Died, at his home in this city, January 2, 1903, Wm. H. Derry, aged 61 years, 1 month and 28 days. Funeral from the residence, Sunday, January 4, at 1 o'clock p.m., Rev. S. N. Wakefield of the M. E. church conducting the services; burial at the Salem cemetery.
Wm. H. Derry was born Nov. 4, 1841 in Freeport, Harrison county, Ohio. In 1849 his father with his family emigrated to Illinois, locating near Vermont, this county, where William grew up to manhood, and with the exception of a few years residence in Mason county, Illinois he remained a resident of Fulton county to the time of his death. In 1863 he was united in marriage to Miss Martha Dennison of this county, who, with two sons and three daughters survive him.
Although handicapped by physical disability, caused by white swelling when a mere lad, he spent no time in idleness, but when his health permitted, was ever on the move attending to business, thus manifesting a degree of energy, industry and ambition possessed by few men, however sound and able-bodied. He possessed a liberal common school education; taught school in various parts of the county for several years; held various positions of honor and trust such as justice of the peace, township assessor, collector, etc. Showing that the people placed a merited degree of confidence in his integrity, and his ability to serve them, and confidences he was not known to betray. He acted as insurance agent for the past fourteen years, doing an extensive business in that line in Fulton and adjoining counties. He was a ready and artful writer and achieved considerable local fame as a newspaper corresppondent furnishing local news for the various county papers but chiefly the Canton Ledger to whose columns he contributed a weekly budget of news for twenty-four years. It may be truly said that his was a life of activity and usefulness. He was not a professor of religion, but believed in the sufficiency of a conscientious observance of the golden rule to sustain him in life and in death. Peace to his ashes.
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SALEM — W. H. Derry died at his home in Astoria Friday, Jan. 2nd, 1903. Rev. S. N. Wakefield conducted the funeral services from the home on Sunday afternoon. The remains were followed to their last resting place by a large number of relatives and sympathizing friends. The interment was made in the Salem cemetery.
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