"Kindness is Never Misplaced"

I admit (and not for the first time) that I married my husband for his ancestors. 😂 Such interesting stories!

I've been looking at his Steiner family (relatives of his grandmother Floyda Steiner McClure). His grand-aunt Addie married Charles S. Deering and they had one child, Marie Pauline Deering (1889-1918). After Pauline's death in March of 1918, at the age of 28, more came out about about her final illness and the contents of her will. Pauline was the last in her line, although she did have first cousins and second cousins.

Inez the nurse 

Here's an item from the Mansfield News Journal of Mansfield, Ohio, published on April 12, 1918 (and also appearing in other Ohio newspapers):

"Inez F. Verby realizes that kindness is never misplaced. A short time ago, Miss Pauline Deering was taken ill and when it was realized that she could not live, Miss Verby, her nurse, took her home and kept her until death came. Miss Deering's will has been admitted to probate and under its terms Miss Verby is to receive $12,000 as payment for her kindness to her patient. Miss Deering, who lived in Oberlin, left an estate valued at $30,000."

Inez Verby nursed my husband's cousin in her final illness, which was "tuberculosis of the spine" - also known as Pott's disease. Inez worked as a nurse for years, hired by private patients and by physicians. (I found payment receipts and estate documents reflecting her nursing duties for decades.) 

Inez the executrix

Pauline's will did indeed leave Inez $12,000 in payment for her services. It also named Inez as executrix, with a long list of duties such as making sure that the beneficiaries received their bequests. And what bequests! Money to Inez but also valuable and sentimental household items, as shown above, ranging from Pauline's father's US Civil War military artifacts going to a Deering relative to a hand-stitched sampler being bequeathed to a cousin.

I was taken aback by the listing of property shown in the will (see excerpt at top of this post). In addition to a house and lot in Plankinton, South Dakota, where Pauline was born, she also owned two apartment houses in Chicago. Maybe her father or mother arranged for these as an investment? In any event, all the property was to be liquidated by the executrix to provide cash for bills and bequests.

Inez was also directed to work with a family friend to arrange for a monument after Pauline was buried in Nevada Cemetery, Nevada, Ohio. I've requested a photo of Pauline's monument through Find a Grave. May she rest in peace.