Corda Mae Shively, Wife of David Barton Penniman, Who Lived In Winnebago County, Illinois

Photo Credit To Phyllis Wallington

Corda Mae Shively was born in Iowa on 14-Feb-1868, the daughter of Joseph H. Shively and first wife Nancy Elizabeth Shipp. Her grandparents were John B. Shively and Sarah Heaverin from Taylor County, KY. Corda Mae Shively had two sisters, Alma D. Shively who died young and Gertrude Shively who married Lowell H. Jones. Their mother, Nancy Elizabeth, died on 17-Jan-1874 and after her death they lived with John and Agnes Gochenour. Joseph Shively married second to Elnora E. Simpson and by this marriage Corda Mae Shively had a half-brother Claude Houston Shively and half-sister Helen A. Shively who married Albertus Lafferty.   Corda Mae Shively was married to David Barton Penniman on 13-Sep-1893 in Shelby County, IA.  She died on 15-Nov-1907 in the community of Argyle, IL and buried in the Willow Creek Cemetery. Willow Creek Cemetery is known by other names, one being the Scottish Cemetery, and lies in both Winnebago and Boone County, IL.

Death notices for Corda Mae Shively Penniman were located in the newspapers.  The following was extracted from The Rockford Daily Republic, Rockford, IL, Friday Evening, November 15, 1907, Page 1, Column 6:

Death Of Doctor Penniman's Wife

Wife Of Argyle Physician Dies This Morning -- Leaves Two Children

Mrs. D. B. Penniman, wife of Dr. David B. Penniman, who has practiced in Argyle and Harlem since 1893, died at her home in Argyle this morning.  The funeral arrangements have not yet been made.  Mrs. Penniman was Miss Corda Shively of Shelby, Iowa.  Her father was a veteran in the Civil War, a member of the Kentucky volunteers.  Two children, Lawrence W. and Alford, survive.  She was a member of the Willow Creek Presbyterian Church.  The husband is a Mason and belongs to the M. W. A. and Mystic Workers.

The following obituary was located in The Rockford Morning Star, Thursday, November 21, 1907, Page 7, Column 2:

Obituary

Death Of Mrs. D.  B. Penniman Removed Lovable Woman From Earth

Corda Mae Shively, wife of Dr. D. B. Penniman, was born near Avoca, Iowa, Feb. 14, 1868.  Her mother died when she was 6 years old.  She was adopted, with her sister Gertrude, by Mr. and Mrs. John Gochenour of Shelby, Iowa.  She always spoke of Mrs. Gochenour as mother and loved her as much as she could an own mother.  She made her home with her foster parents at Shelby, Iowa, until the time of her marriage with Dr. D. B. Penniman, which occurred Sept. 13, 1893.  Soon after their marriage they came to Argyle, which was her home until the time of her death.  She attended Oberlin college in 1889, where she first met her future husband, who was then a student at the same college.  She leaves to mourn her loss her husband, two sons, Lawrence age 12, and Alford, age 5; her father, J. H. Shively of Dayton, Ohio; her foster mother; her sisters, Mrs. Gertrude Jones of Ida Grove, Iowa, and Mrs. Helen Lafferty, of Lancaster, Ohio, and a brother, Claude Shively, of Santa Monica, California.

She was buried in Willow Creek cemetery, near Argyle, November 17th.  Such is a brief statement of the outstanding facts of the life that to us seems to have come to an untimely end November 15th.  But it does not tell the complete story of the exceptionally sweet and beautiful life that she lived.  Indeed that story can never be told this side of heaven.

Fourteen years ago she came as a young bride and a total stranger to take the delicate and responsible place of the physician's wife in the Scotch settlement and surrounding neighborhoods.  How well she filled that place was very touchingly told by the hundreds who came to express their love and respect on the day of her interment.  The silent tears that fell from many eyes bore eloquent testimony of the high esteem and respect in which she was held.

The virtues that adorned her life were such as to command the love and respect of all.  She possessed an unusually equable and cheerful temperament.  Seldom has it been our lot to know one who lived so constantly in the high attitude of perpetual sunshine and good cheer.  In poor health for many years, often an intense sufferer, she put these things in the background, and faced the world and her duty with a smile and a song.  She stifled pain and gave the world a song instead of a groan.  She was utterly unselfish.  Her first thought was not of self, but for the comfort and happiness of others.  And the thousand kindnesses bestowed, on all classes alike, all of which were born out of a heart that beat in sympathy for all, will leave her memory doubly sacred to all who knew her.  Often she did more than her strength would warrant, but she found such supreme pleasure in the bestowal of kindness that those  who loved her best had not the heart to interfere.

She was passionately fond of music and was blessed with a beautiful soprano voice.  Perhaps one of the most pathetic things in her life was the fact that in the last years she was so largely prevented from using her voice by reason of throat trouble.  Often as she heard others sing have we seen her face and eyes tell of the hunger of the soul, to find its expression in song.  Often have we heard her tell of her deep regret that she could not do so.

She was a devoted Christian and loyal member of Willow Creek Presbyterian church Missionary society.  She did her life work with Christian fortitude and heroism and sadly will she be missed.

She will be missed by her husband, by whose side she stood and gave to him her best self in sharing with him the anxious toll involved in a practice that meant a travel of more than 9,000 miles a year. She will be missed by the two little lads who are left motherless just as their feet are entering life's rugged way.  She will be missed by the large circle of friends who knew and loved her so well.  But her work on earth is done.  In the holy hush of the Sabbath afternoon a procession a mile and a half in length followed her to the silent city of the dead, where all that was mortal was laid tenderly in the bosom of mother earth, beside her infant daughter, there to await the morning of the resurrection.  The day was one of rare beauty, but a plantive minor tone of melancholy touched our hearts.  Was not all nature dying with her?  The flowers had faded; the grass was brown and withered; the trees giant and naked.  But we know that the flowers will bloom again; that in the coming springtime the earth will be carpeted once more with green, and the trees will be covered with leaves.  Even so faith whispers to us in the night of death that our loved ones shall live again in another world.

CARD OF THANKS

To those friends and neighbors who manifested such sincere sympathy in our late sorrow we desire to extend our heartfelt thanks.      Dr. D. B. Penneman and Family