COLWELL

Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Friday, August 11, 2006 at 05:34:16 :

Marin Journal
Thursday, November 24, 1938
Page 2

Mary J. Colwell, Marin Pioneer, Dies in Antioch

Mrs. Mary Jane Colwell, the first school teacher in Bolinas, passed away last Thursday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Ida Colwell, in Antioch, at the advanced age of 94 years.

In spite of her unusual age, Mrs. Colwell, up to a few days of her passing, was alert in mind but the infirmities of age crept upon her gradually and she sank quietly into the Great Beyond, as if in a deep sleep.

Funeral service was held at Antioch Friday, and interment was at the little cemetery at Bolinas, where numerous friends and a few surviving relatives gathered at the grave side service last Friday afternoon.

It had been Mrs. Colwell’s wish that she be buried in Bolinas where she first taught school, was married, and reared her family.

Mrs. Colwell’s husband, the late Jesse Colwell, was a member of a pioneer Marin family, and it was he who built the first road to Bolinas via the Alpine Lake route.

Four sons preceded this aged mother to the grave, the only survivor being the daughter, Mrs. Ida Colwell.

Mrs. Colwell was born in New York, and when 16 years of age came to California where she was successful in securing a teachers’ certificate by examination.

One of the most noteworthy events of her life, in which she always took great pride was that she shook hands with Abraham Lincoln before coming to this state in 1861.