BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BARB 1850-1928, ROSA JUNIA BECKWITH 1854-1897, Majorville Cemetery, Hancock County, Illinois

MAJORVILLE CEMETERY
HANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BARB 1850-1928
ROSA JUNIA BARB (nee Beckwith) 1854-1897
INFANT BARB 1897-1897

Next to Ben and Rosa Junia lies the infant daughter
who was stillborn two weeks before Rosa Junia died.

From the Beckwith Family History
by Doris Barb Pogue, 1933

Each Sunday morning Grandpa Ben would ask Grandmother Rosa, "Did you have any plans for visiting today, Rosy?" If she said yes, it was all right with him. If she did not, that was all right, too, and he would turn the team out to pasture.

A singing teacher once said that Rosa Junia had "the truest musical ear" he had ever encountered. Of course, Grandpa Ben could play the violin by ear pretty well and he loved to hear nice music, and he was by no means a poor singer himself: he slung a deep and wicked bass. We have been told that he and Grandmother Rosa sang very pleasantly together in duets of the old time songs: We Miss Thee, Thou Loved One, You And I and many others. Grandpa Barb was only 47 when Grandma died in 1897. He never remarried.

We miss thee, thou loved one, throughout the long day.
And the eve weareth sadly when thou art away.
And we weep when we think that thy young life is o'er,
And the haunts that once knew thee shall know thee no more.

Thy lilies are blooming, thy roses still bloom.
The woodbine entwineth its graceful festoon.
The sweet-scented jasmine, its white blossoms wave.
The dear hand that trained them lies low in the grave.

We tend them in silence and watch them through tears
And each opening blossom ungrateful appears.
Why look they so lovely? How can they still bloom,
When she who so loved them lies low in the tomb?