"The Journal-Telephone", Milton Junction, Wisconsin, Thursday, Oct. 10, 1912, p 1.
Mary C. Wells Coon was born at Waterford, Conn., February 8, 1823, and died at Milton Junction, Wis., October 3, 1912. Had she lived until the eighth of next February she would have been ninety years of age. She was married in 1846 to Lafayette Coon, then of Ashaway, R. I., who died March 12 of this year. The day of her burial was the 66th anniversary of their marriage. They spent their 65th anniversary together here, and before the next one came around both had gone to that home where time is not measured in years.
For the most part, their married life was spent at Utica in Dane county, and there are many who remember the hospitality of their home. No doubt Mrs. Coon's greatest service to the world was as a home maker, - as wife and mother - and there is no more important sphere in life than this. She loved the church, also; and had interests and sympathies in the larger world outside.
A diary faithfully kept during the year 1883 reveals much of her inner life. She appreciated nature and believed in the value of the bible as a guide in life, and continually thanked her Heavenly Father for the many blessings which she enjoyed. The following lines taken from one of those entries reveals something of her religious nature:
"Oh, let us not faint gentle Savior;
Be with us in noonday's fierce heat;
Forgive us our sins and our weaknesses,
And grant us thy blessing to meet."
The prayer of her heart was answered, and the Savior was with her to forgive and bless. Although the way must have seemed long, sometimes, she knew that it led homeward and she was content. The following verse was written in her diary nearly thirty years ago, but she has reached home at last.
"I know that the way leadeth homeward,
To the land of the pure and the blest;
To the city of ever fair summer;
To the city of peace and rest."
She leaves two sons, our townsmen Edward D. and Geo. W. Coon, in whose respective homes she had been tenderly cared for in the time of her weakness.
Funeral services, consisting largely of readings from her diary with comments, were conducted by her pastor, A. J. C. Bond. The two sons, two grandsons, and two nephews were bearers and the interment was made in the Milton Junction cemetery
