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The
Iowa City Citizen, Wednesday, June 3, 1908
DR. FELLOWS CALLED
DIED EARLY YESTERDAY MORNING
HIS LIFE A NOTEWORTHY ONE
Beloved Pastor and Teacher – A Noted Temperance Worker and Religious
Writer – A Man of the Highest Type
A feeling of sadness spread over the city yesterday morning when the
word was passed around that early, in the morning the life of Dr.
Stephen Norris Fellows had ended. The news was communicated to
points more distant speedily and there again was sorrow that the
life of one so good had ceased to be.
Last Saturday Dr. Fellows was receiving the congratulations of his
friends at having reached his seventy-eighth birthday. Though he had
not been in the best of health this spring he had nevertheless been
active and the past three weeks the Methodist Church had practically
been in his charge as Dr. Clark, the pastor, was absent from the
city and in that time Dr. Fellows had preached in the church and
conducted several funerals and also had officiated in a ceremony of
marriage. Thus his life ended in the work, which he had spent his
life, that of an earnest Christian advocate.
The immediate cause of death was diabetes.
A Varied Life.
“Dr. Fellows was great, not in one line, but in many,” said one who
knew him closely. “His work in temperance lines is pre-eminent. As a
speaker and writer he upheld the cause and served in the capacity as
President of the Temperance Alliance and Anti-Saloon League.
“As a teacher he has an enviable record. Upon his graduation from
college in 1854 he was elected to a position in Cornell College and
remained there until 1860. He spent seven years as a pastor
thereafter and in 1867 he was unanimously chosen Principal of the
Normal Department in the State University. Here he spent twenty
years of notable work.
“His record in the Church is indeed unique. He joined the Upper Iowa
Conference at its organization in 1856 and at the celebration of the
semi-centennial of the conference in Maquoketa in 1906 he gave the
semi-centennial address. He also wrote the history of the Upper Iowa
Conference, which is the best conference history ever written and
stands as a remarkable monument to him and is a treasure for the
conference. He was personally acquainted with every bishop at the
Church prior to the general election recently. He was seventy years
in Sunday School and for sixty years was a teacher. He held charges
in this conference in Dyersville, Tipton, Lyons, Marshalltown,
Waterloo, Manchester, Toledo, Fayette and Grundy Center. At the time
of his death he was agent of the conference fund.
“While at Toledo he became interested in the Indians near that place
and largely through his efforts the Indian Rights Association was
formed and a training school was established for Indians with an
endowment of $435,000 from Congress.”
This is enough to show that Dr. Fellows was indeed unique in his
work accomplished but this does not tell all nor do him complete
justice. His labors were always conducted in a high-minded manner,
which did much to set a good example for those about him. He enjoyed
to an exceptional degree the esteem of his neighbors and friends and
was always interested in civic betterment. The local church owes him
a great debt, as does the community in general. The completion of
the beautiful new church was a great consolation to him.
His Family History.
Dr. Fellows was born in North Sandwich, New Hampshire. He was next
to the youngest of a large family of children. Most of his childhood
was spent in Dixon, Illinois, and his education was acquired with
much personal privation. He was married in 1852 (1856 according to
Jones County, Iowa records) to Miss Sarah Matson who now
survives him. Of their six children, three are living, Albion N.
in New York City, Olin S. in Middletown, New York and Ora
N. Fellows of this city.
The Funeral.
The funeral services will be in charge of Dr. Clark and will be held
in the Methodist Church Friday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock. There will
be several speakers, Dr. Parsons of Cornell College, Dr. Miller of
Des Moines, Dean A. N. Currier, Reverend A. B. Leamer, and possibly
others, who will say a few words with reference to their special
relationship to the deceased.
Posted by Sheila Simpson
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