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   A member of the Methodist Episcopal church, she
carries her religion into her daily life. Always broadly
charitable, ready to help with service or money when
the need arose, she is beloved by a large circle of friends,
and through her services to her country, her name is
written on the pages of American history.
     . .
-        SUSAN BENDER McFARLAND
              Author-Mabel Gottschalk
                  Wisconsin Rapids
    Among the pioneer women of Wisconsin Rapids is
numbered -Susan Bender McFarland, a descendant of
John Cook who served as Lieutenant and Quarter Master
in a Rhode Island regiment in the Revolutionary war
and Thankful Trip Cook. She was born in Sullivan,
New York, September 15, 1852, a daughter of Abraham
and Permelia Cook Bender who moved with their fam-
ily westward in the spring of 1855. At a Buffalo hotel
the father had to stay awake all night to save himself
from being robbed. They stopped for a time at Marengo,
Illinois, then in the fall of same year moved with two
covered wagons, one drawn by a fine team of horses and
one by a pair of oxen. At Portage the horses were sold
for a heifer, a cow, two oxen and three hundred dollars
and the trip resumed by ox team to Plainfield. The
family arrived with plenty of money, but Mrs. McFar-
land related experiences when it was of little value as
at times food and clothing could not be procured.
Neighbors had to be saving with what they had for fear
of running short before another harvest.
     At one time Mrs. McFarland's father had to journey
 to Portage for flour and the mother ground corn meal
 with a coffee mill to make bread for the family and when
 the father returned, though late at night, she made bis-
 cuits and awakened the children to enjoy the feast.
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