Carrie Lee Birney
1857-1930

Carrie Lee was born in Harlem Springs, Carroll County, Ohio on July 16, 1857, and departed this life at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Joe McKelvey of Cozad, on March 9, 1930 at the age of 72 years, 7 months and 23 days.

She was converted at the age of 11 years and the Christ who came into her life gave her strength to meet all its conflicts.

She was united in marriage to J.W. Birney, July 11, 1878 at Tippecanoe, Ohio. To this union were born five children. One of those died in infancy. The others survive her: Mrs. Joe McKelvey, Mrs. Ed Wedge, Mrs. A.D. Johnson, all of Cozad, and Mrs. J. T. McGonagle of Powell, Wyo. There are also eleven grandchildren and three great grandchildren. All of her brothers and sisters preceded her to the Great Beyond.

Mr. and Mrs. Birney moved to Nebraska, April 11, 1891, and located in the neighborhood of Bethel Church, northeast of Cozad. When they moved into the neighborhood a little Sunday School was held in the Puff School house. Mr. and Mrs. Birney worked in this little Sunday School, and at last saw their dreams realized in the building of Bethel Church. And here with their neighbors, many of whom have gone to their reward, they labored for Christ and His kingdom. She was steward of this church for twenty years, and also superintendent of the Sunday School.

During sickness and death in those early days when doctors were scarce and nurses almost unknown, Mrs. Birney administered to they that needed help and many families recall the loving acts of kindness. In 1903 a cyclone passed over the Bethel neighborhood and destroyed the church and several homes. Mrs. Birney, seeing a neighbor's house destroyed, waded in water to her knees as she went to help them. And when the people felt that they could not re-build the church again, it was Mrs. Birney who went out the work.

On August 27, 1910, Mr. Birney was called to the Great Beyond, Mrs. Birney remained on the farm for three years and then, with Ada and her family went to Powell, Wyoming, where she has made her home ever since.

During her last sickness she was bedfast for six months, and during that time her faith in God was strong and she expressed herself as feeling that her work was done and that her greatest happiness was to be with those that had gone on before and to be with the Christ she had served so long. Mrs. Birney made all plans for the conducting of her funeral service and her last wishes were faithfully carried out.

Brief services were held at the home, and then the services at the church were conducted by Rev. Brewer of the Buffalo Grove church and Rev. Hagemeier of the Evangelical church. The funeral sermon was preached by Mrs. G.A. Metz, who paid splendid tribute to this beautiful character. Several selections were sung by a quartet composed by Mr. and Mrs. Alf Richey, Mrs. Bert Richey, and Geo. Logan. The Richeys had sung at the funeral of Mr. Birney twenty years before.

The floral tributes were many and beautiful, testifying to the love and esteem in which all held the deceased. Interment is in Bethel Cemetery.
Taken from a Newspaper Clipping the Cozad Local 14 Mar 1930****************
Mr. and Mrs. J.T. McGonagle received the sad news last Sunday morning of the death of her mother, Mrs. Birney, at Cozad, Nebraska. Death came to this good old lady at 5 o'clock last Sunday morning, when she had reached her seventy-third year. She was known well by many people of the Powell Valley, since she had often visited her daughter here.

Mrs. McGonagle did not go back to Cozad to attend her mother's burial, for she and Mr. McGonagle had just left there from a visit on the Friday previous, arriving back at Powell Saturday night. They had been on a 5,000 - mile eastern trip to as far as Ohio this winter. They stopped off at Cozad on the way home, and they were aware of Mrs. Birney's condition, so that the telegram that came to them Sunday morning was not such a shock as it otherwise might have been.
Taken from a Newspaper Clipping of the Powell Tribune 13 Mar 1930