garrison spent more time at home with his family. he wrote weekly letters to his children and cared for his increasingly ill wife, helen. she had suffered a small stroke on december 30, 1863, and was increasingly confined to the house. helen died on january 25, 1876, after a severe cold worsened into pneumonia. a quiet funeral was held in the garrison home. garrison, overcome with grief and confined to his bedroom with a fever and severe bronchitis, was unable to join the service. wendell phillips gave a eulogy and many of garrison's old abolitionist friends joined him upstairs to offer their private condolences.