1840–1902
M. Matthews Smith, Mary Jane Matthews Adams

Introduction

portrait

Born: Oc­to­ber 23, 1840, Gra­nard, Coun­ty Long­ford, Ire­land.

Died: De­cem­ber 11, 1902, Red­lands, Ca­li­for­nia.

Buried: Hill­side Me­mo­ri­al Park, Red­lands, Ca­li­for­nia.

Biography

Mary was the daugh­ter of John Mat­hews and An­na Reil­ly. She mar­ried three times, to Cas­si­us M. Smith (1869); pub­lish­er Al­fred Smith Barnes (1883); and Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty pre­si­dent Charles Ken­dall Ad­ams (1890, Lon­don).

She was pri­ma­ri­ly edu­cat­ed at the Pack­er Col­le­giate In­sti­tute, Brook­lyn, New York. She went on to be­come a teach­er, po­et, song writ­er, and phi­lan­thro­pist.

Works

Introduction

Scars

She sought her dead on battlefield.
Her king, of many wars;
And, finding him, she cried, ’Tis he:
I know him by his scars.

O, record of a soldier’s fate,
Whose light outshines the stars!
When she who loved him best can say,
I know him by his scars.

’Tis thus the Christian knows the King
Whose glory nothing mars;
Gazing at hands, and feet, and side,
We know Him by His scars.

O, happy we, if, serving Him
’Till death lets down the bars,
We merit then, from lips divine,
I know thee by thy scars.

Mary Jane Mathews Barnes (1840–1902)

Sources

Lyrics