The beautiful stone marking Margret A. French's grave is a grey granite shaft five feet high decorated with carved vines, at the bottom a hand with the index finger pointing upward and the words "In my Father's house are many mansions." Then, the inscription: MARGRET A., WIFE OF J. G. FRENCH, DIED FEB. 13, 1897, age 38 yrs, 4 months. At the top is a carving of a crown with sunbeams radiating outward, surrounded by clouds and topping two or three houses. It is approximately five feet tall, twelve inches square, and is in a remarkable state of preservation although the south side is beginning to be covered with lichens. It is located three-fourths of the way to the top of a hill on the west side of the cemetery and about three hundred yards from the High Creek Baptist Church, Watson, MO.
(The above is from the French Family Record, 1982-3, compiled by Ruth French Duffy and Phillip A. Duffy.)
More About Margret Amanda Burgner: Burial: Unknown, High Creek Cemetery 3-4 miles East of Watson, MO.
More About Margret Amanda Burgner and James Gentry French: Marriage: 24 Oct 1878, Greene Co., TN.22
Children of Margret Amanda Burgner and James Gentry French are:
+Claude Smith French, b. 3 Aug 1879, Norborne, MO, d. 21 Dec 1951, Douglas, NE.
Margret Amanda Burgner (b. 2 Oct 1858, d. 13 Feb 1897)
Notes for Margret Amanda Burgner: