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Little Louis LeConte: Cherished Hopes Have Been Blighted

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For those of you who like reading old obituaries (I know I'm not the only one), this one's worth your time.  I haven't personally visited the grave of little Louis, but couldn't help sharing when I stumbled upon this:

Georgia Weekly Telegraph and Journal & Messenger
6 December 1870, page 5
[telegraph.galileo.usg.edu]

OBITUARY.
Death has invaded a happy home, and robbed it of its brightest jewel.  Cherished hopes have been blighted, and fond hearts are bereaved.

Little LOUIS LECONTE, son of William L. and Virginia T. LeConte, a bright and beautiful boy -- sweet as a fragrant flower, and sparkling as a gem of the sea -- died at the residence of his parents, near Adairsville, Georgia, on Friday night, 11th of November, of membranous croup.

What a dark night it must have been to that stricken household! Methinks the stars must have looked less bright, and the winds have sighed with deeper sadness, as fond hearts, all crushed and broken, bowed around the bier of the loved and lifeless form.  And yet angels were there -- not visible to mortal eyes -- to bear the disembodied spirit to its Heavenly home.  Nor did they minister alone in the chamber of death.  The precious Saviour, who said "suffer little children to come unto me," was there, to claim the sainted boy, and to whisper to surrounding hearts:  "It is I; what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."

Dear, darling child; how brief was his life, but how beautiful -- how full of promise and hope! He was scarcely three years old, and yet he is dead! Ah, no! -- he has but commenced a new and happier life -- and the little songs he sang on earth will have a richer melody, and the bright mental powers he exhibited will have a higher and fuller development in the magnificent temple, and amid the brilliant society of the Paradise of God.

wlleconte-fagWm Louis LeConte rests at Poplar Springs Cemetery in Adairsville. His parents are there, too.

For those who would like a little more knowledge, croup is "a condition resulting from acute partial obstruction of the upper airway, seen mainly in infants and young children; characteristics include resonant barking cough, hoarseness, and persistent stridor." Membranous croup is "inflammation of the larynx with exudation forming a false membrane." This may also be called bacterial tracheitis, "an acute crouplike bacterial infection of the upper airway in children, with coughing and high fever." [Source.]

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Darla M Sands said…
What lovely words in the face of such awful sadness. Thank you for sharing.

Best wishes!
June 17, 2016 at 12:48 PM
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SouthernGraves.blogspot.com

The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...'" (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)