Died in the Field

M

Elder Walter H. Anderson

Elder Taylor Giles

Died in the Field

Several missionaries laboring in different fields have been

recently made victims of the Spanish influenza.

In a communication from Mary Smith Ellsworth of the

Northern States Mission, the Era is informed of the death, Octo-

ber 31, 1918, of Elder Walter H. Anderson who was born, May

31, 1897, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Anderson of Pima, Arizona.

He was stricken with the Sanish influenza on Monday, and pass-

ed away on Thursday morning, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Be-

fore retiring to bed that night, he offered the evening prayer.

Neither he nor any one present realized that the end was so

near. He arrived in the mission field June, 1918, at the age of

twenty years, and during the time he labored, he rendered excep-

tional service. He was six feet two inches in height and weighed

180 pounds. He was the only and a promised son of his parents,

his mother, who had six daughters previously, having been

given a promise by a patriarch that their home should be

blessed with a son; Walter was that son. He was ordained a

deacon at eleven years of age, and at fourteen, a teacher. He

was president of each of his classes at High School and was

exceptionally brilliant and blessed. His sister Nora had lab-

ored at Milwaukee for the past seventeen months, and was at

the bedside of her brother at the time of his death. She has

taken particular interest in genealogical work, having assisted

the Saints in sending 955 names to the Temple since last June;

260 IMPROVEMENT ERA

and during her entire time in the mission field sent in about

2,000 names. Nora and Elder Charles E. Standage, of Mesa,

Arizona, accompanied the body of Walter home to Pima, where

funeral services were held.

Elder Taylor Giles, a missionary in the Minnesota confer-

ence of the Northern States Mission, for the past nineteen

months, died of influenza at the hospital in St. Paul, November

4, 1918, at 6:30 p. m. The city health physician and a private

doctor attended him. He was born January 21, 1898, in Heber

City, Utah, and is a son of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Giles. He

arrived in the mission March 17, 1917. He was a faithful la-

borer, and spent all his time in the Minnesota conference. His

body was sent home for burial, accompanied by his missionary

companion, Elder Christensen.

Sister Margery Stevens, of Enoch, Parowan stake, Iron Co.,

Utah, died at the Mercy hospital, Denver, Colorado, Tuesday,

November 5, 1918, of pneumonia, following an attack of influ-

enza. She was born at Orderville, Kane county, Utah, April 4,

1894, and left for the Western States Mission, April 27, 1917.

She had recently been transferred from Alamosa, Colorado, to

Denver, and before leaving for Denver had been unselfishly as-

sisting others who were sick. She is the first lady missionary to die

of pneumonia, as far as we are aware. Her father left at once

for Denver, and was to take the body home for burial.

Elder John Irving Huskinson, a missionary in the Southern

States, died of influenza-pneumonia, after an illness of fourteen

days, December 16, 1918, at Dunham, Letcher county, Kentucky,

according to a wire to the First Presidency from President C. A.

Callis. He was born in Salt Lake City, Aug. 9, 1896, and was the

son of John W. and Mary E. Bush Huskinson, now of Sugar

City, Idaho. He left for his mission, October 18, 1916.

Elder Henry Parkinson Rogers died in the New Zealand

mission, November 17, 1918, of influenza-pneumonia, according

to word sent by President James N. Lambert to the First

Presidency. Owing to restrictions of the shipping board, the

body could not be sent home.

Up to November 19, Elder Rogers' death was said to the fifth

among the missionaries from the disease, and the first outside

the missionary field of the United States. Elder Rogers was

born January 19, 1900, at Preston, Idaho, and left for his mis-

sion February 20, 1918. He was the son of Henry T. and

Esther Parkinson Rogers, of Logan, Utah.

Some years ago the late Benjamin F. Cummings was edi-

tor of Liahona, the Elders' Journal, and on the occasion of the

death of an Elder Hanson, who had returned as far as Chicago

from a mission in Holland, wrote the following poem as a con-

DIED IN THE FIELD 261

eolation to his parents. The death of the two elders in Chicago

called to the mind of Sister Ellsworth this poem, who sent it

to the Era believing that it might be a source of comfort to

the parents of those who have lost loved ones in the missionary

field. We take pleasure in reproducing it, assuring all interested

of our deep sympathy for parents and friends of the departed,

at the same time believing that their noble mission and lives,

and the cause for which they labored, are in themselves deep

consolations to the bereaved. This applies not only to loved

ones who have passed away in the gospel field, but also to the

many who have sacrificed their lives in the military mission,

fighting for the liberty of the nations.

Died in the Field

Hush, brothers! "With uncovered heads bow low;

Upon a bed of death a comrade lies;

A call has come from heaven, and he must go ;

An angel wants to bear him to the skies.

As duty bade, we prayed to the Mcot High

To spare his life, his mission to fulfil,

But he has been appointed in the field to die;

Such is our heavenly Father's holy will.

Bring forth the royal robes of shining white;

For he an angel's raiment now should wear;

Clothe his cold form with their soft folds so bright,

And gently lay it on the waiting bier.

Then to his native mountains speed the clay,

Where dwelt a soul so noble and so brave;

There to await the resurrection day,

Within a holy, consecrated grave.

A father's prayers shall sanctify that spot;

A mother's tears like jewels there shall shine;

And loved ones plant there a forget-me-not

With never-dying blooms upon its vine.

A boy in years, his fair young life he gave

That men might hear the gospel's sound and live.

He gave his life that others he might save ;

What more than this could any martyr give?

A mission field far wider than this sphere,

Now claims this hero's true and faithful zeal;

Vast hosts of eager souls from him must hear

That testimony which his death did seal.

Weep if ye must, fond parents, weep and mourn;

But mingle with your grief a holy pride;

For 'tis an honor greater than a crown

To have a son die as your son has died.

Death broke no ties; your son is still your son;

And soon you'll claim him in the courts on high,

To share with him the glory he has won—

And then you'll know why he was called to die.

B. F. Cummmgs.