Maria Wiseman

The subject of this brief memoir, was the Daughter of Zedekiah & Margaret Butt; she was born in Prince George county, Md. January 18th, 1796, where she resided till the year 1811; when she with her parents, moved to Ohio. She got religion when, only 15 years old, and united herself with the Methodist Episcopal Church;—her life ever after that, was such as to secure to her the esteem and confidence of all her acquaintances. In the 20th year of her age she was married to Mr. Michael Wiseman, with whom she lived nineteen years in connubial felicity. By her pious example and tender admonition to her husband and children, the husband was impressed with the necessity of being born again he earnestly sought till he found religion; he then united himself with the same church.—They both endeavored by precept and example, to train up their children, in the fear of the Lord, until the day of her death; which was on Tuesday, the 11th of October;—she was taken ill in January preceding, and lingered on until her constitution was worn away by disease, and on the morning of the day above stated, her husband discovered a change in her, different from that he had noticed in her at any previous time. Being sensible that she would not last many moments, he placed himself by her bedside, and let nothing divert his attention from her. Soon after breakfast she called her children to her bed and bid them farewell. Early in the morning she told her nurse, that she saw something beautiful up yonder, pointing towards heaven, it was (said she) about as large as the moon, white all around and in the middle a very white spot. Soon after, she told her husband the same; which satisfied him that her last sufferings were nearly over. After a short time he asked her if she was happy in her mind; she replied yes, 1 have not a doubt of my acceptance with God;—he then asked her if she thought she saw her crown that morning; she replied yes, I think I did, fixing her eyes towards heaven, and I think I see it yet. After a short time she said to him, it is hard to die. He told her to resign herself to the Lord and to be willing to suffer a few hours here that she might rain with Him forever. She said she was perfectly resigned to the will of the Lord. And in the presence of her neighbors and children, and with her husband clasped in her arms, she bid adieu to time, and calmly sunk into the arms of death without, a struggle or groan.— "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."

E. B.