Laura McBride (Allen)

Mrs. Chas. Beckmann received word from Mrs. Ada Sellers that her mother, Mrs. H. W. McBride, died at their home in Granville, Ohio, last Wednesday morning at 1:30, of heart failure, , induced by hardening of the arteries. A short funeral service was held at the house and the body was taken to her old home in Whitesville, N. Y., for burial. Mr. McBride died here very suddenly of apoplexy eighteen years ago last November. The following May the family left here for Whitesville, later moving to Granville. Beside Mrs. Sellers, her only child, she leaves two grandchildren, Laura and Charles Sellers, and one brother Louis Allen, of Whitesville, N. Y. Mrs. McBride was 74 years old and had been reasonably well. She helped dry the supper dishes the evening before her death. She complained of a severe pain in her heart and it soon grew so bad she was given a hypodermic injection. She passed away at 1:30 that night. She will be lovingly remembered by many Blair people. Mr. McBride was one of the early store-keepers in Blair, and was engaged in business in the building now occupied by C. J. Beckmann when the fatal stroke came that brought his life to a close. The bereaved family has the sincere sympathy of many friends.

#2-28 Apr., 1921 - The Enterprise - Laura McBride

FORMER BLAIR LADY DIES IN EAST

Word was received by a number of old friends of the H. W. McBride family who lived in Blair years ago of the death April 20 of Mrs. McBride at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Addie Sellers at Granville, Ohio.

Mrs. Laura McBride was past 74 years of age at the time of her death, and had been quite well but a short time before her final illness which was heart trouble and hardening of the arteries.

Funeral services were held from the home, and burial made in her native state, New York, at Whiteville, her birthplace.

The older residents of Blair will remember the McBrides as they came to Nebraska from Iowa in 1869, and for many years conducted a mercantile business where the Beekmann store now stands. The family had comfortable living rooms above the store, and their friends spent many a pleasant evening with them in their home.

They had one daughter, Addie, who married Mr. Geo. Sellers, a clothing merchant who conducted a business where the Ed Matthiesen building now stands.

In the year 1902 both Mr. Sellers and Mr. McBride passed away, leaving the widows, mother and daughter and two little children bereft of the loving care and protection with which they were accustomed.

In the spring of the following year, May 8, 1903 to be exact, Mrs. McBride, Mrs. Sellers and her children left the western home where there had been so much sorrow for them, for Granville, Ohio where they have since resided.

The deceased leaves, besides the widowed daughter, the two grandchildren, Laura 24 years of age and Charles, 20 years of age, and one brother Lou Allen.

The older friends of Mrs. McBride, those who remember her well, have only pleasant memories of her kindly disposition and intelligent and wise council. In an early day when Blair was young and books and intellectual pursuits were almost unknown here, the McBrides with their large well selected library, their abilities of organizing study clubs, encouraged and made the educational life of this western town more worthwhile, and many people recall with pleasure the early friendship of this estimable woman.

The Enterprise joins the many early day friends who extend sympathy to the bereaved relatives.

#3-28 Apr., 1921 - The Tribune - Laura (Allen) McBride

MRS. H. W. McBRIDE PASSED AWAY IN OHIO LAST WEEK

Word has reached Blair of the death of Mrs. H. W. McBride, which occurred at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Addie Sellers, at Granville, Ohio on Wednesday, April 20, aged 74 years, after a very brief illness.

Mrs. McBride, together with her husband and family, lived in Blair for over thirty years and were prominently identified with the business ad social interests of the town. They erected the store building now occupied by C. J. Beekmann, and established a general store, living in the rooms above.

Mr. McBride, who died seventeen years ago, was for many years a member of the school board and held other offices of trust and responsibility, and will be remembered by a host of Blair people. Their only son was drowned while they lived here, and his body, together with that of the husband and father, rest in the city of the dead at this place.

Mrs. McBride and her daughter, soon after the death of Mr. Sellers - also buried here - went east to live in Mrs. McBride’s old home where they have since resided, Mrs. Sellers’ two children being with them.

Deceased will be remembered as one of nature’s gentlewomen, kind, conscientious and a Christian, and was an active worker in the Methodist church here.

Interment took place by the side of her parents at Whitesville, N.Y.

~Her husband is buried in the Blair Cemetery. His Find a Grave Memorial #117228075

~~~Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file at the Blair Public Library.~~~