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 Sermon anb Ebbti^^t^ 
 
 3ui.i
 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 ^ giscoursc 
 
 DELIVKRED AT THE FUNERAL OF 
 
 |)on. William J[. Mhccler^ 
 
 REV. SAMUEL T. CLARKE. 
 
 FOLLOWED BY 
 
 ADDRESSES AND LETTERS. 
 
 pKIiNTED FOR PRIVATE Cl R CU L ATI O .S . 
 1892. 
 
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 Scvinccs 
 
 At the Funeral of Hon. William F. Wheeler, 
 
 WEDNESDAY, JUNE Sck, iSg2. 
 
 E. ^t the g)o;xsf : 
 
 1. Prayer with the Family, Rev. Isaac G. Ogden. 
 
 [ This was at 3 P. M., immediately after which the casket was borne 
 
 to the church, where it could be approached for an 
 
 hour by all the neighbors.] 
 
 2. (rt) Prayer, at 4 p. m., by the Pastor, . . Rezi. S. T. Clarke, 
 (b) Scripture Lesson, ...... Read by Rev. Dr. IVaith. 
 
 {c) Benediction, Rev. I. G. Ogden. 
 
 E£. 3lt the yrhuvch 
 
 Dr. IVaith. 
 
 Organ Prelude and Anthem. 
 
 Prayer of Invocation, 
 
 Lessons: Eccl. xii. ; John xvii., . 
 Hymn. 
 
 Prayer Dr. IVaitlt. 
 
 Hymn. 
 
 SIEBjHlPN (LCor. XV. 58), Pastor. 
 
 Address, Rev. I. G. Ogden. 
 
 Hymn. 
 
 Address, Dr. Waith. 
 
 Prayer and Benediction, Faster. 
 
 Ccmctcnj : 
 
 Procession thither by way of the mountain road. 
 
 Prayer, Dr. Waith. 
 
 Committal, Pastor 
 
 2335.'14
 
 Sermon. 
 
 •Steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work 
 of the Lord." I. Cor. xv., 58. 
 
 Many years ago there stood in the city of 
 Hartford a remarkable tree that was regarded 
 with a truly human interest and affection by 
 all the inhabitants. The venerable Charter Oak, 
 as it was called, had become a popular idol, 
 because it had safely hidden and preserved 
 in its capacious heart the instrument which 
 insured valued civil rights to that whole com- 
 munity. The writer well remembers a wild 
 and stormy night, during whose dark and 
 windy hours the old monarch, banded about 
 as it had been by the citizens, with clamps
 
 6 Sermon. 
 
 of iron, fell, and great was the fall of it. In 
 the morning following great crowds gathered 
 and bewailed the common loss. We are 
 assembled to-day in view of an analogous 
 calamity. In the great heart of our departed 
 friend, for many years all the choicest interests, 
 civil, social, commercial, and religious, of this 
 county had found a warm and safe abiding 
 place. We mourn to-day the fall of a human 
 Charter Oak, one who was ever steadfast, 
 unmovable, always abounding in the work of 
 the Lord. It is very rare that those who par- 
 ticipate in any great battle remain long on 
 the field after the action is over. This valley 
 has been for fifty years a great battle field, 
 on which sturdy warriors have wrested from 
 reluctant nature the rich treasures which she 
 guarded so faithfully. One of the leaders in 
 this long action lies motionless among us to- 
 day. On the battle field where he commenced 
 the long conflict he has both lived and died,
 
 Sermon. 
 
 not, however, until he saw victory manifest 
 itself in these streets, happy homes and circling 
 families, where reigned, when he arrived, only 
 the thick shadows of a wilderness. 
 
 In enlarging upon the lives of prominent 
 citizens there are three methods that obtain. 
 They are either treated in a cold, statistical man- 
 ner, or in the commercial method recountine- 
 how much money they have made, or in an 
 emotional manner that exclaims "how we miss 
 the departed one!" It is not my purpose to 
 follow either of these methods to-day, but rather 
 briefly to characterize our departed friend's 
 life, and to draw from it certain lessons that 
 may be of practical value to this large con- 
 gregation assembled from this and adjacent 
 towns. We call a gifted person who takes a 
 cold, lifeless block of stone and cuts out of it 
 a figure that can neither move nor talk a 
 sculptor. How much more true is it that one 
 who seizes upon inanimate objects and so uses
 
 Sermon. 
 
 them as to mould them into new form, who 
 possesses in his mmd a high ideal which he 
 gradually works into a model community, who 
 takes the days as they come and carves them 
 into a noble life, is in a far higher sense a 
 sculptor, whose work is living, breathing and 
 priceless. The fanciful imaginings of the sculp- 
 tor and poet have a commercial value. How 
 much more precious are memories like those 
 which cluster about this silent bier, decked 
 with the fragrant pine which he so truly loved, 
 and to which he owed so much. It is difficult 
 to know where to begin a funeral resume of 
 such a life as this has been. There are those 
 whose personality impresses us, but of whom 
 when absent we can remember but little; but it 
 was a decided peculiarity of the departed that he 
 was a man about whom all can remember so 
 much, about whom the recollections surge back 
 so vivid and multitudinous that it is hard to 
 tell where to begin or to stop. Before noticing
 
 bcrmon. 
 
 the great lineaments of his character it will 
 be interesting to dwell upon some of the 
 general impressions which he made from day 
 to day upon all who came in contact with him. 
 William F. Wheeler was born in Hancock, 
 Delaware County, N. Y., in iSii. In 1834 
 he came to Olean and engaged in the lumber 
 business with the late Henry Dusenbury. Dur- 
 ing half a century that firm has continued. 
 He united with the church in Deposit, in 1831, 
 during a revival of religion, under that fervent 
 preacher Father Orton, and ever since, his 
 whole heart has been engaged in spreading the 
 Kingdom of his beloved Master. In addition 
 to the development of all his lumber interests 
 in this section, in Pennsylvania and in Michi- 
 gan, Mr. Wheeler was connected with the 
 establishment of the Portville tannery in 1S70; 
 the First National Bank of Olean in 1871. 
 Always deeply interested in politics and active 
 in the support of sound views, he at last con-
 
 10 Sermon. 
 
 sented that his name be used as a candidate 
 for the Legislature, to which he was duly 
 elected, and in which he served to the entire 
 satisfaction of his constituents, -and with great 
 credit to hniiself as a citizen and public man. 
 He esteemed it an equal honor when he was 
 sent by his fellow Presbyterians to the Synod 
 and General Assembly, in both of which he 
 sat as an Elder and magnified his office. His 
 business career was well characterized by one 
 of the public journals, when it said that it 
 was conspicuously marked by these three rare 
 qualities : sagacity, integrity and enterprise. 
 
 Mr. Wheeler leaves, as one of his most 
 valuable contributions to the world, a family 
 which was ever a subject of the deepest interest 
 and thought to him, consisting of a wife, two 
 sons and two daughters, in whom reappear the 
 noble traits which so well distinguished their 
 departed head. 
 
 Every one was struck as he came in
 
 Scimon. 11 
 
 contact with this strong life with the breadth 
 of Mr. Wheeler's enjoyments. Some people 
 have but one or two things which afford 
 them pleasure in their hours of relaxation. To 
 these they often become slaves, being lovers 
 of pleasures more than lovers of God. Most 
 of us are extremely limited in the range of our 
 pleasures. A man may be enormously rich, 
 and yet not have a single thing that he 
 honestly enjoys. If he has one, it may be 
 really a source to him of evil rather than good. 
 But Mr. Wheeler keenly relished a very wide 
 circle of diverse sources of enjoyment. If any 
 one of these failed he could easily turn to 
 another. Not one of them was ever likely to 
 result in evil. Not one of them was dependent 
 upon the possession of great wealth to obtain. 
 He most thoroughly and heartily took pleasure 
 in business, in church, in politics, in trees, in 
 horses, in the Bible, in singing in his family, 
 in ministers, in the anecdotes of his long life.
 
 12 Sennou. 
 
 in being read to, and in Portville. But in 
 many other common attractions which fasci- 
 nate others, he seemed to find no delight. 
 Theatres, novels, horse races and games of 
 chance were to him dull and stupid. This was 
 certainly a unique peculiarity. It was a wonder 
 that a man with such great business interests 
 resting upon his mind, with all the necessary 
 anxieties which they involved, could turn from 
 them so <iuickly and solace himself in the 
 things mentioned. So healthy, however, was 
 his soul that he found genuine and immediate 
 happiness, not in artificial and expensive joys, 
 but in the simple, natural objects with which 
 he in common witli almost every other human 
 being was surrounded. 
 
 Any one acquainted with our friend must 
 have remarked again many times that he was 
 possessed of a very unusual focusing power. 
 It is a rare trait of character that enables its 
 owner to bring all the separated rays of influ-
 
 Sermon. 13 
 
 ence within his reach at a moment's notice in 
 combination and activity to play upon some 
 single and little point. He had himself well 
 in hand. There was not a truant power in his 
 nature. Neither was there any that did not 
 obey the call of their master without delay or 
 hesitation. He was able on the shortest notice 
 to rivet his entire being as he did his remark- 
 able eyes upon any given matter that came 
 under his observation. This was done, too, with 
 a rapidity and comprehensiveness and force that 
 was like machinery. A person who expected 
 to catch him napping in any business matter 
 was rudely awakened to an appreciation of the 
 kind of man he was dealing with, and felt as 
 though he liad been struck with a sledge 
 hammer. He was not only quick to discern, 
 but quick to decide, and quick to act. There 
 are men in great numbers who possess unques- 
 tioned abilities, but who are slow in bringing 
 them to bear upon any given subject. They
 
 14 Sermon. 
 
 are not on call. They ask the indulgence of 
 the customary thirty days before making up 
 their mind; they hesitate and delay and post- 
 pone, though they may ultimately fall in line 
 and do admirable service. But with Mr. 
 Wheeler you always felt that he instantly 
 brought to bear his judgment, his will, and all 
 his activity upon anything that interested him. 
 There was also in his disposition a most 
 stalwart positiveness, that would naturally make 
 him leader in whatsoever he undertook. In 
 this day of uncertainty and non-committal 
 weakness, in which many through indifference 
 or indolence fail to take any position upon 
 the great topics of the hour, in state, in church 
 and in business, we cannot value too highly 
 one who first thoroughly examined the ground, 
 and then firmly occupied his position and 
 never surrendered. He was a man of decided 
 convictions, and conviction with him meant 
 action. Not only in little matters, but in
 
 Sermon. 15 
 
 grave concerns he was up and down, giving 
 forth no uncertain sound, positive at all times. 
 There were but few subjects that were worth con- 
 sideration upon which he had not made up his 
 mind, and it required no astute cross -examiner 
 to extract from him his testimony. Strange 
 as it would appear to one who had never seen 
 him, there was mingled with all these traits a 
 beautiful playfulness that flashed up even after 
 a heated discussion, as quickly as the sun often 
 shines after a summer storm. Never old, he 
 was often as playful as a boy with children 
 and with the loved domestic animals that 
 abounded about his home. Whether it was a 
 deer or a colt or a kitten, each seemed to 
 recognize the hand of one who wanted to 
 hold dumb intercourse with it. It would be 
 pleasant to continue this familiar detail of what 
 all know of the more private characteristics of 
 our departed friend as observed by those that 
 met him in the familiar intercourse of daily
 
 16 Scimon. 
 
 life, but we must turn from them to regard 
 him in another aspect. 
 
 He was emphatically a square built and 
 thoroughly square man. The four sides of _this 
 square corresponded to his four great relations 
 with his fellow men. In foreign countries those 
 who acquire prominence in the community are 
 apt to seclude themselves in parks behind high 
 impenetrable palings, and withdraw into strict 
 privacy. Mr. Wheeler lived in the world, 
 came in contact with all its activities, and 
 in four great relations won for himself the 
 proud reputation of standing true and plumb 
 with all mankind. It was a truly charac- 
 teristic thing when he removed all fences 
 about his pleasant home ; for he was constitu- 
 tionally social, and desired to enter into relations 
 with every one in whatever capacity he could 
 serve the community. 
 
 Let us notice the first side of this square. 
 He was pre-eminently a man. He was intensely
 
 Sermon. 17 
 
 masculine. His commanding figure, his strong 
 gestures, his deep -carved countenance, his 
 forcible speech, all his original personality, 
 as he walked through these streets, fearing 
 no man, and shunning no man, or as he 
 rose to speak in a meeting, were those of a 
 true man. He meant to succeed ; he was 
 willing to fight for it ; and he was bound to 
 conquer. To his very last day he retained his 
 strong manhood in every respect. He never 
 was an invalid or a suppliant for sympathy; 
 and on his sick-bed insisted to the last in 
 waiting upon himself and offering consolation 
 to all about him. All when they came in 
 contact with him felt that they were dealing 
 with a man. He would do the work easily and 
 cheerfully that he asked any one else to do ; 
 there was no task which he regarded as beneath 
 him or considered himself above performing, 
 no manual labor to which he would confess 
 that he was not equal. In the woods, on the
 
 18 Sermon. 
 
 raft, among horses, on the farm, in the bank, 
 he aimed to know about everything ; and if 
 occasion required would teach any employee 
 what he had learned by practice himself. So 
 into all that a man should enter he entered, 
 and was equally at home on a lumber pile or 
 in the assembly room at Albany. Fully 
 developed manhood was the first side of this 
 square. 
 
 He was, in the second place, a model 
 father. His home was a place far more im- 
 portant to him than his office. The duties 
 devolving upon him there he regarded as 
 important as any which he had. He had a 
 theory that if a man's family did not turn out 
 creditably it was his own fault, and that the 
 man who neglected his offspring for his ledgers 
 was guilty of sin. So he watched his growing 
 children more closely than he did any business 
 interest, and was more concerned about their 
 condition than he was about that of oil fields
 
 Sermon. 19 
 
 or dividends. He guided their education wisely, 
 but said often that it was about their characters 
 he was most concerned. Both by precept and 
 example he imprinted upon their minds all 
 the good maxims which a varied experience had 
 taught him. He was a firm believer in family 
 prayer, and he made it always an important 
 feature in the history of every day. The daily 
 song and the daily chapter he regarded as more 
 necessary than the daily paper. He brought up 
 his family, and God enabled him to do it well. 
 He was so successful that they have all turned 
 out as he desired, and not one of them has 
 ever been anything but a source of comfort 
 and of joy to him. 
 
 Let us notice the third side of the square. 
 He was a Christian. He was never ashamed 
 of it, and never concealed it. Sooner would 
 he cut off his right hand than he would be 
 ranked with unbelievers or atheists. It was a 
 part of his bone and marrow. Religion to
 
 20 Sermon. 
 
 him was greater than business, and he labored 
 
 to stamp it upon all his commercial interests. 
 
 It was the master force in his life. In his 
 
 early life he was untiring in revival labors, and 
 
 in later life in establishing churches in all this 
 
 county, and in aiding commendable charities 
 
 throughout the country. The Randolph Home 
 
 for Poor Children, the Freedmen's Colleges, 
 
 the public libraries, the feeble churches of all 
 
 denominations, the religious institutions at 
 
 Hickory and \n Michigan were constant re- *? 
 
 cipients of his benefactions. 
 
 In the fourth place, he was a Presbyterian 
 Elder. He was elected to this position in 
 this church in October, i860. Having sat 
 under the ministry of Dr. Lyman Beecher ; 
 he had something of the old-fashioned ideas 
 of the dignity of the church and of its offices. 
 In the Session he was a power, in the Prayer 
 Meeting a guiding spirit, in the Sunday School f. 
 
 an able executive. He was well acquainted a 
 
 •\
 
 Sermon. 21 
 
 with the Confession of Faith, and had very 
 positive convictions as to its merits and defects. 
 He was well grounded in the methods of churcli 
 government, and made a fretjuent study of all 
 the questions in which elders take a special 
 interest. As a Presbyterian church officer he 
 stood firm throughout the county in regard to 
 all matters that involved religious j^rinciples, 
 on occasion writing to Assemblymen and Con- 
 gressmen upon matters in which he feared they 
 were not inclined to take the correct position, 
 and by influences private and public he suc- 
 ceeded in influencing legislation in the interest 
 of all that was commendable and praiseworthy. 
 While in no sense a partisan or sectarian, he 
 knew what he believed, and maintained it for 
 the best interests of the State and Church. In 
 examinations of candidates for the Holy Com- 
 munion, he was always relied upon as able to 
 arrive at a correct knowledge of the experience 
 and purpose of those who presented themselves,
 
 90 
 
 Sermon. 
 
 and never would consent to admit those to 
 church fellowship whom he regarded as not 
 yet fully prepared for those solemn responsi- 
 bilities. Kind and gentle with the timid, he 
 was never deceived by the insincere, but con- 
 scientiously guarded the portals of the sanctuary 
 as one who must himself in the future render 
 an account of his stewardship. No pastor ever 
 had an elder who entered more fully into all 
 the activities of the church, and who was more 
 truly a support upon which to lean than 
 William F. Wheeler. 
 
 In bidding farewell to our beloved friend, 
 then, there are two pointed lessons which we 
 cannot fi^iil to note. 
 
 First, all our young people may well learn 
 from his example, that religion is not designed 
 in any sense to diminish innocent human 
 pleasures. In his life every good earthly 
 enjoyment was entered into most fully, and 
 without interfering in any way with the sane-
 
 Sermon. 23 
 
 tions of his religion. This always retained the 
 throne. Christianity elevated in his case every 
 earthly form of pleasure. It heightened all his 
 enjoyments, and it stood by him at all times 
 and in all places. 
 
 Second, we must learn that when all things 
 else failed to minister to him. Christian 
 faith watched by his bedside and sustained 
 him. He ceased to enquire about the tannery 
 or farm or bank, and seemed to have lost all 
 interest in them, but he never ceased to call 
 his family about his bed-side for the daily 
 prayer and to sing his favorite hymns, in 
 which he audibly joined until unconscious- 
 ness dropped its curtain over his lofty soul. 
 What a lesson as to the true wealth and as to 
 the wisdom of acquiring a vested interest in 
 the Kingdom of God. All else must fail, to 
 all else the human soul at last becomes totally 
 indifferent, but this, like the Word of God, 
 abideth forever. And so it came to pass that
 
 24 
 
 Sermon. 
 
 his last words, when he became aware that he 
 was making a final and total assignment of all 
 that it had taken a long life to accumulate, 
 were those beautiful expressions to his beloved 
 daughter, as she leaned over him, wondering 
 if he was regretting what most would regard 
 as an immense loss, "It is all right; it is 
 all right." 
 
 As the first pilgrims from England looked 
 at the ships which had brought them over from 
 the mother-land, spreading their sails for the 
 return voyage, and waved their hands to the 
 friends on board who were going back, and 
 felt that they were those left behind and 
 bereaved and in need of sympathy, so we 
 to-day, as his stately bark slowly sails down 
 the bay, carrying with it his soul and the pearl 
 of great price which he had obtained in this 
 far country, seem to realize that he needs no 
 sympathy ; for we are those that are to be 
 pitied, while he has gone home to the greater,
 
 Sermon. 25 
 
 the more blessed, the happy land, far, f;ir away. 
 We can follow him as he meets his old business 
 partner, and as they sit down together on the 
 banks of the great river, as they did beside 
 this rolling Allegany, and consult and plan, 
 as we know they are doing, for new enterprises 
 and new ventures and new projects which shall 
 redound, in the new country in which they 
 once more set forth as pioneers, to the glory 
 of God, as did all their projects here below. 
 Freed from all earthly diseases, they are young 
 once more together ; neither are idle nor can 
 be, but alert and active in the interests of that 
 better country from which they shall go no 
 more out forever.
 
 Ht>Dres5 b\? IRcv. Usaac (3. ©o^cn. 
 
 I have been in the pews instead of the 
 pulpit for the past four months, practicing 
 instead of preaching. True practicing and 
 preaching ought to go together, but they do 
 not always ; and sometimes practicing is not 
 so easy as preaching. Being uncertain whether 
 my voice will serve me, my remarks will 
 necessarily be very brief, though I am full of 
 the spirit of the occasion, and feel that I have 
 met to-day a great personal loss m the burial 
 of one of the best friends I ever had. And 
 besides, I feel that after the true and graphic 
 sketch of the life and marked peculiarities of 
 the departed, to which we have just listened,
 
 BDDrese. 27 
 
 very little remains to be said ; yet I cannot 
 refrain from adding my little tribute of 
 affection and respect to the memory of this 
 " Father in Israel." 
 
 When I came here some thirty-four years 
 ago to be Pastor of this church, I early made 
 the acquaintance of three men whom I soon 
 learned to appreciate and trust for their sterling 
 qualities of head and heart. I did not fully 
 appreciate them while here as I learned to do 
 afterwards. These three men were exceedingly 
 unlike in physical appearance as well as mental 
 capacity. Each was himself, unmistakably so ; 
 each created in a separate mould, and each 
 working out in his own way his individual man- 
 hood. Yet these men were also all alike in the 
 great essentials of Christian character ; all three 
 believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; all bowed 
 to His supremacy ; all were loyal to Him, and 
 all were active and devoted members of this 
 church. One of these, Henry Dusenbury, made
 
 28 B?Dre5S. 
 
 his exodus from his tabernacle of the body to 
 the house of many mansions over thirty years 
 ago, and the savor of his piety still lingers 
 among this people ; another, John G. Mersereau, 
 departed some nine years ago ; and to-day we 
 are to bury William F. Wheeler, the last of 
 this remarkable trio. It is seldom that a church 
 is favored with the presence and influence of 
 one such man in the first forty years of its 
 existence ; you, Christian brethren, have been 
 especially favored in having been given three 
 such stalwart men among you. 
 
 Who can take this man's place? No one. 
 He filled his own place, as each of us is to 
 fill his own place. Shall we mourn for him? 
 Yes, and no. Why should we mourn that he 
 has just entered on a larger and nobler life? 
 To the believer in Jesus, dying is only begin- 
 ning to live. No, we may not mourn that he 
 is now crowned victor over sin and death. 
 But we may mourn for his loss to us. How
 
 BDDrcss. 29 
 
 great that loss is, you will learn more and more 
 as the days go by. 
 
 Permit, in closing, a reference to myself. 
 Under the great trials that have recently come 
 to me, I have been wonderfully sustained and 
 comforted. In my experience, I have found 
 the fulfillment of the promise recorded in the 
 prophecy of Isaiah : " Thou wilt keep him in 
 perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon thee." 
 I have peace, not perfect, but peace, and I 
 find it by renouncing all trust in self, and 
 in staying myself in God. Every day, I 
 commit myself anew to the Almighty Saviour ; 
 and when He has His hold upon me, I know I 
 am safe for no one can "pluck me out of His 
 hands." 
 
 May my experience of God's sustaining grace 
 be the experience of you all, dear afflicted 
 friends; only may you have perfect peace, "the 
 peace of God which passeth all understanding."
 
 B&Dre55 ])\> 2)r. Maitb. 
 
 A noted divine in our country preached a 
 remarkable sermon -:- to develop the theme that 
 "Every Man's Life is a Plan of God" — a plan 
 sometimes marred or ruined by the man's own 
 perversity, but nevertheless a plan, or outline, 
 which it is one's duty and privilege to fill out, 
 and embracing things which it would be the 
 true significance and glory of his being to 
 accomplish. 
 
 It has been mine by a long, personal acquaint- | 
 
 ance with our dear departed brother, to observe 
 the remarkable fidelity and perseverance with 
 
 * Horace Bushnell : first sermon with above title in the vohime 
 ^ Sermotis /or the Neiu Life."
 
 BDDress. 31 
 
 which he ever seemed to be filling out the plan 
 providentially sketched for him by One who 
 sets us all our tasks, and has our times in His 
 hand. I think I may say with confidence there 
 is not one here who with clear vision can look 
 back farther, or so far, along the line of his 
 endeavors as I can ; for I remember him dis- 
 tinctly when he and his brother, the late Mr. 
 Addison J. Wheeler, were young, unmarried men, 
 rejoicing in their strength, active, daring, mus- 
 cular, never shrinking in the rough struggle with 
 pioneer hardships and dangers from any deed 
 or exposure in forest or in flood, which fell to 
 the lot of men in their calling. I can see as 
 in a panorama how our friend went steadily 
 forward, appearing with dignity and credit in 
 every part of his career, and in every character 
 he was called to assume — employer, merchant, 
 organizer, financier, husband, father, public- 
 spirited citizen, church officer, delegate, com- 
 missioner, legislator. In all these characters, he
 
 32 a^Dress. 
 
 ever conscientiously sought to do the work of 
 an honest, God-fearing man. And his whole 
 life was a success. God blessed him from the 
 beginning, crowning his days with lovingkind- 
 ness and tender mercies. So far as we can 
 see, he honestly and creditably filled out the 
 plan by which the Eternal Goodness intended 
 him to glorify God. 
 
 And now we are to learn, as it was hardly 
 possible for us to know before, how large a space 
 he filled in the counsels and the works of his 
 fellowmen. Well as I knew that he was press- 
 ing close upon the boundary where all thought- 
 ful men must begin to contemplate the solemn 
 possibilities of the life to come, I must confess 
 that when I saw the name of William F. 
 Wheeler in the obituary columns of the city 
 papers I was hardly prepared to measure the 
 significance of the announcement. 
 
 We must fall back upon the comforting 
 thought that the good and wise Lord whom
 
 BDDrese. 33 
 
 we profess to love and obey knows when to 
 call His servants from their tasks, when to bring 
 every pilgrim home, and has in view absolutely 
 all the circumstances and interests involved. 
 He does nothing purposeless or aimless, even 
 when He wraps a whole city in flood and fire.* 
 He that appoints the fall of every sparrow 
 remembers you, remembers me, knows just what 
 we can bear and ought to bear, just what we 
 can spare and when we can spare it best, and 
 has in view all our interests, bodily, temporal, 
 and spiritual, as we never could possibly have 
 them in view for ourselves. 
 
 To say that we are afflicted is to say little 
 or nothing. There are experiences that are so 
 sad and painful that words of description do 
 but play over them, like the mists exhaled from 
 the dark river, telling us nothing of the drown- 
 ing depths beneath. We who minister to-day 
 
 *An allusion to the terrible disasters which had just befallen the 
 towns of Oil City and Titusville on the river below.
 
 34 BODress. 
 
 in this funeral know each one what it is to lose 
 a dear and honored father. And we know, 
 too, what these bereaved ones know — what it is 
 to be guided and inspired bj- a sacred memory 
 that, like a benign lode-star, cheers every labor 
 and sweetens every cup along every mile of 
 the weary way. 
 
 The question, "Who was their father? "=J= is 
 a question which we are proud and happy to 
 answer. 
 
 Oh what an inheritance these dear friends of 
 ours have in the fragrant memory of the good 
 and noble man whom God has called up higher ! 
 
 I know some words of description in the 
 Bible the application of which you will all 
 recognize : 
 
 "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? 
 who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that 
 walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, 
 
 * I. Samuel lo : 12.
 
 BDDress. 35 
 
 and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that 
 backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to 
 his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against 
 his neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is 
 contemned ; but he honoreth them that fear 
 the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, 
 and changeth not."* 
 
 For me, this whole place is full of Mr. 
 Wheeler, these roads and walks, these trees, 
 that mountain path, and the sweetly winding 
 Allegany. But we know that the master is 
 really gone ; and the mountain that he knows 
 now is the high mighty hill of God, and the 
 river he knows now is that which niakes glad 
 the citv of God.
 
 Xctters. 
 
 [The following are selected from the numerous tributes of 
 sympathy and affection that were received by the family of Mr. 
 Wheeler immediately after the news of his death.] 
 
 A long, happy, successful and useful life has 
 reached the earthly ending. 
 
 And we who believe in the gospel of immor- 
 tality have come to regard the ending as but 
 the beginning of life. Death does not end all. 
 After the night comes the day. Spring follows 
 Winter. Death blossoms into life everlasting. 
 
 This was Mr. Wheeler's firm and life-long 
 faith. In that faith he has fallen asleep : 
 
 " Asleep in Jesus ! peaceful rest, 
 Whose waking is supremely blest."
 
 Xetters. 37 
 
 I knew your husband for thirty-five years. 
 He always received me with kindness from the 
 first day that I visited Portville. I have had 
 many conversations with him. I always found 
 him the same genial and generous friend. 
 
 What changes have taken place in the old 
 Portville homes ! How the good and true men 
 and women of that little town, having finished 
 their labors, have been borne up the hill to the 
 quiet cemetery for the long and unbroken rest ! 
 And I rejoice to feel that Heaven is richer 
 because of the simple, earnest, sturdy faith of 
 these dear old Portville saints and neighbors. 
 I am sorry that personal illness keeps me from 
 the services tomorrow ; but I ask you to 
 remember me as a sympathizer with you and 
 the children, and with the church so sorely 
 
 bereaved at this time. 
 
 J. H. V. 
 
 2035.14
 
 38 Xetters. 
 
 I was greatly shocked on learning, through 
 the brief notice in last week's Evangelist, of 
 your deep affliction. And now the fuller but 
 still too meagre words in the Olean paper 
 received today, bring back anew the memories 
 of the past. 
 
 The Times justly speaks of your father's 
 eminence and worth in the local business enter- 
 prises of Portville and Olean, of his church 
 connection, and of his unblemished character 
 as manifested in his consistent Christian life 
 and generous philanthropy. Many beyond the 
 bounds of his own community and county 
 know full well the truth of this. As one of 
 these, I wish to refer to one phase of his life 
 naturally unmentioned in the Times. 
 
 When I first became acquainted witli the old 
 Presbytery of Genesee Valley, your father was 
 one of its oldest members. Every one looked 
 up to liim with respect and admiration. His 
 unassuming manner, his excellent judgment, his
 
 XCttCl-6. 39 
 
 good, practical common sense (as rare and 
 valuable in an ecclesiastical body as elsewhere), 
 his business ability, his genial way and happy 
 faculty of making others happy and good- 
 natured, made him recognized though scarcely 
 a self-acknowledged power in Presbytery. Every 
 member felt better, the whole Presbytery ivas 
 better whenever he was present. 
 
 The old Presbytery is a thing of the past ; 
 but the members will never forget the quiet, 
 earnest, cheerful, helpful fellow -member who 
 was the recognized head of all, and whose 
 influence for good remains with every one. 
 
 You have my heartfelt sympathy in this your 
 
 great sorrow. 
 
 C. P. A. 
 
 I cannot express to you our sorrow on 
 hearing of Mr. Wheeler's death. But for the 
 fact that I must leave the city this afternoon to
 
 40 Xetters. 
 
 keep an engagement west, we would have gone 
 to the funeral to-day. 
 
 Yesterday, at the annual meeting of the Ran- 
 dolph Children's Home, there was one universal 
 expression of regret, and Mr. Wheeler's visit 
 there last fall, and kindness to the institution 
 always, were happily brought to mind. 
 
 The trees he planted there so thoughtfully 
 
 are all growing while he is gone. 
 
 G. V. F. 
 
 I can scarcely realize that so bright, cheery, 
 kind and vigorous a person as Mr. Wheeler 
 was, has passed away. He was a noble and 
 good man, a most valuable citizen, one of the 
 most earnest, manly and consistent Christians 
 I ever met, and one of the kindest-hearted and 
 most genial of hosts and friends. Few men 
 have I ever met in a social, hospitable way, whom 
 I revered and honored so much as I did Mr. 
 Wheeler.
 
 OLcttci-e. 41 
 
 His life was so full of good deeds, kindly 
 acts, noble aims and substantial success and 
 honors that it made a grand life history. 
 
 And when the kind Father lias taken away 
 some of the present bitter sorrow and enables 
 you to look backwards and forwards, surely it 
 will be some consolation to you to know, not 
 only that your friends have shared in your 
 sorrow and affliction, but that they and the 
 community in which he lived and those who 
 knew him throughout the land, think of him as 
 a noble man, who was permitted to have a long 
 and very useful life, and whose influence for 
 morality, integrity and Christianity was felt by 
 all around huii and all who knew him, and that 
 that influence will continue on into the far 
 future. 
 
 Such a life, with such a record is indeed a 
 
 noble heritage to hand down. 
 
 ''& 
 
 J. S. C.
 
 42 Xctters. 
 
 It is good of you to write me now, and to 
 let me stand beside you in spirit as I do to-day 
 while you lay your father's honored head upon 
 its last pillow. 
 
 My mind has been lately full of you all, and 
 of the anticipation of seeing your unbroken 
 circle ; and I cannot yet realize that he, the 
 wise, tender, strong, genial father is missing 
 from }'our head. 
 
 I mourn with you. I rejoice with you ; but it 
 is not for me to offer you words of consolation. 
 You have already all that 'can give comfort. 
 
 Never had an afflicted family such fountains 
 to draw from. He, and you all, have long 
 since learned to trust the will, the wisdom, the 
 love of our Father in Heaven. You all had 
 the blessed privilege of watching together beside 
 him to his last sigh. You have the memory of 
 his rare and beautiful life, and you have the 
 blessedness of a singularly united family affec- 
 tion, bound up in constant communion with
 
 Xctter^. 43 
 
 your sainted father for many years beyond the 
 
 common privilege of life. 
 
 May the God of all consolation give you 
 
 comfort and peace. 
 
 E. A. F. 
 
 This morning's mail brings me a letter tell- 
 ing me of all you have been called to go through 
 in these last days, and that now God has taken 
 your father home. 
 
 The "word" that conies to me as I think of 
 it is, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the 
 death of His saints." I think I never before had 
 such a sense of the comfort there is in those 
 words. To think that those who go from us 
 not only enter into " peace that passeth all 
 understanding," but that they are waited for, 
 looked for with joy, and that their entrance 
 into their heavenly home is precious to their 
 and our Father in Heaven. Should it not 
 comfort our hearts ?
 
 44 Xettere. 
 
 You may know that I am looking forward to 
 welcoming my sister here to-night. With all 
 the joy this anticipation brings to me, it can 
 only give me a feeble sense of that infinite joy 
 of the Father's heart. Let us rejoice and be 
 exceeding glad. 
 
 The sorrow and the pain must come, but 
 " thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 What more can I say after words of such 
 deep comfort. 
 
 "May the Lord lift up his countenance upon 
 
 thee, and give thee peace." 
 
 M. N.
 
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