,a ,u ,t ,o ,b ,i ,o ,g ,r ,a ,p ,h ,y ,o ,f ,z4 ,s4 ,h ,a ,s ,t ,i ,n ,g ,s ,w ,r ,i ,t ,t ,e ,n ,f ,o ,r ,h ,i ,s ,b ,o ,y ,s ,,harry ,,paul ,,otho ,,milo -----#j----- ,effingham ,kan4 ,christmas1 #aiaa ,dear ,paul1-- ,i am sending to each of the other boys a copy of my ,autobiography like this ,i send you4 ,i hope you will be interested in it2 read it1 preserve it1 and give it to some of your children1 to be read and handed down and down until the second ,adam comes the second time4 ,i am sure ,i would be glad to have something of this kind from my father1 even from his father's father's father's1 etc41 back to father ,adam1 the first ,adam4 ,z4 ,s4 ,hastings ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,o ,n ,e ,birth4 ,name4 ,parent's ,religion4 ,blood4 ,ancestor's ,religion and ,politics4 ,first ,recollection4 ,father's ,family4 ,from ,north ,carolina to ,indiana ,i was born ,march #aeth #ahch at a place now called ,williams in ,lawrence ,county1 ,indiana4 ,when the day came for me to be named1 mother said1 ,he looks like my brother ,zachariah1 but father said1 ,he looks like my brother ,simpson4 ,all right1 said mother1 we will just christen him ,zachariah ,simpson4 ,and that is my name unto this day4 ,now1 when mother said 'christen' she did not mean what is usually meant by christening a babe1 for if she had they would have had to take me to a river1 for mother and father both believed1 when it came to baptizing1 that is required much water4 ,mother1 when baptized1 was dipped three times1 face first1 and father once1 backwards making in each case an entire submerging or an immersion4 ,religiously mother was called a ,dunkard and father was called a ,baptized ,quaker4 ,now1 said father1 one day to mother1 this out not to be1 we are one in ,christ1 let us be one in name4 ,all right1 said mother1 let us drop the names ,dunkard and ,quaker and simply call ourselves ,christians4 ,just so1 said father1 but we must live ,christians as well4 ,and they did4 ,there runs in my veins both ,english and ,irish blood4 ,on the paternal side ,i can only trace my ancestors back to the early ,quakers of ,baltimore4 ,on the maternal side ,i know less1 for it is only said that my great grand-mother was a handsome1 witty1 ,irish-woman4 ,for some reason1 ,i know not what1 ,i have always liked the humble1 honest1 witty ,irish people1 be they ,catholic or ,protestant4 ,as far back as ,i can trace my ancestry they were religiously ,quakers and ,politically ,whigs4 ,more recently however1 we are religiously1 simply ,christians1 politically prohibition ,republicans4 ,i do not boast of my ancestors1 boys1 for they were humble1 yet1 ,howe'er it be1 it seems to me1 ',tis only noble to be good4 ,the first thing that ,i can now remember was1 when ,i was two and one-half years old1 in the fall of #ahdj1 when ,general ,william ,henry ,harrison was elected the ninth president of the ,united ,states4 ,it was on the occasion of a big rally day for ,mr4 ,harrison when ,i1 with my parents1 stood by the road-side and saw in the great procession going by1 four men carrying a small log cabin upon their shoulders1 and in the open door of the cabin sat a small barrel of hard cider4 ,the rally cry was ,hurrah for ,tippecanoe and ,tyler too4 ,my father and mother were there1 because they were ,whigs1 and ,i was there because father and mother were there4 ,there is a great deal in the way a child is brought up4 ,o1 that the children of our beloved land be brought up in the way they should go6 ,o1 that it could be said of all parents that their children are brought up in the nurture and admonition of the ,lord2 that is could be said of all teachers of our great country as it was said of the great lexicographer1 ,noah ,webster3 ,he taught thousands to read1 but not one to sin4 ,it is said boys1 that the training of a child should begin a hundred years before it is born4 ,i do not know about this1 but ,i do know that the proper training should be kept up after it is born4 ,will you see to it1 that you do your part well8 ,my father's family consisted of seven children1 of whom ,i was the fifth child4 ,three brothers1 ,joshua ,thomas1 ,william ,henry and ,john ,arthur1 and one sister1 ,nancy ,elizabeth1 were older than ,i4 ,one sister ,charlotte ,ann1 and one brother ,rufus ,wiley1 were younger4 ,my father's name was ,howell ,hastings1 my mother's name was ,edith ,edwards4 ,father and mother were both born in ,north ,carolina2 father in #aije1 mother in #ahjh4 ,they were married in #ahbf4 ,my two older brothers were born in ,north ,carolina4 ,the rest of us were born in ,indiana4 ,the parents1 with their two little boys came to ,indiana in #ahcj4 ,they made the entire trip in a one-horse wagon2 crossing the ,cumberland ,mountains1 and passing through the states of ,tennessee1 ,virginia and ,kentucky4 ,of course they had but little in their wagon2 a box or two containing their wearing apparel1 and a little bedding1 and also a little tin box containing just one-hundred dollars in gold coin and a few valuable papers1 which was kept1 locked and hidden1 in one of the larger boxes4 ,this hundred dollars was all the money father had except what he had in his pocket purse1 which he supposed would be enough to meet the expenses of the trip4 ,all went well for about two weeks when a man1 traveling on horseback1 overtook them1 who slackened his gait and traveled along with them1 forming an acquaintance4 ,he said to them that he too1 was going to the far west 7,indiana was called the far west then71 to seek his fortune4 ,he was very kind1 helpful and generous2 and traveled along with them for two days1 but1 on the third day morning1 when father awoke1 his fellow traveler was gone4 ,father and the man had slept under the wagon4 ,father usually slept in or under the wagon while mother and the little boys would sleep in the house of some family who lived by the road-side4 ,just as they were ready to start that morning1 mother said to father1 ,have you looked to see if the tin box is safe8 ,no said father4 ,well1 you better look1 said mother4 ,father looked among the stuff in the big box where they had kept it1 but it was not there4 ,the man had stolen it and all that was in it4 ,the kind family1 whose hospitality mother had shared during the night1 kept her and her children in their home while father and the husband of the home and an officer of the law spent two days hunting for the thief1 but could not find him4 ,so1 father and mother had to pursue their journey without their little tin box which was the most valuable of their temporal assets4 ,a man that steals1 should steal no more4 ,in due time1 7#ahcj7 father and mother with their two little boys1 ,thomas and ,henry arrived in ,lawrence ,county1 ,indiana1 and settled in the rich valley of the east fork of the ,white river4 ,father's oldest brother1 ,arthur ,d4 ,hastings1 ,sen41 had preceded father a few years to the new state1 and was ready to greet and assist his brother to make a new home4 ,uncle ,arthur was one of ,god's noblemen1 an honest1 leading citizen1 and devout ,christian4 ,he lived on the place he first settled about sixty years1 and died there in #ahhf at the advanced age of #he years4 ,although ,i had many uncles1 ,uncle ,arthur was the only one ,i ever saw4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,t ,w ,o ,indiana4 ,the ,stars fall4 ,move4 ,texas4 ,the flood of #ahdd4 ,first ,school4 ,white ,river's ,pocket4 ,no ,nimrod4 ,a ,fish ,story4 ,clarksburg4 ,at the time of father's arrival1 ,indiana was only #ad years old and contained about #cjj1jjj inhabitants4 ,its capital city's first ,mayor was inaugurated two years before ,i was born and three years after the stars fell4 ,in #ahdb when ,i was about four years old my parents sold out and moved down the river five or six miles and bought a new1 larger and better farm with a large two story hewed log house and a big double log barn1 and a good apple orchard4 ,the farming land was bottom and lay along the river4 ,here we had some sheep and cattle on a few hills and some hogs in the woods1 that got fat in the winter on white oak acorns and beech nuts4 ,and here we had a large sugar orchard as the ,hosiers called it--hard maple trees by the many from which1 in the early spring1 flowed the sweet sap by the barrels full which we converted into gallons of maple syrup1 and into many cakes of maple sugar4 ,it was while we lived here1 when ,i was six years old1 there was the greatest flood1 known to me1 since the days of ,noah4 ,i remember it well4 ,you too1 my boys1 will never forget the year when ,i tell you it was the same year1 #ahdd1 in which your best earthly friend was born1 your mother4 ,but ,i did not know anything about her until twenty years afterwards4 ,the flood was great4 ,all the lower lands were under water4 ,mr4 ,greene's1 the ferryman1 our nearest neighbor's family had to go in a canoe from the door of their kitchen to their smoke house to get meat4 ,all our cattle and hogs were in the stalk fields near the river1 and all were drowned1 except one large1 strong cow which swam more than one half mile1 almost in a straight line1 and was saved4 ,we could see the cattle huddled together on a small island knoll away down in the field next to the river4 ,the poor creatures would stand there until the rapidly rising waters would crowd them off the knoll1 and then they swam until exhausted and overcome by the great distance1 and turbulent waters when they would go down to rise no more4 ,i was the first to see the cow which swam out4 ,looking down through the orchard where the waters were swimming deep1 ,i saw the end of her nose and the tips of her horns above the water4 ,slowly she came1 almost exhausted4 ,but finally she found footing where she could stand and then the poor creature stood and bawled and bawled for quite a while1 and then walked to her young calf which was at the barn on the hillside4 ,about this time ,i attended my first school and my teacher was my cousin1 ,arthur ,d4 ,hastings1 ,jr41 who lived to a good old age1 and died ,september #aeth1 #aijf within a little more than a stone's cast of where he taught4 ,my first and only textbook at school for a year or more was ,webster's blue back ,spelling book4 ,it had both ,spelling and ,reading in it4 ,i learned all from end to end4 ,the teacher said ,i ought to have a reader1 so farther bought for me1 ,mc,guffey's second reader2 as soon as ,i got hold of it ,i ran with it to the barn loft and sat down on the hay and read all that was in it before ,i got up4 ,the next day the teacher said ,i ought to have a higher reader1 so father bought for me ,mc,guffey's fourth reader1 the highest that was1 and these two readers were all the readers that ,i ever read4 ,grammar was not so easy4 ,my text-book was ,smith's4 ,i would start at the first of the book1 and get about half through at the end of the term4 ,this ,i did for a half dozen years or more4 ,finally when ,i started to high school ,i took up ,clark's grammar and finished it4 ,but1 to go back a little1 father after the great flood1 went down to ,texas and bought several hundred acres of land and came back and sold his farm intending to move to ,texas1 but changed his mind and sold his ,texas land for a song in the shape of a beautiful colt4 ,this colt grew into one of the prettiest and best horses your grandfather ever had4 ,but remember it cost hundreds of acres of land which are worth thousands of dollars now4 ,it was like paying too much for your whistle4 ,if we had gone to ,texas1 boys1 ,i do not know what might have been but ,i do know now that you are and that you have one of the best mothers that lives4 ,often have ,i heard her pray with tears in her eyes that you and all the boys might be saved from the use of tobacco and strong drink4 ,father next turned his attention towards securing a home in the pocket of the ,white ,river1 which he did by buying a farm in ,daviers ,county on the border of ,clark's ,prairie and adjoining the village of ,clarksburg1 which is now the city of ,oden4 ,at the time of our removal to ,clarksburg ,i was about nine years old4 ,we liked our new home4 ,at this time ,daviers ,county was a wilderness of brush1 trees and swamps1 with plenty of wild game1--deer1 coons1 opossums1 squirrels1 turkeys1 ducks1 quails1 snowbirds1 and of wild fruits1 grapes1 plums1 crab-apples and strawberries4 ,and of fish of all kinds1 nearly4 ,i never was much of a ,nimrod4 ,many times ,i saw deer1 and once when ,i had a gun upon my shoulder1 but ,i did not take it off4 ,early one morning a flock of thirty or forty wild turkeys came within a rod or two of the kitchen window1 but when we opened the door instead of coming in1 they flew away4 ,some days after that ,i heard turkeys gobbling in the woods1 and ,i took the gun and went where they were and shot one dead4 ,happened to hit it in the head4 ,once ,i shot a crow and killed it4 ,one day ,i shot and killed four or five squirrels4 ,often ,i trapped quails and snow birds4 ,the biggest fish ,i ever saw caught ,i did not catch4 ,brother ,henry1 who was nine years older than ,i1 caught it4 ,it was a cat-fish1 and ,henry and a boy named ,billy ,james1 who was less than six feet tall1 ran a pole through the fish's gills and carried the fish between them suspended from the pole which was rested upon the boys shoulders1 and the fish was so long that its tail tipped the ground as the boys walked4 ,now1 this is the biggest fist story ,i ever tell1 except the ,jonah story1 and ,i believe both4 ,we liked ,clarksburg because it was a good place for schools1 ,sunday ,schools and churches4 ,i hardly remember the time when ,i was not in school1 ,sunday ,school and church4 ,i think to this day these are good places for boys to be4 ,my parents were always anxious to have their children in school and made many sacrifices to this end2 as a result their five boys all were public school teachers before they were out of their teens4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,t ,h ,r ,e ,e ,certificate4 ,school4 ,tophet4 ,father's death4 ,spirit ,rappings4 ,at the age of seventeen1 ,i sought the county school examiner that ,i might procure a license to teach4 ,i found him at his school teaching4 ,he had me wait until noon1 then we went to the woods close by4 ,it was a warm beautiful day1 and the examiner sat on one end of the log and ,i on the other4 ,then the questioning commenced4 ,why he even asked what reading was1 and although ,i had been reading for ten years ,i could hardly tell4 ,he asked me how far it was from ,dan to ,beer,sheba1 and then laughed at me because ,i did not know4 ,he asked me if ,i had never heard the phrase from ,dan to ,beer,sheba4 ,i told him it seemed to me that ,i did once hear an old preacher say something about a young man named ,dan who was handsome and strong1 but he got into a pretty dangerous place one time among some lions1 but he came out all right1 the preacher said1 because he would never drink beer or wine or whiskey or anything that would make a man drunk4 ,i do not think the examiner ever heard that story before1 so he quit asking such irrelevant questions and got to business1 asking about vowels and consonants1 and accent and emphasis1 curves and loops1 ,tories and ,whigs1 order and discipline1 etc4 etc4 until he said that will do1 and wrote me out a certificate to teach4 ,that county examiner was my oldest brother1 hence the fun4 ,from then on1 ,i was a public school teacher for about #ae years4 ,i stood the test many times in ,indiana1 ,missouri and ,kansas1 to secure a teacher's certificate1 but never failed to get the first grade4 ,of course1 ,i1 in the meantime1 spent about three more years at school4 ,my popularity as a successful teacher came at once1 even at the first term1 so much so that they sent for me to come and teach for them in a place called ,tophet4 ,boys1 if you do not know what that means look it up in the dictionary4 ,the place was so bad1 that teachers for several years had not been able to teach to the end of the term4 ,the bad boys and girls would run the teacher off4 ,i knew all this4 ,and instead of going with a rod1 as other teachers had ,i went with love and firmness determined to win right in the start the respect and confidence of the big boys and girls4 ,i succeeded4 ,the first death to occur in my father's family was the death of my father himself4 ,in the early fall of #ahed father's health began to fail4 ,the disease was dropsy4 ,dr4 ,sam ,elmore1 the resident physician of ,clarksburg did all he could1 faithfully attending father all the fall and winter up to the day of his death4 ,but about one week before death1 the doctor requested that we send for ,dr4 ,mc,donald1 who lived in ,newberry1 a town about eight miles away4 ,this we did1 and ,dr ,mc,donald1 a skillful and learned physician1 came to see father twice that week4 ,the last time was on the day before ,christmas4 ,when he left to go home1 he requested us to let him know father's condition the next day after noon4 ,the next day was ,christmas4 ,father seemed much better all afternoon4 ,many friends and neighbors came in to see him4 ,he talked more than usual4 ,the day was a cold1 dark1 drizzly one4 ,we had no telephones then1 so on horse back in the afternoon1 through cold and sleet1 ,i made my way to tell the doctor how father was4 ,the errand was not hard for me1 because ,i loved my father and he was better1 ,i thought1 and ,i wanted to tell the doctor4 ,as soon as ,i entered the doctor's office1 ,i said1 ,father is better4 ,the doctor asked me several questions about him which ,i answered4 ,he then turned to get some medicine and as he turned ,i saw him shake his head negatively4 ,he gave me a little phial filled with medicine and told me to give father two or three drops every two or three hours and added1 ,if your father is better in the morning1 let me know4 ,i went home with a sadder heart than ,i had when ,i came to the doctor's1 for ,i do not think the doctor thought that father was better4 ,and so it proved for when ,i returned ,mother said father had seemed better all afternoon1 so much so that his friends1 and even my oldest brother and sister1 7who were now married1 and lived1 the one three miles distant1 the other one mile71 had returned home to take rest4 ,but now1 7it was about dark when ,i returned7 said mother1 he seems to be much worse1 you would better go for your brother and sister4 ,so ,i went at once the one mile and the three miles1 and sister and her husband1 ,mr4 ,chas4 ,r4 ,reyton1 went at once and not long afterwards brother and his wife and their two little children and ,i returned1 and we all stood around the bed of death4 ,father said but little1 but finally said to all4 ,come near4 ,we did so1 and he said1 ,good bye1 it is but a little distance between me and my eternal home1 and ,i can soon step that off4 ,he closed his eyes and was dead4 ,it was almost midnight1 ,christmas day1 #ahed4 ,he went at the early age of #di years1 #g months #bc days4 ,i was a little more than sixteen years old4 ,my youngest brother1 and the youngest child of the family1 ,rufus ,wiley1 was a little over five years old4 ,youngest sister1 ,charlotte ,ann a little over thirteen4 ,father was a quiet1 peaceable1 ,christian man1 with a good many of the ,quaker ways about him4 ,the spirit-rappings1 which originated with the ,fox family of ,n4,y4 eight or ten years before1 were still exciting the people in southern ,indiana4 ,it so happened that a ,mr4 ,wilson1 a learned justice of the peace1 lived in ,tophet1 at the time ,i taught school there1 and was a medium4 ,i boarded and lodged at his house a part of the time4 ,let me state a few facts and these occurred in my experience while there4 ,that rapping kept up1 especially if you paid any attention to it1 more or less1 day and night4 ,every afternoon and evening after school1 when ,i returned to my boarding place1 ,i could hear the rapping on my chair1 or desk1 or somewhere in the room4 ,or1 if out of doors1 on some object near me4 ,if out after dark that rapping was sure to get directly between me and the door4 ,was it good or evil1 saint or sinner1 ,i knew not4 ,i could explain nothing4 ,i could believe nothing4 ,i could lay hold of nothing4 ,i could let go of nothing4 ,i only heard rapping4 ,and it made no difference whether ,mr4 ,wilson1 the medium1 was at home or not1 the rapping went on all the same4 ,one long afternoon as ,i was sitting at a window reading a book1 ,mrs4 ,wilson was sitting across the room at another window1 busy at work and at the same time humming a tune4 ,all at once1 that rapping commenced1 on a cupboard standing in the corner1 in a clear1 distinct musical way1 so much so that it attracted my attention from my reading and ,mrs4 ,wilson saw me looking towards the cupboard4 ,she said1 ,lizzie1 is that you8 ,there came a loud1 distinct rap4 ,as much as to say yes4 ,then ,mrs4 ,wilson said1 ,can you beat 7play7 that tune ,i was humming4 ,i suspect ,mr4 ,hastings would like to hear it4 ,at once the beating 7rapping7 commenced and continued for quite a while4 ,it sounded very much like the tapping of a drum4 ,it played the tune4 ,i do not think that ,i ever listened to any music with so much interest and curiosity as ,i listened to that rapping4 ,one embarrassing and annoying part of the rapping was every night1 when ,i would retire to my bed that rapping would keep up its rapping upon the head board of my bed1 both before and after ,i would blow out the light4 ,when ,i found out they called it ,lizzie ,i would say1 ,please ,lizzie1 let me o to sleep4 ,and it would cease1 and ,i would sleep4 ,to confess1 boys1 ,i often felt a little scared1 especially when out of doors in the dark and that--what shall ,i call it8-- thing got to rapping upon something between me and the door4 ,i could tell you other stories about these rappings but they are too incredulous to believe4 ,as ,i said before1 ,i could explain nothing nor can ,i yet4 ,i simply heard the rappings1 under the circumstances as ,i have related4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,f ,o ,u ,r ,leaves ,home4 ,in ,st4 ,louis4 ,on the ,mississippi ,river4 ,from ,lagrange to ,lindley4 ,few boys live through their teens who do not want to take a wild goose chase to see the world4 ,i was no exception4 ,so after bidding my mother1 brothers1 sisters1 farewell on my #aith birthday1 with mother's blessing1 in the company with ,dr4 ,sam ,elmore1 his wife and little boy1 ,i started for north ,missouri4 ,the first night we spent at ,washington1 ,ind4 ,this was the first time ,i ever stopped as a guest at a hotel4 ,the next day we secured passenger tickets on the ,ohio and ,mississippi ,rail ,road to ,st4 ,louis4 ,this was the first time ,i had ever rode on railroad cars4 ,away we went over rivers and rivulets1 hills and hollows1 through farms and towns1 woods and prairies4 ,i thought we would never stop4 ,i was seeing the world4 ,but finally we stopped4 ,and someone said1 ,st4 ,louis4 ,i stepped out and the first thing ,i saw was the ,father of ,waters4 ,now1 ,i tell you boys1 the ,mississippi is a big river4 ,we had to cross in a ferry boat4 ,there was no ,ead's bridge there4 ,when we landed on the ,missouri side and stepped out on the wharf there were1 on all sides1 mules1 negroes1 drays1 drummers1 porters1 beggars1 fakers1 yelling1 moving1 jostling1 huddling1 crowding4 ,why1 ,i felt that to be in such a place was dangerous to be safe4 ,the doctor had been there before1 ,i had not4 ,i noticed he pressed ahead1 so ,i followed4 ,finally we reached the ,planter's ,house1 and ,i cast my eye up to the upper story and thought1 ,o my1 ,i cannot sleep up there1 it will make me dizzy and ,i will fall out4 ,we sought a steamboat to go up the ,mississippi and the earliest one we could find would not start for two days4 ,but we bought tickets which entitled us to lodging and board on the boat1 so we took our places on the boat1 and staid with it until it landed us at ,lagrange1 our destination4 ,the name of the boat was ,thomas ,swan4 ,i never traveled in any nicer way than on a large fine steam-boat--board and bed and everything clean and good1 interesting and pleasant4 ,the first night1 when ,i went to bed1 ,i put my boots and clothes where ,i supposed ,i could easily find them the next morning1 but when morning came ,i could find everything except the boots4 ,i found1 in the place where ,i had left the boots1 an old pair of slippers4 7,the slippers were nice and clean1 however47 ,i thought some scamp had stolen my boots1 and left for me his slippers4 ,i did not know what to do4 ,i was afraid to wear the slippers lest someone would accuse me of stealing them4 ,but ,i finally dared to put them on and step into the cabin parlor and at the far end ,i saw fifty or more pairs of boots1 and all well cleaned and blackened4 ,i shyly approached a big black man who was sitting by the boots and dare to ask him if he had my boots there4 ,he said1 ,what's de number1 please8 ,i said1 ,number seven4 ,yes sir he said and picked out a pair for me4 7,i noticed by this time that all the boots were numbered with chalk47 ,i saw at once that the boots he picked out were not mine1 and said1 ,these are not my boots4 ,dat's number seven1 sir1 de number of your berth4 ,i said1 ,you are mistaken1 my birth is the #aeth of ,march4 ,o dat so4 ,your number fifteen1 said he1 and picked up the boots chalk marked #ae4 ,they were my boots4 ,i took them and started to walk back with them in my hand to my berth1 the number of which was #ae4 ,the negro said1 ,say1 mister1 ,i usually get a dime4 ,i said1 ,excuse me11 and paid him a dime4 ,do you see1 boys8 ,yes1 we see that the boy who afterwards became our father was green4 ,of course1 ,i was green4 ,all things are green before they are ripe4 ,in the next day or two we landed at ,lagrange1 ,missouri1 a small town above ,quincy1 ,ill4 ,there the doctor had two horses and a buggy4 ,the doctor1 his wife and boy rode in the buggy1 driving one horse1 and ,i rode the other horse1 and in this fashion we made our way westward for four days1 passing through the towns of ,lewiston1 ,edina1 ,kirksville1 ,scottsville1 until we arrived at ,lindley1 a small town on ,medicine ,creek in ,grunday ,county4 ,the afternoon of the first day of the four days referred to above1 was cold and stormy4 ,so ,i rode in advance1 inquiring at every house for lodging for our company1 but was denied4 ,i passed one house however--it looked so small ,i thought there would not be room enough for all1 but the doctor called when he came to it1 and received a favorable answer4 ,i turned back and the man said1 ,i have plenty for your horses to eat1 but no place for them only to tie them in an open shed4 ,our house is small but only three of us and four of you perhaps we can get along4 ,the doctor said1 ,we will stay4 ,the man was good but the accommodations were bad4 ,the house was a small one-roomed log cabin4 ,two beds and a narrow space between them fully occupied one half of the floor space4 ,a the other end of the room was a large fireplace with a bright1 cheerful1 warm1 comfortable fire1 so much so that we could sit back against the beds1 which we all did1 and were comfortable except the woman of the house1 who was in one corner of the fireplace getting supper4 ,i do not mean that the woman was in the fire but nearby4 ,you know that the ,greek word eis according to some theologians means nearby4 ,but the bread in the skillet was under the fire and over the fire for there were live coals above it and live coals beneath it4 ,the meat in the pan was on top of the fire4 ,i never ate better bread and meat4 ,i was hungry4 ,after supper ,i began to wonder and worry about where ,i would sleep1 and one of mother's proverbs came to my mind1 ,do not worry child1 ,god will provide4 ,then ,i remembered that ,god had provided for many such occasions but he really did it through ,mother4 ,soon a little trundle bed was drawn from under one of the large beds1 and it just filled the space between the two larger beds4 ,the little boy of the house was put in the little bed and the good lady of the house told me that ,i would have to sleep with the little boy in the little bed4 ,i said1 ,all right4 ,an opportunity was given and ,i retired4 ,although ,i was a boy under twenty ,i was several inches longer than the bed1 but ,i managed to get between the two end boards and slept4 ,whether pushed under the larger bed during the night1 ,i know not4 ,the next morning at daylight ,i was still between the two big beds1 but ,i had not grown in length any during the night the end boards were in the way4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,f ,i ,v ,e ,from ,lagrange to ,lindley1 continued4 ,in a murderers bed4 ,maple sugar4 ,philosophy and ,morality4 ,dr4 ,elmore shot4 ,more philosophizing4 ,firsts4 ,baptist ,college4 ,pikes ,peak or ,hell4 ,i got up early and took a walk1 7the weather had moderated7 to see the world4 ,i felt just a little bit homesick4 ,the next evening we stopped for the night at a large public house and they put me in a large upper room where a murderer had slept the night before4 ,i slept4 ,here let me state this was not the only time ,i was the next to sleep in a bed where a murderer had slept4 ,a few years after this1 during the awful war of the rebellion1 ,i was late in the night getting into the ,city of ,vincennes1 ,indiana and called a hotel for a bed4 ,i was told there was but one empty bed1 and it had just been vacated by a murderer4 ,he became uneasy and left2 the officers in pursuit of him came to the hotel1 and searched his bed1 but he was gone4 ,i said to the landlord1 ,do you suppose the officers will come back to search that bed again8 ,he said he supposed not4 ,i told him that ,i would occupy it4 ,the bed was still warm4 ,i have seen1 boys1 about as much of the world as ,i want to see4 ,i would not go fifty miles to see the ,rocky ,mountains or the ,jerusalem that now is4 ,the third night we staid with a farmer who1 that very night1 has a maple sugar stirring off1 and we had a good time1 but the horse ,i rode was so tall he could not get through the stable door and he had to be tied out all night4 ,the next day we arrived at ,lindley1 where ,i made my headquarters for almost five years4 ,but before ,i proceed with the story of my life chronologically1 let me philosophize and moralize a little as suggested to me by my own experience in both young life and old life4 ,what1 from a worldly1 physical1 selfish stand point1 do you consider1 #a4 ,the best thing in this life4 #b4 ,the most convenient thing in this life4 ,answer3 #a4 ,good weather and good health4 #b4 ,money ,what1 from any stand-point1 do you think is the best thing in this life8 ,answer3 ,christianity4 ,what1 from any stand-point1 do you think is the worst thing8 ,answer3 ,sin4 ,now1 in my old age ,i do not wish to live my life over again1 but ,i can see where ,i might have done better especially as it relates to the questions above4 ,i might have taken more advantage of the good weather and avoided the bad4 ,i might have taken better care of my health4 ,i might have secured a little more money for the rainy days4 ,i might have wedded myself more closely to ,christianity1 and have divorced myself more fully from sin4 ,but ,i am now in my old age content--am ready1 and resting in the hope of the glory that shall be revealed4 ,god is good4 ,my counsel to my children and to all young people for many years has been1 briefly stated3 ,take care of your health4 ,take care of your money4 ,take care of your religion4 ,but1 to return to ,lindley1 ,missouri and to the #aith year of my age1 ,i find myself1 ,dr4 ,elmore1 wife and boy1 stopping with my brother ,henry and his young family4 ,brother ,henry is nine yeas my senior4 ,he lives to this day4 ,he had1 a year or two before1 moved to that place4 ,the next morning after we arrived in ,lindley1 ,dr4 ,elmore was fixing the shaft of his buggy when his revolver fell from his pocket1 was discharged and shot him in the breast1 the ball ranging upwards and lodged in his shoulder4 ,he soon got well1 but the ball is with him to this day4 ,i never owned a gun1 a dog1 a fiddle1 a pocket knife1 a razor1 a pipe1 a cigar or cigarette1 a plug of tobacco1 or a hug of whiskey4 ,i never had any use for these things4 ,i do not wholly condemn all these1 but ,i do think the world would be better and safer without guns1 dirk knives1 dogs1 tobacco1 and strong drink4 ,during my stay of almost five years in ,grundy and ,sullivan counties1 ,mo41 ,i spent the time in teaching and attending school4 ,the principal events of my life were my second birth1 my first sermon1 my first convert1 my first funeral1 my first marriage1 7,i mean the first marriage ,i ever solemnized71 my first religious debate and my first vote4 ,i taught in both ,sullivan and ,grundy counties4 ,i soon gained the same popularity as a teacher that ,i had in ,indiana4 ,i never sought schools4 ,they always sought me4 ,i attended the ,baptist ,college in ,trenton one year4 ,it was a very pleasant and profitable year of my early life4 ,it was before the war when the general talk was about slavery and a probable war4 ,one day ,i and a young friend1 chum and class-mate1 a son of a ,baptist preacher1 were studying our lessons under a large beech tree in the college campus4 ,my mate said to me1 ,hastings1 aren't you an abolitionist8 ,i said1 ,yes1 ,i am4 ,i believe all men ought to be free4 ,he answered1 ,i thought so1 and so am ,i and my father too4 ,but ,i want to admonish you not to talk it so much4 ,the admonition was well given1 and well taken1 for the forebodings of the day were that not talk but action would be the right step4 ,and so it was1 for it was not long before the whole country was in an awful fratricidal war4 ,the like of which1 ,i hope our country will never see again4 ,it was during this year the great migration took place to ,pike's ,peak for gold4 ,nearly every day the streets would be full of covered wagons bound for ,pike's ,peak4 ,i noticed on one wagon written in great red letters1 ,hastings1 bound for ,pike's ,peak or ,hell4 ,it was the noon hour1 and ,i said to the other boys1 ,there is a ,hastings in this crowd1 and ,i am going to find him4 ,i went into a grocery store where many of them were buying provisions4 ,i soon picked him out1 a tall good looking fellow1 then besides he swore a great deal which tallied with what ,i saw on the wagon1 so ,i stepped up to him and said1 ,is your name ,hastings8 ,he answered with an oath that it was4 ,i said to him1 ,i see from what is written on your wagon that you are bound for ,pike's ,peak or ,hell4 ,without waiting for him to reply1 ,i further said1 ,i think from the way you are going1 and the way you talk1 you will probably get to both places4 ,at first he looked like he was going to hit me1 and then he smiled and said1 ,you don't swear8 ,i said1 ,no1 nor do ,i think you ought to swear4 ,he said1 ,probably ,i ought not4 ,then ,i told him my name was ,hastings too4 ,he shook hands with me and we had quite a visit4 ,but he swore no more in my presence4 ,we could trace no kinship1 and ,i was a little glad of it4 ,i do not think any man is totally depraved1 but some are very nearly so4 ,there is less excuse for swearing than almost any other sin4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,s ,i ,x ,conversion4 ,first sermon4 ,funerals and ,weddings4 ,from my earliest childhood ,i have attended ,sunday ,schools and church services4 ,i have believed that ,god is1 that ,jesus ,christ is the son1 and that the ,bible is true4 ,years before ,i became a ,christian ,i had desired to be such and worship ,god with other ,christians4 ,but ,i did not know which church to join4 ,mother said1 read the ,bible and learn4 ,one leader said do this1 another said do that4 ,no two agreed4 ,i did not know what to do to become one among the ,christians4 ,i prayed to ,god but if ,god spake to me in an audible voice ,i did not know it4 ,but these thoughts ran through my mind4 ,i believe and that far is all right1 because the ,bible so teaches and so do all the churches4 ,it ran through my mind that ,i ought to tell somebody else besides ,god that ,i believe1 so one day ,i went down town1 where there were quite a number of people worshipping ,god1 and they said they were ,christians4 ,i said ,i believe too1 and publicly confessed and told all the men that ,i believed in ,god and that ,jesus ,christ was ,god's son4 ,they all1 both men and women seem glad and ,i was told that all the churches1 as well as the ,bible1 taught that that was right4 ,then again1 in my mind1 ,i realized that is was a shame and was sorry that ,i had sinned against ,god and neglected to turn to him4 ,so1 ,i determined to sin no more but from henceforth to obey ,god and follow the ,lord ,jesus always if possible until death4 ,the ,bible approved of that procedure1 all the churches preached that was right4 ,then it ran in my mind that ,i ought to be baptized and in order to be safe and right1 ,i asked that ,i might in my baptism be submerged in water and raised up1 for the ,bible seemed to talk that way1 and all the churches said that that way would do4 ,so1 ,i asked a man whom the good people of all the churches so far as ,i knew1 call the ,bishop ,b4 ,h4 ,smith 7no kin to ,joe ,smith71 to baptize me4 ,he did so my immersing me in ,medicine ,creek in ,grundy ,county1 ,mo41 and raising me up1 ,i came walking up out of the water calling on the name of ,god4 ,this occurred on the #ahth day of ,september #aheh4 ,ever since then1 a half century and more ,i have been serving1 ,god1 keeping his commandments1 following his ,son1 my ,load and ,master1 and praying always4 ,now all this the ,bible teaches1 and so do all the churches4 ,now what church do ,i belong to8 ,you tell4 ,will ,i be saved8 ,you say4 ,why cannot we all1 ,christians1 take the ,bible at what it says1 and what all churches approve and be one church8 ,you answer4 ,you know we need not worry about the ,god side4 ,he will do all things right4 ,it occurred to me that what ,i did to become a ,christian was that which ,christ referred to in his conversation with ,nicodemus4 ,in a few months after my second birth1 ,i commenced to preach the word of ,gospel and chose for my first subject1 ,promise to ,abraham4 ,to my surprise when ,i had finished ,i had spoken nearly an hour and a half4 ,i told all ,i knew from ,abraham to ,christ4 ,i have preached for fifty years since then1 and while ,i have learned more1 ,i have never at any one time preached so long4 ,it took me1 however1 a long time to get down to the regulated time of forty or forty-five minutes4 ,i always had too much to tell4 ,this sermon was preached sometime in the summer of #ahei4 ,one thing ,i regret1 yes--there may be many things1--but ,i wish ,i had kept the dates of things1 such as converts1 baptisms1 funerals1 weddings1 etc4 ,but of these things ,i kept no account4 ,a few years ago ,i tried to recall the number of weddings1 and ,i got up among the hundreds1 and got lost and gave it up4 ,and ,i am sure that the funerals were as many or more than the weddings4 ,as a matter of fact ,i always had many calls to weddings and funerals4 ,i have married all kinds of people1 of various ages1 nationalities and religions4 ,among them octogenarians1 negroes1 and ,mormon4 ,some had been married from one to five times before4 ,but ,i never hear of but two couples who1 after ,i had married them1 were divorced4 ,nor did ,i every marry any that had been divorced4 ,i have preached the funerals of many1 ,saints and sinners1 people of various ages1 nationalities and creeds4 ,i have baptized believers ranging from nine to seventy-two years of age4 ,although ,i have been preaching for over fifty years1 my preaching has been usually on ,sundays4 ,i was a ,sunday preacher4 ,i never gave myself wholly to preaching for a livelihood4 ,yet1 except the last ten or twelve years1 ,i have missed but few ,sundays4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,s ,e ,v ,e ,n ,prof ,ficklin4 ,geometry4 ,bethany1 ,vir4 ,ordination4 ,first convert4 ,first funeral4 ,first wedding4 ,on the #aeth day of ,march1 #ahei ,i was asked how old ,i was4 ,i replied ',ego sum viginti unum4' ,you see at that very time ,i was attending ,prof4 ,ficklin's ,high ,school in ,trenton1 ,missouri1 and ,i tried to put into practice my ,latin4 ,my studies at that school were ,latin1 ,astronomy and ,geometry4 ,geometry was my favorite study and ,i was happy to have ,joseph ,ficklin as my teacher1 for he was one of the best mathematicians in the world4 ,the books in the library on ,mathematics alone covered all of one end of his study4 ,he became the author of a series of text books on mathematics from a book on mental arithmetic to a book on ,trigonometry and calculus4 ,as well as ,i loved geometry ,i had to leave school before ,i finished it4 ,like many another poor boy1 my money gave out4 ,the hardest practical geometrical problem that ever came to me in after life was this3 ,i wished to divide a piece of land which in shape was a trapezoid4 ,this trapezoid had two right angles1 and the parallel sides were respectively #agj and #abj rods in length4 ,the shorter of the other two sides was #afj rods in length4 ,now the question was1 at what point in the line of the side #afj rods in length should a line start1 running parallel with the parallel sides of the land to the opposite side1 so as to divide the land into two equal parts8 ,i have never been able to solve this problem1 nor could the surveyor ,i had employed1 but two of my boys1 before they were as old as ,i was when ,i wanted to solve it1 solved it4 ,so you see each generation becomes wiser than the preceding one4 ,this is well1 provided the wisdom is such as to direct all knowledge into the ways of righteousness4 ,i had to quit school before ,i had finished all my studies1 but had it not been for the war which came in #ahfa1 ,i perhaps would have been a graduate of ,bethany1 ,vir4 ,university4 ,for the good1 rich brethren of the country in which ,i commenced to preach had a habit of helping young men to an education1 who were called to preach1 and who bode to be a success4 ,but the war coming on1 spoiled all these plans for me4 ,but ,i will not express regrets for who would dare to complain when he has placed himself to be lead by the hand of the ,almighty4 ,as it is it may be far better than it might have been4 ,it was decided that ,i ought to be set apart to the work of an ,evangelist 7preacher7 in the church of ,god1 and on the #fth day of ,aug4 #ahfa1 during a district meeting of churches at ,lindley1 ,grundy ,county ,missouri1 ,i was ordained to the ,christian ministry1 by the laying on hands1 fasting and prayer4 ,brethren ,john ,r4 ,howard1 ,david ,t4 ,wright1 ,benjamin ,f4 ,smith1 ,d4 ,w4 ,stewart1 and ,r4 ,m4 ,sharp participating4 ,my first convert was a slave woman1 who1 hearing me preach1 believed and was baptized4 ,she was accepted of ,god1 for before him a poor slave woman at her master's feet is as precious in his sight as the queen on her throne4 ,god is no respecter of persons4 ,my first funeral was on the occasion of the death of a dear little child1 only a few months old1 the first born of young parents4 ,but the sermon was easy1 for has not the ,saviour said1 ,of such is the ,kingdom of ,heaven4 ,my first wedding was when1 after ,i had finished a term of school1 one of my school boys1 a young man1 came to me and said he wanted me to marry him to one of my school girls1 a young lady4 ,i said1 all right ,i will do that4 ,the arrangements were made4 ,afterwards ,i got to thinking about it1 ,i did not know how it was done4 ,i had been to but very few weddings in my life1 and ,i had not noticed particularly how it was done4 ,so1 ,i went to an old preacher who1 ,i knew1 had married many people1 and asked him how it was done4 ,he said it was easy1 just get the parties together and talk to them very solemnly a little while about marriage and getting married and then tell them to join their right hands and ask each a solemn leading question1 and if each said yes1 then pronounce them husband and wife1 and the thing is done4 ,so ,i went away and formulated in my mind the solemn words to say and the solemn questions to ask4 ,this ceremony proved to be very acceptable and popular1 and during all these fifty years or more ,i have been using the same ceremony and asking the same questions1 with but very little variation4 ,but ,i must confess when the time came for this first wedding1 and ,i had arrived at the place and saw the many guests with their wedding garments on1 ,i began to feel that it was not so easy a job after all4 ,in fact1 ,i felt a little scared4 ,and then to add embarrassment to fright1 another one of my pupils1 a young man both older and taller than ,i1 came to me while we were in the midst of the crowd1 awaiting the coming of the bride and groom4 ,stooping over he said in a whisper to me1 ,please stand up4 ,i1 thinking that he had some message that ,i out to hear1 quietly arose at once1 7for he was one of my best friends7 when he began to unfold a large1 long paper and read aloud to me some lingo of my duties1 responsibilities and procedures4 ,but just then the bride and groom were coming1 and ,i said to my friend1 ,be seated1 sir1 you are a little too late with your lingo4 ,the joke had the effect of remove my embarrassment and fright1 and ,i1 with ease proceeded with the marriage ceremony and the wedding was most beautiful4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,e ,i ,g ,h ,t ,first vote4 ,oldest brother4 ,war4 ,return to ,indiana4 ,in ,tophet again4 ,first ,baptism4 ,clarksburg meeting4 ,about this time ,i was1 the first time privileged to exercise my right as a voter4 ,the question was whether the state of ,missouri should secede from the union4 ,brother and ,i voted in the negative4 ,then during the same year1 #ahfj1 ,november the #fth1 we were privileged to vote for a ,president of the ,united ,states4 ,the candidates were ,a4 ,lincoln1 ,s4 ,a4 ,douglas1 ,j4 ,b4 ,breckenridge and ,john ,bell4 ,brother voted for ,bell for he thought ,bell was the only one that would save the union4 ,i voted for ,douglas because ,i thought his election would save from the impending war4 ,the manner of voting was then quite different from what it is now4 ,the judges of election sat in the school house by a lower open window and the voters would file up to the window on the outside4 ,for instance when ,i appeared at the window to vote1 a judge from within asked1 ,what is your name8 ,i replied1 ,z4 ,s4 ,hastings4 ,for whom do you vote1 asked the judge4 ,i vote for ,stephen ,a4 ,douglas1 was my reply4 ,the judge then said in a loud voice1 ,z4 ,s4 ,hastings votes for ,stephen ,a4 ,douglas4 ,the clerk recorded it4 ,that was all4 ,the next president ,i voted for was ,abraham ,lincoln4 ,and1 as it is said1 of some ,democrats who are still voting for ,thomas ,jefferson1 ,i am still voting for ,abraham ,lincoln1 that is to say1 these ,democrats are still voting for some of the principles that were taught by ,thomas ,jefferson1 and ,i am still voting for some of the principles held by ,abraham ,lincoln4 ,among them the rule which is called ,golden and is found the ,book4 ,this rule is not an iridescent dream with me4 ,my oldest brother ,joshua ,thomas ,hastings was a home guard soldier and a teacher in ,bolivar1 ,missouri1 when the battle of ,springfield was fought and ,general ,lyon was killed4 ,after the battle the ,home ,guards and ,union men in general in that part of the state1 had 7using a war word7 to skedaddle for their lives4 ,my brother tried to make his escape to ,kansas but three times was arrested by confederate scouts4 ,once1 in a road1 sheltered on either side with hazel brush and a thick undergrowth of other bushes1 the leader of the band1 who seemed to want to befriend my brother1 whispered to him1 that a majority of them 7there were six or eight of them7 had voted to kill him4 ,now said he1 jump for your life1 ,as soon as said1 brother leaped into the brush like a wild deer1--bang1 went the cracking of half a dozen or more guns1 but each shot missed except one1 which just grazed the top of his shoulder4 ,my brother then determined to return back to ,bolivar1 and with his family return1 if possible to ,indiana4 ,in this he was successful4 ,at this time our mother and two sisters were living in ,allen ,county ,kansas4 ,brother had not been back in ,indiana long until he helped to raise a new company for the war and with it went into the union army4 ,but in less than a year he was taken sick and died in an army hospital at ,henderson1 in ,kentucky1 ,november #adth1 #ahfc4 ,in the meantime ,i too had returned to ,indiana1 and1 with brother's wife1 went to him1 when hearing he was sick4 ,we were with him only about three hours before he died4 ,at the end of the next two days we returned with him to our old home in old ,clarksburg1 7now ,oden7 ,daviers ,county1 ,indiana1 where1 the next day1 we buried brother by the side of our father1 who had been buried nine years4 ,this was the second death in father's family4 ,brother was a good man1 a scholar1 a soldier1 and a teacher4 ,he gave his life upon the altar of his country at the early age of thirty-six4 ,war is a great evil1 dreadful1 fearful1 terrible4 ,o1 for the time when nation shall not lift up sword against nation1 neither shall they learn war any more6 ,upon my return to ,indiana1 after an absence of nearly five years1 ,i was quite a different person1 in many respects1 from what ,i was when ,i went away4 ,i had grown in length to be six feet and two inches tall and the hair of my head and the beard of my face was as black as jet1 the one standing on its ends1 the other full and hanging six inches or more in length4 ,besides had ,i not been born anew and was now a new creature8 ,old things had passed away4 ,yet ,i went back to my old place of teaching1 ,tophet4 ,with preaching added to teaching1 there again ,i taught the urchins and preached to the sinners4 ,and at this writing #aiaa1 there is a new name1 a new people 7a converted people71 a house of ,god and many worshippers of the ,most ,high ,god4 ,surely the world doth grow better4 ,at the ,owl ,prairie where ,i hoed corn when ,i was a little boy and fished in the canal1 ,i was called to take charge of a protracted meeting1 and at this meeting ,i had my first baptism4 ,heretofore ,i had always insisted on someone of experience to doing this4 ,the baptism took place in the ,west ,fork of the ,white ,river4 ,owl ,prairie is now the city of ,elnoa with two railroads1 and churches and schools4 ,my next attendance at a protracted meeting was to help ,thompson ,little4 ,this meeting was held at old ,clarksburg on the very site1 in a new church building1 where ,i went to school when quite young and where ,i appeared in my first effort as a public speaker4 ,it was a recitation and commenced the way3 ',tis a lesson you should head1 ,if at first you don't succeed ,try1 try again4 ,well1 at this meeting ,i preached and seven young people came forward at one time and gave me their hands and made the good confession4 ,it was the greatest number that ever came forward at any one time upon my invitation4 ,these seven were all my old playmates and schoolmates4 ,it was a good meeting4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,n ,i ,n ,e ,generous friends4 ,christian1 ,catholic ,methodist1 #a4ej #a4jj #j4jj ,a hawk story4 ,april #ae1 #ahfe4 ,all ,irish but one4 ,the ,bible in school4 ,not ,papa4 ,during this period of my life1 which included the latter part of the ,civil ,war1 ,i was occupied mostly at ,christian ,liberty1 and ,washington1 ,daviers ,county1 ,ind41 both teaching and preaching4 ,a part of the two years following this was spent in school at ,indianapolis and ,miram1 ,ohio4 ,at ,christian ,liberty1 my church house and school house were in the same yard4 ,on the first day ,i occupied the one and on the second1 third1 fourth1 fifth1 and sixth days1 ,i occupied the other4 ,and on the seventh day ,i rested4 ,that is the way teachers and preachers work4 ,i am not a sabbatarian4 ,at ,christian ,liberty which was a country place ,i made my home for almost four years in the family of ,w4 ,a4 ,wilson4 ,he was a well-to-do farmer and had an interesting family4 ,he was a good man1 but somewhat peculiar4 ,for instance1 as fast as ,i earned money teaching he would borrow it1 giving his note drawing legal interest1 and when the note was due he would pay it with the identical money he had borrowed4 ,he would also pay the interest4 ,i asked why he did that1 ,o he would answer1 ,i always like to have money in my pocket4 ,then besides1 he would add1 a young man ought to have his money at interest4 ,mr4 ,wilson was a ,christian and very generous and kind4 ,he only charged me #a4ej per week for board4 ,i also boarded at another period in my life in a ,catholic family named ,wade1 for three years4 ,they1 too1 were kind and generous1 charging me only #a4jj per week4 ,the father and mother were old and allowed me all the privileges about the home as ,i were a son4 ,more than that3 they allowed he all the liberty of a ,protestant ,christian1 telling me to read my ,bible as much as ,i pleased1 and if ,i wished to offer thanks at the table to do so4 ,this ,i did and they their crosses4 ,one ,saturday1 when sitting in my room in the spring of the year1 looking out of the open door ,i saw what not one boy in a million1 perhaps1 ever saw4 ,a large chicken hawk made a dive down in the yard at an old hen and her brood of little chickens4 ,mrs4 ,wade heard the noise and dashed out through the open door1 and threw her apron over the hawk1 and caught it and choked it to death4 ,one winter when teaching in ,tophet1 ,i boarded with a ,methodist man4 ,he too1 was kind and generous to a fault4 ,all he charged me was nothing4 ,he said it was worth more to have me live with his boys than it cost to board me4 ,teachers were elected to teach by ballot4 ,there was an election called1 and several soldiers1 who were at home on furlough1 were there1 also others4 ,they got into a wrangle about soldiers voting4 ,they came to blows4 ,just then a messenger came up on horseback1 at full speed1 and cried out that ,lincoln was assassinated4 ,i never saw such a sudden and marked change come on a company of men as came then4 ,the whole crowd soldiers1 and others1 the young candidates for the school with the rest1 came close together like stricken brothers and wept even to tears4 ,not a word was said for several moments until they began to leave for home1 the director said1 men we have not voted yet4 ,so they turned in all together without a word and voted and went home4 ,this was early ,saturday forenoon ,april #aeth1 #ahfe4 ,on another occasion ,i was a candidate for the teacher's place in a district where every family1 except one1 were ,irish ,catholics4 ,the exception as a ,methodist4 ,the ,methodist man was chairman of the school board4 ,the election was called for one o'clock ,p4 ,m4 ,the leading spirit of the district was a large1 old1 fine looking ,irishman1 who had been educated for a priest4 ,that day 7it was in the spring71 there was a log rolling on the leader's farm1 and every man in the district was a ,catholic except the chairman and myself4 ,i was a stranger1 had never been in the district before4 ,but the ,irishmen had heard of my success as a teacher in ,tophet1 and on their coming down to the school house after dinner to vote the leader shook hands with me and turning to the men he said1 ,men1 let's be after voting for the tall sapling and get back to the logs4 ,they all voted and ,i received every vote but one and that was the chairman's vote4 ,in this school1 ,i would every morning as had been my custom elsewhere1 read a small portion of the ,bible1 without word or comment1 and offer a short prayer for ,god's blessing upon us through the day4 ,i never had better behavior or as little trouble with any other school as ,i had this term with these ,irish ,catholic children4 ,the ,catholics1 however1 generally oppose the public reading of the ,bible and prayer in the public schools4 ,i kindly asked a good ,catholic friend one day why they opposed the reading of the ,bible4 ,i said1 ,the ,bible is a good book4 ,just so1 he replied1 too good a book for the common people to read4 ,ah1 ,i think not4 ,god has nothing too good for his children1 said ,i4 ,the teacher1 however1 that reads and prays should be a good teacher4 ,referring to the fact that these voters seemed to recognize me as soon as they saw me1 though they had never seen me before1 reminds me that has been my experience generally through life4 ,i never could account for people1 who had only heard of me1 knowing me upon first sight1 unless it was because of my long black beard and porcupinish hair4 ,there was one exception to this1 however1 when ,i was taken to be quite another person4 ,this ,i must now tell4 ,one year ,i went with ,elder ,joseph ,wilson to a church in ,lawrence ,county1 ,indiana1 called ,white ,river ,union1 to help him hold his yearly protracted meeting4 ,it was on ,sunday morning4 ,the elder and ,i were seated on the rostrum when a woman and her little daughter came in and taking seats1 looking up at us1 when the child pointing at me whispered to her mother1 ,see ,papa4 ,the woman looked and thought1 7so she said afterwards7--why1 sure enough4 ,i did not think he was coming4 ,upon second thought she knew it could not be he1 for he would not be in the pulpit4 ,the fact was that the woman and her child both thought at first without doubt that ,i was the husband and the father1 simply because ,i looked like him4 ,the name of this family was ,malott1 and the husband was doctor4 ,i did not get to see him4 ,i wish ,i had4 ,i would like to see the man that ,i look so much alike1 and even his wife and child could not tell the difference4 ,perhaps ,i could see myself then as others see me1 which ,i1 nor1 any man has ever yet been able to do4 ,no two men or any two things are exactly alike4 ,nor should we always judge a man by his looks4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,t ,e ,n ,brother ,john4 ,washington1 ,ind4 ,an accident4 ,an incident4 ,indianapolis1 ,hiram4 ,garfield4 ,i must tell you one other story1 boys1 about how ,i was not known4 ,upon my arrival from ,missouri to ,indiana ,i went at once to your ,uncle ,john's4 ,they did not know ,i was coming4 ,this was in the fall of #ahfa4 ,brother ,john had not yet returned from his school4 ,when he did come he stopped at the woodpile and commenced to cut wood for the next day4 ,his wife stepped out on the porch and said1 ,john1 come in1 there is a man here who wants to stay all night4 ,well1 said brother1 let him stay4 ,and he kept on cutting wood4 ,but he finally came in4 ,i arose and said1 how do you do1 sir8 ,he said1 ,howdy4 ,i said1 ,i want to stay all night4 ,he said1 ,alright1 be seated4 ,i sat down4 ,he said1 ,are you traveling8 ,i said1 ,i have been4 ,he said1 ,where are you from8 ,i said1 ,i am from ,missouri4 ,he asked1 ,from what part4 ,i told him4 ,why1 he said1 ,i have two brothers living there4 ,i thought he was mistaken1 ,i had forgotten myself4 ,i said1 ,what is the name8 ,he said1 ,hastings4 ,i said1 ,i know a ,w4 ,h4 ,hastings there4 ,he said1 ,why1 that is my brother4 ,i also have a younger brother there1 ,z4 ,s4 ,he is a teacher and they say he has gone to preaching4 ,i said1 ,sure1 ,i don't think he is there now4 ,well1 we sat there for half an hour1 he asking about his brother and ,missouri1 and the war1 and ,i telling what ,i knew4 ,finally his wife said1 ,john1 don't you know that boy8 ,i arose and he arose and said1 looking at his wife1 ,know that man8 ,why1 should ,i know him8 ,i extended my hand and said you ought to know me4 ,he hesitatingly took my hand and said1 ,who are you8 ,i said1 ,i am you brother1 ,z4 ,s4 ,he said1 ,impossible1 this cannot be ,simp4 7,when ,i was a child at home1 they called me ,simp47 ,i replied1 ,yes ,i am ,simp4 ,we could hardly make him believe4 ,how wonderful is life4 ,how little we know4 ,how much of the little we seem to forget4 ,yet someone says we never forget anything4 ,i expect to know more1 and know it better1 in the life to come4 ,this brother ,john was a grand old man1 but he has been sleeping in the grave ever since ,nov4 #c1 #ahia4 ,his good wife also sleeps4 ,but they left one daughter and three sons1 who are1 at this writing1 noble citizens in ,daviers ,county1 ,indiana4 ,i was chosen ,president of the ,county ,teachers ,association and elected as first assistant principal to teach in ,washington1 the county seat of ,daviers ,county1 ,ind4 ,this town was a little city of about four thousand4 ,it is now a beautiful city of ten or twelve thousand4 ,while there ,i preached in the court house and organized a small congregation which met to hear me preach and worship in observing the ,lord's ,supper1 on each first day of the week4 ,now we have a large congregation with a great church building costing many thousand dollars4 ,while teaching here a very sad accident occurred one ,saturday4 ,one of my pupils and a boy pupil from the room adjoining my room1 taught by a lady teacher1 were playing in an old barn with the barrel of an old army musket which had neither lock nor stock4 ,the boys had the gun barrel lying horizontally across the top of a barrel1 and in their play they would place percussion caps upon the nipple of the gun and strike them with a piece of iron to hear the explosion4 ,it was my boy's time to strike the cap and just as he struck the other boy was passing in front of the muzzle of the gun1 and the gun fired1 tearing the poor boy in front almost in two parts1 killing him instantly4 ,it was very said indeed6 ,the foregoing was an accident4 ,the following was in incident4 ,one cold1 snowy1 stormy1 wintry morning while we were at breakfast at my boarding house in ,washington1 at once we heard a wonderful crashing noise of many things fall upon the porch floor and then rush through an open door of a little room that stood at the end of the porch4 ,my host ran out and closed the door and what do you think was caught8 ,not less than nine quails4 ,we had pot-pie for dinner4 ,the remnants of that pot-pie left over1 served for dinner more or less for nearly a week until ,i became very tired of pot-pie4 ,and so changed my boarding place and boarded with an old1 well-to-do retired ,hoosier farmer and his wife4 ,the wife was a most excellent cook4 ,elder ,howe1 who had traveled over nearly all the states as an evangelist1 says no people excel the ,hoosiers for their hospitality and god things to eat4 ,it was about this period of my life that ,i attended school at the ,northwestern ,christian ,university at ,indianapolis1 ,indiana1 and later at ,hiram1 ,ohio1 #ahfe-ahff4 ,my teachers in ,indianapolis were ,president ,benton and ,prof4 ,nushour1 and ,dr4 ,brown4 ,at ,hiram1 ,errett1 ,burnett1 ,milligan1 ,anderson and ,atwater4 ,it was here ,i saw and heard ,general ,garfield deliver an address4 ,he was a great and good man4 ,the most scholarly1 pure minded and devout man ,i ever saw were ,milligan and ,anderson4 ,prior to my attendance to the schools mentioned above ,i had seen but few of our great teachers and preachers4 ,i had supposed the differences between what they knew and what the ordinary teacher and what the ordinary preacher knew was almost infinite in their favor and that their ability to tell it was very superior but1 on becoming acquainted with them1 ,i found they knew nothing more about the unseen world1 heaven or hell1 or sin and its forgiveness1 or death and salvation1 than the simple scholar and devout student of the ,bible4 ,now do not think1 ,boys1 for a moment that ,i am opposed to higher education1 and ,university training4 ,all these things are a great help and blessing to any person1 provided1 he or she accepts that wisdom that comes from ,god through ,his ,bible4 ,no man knows anything beyond the horizon of the present1 except what ,god's ,bible reveals4 ,and faith here becomes the only means by which this knowledge is obtained4 ,but this is not to be wondered at1 for is it not a fact that we are dependent on faith for nearly all knowledge4 ,faith is the greatest principle in the world1 unless it is love4 ,and faith is simply belief4 ,happy is the man who believes all things and proves all things1 and holds fast to all that is good4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,e ,l ,e ,v ,e ,n ,a meeting4 ,go to ,kansas1 #aifg4 ,nine ,mile ,house4 ,do ,stones grow8 ,on the shelf4 ,the ,spencers4 ,the ,johnsons4 ,brother ,rufus4 ,march #ae1 #ahfh4 ,during the holidays of the year ,i was in school in ,indianapolis ,i held a good meeting at ,christian ,liberty where ,i had taught and preached for a number of years4 ,many hearing1 believed and were baptized4 ,it was at this place afterwards that ,i preached my farewell sermon to old ,indianans before going to ,kansas4 ,there were a great many people at this meeting4 ,among them a ,methodist preacher who1 being free to address the people1 complimented me by saying that ,i had not only been a faithful servant of ,god among my own people but also among all people4 ,he also said that while ,i left many friends in ,indiana ,i would make many in ,kansas4 ,i am happy to say1 ,i have found it even so4 ,that preacher after ran for ,governor of ,indiana4 ,i was doing so well and had so many friends in ,indiana that ,i had about abandoned the idea of going to ,kansas1 but mother1 two of my brothers and my two sisters1 were already in ,kansas and were pleading with me to visit them at any rate4 ,so about the first of ,july1 #ahfg ,i took a train from ,washington1 ,indiana1 to ,st4 ,louis1 ,mo1 and from there ,i boarded a steamer for ,leavenworth1 ,kansas1 where ,i landed on the tenth of ,july1 #ahfg4 ,our steamer1 however1 had made a landing early in the morning at ,wyandotte to unload some railroad irons for the second road in ,kansas4 ,while there ,i steeped off on the muddy shore remarking that that was the first time ,i had ever dotted ,kansas soil with my feet4 ,well sir said an old darky standing by1 this as a mighty big dot where you step off4 ,i do not know to this day whether he meant the track ,i made or the town4 ,kansas ,city1 ,missouri was not big enough to stop at then1 but it is the big dot of the ,west now4 ,at ,leavenworth and everywhere the yards1 gardens1 road-sides1 fields1 all looked barren and dead as if a fire had ran over them4 ,the grass-hoppers had just left4 ,my brother ,henry lived west of ,leavenworth city in what was called the ,nine ,mile ,house4 ,my brother1 younger brother1 ,rufus1 and two sisters1 ,mrs4 ,dotson1 and ,mrs4 ,sears1 lived near ,grasshopper ,falls known now as ,valley ,falls4 ,of course ,i had not been in ,kansas very long until it was known that ,i was a young preacher4 ,and ,i was called upon to preach the funeral of a most excellent lady1 ,mrs4 ,roach1 who had died in the neighborhood of the ,nine ,mile ,house4 ,this was the first time ,i ever preached in ,kansas4 ,it was only a few days after this that ,i attended a meeting held by ,brethren ,dibble and ,mc,cleary1 a few miles west of the ,nine ,mile ,house at a place called ,,no4 #f and here ,i was invited to preach4 ,i did do it1 taking for a subject1 ,growth4 ,i remember saying in order to growth there must be union1 for separation is death4 ,even rocks grow1 but1 separated into stones1 they ceased to grow4 ,good1 old1 devout1 scholarly brother ,humber was there1 and kindly criticized my sermon by saying he did not believe that rocks grow4 ,i have never preached that sermon since1 but ,i still think rocks do grow4 ,from that time1 #ahfg1 ,i was a faithful ,sunday preacher1 more or less in ,kansas until ,i was nearly sixty years old1 when ,i became so infirm that ,i submitted to a place on the shelf1 where ,i am still waiting for transportation to the skies4 ,but ,i am not dead yet1 so ,i will go back and tell the rest of my story4 ,so many new friends in ,kansas came about me soliciting me to stay1 and teach and preach1 that ,i agreed to do so for one year at least4 ,among these friends there were none better than ,mr4 ,charley ,spencer of ,round ,prairie4 ,he secured for me the school at a larger salary than ,i had been getting in ,indiana4 ,i also had the privilege of preaching in the lower room of the ,masonic building4 ,to ,mr4 ,spencer ,i preached the gospel1 and taught his children to read4 ,he believed and was baptized1 and his children grew up to be wise and good4 ,his son1 ,hon4 ,dick ,spencer now a leading lawyer of ,st4 ,joseph1 ,mo4 learned his ,a4 ,b4 ,c4 at my knees4 ,it was also here during this year that ,i had the great pleasure and joy of baptizing my youngest brother1 ,rufus1 into ,christ4 ,in the meantime it was here ,i formed the acquaintance of the ,johnson family1 ,mrs4 ,emily ,johnson1 the aged mother and six noble sons1 ,w4 ,l4 ,david1 ,w4 ,h41 ,j4 ,e41 ,j4 ,c41 and ,m4 ,s4 ,these were all good citizen and ,christians4 ,the youngest of whom1 ,m4 ,s4 whose wife ,i baptized1 became an able preacher of the ,word1 and is to this day1 preaching somewhere in the state of ,oklahoma4 ,the third son1 ,w4 ,h4 was widower1 and1 with my help to solemnize the contract1 he took a second wife4 ,this wedding took place on the hill across the creek from at ,joseph ,mc,bride's residence 7for the bride was his daughter71 and this was my first wedding in ,kansas4 ,of the weddings that followed this ,i will not attempt to tell you1 for they are too many to be enumerated in a short story of an old preacher's life4 ,these ,johnsons all sold their possessions in ,leavenworth ,county and at the suggestion of ,pardee ,butler1 moved north into ,atchison ,co4 and settled in a new community called ,pardee ,station4 ,the ,johnsons earnestly solicited me to follow them to their new place and teach and preach in a large new school house that had been erected at the station4 ,so in the spring1 #ahfh1 ,i visited ,pardee ,station1 and preached4 ,it happened that this ,sunday was the #aeth day of ,march1 and consequently my thirtieth birthday anniversary4 ,this was the first time ,i ever preached in ,atchison ,county4 ,it was here and at this time that ,i met ,elder ,pardee ,butler for the first time in life1 and his family1 consisting of his wife1 two sons ,george ,c4 #ae years old and ,charley ,p4 #i years old1 and a little grown daughter ,rosetta1 #bc years old of whom ,i will speak more fully later on4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,t ,w ,e ,l ,v ,e ,south ,cedar4 ,an aged ,methodist4 ,a quick ,irishman4 ,webster's blue back spelling book4 ,the world was not turned upside down1 but the door turned on its hinges4 ,the school board at ,pardee ,station was not ready to give me an answer about school1 so ,i left them1 promising the ,johnsons that ,i would return in the fall4 ,i had a call to go to ,south ,cedar in ,jackson ,county and teach and preach4 ,this ,i did during the spring and summer and after the close of my school in ,july and ,august ,i called ,evangelist ,j4 ,h4 ,bauserman to come and help in a protracted meeting4 ,he came and the meeting started off nicely1 but on the second or third day1 ,brother ,bauserman was called home on account of his wife's severe sickness4 ,he could not return1 but ,i went on with the meeting and it proved to be one of the best meetings ,i ever held4 ,quite a number believed and were baptized4 ,the meeting was held in a large natural grove near where there was much water1 and was lighted with great torch lights4 ,at nearly every service people would come forward and make the good confession1 and often were baptized the same hour1 even the same hour of the night4 ,one day an old man1 seventy two years old1 and six feet four inches tall1 a ,christian in the ,methodist church for many years1 came to me and asked me if ,i would baptize 7immerse7 him and let him remain in the ,methodist church4 ,i said1 ,certainly1 ,i will baptize any man who wants to be if he believes in the divinity of ,christ4 ,he was baptized 7immersed7 and was a happy man4 ,at another time when ,i had baptized some1 and was coming up out of the water1 ,i said1 ,if anyone else is ready to obey his ,master ,i will gladly bury him with his ,lord in ,baptism4 ,an ,irishman1 who had been faithfully attending the preaching pulled off his coat1 and came down into the water1 meeting me1 he took me by the hand and lead me back into the deeper water4 ,when ,i asked him if he believed with all his heart that ,jesus ,christ is the ,son of ,god1 he answered1 ,yes1 for--today4 ,i dipped him1 and he came up out of the water a happy man4 ,my school here was very pleasant in almost every respect4 ,only one incident occurred that was otherwise1 and that turned out well4 ,a family of one brother and two grown sisters had only one speller between them4 ,i complained and sent word several times to their father that he ought to get a speller for each of his children4 ,so one day at noon he came over to school and took up a book and sat down by me with the open book and said1 ,one book is enough for three4 ,i can see and so can you so could another on the other side of me4 ,one book is enough for three1 ,i shall buy no more books4 ,i see1 ,i said4 ,goodbye he said1 and off he went4 ,after that ,i had the brother sit between the two sisters and all study from the same book4 ,now at this time ,mc,guffey's spellers were the only spellers used in all the schools4 ,webster's had been out of use for almost a generation1 but1 in about a week after this father had called at school1 as stated above1 he went at ,atchison ,city and somehow and somewhere he found and procured three new ,webster's old blue back spelling books1 and his children brought them to school to use4 ,when ,i saw them ,i said1 ,sure1 these are the best books ever made1--the very kind ,i studied when ,i was a boy4 ,maybe your father can secure enough for the whole school4 ,and since one is enough for three1 it would not take so many4 ,there is only this trouble4 ,until we can make the change1 you three will have to be in a class by yourselves4 ,so ,i kept the brother and two sisters in a class1 with their blue back spellers1 to themselves4 ,but1 listen1 in about a week more the class of three came to school each with ,mc,guffey's speller4 ,sometimes the best way to overcome an adversary is to agree with him4 ,one ,saturday evening ,i went across to ,north ,cedar to preach and when ,i got to the school house1 while there was a large crowd in the yard waiting to hear me1 the door to the school house was locked and the trustees said1 it should not be opened for me to preach4 ,an old disciple of ,christ1 who lived nearby1 said that ,i was welcome to preach in his house4 ,i said to the crowd1 ,if you will follow me over there1 ,i will preach4 ,nearly everyone followed4 ,i simply preached the truth1 ,christ1 and in my sermon referred to that text which says something about ,these that have turned the world upside down are come hither also4 ,well1 the next morning the world had the same side up as before only that school house door had turned on its hinges and was wide open for me to come in and preach4 ,which ,i did1 morning and evening1 and was invited back again and again4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,t ,h ,i ,r ,t ,e ,e ,n ,holton4 ,netawaka4 ,all said1 ,amen4 ,farmington4 ,married4 ,our home4 ,little ,wiley ,warren4 ,while teaching and preaching here on ,south ,cedar ,i began preaching on ,sundays at ,holton4 ,i preached in the school house1 court house1 or any empty room that might be found that was suitable4 ,i found suitable headquarters for my stay in the hospitable home of an old disciple of ,quaker origin whom everybody called ,uncle ,tommy ,adamson4 ,he was a true lover of ,god4 ,the ,presbyterians kindly offered me their house to occupy when they were not using it4 ,my recollection is1 that theirs was the only church in the town at that time4 ,the ,methodist1 who like we had been preaching in the school house about this time1 possibly a little earlier1 had erected a new1 brick church building4 ,well1 the gospel was preached and a number seemed interested and brother ,j4 ,h4 ,bauserman ,state ,evangelist was called to help in a meeting and the results was1 as usual1 some hearing1 believed and were baptized4 ,at the close of the meeting the converts were left pledged to meet on the ,lord's ,day to worship ,god4 ,and ,i promised to meet with them every two weeks to preach to them and worship with them4 ,this ,i did for a year or two1 going afterwards on the ,central ,branch as far as ,netawaka and then across on a public hack4 ,for ,i soon returned to ,pardee ,station 7,farmington74 ,speaking of ,netawaka1 reminds me of being called there in later life to marry a young ,methodist gentleman to a young ,mormon lady4 ,and this reminds me that ,i have married people of nearly all creeds1 colors and nationalities4 ,so of funerals4 ,the ,mormon preacher was at the ,netawaka wedding1 but ,i did not know it until the wedding was over4 ,to this day ,i do not know why ,i was called to this wedding4 ,i was never treated more kindly and hospitably at any other wedding4 ,and here let me say that the money ,i have received for weddings and funerals1 ,i think is more than ,i ever received for preaching4 ,in ,netawaka on that day1 in the afternoon1 ,i attended the ,mormon public worship4 ,there were about sixty present1 and they1 except the groom and his bride1 were old people and foreigners4 ,although the preacher was present there was no preaching4 ,it was a social1 song and prayer service1 and every man and woman took a part except the newly married couple4 ,when all had had their turn1 an elder1 7the father of the bride7 looked at me and said1 ,brother you have plenty of time1 if you have anything to say1 say it4 ,this was very unexpected to me1 but ,i stood up and said1 ,brethren1 if you will allow me to call you brethren1 this is the first time ,i ever attended your services1 and ,i must confess that the service1 as it seems to me1 is much like the old fashion services of the ,methodist and disciples that ,i attended when a little boy with my mother1 and ,i feel very comfortable and much at home4 ,they all said ,amen4 ,from ,south ,cedar ,i returned to ,farmington and found a nine month's school waiting for me at fifty dollars per month4 ,so ,i accepted the work and continued it for five years at an advanced salary of sixty-five dollars per month4 ,in the meantime1 ,june the #bhth1 #ahgj1 ,i was married to ,miss ,rosetta ,butler who still lives to bless my life1 and is still a true helpmeet in my old age4 ,shortly after our marriage we begin the erection of a new1 farm home for ourselves about one-half mile west of the station4 ,it was not long until we had a home1 not a palace1 but a home though humble1 yet tidy1 convenient and good enough for a queen1 as in fact1 it was occupied by a queen4 ,nor do ,i think1 boys1 could anything but compliments be placed by our old neighbors upon the way things were kept all about our farm when you were there4 ,do you remember the old ,farm8 ,and let me say just here that while ,god has always been good to me and comparatively my whole life has been a happy one no period of it was more happy1 more hopeful and sweet than the few years in our old home where ,i was the head1 your mother the queen and you children were about our knees4 ,for just twenty-five years we 7wife and ,i7 lived at ,farmington4 ,this is just half of the life of my man-hood days4 ,here all our children were born4 ,by us no threshold was ever crossed more than this one4 ,no paths were ever trodden more frequently than the paths to the well1 the barn and the post-office1 and the church4 ,no neighbors were ever so long ours in kindness and love4 ,no birds ever sang so much and sweetly as those in the very trees that had been planted by our own hands4 ,and no home was ever more truly dedicated day by day to ,almighty ,god upon bended knee and in the reading of ,his word4 ,do you remember the old home1 boys8 ,but life is not always sweetness4 ,it cannot be1 under the present sin-curst environments4 ,the first bitter experience and great sorrow that came to us1 was when death came our way on the #bast day of ,july #ahgg1 and took away our fourth little boy whom we had called ,wiley ,warren4 ,he was only #a year1 #f months and #ag days old4 ,i had preached the funerals of many little children before the death of our little boy1 and had thought that ,i knew how to sympathize with parents who had to bury their children1 but ,i did not4 ,if ,i were not an old preacher ,i would like to say now what ,i have said often when younger1 that everything else being equal1 an old preacher is better to preach1 and do pastoral work for a congregation than a young one4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,f ,o ,u ,r ,t ,e ,e ,n #aaj years4 #bhth of ,june1 #ahhd4 #d and #c4 ,closing school at ,farmington in #ahgc1 ,i quit teaching and took up farming and preaching1 as ,i had teaching and preaching until the year #aijg when ,i retired at the age of #gj4 ,so then ,i attended school off and on #aj years1 taught #ae years1 farmed #ce years1 preached #ej years1 working in the aggregate #aaj years in a life of #gj4 ,the explanation is that some people can do two things or more at one and the same time4 ,on the #bhth of ,june1 #ahhd1 indicating just exactly fourteen years of our 7wife's and my7 married life1 our youngest child was born4 ,in the meantime during these fourteen years to us 7wife and me7 were born seven children viz3 ,harry ,h4 ,april #crd1 #ahga4 ,paul ,p4 ,october #bbnd1 #ahgb4 ,otho ,o4 ,april #h1 #ahgd4 ,wiley ,w4 ,january #dth1 #ahgf4 ,clara ,c4 ,september #bdth1 #ahgg4 ,edith ,e4 ,january #cast4 #ahha1 ,milo ,m4 ,june #bhth #ahhd4 ,do you notice that the above children each has double initials4 ,this happened so with the two first1 with the others it was purposed so4 ,all of these children were born in the same home1 ,farmington1 ,atchison ,county1 ,kansas4 ,but now the parents are together1 alone and lonesome4 ,not a child near1 only in memory4 ,yet the seven are4 ,four are here-- ,in ,st4 ,louis1 ,harry4 ,in ,prescott1 ,paul4 ,in ,independence1 ,otho4 ,in ,new ,york1 ,milo4 ,in ,heaven three4 ,little ,wiley went on the #bast day of ,july #ahgg4 ,jesus said of him1 ,of such is the ,kingdom of ,heaven4 ,edith when on the #hth day of ,november1 #aijb4 ,elder ,h4 ,e4 ,ballou said of her3 ,fallen ,asleep4 ,miss ,edith ,hastings1 daughter of ,elder ,z4 ,s4 ,hastings1 granddaughter of ,pardee ,butler1 ,november #hth1 #aijb4 ,age twenty-one years4 ,was born of water and of the ,spirit ,february #b1 #ahid4 ,f4 ,m4 ,hooton1 minister of the house at ,pardee1 in which her father and grandfather preached and which services in memoriam were held4 ,dear old house1 if thy walls could speak how many1 how many things thou woulds't say4 ,thou woulds't tell what we can feel1 but cannot speak of or write of4 ,dear1 pure ,edith4 ,ten days of unalarming illness--sudden death4 ,a surprise to all but her4 ,a great shock4 ,did the ,lord tell her tonsillitis is something fatal8 ,may heaven's blessings rest on the family1 noble1 useful family4 ,earthly home is sad now4 ,heavenly home still nearer and dearer4 ,and on the church she loved1 on the ,senior ,c4 ,e4--we will not forget her pure sweet talks there--on the ,junior ,c4 ,e4 she organized and superintended until death4 ,on her assistant superintendent and bosom friend1 ,miss ,maude ,tucker4 ,on the school she taught1 on students of county ,normal at ,effingham1 who loved her1 on one noble young student of ,drake ,university who came to sit among the mourners as though he was already one of the family4 ,all love her at ,drake--,yes everywhere4 ,clara went on the #bcrd day of ,may1 #aijf4 ,mrs4 ,prof4 ,j4 ,w4 ,wilson said of her3 ,a ,beautiful ,life ,clara ,c4 ,hastings was born at ,farmington1 ,kansas1 ,sept4 #bd1 #ahgg4 ,married ,june #bhth #aije4 ,died ,may #bjth1 #aijf4 ,graduated from the ,a4 ,c4 ,h4 ,s4 in the class of '#ih and later completed the teachers' course in ,drake ,university1 ,des ,moines1 ,iowa4 ,taught nearly two years in primary grades at ,maxwell1 ,iowa4 ,resigned during the second year to stay with her parents after the death of her sister ,edith4 ,spent one year in ,muscotah1 ,kansa1 as primary teacher4 ,on ,june the #bhth1 #aije she married ,charles ,g4 ,sprong1 and their married life was one of happiness1 with every prospect of happiness and usefulness before them4 ,on ,may #ab1 #aijf twin daughters came to bless their home4 ,four days later little ,edith died and on ,may #bc1 ,clara closed her eyes on all things earthly and her ,heavenly ,father called he home4 ,a bereaved husband1 a father1 mother1 four brothers and numerous friends mourn her loss4 ,her life was short but well lived1 for she spent it in doing good4 ,a kind smile and a kind word for everyone was characteristic of her4 ,many evidences of her love and sympathy for others were shown at the funeral by the expressions of sympathy from the little children and aged alike4 ,when all hope of life was abandoned and it was thought best by friends to tell her the end was near1 her husband gently reminded her of little ,edith in heaven1 and told her she would soon be with her4 ,although a little surprised for she thought she was better1 she said it was all right if it was ,god's will4 ,her last hours were spend in comforting those left behind and many loving messages she gave them that will be a comfort to them and a help to lessen the sting of death4 ,her bright mind was active to the last4 ,she called for paper and pencil and named over many friends to whom she wished messages sent4 ,repeating with her father the ,lord's ,prayer1 and telling them not to mourn for her1 her bright pure life closed4 ,she died as she had lived--a ,christian4 ,the funeral services were held at the ,potter church1 conducted by ,rev4 ,hilton of ,atchison4 ,the floral tribute was beautiful4 ,a large number of people were present1 but owing to the distance a great many were unable to attend4 ,those from ,effingham were ,hiss ,speer1 ,emma ,ellis1 ,ollie ,wilson1 ,mabel ,weaver1 ,nellie ,grable1 ,mrs4 ,j4 ,w4 ,wilson1 ,mollie ,campbell1 ,j4 ,w4 ,campbell and ,ertel ,weaver4 ,evangelist ,frank ,richard wrote of her3 ,the memory of such a life is as the lingering twilight after the golden sun has set4 ,it is the precious memory of a life service4 ,service to her was a genuine pleasure4 ,for her ,master she served whose guiding hand she trusted4 ,her life was genuine1 sweet and gentle4 ,a deep religious fervor characterized it throughout4 ,pious1 consecrated and devout she was4 ,her services in the church were highly appreciated4 ,she loved the church4 ,her splendid counsel and example were of inestimable worth to the young people both in and out of the church4 ,in her home the sweetness of her life was a constant pleasure to her friends and loved ones4 ,to permeate the home with a ,christian spirit was to her a high aim4 ,the weight of sorrow brought on us by the death of these two noble daughters is still so heavy as to bring tears to our eyes and sadness to our hearts4 ,but we hope in ,god4 ,little ,ethel1 one of the twins1 still lives with her father and a kind step-mother4 ,may the mantle of her dear mother's goodness fall upon her and she grow up to be good and happy4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,f ,i ,f ,t ,e ,e ,n ,places4 ,uncle ,daniel4 ,will ,price4 ,visit ,ind4 #ahha4 ,return4 ,golden ,rule4 ,but to return a few years in the events of my humble life1 ,i find that ,i attended my first ,state ,teachers' ,association in ,kansas in #ahfi4 ,after ,i quit teaching ,i took up regular farming but kept up ,sunday preaching all these many years4 ,preaching at ,farmington1 ,pardee1 ,pleasant ,grove1 ,crooked ,creek1 ,lancaster1 ,wolf ,river1 ,holton1 ,whiting ,goff1 ,round ,prairie1 ,valley ,falls1 ,atchison1 ,hiawatha1 ,highland1 ,netawaka1 ,corning1 ,dyke's ,school ,house1 ,topeka1 ,winthrop1 ,winchester1 ,easton1 ,nortonville1 ,effingham1 ,muscotah and ,williamstown4 ,of course ,i did not preach regularly very long for many of these places but simply made evangelical visits4 ,but for some of them ,i preached regularly a number of years4 ,i preached in ,wolf ,river in ,brown ,county for two years4 ,every preacher likes to have wherever he preaches a place1 or home1 he can call his headquarters4 ,well1 at ,wolf ,river ,daniel ,miller's home was my home4 ,uncle ,daniel ,miller 7everybody called him ,uncle ,daniel7 was a devout disciple1 and one of the most charitable and hospitable men ,i ever knew4 ,uncle ,daniel was a well-to-do farmer and many were the poor who received from his charitable hand wood1 hay1 corn1 meat1 potatoes1 apples and money4 ,and1 if the preacher's sum was lacking he footed the bill4 ,i remember one ,sunday morning after the sermon ,i had a double wedding which ,i solemnized in one ceremony1 and ,uncle ,daniel had no bill to augment that day4 ,i usually received for preaching from #e to #aj per day4 ,but that day ,i had more than twice that amount4 ,many years after the wedding referred to above1 ,i saw a notice in the newspaper that the ,hon4 ,will ,price1 candidate for the senate1 would speak in ,woodman ,hall4 ,i attended the meeting4 ,the speaker came to me and taking me by the hand said1 ,elder1 how-do-you-do8 ,i said1 ,how do you do8 ,but ,i do not know you4 ,he said1 ,do you remember the double wedding on ,wolf ,river some years ago8 ,yes1 ,i said1 ,but you are certainly not the young1 bashful1 scared1 ,will ,price of that event4 ,i am he he said1 and sure enough he was he4 ,but now1 so different1 large1 handsome1 wise and brave4 ,all boys ought to grow to be men1 for men are what we need in this old1 sinful1 abnormal world4 ,in #ahha after ,i had been away from old ,indiana my native home for about fourteen years1 ,i returned and visited the scenes of my early life4 ,many were the changes--a passing of the old1 and a coming of the new1 bringing to me a mingling of sadness and gladness4 ,sad1 that so much ,i loved before and gone4 ,glad that so much new had come that was good4 ,everywhere ,i had been known ,i was greeted with much love1 respect and honor4 ,so ,i was constrained to preach again at the old altars4 ,and one young man even persuaded me to marry him to a pretty girl because he said he wanted to marry her and she was willing4 ,so ,i preached again at old ,liberty where ,i had preached and taught more perhaps than at any other place in the ,state4 ,i took for my subject ,unbelief4 using as a text the prayer of the poor man whose son had a dumb spirit1--,lord1 ,i believe4 ,help thou mine unbelief4 ,but1 where all may seen to be gladness and joy and faith1 sin1 or its effect1 is always lurking around somewhere nearby4 ,as ,i was preaching ,i recognized in the back part of the audience a man with tears in his eyes4 ,he was a strong intelligent man of the community4 ,he was about my age and fifteen years before this time1 when we were both younger ,i heard him confess with his mouth that ,jesus ,christ is the ,son of ,god1 and ,i with by own hands baptized him into ,christ4 ,after the sermon as he came to me1 ,i said1 ,sir1 what mean these tears1 are they tears of joy or tears of sorrow8 ,he answered1 ,tears of sin1 ,i suppose1 for while ,i was listening to you preach ,i was only wishing that ,i could have the strong faith which you seem to have4 ,he had lost his faith by forgetting his first love4 ,he that loves not1 obeys not4 ,not everyone that saith to me1 ,lord1 ,lord1 shall enter into the kingdom of ,heaven1 but he that doeth the will of my father1 which is in ,heaven1 ,jesus4 ,notwithstanding the many attractions of interest1 love and friendship among my relatives1 and friends of old ,indiana ,i had not been there four weeks until my heart was fully set to return to ,kansas4 ,and why not8 ,had ,i not left there a dear wife and five little children8 ,count1 boys1 how old you were then4 ,clara and ,edith also4 ,edith was less than a year old4 ,but ,i had fondled her so much upon my knees and call her by ,great ,blue ,eyes and sang to her so much ,baby ,bunn baby bunn ,great ,blue ,eyes ,looking now so merry ,now so very wise4 ,that upon my return home on the night train1 when on entering the home in the darkness of the night1 that ,i might not frighten anyone ,i call out1 ,where are my big blue eyes8 ,little ,edith being awake and hearing me1 cried out at once1 ,papa1 ,papa4 ,upon my return home ,i resumed my work4 ,crooked ,creek was one of my regular places for preaching quite a while4 ,i remember preaching there a sermon on the ,golden ,rule so called4 ,in my discourse ,i used the same basic principles and words that ,christ used in his ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,but afterwards a certain disciple said1 ,it is no use to preach that way1 for no one can live up to such teaching4 ,but it turned out in a few years afterwards that that disciple made1 7and is to this day7 one of the most faithful1 obedient and sacrificing members of the ,church of ,god4 ,thus it seems that the ,word preached may kill or make alive4 ,in this case it seems to have done both4 ,in the labors of my life as a preacher1 my work was mainly confined to the churches1 and not to the world4 ,i knew nothing however but to preach the gospel and teach the word4 ,so ,i think the gospel is the power of ,god to salvation to both saints and sinners4 ,at another place one had heard1 believed and wanted to be baptized1 but her husband said1 ,he who baptizes my wife endangers his life4 ,i said to the believer1 ,i will risk it4 ,i baptized her4 ,in two weeks ,i preached again and at the end of the sermon that poor man came to me and said1 ,i have been wrong4 ,i want to confess ,jesus and be immersed4 ,i baptized him4 ,some years after that ,i preached the funerals of both4 ,their lives had not been perfect but in their deaths there was hope4 ,we live by hope4 ,we are saved by hope4 ,let us hope in ,god4 ,hope is one of a trio of the greatest principles in the world4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,s ,i ,x ,t ,e ,e ,n ,politics4 ,topeka4 ,a vote4 ,a snow storm4 ,sister ,lottie4 ,whiting4 ,pleasant ,grove4 ,atchison4 ,there are many pleasant things connected with preaching and sometimes things are not so pleasant4 ,of course1 the most pleasant of all to the true1 conscientious preacher1 is turning many from wrong to right1 to salvation from sin and all its consequences4 ,to know that you have preached righteousness and lived a life worthy of imitation1 fills the cup of joy to overflowing4 ,while ,i have been teacher1 farmer and preacher for years and years and at one time was elected to a ,state office1 ,i never was a politician in the first sense of the word4 ,unfortunately the bad sense of the word has become the first4 ,there is a meaning in politics in which all may be and should be politicians4 ,after ,i had taught and stood in the front rank of teachers1 ,i thought ,i was entitled to be superintendent of schools1 but because ,i would not stand as a politician in its bad sense ,i was turned down4 ,turned down because while right prevailed1 wrong did much more prevail at that time4 ,it was in the time of the saloons4 ,but they say it is a poor rule that does not work both ways4 ,so without my seeking or asking for it1 in the fall #ahge ,i was nominated and elected to the office of ,state ,representative3 and this because ,i was a politician in the true and better sense of the word1 a ,christian gentleman and pure statesman4 ,and yet1 it was the time of saloons4 ,and yet1 again righteousness did abound but sin did much more abound4 ,i wondered why ,i was chosen1 until a friend explained it was because they wanted to give credibility to the ticket4 ,to this day1 ,i do not know whether it was a compliment or not4 ,but is made no difference1 it was at the ,state ,capitol with over a hundred other law-makers in the session of the centennial year1 and enjoyed it4 ,for ,i found many good men and learned gentlemen not a few4 ,and was honored by being placed at the head of the education committee and placed on two or three other committees also4 ,among the many votes and things ,i did1 ,i shall always remember with pleasure and pride one4 ,i was one of the six first to case a vote for the first temperance resolutions4 ,i have lived to see temperance prevail and the saloons to go4 ,the above is briefly the political paragraph of my life story and ,i am willing that it may go up to the ,judge of all the earth4 ,while in ,topeka ,i found but one family who were simply disciples of ,christ1 but the ,baptist disciples of ,christ invited me to preach in their house which stood near the ,capitol building4 ,neither the church building nor the ,capitol building was completed at that time4 ,at the close of the legislature a free excursion to the ,rocky ,mountains was offered to all the members1 but ,i declined to go1 for ,i was anxious to go home to a loved wife and four little boys whose names ,i remember were ,harry1 ,paul1 ,otho and ,wiley4 ,i always was a great lover of home4 ,the way it turned out ,i was truly glad that ,i did not go to the excursion1 for at that time1 on the #bgth day of ,march1 #ahgf1 there fell the greatest snow-storm ,i ever saw in all my life4 ,and the excursionists were snowbound in the ,rocky ,mountains many days4 ,here in ,kansas the snow drifted1 in many places1 from fifteen to twenty feet deep1 and it was almost ,may before the roads were passable to the city of ,atchison1 and many other places4 ,on the #bast day of this snowy month of ,march my youngest sister1 ,mrs4 ,charlotte ,ann ,sears departed this life1 at her home near ,logan1 ,kansas1 aged #cd years1 #i months and #ah days4 ,she was the sister playmate of my childhood days1 being about three years younger than ,i4 ,years afterwards ,i visited her grave in the cemetery near ,logan and the next day preached in the church building of the town1 on the ,christian's ,hope4 ,this was the third death of my father's family1 counting father himself4 ,i was the first to preach at ,whiting1 preaching in a large upper room1 until the disciples who had been called together built a house1 and dedicated it to ,god4 ,in this house1 ,i continued to preach4 ,that house stands unto this day and the disciples still worship there4 ,among the many that were there then whom ,i remember favorably and with pleasure remain but few1 among them the efficient and scholarly ,dr4 ,woodell4 ,but the ,doctor now1 like the writer of these lines1 is old and near the end4 ,goffs too1 was another place where ,i was the first to preach1 beginning in the school house and ending in a new church building1 where the disciples worship unto this day4 ,the pleasant recollection of the names of ,brockman1 ,springer and others will always be associated with my remembrances at ,goffs4 ,it is said that we never forget anything4 ,i believe this only in part4 ,i think the bad will be forgotten while the good will be remembered forever4 ,even the good ,lord has promised that he will remember our sins no more4 ,so ,i think ,he will let us forget the bad forever4 ,so1 too1 ,pleasant ,grove1 a country church just south of ,effingham one of the best country churches ,i ever knew1 is where ,i preached from the beginning1 7,i mean my beginning in ,kansas7 regularly for many years4 ,it was in the spring of #ahfh that two brothers1 ,john and ,jacob ,graves1 of ,pleasant ,grove came to ,round ,prairie where ,i was teaching and preaching to hear me1 and invited me to ,pleasant ,grove4 ,i never found a better preacher's home then the home of ,jacob ,graves4 ,good man1 he has gone to this reward in the skies4 ,brother ,john ,graves still lives and stands among the first on the list of my old friends1 and in the estimation of all as one of the best men in the world4 ,when ,i think of the fellowship1 the kindness1 the friendship and the love of the disciples of ,christ1 ,i think and know that ,his ,christianity is the best thing in the world1 and the only thing1 as an organization1 that is absolutely necessary for a man to join4 ,in an early period of the church in ,atchison ,i frequently preached in a small upper room which would seat about #ej people4 ,this hall was furnished us free by ,gen4 ,w4 ,w4 ,guthrie4 ,i remember being in the city one day and remained until evening to see the fireworks4 ,as ,i was going down town ,i met a man who said to me1 ,brother1 where are you going4 ,i told him4 ,he said1 ,well1 you turn around and go with me to prayer meeting1 and then we will have time to see the fireworks4 ,i asked1 ,where is the prayer meeting8 ,the answer was1 ,in the little upper room where you have preached4 ,i turned around and went1 and ,i still think it is a good thing to do-- to turn around and go to prayer meeting4 ,when we got to the place of prayer1 the minister1 ,m4 ,p4 ,hayden and three women were there4 ,with our augmentation there were1 in all1 six4 ,but we felt1 before the service was over1 that another was present1 even ,he who said1 ,when two or three are gathered together in my name1 there am ,i in the midst of them4 ,atchison has a congregation now of a hundred times six4 ,some of whom are my children in the gospel4 ,i always fell especially proud of ,john ,a4 ,fletcher and his wife because they are so good1 and because ,i taught them their letters1 baptized them1 and married them4 ,this was at ,farmington4 ,and many others at ,farmington were mine by teaching1 preaching1 marrying and burying4 ,i lived1 taught and preached longer at ,farmington than any other place4 ,i had in one family seven weddings1 and almost as many funerals4 ,over in the ,pleasant ,grove neighborhood ,i had nine wedding in one family4 ,some1 of whom at this time1 are my door neighbors and seem like my own children4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,s ,e ,v ,e ,n ,t ,e ,e ,n ,t4 ,b4 ,mc,cleary4 #ahhh ,sunday schools4 ,giants4 ,deaths4 ,john4 ,elizabeth4 ,effingham1 #c-a-ahhe4 ,a fire4 ,that man ,i met going to prayer meeting was ,j4 ,b4 ,mc,cleary1 with whom ,i am at the present time associated in the ,eldership of the church at ,effingham4 ,we have known each other all these years since4 ,brother ,mc,cleary is my senior exactly nine years to a day4 ,for many years we have been eating birth-day dinners together1 first at his house and then at mine1 until his good wife died4 ,since then we have always tried to have brother ,mc4 ,to eat with us4 ,and my good wife has for nearly forty years prepared a chicken pie for my birthday dinner4 ,the year #ahhh brought to both me and my dear wife a weight of sadness4 ,my good old mother passed away from the home of here youngest son in ,harper ,county at the advanced age of four score years1 two months1 and twenty-six days4 ,zettie's beloved father departed this life at the age of three score and two years1 seven months and ten days1 from his home one mile east of ,farmington4 ,why sadness8 ,these loved parents had lived to good old ages4 ,aha6 ,this sadness will work out for us an eternal weight of gladness someday4 ,the story of my life would not be complete if ,i did not add the part ,i have taken in the general or union ,sunday ,school work of ,atchison ,co4 ,the ,atchison ,country ,sunday ,school ,union ,association was organized at ,muscotah in the year #ahgj4 ,i was present4 ,this association has held an annual ,convention each year since its organization and ,i have missed but two meetings4 ,no one has been more faithful in attendance than that4 ,then with few exceptions ,i have always had a place on the programs4 ,for five terms1 or years ,i was secretary and for two1 president4 ,but1 for leadership and faithful1 untiring service in this great work1 the need of praise must go to ,issac ,maris of the ,seventh day lane4 ,in all the work of the ,bible ,schools of this country ,i have always felt1 during these four decades1 that it was an honor t try to stand as a second to ,issac ,maris is a friend4 ,in all my life's labor as a ,sunday ,school worker ,i have associated with no one so long and pleasantly as a coworker as ,isaac ,maris4 ,i must tell you just one instance of our lives4 ,mr4 ,maris is two years older than ,i am1 and two inches taller1 he being #f feet1 #d inches and ,i #f feet and #b inches4 ,well1 brother ,maris and ,i attended together a district ,sunday ,school ,convention in the city of ,horton4 ,the first evening was the children's hour4 ,many children were there1 seated on the front seats of the large hall4 ,e4 ,o4 ,excell was leading the children in song4 ,brother ,maris and ,i were seated just behind the children when one little fellow was overhead to say to another1 referring to us1 ,who am them two big fellows8 ,his seat-mate replied1 ,don't you know them fellows8 ,they are two ,sunday ,school giants from ,atchison country4 ,we took that and still take it as a great compliment4 ,in the fall of #ahia the sad intelligence came to me from ,indiana that my brother ,john ,a4 ,hastings was dead4 ,at his death he was fifty-nine years and fourteen days old4 ,brother was a good man1 a devout ,christian4 ,of his family still living there are one daughter and three sons1 all noble1 ,christian citizens of ,washington1 ,indiana4 ,one of the boys is a newspaper publisher1 the other two are able lawyers4 ,a few years later my oldest sister ,nancy ,elizabeth who lived in ,oregon1 passed away at the age of #fb years1 #b months and #aj days4 ,of her family only one son1 ,reuben ,edgar ,peyton is living4 ,he lives at ,peyton1 ,oregon4 ,at this writing ,i have only two brothers left4 ,one1 ,henry1 about ten years my senior1 the other1 ,rufus1 about ten years my junior4 ,in the fall of #ahid ,i was elected a trustee of the ,atchison county ,high ,school1 and made secretary of the ,board1 and held this position for six years being elected the second time4 ,that same fall we sold our farm1 #acj acres just east of ,farmington for #e1ejj and bought a farm #hj acres1 just east of ,effingham for #dfjj1 and moved to it on the #ast day of ,march1 #ahie4 ,at this time only three of our children were at home1 ,clara1 ,edith and ,milo4 ,harry1 ,paul and ,otho were off doing for themselves4 ,harry had attended school at ,holton and ,lawrence4 ,paul had graduated at a ,business ,college in ,kansas ,city1 ,mo4 ,otho had graduated at the county ,high ,school4 ,the girls and ,milo each afterwards graduated at the ,county ,high ,school1 and the girls attended school at ,drake ,university1 and ,milo graduated from the ,state ,agricultural ,college at ,manhattan1 ,kansas4 ,on the night of the same day ,i was elected trustee1 the ,high ,school burned to the ground4 ,we could see1 the next morning1 from ,farmington1 where we then lived1 the flames and smoke still ascending4 ,the first thing after the fire was for the ,board to secure a place or places to continue the school4 ,a mass meeting was called in the ,presbyterian ,church4 ,i attended the meeting and was called to the chair4 ,through the energy1 enthusiasm and sacrifice of the citizens1 especially ,mr4 ,frank ,wallack1 the resident member of the board and ,principal ,mr4 ,hunter1 ,assistant ,prin4 ,j4 ,w4 ,wilson1 and the suggestion of ,pres4 ,snow of the ,state ,university1 who happened to be present1 the school was running the next day in the churches and suitable vacant rooms that could be found in the town4 ,the new board was organized the #ast ,tuesday in ,january1 and the first business of importance was the securing the insurance money1 and the building of a new house4 ,there was some delay1 caused by not being able to adjust matters with the insurance companies1 and collect the money4 ,finally1 however1 every cent was collected and a new building was erected and stands to this day1 and ,atchison ,country has a high school second to none in the state4 ,our move from ,farmington to ,effingham was the only move we had ever made4 ,it being only six miles1 it was suggested that we move everything worth moving1 which when accomplished proved to be a task of fifty-two wagon loads4 ---#j--- ,c ,h ,a ,p ,t ,e ,r ,e ,i ,g ,h ,t ,e ,e ,n ,effingham1 ,church4 ,s4 ,s4 ,muscotah4 #ahii4 ,second visit back to old ,indiana4 ,the ,captain4 ,return to ,kansas4 ,st4 ,louis4 ,return4 ,clara4 ,home4 ,waiting4 ,our reasons for locating at ,effingham were1 the civility of the town1 the beauty of the country1 and the advantage of the ,high ,school4 ,true1 there was no congregation of ,christians1 nor ever had been except those with human named added1 but my life up to this time1 for thirty-five years had been spent in trying to persuade ,christians to be one1 and organize simply as ,christians4 ,so ,i concluded ,i would continue to do the same thing in ,effingham4 ,please note that ,i never use the name disciple or ,christian in any sectarian sense4 ,well1 ,i had not been here long until ,i found ,christians who invited me to preach in their meeting houses when not occupied by themselves4 ,notably among them were ,uncle ,ben ,wallack1 of the ,lutheran church1 and ,william ,reece of the ,south ,m4 ,e4 ,church4 ,few1 if any disciples in the movement for unity1 had ever preached in ,effingham4 ,i had been called several times to the town to preach funerals1 but that was all4 ,so ,i commenced preaching in the ,mr4 ,e4 ,church ,south on ,sundays and having preached a few times1 ,i requested that at our next meeting all disciples or ,christians1 7,i use these names as synonyms7 who were not members of any congregation1 to remain after the sermon4 ,this they did1 and ,i addressed them in the substance as follows3 ,beloved disciples of ,christ1 for such your action proves you to be1 my purpose in requesting you to remain today is to get better acquainted with you1 and possibly organize ourselves into a church of ,christ4 ,in order to further carry out these purposes1 ,i will1 by you permission ask each a direct question and take your names1 thus enrolling you as members of a church of ,christ in ,effingham4 ,so ,i took paper and pencil in hand and asked each one the same question1 viz3 ,are you a ,christian8 and took the name of each4 ,the answer of each one to the question was simply yes4 except one lady who said1 ,yes1 in the ,baptist church4 ,i said1 ,all right1 let me take your name and since there is no ,baptist ,church in ,effingham1 you go along with us1 without the ,baptist name4 ,she consented1 and she is to this day a member in good standing and full fellowship and nearly all her children have become ,christians too4 ,there was enrolled #cb names that day1 and this was the beginning of the ,christian church in ,effingham4 ,from this number myself1 ,henry ,shell1 ,sr41 and ,j4 ,w4 ,jones were elected ,elders and brethren ,j4 ,w4 ,wilson1 ,j4 ,m4 ,shell and ,c4 ,m4 ,gregory were elected ,deacons4 ,this was in the month of ,may1 #ahie4 ,i preached on for sometime1 but the infirmities of the flesh and old age creeping upon me ,i had to give up preaching4 ,so for about #ab or #ae years ,i have preached but little4 ,indeed for many years before ,i quit preaching ,i preached under a great weakness of the flesh4 ,in the meantime the observance of the ,lord's ,supper was kept up each ,lord's ,day1 and a ,sunday ,school had been organized with the ,m4 ,e4 ,south ,christians and ourselves working together1 by electing ,prof4 ,j4 ,w4 ,wilson as ,superintendent4 ,in the summer of #ahie ,evangelist ,o4 ,l4 ,cook held a meeting of fifteen or twenty days under an arbor on ,main ,street4 ,at that meeting the number of members was increased to seventy1 and the church and ,sunday ,school were more fully organized1 and have been meeting regularly on the ,lord's ,day1 and are at this time meeting in their own brick veneered building1 on ,elizabeth ,street4 ,all these years ,i have had the honor and responsibility of being the ,senior ,elder4 ,from the beginning to the present1 #aiaa1 there have been #ddh added to the church roll4 ,at present the church owes nothing and is having preaching all the time by ,frank ,richard1 an able and conscientious minister of the ,gospel4 ,the church1 by removals1 decrease almost as fast as it increases4 ,the membership at this writing is about #aej4 ,muscotah is a thriving little city just west of ,effingham4 ,there are but few disciples there except those in the churches of the town4 ,i have preached there a few times4 ,once the funeral of a little girl1 name ,clara ,hastings1 but she was no kin to us4 ,at other times the funerals of a very aged man and wife named ,mooney4 ,the wife was an own niece of ,alexander ,campbell4 ,she was a very good and learned woman4 ,in #ahii with ,clara who was in her #bbnd year1 ,i made a second trip back to old ,indiana4 ,it had been eighteen years since the other trip4 ,the eighteen years had made many wonderful changes4 ,so much so that ,i felt almost like a stranger in a strange land4 ,had it not been for the sweet1 bright1 joyful1 spirit of the dear daughter that accompanied me1 the trip would have hardly been tolerable4 ,o1 the joy of the father whose sons and daughters rise up in his old age and bless and honor him6 ,it was on this very visit when ,captain ,hastings1 hearing me talk of my boys and girls1 said to me1 ,cousin ,simpson1 ,i see that you1 like your dear old mother1 love your children4 ,i never knew a mother that loved her children more than she did4 ,true1 ,captain1 ,i said1 ,i have always like the extremes of age1 the young and the old1 and of course ,i like my own children4 ,i think when they were little about my knees was the happiest period of my life4 ,we returned home to dear old ,kansas--to our home near ,effingham1 but it was not like it was at the first return eighteen years before when the buildings were in their home nest1 and great blue eyes were looking out for me4 ,but now some had already flown and others were about ready4 ,true1 your dear old mother was there1 and ,edith too1 and ,milo were there but in three short years ,edith took her flight in company with the angels to the skies to return no more4 ,in #aijd your mother and ,i went to ,st4 ,louis to see the ,world's ,fair1 and to attend the ,national ,convention of the disciples of ,christ4 ,we made our home at ,harry's and so enjoyed the wonderful sights at the ,fair1 and feasted upon the rich spiritual things of the ,convention4 ,once again we1 7your mother and ,i this time7 returned to our humble home4 ,do you know1 boys1 that there is no place like home8 ,well1 this is true1 if home is home4 ,but ,i declare to you when it comes to taking your place at the old dining table and all the places on each side of its full length are empty and only the two end places are occupied1 it is lonesome4 ,only one more leaving and this was true of your father and mother's table4 ,for when ,clara on the #bhth day of ,june1 #aije the thirty-fifth anniversary of her father and mother's marriage and the twenty first anniversary of her brother ,milo's birth1 was married to ,mr4 ,charles ,g4 ,sprong1 the last place of the children was vacated1 and we were left alone4 ,but the heavier weight of sadness and sorrow did not come until1 within less than a year from ,clara's happy marriage1 death came for her4 ,and she was accompanied by the angels into the unseen world of ,glory4 ,in our lonesomeness we exchanged our farm home for a home in ,effingham1 and moved to it ,september #aith1 #aijg4 ,and here ,i rest1 trusting and hoping in ,god4 ,some day when ,i cannot1 will you please fill out the blanks below and that will be the beginning of the end4 ,z4 ,s4 ,,hastings4 ,born ,march #aeth1 #ahch ,died 4