strong and apparently well fortified against disease, it took a
deep hold of her vital powers, and on the 3d of May, she yielded to the
fell destroyer, and breathed no more.
The following tribute to her character, is taken from the letter of Mr.
Marsh, in which he communicated the sad tidings of her death.
"In her death the National Freedmen's Aid Association, has lost a most
earnest, devoted, Christian laborer. She entered upon her duties at a
time of great suffering and destitution among the Freedmen at Vicksburg,
and when we were much in need of aid. The fidelity with which she
performed her labors, and the deep interest she manifested in them soon
endeared her to us all. We shall miss her sorely; but the noble example
she has left us will encourage us to greater efforts, and more patient
toil. She seemed also to realize the magnitude and importance of this
work upon which she had entered, and the need of Divine assistance in
its performance. She seemed also to realize what sacrifice might be
demanded of one engaged in a work like this, and the summons, although
sudden, did not find her unprepared to meet it. She has done a noble
work, and done it well.
"The sacrifice she made is the greatest one that can be made for any
cause, the sacrifice of life. 'Greater love than this hath no man, that
a man lay down his life for his friends.' She has gone to receive her
reward."
Her remains were brought to her native town in Illinois, and deposited
there, where the blessed memory she has left among her friends and
kindred, is cherished with heartfelt reverence and affection.
MRS. JOSEPHINE R. GRIFFIN.
If the most thoroughly unselfish devotion of an earnest and gifted woman
to the interests and welfare of a despised and down-trodden race, to the
manifest injury and detriment of her own comfort, ease, or pecuniary
prospects, and without any hope or desire of reward other than the
consciousness of having been their benefactor, constitutes a woman a
heroine, then is Mrs. Griffin one of the most remarkable heroines of our
times.
Of her early history we know little. She was a woman of refinement and
culture, has always been remarkable for her energy and resolution, as
well as for her philanthropic zeal for the poor and oppressed. The
beginning of the war found her a widow, with, we believe, three
children, all daughters, in Washington, D. C. Of these daughters, the
eldest has a position in the Treasury Depart
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