On
Wednesday last 29th ult., at 12 o'clock sharp noon, Daniel Barber Smith
died at his residence in this town at the ripe age of 83 years. Deceased was born in the township of Charlotteville, near
Vittoria, in
1807, and was of U. E. Loyalist descent, the family, with the Ryersons,
McCalls, Sovereens and one or two others having been the pioneers of
civilization and settlement in the county of Norfolk.
Our late
friend retired from his farm in Charlotteville some three years ago and
took up his residence in Simcoe, and was one of our most respected
citizens, quiet and unassuming in manner, a simple and sincere christian
gentleman, beloved by all who enjoyed an intimate acquaintance for his many
excellencies of character.
His friendship will always be cherished
by the writer of this brief memoir, who, with many other surviving
friends, will often recall to memory the seasons of social converse, when
all present both old and young, caught the inspiration of his sunny nature
and learned the truth of the saying that the mind need never grow old, and
that the hoary head is a crown of glory when the life has been spent in
the paths of Christian sincerity and upright intention and effort.
Friend after friend departs and mourners gather round the bier; but in
this instance bright and happy thoughts hallowed the sorrow and many could
look with hope upon the path--"that leaving life's cares leads onward
and upward to God." "Not lost but gone before," the aged
christian, like a sheaf of ripe wheat gathered home, leaving behind him
the fragrance of a good life."
His
sickness only lasted a week. Seized with the prevailing malady he
rapidly sunk, owing to his great age, and the end came, quiet and peaceful
as sleep.
Of
his family of nine children, all but one survive.
The funeral took
place on Sunday last to the Baptist Church at Vittoria, of which deceased
had been an active and zealous member for over 50 years. The sermon
was preached by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Newton, who in graceful language,
eloquent in its simplicity, paid a just tribute to departed worth, and
conveyed a lesson fraught with earnest appeal to all both old and young. There was a large audience, many of whom came from a
distance, and the service was one long to be remembered. Seldom
indeed has that grand old funeral anthem of the sainted Heber--"Thou
art gone to the grave," lent its hallowed cadences more appropriately.
From the church the procession went to the old
burying ground east of the village where the remains were interred. The pall-bearers were T. W. Walsh, Aaron Barber, sr., and J. T. Carson, of
Simcoe; Loder Culver of Townsend, and
O. Mabee and Wm. Finch, of Vittoria.
In
politics Mr. Smith was a true Conservative of liberal and progressive
views. He took a deep interest in Canadian progress and was a
zealous advocate of British Connection, well read in constitutional
history he voted as he spoke, from principle.
Thus one by one, the
old landmarks fall, giants in all that constitutes true worth and manly
dignity of character. May the lesson of their lives be long
remembered and practiced by those who remain. -- J.T.C.
