Pioneer Woman of Bellingham, Who Came to This city When It Was a Village, Passes Away After More Than Year's Illness.
Mrs. Martha Fouts, widow of W. H. Fouts, and one of the oldest pioneers in Whatcom county died at her home at 1814 G street yesterday about 3 p. m., after an illness of more than a year. She had been a resident of the county forty-two years and was accounted one of the sterling pioneer women of this city, having been identified with its growth since Bellingham was a village. Although she was well known by the public she never sought publicity and never held a public office. Mrs. Fouts was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1843, when that state was a territory. In 1863 she was married to W. H. Fouts and ten years later, left her home in Hopeville, Iowa, to follow her husband to Puget Sound, where he had preceded her two years before. On arrival on the coast she took up her residence with her husband in the Captain Pickett building on Bancroft street, between D and E streets. Mrs. Fouts is survived by her husband, three daughters, Mrs. John Stenger and Mrs. Rilla Penny, of this city, and Mrs. Grace Thoraldson, of Phoenix, Ariz., and one son, Walter, of Bellingham. The funeral will be held at Bingham's parlors at 2:50 p.m. tomorrow, the Rev. Fred Alban Weil officiating. It is expected that it will be one of the largest attended funerals ever held in the city, owing to the prominence of Mrs. Fouts.
