Heartbreak

[quoting from Nettie Hunt's diary in the "History of Ramah Pioneers by Gary Tietjen]

“At the time of this incident, Alonzo McGrath and his wife, Nancy McGrath, and two small sons were living in this house. Sister McGrath was very ill with smallpox and suffering as one does with that terrible disease. Members of our family had been assisting in every way they could, and this night Father said we could not leave them alone, when Sister McGrath was so very ill, and told our Sister May he wished she would go and stay with them until midnight, then come home, and he would go stay the rest of the night. Our family was all sleeping when, at eleven o’clock, May came home. Father was awake at once and asked why she came home so early; she answered, ‘Sister McGrath seems to be out of pain and is having a nice sleep. Brother McGrath is sitting in a chair by the fireplace dozing. He says he is going to sit there until morning, and that I might as well come home.’

“May went to bed, and Father was just dozing off to sleep, when he heard his name spoken, ‘John.’ He was awake at once; then the voice said, ‘John, Sister McGrath is dead.’ Father dressed hurriedly and went to the McGrath home. He entered quietly. Brother McGrath awakened. Father inquired how his wife was. He answered, ‘She has seemed to be free from pain for quite awhile and is having a nice sleep.’ Father went to the bed, turned back the covers, and found that the dear little mother was indeed asleep, the last long sleep of death. She had been dead for several hours. It would have been sad indeed if the poor heart‑broken husband had been alone when he discovered that his dear young wife had really passed away.

“Most of the time while Sister McGrath had been ill, our mother, Lois Pratt Hunt, had cared for the two children, usually in our home. They both had smallpox, the youngest one a bad case. He seemed to be much better, until the mother died; then he suddenly became worse and soon passed away. Kind neighbors made a coffin, lined it with a sheet, and the mother, with her precious baby beside her, was placed in it. A foot and a half of snow had to be removed before a grave could be dug.”

note: Children were not two boys but a boy and girl.