University of California Berkeley 
 
 Purchased from 
 
 ALEXANDER GOLDSTEIN 
 
 MEMORIAL FUND 
 
RECOLLECTIONS 
 
 AND 
 
 INCIDENTS of a LIFETIME; 
 
 OR, 
 
 Men and Things I Have Seen. 
 
 In a Series of Familiar Letters 
 to a Friend. 
 
 Historical, Autobiographical, Anecdotal 
 and Descriptive. 
 
 By PHILANDER STEVENS. 
 
 BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
 1896. 
 
To the memory of my sainted wife, 
 
 the loved companion 
 for more than fifty years in my life's journey , 
 
 is this simple narrative 
 
 most affectionately dedicated by her 
 
 sorrowing husband* 
 
I INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 In your last letter, received a few days since, 
 you referred to some incidents of my life which I 
 had related, and expressed a desire to know still 
 further of the incidents and events of my long and 
 busy life, already prolonged beyond the allotted 
 three score and ten years. 
 
 I have, therefore, actually determined upon 
 carrying out your suggestion to write a memoir of 
 my life and times a sort of personal narrative. 
 
 The only thing that makes me hesitate is a fear 
 that an autobiography must essentially be a 
 personal history, and would be very likely to be 
 flavored with egotism, a sentiment I detest. I 
 shall, however, try to divest this simple history 
 of the air of egotism as far as I can do so, and, 
 perhaps, the best form in which I can give the 
 details will be in the form of letters to you ; thus 
 telling a simple story, in a simple way, to an old 
 and very dear friend 
 
VI INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 I will, therefore, invite you to go with me, in 
 imagination, over the principal scenes I have 
 witnessed, carrying you back to my boyhood days 
 to my early country life, in which I was born 
 and bred. 
 
 The history will be, essentially, a personal narra- 
 tive simple, commonplace, nothing marvelous, or 
 out of the beaten track of common experience. 
 
 In regard to many of the events I shall have 
 occasion to describe, the character and character- 
 istics of men and things I shall portray, my 
 connection was only that of a spectator. 
 
 How far the recollection of those early days 
 will serve me as I try to arrange them upon the 
 thread of my memory, remains to be seen ; and I 
 must crave your kind indulgence to overlook all 
 mistakes. 
 
 PHILANDER STEVENS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER I. PAGE. 
 
 Introductory. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Early History, and Some Account of 
 
 Ancestors - 1-14 
 
 LETTER III. 
 Further Early History and Incidents - 15-41 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Leaving Home. Commencing Mercantile 
 Life Marriage. Birth of Daughter 
 Marion. Incidents - - 42-59 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Removal to Cairo. Birth of Our Daughters 
 Florence and Ella. Death of Sister 
 Elizabeth. Death of My Father. 
 Uncle Smith Stevens. Miller Excite- 
 ment. Mexican War Incidents. Old 
 Political Parties 60-74 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 Selling Out in Cairo. 
 
 Removing to New York. Business and 
 Incidents. Change of Business - 75-99 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER VII. PAGE. 
 
 Panic of 1857. Trip to the West. Busi- 
 ness Methods. Incidents - 100-124 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Panic of 1857. A New Resolution. 
 Providential Escape. Political Excite- 
 ment. Election of Lincoln - 125-137 
 
 r ~ 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 War Clouds Looming Up. Standing the 
 Draft. -Business Trip to Virginia. 
 Flag of Truce Boat. Incidents - 138-158 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 A Business Expedition. Trip to North 
 Carolina. Terrible Storm. Narrow 
 Escape. Incidents 1 5 9-1 7 7 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 A Visit to the Battlefield of Newbern. 
 Description of Slave Market. Incidents. 
 A Visit to Richmond. Libby Prison. 
 Washington. Lincoln's Reception. 
 Incidents - 178-198 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Failure of the House of Lathrop, Luding- 
 ton & Co. New Business Connections. 
 A Trip to Europe. Cyclone at Sea. 
 Incidents 199-215 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 LETTER XIII. PAGE. 
 
 London. Windsor Castle. Paris. The 
 Continent. Switzerland and the Alps. 
 Germany. Black Forest. Heidelberg. 
 Worms. Baden Baden. Incidents 216-235 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Holland and Quaint Old Rotterdam. Scot- 
 land and its Scenery. Bannockburn. 
 Stirling Castle. The Trossacks. Re- 
 turning Home. Death of Our Daughter 
 Marion 236-253 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 A Journey to California and Incidents. 
 Yosemite Valley. Big Tree Grove. 
 San Francisco. United States Mint. 
 Salt Lake City and " The Saints " 254-276 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Marshall Pass. Canyons of the Rockies. 
 Colorado Springs. Pike's Peak. Gar- 
 den of the Gods Denver. Family 
 Gatherings in Illinois and Wisconsin. 
 Return Home. Death of Daughter 
 Ella. Incidents 277-286 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Death of My Wife. Incidents of Her Last 
 
 Sickness and Death - - - 287-295 
 
Recollections and Incidents 
 of a Lifetime. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 MY DEAR II. 
 
 You will, of course, expect that in the be- 
 ginning of my story, I make you acquainted 
 with the place where I was born, as well as 
 the objects surrounding it. 
 
 In the mountainous part of the State of 
 New York, in the western range of the Cats- 
 kills, in the southern corner of Schoharie 
 County, is a small village by the name of 
 Gilboa. 
 
 Near this village, in a one-and-a-half 
 story, plain farm house, I was bom on the 
 1 6th day of November, 1819. The town was 
 at that time named Broome, but has since 
 been named after the principal village, 
 Gilboa. 
 
 This village lies in a hollow or basin sur- 
 rounded on all sides by mountains. These 
 mountains in my boyhood days seemed the 
 very Alps in dimensions ; but in later years, 
 
2 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 like most things of our boyish imaginations, 
 diminish to but small affairs. 
 
 The Schoharie Kill Creek, a rapid and 
 turbulent stream, which rises in the Cats- 
 kills, a few miles only from the Hudson 
 River, taking a westerly course through the 
 gorges of the mountains, finds its way into 
 the Mohawk and thence back again after a 
 journey of some two or three hundred miles 
 to the Hudson, and within a few miles of 
 its source. This creek was the southern 
 boundary of my father's farm, where I was 
 born and spent my boyhood days. From 
 our house this creek (perhaps it should be 
 called a river) was in full view for a mile or 
 more, the view including the " Stevens 
 Falls" a veritable Niagara in a freshet. 
 These falls were the waters of the Manor Kill, 
 another mountain stream, which emptied 
 into the Schoharie Kill, immediately below 
 the falls. 
 
 As I said, the Schoharie Kill was a rapid, 
 turbulent stream. The spring freshets 
 caused by the melting of the accumulated 
 winter snows in the mountains, were some- 
 thing grand and terrible ; the ice two and 
 three feet thick would be broken up by the 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 3 
 
 rushing waters, often forming dams and 
 overflowing whole valleys before giving way 
 and then carrying everything before it- 
 bridges, mills, houses, barns, cattle, hogs, 
 and sometimes human beings were swept 
 away. 
 
 I remember one winter, my father wanted 
 to secure some pine logs the trees growing 
 on the bank of the creek, just below the 
 "Stevens Falls," and there was no way 
 except to get them on the ice, and then 
 down the creek on the ice, a half mile to a 
 sloping bank. 
 
 We succeeded in getting all the logs on 
 the ice. They were large logs, some two or 
 three feet in diameter and twelve and four- 
 teen feet long. The ice was thick and solid 
 and we commenced to haul the logs with a 
 double team, a yoke of oxen, and span of 
 horses ahead. Night came on after we had 
 secured a few of the logs, and we intended 
 to secure the rest next day, but during the 
 night a tremendous rain came on, and in the 
 morning it continued to rain and the water 
 was running a foot deep over the ice, but 
 those pine logs were too valuable to lose, 
 and my father was one of those determined 
 
4 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 men who would never yield, even to the 
 elements, when he resolved on doing a thing, 
 so we harnessed the horses and yoked the 
 oxen, and waded the water running over the 
 ice and commenced hauling the rest of the 
 logs. 
 
 I shall never forget the fear and dread of 
 that forenoon in the rain and deepening 
 water, running swiftly over the ice, and the 
 dark, yellow, muddy water just above us, 
 pouring over the "Stevens Falls," the 
 Manor Kill having already broken up. 
 
 I well remember my fathers anxious look 
 as we drove back for the last log, and how 
 glad we all were when it was landed safely 
 on the bluff with the rest, and we, my father, 
 myself and the hired man, with the teams, 
 all safe. 
 
 While we were at dinner, an hour later, we 
 heard the roar of the waters, and on looking 
 out the sight was one never to be forgotten. 
 The breaking up of the thick ice, the rolling 
 and tumbling of great blocks as large as a 
 house floor, forming dams which would 
 resist the gathering waters for a few minutes 
 and then giving way carrying all before it, 
 like some resisting army, yielding inch by 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 
 
 inch to a superior force, until swept away, 
 pursued and pursuer, pell mell in a race, the 
 one for victory and destruction, the other 
 for life, all sweeping on in a confused 
 mass, victors and vanquished struggling 
 together. 
 
 I believe these sudden freshets seldom 
 occur since the country is cleared up and 
 the land tilled ; the snows melt more gradu- 
 ally and the ground holds the water. 
 
 While speaking of this creek, there were 
 many incidents during my boyhood days 
 connected with it. It was a great stream 
 for eels. I used to set my poles over night 
 with line and hook, the hook baited with a 
 small fish ; often in the morning I would 
 haul in two or three eels. This was about 
 the extent of my fishing, the reason being I 
 had not the time always had more import- 
 ant work to do. 
 
 I remember one morning, I missed one of 
 my poles, and, in my own mind, charged a 
 neighboring boy with stealing it. I had no 
 evidence, but firmly believed him guilty. 
 In the summer we boys often went swim- 
 ming in the "deep hole," a little below my 
 eeling place. In wading about I felt a pole 
 
6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 lodged and held between rocks, and on pull- 
 ing it out found it was my pole, and on the 
 hook was the largest eel I ever saw, a mon- 
 ster two or three feet long, dead, of course, 
 and decayed. He had dragged away the 
 pole and lodged it with himself among the 
 rocks and there died. It was one of the 
 lessons I have learned to lay up nothing 
 against anybody on suspicion. 
 
 This deep hole was the sheep washing 
 place ; a yard was built on its bank, where 
 the sheep were driven in, and one by one 
 taken out in the water waist deep, where 
 the sheep would float without being able to 
 touch bottom and its fleece washed white as 
 snow. When all were washed, they were 
 driven to a pasture nearby, where there was 
 no dirt, or chance to get the wool soiled, and 
 kept a few days until perfectly dry and 
 then taken to the barn for shearing. 
 
 This sheep shearing was quite an event. 
 We boys became quite expert ; could often 
 take off the fleece whole or nearly so, like 
 taking off a shirt by turning it wrong side 
 out. 
 
 The sheep was robbed of its fleece by lay- 
 ing it flat on the barn floor, and commenc- 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 7 
 
 ing at the head and shearing towards the 
 tail turning the fleece wrong side out as you 
 proceed and finishing at the tail. The poor 
 sheep making no resistance, perhaps not 
 realizing it was being robbed. 
 
 I heard a good story told by Marshall P. 
 Wilder. He said he was going through the 
 country the next summer after the last 
 Presidential election and seeing a man 
 shearing a sheep and shearing from the tail 
 towards the head, he stopped and told the 
 man he was shearing the wrong way ; the 
 right way was to commence at the head and 
 shear towards the tail. u Yes," the man 
 said, " I know it but I voted the Democratic 
 ticket last fall, and ever since I have been 
 ashamed to look a sheep in the face." 
 Well, I don't wonder ; a sheep ought to 
 know better than that. 
 
 There are a great many risks in raising 
 sheep ; they are of all animals the weakest 
 for self defence a very little dog will race 
 a flock of sheep and kill many, often in 
 sport, as it is natural for a dog to chase any- 
 thing that runs from it. Wild animals, 
 too, often kill sheep ; and in some com- 
 munities there are lovers of mutton who 
 
8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 will steal sheep they are such easy and 
 noiseless victims. 
 
 To go back a little in my narrative : I was 
 the ninth child of a family of eleven chil- 
 dren, all of whom lived to grow up and all 
 but one lived to be married and settled in 
 life and all but four are still living. 
 
 Of the eleven children eight were sons 
 and three daughters. My sisters were all 
 older than myself Cynthia, the eldest, mar- 
 ried, before I can remember, James Rose. 
 She was the mother of a large family. The 
 next sister, Phebe Ann, married John 
 Schermerhorn. She died of consumption 
 leaving a large family of young children. 
 The third sister was Elizabeth, who never 
 married. She was the nearest to an angel 
 of any human being I ever knew. She 
 lived a life of self-sacrifice for the rest of 
 the family. 
 
 Of the brothers, Ozias, the eldest, left 
 home when fifteen years of age and became 
 a clerk in the store of Uncle Alfred Hand 
 in Durham ; this before my remembrance. 
 When he became of age he opened a store 
 in Gilboa, where he conducted a successful 
 business for forty years or more. 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 9 
 
 My next brother, Alanson, learned the 
 trade of a tanner, and while yet a young 
 man carried on the tannery of my father 
 and Uncle Smith Stevens until he moved to 
 Wisconsin where he is still living, a 
 prosperous farmer. 
 
 My next brother, Hiram was, as a child in 
 feeble health, not considered strong enough 
 for the hard life of a farmer, and so he 
 studied medicine and became a skillful 
 physician and lived to a good old age, 
 dying two years ago. After these my 
 brothers Jason, Ezra and Calvin became 
 clerks successively for brother Ozias, and 
 finally became merchants themselves as did 
 my youngest brother Edward, so that I 
 being the only one left, became the boy 
 farmer and lived at home until fully 
 grown up. 
 
 To go back again in my narrative, I will 
 speak of parents and grandparents. My 
 grandfather, Gershom Stevens, sen., was 
 born in Stratford, Fairlield County, Connect- 
 icut, in 1741, and his wife, my grandmother 
 Phebe Henry, at the same place, in 1744. I 
 have not been able to trace the genealogy 
 of my grandparents back more than two 
 
10 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 hundred years. It is well known, however, 
 that their ancestors came from England, if 
 not with the Pilgrims very soon there- 
 after ; they were thoroughly New England 
 people. 
 
 My grandfather was one of the heroes of 
 the Revolution. He was a blacksmith by 
 trade and carrying on a successful business 
 when the war broke out. He left his shop 
 and joined the little band of patriots when 
 the trouble first began. 
 
 There was a scarcity of blacksmiths to do 
 the army work, repair locks, shoe horses 
 and other army work and he was assigned 
 to this work as an artisan with commission 
 and pay of a major. Among the duties 
 which he performed was overseeing and 
 helping to make the big chain across the 
 Hudson River at West Point. Was often 
 on expeditions with the army, was in many 
 of the battles and vicissitudes of the war, 
 and was one of the sufferers of that terrible 
 winter at Valley Forge. He lived at Dan- 
 bury, Conn. at least his home was there 
 and his family resided there during the war. 
 When the British and Tories burned that 
 place, his house and shop were burned with 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 11 
 
 all their contents. I have often listened to 
 my grandmother' s narratives of these events, 
 until I felt I could go out and thrash some 
 Briton or Tory, no matter how big he 
 was. 
 
 I have but a faint recollection of my 
 grandfather who died in 1825, but my 
 .u-nindmother (and she was a grand old 
 lady) lived in my father's family after 
 my grandfather died, until her death in 
 1831. 
 
 They were both buried in the old burying 
 ground in Gilboa, with some of their old- 
 est children beside them. 
 
 For some reason or through carelessness 
 or without any reason, these graves were 
 neglected for half a century, until the old 
 brown stones had crumbled and the letters 
 nearly obliterated. 
 
 Some eight or ten years ago my cousin D. 
 T. Stevens and myself resolved to erect a 
 monument on the spot, and now at the 
 head of the plot, near the entrance to 
 the old cemetery, is a granite monument, 
 the base of which has in large deep-cut 
 letters " Stevens" and on the monument 
 inscribed : 
 
12 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Sacred to the Memory 
 
 of 
 
 GEESHOM STEVENS, Sen., 
 A Hero of the Revolution, 
 
 1741 1825. 
 And his wife, PHEBE HENRY, 
 
 17441831. 
 
 Here also rest the remains of their children : 
 OZIAS STEVENS, Sen. 
 LEVI STEVENS, Sen. 
 
 CHARITY, wife of REV. CHARLES TUCKER. 
 ANNA, wife of WOODHULL HELM. 
 Lois, wife of JOHN DECKER. 
 THALIA, wife of JOHN PARKER. 
 
 Erected by D. T. & P. STEVENS. 
 
 There are several other Revolutionary 
 soldiers buried in this old cemetery ; and all 
 these graves, with my grandfather's, are 
 cared for by the Grand Army Veterans of 
 the late war and are decorated with flowers 
 on every Decoration Day. 
 
 My father and mother are buried in the 
 same cemetery, in a lot of their own, with 
 several members of the family. 
 
 My grandfather was quite a character 
 according to tradition. I have heard many 
 anecdotes about him. A neighbor was cut- 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 13 
 
 ting logs and grandfather accused him of 
 being over the line on his land, and a 
 quarrel ensued. Grandfather said for three 
 cents he would kick him off the log ; the 
 neighbor dared him to do it, and said he 
 would give him the three cents to do it, 
 whereupon grandfather walked up the log 
 and kicked him headlong off the log, and 
 then went and got out a summons and sued 
 him for the three cents. 
 
 These were in the rough times, in a rough 
 country, and men became rough. These 
 two men were really good, kind-hearted 
 men and, as I heard the story, were after- 
 ward good friends would do anything for 
 each other. 
 
 Another story was : among a New England 
 Puritan community in his younger days a 
 prominent citizen was accidentally drowned 
 from a boat in which were two other men. 
 At the funeral held in the church, the 
 clergyman said it had been decreed from 
 the foundation of the world that this man 
 should be drowned ; hence it was no ac- 
 cident but a divine decree. 
 
 After the services, grandfather objected to 
 the doctrine of the preacher and used some 
 
14 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 very emphatic language and said: "If I 
 had been in that boat, by the eternal I 
 would have broken the decree." If I re- 
 member right the story was : he was tried 
 and punished by the church, which was 
 then the civil authority in such cases. 
 
 My father partook something of his 
 sturdy character, indomitable perseverance, 
 a will to overcome all obstacles, a strong 
 constitution, untiring ; it was work, work, 
 work, twelve and fifteen hours a day; 
 nothing too much for him to undertake. 
 
 He with my Uncle Smith Stevens, during 
 my boyhood days and long before I can 
 remember, were engaged together in many 
 enterprises, and they always took the brunt 
 of the hardest work. They built and 
 carried on a grist mill, two saw mills, one 
 of which was worked by eight horses an 
 invention of their own the other by water, 
 a shingle factory and turning works, also 
 run by water, a tannery, besides carrying 
 on, each, a large farm. 
 
 If anybody thinks the boys of such fathers 
 had an easy time they are very greatly 
 mistaken. About my chance for an educa- 
 tion, I will leave that for another letter. 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 15 
 
 LETTER III. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 In my last letter I mentioned something 
 about my grandparents and my father and 
 mother. I will tell you a little more about 
 my parents, to give you a better idea of my 
 early surroundings and advantages. 
 
 As I said before, my father was a man of 
 indomitable perseverance, and the immense 
 amount of labor together with the eco- 
 nomical habits of himself and family would, 
 in almost any other section of our country, 
 have made him independent. As it was 
 it was terrible uphill work, mills anJ. 
 machinery constantly breaking down, sup- 
 plies for repairs and millwrights so hard 
 to be got the distance from the nearest 
 market town, Catskill, forty miles over hard 
 mountain roads, lumber from the mills to 
 be hauled to Catskill and sold, or shipped 
 by sloop to a New York market. It was a 
 three days' trip to haul a load to Catskill, 
 and one thousand feet of hemlock boards 
 was a good load for those roads, and if I 
 remember right, the price obtained in 
 
16 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Catskill was less than ten dollars a 
 thousand feet. 
 
 It is easy to see how big a dollar seemed 
 in those days. Many and many a time was 
 I sent with a load of lumber to Catskill 
 before I was twelve years old, generally, 
 however, in company with one or two other 
 teams driven by a hired man or one of my 
 cousins. 
 
 We always took with us our lunch box 
 and bag of oats for the horses, as the pro- 
 fits would not afford paying the tavern bills; 
 only for stable room for the horses and the 
 rick of hay, and a bed for us. 
 
 There were special rates for lumber 
 men and teamsters at the taverns. The 
 price for meals, if we felt sometimes by the 
 third day out like eating a good square 
 meal, was one shilling (12 1-2 cents). Even 
 these small expenses, with the gate money, 
 four toll gates between Gilboa and Cats- 
 kill, made quite a hole in the price received 
 for the lumber. 
 
 I remember on one occasion my load was 
 to be shipped to New York on a sloop. 
 
 I drove to the dock. The captain of the 
 sloop, standing on the sloop deck, asked for 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 17 
 
 my memorandum of the number of feet in 
 the load. 
 
 I opened my wallet to get the memoran- 
 dum when every penny of money I had (all 
 in change) dropped out between the dock 
 and the sloop into the river. 
 
 I have often met losses since of many 
 thousands of dollars, but never one that 
 I felt the loss as I did this. I was forty 
 miles from home ; it seemed to me I was 
 ruined, stranded and strapped. 
 
 I had friends, however, who came to my 
 relief, lent me the money I needed, and 
 encouraged me not to take the loss too 
 much to heart. 
 
 I believe the amount was something like 
 two dollars, all in silver and pennies ; but 
 it was a big sum in those days. 
 
 1 sometimes, now, look back on those long, 
 tedious trips of my boyhood days and the 
 incidents connected therewith with a sort of 
 nightmare feeling. In crossing the mount- 
 ain, there were three miles of steep hill to 
 climb, and every few yards the horses would 
 stop to breathe, and I had to be ready with 
 a stone to block the wheel ; often with 
 the most desperate straining only a few 
 
18 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 feet could be made without a stop. The 
 utmost strength of a team could be, gener- 
 ally, pretty accurately gauged. 
 
 One man I knew said he could load his 
 team so exact that if he threw his mittens 
 on the load they would be just enough 
 to stick his team. 
 
 There were many incidents which I well 
 remember ; some narrow escapes from dis- 
 aster. On one occasion, after the long climb 
 up the mountain and commencing to go 
 down on the other side, the bolt holding 
 the single whiffletree of the off horse 
 dropped out, letting the whiffletree drop 
 down under the horse's heels. The horse 
 made a sudden jump which let the tongue 
 of the wagon drop out of the ring of the 
 neck yoke. 
 
 This was at the top of a long, steep hill 
 and the situation was extremely critical. 
 Soon the horses were under a full run, with 
 the heavy loaded wagon of lumber at their 
 heels, one horse still fastened to the wagon, 
 and the other with the whiffletree at his 
 heels. Of course the horses and wagon 
 were entirely unmanageable ; a deep gully 
 on one side of the road, and I, a boy of 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 19 
 
 twelve or thirteen years, on top of the 
 load of lumber. I was powerless, as the 
 oldest and best teamster in the world 
 would be under the circumstances. 
 
 My cousin, Alfred Stevens, was driving 
 the team ahead far enough to be out of 
 danger. 
 
 The team behind was driven by Jake 
 Dixon, who described the affair afterwards. 
 
 He said, when he noticed my horses were 
 running away and the wagon zig-zagging 
 now on one side of the road just on the, 
 edge of the precipice, and then on the 
 other side, that I was standing up straight 
 with a line in each hand holding the horses 
 with all the strength I had until near 
 the bottom of the hill, when I pulled 
 the horses suddenly to the left up against 
 the hill, still holding on to the reins, and 
 jumped clear of the wagon, the near horse 
 breaking loose as the wagon went over the 
 bank. 
 
 I did not receive a scratch, but was 
 badly frightened. The horses were not 
 much injured, only some cuts on their 
 legs made by the splintered wagon tongue ; 
 but they were also badly scared and 
 
20 KECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 stood trembling while some kindly farmers 
 and carpenters, working on a new building 
 near, came and put liniment on the 
 horses' legs and coddled me quite a good 
 deal on my narrow escape and helped 
 my cousin and Dixon repair the wagon 
 and re-load the lumber and start me 
 again on my trip. 
 
 I have often been over that same road 
 since and always stop to see the place that 
 came so near ending my earthly career. 
 When I remember how many narrow 
 escapes from disaster and imminent peril I 
 have passed through, it seems to me my life 
 has been a charmed one. The dear Lord 
 has often allowed me to see the brink of 
 peril and danger, and then snatched me, as 
 it were, from the very jaws of death. 
 
 I remember about this time, my father 
 with several hired men were up in the 
 mountain, some three or four miles from 
 home, peeling bark. They would leave 
 home early in the morning returning at 
 evening. I used to drive an old horse and 
 wagon and carry their dinner to them. 
 
 Sometimes my brother Calvin, a younger 
 brother, would accompany me. On one 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 21 
 
 occasion when he was with m'e we both 
 desired to stay and see the great trees 
 chopped down and fall. One was a giant 
 hemlock ; father stationed us behind where 
 the tree was expected to fall ; where he 
 considered it perfectly safe for us to stand. 
 This tree in falling struck another tree, up- 
 rooting and carrying it down with it. The 
 roots of this tree, however, uprooted another 
 tree standing close to it, throwing it back 
 directly where we stood. Father called 
 loudly, "run, boys, run," and I did just 
 dodge the tree, but not so my little brother ; 
 the body of the tree struck him on his head 
 and shoulders, and only for a small log 
 which it fell across would have crushed him 
 into the earth. As it was, when he was 
 pulled out from under the tree, he was limp 
 and lifeless ; we all supposed he was dead. 
 Father, who under all circumstances 
 never lost his head, called for water, 
 which he dashed in his face, rubbed him, 
 tried every way possible to bring back the 
 spark of life, but failing to bring him to, 
 took him in the wagon down to the nearest 
 house Mr. Street's a mile away, hurried 
 a man off on horseback to Gilboa for the 
 
22 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 nearest doctor, three miles away. Mean- 
 time father tried everything he could think 
 of, even to opening a vein in the arm with a 
 penknife, which in those days was con- 
 sidered the thing to do in such cases. 
 About the time we who were watching saw 
 the doctor and messenger coming in the 
 distance, their horses on a full run, my 
 brother began to show signs of life and 
 soon was able to look around and to 
 enquire what was the matter. 
 
 After a few hours, father took him in 
 his arms on a pillow in an easy buck- 
 board wagon, and under careful nursing he 
 recovered. 
 
 Owing to the log, which was providenti- 
 ally just on that spot and held up the tree, 
 no bones were broken or any vital organs 
 injured. The shock, however, nearly term- 
 inated his life, and the fright to me and all 
 the rest was terrible. 
 
 As before remarked the country was new 
 and rough ; all the social life partook 
 largely of the unrefined and rougher side 
 of human nature. The holidays were, for 
 the men and boys, days of rough games. 
 Wrestling, racing, jumping, shooting at 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 23 
 
 chickens twelve paces off (the chickens tied 
 to a tree or fence) for live cents a shot ; if a 
 shot drew blood or broke a bone the shooter 
 won the chicken. Sometimes it would take 
 a dozen shots before the chicken was hit, 
 and again the first shot might take it. 
 
 The older marksmen would shoot at 
 turkeys or geese at much longer distance 
 with a rifle and at rest, the price for each 
 shot would be double or more, as geese and 
 turkeys were more valuable. In these days 
 this kind of sport would be called cruel, 
 and rightly so ; but nobody in those days 
 seemed to make any objection. 
 
 I have often seen some of these men 
 and boys trudging their way home with a 
 load of fowls over their shoulder, the 
 triumph of their skill during the day. 
 
 The principal occasions that brought 
 together the boys and girls were apple bees, 
 husking bees, logging bees, quilting bees, 
 and the like. 
 
 The logging bees were to clear up a piece 
 of timber land which had been cut and 
 burned over. The logs were to be cut in 
 suitable lengths and drawn together with 
 oxen or horses and piled in huge piles to 
 
24 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 be burned. This was the way all that 
 country was cleared for tillage. The men 
 with their teams would come in the after- 
 noon and work faithfully until night. The 
 women folks would prepare a sumptuous 
 supper ; in the evening the young people 
 would remain and others come in and have 
 a merry time; if a tiddler could be obtained, 
 a dance would be in order. 
 
 The quiltings would be the same, only the 
 girls and women would meet in the after- 
 noon and work. The young men came in 
 the evening and had the usual frolic. 
 
 The apple bees, however, were really the 
 most popular of all. At these bees, the boys 
 and girls would all work together, peeling 
 and quartering apples until nine o'clock. 
 Then a nice supper or refreshments and the 
 usual play or dance, kept up until mid- 
 night or after. How many happy matches 
 were made and declarations of love on 
 these occasions can never be known. One of 
 the exercises of these apple bees was to 
 swing an apple peel around the head three 
 times and let it fall behind the back. This 
 peeling, with the help of a little imagina- 
 tion, would form some initial letter of the 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 25 
 
 future husband or wife of the thrower. 
 The most interested party would, of course, 
 want to make the letter what he or she 
 desired it to be. 
 
 I set out in this letter to tell you some- 
 thing of my father and mother ; but you see 
 I have been digressing. As I said, my 
 father was a man of indomitable perse- 
 verance, no obstacle could discourage him. 
 
 Besides the great amount of work he 
 always had on hand, he held the office of 
 justice of the peace for many years. In 
 those days a justice's court was a very 
 democratic affair. The spare room in the 
 house was usually where his courts were 
 held, unless some very important case, a 
 horse case, or trespass, or something which 
 would draw a crowd. In such cases the court 
 would adjourn to the barn, where tables, 
 benches and chairs would be provided, and 
 plenty of standing room on the clean swept 
 barn floor. A jury of six men would often 
 sit all day to hear and decide a case involv- 
 ing a few dollars. The lawyers who would 
 try these cases were generally farmers who 
 had somehow got hold of a copy of some 
 old law-book and a little smattering of law, 
 
26 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 and the way they would lay it down to 
 the justice and jury was something wonder- 
 ful and often very ridiculous. In these 
 justice's courts very much latitude was 
 allowed. The lawyers would generally 
 abuse the opposing lawyer and his client, 
 as though this was the best part of his 
 duties. 
 
 When a case was put on the calendar 
 and the issues joined, before trial, the 
 plaintiff would make out his brief and 
 file it with the justice giving the particu- 
 lars of his claim and what he proposed 
 to prove " a bill of particulars." 
 
 Then the defendant would also file his 
 brief in reply, which would generally deny 
 every one of the plaintiff's allegations and 
 state what he proposed to prove, and 
 neither party could go into any proof 
 not mentioned in these briefs ; hence it 
 was important that every possible ground 
 of allegation or defence should be fully 
 covered. 
 
 For instance, John Smith sued George 
 Jones for a potash kettle which he had 
 borrowed and returned broken. The brief 
 would be something of this style : 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 27 
 
 ' c The said kettle was whole when he 
 borrowed it and was broken when he re- 
 turned it, to his damage ten dollars." The 
 defendant's reply would be something like 
 this: " The kettle was broken when we 
 borrowed it ; it was whole when we re- 
 turned it, and beside this we never had 
 his kettle." 
 
 This seems very ridiculous, but so do 
 many technical forms of law as still 
 practiced in our courts. 
 
 In those days a debtor could be sent to 
 jail if he could not pay his debts ; a barbar- 
 ous relic of barbarous times. 
 
 I remember one poor debtor begging his 
 creditor not to send him to jail, promis- 
 ing to pay as soon as he possibly could. 
 My father also interceded for him. If I 
 remember right, the man was not sent to 
 jail, though the commitment was made out ; 
 but it was only through the mercy of the 
 creditor, and no thanks to the statute laws 
 of our state. 
 
 Thanks to the progressive spirit of civil- 
 ization and Christianity this barbarous law 
 was long since repealed. 
 
 Like slavery and some other relics of 
 
28 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 heathendom, men were slow to realize the 
 terrible wickedness and cruelty which for 
 ages disgraced our race. 
 
 As I said, my father was one of the busiest 
 of men, and yet often a whole day would 
 be taken up with some little frivolous 
 matter. Still, as I remember, the com- 
 munity were a peaceable quiet people, set, 
 of course, in their own way, and perhaps 
 a little tenacious of what they considered 
 their rights. 
 
 I must add a word in regard to my 
 mother. She was in all respects the best 
 of mothers, patient, untiring in her devotion 
 to her family, the best and most even 
 tempered woman I ever knew. Her maiden 
 name was Abigail Hand, of Suffolk County, 
 New York. Her father was Captain Hand, 
 an old sea captain of a whale ship. In those 
 days the whaling business was one of the 
 leading enterprises of New England and 
 Long Island. The descendants of Captain 
 Hand are among the first citizens of the 
 country. 
 
 I must not forget to speak of the schools 
 of those early days. The only school I 
 attended was in the old school house on 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 29 
 
 the hill, near where the Presbyterian 
 Church now stands in Gilboa. I well 
 remember just how it looked ; the desks 
 along the wall on two sides of the room 
 and one end, and the board seats in front 
 of the desks. The girls sitting on one side 
 and the boys on the other, some of the 
 larger girls and boys at the end, the 
 teacher's desk separating them. 
 
 At the other end of the room was a large 
 open fireplace, originally where great logs 
 were burned ; but, later, this was boarded up 
 and a large box stove put up which would 
 take in wood four feet long, and had to be 
 kept red hot to make the room any way 
 comfortable in cold weather. 
 
 The wood was drawn as required by dif- 
 ferent patrons of the school, and cut at 
 recess or before school hours by the boys ; 
 sometimes the teacher helping. Teachers 
 always boarded around. I well remember 
 the first day I ever went to school. The 
 teacher, a Mr. Freese, who was boarding at 
 our house, took me with him. I was called 
 up to his desk to say A, B, C, and I remem- 
 ber the laugh of the school at my bashful- 
 ness and awkwardness. 
 
30 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 As a rule, strict discipline was required 
 during school hours, and the schoolmaster 
 did not spare the rod ; but when school was 
 out the master often joined with the boys in 
 games. Base ball was popular then as well 
 as now, and snow-forts were built, defended 
 by one party and attacked by another, often 
 leading to real fights and bloody noses be- 
 fore the fort was captured or the aggressors 
 repulsed. 
 
 Every young man from the age of 18 to 
 45 years had to be enrolled, had to own 
 a gun with all the accouterments, and 
 turn out two days in each year for manual 
 exercise and military tactics. Company 
 training was held in each town some day 
 in the early fall, and then a few weeks 
 later the general training, where all the 
 companies in the county would convene 
 at some central place and go through all 
 the evolutions ; the colonel, lieutenant-colo- 
 nel and staff officers, equipped in showy 
 uniform, mounted on fiery steeds. 
 
 The first time I ever attended one of 
 these general musters, my eldest brother, 
 Ozias, was the colonel. I was then a boy 
 not old enough to be a soldier ; but I well 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 31 
 
 remember my boyish enthusiasm as I 
 watched the evolutions of that regiment 
 of a thousand men. 
 
 I have seen the Army of the Potomac, at 
 least one hundred thousand men, with 
 all the appliances of actual war, with not 
 half the enthusiasm I felt on that first 
 general training day. 
 
 The military ardor in those days was the 
 still burning embers of the Revolution and 
 the War of 1812. There were many Revolu 
 tionary soldiers still living. Mr. Williams, 
 one of the captors of Major Andre, was one, 
 living in our town and a frequent visitor 
 at our house. There were several noted 
 Indian lighters. I remember one in par- 
 ticular, old Mr. Ellerson. I have often 
 listened to his harrowing tales of Indian 
 massacres ; some of his own family were 
 killed by the Indians and he had many 
 hair-breadth escapes. He was one of a 
 few men who held the fort at Schoharie, 
 tilled with women and children, against a 
 great force of Indians and Tories until 
 relief came from Albany. Schoharie, 
 County was the great Indian lighting 
 ground during the Revolution. 
 
32 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 I remember a show coming to the village, 
 and some real Indian riders were a part of 
 the show, and they rode through the streets 
 in the afternoon in their Indian dress and 
 war-paint, and gave their old time war- 
 whoop. Old Mr. Ellerson could not stand 
 this. He wanted to borrow a gun and fire 
 away at them ; he remembered the old days 
 and what he had suffered from these ' ' Red 
 Devils," as he called them. Well, these 
 old patriots have all passed away. Some 
 of them lie in the cemetery in Gilboa, 
 where my grandfather lies, and the Grand 
 Army boys and veterans of our late war on 
 Decoration days bring flowers and decorate 
 their graves with the graves of their com- 
 rades of the Civil War. Heroes all of them ; 
 and it shows the patriotism of the Ameri- 
 can people to hold in sacred reverence the 
 men who gave their lives for their country. 
 
 Daily newspapers were not then known. 
 The weekly papers were watched for on 
 the day they were expected, and the old 
 CatsJcill Recorder and Albany Argus and 
 Christian Advocate and Journal were our 
 weekly supply of reading matter. All these 
 papers are still published. 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 33 
 
 The Gilboa post-office was then kept at 
 the parsonage, Rev. Winslow Paige being 
 postmaster under President Jackson's ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 His was the next house from my father's, 
 and the stage driver would begin to blow 
 his horn as he passed our house to 
 notify the postmaster to be ready for the 
 mail. 
 
 This Mr. Paige was one of the best of 
 men courtly dignified, though cheerful 
 and social. 
 
 He was very much respected by the entire 
 community. His remains lie beside his 
 wife in the old cemetery at Gilboa. 
 
 I always, when visiting Gilboa, love to 
 stand by the graves of the old patriots 
 and go back in memory to my boyhood 
 days. The almost forgotten incidents come 
 back freshly to my mind. 
 
 The line fence between adjoining farms 
 generally caused a good deal of trouble. A 
 neighbor whose farm adjoined Mr. Paige's 
 on one side, one Sunday morning discovered 
 some of Mr. Paige's cattle in his cornfield; 
 he was mad and rushed to Mr. Paige's 
 house, found him reading his bible. The 
 
34 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 story as told by John Layman, the faithful 
 hired man, was about as follows : 
 
 Without any preliminary words, he blurt- 
 ed out, " Mr. Paige, Mr. Paige ! here you sit, 
 the word of God in your mouth, the devil 
 in your heart and your cattle in my corn." 
 
 Mr. Paige, like most clergymen in those 
 times, kept a side-board with a few decan- 
 ters, and after sending John to see about 
 the cattle, mollified the neighbor by a little 
 something from the side-board. 
 
 Mr. Paige was an educated man, and 
 probably on this account some of the other 
 preachers, the hallelujah ! and amen ! shout- 
 ers, gave him the cold shoulder. 
 
 They did not believe education was con- 
 ducive to religion, but rather a hindrance. 
 
 In a discussion on this question of an 
 educated ministry, it was said one of the 
 leading opponents settled the question in 
 his own mind, if he convinced nobody else. 
 He said: "There was St. Paul, the great- 
 est preacher that ever lived, he wasn't 
 ' edicated' '; wasn't he brought up at the 
 foot of Gamel Hill, the poorest country and 
 among the poorest people in the world?" 
 These preachers were popular and drew the 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 35 
 
 masses; no doubt, did much good. They 
 certainly had access among the plain 
 people that more cultivated preachers 
 did not have. They were not above 
 work ; indeed, many of them were farmers 
 and mechanics, and worked six days in a 
 week and preached twice or three times on 
 Sunday. As a rule they were a jovial, jolly 
 set, quick at repartee and ready for a joke. 
 
 At a gathering of preachers, standing on 
 the piazza in front of a house, a brother 
 preacher, coming up the walk, slipped on 
 the ice and fell. One of the brothers on the 
 piazza called out to him: "Brother, the 
 wicked stand on slippery places." "Yes," 
 he replied, "I see they do, but I can't." 
 
 They were hard workers, as were all the 
 people ; had no time for rest. Their idea 
 of heaven, no doubt, was as a place of rest 
 eternal rest. 
 
 The hymns most popular and sang with 
 greatest zest were those of "Rest for the 
 Weary." 
 
 " Oh land of rest, for thee I sigh ; 
 When will the moments come ? ' ' 
 
 These hard toilers were good men and 
 
36 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 women ; they longed for something differ- 
 ent, and rest, eternal rest, seemed to them 
 the acme of bliss, and so they sang, and 
 dreamed and believed their future reward 
 would be " Rest for the Weary." 
 
 The story is told of the early mission- 
 aries in Greenland. They told these poor, 
 frozen heathens of a place of heat, of lire, of 
 everlasting burning ; but that seemed what 
 these people most wanted. They had no 
 desire for anything better than lire, ever- 
 lasting tire, and while the missionaries 
 preached that doctrine, that was the main 
 thing they wanted to hear about. 
 
 And so it seems ' ' The heaven of each is 
 what each desires." 
 
 I remember a good many of the old 
 inhabitants, and many of their peculiarities. 
 They are all now gone ; some of their de- 
 scendants remain ; but mostly a new gener- 
 ation occupy the country. 
 
 The opening up of the great West has in- 
 duced emigration from the sterile, rough 
 farms of the East. The growing cities have 
 offered attractions and allurements for the 
 young men, so that but few of the descend- 
 ants of the old first settlers remain. 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 37 
 
 The conditions, however, in that once iso- 
 lated section have greatly changed for the 
 better. Railroads have twined themselves 
 around the mountains ; telegraphs have put 
 people in communication with the rest of the 
 world ; steam has superseded water power. 
 
 The old tanneries that used to give 
 employment to hundreds of men have all 
 rotted down, the country having been long 
 since stripped of its hemlock bark. The old 
 tanners of those days, the men of enter- 
 prise, of power in the community, all gone. 
 There was Col. Pratt, Major Dickerman, 
 the Tuttles, the Strykers, Mr. Croswell, 
 the Stevens my father and Uncle Smith 
 Stevens, all passed away. With the fail- 
 ure of the bark in that country, nearly all 
 of the tanners gave up the business. 
 Not so, however, with the Stevens family. 
 The sons of my Uncle Smith Stevens 
 struck out for new fields. They purchased 
 a large tract of hemlock timber land in 
 Sullivan County, New York, built a large 
 tannery, founded a settlement, building 
 a church and school house, and a thriving 
 village which the people of that section 
 insisted upon naming " Stevensville." For 
 
38 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 twenty years they carried on a successful 
 business, until the hemlock bark became 
 scarce, when they struck out again for new 
 fields, and selected a large territory of bark 
 land in Pennsylvania, where my cousin, 
 D. Tompkins Stevens and his son Morris, 
 are, at this time, carrying on one of the 
 largest tanneries in the country with great 
 success. I ought to speak, in passing, more 
 of this dear Uncle Smith Stevens. He and 
 my father were, during nearly all their 
 lives, working together in one interest, all 
 their enterprises being carried on together 
 except their farms. 
 
 The relations between the families were 
 the most cordial ; never a particle of friction. 
 Their enterprises were, in the main, un- 
 profitable ; at least they never accumulated 
 any wealth, and only by great industry and 
 strict economy were able to make ends 
 meet after paying their debts. Their debts 
 were to them sacred, and no man ever lost a 
 dollar by them. In all that country no 
 man ever questioned the honesty of these 
 men. Their bond was always good, their 
 note always good, and their word as good 
 as their bond or note. 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 39 
 
 There was one debt that hung over my 
 lather which kept him financially embar- 
 rassed from my earliest recollection, nearly 
 all through my boyhood days. This was a 
 debt he owed the Catskill Bank, of a few 
 hundred dollars, being for a note of my 
 Uncle Levi Stevens which my father had 
 indorsed. 
 
 This uncle had built a store and hotel, 
 and carried on merchandizing. He died 
 suddenly, leaving his business quite un- 
 settled. In closing it up there was just 
 enough to pay everything in full, except 
 this note which my father had to pay. 
 
 Through the kindness of Orrin Day, the 
 president of the Bank, the collection of the 
 note was not pressed, but was renewed, 
 year after year, upon paying the interest 
 every six months. 
 
 The recollection of this note has been 
 a life-long lesson to me against indorse- 
 ments. One word more in regard to 
 these men. I have no doubt they were 
 both true Christians. My uncle was, all 
 his life, one of the leading members and 
 supporters of the Methodist Church; his 
 house was always open to its ministers. My 
 
40 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 father was also a supporter of and attended 
 its meetings with the family, and ministers 
 were always welcome at our house and were 
 often entertained. Yet he did not unite with 
 the church until quite late in life, when he 
 and my mother both publicly professed 
 their faith in Christ, and I believe were 
 true followers of the Lord Jesus until their 
 death. 
 
 My father died suddenly, at Conesville, 
 in August, 1848, in the 68th year of his 
 age. 
 
 My mother also died suddenly at Gilboa, 
 in November, 1869. She had lived in the 
 family of my brother Ozias, for 21 years, 
 since the death of my father. She was in 
 the 87th year of her age. She was as 
 tenderly cared for and watched over by 
 my brother's wife and all the family, and 
 loved by them as devotedly as if she had 
 been their own mother. 
 
 They lie side by side in the old cemetery 
 in Gilboa, They left to their children a 
 precious memory. They were faithful to 
 every duty ; they did what they could. 
 Their example and precepts were all they 
 were able to leave to their children. 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 41 
 
 A small, rough, farm where my father 
 died in Conesville, was all the property he 
 had saved during his life of toil, and the 
 proceeds of this barely supported my 
 mother the 21 years she survived. 
 
42 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 LETTER IY. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 These disconnected thoughts of my early 
 days, you see, I put down as they come up 
 in my mind. When I was, I think, about 
 14 years of age, my brother, Ozias, had a 
 large quantity of hemlock bark to peel on 
 his farm on Clay Hill. 
 
 To get a few dollars of spending money 
 I would, when I could be spared for a day, 
 go and work for him, and he paid me 50 
 cents a day. It came towards haying and 
 harvest time, and father thought I could 
 not be spared any longer ; but I begged to 
 go one more day, and this day proved to be 
 a very unfortunate one. In trimming a 
 tree, my axe glanced and made a deep gash 
 in my knee. Brother Ozias harnessed his 
 horse and took me home with my leg 
 all bandaged up. 
 
 My father, as I have said, never lost his 
 head, but his methods sometimes were 
 what might be called heroic. In this case, 
 he washed out the deep gash in my knee, 
 which extended into the bone, called for a 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 43 
 
 needle and thread and just sewed up the 
 gash as he would a cut in a garment, 
 bandaged it up, and, thanks to my good 
 condition of health, it soon healed up ; but 
 a deep scar has ever been a reminder of 
 the event. 
 
 During that same summer or the next, I 
 am not positive which, occurred the most 
 serious sickness I ever experienced. We 
 were getting in hay ; I became overheated 
 and, feeling faint and sick, begged to lie 
 down in the barn until they brought 
 another load. I remember nothing further 
 until weeks after. I learned that when 
 they came with another load they could 
 not wake me, and carried me to the house 
 and I was out of my head for days. Doctor 
 Fanning was with me almost day and night, 
 typhoid fever set in, and only by the most 
 careful nursing of my dear mother and 
 sister was I carried through. I became 
 almost a skeleton, so wasted away, and 
 was afflicted with abscesses in my side 
 and limbs. The doctor and the family 
 all claimed it was a miracle that I re- 
 covered. 
 
 In speaking of the work in those days, 
 
44 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 there was no eight hour law practiced or 
 thought of. A day's work was from day- 
 light till dark, with very short intermis- 
 sions for meals ; and when the sun crossed 
 the line, September 20th, evening work 
 commenced. My own evening work was 
 either in my father's blacksmith shop as 
 assistant, blowing the bellows and using 
 the sledge hammer or pointing horse shoe 
 nails, heading nuts or something of the 
 sort ; or in the barn, husking corn or turn- 
 ing fanning mill. When I went to school 
 the work of the day was always planned in 
 reference to the boy's work at night. 
 
 When I was not going to school I worked 
 with the hired man and father, chopping 
 wood, threshing, plowing, hoeing corn, 
 digging potatoes, cutting logs, haying and 
 harvesting, all done by hand no mowing 
 machines or reapers, or even hay rakes ; all 
 hard handwork. 
 
 After the day's work was done, then 
 came the chores, milking eight or ten cows, 
 bringing in wood, bringing water from the 
 spring, feeding the pigs, churning, water- 
 ing and caring for the horses, going to the 
 post-office for weekly papers, and at long 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 45 
 
 intervals finding a letter from some 
 thoughtful friend. 
 
 There was no time for play, and but little 
 for rest. On the Fourth of July when 
 we had finished our stint, hoeing a certain 
 patch of corn or potatoes, we could go to 
 the village and see the sports. Always 
 some sort of doings a grove meeting, and 
 a speech by some young lawyer, or promi- 
 nent citizen, and cannon firing, gatherings 
 at the tavern or stores, and Revolutionary 
 stories by some of the old Revolutionary 
 soldiers. The village band consisting of 
 a bass drum, a small drum, a fife and bugle 
 would enliven the day, and the young 
 people had a dance in the evening. 
 
 On one notable Fourth of July, the 
 one which I remember most distinctly of 
 any, there was a procession led by Col. 
 Pratt, as Marshal, an oration read by Mr. 
 Croswell, firing cannon, and music by the 
 band. 
 
 In the procession, all the men and 
 boys of the village and surrounding 
 country fell in line, led by the band, and 
 marched to a grove near the school house, 
 where Mr. Croswell read his oration. I 
 
46 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 took my position as near as possible, and 
 seem to remember that oration better than 
 any speech I now recall. He commenced 
 his oration in these words. 
 
 "Fellow citizens, friends and neighbors : 
 Fifty-six years ago to-day our fathers de- 
 clared themselves free and independent." 
 
 This would fix the date of that cele- 
 bration July 4th, 1832. On the same day, 
 after the oration, while the cannon was 
 being fired as rapidly as possible, there 
 was a premature discharge and one of 
 the prominent men of the village, a Mr. 
 Woolsey, who was helping load the can- 
 non, had his arm shot off . I was standing 
 quite close to him, and so well remember 
 all the circumstances ; the force of the ex- 
 plosion whirled him around like a top 
 before he fell to the ground. 
 
 'There was, of course, great excitement. 
 Dr. Benham and Dr. Knapp were soon 
 there, but they were neither of them sur- 
 geons ; at least, the case was so serious that 
 some one was sent on a fleet horse to Oak 
 Hill, some 15 miles, for Dr. Hamlin. He 
 came in the evening, and amputated his 
 arm at the shoulder, but the poor man died 
 
MY BOYHOOD DAYS. 47 
 
 next day, and one of the largest funerals 
 ever held in the village was attended by 
 people far and near. Mr. Paige preached 
 the funeral sermon. 
 
 My brother Jason had been for several 
 years a clerk in my brother Ozias' store.but 
 on coming of age, in the spring of 183{lie 
 started out in business for himself. He 
 went to Cairo, where he invested the few 
 hundred dollars he had been able to save up 
 in buying out Col. Lucius D. Hill's coun- 
 try store, and there in that village, for the 
 past sixty years, he has carried on the same 
 business which he now, in his eighty-second 
 year of his age, with his son, De Alanson, 
 still carries on. 
 
 His going into business there was largely 
 influential in shaping my whole business 
 life. My custom had been to attend the 
 district school during the winter ; but as 
 brother Jason needed a clerk, he proposed 
 that I should come to Cairo and help him 
 in his store instead of going to school for 
 the winter, and this was so arranged ; and 
 for two winters I was clerk in his store, 
 going back early in the spring to work on 
 the home farm. 
 
48 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 When in my 18th year, Mr. Andrew 
 Rickey, a cousin by marriage, proposed to 
 my father to go in partnership and start 
 a country store ; he to furnish the capital 
 and father to put in my services and my 
 two winters' experience against his capital 
 and services, and this was done. 
 
 A store was built for them in Conesville, 
 near the Humphry tavern in that town, an 
 isolated, scattered population of farmers. 
 
 Mr. Rickey and my father concluded 
 there was an opening to build up a trade 
 here, and they seemed to have the idea that 
 I could manage the thing successfully ; and 
 that was where I commenced my mercantile 
 life, as I said, in the 18th year of my age. 
 
 Neither Mr. Rickey or my father had the 
 slightest knowledge of merchandizing, 
 either buying or selling goods ; they 
 trusted it all to me. 
 
 I had never been to New York. I got 
 the names of merchants from whom my 
 brothers Ozias and Jason bought goods. 
 I went to these houses and bought our 
 goods. We ran this store about a year and 
 a half, until the summer of 1839, when Mr. 
 Rickey was offered an interest in his 
 
COMMENCING MERCANTILE LIFE. 49 
 
 father in-law's tannery at Strykersville, 
 and the store was removed to that place. 
 My father gave up his interest then in the 
 business, coming out just even no profit or 
 loss ; my services had been thrown in for 
 nothing. Mr. Rickey and Uncle Smith de- 
 sired irie to stay with them on a salary, and 
 offered me quite liberal inducement. I re- 
 mained with them a few months, but the 
 lease of the store in Conesville had two 
 years to run at a very low rent, and some 
 of the people in that section urged me to 
 come back and open the store again. I 
 took the matter into serious consideration. 
 
 At this time I think my entire capital 
 was something less than $50. In talking 
 the matter over with my father, he thought 
 it utterly impossible ; and brother Ozias 
 said it was absurd and preposterous to even 
 think of it. I was not yet 20 years of age, 
 no capital and no credit ; at least being a 
 boy under age, he did not suppose I could 
 get credit. 
 
 He thought, as I would myself, if I had 
 had more experience and seen more of the 
 world ; but I felt sanguine and determined. 
 One of our old customers at Conesville, Mr. 
 
50 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Elias Thompson, kindly offered to lend me 
 850 for a year with my father's indorse- 
 ment, and my father said he would indorse 
 the note, and this settled it. I borrowed 
 the money and in October 1839, went to 
 New York, called on the merchants whom 
 I had bought goods from as a clerk, 
 explained the whole situation to them ; that 
 my age was under 20 years, had no capital 
 but good health, strong determination and 
 confidence ; that I would succeed ; light 
 expenses, and I knew the people and they 
 knew me. After talking with each of the 
 firms from whom I desired to buy goods, I 
 found every one of them willing to sell me 
 on the usual credit of four months for groc- 
 eries, and six months for dry goods, hard- 
 ware, crockery, drugs and medicines. Not 
 one of them asked me for an indorser, and 
 all seemed anxious to sell me even more 
 than I felt it prudent to,buy. 
 
 I was rather a green-looking boy, I 
 believe, but they seemed to think I had an 
 honest face ; indeed one of the merchants, 
 Mr. Edward Corning, of whom I shall 
 speak hereafter, said to me: "Yes, I will 
 trust you for your face." 
 
COMMENCING MERCANTILE LIFE. 51 
 
 In all my mercantile and business experi- 
 ence, I never knew a similar instance a 
 boy under age, with no capital, buying a 
 full stock of goods on credit, with no guar- 
 antee or even a recommend ; it has always 
 been a mystery to me. 
 
 The old merchants of New York were 
 different men from the later class, depend- 
 ed much less on capital and more on char- 
 acter. The first inquiry of the modern 
 merchant is : " What is your capital? " If 
 that is satisfactory, the rest is likely to 
 pass. 
 
 I believe the old merchants made fewer 
 mistakes, though they seemed to take more 
 risks. 
 
 The merchants with whom I commenced 
 business were the grandest men I have 
 ever done business with. If I could find a 
 single member of any of the firms, it would 
 afford me the greatest pleasure to visit them. 
 I kept up an acquaintance with them all, as 
 long as they were in business ; but the 
 changes in houses gradually replaced them, 
 one after another, until their names are 
 scarcely remembered in business circles ; 
 and doubtless not a single member of any 
 
52 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 of these firms is now living. The firms 
 were : Dry goods, Jackson & Duel, on 
 Pearl street ; groceries, Van Yliet & 
 Wycoff, on West street ; hardware, 
 Edward Corning, on Maiden Lane ; 
 crockery, John Thompson, on Pearl street. 
 
 It gives me the greatest pleasure to think 
 and to say that these men never lost a penny 
 by me, nor did any other merchant. I never 
 failed in business, nor compromised with a 
 creditor, nor paid less than one hundred 
 cents on a dollar. 
 
 About the first of November, 1839, my 
 stock of goods arrived and made a very 
 respectable showing in the old store. The 
 aggregate amount of my stock was about 
 $1,500. 
 
 I had fitted up the store to make it as 
 attractive as possible. There was a small 
 back room which I fitted up for a bed- 
 room, and my mother furnished me with 
 bed and bedding, and there I slept. 
 
 I engaged board at Deacon Daniel Bicht- 
 meyer's, only a short walk from the store, 
 for which I paid $1.50 per week, which 
 included also my washing. I kept no 
 clerk, used to get up and open the store 
 
COMMENCING MERCANTILE LIFE. 53 
 
 at daylight, sweep out and get ready for 
 business, then hang a card on the door, 
 ' ' gone to breakfast, will be back in a 
 few minutes ; ' ' same for dinner, and same 
 for supper. Customers would wait ; there 
 was no other store. I kept the store open 
 till bed time. Indeed as I slept in the store 
 it was always open for business, except 
 three times a day when I was absent to my 
 hasty meals. 
 
 The sparsely populated community seemed 
 friendly and gave me their patronage; most 
 of it, however, was on credit or barter. 
 As spring approached I was exceedingly 
 anxious to collect all the money I could and 
 get ready to go to New York. I got my 
 father to indorse a bank note with me for 
 $300, on four months' time ; and, with what 
 money I had collected from my winter's 
 sales, started for the city. 
 
 The president of the Tanners' Bank in 
 Catskill, had known my father for many 
 years, and with his indorsement, I could 
 always get a small bank loan. With this 
 money, and $700 or $800 beside which I 
 had collected, I went to see my creditors; 
 told them frankly all about the business, 
 
54 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 what I had collected, and what I had bor- 
 rowed and what I proposed to do to divide 
 the money pro rata, which would leave 
 about 25 per cent, of their bills unpaid, 
 which I proposed to send them as soon and 
 as fast as I could. They all seemed pleased, 
 made not the slightest objection, and all of 
 them complimented me on my success. 
 They were perfectly willing to sell nie all I 
 wanted. Old Mr. Corning was so cordial 
 and fatherly, he said he would wait on me 
 himself. He being the head of the firm, 
 this was a very unusual thing for him to do. 
 
 He taught me some things about selling 
 goods, which I have always remembered and 
 followed; that was, not to urge goods on a 
 buyer for the sake of making a sale, but to 
 look at the interest of the buyer as well as 
 the seller, and rather make the customer 
 feel sorry that he had not bought more, 
 than that he had bought too much. 
 
 I shall speak again of this good man and 
 successful merchant later. 
 
 When obliged to be absent, I had my 
 nephew, Orrin J. Rose, attend the store. 
 He was a young lad, bright and smart. He 
 became a successful merchant in Chicago ; 
 
COMMENCING MERCANTILE LIFE. 55 
 
 representing our country, later on, as consul 
 to Germany. Returning home in the fall 
 of 1872, he was taken sick in New York, 
 and died. His remains rest in my family 
 lot in Greenwood. 
 
 I carried on the business in Conesville 
 for more than three years. 
 
 I was, naturally, of a social disposition, 
 and had a large acquaintance among the 
 young people, and though my business 
 kept me much confined, still I had Sundays 
 and occasionally managed to attend parties ; 
 but never felt that I could afford to neglect 
 business for anything else. 
 
 Among all the young ladies of my 
 acquaintance, there was one to whom I was 
 attracted from the first time I saw her 
 Miss Sarah Delia Cornwell, second daughter 
 of Mr. Gilbert Cornwell, of Strykersville. 
 She was nearly a year younger than my- 
 self. The attachment was mutual, and in 
 due time we talked over the matter of 
 marriage. 
 
 There were young ladies of my acquaint- 
 ance who, I had every reason to believe, 
 would be willing to share my fortune, 
 though at this time my fortune was all in 
 
56 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 anticipation, and they could have brought 
 financial aid, which I so much needed ; but 
 I wisely preferred the little girl I loved, 
 though I well knew I would get only her- 
 self. Her fortune, like my own, was 
 willing hands and a warm heart. 
 
 On the 10th of February, 1841, we were 
 married. I had only just passed my 21st 
 birthday, and she her 20th ; were only 
 children in years, but we were both more 
 experienced in work and cares than most 
 young people of that age. 
 
 She was the second daughter, as I have 
 said, and had ten brothers and sisters 
 younger. Her mother was not a strong 
 woman ; her eldest sister was much attached 
 to books, and at an early age became a 
 school teacher, so that from early child- 
 hood, Sarah B. had been about the head 
 of this large family. She was, therefore, 
 fully competent to become the head of 
 another household. 
 
 I made no mistake in my choice of a wife ; 
 no man ever had a better. She was a help- 
 meet in every sense of the word. 
 Neglected no duty, was affectionately 
 devoted to her husband and family, un- 
 
COMMENCING MERCANTILE LIFE. 57 
 
 sellish and untiring. She was in all re- 
 spects a model wife and mother. 
 
 Her memory, which is all . that is left, is 
 very precious to me ; while her dear body 
 lies in yonder Greenwood, beside our first 
 and last born darlings. 
 
 Almost immediately after our marriage, 
 we commenced housekeeping in a house not 
 far from my store, where we lived two years. 
 
 Our first born, Marion, saw the light of 
 day there. I can never forget how we almost 
 worshipped this baby, she was an angel to 
 us. Of course, we had our trials as all mor- 
 tals have sickness, anxieties and worries ; 
 but we were hopeful and always tried to 
 look on the bright side of things. 
 
 When business matters began to look a 
 little brighter, and we were feeling more 
 hopeful for the future, and exceedingly 
 happy with our darling little one, our hap- 
 piness was suddenly marred by a very 
 unlooked-for event. 
 
 One morning, on opening my store, I 
 found robbers had been in during the night 
 and carried off a large portion of the goods. 
 They had broken open a back window ; 
 had taken plenty of time to assort and take 
 
58 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 out the best of my stock. We found, under 
 the window, tools stolen from a neighbor- 
 ing blacksmith shop, which had been used 
 to pry open the shutters and we concluded 
 the robbers were not professionals, but pos- 
 sibly somebody, living not far off, familiar 
 with the surroundings. The neighbors got 
 together and proposed to form parties and 
 search all the neighboring houses, barns, 
 and places where goods might be secreted. 
 One or two houses were suspected, but as 
 there were no suspicious circumstances to 
 warrant search-warrants, a voluntary search 
 was proposed and carried out ; but nothing 
 was found, and to this day it is a mystery. 
 
 This was a terrible blow to us, as the 
 goods were not paid for, my credit at stake, 
 a family on my hands, and altogether a 
 discouraging outlook. 
 
 Soon after this I collected all the money 
 I could from my customers, borrowed at the 
 bank my usual amount, and went, with my 
 heart in my mouth, to New York, to see my 
 creditors. I told them just what had hap- 
 pened and how I stood. These grand men, 
 without exception, offered to compromise 
 and throw off part of their account, which 
 
COMMENCING MERCANTILE LIFE. 59 
 
 I declined. I only asked a little more time, 
 and told them I should work it out. They 
 were pleased, and complimented me on my 
 pluck. I divided up my money among 
 them on account, and purchased another 
 stock of goods, and continued the business 
 in Cones ville until the spring of 1843. 
 
 At the first town meeting, after my com- 
 ing of age, I was nominated and elected 
 a Commissioner of Common Schools for 
 the town. This was, at that time, quite a 
 responsible office. It involved the receiving 
 and disbursing the public money of the 
 state for common schools to apportion the 
 same among the districts. The duties were 
 to visit the district schools of the town, and 
 write a report of their condition to the 
 county superintendent ; to settle disputes 
 between school districts and establish the 
 boundaries ; to inspect teachers. All this 
 was entirely new business for me, but I felt 
 honored with the office, and devoted time 
 and study for its details, and believe I suc- 
 ceeded in fulfilling its duties to the satis- 
 faction of the people. 
 
 I declined a renomination, as it involved 
 being absent too much from my business. 
 
60 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 LETTER Y. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 In the spring of 1843, my brother Ezra, 
 who had been in business several years in 
 Cairo, proposed to sell out to me his goods, 
 and lease his store and house. We finally 
 concluded the bargain, and I closed up my 
 Conesville store, shipping my goods and 
 household effects, and moving my little 
 family, wife and baby, Marion, then just a 
 year old, to Cairo. 
 
 This was quite a change for us. Cairo 
 was then a thriving village, with several 
 stores, churches, schools, and good society. 
 We soon formed pleasant acquaintances, 
 and enjoyed the best social life of the 
 place. 
 
 In this village we passed ten years of our 
 lives. Here our two other children were 
 born, Florence and Ella. 
 
 I look back to the ten years of our 
 residence in Cairo with a good deal of 
 interest ; we had very dear friends there. 
 
 My brother, Jason, carried on the largest 
 mercantile business in the place. He was 
 
REMOVAL TO CAIRO. 61 
 
 a bachelor, and boarded with us until about 
 1849, when he married Miss Rebecca King, 
 of Freehold, N. Y. They are both still 
 living, and they have ever made us welcome 
 guests at their house ; it has always seemed 
 like going home, to visit them. 
 
 The decade we spent in Cairo were years 
 of many changes years of labor and trials. 
 
 I met with some severe losses, which, at 
 the time, seemed almost unbearable. 
 
 On the whole, however, I might say my 
 business was reasonably successful. 
 
 I built, while there, the store and house 
 which I sold to my brother Edward, where 
 he lived and traded for many years, and 
 which is now occupied by his son, Allie 
 B. Stevens. 
 
 During this time my dear sister, Eliza- 
 beth, died. As I have said in a former 
 letter, she was the nearest human being to an 
 angel I ever knew. She devoted her life to 
 the care of our parents in their declining 
 years. 
 
 She was also an angel of comfort to 
 the sick, poor, and sorrowing in all that 
 country; a devoted Christian herself, she 
 did missionary work for the Master. 
 
62 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 But right in the midst of her usefulness, 
 when it seemed she could not be spared, 
 an inscrutable Providence laid her on a sick 
 bed, with typhoid fever, from which she 
 never arose. 
 
 The family were living in Conesville; we 
 were sent for, myself and wife, as were 
 other members of the family, but her mind 
 wandered she never recognized any of 
 us. 
 
 Oh, how we prayed for the life of this 
 precious one ; but the dear Lord knew best, 
 and He took her. 
 
 With agonized hearts and helpless hands, 
 " We watched her breathing through 
 
 the night, 
 Her breathing soft and low, 
 
 As in her breast the wave of life 
 Kept heaving to and fro. 
 
 "'*''' -* : ' : "*' -i'- : - ""'. ~ # 
 
 Our very hopes belied our fears, 
 Our fears, our hopes belied ; 
 
 We thought her dying, when she 
 
 slept, 
 And sleeping when she died." 
 
 It was 1 a terrible blow to all of us, but 
 
DEATH OF MY SISTER. 63 
 
 for poor mother it was well nigh crushing. 
 Yet God tempers the wind to his shorn 
 lambs. She never murmured or rebelled ; 
 her sweet temper and Christian faith sus- 
 tained her. 
 
 They procured a housekeeper. My young- 
 est brother, Edward, was then at home, and 
 the children and grandchildren visited 
 them as often as possible, trying to comfort 
 and cheer the dear ones. 
 
 It seems, often, the old saying comes 
 true : 
 
 "When sorrows come they come not 
 single spies, but in battalions." 
 
 The next summer a messenger came one 
 Sunday afternoon, in August, 1848, telling 
 us father was dead. He died suddenly, of 
 heart failure, while sitting by the table talk- 
 ing with mother about some book he was 
 reading. It was a great shock for poor 
 mother. We were all sent for, and, again, 
 the old home was a house of mourning. 
 
 The funeral was held in the Methodist 
 Church in Strykersville, the same place 
 where sister Elizabeth's funeral was held 
 the year before, and the sermon preached 
 by the same preacher, the presiding elder, 
 
64 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Buck, and remarks also by the 
 local preachers. 
 
 It was a very impressive funeral. He was 
 one of the oldest inhabitants, loved and 
 respected by the entire community. I well 
 remember every incident ; the long proces- 
 sion from the house in Conesville, to the 
 church, and from the church to the ceme- 
 tery in Gilboa. The chapter read before 
 the sermon, being the last chapter of 
 Ecclesiastes, beginning : ' ' Remember now 
 thy Creator in the days of thy youth, 
 before the evil days come," and the lesson 
 drawn from the whole chapter, and a very 
 affecting incident. 
 
 Uncle Smith Stevens had been laid up for 
 weeks with inflammatory rheumatism, but 
 he was brought to the Church, and before 
 the coffin lid was closed, he was helped to 
 the coffin and gazed, with all the intense 
 affection he felt, into the face of his dear 
 brother with whom he had walked so 
 lovingly during their whole lives long. 
 Before he was helped away from the coffin, 
 he cried out, in the most pathetic and loving- 
 voice, never to be forgotten, " Fare well, 
 dear brother Gershom, farewell, farewell ! " 
 
DEATH OF MY FATHER. 65 
 
 The whole church and the preachers 
 broke down, and for several minutes noth- 
 ing but sobs could be heard. It was one of 
 the most affecting incidents I ever saw at 
 any funeral. 
 
 This grand old man, himself seeming 
 just on the brink of the grave, bidding 
 farewell to a dear brother from whom he 
 had never been separated before. This 
 dear Uncle, who was one of the best loved 
 men in all that country, lived several years 
 after this, and with his dear wife lies, not 
 far from my father and mother, in the old 
 Gilboa cemetery. 
 
 Several years since the old Methodist 
 Church in Gilboa was burned ; but a new 
 and larger church was built and dedicated 
 some two or three years ago. 
 
 A line bell was donated, and a beautiful 
 memorial window put in by Mr. D. Tomp- 
 kins Stevens, to the memory of his father 
 and mother. He also assisted materially in 
 building the church. 
 
 In the early days of Methodism, in the be- 
 ginning of this century, before many Meth- 
 odist churches were built in that section, 
 grandfather Stevens built and kept a hotel, 
 
66 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 and, as was the custom then in the country, 
 a ball-room was an indispensable append- 
 age to a country tavern. 
 
 This ball-room of grandfather's was 
 always open for a Methodist preacher to 
 hold his meetings, and the preachers were 
 always welcome guests without charge. The 
 sons inherited this same feeling, especially 
 Uncle Smith, whose house was never too 
 small to accommodate the brethren and 
 sisters. 
 
 At the quarterly meetings, people came 
 from many miles distant on Saturday and 
 remained over Sunday. These people were 
 apportioned off among the local brethren. 
 
 The names of those desiring accommoda- 
 tion were handed in to the presiding elder 
 or the local preacher at the Saturday meet- 
 ting, and the number publicly announced. 
 
 Then the preacher would inquire of the 
 brethren how many they could accommo- 
 date, calling each by name. Uncle Smith 
 would say, ' ' accommodate all who desire to 
 take guests, and send all the rest to him ; 
 he could take as many as he had boards in 
 the floor ; " and Aunt Anna was just as will- 
 ing, and they usually had their house filled 
 
UNCLE SMITH STEVENS. 67 
 
 on those occasions, and these good Method- 
 ist brethren and sisters would have a 
 happy, joyous time, even before the public 
 " love-feast" of Sunday. 
 
 This dear uncle was a many-sided man ; 
 he was a thorough Christian gentleman, 
 kind and gentle in his manner, courteous 
 and affable to all ; yet he was firm and 
 determined, if occasion required. 
 
 I remember an incident to illustrate this. 
 There was a big boy in the neighborhood, 
 the terror of all the boys. He delighted 
 in quarrelling and fighting with smaller 
 boys, and even boys of his own size ; would 
 assault them just for fun, without any 
 reason. 
 
 This boy, I understand, turned out to be 
 quite a respectable man, and is now a prac- 
 ticing physician ; so I will withhold his 
 name. 
 
 Uncle Smith's son, Fletcher, was one of 
 this boy's victims ; had often been chased 
 and beaten by him. But he grew fast, and 
 one day he made up his mind he would not 
 run again from him, but would stand his 
 ground, and he did. This boy came at him, 
 and they had the hardest boy fight ever 
 
68 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 known in that region. It was nip and tuck, 
 but, finally, Fletcher got the best of him, 
 and he improved his opportunity, and 
 pounded him to his heart's content he 
 paid him back, with interest. 
 
 This boy's father was a doctor, and he 
 had a patient on his hands, to bind up his 
 bruises. He went to see Uncle Smith, "mad 
 as a March hare," demanded satisfaction, 
 and that Fletcher be punished severely. 
 
 Uncle Smith heard him patiently, then 
 called Fletcher, and, in the presence of the 
 
 doctor, said : ( ' Fletcher, did you whip f ' 
 
 Fletcher said, "yes, sir." Uncle Smith said, 
 " can you do it ? " Fletcher said, "yes, sir." 
 Uncle Smith said, "then you see that he 
 behaves himself." 
 
 This was not the kind of satisfaction the 
 doctor expected, but it was all he got, and 
 I believe the lesson to the boy was of great 
 benefit to him. 
 
 During this time the great Miller excite- 
 ment occurred, the time for the ending up 
 of all earthly things. The end of the world 
 had about come and the time was fixed. 
 
 These Millerites had figured out from the 
 book of Daniel the "Times and Times and 
 
MILLER EXCITEMENT. 69 
 
 a half and the dividing of Time," to bring 
 it to a certain day, I believe in July ; if I 
 remember it was 1843, and the time was 
 12 o'clock of that day. 
 
 As strange as it may seem, many believed 
 it. Some became insane, and the excite- 
 ment grew as the time approached. Meet- 
 ings were held, preparations made, con- 
 fessions for sins and restitution where real 
 or fancied wrongs had been committed, 
 as far as possible, and ascension robes 
 provided. 
 
 If it had not been so serious, it would 
 have been laughable. 
 
 Many stories were told afterward which 
 showed the ridiculousness of the whole 
 thing. 
 
 A certain deacon in New England used to 
 hold meetings and exhort the people. He 
 felt sure no mistake had been made, and the 
 end of all things was at hand. As far as he 
 was concerned, he would say, ' ' it mattered 
 not ; he was ready, fully prepared, felt sure 
 he was saved." 
 
 When the day arrived, he walked out to 
 view the surroundings and to watch the 
 coming of his Lord. As the time drew 
 
70 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 near, he climbed on a stack of hay, to get 
 a better view, and it being a hot day, and 
 having passed sleepless nights, tired nature 
 gave out, and he fell asleep. Some wicked 
 boys, knowing the deacon's peculiarity, set 
 fire to the stack of hay, and as the flames 
 loomed up around the deacon, he awoke in 
 great fright, throwing up his arms above 
 his head, screaming at the top of his voice : 
 "In hell, just as I expected." 
 
 He escaped the flames without much 
 damage, but he lost confidence in the 
 interpretation of the book of Daniel. 
 
 It was during this decade, 1846, the war 
 with Mexico was precipitated on the 
 country by the Southern slave oligarchy, in 
 the interest of the extension of slavery. 
 The great excitement was begun by the 
 repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the 
 declaration of the Southern slave holders 
 and Democrats of the North that slavery 
 was a national institution, and had a right 
 to go in the territories and be protected, 
 the same as any other property. 
 
 This question of slavery had developed 
 a few Abolitionists, sincere conscientious 
 men ; but both the great political parties, 
 
MEXICAN WAR. 71 
 
 Whig and Democratic, tolerated the insti- 
 tution, seeing no way to abolish it where 
 it already existed. But when it was as- 
 serted by the Democratic party, that slav- 
 ery was national, instead of being a local 
 institution, thinking men of the North 
 began to feel it was time to call a halt. 
 There was quite a large element of such 
 men in both political parties. 
 
 These men called a national convention, 
 which met at Buffalo, and formed what was 
 called the " Free Soil party." This simply 
 meant, and their platform so stated, that the 
 normal condition of the new territories was 
 free soil and slavery could not exist there ; 
 but they did not contemplate any interfer- 
 ence with slavery in the states where it 
 already existed. 
 
 Another element in both parties believed 
 it best to leave the question to the people 
 of the territories, to vote whether slavery 
 should, or should not, exist. This was 
 called " squatter sovereignty," and the 
 leader of this party was Stephen A. 
 Douglas. 
 
 This squatter sovereignty doctrine was so 
 absurd, involving, as it did, border war and 
 
72 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 neighborhood fights, it obtained but a small 
 following. 
 
 The Democratic party, then ruled as it 
 had been for a generation by the Southern 
 oligarchy, clung to the doctrine of state 
 rights and nationalization of slavery. 
 Between these different policies, I much 
 preferred the Free Soil. I detested, with 
 all my soul, any doctrine that tolerated 
 human slavery. 
 
 During these exciting times the Demo- 
 cratic party (or rather the Southern leaders 
 of that party, which meant the same thing) 
 procured a decision from Judge Taney, the 
 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
 United States, in the Dred- Scott case, the 
 most abominable ever promulgated from the 
 bench of any court in Christendom ; it was 
 that the negro had no rights that white 
 men were bound to respect. This decision, 
 handed down from the bench of the highest 
 court in the United States, was accepted 
 as sound doctrine by the Democratic party, 
 North and South. 
 
 It did seem that this cursed system of 
 human slavery, "the sum of all villainies," 
 was to be firmly fixed as a permanent insti- 
 
OLD POLITICAL PARTIES. 73 
 
 tution in our country. This doctrine was so 
 repugnant to every instinct of decency, of 
 humanity, of civilization, to say nothing of 
 Christianity, or the spirit of the age in all 
 Christendom, save of these United States, 
 that I wondered decent men could tolerate 
 such an infernal doctrine. I must say, my 
 blood boiled with indignation; my soul 
 cried out in protest and shame at the out- 
 rage. 
 
 It was, to my mind, inconceivable that 
 any person of any self-respect, or feel- 
 ing of common humanity, could tolerate 
 such an edict. I shall have more to say in 
 regard to this matter in a subsequent letter. 
 
 It is a great satisfaction that the best 
 portion of all parties at the North did 
 revolt, and not only repudiated this doc- 
 trine, but, within a few years, passed laws, 
 not only that negroes had rights that white 
 men were bound to respect, but that 
 dumb beasts had rights that all persons 
 were bound to respect. 
 
 Those party zealots swallowed every doc- 
 trine and platform of their party, no matter 
 how absurd . Like the old preacher whose 
 morning lesson in the Bible he had marked 
 
74 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 to read, being the account of Noah and the 
 ark. Some wicked boys got hold of the 
 Bible, and, with scissors and paste, doc- 
 tored the passage to read, "When Noah 
 was one hundred and twenty years old, 
 he married a wife one hundred and twenty 
 fathoms long and twenty fathoms deep; 
 was pitched without and within." He 
 fixed his spectacles and read it over again, 
 and finally said: "Brethren, I don't re- 
 member to have read this before, but it 
 is there and must be true. It illustrates 
 the saying, 'we are fearfully and wonder- 
 fully made. 5 " 
 
SELLING OUT IN CAIRO. 75 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 MY DEAE H. 
 
 In my last letter I spoke of several inci- 
 dents which occurred during our residence 
 in Cairo. Both myself and my dear wife 
 applied ourselves to business and to work. 
 Our three little girls were our constant care ; 
 but great pets, and fully repaid us. 
 
 There were no kindergarten schools 
 thought of then ; but, in reality, there was 
 such a school in Cairo. Miss Louisa Prout, 
 a maiden lady of fifty years, or thereabouts, 
 kept a private school in her own house for 
 little girls, some of them mere infants. 
 Mothers felt perfectly safe in entrusting 
 their little ones to her care. 
 
 She not only taught them their letters 
 and little lessons, but also sewing, knitting, 
 and everything that is now taught in the 
 kindergarten schools. She dearly loved the 
 children and they all loved her. She passed 
 away many years since, and her memory is 
 precious among many mothers and grand- 
 mothers, who remember her care of them 
 and teaching when they were infants. Her 
 
76 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 rooms were a combination of ixursery and 
 kindergarten ; she was well adapted for 
 both. 
 
 The great West was developing, and large 
 emigration from the East drifting that way. 
 My father-in-law sold his farm in Strykers- 
 ville, and moved to Illinois, taking his 
 entire family, except my wife and another 
 daughter (the eldest) the wife of Vincent 
 Sitzer, living in Livingstonville, Schoharie 
 County, and the eldest son, Ashabel, who 
 was then in business with Mr. Sitzer. This 
 son died soon after, and Mr. Sitzer, a year 
 or two later. His wife, with three children 
 a son and two daughters went to her 
 father's house in Illinois. 
 
 They settled in Tazewell County, near 
 Peoria, a tine farming country. The sons 
 and daughters all married and settled down 
 in homes of their own, and as years passed 
 by, father and mother died, the farm passed 
 into other hands, and only a precious mem- 
 ory of the kindest and best of Christian 
 parents is left to the numerous children and 
 grandchildren surviving. 
 
 The reports coming from the West, and 
 accounts of the marvelous growth of 
 
SELLING OUT IN CAIRO. 77 
 
 Chicago, made us feel like trying our 
 fortune there. 
 
 In the spring of 1852, after a nine years 
 residence in Cairo, my youngest brother, 
 Edward, then married, proposed to buy me 
 out my house, store, and goods and we 
 soon after completed the arrangement. I 
 was to continue the business until fall, to 
 reduce my stock as much as possible, not 
 replenishing, and then turn over what I had 
 left, at a discount of twenty-live per cent, 
 below cost or current market price. The 
 stock being so reduced many unsalable 
 goods, remnants, etc. the arrangement was 
 mutually satisfactory ; we both felt we had 
 made a good trade. 
 
 I then began to cast about for a new field 
 for business. 
 
 Our minds, however, were strongly 
 inclined towards Chicago. 
 
 The latter part of May in that year I left 
 my store in charge of my clerk, Sherman 
 Lennon, and an old gentleman, Wm. 
 Pierson, to assist as needed, and our young 
 children in care of my niece, Hattie E. Scher- 
 merhorn, and we started on our journey for 
 the West, combining the prospecting for 
 
78 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 business and visiting my wife's family in 
 central Illinois. 
 
 Travelling was very different in those 
 days from the present. There was no rail- 
 road between Buffalo and Detroit or Cleve- 
 land, and only a short line completed in 
 Illinois, between Chicago and Freeport. 
 
 We took a lake steamboat at Buffalo for 
 Detroit, and rail from there to Chicago. 
 
 A combination of circumstances caused 
 us to weaken in our enthusiasm for mov- 
 ing west. Sea-sickness and storms on the 
 lakes; Chicago was then a mud hole, the 
 streets almost impassible. Foundations of 
 houses and stores, and public buildings, were 
 being laid in mud; no cellars could be made. 
 
 The board sidewalks, in walking over, 
 would spurt up water through the cracks, 
 to the great disgust of the ladies; and to 
 crown all a cholera scare, and many cases 
 of cholera in Chicago and all over the West. 
 Scarcely nothing else was talked of. 
 
 We neither of us felt well, during the 
 week we staid in Chicago, and I made no 
 arrangement for going into business there. 
 Indeed, it was then about the most unin- 
 viting place I had ever seen. 
 
TRIP TO ILLINOIS. 79 
 
 I had the refusal of one store of a block 
 commenced (the brick walls being just 
 out of the mud) on a lease of five years, 
 at SI, 200 a year. This same store was soon 
 after leased by Mr. Potter Palmer, the 
 millionaire, who made his fortune in 
 Chicago. 
 
 Chicago was a very different city then 
 from what it became afterward. The whole 
 city having been raised out of the mud, ten 
 to fifteen feet, and filled in. 
 
 After we had carefully looked over 
 Chicago and made up our minds that we 
 would not settle there, we arranged to visit 
 my wife's family in central Illinois. To do 
 this we had to travel one hundred miles on 
 a canal boat, our first experience in this 
 mode of travel. This canal, the Henepin, 
 ran from Chicago to Lasalle on the Illinois 
 River. The trip occupied just 24 hours, 
 being a packet express boat, and with 
 frequent changes of horses, were enabled to 
 make the rapid progress of four miles an 
 hour. The journey became a little monoto- 
 nous, but, on the whole, a rather pleasant 
 experience. About the only drawback 
 that I remember, was the cloud of mosqui- 
 
80 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 toes that followed, and enveloped our boat, 
 and disturbed our night' s sleep. 
 
 Instead of meeting the regular steamboat, 
 running between Peoria and Lasalle, as we 
 expected, we found that a prolonged drought 
 had dried up the river, so that even the Hat 
 bottom boat could not come up any further 
 than Henry, and we had to take a stage the 
 thirty miles or more from Lasalle to Henry, 
 and there found the boat waiting. 
 
 This flat bottom boat, as I remember, was 
 nothing more than a raft with an engine on 
 it, which propelled a stern wheel, and 
 several times got stuck in the muddy 
 bottom of the river. We flnally reached 
 Peoria late at night, found accommodation 
 at an over crowded hotel, where the women 
 occupied cots and space on the parlor floor, 
 and the men were distributed in the other 
 rooms of the house. 
 
 A state convention in the city had 
 crowded all the hotels. 
 
 Next day I procured a horse and buggy, 
 and drove out ten miles to Morton, where 
 my wife's parents were living. It was a 
 joyful meeting. They had passed through 
 many vicissitudes of pioneer life ; but were 
 
TRIP TO ILLINOIS. 81 
 
 then beginning to reap the reward of 
 their enterprise, being settled in a new, 
 comfortable house, and their farm under 
 good cultivation ; some of the daughters 
 married and were nicely settled ; the sons 
 both engaged and soon after married. 
 Altogether, our visit was exceedingly 
 enjoyable. 
 
 After spending a few weeks with our 
 friends in Tazewell County, we concluded 
 to visit my wife's sister, Rebecca, and her 
 husband, Rufus K. Frisbee, whom we had 
 never seen. 
 
 Their home was in Ogle County, a 
 journey of more than 100 miles, mostly over 
 an unbroken prairie ; a mere track for a 
 road, and cabins generally miles apart a 
 good three days' journey. 
 
 With a fine span of horses and easy 
 carriage, my wife's father and mother, 
 my wife and self, went on this journey ; 
 it was an enjoyable trip. 
 
 The entertainments on the way were 
 quite plain, but exceedingly bountiful. 
 The early settlers were mostly pioneers from 
 the East, and eastern people were very 
 welcome guests ; indeed, we had to insist 
 
82 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 upon paying for entertainments, which 
 they were loth to receive. 
 
 The country was new and wild. Myriads 
 of prairie chickens would fly up as we 
 passed, and young broods ran ahead of us 
 on the road. The prairies were filled with 
 these fowl. 
 
 Along the bluffs of rivers and streams, 
 there was timber extending back a quarter 
 to half a mile on each side. In this timber 
 we often saw deer and beautiful speckled 
 fawn, and wild turkeys. They sought this 
 timber for shade and access to water. After 
 spending a few days in Ogle county with 
 brother and sister Frisbee, father Cornwell 
 took us to Rockford, some forty miles, to 
 the nearest railroad station, on the only 
 railroad built in Illinois, then just fin- 
 ished to Rockford. We then turned our 
 faces homeward, visiting Niagara Falls on 
 the way ; reaching home in due time, after 
 an absence of over two months. 
 
 We had never been separated before from 
 the dear children, and were overjoyed to 
 see them, and they had been counting the 
 days and hours, watching for us. 
 
 We had seen much of the country. A 
 
TRIP TO ILLINOIS. 83 
 
 journey like that, in those days, was very 
 different from traveling, in these later 
 times, by lightning express and Pullman 
 cars; such expedition and luxury was 
 undreamed of. I have often traveled over 
 the same roads since, and on new roads, all 
 over the great West, not then even thought 
 of, retiring at night, in the ample berths of 
 the luxuriant Pullman and waking, rested 
 and fresh in the morning, several hundred 
 miles on my journey during the night's 
 sleep. 
 
 Should you arrive at the place of your 
 destination before morning, a small fee to 
 the porter would insure your being waked 
 in due time. 
 
 Sometimes a porter would make a mis- 
 take and either forget, or would wake up 
 the wrong passenger. Such an incident is 
 said to have occurred on the New York 
 Central. 
 
 A gentleman, taking a Pullman in the 
 evening at Albany, being very tired, was 
 afraid he would over-sleep, and be taken 
 past his place, Rochester. So he called the 
 porter, and gave him a big fee to wake him 
 in time to get off, and cautioned him to be 
 
84 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 sure and see he got off, as sometimes, when 
 suddenly awakened, he was a little dazed 
 and might resist being woke up and put off. 
 The darkey said, "all right, boss, I'll be 
 sure and put you off." 
 
 In the morning the gentleman woke up 
 as the conductor called out Buffalo. He 
 inquired for the darkey porter, and, after 
 searching, found him in the porter's saloon 
 with his face all plastered up and his eyes 
 blackened. 
 
 The gentleman was mad, and upbraided 
 him for being so forgetful. The darkey 
 was so amazed, he fairly turned pale. He 
 said : " Why, fo, de laud sake, is you the 
 genman who gave me de five dollars to put 
 him off at Rochester ; den who was de 
 genman I did put off ? " 
 
 When some of those new western roads 
 were first built their time tables were very 
 slow, and, generally, they were behind even 
 the slow time. Many jokes were got off at 
 the expense of the roads. On one road it 
 was recommended by some wag to put the 
 cow-catcher on the rear end of the train, so 
 the cattle would not run over the train. 
 
 Tramps, then, as now, bothered conductors 
 
TRIP TO ILLINOIS. 85 
 
 by boarding trains, expecting to be put off ; 
 but they would be several miles on their 
 journey before the conductor came around. 
 The president of the road happened to be in 
 the car when one of these tramps was 
 discovered by the conductor. He said he 
 would attend to his case himself, and pro- 
 ceeded to put him off with a kick. When 
 the train stopped, some twenty miles from 
 where the tramp was supposed to have been 
 put off, the president discovered him on the 
 platform among the passengers. He went 
 for him and wanted to know how he got 
 there. The tramp said in a mock whisper, 
 "talk low, be more quiet, I don't want to 
 give your darned old road away, I walked." 
 He had boarded the last car, unnoticed by 
 the conductor or president. 
 
 Some good stories are told about these 
 tramps. One being half starved, concluded 
 he would get one good square meal anyway 
 He walked into a hotel dining-room at the 
 dinner hour, and having filled his empty 
 stomach, walked boldly up to the office and 
 told the clerk he had eaten dinner, but 
 didn't have a penny to pay for it. The 
 clerk opened a drawer and took out a pistol. 
 
86 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 The tramp started back with fright, saying, 
 " What's that?" The clerk said, "It's a 
 pistol, and if you don't pay for that dinner 
 I'll blow your head off." The tramp looked 
 relieved, and said, "Oh! only a pistol; I 
 don't care for that ; blow away ; I thought 
 it was a stomach-pump." 
 
 On arriving home in the early fall, we 
 began to make preparations for turning 
 over the store and house to my brother. 
 We secured a part of Capt. Sayre's house 
 for the winter, and moved in, and in Octo- 
 ber, 1852, I gave up the keys of my store 
 and walked out, a retired merchant ; of 
 course, retired only temporarily. 
 
 I immediately turned my attention to 
 collecting and settling up my business mat- 
 ters in Cairo. Went to New York and 
 conferred with some of my best friends 
 among the merchants with whom I had 
 done business many years. 
 
 I felt it very important that I should 
 make no mistake in locating myself in busi- 
 ness again. My preference was some large 
 town or city and, after much consideration, 
 I finally accepted the offer of Mr. Richard 
 D. Lathrop, of the firm of Lathrop, Luding- 
 
REMOVING TO NEW YORK. 87 
 
 ton & Co. He proposed that I take his 
 nephew, Charles D. Lathrop, as a partner, 
 and lease a store up-town in the city of 
 New York. 
 
 This Charles D. Lathrop had been in the 
 wholesale store of his uncle from boyhood, 
 and had worked his way up to be one of the 
 leading salesmen. Mr. Lathrop offered, in 
 lieu of capital, which his nephew had not, 
 to furnish goods from their wholesale house 
 at about cost ; never to exceed five per cent, 
 above cost on imported goods, while domes- 
 tic goods would be sold to us at cost. This 
 seemed to offer a great advantage, and, 
 beside, the connection with their house 
 would be of further advantage by way of 
 advertisement, and they would see that our 
 credit was as good as their own. We drew 
 up the partnership papers, and, after look- 
 ing around for a location, decided upon 
 taking a lease, for five years, of a store in 
 Bleecker Street, to commence on January 
 1st, 1853. 
 
 The capital of our new enterprise was 
 between $8,000 and $9,000 (depending some- 
 what on my collections in Cairo) furnished 
 entirely by myself. The style of the firm 
 
88 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 was " Stevens & Lathrop." After com- 
 pleting my arrangements, I returned to 
 Cairo, and soon after my dear wife was 
 taken very ill with what was called remit- 
 tent, or forty day fever. Dr. King attended 
 her. She became extremely weak, and it 
 seemed doubtful whether I could leave 
 her. 
 
 After New Year's she began to feel a 
 little stronger, and insisted upon my 
 carrying out my arrangement. I left her 
 with a heavy heart. The children were 
 getting to be quite helpful, the eldest, 
 Marion, being then just eleven years old, 
 and a little woman a-bout the house. 
 
 I came to New York and spent several 
 weeks arranging the store, painting and 
 getting ready for business, and early in 
 February we put in a fine general assort- 
 ment of dry goods. 
 
 I had not decided on a house, though I 
 had several in view. My wife was desirous, 
 as I was, before deciding this question, 
 to come and see for herself. Having gained 
 sufficient strength she wrote me she would 
 come to the city, and see the different 
 houses I had looked at. 
 
REMOVING TO NEW YORK. 89 
 
 The rent seemed a pretty heavy item for 
 us, the success of the business being uncer- 
 tain. 
 
 The store that we had leased, included 
 the second floor, consisting of three or four 
 rooms, which had been occupied as living 
 rooms by the previous occupants of the 
 store. I had not expected to use this floor 
 except for storage. 
 
 My practical wife, when she came to look 
 at the houses and consider the rent and 
 expense of furnishing, while these rooms 
 were comparatively unused, advised it was 
 by far the best to commence living there. We 
 therefore had these rooms painted, papered 
 and put in order, sofa-beds and conven- 
 iences for living, making it much more 
 comfortable than I expected we could. 
 
 She went back home, but did not gain 
 strength as we hoped, and when I went to 
 Cairo, to move the family to the city, the 
 first of May, I found her scarcely able to sit 
 up, and under the doctor's care. 
 
 She was, however, brave, and our plans 
 having been made, she was very anxious to 
 go at the appointed time. We had a Cairo 
 girl engaged to go with us as a servant. 
 
90 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 With many misgivings I provided an 
 easy carriage, and we started one beautiful 
 morning, early in May, 1853, for onr new 
 home in the great city. 
 
 She tried to encourage the children and 
 myself to think she was well enough to 
 stand the journey, but it soon became 
 evident she was not. 
 
 We called at the house of her cousin, Mr. 
 Daniel Rugg, in Catskill, to rest before 
 going to the boat; but we all felt, as she did 
 herself, that it was not prudent to tax her 
 strength any further, and at their kind 
 invitation, and indeed urgent solicitation, 
 it was finally decided for her to remain with 
 them until she got stronger. 
 
 With heavy hearts we bade her good bye. 
 It was a sad parting for all of us; we all 
 tried to cheer each other, though it seemed 
 there was scarcely a silver lining to the 
 dark cloud that hung over us. 
 
 The three children, myself and the girl, 
 came on the night boat to the city. We went, 
 for a few days, to the house where I had 
 boarded, until we got the rooms in order 
 and partly settled. Meantime every mail 
 brought letters rather encouraging about 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. 91 
 
 my wife. We were hoping she would be able 
 to be with us in a week or two, when one 
 morning a carriage drove up and brought 
 her unexpected. She felt she could not be 
 separated from us any longer; that she 
 must be with us to direct and do what she 
 could in getting things in order. 
 
 We were all delighted, of course, and so 
 thankful to have her with us, even though 
 unable to render us any assistance. 
 
 I immediately called Dr. Kinsley, who 
 was highly recommended. He carefully 
 diagnosed her case and gave us great 
 encouragement to hope for her speedy 
 recovery. 
 
 She did improve, and for a year after en- 
 joyed better health. She was, however, never 
 well after this ; only her indomitable deter- 
 mination and heroic courage kept her up. 
 
 We lived quite comfortably in our rooms 
 over the store, and never regretted starting 
 in that way. Indeed it was part of the 
 religion of us both, never to incur any 
 expense until we felt sure we were able to 
 do so, and it was well in this case we did 
 not, as the business did not prove a success. 
 
 It did not take very long, after we got 
 
92 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 settled and fairly started, before I began to 
 feel I had made a mistake. My partner 
 had never had any experience in a retail 
 store, and his experience in a wholesale 
 house was no benefit to us in the retail 
 business. Business was conducted so 
 different, that my experience in a country 
 store was not much benefit to me. 
 
 We had a bright young man as clerk, 
 used to city trade, but his methods were 
 such I could not approve. He was un- 
 scrupulous, indeed dishonest, though he 
 insisted it was the only way business in the 
 city could be done successfully. He would 
 have several prices for the same grade of 
 goods, taking for granted that a lady 
 would always be willing to pay a little 
 more to get the best article, and, as a rule, 
 a lady would judge the article by its price, 
 and the salesman could generally mislead a 
 customer. 
 
 I could not tolerate this way of doing 
 business, and changed clerks until I 
 thought I found one who believed that 
 honesty was the best policy. 
 
 Very soon after this the methods in all 
 large city retail stores was changed. 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. 93 
 
 Mr. A. T. Stewart started and set the 
 example, to have one price marked in plain 
 figures and no deviation. Strange, this had 
 not been adopted long before. Lying, 
 cheating, and deception had been the rule 
 previous to this ; but, thereafter, when this 
 method became established, a child could 
 go and buy goods as safely as an ex- 
 perienced person, as far as price was 
 concerned. 
 
 Although our expenses were not large, 
 yet the business was unsuccessful from the 
 beginning. 
 
 On taking account of stock at the end of 
 the first year, it became apparent we were 
 running behind, and six months thereafter 
 we felt sure it was only a question of time, 
 if we continued, when we could not pay 
 our debts. After several confidential inter- 
 views with Mr. Richard Lathrop, it was 
 finally decided best to take steps towards 
 winding up the business. 
 
 We advertised to sell our lease and 
 goods, had several applications, and finally 
 closed a bargain with a Mr. Davidson to 
 take our lease off our hands, and whatever 
 goods we had left on the first of January, 
 
94 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 1855, at 75 cents on the dollar of cost 
 price. 
 
 This gave us about two months' time 
 to run our stock down, and, as the time 
 drew near, we had auction sales evenings, 
 so that when we turned our stock over to 
 Mr. Davidson it consisted mostly of rem- 
 nants, so that we considered we got about 
 full value for our stock. 
 
 The two years' experience in the retail 
 business in the city are not years which I 
 can look back to with pleasure. 
 
 My wife's health broke down again the 
 second year, and it was decided that she 
 try what was then considered the best thing 
 for weak and run-down women, the water 
 cure. We were afterward convinced it was 
 not the best for her ; but we felt we must do 
 something, and this, at the time, seemed 
 best. 
 
 We took the three children to my 
 brother's house near Gilboa, where they 
 had the best of care on a farm ; and my 
 wife went to a water cure, at Northampton, 
 Mass., called "Round Hill," for the 
 summer. 
 
 The rest and country air, no doubt, was 
 
CHANGE OF BUSINESS. 95 
 
 beneficial and she did improve ; but as for 
 the water cure and treatment, it was all 
 a fallacy. 
 
 It was, beside, an expensive experiment 
 and a great sacrifice, involving as it did, 
 separation from each other and from the 
 children, breaking up our home in the city, 
 and to make it seem worse to me, day after 
 day I felt my little capital was diminish- 
 ing, business running behind, and time 
 rapidly drawing near when I could not pay 
 my debts. I shall never forget the miser- 
 ies of that summer. But all things have 
 an end, and, as I have said, the business was 
 closed up at the end of that year. 
 
 Before the year expired, however, I had 
 made arrangments to go with the house of 
 Lathrop, Ludington & Co., as general sales- 
 man, to commence on the first of January, 
 1855, on a salary of $1,000 the first year. 
 We rented a cottage in West 48th street, 
 and moved in. At that time this was quite 
 out, almost in the suburbs of the city. 
 
 I began immediately in my new vocation, 
 and commenced hunting up customers 
 among all my mercantile acquaintances and 
 as many new ones as possible. Salaries 
 
96 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 were based on the amount a salesman -could 
 sell. 
 
 The firm paid travelling expenses and 
 salesmen were expected to travel during 
 the dull season, a couple of months in the 
 winter and a few weeks in the summer, 
 drumming up trade. 
 
 I happened to have quite a large acquaint- 
 ance among country merchants, quite a 
 number of relatives, and these not only 
 gave me their custom, but influenced their 
 friends also, to buy their goods of me. Some 
 of my acquaintances were already customers 
 of the house, but were kindly turned over 
 to me as my customers. 
 
 My trade increased; I made new custom- 
 ers, and held my old ones. Merchants 
 seemed to give me their confidence. My 
 experience as a country merchant, in buying 
 goods, was of great benefit to me as well 
 as to my customers. I was careful never to 
 urge a merchant to buy more than I 
 believed for his interest to buy; I never 
 deceived him or misrepresented the goods. 
 I tried to gain the confidence of my custom- 
 ers by fair dealing, and it is very gratify- 
 ing to think my business acquaintances 
 
CHANGE OF BUSINESS. 97 
 
 remained my personal friends. I never for- 
 got my lesson in buying my first goods in 
 New York, when that successful merchant 
 prince, Edward Corning, waited on me 
 and gave me practical lessons in the art of 
 selling goods. It is a good rule to have in 
 mind, either real or imaginary, some model 
 as near perfection as possible to follow, to 
 think of that model, and then try to be 
 that. 
 
 This man, whom I may speak of again, was 
 a model, as a merchant, a business man and 
 Christian gentleman ; one whom any man 
 might be proud to follow. 
 
 I tried to look out for the interest of my 
 patrons equally with my own interest or 
 that of my employers. I believed this to 
 be the best policy, and best for all parties. 
 
 From the start I determined to make my 
 services indispensable to the firm. I don't 
 think I was naturally lazy, and I felt it 
 necessary to exert every faculty to the 
 utmost to make success sure. I was 
 always, as a rule, at the store early in the 
 morning, and remained as long as there 
 was work to be done. In the business 
 season it was often eleven and twelve 
 
98 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 o'clock at night before I left ; then riding 
 an hour on the horse car, often falling 
 asleep, being tired out, and carried half a 
 dozen blocks beyond my street to the car 
 stables, unless the conductor was thought- 
 ful enough to wake me. Then would be up 
 to breakfast and back to the store before 
 eight o'clock. 
 
 A less strong constitution than I was 
 blessed with could not have stood the 
 strain. 
 
 It was customary, in those days, for each 
 salesman when he got through with his 
 customer, to truck his goods to the packing 
 room himself, sort them out, and when 
 entered, call them back. If he had 
 customers to keep him busy during the 
 day, as he usually had in the business 
 season, he would have to do this trucking 
 goods at night, hence the night work 
 spoken of. 
 
 A few years later, all this was changed ; 
 elevators were put in, porters employed to 
 run the goods to the packing room, and the 
 salesman's duty ended when he had sold 
 the goods and entered the tills and depart- 
 ments in the till book. 
 
BUSINESS PROSPECTS. 99 
 
 After being in the store a few weeks, to 
 become a little familiar with the stock and 
 prices, I took a trip West to Chicago and 
 other western cities, making new acquaint- 
 ances, returning in time for the opening of 
 spring trade. 
 
 My sales were successful the first year 
 beyond my expectation. The firm increased 
 my salary to $1,500 the second year, and 
 advanced each year, until my salary 
 reached $2,500. Then the great political 
 excitement came in '59 and '60; business 
 men became fearful, civil war was threaten- 
 ed, all business was contracted, expenses 
 curtailed, and salaries greatly reduced, 
 many thrown out of employment. I believe 
 I was the only salesman in the house whose 
 salary was not materially reduced. My 
 salary was not reduced, nor did I ask, or 
 expect any increase ; it remained the same 
 for a year or two, until I had it changed to 
 a commission. 
 
100 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 After some two years and a half in the 
 wholesale trade, the panic of 1857 came on. 
 It came suddenly, as panics usually do, and 
 the country was unprepared for it. 
 
 It was a fearful time for business men. 
 Banks generally suspended or failed. 
 Exchange from western cities rose to ten 
 and fifteen per cent., and on western bank 
 bills there was a still greater discount ; it 
 was impossible to collect. 
 
 Many houses failed, and the best and 
 strongest houses had all they could do to 
 pull through. In October of that year the 
 firm desired me to travel through the 
 western states, to collect and secure 
 doubtful debts, to compromise with bank- 
 rupts, to ascertain the standing of their 
 customers, and look after their business 
 generally. 
 
 I left home, as I said, in October ; went 
 directly to Chicago, Milwaukee, Dubuque, 
 Peoria and to almost every city and large 
 
PANIC OF 1857. 101 
 
 town in the West, and did not return until 
 Christmas eve. 
 
 I had not expected to be absent more 
 than a month ; but being in constant com- 
 munication with the lirm, they kept me 
 advised by letter and telegrams of real or 
 anticipated failures requiring immediate 
 attention, often hundreds of miles apart, 
 involving much night travel. 
 
 I was given carte-blanche to secure or 
 compromise and make settlements, as I con- 
 cluded each case required ; to find out the 
 condition of each customer. 
 
 Failures all over the country were of daily 
 occurrence ; confidence was shaken ; every- 
 body distrusted everybody else. 
 
 It was a very responsible mission, and I 
 felt, of course, great anxiety ; many thou- 
 sands of dollars were at stake. 
 
 I adopted a plan of my own which, I am 
 sure, indeed, I demonstrated it to be more 
 successful than any other. 
 
 Instead of going to a merchant as though 
 I believed he was about to abscond or do 
 something dishonest, I made him feel that 
 I was his friend. I did not pretend this 
 merely, but did feel real sympathy for 
 
102 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 these men, most of whom were in the same 
 boat, struggling with adversity. 
 
 I put myself in their place, and thought : 
 u What would I do under like circum- 
 stances ? " I generally got their confidence, 
 and drew from them a full statement of 
 their condition. 
 
 Of course, I did not forget the business 
 maxim, and I believe it is a rule of law as 
 well, that a diligent creditor may reap the 
 benefit of his diligence. With an insolvent 
 debtor, I looked out for my own claim first, 
 in preference to other creditors, but was 
 always candid with the debtor, and tried to 
 give him the best advice I could to help 
 him out of his difficulties. 
 
 Experience is a good school-master, and I 
 learned, while coming in contact with these 
 business men, how much better it was to 
 have their good-will, their confidence, than 
 to arouse antagonism, and make them feel 
 I was trying to get the best of them. 
 
 Of course there were dishonest men I had 
 to deal with. I could generally tell, how- 
 ever, by a little maneuvering, what the 
 intentions of these men were. If I sus- 
 pected they were trying to cover up their 
 
TRIP TO THE WEST. 103 
 
 affairs, or get the best of their creditors, I 
 would deal with them accordingly. 
 
 I will mention one or two incidents going 
 to show the different phases of human 
 nature. 
 
 I found a merchant of Chicago, a Mr. 
 Jones, who owed our firm 2,500. He had 
 made an assignment and preferred credi- 
 tors enough to cover his entire assets. 
 Some New York creditors had attached his 
 stock, and were trying to break the 
 assignment. 
 
 I followed my plan of trying mildness 
 and suavity, rather than threats and anger, 
 and got him to give me a statement of his 
 affairs. I believed it was a case tinctured 
 with fraud. I saw his lawyer who was one 
 of the sharpest in Chicago ; retained him to 
 look after our interest in case the assign- 
 ment which he was defending should be 
 broken, as I believed it would be. 
 
 I found out that Jones' wife had means 
 separate from her husband, and advised 
 him and his lawyer to come to New York 
 and try to get a compromise with the 
 creditors rather than fight them in the 
 courts. 
 
104 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 I offered to help them all I could ; they 
 were thankful, and partly promised to do 
 so. I informed them when I expected to 
 be home, after Christmas. 
 
 I had not been back long, before Mr. 
 Jones and his lawyer called to see me ; they 
 had come on to try to settle by paying, I 
 believe, some 25 per cent. 
 
 I privately advised our firm not to accept, 
 nor to positively refuse, but wait till they 
 had seen other creditors. 
 
 In a day or two Mr. Jones, with his law- 
 yer, came in the store accompanied by a 
 deputy sheriff who had arrested him for 
 fraud on the complaint of a creditor. 
 
 He was to be taken to Eldridge street jail 
 unless he could procure bail for $5,000, and 
 came to me for help. 
 
 I took Mr. Jones and his lawyer into a 
 private office, and with both Mr. Lathrop 
 and Mr. Ludington, talked over the matter. 
 His lawyer thought it was no case for arrest, 
 and was sure he would get clear on trial, 
 but must have bail or go to jail. 
 
 Mr. Jones finally admitted he had securi- 
 ties with him, which he would put up to 
 secure the bail, and proceeded to partly 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. 105 
 
 disrobe, and took off a belt containing 
 bonds and diamonds, which he said belonged 
 to his wife, and were worth over $5,000. 
 
 This belt and contents was finally given to 
 me for safe keeping as security, and bail was 
 furnished, Mr. Green and myself going on 
 the bond. Mr. Jones agreed to remain in 
 New York until the warrant proceedings 
 were decided, and for fear of further arrest, 
 he took board at a private house, near 
 Harlem, where he was to remain secreted 
 until the matter was settled. His lawyer, 
 Stewart by name, returned to Chicago, 
 leaving Mr. Jones' case in the hands of the 
 lawyer acting for Lathrop, Ludington & 
 Co. 
 
 In a few days, thereafter, followed a course 
 of proceeding by this lawyer which flavored 
 so strongly of sharp practice that I remon- 
 strated and protested, believing it to be a 
 breach of faith and trust ; but our lawyer 
 believed Mr. Jones to be a swindler ; that 
 his intention was to beat us as well as the 
 rest, and he went ahead. 
 
 He procured an attachment, and had it 
 served on me for the securities placed in my 
 hands, which I was obliged to deliver up, 
 
106 KECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 and they were seized for the debt which 
 Jones owed our firm. 
 
 He then had the bail-bond released and 
 Mr. Jones delivered up to the sheriff and 
 locked up in Eldridge Street jail. 
 
 This seemed to me a dishonorable thing 
 to do, and I protested and urged our firm 
 not to do it ; but they said it was in the 
 hands of their lawyer, and they were acting 
 under his advice. 
 
 I visited Mr. Jones in jail as often as 1 
 could ; assured him of my sympathy. He 
 at once sent for his wife. I invited her to 
 my house, and assisted her in securing a 
 boarding place near the jail, where she 
 could see her husband frequently, the rules 
 of Eldridge Street jail being not so strict as 
 other prisons. 
 
 Mr. Lathrop, himself, regretted what 
 had been done, and, personally, con- 
 tributed towards paying Mrs. Jones' ex- 
 penses. 
 
 The firm, however, secured their claim in 
 full. Some friends of Mrs. Jones' redeemed 
 the securities and paid the debt with 
 interest and costs. 
 
 I believe Jones finally got a settlement 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. 107 
 
 with his creditors, paying a small per- 
 centage of their claims. 
 
 I will mention another case. We had a 
 customer by name of Kelly, at Milledge- 
 ville, in Carroll County, Illinois, who owed 
 us near $3,000. I went there and found 
 another man, his brother-in-law, in posses- 
 sion who said he had bought out the stock 
 and paid for it, and that Kelly had moved 
 his family and himself to Canada. After 
 making further inquiries, I came to the 
 conclusion that the whole transaction was a 
 fraud. 
 
 The hotel proprietor gave me further 
 information. He said Kelly had been in the 
 habit of coming to his brother-in-law's 
 house on Saturday nights, and staying till 
 Monday morning, and believed he would 
 come that night, it being Saturday. 
 
 There was no lawyer in the place, nor 
 nearer than Mt. Carroll, the county seat, 
 some 18 miles distant. Acting upon the 
 information the hotel keeper had given me, 
 I determined to go to Mt. Carroll and get a 
 warrant for his arrest. There was a deputy 
 sheriff residing at Milledgeville. I had my 
 horse brought up, bade the landlord good- 
 
108 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 by ; nobody suspected where I was going, 
 only the landlord who was in the secret. I 
 had to make a confidant of him to get his 
 assistance. 
 
 I returned to the hotel at midnight, after 
 a horseback ride of 36 miles, a pretty tired 
 and sore man. The landlord had kept 
 watch, and Kelly had not come. I kept 
 close in my room all day Sunday, and the 
 landlord kept watch, but Kelly did not 
 make his appearance. 
 
 On Monday I rode to Sterling, some 12 
 miles in Whiteside County, where the land- 
 lord said Kelly had been seen the week 
 before, and thought he might be at the 
 hotel there. 
 
 Before going, however, I saw the deputy 
 sheriff and gave him the order of arrest, 
 with instructions to keep a sharp look out 
 for Kelly, and if he came to the place, to 
 arrest him at once, and either take him to 
 jail or get bail, and I would be back in a 
 day or two, all of which he promised. 
 
 The only thing now was to find Kelly. 
 Sterling was in another county, and my 
 purpose was, if I found him, to induce him 
 to go to Milledgeville. 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. 109 
 
 As I was riding into the village of 
 Sterling I met Mr. Kelly on the road, 
 knew him by sight, expressed sympathy 
 for his misfortunes ; told him I was trav- 
 eling through the country to see how 
 our customers were standing the hard 
 times ; sorry he had gone out of busi- 
 ness, but hoped he would soon be all 
 right again. He talked about a settle- 
 ment if his creditors would compromise 
 for about 10 cents on the dollar, if his 
 brother-in-law, to whom he had sold out, 
 would indorse his notes. He said he 
 expected to be in Milledgeville in a few 
 days, and would meet me there if I would 
 settle on those terms. 
 
 I told him I had to see some parties 
 and would go back to Milledgeville next 
 day, and proposed that he ride my horse 
 that night, and I would come next day, as 
 my horseback riding had about used me up. 
 
 He fell into the trap and I saw him off, 
 headed for Milledgeville. After supper and 
 late in the evening, as I wanted the sheriff 
 to have ample time to see Kelly, I went to 
 a livery and took a buggy and driver for 
 Milledgeville, arriving there at midnight. 
 
110 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 I knew I was dealing with a sharp rascal 
 and made up my mind to trap him if I 
 could. There had been a light fall of snow 
 during the evening, but had cleared off. 
 The landlord had seen Kelly come. He had 
 brought the horse to him as directed, and 
 he was sitting up expecting me. He had 
 watched the sheriff's house, and said the 
 sheriff was still up, as the lights had not 
 been put out. 
 
 I immediately went to the sheriff's house ; 
 he was up ; said he knew Kelly had come 
 and was at his brother-in-law's house ; 
 but he thought he would not arrest him 
 until morning, and then take him directly 
 to the county seat and jail. 
 
 I did not like this delay. The deputy- 
 sheriff said he would go and arrest him at 
 once, if I said so. I did say so, and we 
 both went to the house. He knocked, a 
 light was struck, and he was admitted. I 
 remained outside keeping watch. He came 
 out and said Kelly was up-stairs dressing, 
 and I had better come in as it was cold. I 
 declined, preferring to watch the only other 
 door by which he could escape, and a cellar 
 door on the same side of the house. 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. Ill 
 
 After a long time, as it seemed to me, the 
 sheriff came out and asked if I had been 
 around on the other side of the house. I 
 said no; I had been where I could see the 
 front door and the cellar door. Then he 
 said, " Kelly has skipped." He said he had 
 seen somebody pass a window on the other 
 side of the house. 
 
 We went around there, and sure enough, 
 footprints in the new fallen snow leading 
 from the window out to the cattle yard, 
 and then across the prairie, was evidence 
 enough that our bird had flown. 
 
 It was very evident, too, that the sheriff 
 had been in collusion and let him escape. 
 
 He pretended to feel badly about it, 
 and as the morning light began to grow, 
 and the snow having stopped falling, we 
 could easily follow his tracks across the 
 prairie. 
 
 We followed the trail two miles to a farm 
 house; found he had only stopped there a 
 moment to try to get a horse to go to Mt. 
 Carroll, but did not succeed. 
 
 We followed him a mile further or more, 
 and found he had again tried to get a horse 
 for the same purpose. The sheriff refused 
 
RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 to follow any further, but said he would go 
 back home and get his horse and ride to 
 Mt. Carroll, and might meet or find him 
 there. I continued alone on the trail. 
 About half way to Mt. Carroll, I should 
 say eight or ten miles from where we 
 started, I found he had procured a horse, 
 and had half an hour's start of me. 
 
 The ranchman had two other horses, and 
 was willing to let me have one and he take 
 the other and follow Kelly. 
 
 When I told him he was fleeing from the 
 sheriff, both himself and wife expressed a 
 fear that their horse would not come back, 
 which fear I did not attempt to allay. 
 
 While the horses were being brought 
 out, I swallowed a hasty breakfast (the fam- 
 ily having just finished), which, I remem- 
 ber, consisted of corn or rye coffee (luke- 
 warm), cornbread, fried pork (cold), and 
 pumpkin pie ; but, after my night' s travel 
 and morning race, my appetite was equal 
 to any kind of a breakfast, and I enjoyed it. 
 
 The good woman wanted to prepare me 
 a better breakfast, but my time was too 
 precious. 
 
 Kelly had taken the only saddle, and I 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. 113 
 
 had to be satisfied with a sheep skin in lieu, 
 and the back of my horse was very sharp. 
 
 The ranchman's horse was an unbroken 
 colt, and he preferred to ride bareback. 
 
 We rode along until we approached the 
 village where I dismounted, the ranchman 
 leading my horse. 
 
 Keeping my eyes open, I discovered 
 Kelly among a group of men in front of 
 the principal hotel ; it being court week an 
 unusual number of men had gathered. 
 
 He saw me before I got very near him 
 and instantly started on a run down a side 
 street and up a steep hill, I followed about 
 fifty feet behind, both on a full run. 
 
 This narrow street seemed to end at the 
 wide open door of a brewery ; a dense steam 
 coming out of the door hid from view 
 everything within. I rushed in calling 
 loudly, "hello! hello!" A man came 
 forward out of the steam. I told him I was 
 after a criminal, whom I had chased to 
 the door and he must have gone in. He 
 said nobody had come in there. 
 
 I searched the place and all the build- 
 ings in the vicinity, and every hiding place 
 I could find, a crowd of men and boys 
 
114 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 following, all wanting to know what was 
 the matter. I had no time to explain, 
 only that the man was escaping from 
 arrest. 
 
 I finally had to give up the search and 
 go back to the hotel. 
 
 By this time I was about used up ; my 
 clothing, even to my overcoat, was drenched 
 with perspiration. I sat down in the 
 barroom, began to feel dizzy and faint. 
 A man came to me with a glass of brandy, 
 bathed my face and head with cold water, 
 helped me off with my overcoat and 
 assisted me to the sitting room to a 
 lounge. 
 
 The hotel keeper also was very kind, as 
 was the whole crowd. 
 
 I explained to them the situation, and 
 that Deputy Sheriff Johnson was on the 
 way with the order of arrest. I believed 
 Kelly was in hiding not very far off, and 
 offered twenty-five dollars to any one to 
 find him. 
 
 A general search began immediately, and 
 it was not long before I heard a shout : 
 " He' s found ! He' s found ! " My strength 
 came back at once, and I was out in the 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. 115 
 
 midst of the crowd, and sure enough they 
 had Kelly. 
 
 The sheriff of the county joined the 
 crowd and took charge of Kelly, and we all 
 marched to the court house. We went into 
 a vacant room and closed the door, locking 
 out the crowd. 
 
 I explained to the sheriff the situation; he 
 took me aside and said he had no authority 
 to keep him a moment. I assured him 
 that his deputy, Johnson, was on the way 
 with the warrant, and might be expected 
 any moment, and that he must hold Kelly 
 until he arrived. I told him, also, my belief 
 that his deputy was in collusion with Kelly 
 to let him escape. 
 
 While we were talking I kept looking 
 out of the window, watching for Johnson; 
 and to my great relief he soon came in 
 sight, riding slowly up the hill towards the 
 court house. 
 
 Though I felt very angry at him, I never 
 was so glad to see any man before in my life. 
 He came in and I could not contain myself 
 any longer; my pent up anger and excite- 
 ment burst out. In the presence of the 
 sheriff, I told him what I thought of him; 
 
116 KECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 that he had purposely permitted Kelly to 
 escape, and I believed had assisted him out 
 of the window, and given him time to get a 
 good start before informing me of his 
 escape. I then pointed to Kelly, and said: 
 ' ' Here is your prisoner, and I hold your 
 bondsmen for his safe-keeping; I wouldn't 
 trust you to arrest a cat." He talked back 
 and so did the sheriff; but I was in no 
 humor to argue, and when I had my say, 
 went back to the hotel. 
 
 I found some boys had crawled under a 
 barn, and there found Kelly, who crawled 
 out the other side, and started to run when 
 a man caught him. This man was entitled 
 to the reward, but he generously waived it 
 and said : " Open the bar for the boys, and 
 that would be sufficient." This was done 
 at an expense of about $10. The deputy- 
 sheriff, after drinking a few times, and 
 after dinner, proposed that we hire a double 
 team, and he, Kelly and myself go back 
 to Milledgeville, as Kelly could get no 
 bondsman elsewhere. I agreed ; my horse 
 being there, I had to go, and, if they were 
 willing, I did not mind riding with them. 
 Johnson was pretty mellow and Kelly not 
 
BUSINESS INCIDENTS. 117 
 
 much behind. I was master of the situa- 
 tion, and felt pretty good. 
 
 I remained over night at the tavern in 
 Milledgeville ; the whole village came in ; 
 I was quite a lion there. The hotel-keeper 
 thought he had a second Napoleon for a 
 guest. It was the general belief that I had 
 out-generaled both the sheriff and Kelly., 
 
 Next day the sheriff informed me that 
 Kelly had procured one bondsman, and 
 thought he could get another that day, but 
 said Kelly was anxious to settle. Before 
 I left he and Kelly both came to the 
 hotel to see me. Kelly thought he could 
 get his brother-in-law to indorse notes and 
 pay us 75 per cent. I had ascertained that 
 the brother-in-law was perfectly good, and 
 agreed to take notes for three and six 
 months ; but it must be for the whole 
 amount, interest and costs ; and I would be 
 at my brother-in-law's house in Polo Ogle 
 County, some twelve miles from Milledge- 
 ville, for three days. If, during that time, 
 he wanted to pay or secure our claim, he 
 could let me know ; otherwise, I should 
 appear against him and he must take the 
 consequences. 
 
118 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Next day he came to Polo on horseback, 
 and concluded to settle our claim, and 
 I met him and his brother-in-law next 
 day, at Stirling, and completed the settle- 
 ment by his paying us in full, and the 
 notes were paid at maturity. 
 
 I understood, afterward, that no other 
 creditors received one penny it was a case 
 of clear attempted swindling. 
 
 Without going into details about other 
 cases, many of them quite similar, I will 
 only say that I had many doubts and mis- 
 givings, whether to believe in the doctrine 
 of ' ' total depravity' ' or not. A few such 
 cases (indeed there were quite a good many) 
 almost inclined me to this belief, and 
 that every man had his price; but, on the 
 whole, believe the good overbalances the 
 bad, and that untoward circumstances 
 often induce men to listen to suggestions of 
 the evil one, while under ordinary circum- 
 stances they would have remained loyal to 
 honesty and truth. 
 
 While traveling, I fell in with and 
 became acquainted with many commercial 
 travelers. 
 
 They were, generally, a jolly, free and 
 
TKAVELING INCIDENTS. 119 
 
 easy set of men; many of them given to 
 drink and carousing. Often, on a Saturday 
 night they would get together and have 
 what they called a high old time ; to put it 
 mildly, they would get drunk. I am 
 thankful that I never had any inclination 
 in that direction. It always seemed to me 
 disgraceful in the extreme, unmanly and 
 bestial. Many of these commercial 
 travelers came to miserable ends. 
 
 Of course, there were sterling men 
 engaged in this legitimate business, who 
 despised these dissipations and always kept 
 their garments unspotted, and held the 
 respect of their fellow men. 
 
 In those days, before the Pullmans were 
 thought of, or palace cars, the best cars 
 were reserved for ladies, and gentlemen 
 accompanied by ladies ; while men unaccom- 
 panied by ladies had to herd together in 
 poorer cars or go in the smoker. 
 
 For an all night's ride, it was, therefore, 
 quite an object to get a seat in a reserved 
 car. 
 
 I learned the ropes, and would generally 
 stay in the waiting room, until I saw some 
 ladies or a party with ladies going to the 
 
120 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 train, when I would walk along with them, 
 and when near the man on guard would 
 say, u this is the ladies' car," and march in 
 with them, thus securing a first-class seat, 
 and often with good company. 
 
 A commercial traveler, if he keeps his 
 eyes and ears open, can see and hear many 
 phases of human nature, especially as it 
 existed in the West at that time. 
 
 I remember some incidents, related as 
 facts, which illustrate the condition and 
 habits of the people. 
 
 A judge in one of the border counties 
 was rather given to drink ; indeed, some- 
 times got quite boozy, and when in this 
 condition was very pious. He attended a 
 revival meeting, taking a front seat. The 
 preacher expatiated on the evils of intem- 
 perance, and in an impassioned manner 
 exclaimed: "Show me the drunkard." 
 To the astonishment of the audience, the 
 judge pulled himself up, and said, with a 
 hiccough : "Here I am." He was not too 
 drunk to remember the custom of the 
 court, requiring a criminal when receiving 
 his sentence to stand up. After the excite- 
 ment had become somewhat allayed, the 
 
TRAVELING INCIDENTS. 121 
 
 preacher, in the same manner, excoriated 
 the hypocrite and exclaimed: " Show me 
 the hypocrite ! " 
 
 The judge again arose, and reaching over 
 with his cane to the deacon's seat, with a 
 hiccough, called out: " Deacon Jones, why 
 the devil don't you respond when you are 
 called?" u ldid." 
 
 Of course this was too much, and the 
 judge's friends quietly got him outside 
 until he sobered off. 
 
 One of these commercial travelers, of 
 whom I spoke, one night tried a new kind of 
 drink which just touched the spot; it was 
 mint julep. He kept the waiter busy bring- 
 ing him mint julep, and fearing he might 
 get in a condition when the waiter wouldn't 
 understand what he wanted, called him, 
 and said: " Look here, waiter, if anything 
 happens during the night, and you don't 
 understand what I want, keep bringing me 
 mint julep." 
 
 A man committed suicide by hanging. His 
 wife was the first one who discovered him. 
 The coroner, at the inquest, asked her why 
 she didn't cut him down; she naively re- 
 plied, " She didn't know that he was dead." 
 
122 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 A good country parson, in a car, noticed 
 some young men very hilarious, one of whom 
 was profane and loud. The parson went to 
 him, and said: "Young man, do you not 
 know you are on the road to perdition?" 
 The young man looked up in great surprise, 
 and said: "On the road to perdition! just 
 my confounded luck, I bought my ticket 
 for Chicago." 
 
 As I said, this trip, during the panic of 
 1857, kept me on the road and under a con- 
 stant strain, mentally and physically, for 
 nearly three months. 
 
 Many incidents and narrow escapes from 
 imminent peril occurred. A runaway of a 
 vicious team of broncoes on the prairie 
 smashed the wagon, throwing me and the 
 driver out on the frozen ground, bruising 
 us both badly. 
 
 The village doctor, a bottle of liniment, a 
 little work by a tailor, and a day or two of 
 rest, repaired my damages. 
 
 I was in one collision, when the baggage 
 and express cars were telescoped and three 
 men killed, several badly injured, while I 
 escaped without a scratch. 
 
 Another time, the rear car which I was in 
 
TRAVELING INCIDENTS. 123 
 
 jumped the track and went bumping over 
 the ties ; it seemed to me a mile, but prob- 
 ably not a quarter that distance. We were 
 going fast, and the passengers were shaken 
 up like corn in a popper very exciting 
 while it lasted, but nobody hurt. 
 
 I need not say how glad I was to get back 
 and to see my dear ones at home. My trip 
 had been a successful one ; the firm were 
 more than satisfied. They gave me a Christ- 
 mas present of a suit of fine clothes, includ- 
 ing overcoat, from a Broadway tailor, and to 
 my wife an elegant mink set of furs, cape, 
 muff and cuffs a beautiful Christmas pres- 
 ent, which I esteemed highly as a testi- 
 monial from the firm of their appreciation 
 of my services. 
 
 In this connection I will say, that during 
 the fourteen years I remained with this 
 firm I never received anything but the 
 most gentlemanly treatment ; was always 
 on the most cordial and friendly terms with 
 every member of the firm. 
 
 Mr. Lathrop, the head of the firm, was a 
 prince among men ; I never knew his equal ; 
 prosperity never elated him; he had a 
 kind word for every man and boy in his 
 
124 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 employ, from the heads of departments 
 down to the office boys and porters in the 
 packing room. 
 
 I had especial reason for loving and 
 admiring him. On closing out the retail 
 business of Stevens & Lathrop, of which I 
 have spoken, Mr. Lathrop requested me to 
 figure out the loss, and take notes of his 
 nephew, Charles D. Lathrop, for his share 
 of the loss, saying that sometime he might 
 be in position to pay. 
 
 I did this, and when the firm began to 
 recuperate somewhat after the panic, Mr. 
 Lathrop one day asked me how much those 
 notes amounted to ; I informed him, and 
 soon after he gave his check for the amount, 
 some $1,500. It was a most generous act ; 
 entirely voluntary on his part. He was 
 under no obligation to pay this or any part 
 of it. 
 
 This Richard D. Lathrop was the most 
 perfect Christian gentleman I ever knew. 
 His charities were boundless, yet so unos- 
 tentatious, that his nearest friends seldom 
 heard of them. 
 
 Many a young man was indebted to him 
 for his first start in business. 
 
RECOVERING FROM THE PANIC. 125 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 During the years after the panic, from 
 1857 until the commencement of the war, I 
 frequently made trips in different parts of 
 the country to look after what was called, 
 in mercantile parlance, " Lame Ducks." 
 
 The city recuperated from the effects of 
 the panic sooner than the country did. 
 Many country merchants became dis- 
 couraged, and felt like giving up. My 
 sympathies were with these men who had 
 struggled hard to keep up, and I look back 
 with great satisfaction to my efforts in their 
 behalf. 
 
 Our firm nobly responded to my inter- 
 cession for them ; and in no case, unless 
 it was very apparent that fraud was 
 intended, did they attempt to enforce 
 collection or distress them. 
 
 On the contrary, they often came to the 
 relief of an embarrassed merchant, whose 
 other creditors were pushing him into 
 bankruptcy. 
 
 On one of these trips, during the winter 
 
126 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 of '58-' 59, I received a beautiful letter from 
 my dear wife, telling me that she and our 
 daughter, Marion, were to unite with the 
 church which we were attending, the 
 Broome Street Presbyterian Church, of 
 which Rev. Dr. Wood was pastor, and she 
 so much desired that I should be home at 
 the time, and prayed that we might start in 
 the Christian life together. 
 
 I was detained much longer than I ex- 
 pected, and found it impossible to be with 
 them on the occasion ; but I was with them 
 in spirit all that Sunday, as I thought of 
 these dear ones, and, retiring to my room, 
 read over and over again the letter, and 
 wished with all my heart that I was with 
 them. 
 
 I resolved that day that I would join 
 with my wife, and with her and our dear 
 children, henceforth try to lead a Christian 
 life. 
 
 On this particular Sunday, the hotel in 
 which I was stopping at Milledgeville, 
 Illinois (the place and occasion referred to 
 in another letter) was filled with a boister- 
 ous crowd of rough men, drinking and 
 carousing. 
 
A NEW RESOLUTION. 127 
 
 I realized more than ever the natural 
 depravity of men when unrestrained by 
 Christian principle. 
 
 I called to mind the many providential 
 escapes and deliverances from great perils, 
 where I believed a divine Providence had 
 interfered in my behalf, and felt a strong 
 conviction that I ought to return thanks- 
 giving and praise to God for all his mercies 
 to me. I remember kneeling down by my 
 bedside and, praying for strength and help, 
 I then and there made a firm resolve to 
 henceforth live a Christian life. On my 
 return home, I greatly rejoiced my wife 
 and family by telling them of my firm 
 resolve to commence at once, with God's 
 help, the new life, and at the next com- 
 munion, our second daughter, Florence, 
 and myself, made a public profession of 
 religion, and united with the same church. 
 A family altar was set up in our home ; soon 
 thereafter, our youngest daughter, Ella, 
 made a public profession of religion, 
 making a united family. Parents and 
 children, all trying to walk in the straight 
 and narrow way pointed out by the Master. 
 
 I would say in this connection, that my 
 
128 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 family and myself were regular attendants 
 and supporters of the church, and firm 
 believers in the Christian religion from our 
 childhood. 
 
 Our children were brought up to attend 
 Sunday School and the church, and in 
 joining the church, with them, I am sure, 
 was only a matter of form. I verily believe 
 they were Christians from their birth. I 
 never saw more conscientious children, so 
 free from deception or guile. 
 
 Although not members of the church, 
 both my wife and myself tried to obey all 
 the precepts of the Bible. We believed in 
 and read it habitually ; the historical por- 
 tion, and the book of Job, the Psalms, and 
 Proverbs, especially, always had a peculiar 
 interest for me. 
 
 In regard to making a public profession 
 of religion and unity with the church, for 
 many years I did not feel it an important 
 duty ; I believed it possible to enjoy religion 
 and be a follower of Christ outside of any 
 church connection. 
 
 I am convinced, however, it is much 
 easier to live a Christian life with church 
 connections and Christian fellowship. 
 
AN ATTRACTIVE HOME. 129 
 
 I count it very fortunate that I always 
 had an attractive home. I was glad to 
 return to my family at the earliest possible 
 moment that business would permit. 
 
 It is quite likely that I never should have 
 run into dissipation, as many whose business 
 called them a large part of the time to be 
 absent, as my natural inclinations did not 
 lead me in that direction; but I am con- 
 vinced that many a dissipated man has 
 became so, largely through an unattractive 
 home, and lack of sympathy and affection 
 in the home circle. 
 
 How true it is that we are 
 
 " Like webs that whiten in the sun, 
 Grow pure by being purely shone upon. ' ' 
 
 While on the other hand, association with 
 dissipated and unprincipled men is apt to 
 corrupt the morals of even naturally good 
 men. 
 
 ' ' Vice is a monster of so frightful mien 
 As, to be hated, needs but to be seen: 
 
 Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, 
 We first endure, then pity, then em- 
 brace." 
 
 I have mentioned, in my former letters, 
 
130 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 some incidents which occurred during my 
 journey ings and what has always seemed to 
 me providential. One of these incidents 
 which occurred in the summer of 1859, seems 
 such a marked interposition of an over- 
 ruling Providence in my behalf. 
 
 I had and still have, if he is living, a 
 very dear friend, a merchant in Bennington, 
 Vermont, Daniel McEowen. I had finished 
 my business in that city, and expected to 
 take the earliest train for home. 
 
 My friend called at my hotel after break- 
 fast, and invited me to ride to the top of 
 the highest point of the Green Mountains, 
 some eight miles from Bennington, where, 
 he said, the finest view could be had in all 
 that country, and also drink from a natural 
 ice spring, which we would pass on the 
 way. I said I would gladly go with him, 
 only I must surely be back in time for the 
 twelve o'clock train, as there was no other 
 until next morning. 
 
 He said we would certainly be back in 
 time, as he drove a fast horse. 
 
 We drove to the top of the mountain, and 
 Mr. McEowen then proposed to drive across 
 a plateau or table-land, which he said he 
 
PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. 131 
 
 had driven across years before, some two 
 miles to another road, by which we would 
 return to Bennington. He supposed he 
 knew the direction and the distance, and 
 doubtless he did; but as it sometimes 
 happens, as I learned afterward, the top of 
 these mountains suddenly becomes en- 
 veloped in a cloud so dense that one can 
 scarcely see the horse he is driving, and this 
 happened with us before we had proceeded 
 half way across the plateau. Mr. McEowen 
 owned he was not sure of the direction at 
 all, and said our only way was to retrace 
 our steps; but this was more difficult than 
 we supposed. There being no road, we had 
 to search for the prints of the horse's feet in 
 the wet grass and brush, and this was no 
 easy matter. We could make but slow pro- 
 gress; he going ahead, searching for these 
 prints and wagon tracks, often losing the 
 trail and having to search a long time to find 
 it, while I drove the horse and followed him. 
 We finally emerged from the opening into 
 the road, when we found we were within 
 less than an hour of train time, and eight 
 miles away. We did our very best to reach 
 it, but missed by a few minutes. 
 
132 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 I never felt more disappointed, but had 
 to submit to what seemed an adverse 
 fate. 
 
 After changing my underclothes and dry- 
 ing my other garments the best I could, I 
 tried to resign myself and to wait patiently 
 for next morning's train. 
 
 During the afternoon dispatches came 
 and bulletins announced a terrible railroad 
 catastrophe. The train which I should have 
 taken had gone down with the bridge at 
 Schadicoke, and every person on the train 
 either killed or seriously injured. I remem- 
 ber very distinctly the sensations I felt at 
 this interposition of Providence by which 
 I was spared. My very flesh crawled and 
 my hair seemed to raise on my head ; I 
 could scarcely speak. The interposition 
 seemed so tangible and plain I felt I was in 
 the hollow of God's hand, snatched, as it 
 were, from the very jaws of death. 
 
 The train which I took next morning pro- 
 ceeded to the bridge ; the passengers, with 
 myself, walked down the banks, some hun- 
 dred feet or more, where the three or four 
 cars lay at the bottom, smashed almost into 
 kindling wood, with the timbers of the 
 
PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. 133 
 
 bridge all piled in a confused mass. The 
 train from Troy was waiting on the other 
 side, and, as soon as the baggage was car- 
 ried across and passengers transferred, we 
 proceeded on our journey. 
 
 I have never, since then, murmured at any 
 misconnectlon of trains. I believe Provi- 
 dence often overrules, and what seems 
 exceedingly vexatious and adverse is often 
 our salvation. 
 
 I look back now to many incidents dur- 
 ing my life in which I feel sure a divine pro- 
 tecting hand guided me ; the reason, I do not 
 pretend to fathom. I can easily see the rea- 
 son why some lives have been providentially 
 preserved to benefit the race, or for some wise 
 purpose, which was apparent to themselves 
 and others ; but, in my own case, I cannot 
 perceive this. My life has been quiet and 
 domestic, and seems to me could have been 
 blotted out without leaving scarcely a 
 ripple, except to my family and immediate 
 surroundings. 
 
 The years 1859 and '60 were years of great 
 political excitement. The new Republican 
 party, which was composed of the free- soil 
 element of both of the old parties, was 
 
134 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 conscientiously opposed to any further 
 extension of slavery. 
 
 The solid South was, of course, in favor 
 of slavery, and when it became probable 
 that the anti-slavery people of the North 
 would elect their president, they began to 
 make preparations to secede and to set up 
 an independent confederate government of 
 their own, with slavery as the corner stone. 
 
 Strange as it may seem, the old Dem- 
 ocratic party of the North sympathized 
 with these conspirators ; denouncing as 
 ' ' Negro Worshippers, ' ' ' 'Abolitionists ' ' and 
 "Black Republicans" the loyal men who 
 dared to assert themselves in favor of "free 
 soil." 
 
 The cabinet of James Buchanan was com- 
 posed mostly of southern men and sympa- 
 thizers in the secession movement, includ- 
 ing his vice-president, Breckinridge. These 
 men had been for years undermining the 
 government, crippling its resources, and 
 yet, during all this time, while the Repub- 
 lican party was sounding the alarm and 
 warning the country of its peril, this old 
 copperhead Democratic party went on with 
 its preparations, and in its national conven- 
 
POLITICAL EXCITEMENT. 135 
 
 tion proceeded to nominate and to vigor- 
 ously prosecute the canvass to elect these 
 very conspirators who were then ready to 
 capture the government, having already 
 stolen its arms and crippled its resources. 
 
 The tiring upon Fort Sumter caused a 
 great reaction. Some of the Democratic 
 leaders, and many of the rank and file of 
 the party came out as " War Democrats ;" 
 but, finding no half-way station between the 
 two great antagonistic parties, joined man- 
 fully and loyally the Union Republican 
 ranks, and with that party, fought for and 
 preserved the Union and saved the country. 
 
 Many of these War Democrats became, 
 during and after the war, the most radical 
 and loyal Republicans, indorsing the policy 
 of the party and its reconstruction 
 measures, and the constitutional amend- 
 ments forever abolishing slavery and 
 making the freedmen citizens of a free and 
 united country. All honor to such men, 
 who refused to follow the conspirators or to 
 fight under any other flag than u Old 
 Glory," the beloved stars and stripes of 
 our beloved country. 
 
 The old Democratic party hated these 
 
136 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 men, whom they termed "turncoats," 
 more than they did the " Black Republi- 
 cans," as they called them. I must think 
 that many of these men, who made up the 
 Democratic party during the war, were 
 honest and patriotic ; but, oh ! how mis- 
 taken. Their national and state, and 
 county conventions, and " peace meetings," 
 all had the effect of encouraging the rebels 
 to hold out long after it was evident to the 
 whole world they were beaten. Many 
 thousand lives were lost on both sides, and 
 millions and millions of money expended, 
 as I verily believe, on account of the 
 disloyalty and sympathy with the secession- 
 ists of the old Democratic party of the 
 northern states. It is a sad thought to me 
 that many dear friends whom I esteem 
 very highly, were numbered among that 
 party, and who really favored a dissolution 
 of the Union, rather than to coerce the 
 South. I desire to say here, that I was a 
 Republican from the formation of that 
 party; the blackest kind of a "Black 
 Republican;" an old Abolitionist as far as 
 the Government had the right to abolish 
 slavery, and where it was bound to tolerate 
 
POLITICAL EXCITEMENT. 137 
 
 it, I would hedge it up within its lawful 
 limits as I would any infectious disease. 
 
 I had many discussions with my Demo- 
 cratic friends on this subject ; some 
 intimate friendships broken ; the lines were 
 pretty closely drawn. 
 
 At this writing, more than three decades 
 since the war closed, some of these 
 Obstructionists, to use a mild term, are 
 trying to make themselves and the rising 
 generation believe they were always union 
 men, and that the Martyr Lincoln was a 
 good man, and not the " ignorant back- 
 woods man" of thirty-live years before. 
 Some of the younger generation may 
 believe them, but with those like myself, 
 who remember those dark days, all this is 
 idle talk. 
 
 I sometimes feel as did the old Indian 
 when he said he ' ' could forgive and forget, 
 but he tarnally remembered." 
 
138 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 As I said in my previous letter, the years 
 immediately preceding the election of 
 Lincoln and the war were years of great 
 excitement ; the future seemed dark indeed. 
 A civil war at home imminent, and a 
 possible war with England, and the country 
 just emerging from the effects of the panic 
 of 1857, all tended to forebode disaster, and 
 men dreaded the dark cloud that was 
 already looming up in the distance. 
 
 To the credit of the descendants of the 
 Pilgrims they did not flinch ; but, in the 
 face of threats from the disloyal South and 
 their stanch supporters in the North, 
 that : "If you elect for president, the Black 
 Republican, Lincoln, the Union is split, and 
 war will follow." I say to the credit of 
 these true Northern men, they defied the 
 threats, and elected the man of their choice ; 
 and, sure enough, war did follow. That 
 war is history now ; but when it was in 
 progress, it was a time, indeed, that tried 
 men's souls. 
 
ELECTION OF LINCOLN. 139 
 
 Although I was not in the military 
 service of the country, my whole heart was 
 bound up in the cause of the Union. I 
 stood my draft, but was not drafted ; I 
 helped pay for substitutes for fellow clerks 
 who were drafted and so situated that they 
 could not go. 
 
 I did, however, join an association of 
 several hundred men in South Brooklyn, 
 headed by the pastor of my church, the 
 late Rev. Dr. Spear. Meetings were 
 held weekly in a large hall, and we were 
 drilled in military tactics by an elder of 
 the church, who had been an officer of the 
 regular army in the Mexican war. 
 
 The purpose of the association was to be 
 organized ; and if necessity required, by an 
 invasion or any emergency, we would be 
 ready to respond at a moment's notice. As 
 the Civil War is historical, I will not dwell 
 upon it only so far as my own personal 
 history is concerned. 
 
 When the war commenced, the future was 
 so dark and uncertain all business men felt 
 it incumbent to reduce expenses. Salaries 
 were cut down, often fifty per cent, and 
 more. It has always been very gratifying 
 
140 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 to me, that the firm I was with, not only did 
 not reduce my salary, but made a material 
 advance ; I being the only one, as I 
 remember, among some two hundred and 
 fifty employes, that was not reduced. 
 
 I never felt, however, that this was 
 through any favoritism, but that my 
 services were really worth all I received. 
 
 It was the wish of the firm that I should 
 be on a salary rather than a commission, as 
 were many of the salesmen, for the reason 
 they desired me to look after outside 
 matters, as mentioned in a former letter. 
 
 This branch of the business, however, 
 became so distasteful to me, that I finally 
 declined to continue it, and insisted 
 upon being put on a commission, and 
 before the war closed, my income was 
 changed from a salary to a commission ; 
 by this arrangement my income was more 
 than doubled. From that time I never 
 worked on a salary, but always on a com- 
 mission, paying my own traveling expenses 
 and hiring my own assistants ; this being 
 more independent and satisfactory every 
 way. 
 
 I am diverging and getting ahead of my 
 
ON THE REBEL LINES. 141 
 
 story . To go back to the early incidents of 
 the war. 
 
 Our firm had a large trade in some of the 
 southern states, and this trade was, of 
 course, all cut off when the war commenced, 
 and collections were impossible, as all com- 
 munications between the North and the 
 South was suddenly stopped in the 
 beginning of the war. 
 
 There were about a dozen or more 
 merchants in the two counties of Accomac 
 and Northampton, Virginia, owing our firm 
 a considerable amount. These counties 
 are what is known as the eastern shore or 
 peninsula, separated from the rest of the 
 state by the Chesapeake. 
 
 In the month of January, 1862, a dispatch 
 in the morning papers told of a secret expe- 
 dition that had marched down the peninsula, 
 and that not only the rebel force, but many 
 merchants and farmers, and inhabitants had 
 fled before our little army, taking boats and 
 whatever would float them across the 
 Chesapeake, out of the reach of the Yankee 
 troops, leaving their stores, their stock, 
 their houses, and everything ; expecting, if 
 caught, to be hung as traitors. 
 
142 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 When this news came to New York our 
 firm desired me to go immediately to Balti- 
 more or Washington, and procure a pass, if 
 possible, from the government or command- 
 ing-general, and to go to that part of 
 Virginia and see what could be done. Of 
 course, they could give me no instructions ; 
 there were no precedents ; communication 
 all cut off, except for military operations. 
 I was given carte -blanche as to the manner 
 of getting there and to manage the affairs 
 as I considered best. It was a new experi- 
 ence, and I was only too glad to enter upon 
 it. I started as soon as I could go home 
 and pack a few things in my grip, taking 
 leave of my little family, and went immedi- 
 ately to Baltimore ; obtained an interview 
 with General Dix, the commandant of that 
 district, and, after some delay, obtained a 
 pass from him to go by government trans- 
 port to Fortress Monroe, which was as far 
 as he could pass me. General Wool was in 
 command at Fortress Monroe. 
 
 I had quite an experience at Fortress 
 Monroe. Arriving there in the early morn- 
 ing I found everything about the docks and 
 barracks in disorder. The secret expedition 
 
ON THE REBEL LINES. 143 
 
 of General Burnside had sailed from there 
 the evening before, with sealed orders, 
 which proved to be to go to Hatteras Inlet 
 and North Carolina. 
 
 I obtained lodging at the only public 
 house in the place, " Willard's," and 
 soon as possible obtained an interview 
 with General Wool ; stated to him my 
 business and my desire for a pass to the 
 eastern shore. The old general flatly 
 refused upon the ground that all civil busi- 
 ness must be subordinate to the military ; 
 he would allow no civilian to go through the 
 lines. I appealed to his sympathies for 
 loyal creditors who were suffering so much 
 by the South ; to his sense of justice ; but 
 he only referred me to the authorities at 
 Washington. This would involve a delay 
 of a week at least in the then state of 
 traveling ; but he was lirm. I went back to 
 my hotel and passed nearly a sleepless night 
 thinking over the matter and what course 
 I had better pursue. 
 
 I concluded to try once more, and in the 
 morning went again to his headquarters, 
 determined, if possible, to overcome his 
 scruples. I found he was willing to argue 
 
144 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 the point with me, and began to feel the 
 battle was half won. I offered to pay 
 for dispatches if he would telegraph to 
 Washington ; told him the nature of my 
 business and its urgent needs. The old 
 general began to soften and finally yielded, 
 and gave me the pass ; and, following me to 
 the walls of the fortress, pointed out the 
 dock from which a transport, with supplies, 
 would sail next morning ; and, shaking my 
 hand, wished me success. 
 
 Next morning I was at the dock desig- 
 nated, waiting for a boat but none was there. 
 An officer came to me and asked my busi- 
 ness. I told him I was waiting for the boat 
 for the eastern shore. He said the boat would 
 sail from another dock, where she was then 
 loading, half a mile away, and he pointed 
 it out to me. I told him General Wool had 
 told me the boat was to go from that dock. 
 He replied General Wool didn't know; that 
 he was captain of the port and knew all 
 about it. Upon this information I started 
 to walk to the other dock, but before reach- 
 ing it the boat started, and I turned to walk 
 back to the first dock, thinking it would 
 stop there ; and it did, just for a moment 
 
VISIT FORTRESS MONROE. 145 
 
 for some officer to jump on board, and then 
 steamed off and was soon nearly out of 
 sight. I found, by the captain of the port, 
 that the boat had indeed gone, and no 
 other boat would go to the eastern shore 
 in four days. Everything seemed to be 
 in confusion. The captain took the blame 
 on himself for not stopping the boat and 
 waiting for me. He excused himself by 
 saying he had not slept for three days and 
 nights, and been at work every moment 
 getting off the secret expedition. 
 
 The four days that I was thus obliged to 
 spend at Fortress Monroe were full of 
 incidents. The captain, to soften my dis- 
 appointment, gave me special privileges, 
 and an opportunity to see the military 
 operations, among which was one that 
 I was very much impressed with the first 
 exchange of prisoners. I was invited to go 
 out on the flag-of-truce boat to meet the 
 fiag-of-truce boat of the rebels near Nor- 
 folk. Several hundred of our brave boys 
 who had been in Libby Prison since the 
 "Bull Run" battle, more than six months, 
 were brought on the boat ; many of them, 
 sick and wounded, had to be carried on 
 
146 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 litters, quite a number entirely helpless. 
 Several died at Fortress Monroe before they 
 could be sent on North ; a pitiful sight it 
 was, and haunted me for weeks. 
 
 General Butler was stationed at Newport 
 News, some ten miles from Fortress Mon- 
 roe, with an army of fifteen to twenty thou- 
 sand men ; and two men-of-war, the " Cum- 
 berland ' ' and ' ' Congress," were stationed off 
 Newport News, at the mouth of James River, 
 to blockade the river. Provisions and fresh 
 water for his army had to be sent from 
 Fortress Monroe by boats. 
 
 I was invited by the port captain to 
 accompany one of these supply boats. The 
 boat was loaded with provisions, some 
 horses, and several officers, and was towing 
 a water boat with a tank containing 
 hundreds of hogsheads of water. Of course 
 we made slow progress, and I noticed our 
 captain and some of the officers were intently 
 watching with their glasses a queer sort of 
 craft in the distance steaming directly 
 towards us. When it came within perhaps 
 half or three-quarters of a mile it com- 
 menced firing, and we could see the water 
 plowed up in a direct line towards us, and 
 
IN RANGE OF REBEL GUNS. 147 
 
 kept approaching nearer and nearer to 
 us. 
 
 The captain remarked he had no fear for 
 his vessel ; but might, if pressed too closely, 
 have to cut loose from the water boat, and 
 we all felt anxious until we came under the 
 guns of the "Cumberland" and "Congress," 
 when we felt safe. 
 
 This queer looking craft was the noted 
 rebel ram, the iron-clad "Merrimac," which 
 only a few days later came out and sank the 
 two government ships, the "Cumberland" 
 and " Congress; " their guns making no im- 
 pression on the iron -clad, many of the 
 brave sailors going down with their ship. 
 
 General Butler's army stationed on the 
 bluff overlooking these ships and watching 
 the unequal tight, was powerless to help. 
 
 It will be remembered, however, that the 
 next morning when it was expected the 
 " Merrimac " would come out and complete 
 its work of destruction in Hampton Roads, 
 and open up the James and Chesapeake, 
 the little turreted "Monitor" hove in 
 sight, looking, as was said, like a cheese 
 box on a raft, and met this floating monster, 
 and the world -renowned battle ensued, 
 
148 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 revolutionizing maritime warfare through- 
 out the world. I missed seeing this fight, 
 but having seen the monster, and been in 
 range of its guns so recently, I could realize 
 its significance and the danger the country 
 barely escaped. 
 
 There was only a small force stationed at 
 Old Point Comfort where I was stopping ; 
 and just across Hampton Roads, in sight, 
 was stationed a large rebel army. Every- 
 thing was kept in readiness for an attack, 
 and I experienced my first sensation of war. 
 
 All night long, every hour, I could hear 
 a sentinel call out, "twelve o'clock, and 
 all's well," "one o'clock, and all's 
 well," and so on, every hour of the night. 
 
 I asked my friend, the captain, why 
 people had to be awakened and told that 
 all was well ; why did they not allow them 
 to sleep until it was necessary to wake them 
 for some actual danger. "Oh," he said, 
 "this calling out by the sentinels assured 
 the army and the* people that all was well, 
 and they could rest in safety." 
 
 At the expiration of the four days the 
 little transport was again loaded, and, I 
 on board, headed for the eastern shore 
 
ON THE REBEL LINES. 149 
 
 some thirty miles across the Chesapeake. 
 It was a cloudy day, and in the afternoon 
 a dense fog settled down. Our captain 
 slowed his engine, took soundings, feel- 
 ing his way, hoping to make the landing 
 before night, when suddenly our boat 
 struck bottom, and we were fast aground. 
 We were not certain just where we were, 
 and settled down, expecting to stay 
 on bpard all night until we could have 
 daylight and high tide to float us off ; 
 there were no accommodations for sleeping, 
 or scarcely room to sit down. 
 
 About sunset, however, the fog began to 
 lift, and we could see the shore some three 
 or four miles away ; but we were fast and 
 could not move. We noticed, just before it 
 became dark, a small boat pull off from the 
 shore, and it came direct to our boat. The 
 rowers were soldiers, who said there was a 
 camp of one or two hundred soldiers at that 
 point ; they were expecting their Colonel and 
 came to see if he was on board. He was not 
 on board ; only myself and a Mr. Dibble 
 beside the captain and crew. We prevailed 
 on the soldiers to take us to the shore. On 
 nearing the shore we were challenged by the 
 
150 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 sentinel on duty : ' ' Who comes there ? ' ' 
 We replied, "Friends with a pass." Then 
 came, " Advance one and show your pass." 
 As the boat touched the shore, I stepped off 
 and showed my pass from General Wool ; 
 then Mr. Dibble, who had a general pass 
 as he had a contract to buy pine wood for 
 the Navy, and was on that business. 
 
 The soldiers, true to their discipline, 
 marched us single file to headquarters, 
 we stated our business to the commandant 
 and were given a grand reception by the 
 boys. They were starving for news, not 
 having heard a word in four days, and 
 supposed there had been battles, and feared 
 that Washington had been captured, and 
 all sorts of disasters, until we assured them 
 to the contrary and gave them late papers. 
 They gave us a supper, the best they had, 
 and when they found we desired to go to 
 Eastville, which was ten miles, they offered 
 to harness a team and drive us out that night. 
 
 Where they were stationed was an old 
 plantation owned by a Mr. Custis, a de- 
 scendant of the Washington-Custis family ; 
 a large house which the officers occupied. 
 
 In their flight they had left everything 
 
AMONG THE CONFEDERATES. 151 
 
 a line span of horses, wagons, a pen full 
 of fat hogs, cows, chickens, etc.; so the 
 boys were faring nicely. 
 
 After supper they harnessed the horses, 
 and putting hay in the bottom of the wagon, 
 Mr. Dibble and myself sat down on the hay 
 while two soldiers sat on a seat in front and 
 four behind us, all ready for a skirmish in 
 case of attack from bushwhackers, who 
 were reported lurking about. We were not 
 molested, however, and reached Eastville in 
 a couple of hours. 
 
 This place, Eastville, was a real secession- 
 hole, being in Gov. Wise's congressional 
 district. He was a lire eater a red-hot 
 secessionist ; and this people, his constitu- 
 ents, were the same sort. The most promi- 
 nent people had fled ; the leaders and all 
 who had taken up arms expected to be 
 hung if captured ; hence their speedy flight 
 when the hated Yankee blue coats so sud- 
 denly pounced down upon them. 
 
 From this point I traveled over the two 
 counties of Northampton and Accomac, 
 having procured a horse and buggy and 
 a driver, until I got somewhat accustomed 
 to the country. 
 
152 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 One day while driving alone rain came 
 on so hard that I stopped at a country 
 tavern the most dilapidated, isolated, 
 tumble-down place I ever saw used for 
 public accommodation. The rain contin- 
 ued, and I concluded to have my horse 
 put up and to remain over night. During 
 the afternoon and evening, the bar room 
 tilled up with the hardest looking set of 
 men and boys I ever saw together. Poor 
 whites, long, lank, jaundiced-looking, 
 ragged and rough. They were all seces- 
 sionists, of course, and the idea that the 
 South could be conquered by the Yankees 
 was, to them, the most preposterous idea 
 imaginable. 
 
 They were testing new and heavy guns at 
 Fortress Monroe that day, and these men 
 had been listening to the distant thunders 
 some thirty miles away, and felt sure there 
 had been a battle, and sure, also, that 
 Fortress Monroe was captured by the 
 secessionists, as in their then state of 
 feeling, a battle meant to them certain 
 rebel victory. These men became very 
 hilarious as the afternoon and evening 
 advanced, and were really abusive. I did 
 
AMONG THE CONFEDERATES. 153 
 
 not then, nor never did, suppress my Union 
 sentiments, and on this occasion I did not 
 mince words with these men. 
 
 On retiring for the night, many of these 
 fellows were still in the bar room, and very 
 noisy. It occurred to me that if the news 
 should come, as these men expected and 
 were waiting for of a battle and rebel 
 victory perhaps my own personal safety 
 might be in danger. I carried a revolver at 
 that time, and after making my door as 
 secure as I could, I saw that my revolver 
 was in order and handy before I lay down 
 on my corn-husk bed. I was not molested, 
 however, and the morning opened bright. 
 I had breakfast alone, was served by the 
 landlady with fried pork and corn cakes, 
 and a compound for coffee of burned grain 
 of some sort, the woman remarking that it 
 was "not store coffee as they did not use 
 store coffee or store tea, or anything that 
 paid any duty to the Yankee government." 
 
 I found some of the stores closed, the 
 owners having fled. Those not closed, the 
 merchants were sitting around doing 
 nothing, waiting for something to turn up. 
 They had some Virginia bank bills, and 
 
154 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Confederate money, but nothing I could 
 take. 
 
 The closed stores had been taken posses- 
 sion of by the quartermaster of the Union 
 army. I filed our claim as loyal creditors 
 with the quartermaster, with the approval 
 and advice of the commanding officers. 
 Eventually when the merchants felt safe to 
 return, they did so ; and on taking the oath 
 of allegiance were permitted to go on with 
 their business. The merchants, who had 
 remained, seemed willing to do anything 
 they could, and I made arrangements with a 
 Mr. Moore and Mr. Dibble, who were 
 buying Virginia pine wood and supplies for 
 the army and navy, to secure our claims for 
 a moderate commission ; which they 
 eventually did, so that my trip was most 
 successful, not only in that section, but 
 these men being large contractors followed 
 our army, and as the Union lines were 
 pushed further into the rebel territory 
 they, being on the ground, were able to 
 secure claims which otherwise would have 
 been lost. On my return to Baltimore, I 
 concluded to visit Washington ; Congress 
 being in session, they were having ex- 
 
VISIT WASHINGTON. 155 
 
 citing times. I shall never forget the 
 discussions I heard in both houses of Con- 
 gress on that occasion. 
 
 In the House a bill was under discussion 
 to make the railroads of the country 
 military highways. Some of the roads, 
 whose managers were secessionists, had 
 given preference to moving freight, rather 
 than moving the army. This bill was to 
 compel them to give precedence, in all cases, 
 to military operations. 
 
 I heard a speech full of iire and patriotism 
 from that grand old man, Thaddeus Stevens, 
 who, by the way, belonged to a branch of 
 our family. 
 
 I felt proud of him, and shall never for- 
 get the old hero as he strode down the aisle, 
 hurling invectives against the Copperheads 
 who urged the lawful right of railroads to 
 load their cars with lumber or iron, if they 
 chose, rather than armed men and cannon. 
 I could have embraced the old man, homely 
 and rough as he was said to be, though he 
 did not seem so to me. 
 
 In the Senate, I remember, a resolution 
 was being discussed to expel from the 
 Senate a Democratic senator from Indiana, 
 
156 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Jesse Bright, who had been writing to the 
 rebel authorities in Richmond, recommend- 
 ing to them some new invention of a gun 
 more effective and destructive than any 
 they had in use. His letters were addressed 
 to the "Hon. Jefferson Davis, President of 
 the Confederate States." As I remember, 
 the correspondence was not denied by him or 
 his Democratic friends ; but they argued his 
 lawful right to do so if he chose. I believe 
 nearly every Democratic senator took that 
 view of it ; but the loyal Republicans took a 
 decidedly different view, and Senator Bright 
 got his walking papers from the Senate 
 Chamber to his home in Indiana, instead 
 of the gallows as he richly deserved. In 
 the beginning we played war, but learned 
 better as it progressed. 
 
 While in Washington I attended a public 
 reception at the White House, where I saw 
 President and Mrs. Lincoln, and many 
 notables members of the cabinet, senators, 
 congressmen and foreign ministers, gover- 
 nors, and prominent men from all over the 
 country. 
 
 The grandest figure of all, to my mind, 
 was President Lincoln. His greeting and 
 
157 
 
 hand -grasp was most cordial, and his pleas- 
 ant smile lit up his homely features, mak- 
 ing them beautiful to me. His wearied, 
 anxious look, however, showed the awful 
 burden he was carrying a nation's fate on 
 his shoulders. 
 
 No picture of ancient or modern history 
 ever left such an impression on my mind. 
 It seemed nearest to the picture of our 
 Saviour bearing the sins and guilt of the 
 world. 
 
 I had seen Mr. Lincoln before he was 
 nominated for president, and heard his 
 famous Cooper Union speech. I was deeply 
 impressed at that time with the man, but 
 it was under vastly different circum- 
 stances. He did not make the same 
 impression on me as did his appearance at 
 this reception. At that time he was only 
 known from his debates with Mr. Douglas, 
 in Illinois, and his fame had not become 
 national. There was a sort of independent, 
 western boldness in his speech, not so refined 
 and cultured as some speeches delivered in 
 the same course of lectures by such men as 
 Edward Everett, Wendell Phillips, Charles 
 Sumner and others ; but it was solid as 
 
158 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 the mountains, and every proposition was 
 nailed and clinched. It was a speech full 
 of texts for loyal men. I have always 
 remembered, with great satisfaction, having 
 heard this speech of our martyr president, 
 and of taking his hand two years later as 
 our loved president, and saying to him, as 
 did hundreds of others that night, " God 
 bless you!" and this came from the very 
 bottom of the hearts of millions of men and 
 women the world over. 
 
TRIP TO NORTH CAROLINA. 159 
 
 LETTER X. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 In my last letter I told you something of 
 my experience on the rebel lines in Virginia 
 and in Washington. During the spring of 
 that year, 1862, our lirm obtained permis- 
 sion from the government to ship to 
 ports in the South, opened by our army 
 and navy, dry goods, boots and shoes, and 
 other merchandise. They believed this 
 business could be extended very largely as 
 our army should open the gate-ways of 
 trade. 
 
 They desired me to take the management 
 of this entire business, and offered to more 
 than double my salary, which was, at that 
 time, $2,500 a year, making it $5,000, or 
 even $6,000; which offer I would not enter- 
 tain for a moment. 
 
 They finally made a proposition to con- 
 tinue my salary of $2,500 and to give me 
 ten per cent, of the profits ; which offer I 
 finally accepted, and entered heartily into 
 the enterprise. 
 
 Our first point for operation was to be 
 
160 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Newbern, N". C., a city then just captured 
 by our army ; and from this point I was to 
 be governed as circumstances indicated ; to 
 follow up the opening of new places, and 
 establish stores or trading points, and to 
 have help sent to me as was needed. 
 
 It was no small undertaking. We looked 
 about to find a suitable vessel, as there was 
 no established freight lines then to any 
 southern ports. We finally selected and 
 chartered an old style, centre board, flat- 
 bottom schooner, intended to sail in the 
 shallow waters of the sounds and rivers as 
 well as on the ocean. Our purpose was to 
 go up the Neuse and Tar Rivers, Albemarle 
 and Pamlico Sounds in North Carolina, as 
 circumstances should indicate and as I con- 
 sidered it safe to do. 
 
 The name of this schooner was the 
 " Julius Webb," commanded by Captain 
 Eldridge, with a mate and six seamen and 
 colored cook. Captain Eldridge was an old 
 man ; had been captain of a whale ship 
 many years, and knew all about the sea. 
 
 I selected four of the best young men in 
 our store and one from a boot and shoe 
 house to handle that part of our stock. 
 
TRIP TO NORTH CAROLINA. 161 
 
 The name of this young man was Luther 
 Bingham, of whom I shall speak hereafter. 
 
 We proceeded to select from our store, 
 and to buy outside, a general assortment of 
 merchandise which we considered suitable, 
 and loaded our schooner with goods 
 amounting to between $30,000 and $40,000, 
 had them insured, and when everything 
 was ready, I bade good-by to my dear ones 
 at home, and with the young men went 
 aboard the schooner. 
 
 It was late in the day before we got 
 started, too late to pass Sandy Hook before 
 dark, so we cast anchor in the bay to wait 
 until next morning for a fair wind and day- 
 light to pass the narrows and out to sea. 
 It was a long, doleful night to me ; I scarcely 
 slept at all, but stood on the deck looking 
 over the city where my loved ones were, 
 whom I had left in tears a few hours before. 
 
 I will say here that my dear wife was one 
 of the bravest of women. 
 
 She had borne up bravely all through 
 my preparations : given all the help and 
 encouragement she could possibly give with- 
 out a discouraging word ; but at the last 
 moment her feelings overcame her, as did 
 
162 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 mine, and the leave taking was like tearing 
 asunder our very heart strings. 
 
 As I said, it was a long, doleful night. The 
 very memory of it clings to me, and I can 
 say, as did Job of old, u Let darkness seize 
 upon it : let it riot be joined unto the days 
 of the year, let it not come into the number 
 of the months ; " it was my Gethsemane. I 
 felt then if I could only go back and give 
 up this untried and uncertain expedition, I 
 would give anything in the world. The 
 anticipated fortune I cared nothing for as I 
 felt then ; but I had gone too far to back 
 out, and it would be unmanly and dis- 
 honorable to do so, or even think of, and 
 so all I had to do was as Pizarro did 
 destroy the bridges behind so he could not 
 retreat. 
 
 It was on the 20th day of May, 1862, 
 when we passed Sandy Hook, and found 
 ourselves out on the broad Atlantic. It is 
 said the bravest soldiers feel shaky, and 
 their knees tremble just before going into a 
 battle; but when the fight commences this 
 feeling all passes away, and so it was with 
 me. 
 
 As soon as we were at sea and headed 
 
CAPE HATTERAS. 163 
 
 down the coast, this terrible feeling of 
 home and heart sickness, and terrible fore- 
 bodings passed away ; and I began to feel 
 the responsibility of the situation. 
 
 It was a most eventful voyage. We 
 had head winds all the way down the 
 coast to Cape Hatteras. Some days we 
 made scarcely no progress at all, though we 
 kept tacking, trying to gain a little in this 
 way. I was not very sea-sick, just riled 
 enough to destroy my appetite, and the 
 sight of the cooking cabin and old colored 
 man cook and his methods of preparing the 
 meals was not calculated to tempt our 
 arppetites. The gulf stream, as is well 
 known, is a current some eight or ten miles 
 wide, running six or eight miles an hour up 
 the coast, and from ten to twenty miles 
 from shore. Sailing vessels bound south, 
 unless they have a strong fair wind, try to 
 keep out of the gulf stream, either outside 
 to sea or inside near the coast. In our case 
 we kept inside, to avoid its current; but the 
 constant head winds made our progress 
 very slow. 
 
 At Cape Hatteras, the gulf stream runs 
 nearer the shore or point called the cape, and 
 
164 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 much of the space between the gulf stream 
 and the shore is covered with breakers. 
 All steamers and heavy vessels go outside 
 of the gulf stream, in passing Cape Hat- 
 teras;but with our flat-bottom schooner and 
 light freight, Captain Eldridge decided to 
 keep inside, as the wind had then begun to 
 favor us, but this decision came very near 
 being fatal. We had noticed a gathering 
 blackness in the west, a little ominous, and 
 Captain Eldridge ordered on all sail, for the 
 purpose of driving past the dangerous cape 
 before the storm should reach us. But here 
 was his great mistake. The storm, which 
 proved to be a tornado, came whirling down, 
 striking us with all our sails set, and drove 
 us immediately upon the breakers and on our 
 beams' end. It was too late then to take in 
 the sails, and we were whirled and pitched 
 about among the breakers like a chip in a 
 boiling cauldron. It was only a few mo- 
 ments before the fastening of our main boom 
 gave way and the boom came sweeping 
 back and forth over the deck. The captain 
 was at the wheel, and I standing by him, 
 just holding on with all our might, when 
 the boom came sweeping towards us. We 
 
TERRIBLE STORM. 165 
 
 both dropped flat on the deck and it passed 
 over us, but struck the wheel, breaking it 
 off even with the deck. 
 
 The mate meantime with the sailors, 
 were engaged cutting away the sails, which 
 they finally accomplished, and all our sails 
 were washed overboard and lost. This was 
 a terrible plight to be in. The captain said 
 afterward, " The nastiest scrape he ever got 
 in, in all his sea experience." 
 
 While the tornado lasted (perhaps three 
 quarters of an hour) all we could do was to 
 hang on to a stanchion or rail, or anything 
 we could cling to to keep from being 
 washed overboard ; our vessel being part of 
 the time on top of a breaker, and then 
 down in the gulf between the breakers ; 
 sometimes on her beams' end and almost 
 bottom up, whirling about in the great 
 maelstrom that seemed to have us in its 
 clutches. 
 
 There was no use to give any orders ; 
 nothing could be done only to hang on, 
 which we all did for dear life, until the 
 gale was partly spent when the genius of 
 our old Captain showed itself. 
 
 This Captain Eldridge was a splendid 
 
166 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 sailor and had some peculiarities, one of 
 which I will mention. Just before the gale 
 struck us he reached his hand in a little 
 entry way at the door of his cabin and took 
 out a yellow oilcloth coat and put it on, 
 buttoning it up to his chin ; the two side 
 pockets were both filled with fine cut 
 tobacco, with which he filled his mouth. I 
 remember speaking with him about it after 
 the storm, and that he eat tobacco as a sheep 
 eats hay, just wagging his jaw, letting the 
 juice run down over his chin and on his 
 clothes, and very frequently spitting out the 
 tobacco, and filling his mouth again and 
 again while the storm lasted. 
 
 Yes, he said, he always did this, and had 
 the pockets of his storm coat always loaded 
 in case of need. He said it stimulated him 
 and kept his wits active, but it was all 
 mechanical; after he got to chewing, he had 
 no recollection of changing the quids 
 though he knew a pound of tobacco dis- 
 appeared in a short time. 
 
 As soon as he and the sailors could stand 
 without holding on, he ordered scantling 
 and a saw, and axe, and ropes, and soon had 
 a temporary wheel fixed up so we could get 
 
NARROW ESCAPE. 167 
 
 a little steerage way, and after a little 
 while he ordered more scantling and sails, 
 of which all sailing vessels carry some 
 extra, stowed away in a scupper in case of 
 need, and they went to work and in an 
 hour we had storm sails up, and the wind 
 came fair for us and we were soon past the 
 breakers and out of danger, and at sunset 
 that night we cast anchor just outside of 
 Hatteras Inlet. Though the sea was terri- 
 ble, Captain Eldridge said he had two big 
 anchors formerly used on a much larger ves- 
 sel, and he knew they would hold, no matter 
 how the wind blew or the sea tumbled ; so 
 we felt comparatively safe and so thank- 
 ful for what we considered a providential 
 preservation from what seemed, a few hours 
 before, certain destruction. 
 
 This Luther Bingham, of whom I have 
 spoken, was as line a fellow as ever lived, 
 and a devoted Christian. As I may not have 
 occasion to speak of him again, I will say 
 here, after returning from this expedition 
 in the fall, he volunteered in the army ; was 
 appointed quartermaster and, with his own 
 and several other regiments, was sent to 
 Hilton Head, S. C. 
 
168 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 He gave Ms young life to his country's 
 cause, and died in the service a year later, 
 loved by the officers and soldiers, and 
 was buried at Hilton Head with military 
 honors. His father, Rev. Dr. Bingham, 
 published a memorial, entitled "The Young 
 Quartermaster," in which he speaks of this 
 terrible storm through which we passed, 
 and our providential escape. 
 
 After we had dropped anchors and had 
 our supper, young Bingham asked the cap- 
 tain if he had any objection to having prayers 
 in the cabin. The captain gladly gave his 
 consent, and we all gathered there, the 
 captain and mate and all the sailors that 
 could be spared. Young Bingham read one 
 of the beautiful psalms, "God is our ref- 
 uge and strength, a very present help in 
 trouble ; " and then led in a most touching 
 and appropriate prayer in thankfulness for 
 our preservation, and asking God to keep 
 us and the loved ones at home. Several 
 of us prayed, and, doubtless, the most 
 heartfelt prayers ever offered, for all felt 
 we had been snatched from the very jaws 
 of death. Tears coursed down the cheeks 
 of Captain Eld ridge and several of the 
 
NARROW ESCAPE. 169 
 
 rough sailors, and when they bade us good- 
 night as we retired to our bunks, they shook 
 our hands as they went to their watch on 
 deck. 
 
 We were not so safe after all as we sup- 
 posed when we cast our two big anchors. 
 Two or three other sailing vessels cast their 
 anchors in sight of us, waiting ,for the sea 
 to become more calm, and for daylight, 
 before passing in the Inlet. We had noticed 
 before dark one of the largest of these ves- 
 sels was heavily loaded, having a locomotive 
 and cars on her deck. In the night, while 
 our vessel was tossing and pitching and 
 tugging at her anchors, the watchman on 
 deck came to the cabin-door screaming, 
 "Captain Eldridge, come quick; a ship is 
 on us!" The captain was on deck in a 
 second, and I as quickly, and at this 
 moment the heavily loaded vessel drifted 
 past us, having broken loose from her 
 anchors, and grazed our vessel, barely 
 touching it as it passed and drifted out to 
 sea. I did not, for the moment, realize our 
 danger until Captain Eldridge and the 
 sailor both exclaimed, " Thank God!" 
 They said if it had struck our vessel 
 
170 KECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 squarely, nothing could have saved us from 
 being sunk in a moment, this vessel being 
 so large and heavy ; and our big, strong 
 anchors would have held, and the weight of 
 the vessel would have carried us down 
 instantly. This was another manifestation 
 of divine protection. 
 
 Next morning a pilot came to us in a 
 small boat from shore in response to our 
 signal. We raised our anchors and the wind 
 being fair sailed through the Inlet into 
 Pamlico Sound, and thence up the Neuse 
 River to the place of our destination, 
 Newbern, N. C. 
 
 This city had been captured by the army 
 under General Burnside only a few weeks 
 before, after a hard fought battle a few 
 miles from the city. Most of the prominent 
 white inhabitants had fled, leaving their 
 chattels, including most of their slaves, 
 behind. 
 
 There were plenty of vacant stores, one of 
 which I secured, paying rent to the United 
 States, through the quartermaster who had 
 the abandoned property in charge. 
 
 We filled this store and began our trade. 
 The amount of sales were not as large as we 
 
INCIDENTS IN NEWBERN. 171 
 
 had expected, but we felt hopeful that it 
 would improve, and besides I expected to 
 open stores in other places when our army 
 could make it safe to do so. 
 
 After getting the business pretty well 
 established in Newbern, I began to look 
 around for openings ; and for this purpose 
 went up the Tar River some hundred miles 
 or more from Newbern to Washington, a 
 flourishing little city before the war, 
 recently captured from the rebels and held 
 by a couple of regiments and a gunboat in 
 the river. I had no difficulty in securing a 
 vacant store and made preparation for 
 sending a stock of goods, and two or three 
 young men to run it. 
 
 The rebel forces were stationed only a 
 few miles out, in much larger force than 
 our army in the city, only our army 
 was protected by the gunboat whose guns 
 commanded the city. I hesitated about 
 taking the chances, and it was very fortu- 
 nate I did, as about this time occurred the 
 defeat of McClellan's army in Virginia; 
 and our forces in North Carolina were 
 reduced to two or three regiments in 
 Newbern and a single regiment in Wash- 
 
172 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 ington, and notwithstanding the protection 
 of the gunboats, these places were considered 
 very insecure. Indeed Washington, N. C., 
 was very soon thereafter recaptured by the 
 rebels and nearly destroyed by fire and 
 shells from our gunboat. Our little army 
 and every Union man there was driven out 
 or captured. Of course, if I had been estab- 
 lished there the goods would certainly 
 have been lost, and myself and my men 
 very likely sent to a rebel prison. 
 
 I always considered this a very narrow 
 escape. On account of this great reduction 
 of our forces, I did not consider it prudent 
 to take the risk of establishing any more 
 trading posts, except at Roanoke Island. 
 This I put in charge of an experienced 
 man by name of Ray and two helpers. 
 
 During our three months' stay in New- 
 bern, we were almost constantly expect- 
 ing an attack from the rebels who were 
 stationed only about two miles outside of 
 the city in large force. The sentinels on 
 both sides were near enough often to con- 
 verse together. 
 
 I was invited to ride out with a staff 
 officer on one occasion. We rode within plain 
 
INCIDENTS IN NEWBERN. 173 
 
 sight, less than a mile, of the rebel lines; 
 with a glass we could easily see their artil- 
 lery and fortifications and the sentinels on 
 post. Neither side wanted to bring on a 
 battle, and so we were not molested. 
 
 This state of things continued during the 
 whole time we were in Newbern. Our 
 artillery used to practice daily its tactics 
 for street fighting directly in front of our 
 store, which was near the junction of three 
 streets. We would hear the bugles and then 
 the caissons and cannon, drawn by four 
 horses with riders, would come dashing 
 down the street on a full run, wheel and go 
 through all the evolutions of loading and 
 firing as rapidly as possible. 
 
 The men and horses were trained to obey 
 the sounds of the bugle. It was wonderful 
 to watch the manoeuvres, so quickly did 
 they plant themselves so as to rake the 
 streets in all directions, and how quickly 
 they would unlimber and limber up and 
 change their positions and go to other 
 points, and through the same manoeuvres. 
 After sunset civilians were not allowed on 
 the street without giving the pass-word for 
 the day to the sentinel of the beat. These 
 
174 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 sentinels were stationed on nearly every 
 corner. 
 
 My young men and myself always had 
 the pass-word, as we often had occasion to 
 pass from the store to our hotel after 
 sunset. As we would approach the sen- 
 tinel he would challenge us, "Who 
 comes there?" Our answer would be, 
 "Friends with the pass." He would say: 
 "Advance one and give the pass." Only 
 one at a time could be passed. The 
 word would be the name of some officer, 
 or some place or some ship. We 
 could get the word in the morning from 
 some officer. Several officers boarded at the 
 the same hotel, the G-aston House, one of 
 the largest in the city, which had been 
 abandoned by its owners on the approach of 
 the Yankee army, and was now kept by an 
 enterprising northern man. 
 
 The discipline in the city was most strict. 
 A sentinel at a certain point in the out- 
 skirts of the city had been fired on from a 
 row of frame houses or the shrubbery, while 
 on his patrol in the night, and had his knee 
 joint broken. 
 
 Next morning General Foster, who was 
 
INCIDENTS IN NEWBERN. 175 
 
 then in command, ordered a search of 
 every house in the block. They all 
 declared they knew nothing about it. He 
 then informed them that if the person who 
 fired the shot was not given up during the 
 day, next morning, at eight o'clock, every 
 house in the block would be leveled with 
 the ground. 
 
 They all protested their innocence In one 
 house a woman was sick. General Foster 
 sent a surgeon to see if she could be moved 
 with safety, and he reported she could. 
 
 At precisely eight o'clock next morning, 
 nearly a regiment of soldiers, having pro- 
 vided themselves with large ropes and 
 cables from the shipping, went to the place 
 and ordered every house to be vacated 
 immediately, and cleared of its furniture if 
 they desired to save it. I saw the whole pro- 
 ceeding ; it was pitiable. Men, women, and 
 children carrying out their furniture, 
 bedding, stoves, crockery, etc., piling it up 
 in a vacant lot across the street. Many of 
 them in tears and wringing their hands in 
 despair. The soldiers, with ladders, would 
 go up to the top of a corner post, cut or 
 tear off the boards, and fasten around the 
 
176 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 post the cable ; then two or three hundred 
 soldiers would take hold of the rope, and 
 pull the house down, and this was con- 
 tinued until all the houses a half-dozen or 
 more were leveled with the ground. It 
 seemed most cruel. I never had my 
 sympathies so aroused in my life. Most of 
 these people were certainly innocent, and 
 possibly all of them. It was, perhaps, a 
 necessary thing to do. War is not boys' 
 play ; sentinels must be protected as far as 
 possible. There was no more firing from 
 ambush in that city, and the inhabitants 
 were as peaceful as kittens after this. 
 
 The port of Beaufort, N. C., was opened 
 and Fort Macon captured while I was in 
 Newbern, and the railroad between New- 
 bern and Beaufort, some thirty-five miles, 
 opened, though the enemy was in possession 
 of the country between, except at a few 
 points where a small force was stationed. 
 
 A train of cars was run over this road 
 about once a day for supplies, but always 
 carried an armed force for protection. A 
 car was fitted up, covered with iron 
 sheathing, bullet proof. This car was called 
 "The Monitor," and had a couple of 
 
WITHIN THE REBEL LINES. 177 
 
 cannon i>lanted at a door in front and on 
 each side, with gunners standing by to repel 
 any attack. This car was pushed ahead of 
 the engine, and soldiers were also on each 
 car behind. The cars were often fired on 
 from ambush in passing through timber 
 and wild places. 
 
 I traveled over this road twice, but on 
 neither occasion were we molested ; but the 
 precautions were always the same. 
 
178 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 As you will infer from my last letter 
 the prospect of a very large business in the 
 South was not as bright as I had expected. 
 The withdrawal of a large portion of our 
 army from that section to reinforce Mc- 
 Clellan's defeated army in Virginia, and 
 the consequent great reduction in the 
 amount of money circulated, beside the 
 fear of an attack by an overwhelming force 
 of rebels, who were constantly threatening 
 us, in which case the loss of our goods 
 would have been almost certain, as the city 
 would assuredly be set on fire by one army 
 or the other, or by the shells of the gun- 
 boats. 
 
 I, therefore, deemed it best not to 
 prolong our stay, and I was glad, indeed, 
 when the time came to turn my face home- 
 ward. We had been in a southern city 
 more than three months, during one of the 
 hottest summers I ever experienced, and 
 had suffered greatly. Flies, fleas, wood- 
 ticks, and vermin of all kinds abounded. 
 
INCIDENTS IN NEWBEEN. 179 
 
 Our hotel table was abundant, but the 
 cooking was simply villainous ; the kitchen 
 being outside of the hotel, as in most hotels 
 and houses in the South, nothing was hot 
 when brought on the table, and the waiters 
 were such as the hotel could pick up poor 
 trash, unwashed and unclean. It is not 
 strange that I lost my appetite for all 
 sorts of food. 
 
 I thought I would be safe on boiled eggs ; 
 but I remembered the story of a man in the 
 same condition who had lost confidence in 
 his cook. He had, time and again, ordered 
 the cook to bring hash on one plate 
 and hair on another, and he could mix 
 them to suit himself ; and he was finally 
 driven to eat only boiled eggs, thinking, 
 poor man, these were safe. But one day, 
 when he happened to see the cook take 
 a hairpin out of her hair and prick the 
 boiled eggs to see if they were done, he 
 gave it up ; and so, in my case, I just shut 
 my eyes and accepted whatever they gave 
 me; concluding everything was about as 
 bad as it could be. 
 
 The cooks and waiters having curly heads 
 didn't use hairpins, and they were men 
 
180 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 too ; but I noticed a wonderful sight of 
 head scratching. 
 
 On the Fourth of July we hired a small 
 rowboat and, with one of the poor whites 
 for a guide, rowed down the Neuse River to 
 the battlefield, some five or six miles from 
 Newbern. This poor white was in the 
 battle on the Confederate side. His descrip- 
 tion of the fight and the rebel panic was 
 very amusing. They had made prepara- 
 tions for defense which seemed almost 
 impregnable. A heavy breastwork of tim- 
 ber and earth was thrown up, commencing 
 at the Neuse River and running over two 
 miles to a swamp ; and in front of the 
 breastwork was a deep ditch filled with 
 water ; and in front of this, for a quarter or 
 third of a mile, was fallen trees, the only 
 opening through which was the railroad 
 running from Newbern to Beaufort. This 
 opening was protected by their heaviest 
 cannon and sharpshooters, which, they sup- 
 posed, could sweep the track of every living- 
 thing that ventured on it. Our guide 
 explained to us how the works were cap- 
 tured. He said two Yanks rode out from 
 the timber on the railroad track and, with 
 
NEWBERN BATTLEFIELD. 181 
 
 their glasses, surveyed the field a minute or 
 two, during which time hundreds of shots 
 were fired at them. Soon they wheeled and 
 went back out of sight in the woods ; but 
 immediately there appeared a dense column 
 of blue coats who, notwithstanding the rak- 
 ing fire from all along their line, marched 
 right up the track, through the opening, 
 and began to fire on them behind their 
 breastworks. There was a hand-to-hand 
 fight at close quarters, and the Yankees 
 kept pressing through the opening, and 
 soon the rebels broke and ran towards 
 Newbern, setting fire to the bridge after 
 they had crossed it and also to the city 
 itself ; but the Yankees, he said, were at 
 their heels and put out the fires before they 
 got under very great headway, and took 
 possession. A great panic ensued ; every- 
 body that could leave left instantly, leaving 
 everything behind. They had considered 
 Newbern safe ; had no idea the Yankees 
 could capture it. 
 
 This man was a fair specimen of the poor 
 whites of the South ignorant, poor, lazy, 
 shiftless. He cut a bundle of small sticks 
 of sweet, green wood, about the size and 
 
182 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 length of a lead pencil. I asked him what 
 he wanted to do with them ; he said they 
 were snuff sticks for his old woman. These 
 poor whites, and other natives, take snuff 
 in the mouth the cheap, yellow Scotch 
 snuff. They take one of these sticks and 
 chew the end of it, making it something 
 like a brush, which they dip in the snuff 
 and rub their teeth and gums with it, and 
 chew the stick when filled with snuff. 
 These women and men, too, smoke, also, 
 the rankest kind of tobacco, which they 
 raise themselves, and their pipe is usually a 
 corn cob dug out, with a goose quill for a 
 stem. 
 
 Their dialect is something impossible to 
 describe. In speaking of the northern and 
 southern soldiers they would invariably 
 say, u you'uns" and "we'uns." 
 
 While in Newbern I learned much of 
 the internal history of the slave system. I 
 said ' ' internal ; ' ' the most proper word 
 would be " infernal." 
 
 This poor white, the guide I spoke of, 
 would hang about our store, to pick up a 
 few dimes we would give him for odd jobs 
 occasionally. 
 
NEWBERN SLAVE MARKET. 183 
 
 I noticed the court house grounds had 
 pens around it, and asked him what 
 they were for, and he went with me one 
 day and explained about it. He said, 
 every court week slaves were brought by 
 their owners or speculators, to be sold at 
 auction. They were kept locked up in these 
 pens, and brought out, one at a time, and 
 stood on the block in front of the court 
 house, where buyers would examine them 
 from head to foot. I questioned this man as 
 to how it was done. Oh, he said, they tried 
 his eyesight, examined his teeth and every 
 muscle of the body, stripping them nearly 
 naked to do so (men, women and children 
 all the same), and then they were auctioned 
 off to the highest bidder a husband to one, 
 his wife to somebody else, and the children 
 to anybody who would pay the most. 
 
 Often, he said, when a husband or wife 
 were sold, they would beg their new master 
 to buy, also, his wife or her husband or their 
 child or children. 
 
 Sometimes, he said, this was done; but, as 
 a rule, no attention was paid to it. 
 
 The buyer would march his new purchase 
 off as he would a horse or a cow. 
 
184 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 I asked him if these slaves did not some- 
 times make a hard time when separated. 
 Oh yes ! he replied, they would make a big 
 fuss, of course, but it wouldn't last long. 
 He said the men would soon get another 
 wife, the women another husband, and 
 forget all about it. 
 
 The poor slaves, however, would tell me a 
 very different story. I never heard or read 
 of anything like the pitiable tales they told 
 me of separations. One old colored woman 
 said her husband was sold away from her 
 many years before to go South to the cotton 
 fields. The poor old creature cried as if her 
 heart would break while telling me. She 
 said a colored man told her he saw him in a 
 chain-gang marching South and that was 
 the last she ever heard of him. After her 
 husband was sold, she said all her children 
 were sold, the last one being a daughter, 
 grown up, who was bought by a man from 
 Richmond, and she had never heard from 
 her since. And this is only one of many 
 similar tales told me by these poor heart- 
 broken creatures. 
 
 It does not seem possible to me that these 
 things could have been tolerated in the 
 
THE SLAVE SYSTEM. 185 
 
 nineteenth century in Christian America, 
 and not only tolerated, but excused and 
 apologized for, and sanctioned by some 
 Christian people, and even ministers of the 
 gospel. 
 
 All these things happened less than a 
 third of a century ago, and yet it is hard to 
 believe anything short of the Dark Ages 
 could have tolerated such wickedness. Not 
 only "the sum of all villainies," as good 
 Charles Wesley branded it, it was dia- 
 bolical, inhuman, an outrage upon every 
 instinct of humanity. 
 
 The prejudice against colored people, 
 even at the North, was something terrible. 
 A colored, man or woman, however respect- 
 able, was not allowed to ride in any of the 
 public conveyances. The street cars in the 
 city of New York, chartered by the great 
 state of New York to carry passengers, 
 carried the sign in large letters: "Colored 
 persons not allowed in this car." While 
 any half drunken vagabond, no matter how 
 filthy, could always find a seat. What a 
 travesty on Christianity and Civilization ! 
 
 During reconstruction times, when the 
 rebel states had no voice in making the 
 
186 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 laws, it was proposed to do a little some- 
 thing to help the freedmen get a start, and 
 for this purpose an organization was formed, 
 composed of men of unimpeachable char- 
 acter, which was called "The Freedman's 
 Bureau.'* 
 
 To the ignorant negro haters of the North, 
 the very name of " Freedman's Bureau" was 
 like a red flag to a mad bull. Demagogues 
 used it in their speeches to their followers. 
 
 They made many of the ignorant voters 
 believe that the u Freedman's Bureau" was 
 organized for the purpose of "giving every 
 d d nigger a bureau." 
 
 A far different feeling prevails all over 
 the country to-day. Scarcely an apologist 
 for slavery can be found, and the revilers 
 of President Lincoln now pretend to revere 
 his memory. 
 
 As I said, we concluded it best to close 
 up the business, which we did by selling 
 out part of our stock of goods to a party in 
 Newbern, and shipping the balance back to 
 New York, and I was glad enough to set 
 my face toward home, and to meet the dear 
 ones from whom the separation had seemed 
 an age. The net profits of the expedition 
 
RETURN HOME. 187 
 
 were not what I had expected, yet the 
 experience and observation on the border 
 line, between the two gigantic forces, with 
 the excitement and deep interest in the 
 great struggle, was an event of a lifetime 
 never to be forgotten. 
 
 I felt the deepest sympathy for the pogr 
 slaves who had been abandoned by their 
 masters, and were in such mortal fear 
 these masters would return with the rebel 
 army and drive the Yankees out, and make 
 them slaves again. 
 
 Our negro man, Jacob, whom we had to 
 sweep and do odd jobs, begged me to take 
 him with me to the North. He called me 
 ' ' massa, ' ' and begged so hard, I had almost 
 a mind to bring him ; but not knowing what 
 I could do with him, had to leave him. He 
 was a good faithful fellow but so childlike. 
 He was suddenly attacked one day with 
 colic pains ; had probably drank too much 
 ice water, something he had been unused 
 to. I gave him a little brandy, of which we 
 had a small demijohn in case of sickness. 
 
 After this, Jacob was very often taken 
 with colic pains, and a little brandy always 
 relieved him at once. 
 
188 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 I had occasion to visit Newbern again, 
 twenty years after, spending several days 
 at the same hotel, the " Gaston House." 
 I met some of the old inhabitants, whom I 
 had seen before, but they were mostly 
 returned refugees and new men. 
 
 .They professed loyalty to the govern- 
 ment, said they were glad they did not suc- 
 ceed in establishing the confederacy they 
 fought for ; expressed satisfaction that the 
 system of slavery was done away with. 
 Some, however, took the other view and 
 mourned u the lost cause." 
 
 The magnanimity of our government was 
 something wonderful . in permitting these 
 rebels and traitors, who had taken up arms 
 against the government, killing its defen- 
 ders and firing on the flag of their country, 
 to return to their homes and have all the 
 rights of loyal citizens. It was something 
 unheard of in any country or age. By 
 making an example of a few of the ring- 
 leaders would, no doubt, have been healthy 
 and had good effect. 
 
 The necessarily increased taxes caused 
 some dissatisfaction among men whose 
 patriotism was held lightly, and free fran- 
 
MAGNANIMITY OF GOVERNMENT. 189 
 
 chise to those lately in arms did, at the 
 ballot-box, what they could not do in the 
 tield defeated the party who had saved 
 the country, and, of course, nobody was 
 punished. 
 
 On the other hand, many of the rebels 
 were returned to Congress arid to the Sen- 
 ate, and made governors of states, and 
 judges to administer the law. 
 
 At this writing, a judge in the city of 
 New York, who was a rebel general, and 
 who acknowledged he spent ten thousand 
 dollars for his election, still mourns "The 
 Lost Cause. ' ' 
 
 How many lives must be laid to this 
 man's hands and others like him, and 
 awful suffering, and millions of money 
 expended ; and yet he sits in the seat of 
 justice instead of having to stand on a 
 scaffold, as has many and many a man far 
 less guilty. 
 
 On my return from this expedition the 
 firm acceded to my request, and . I was 
 placed on a commission footing with the 
 proviso, however, that I would, during 
 slack periods of trade, go out, if they 
 desired, to look after and settle doubtful 
 
190 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 claims ; for which they would pay me a 
 liberal compensation. This was a satisfac- 
 tory arrangement for both, and continued 
 for several years, until the firm retired 
 from business. They found it necessary, 
 however, to have, and did employ espe- 
 cially for this purpose, a lawyer ; so that, 
 except in a few cases, I was relieved from 
 this undesirable business. 
 
 I employed an assistant, my trade having 
 increased to warrant it, and for several 
 years I had no reason to complain. I 
 applied myself as closely to business as 
 before, though I felt independent to go and 
 come as I pleased. 
 
 It is not my purpose to go into detail in 
 these letters about business matters, only 
 as some of the incidents of my life are 
 connected therewith. 
 
 After the close of the war, our house did 
 quite a large trade in the reconstructed 
 southern states and took risks, some of 
 which proved to be very unfortunate. One 
 of these was in Richmond, Va., where a 
 customer failed, owing us a large amount. 
 It was a dishonest failure an outright 
 attempted swindle. Our lawyer was sent 
 
VISIT RICHMOND, VA. 191 
 
 there and, in a day or two, telegraphed for 
 me to come immediately. I went home and, 
 while hurriedly preparing to go by the first 
 evening train, my wife said she wished she 
 was going too. This was only a little more 
 than a year after the close of the war and 
 capture of Richmond. We had read and 
 heard so much about Richmond and Libby 
 Prison and the capital of the Confederacy 
 that she, as well as myself, desired to see 
 the historic city. 
 
 When she suggested it I at once fell 
 in with the idea, and said: "Yes, if you 
 can get ready to go by the evening train, 
 and take only hand baggage, I would be 
 delighted to have you go." 
 
 I need not say she was ready on time ; 
 that was one thing my dear wife never 
 failed in she never kept anybody waiting 
 for her, or ever missed a train. She could 
 always meet an emergency, and was always 
 on time. 
 
 We took the night train via Washington, 
 arriving in that city at daylight next 
 morning, and took train for Richmond via 
 Grordonsville, Manassas, and Bull Run 
 battle field, the section where was fought 
 
192 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 the first battle of the war. Battle fields have 
 always been to me places of the deepest 
 interest. They bring to my mind, very 
 vividly, scenes of thrilling interest where 
 thousands and scores of thousands of men, 
 with all the deadly appliances of destruc- 
 tion, struggle with other scores of thousands 
 equally equipped, the very demons of 
 destruction. Often the fate of nations and 
 unborn millions hang upon the result. It 
 was especially so in this Bull Run battle. 
 I shall never forget that day, when the 
 bulletins and extras announced the 
 expected battle had come off, and our army 
 had been defeated with terrible loss of life. 
 It was so unexpected, and it so encouraged 
 the enemy and the Copperheads all over 
 the country, and so discouraged loyal 
 people ; it did seem that everything was 
 lost. 
 
 It was, however, the very thing that was 
 needed to arouse the North to the crisis 
 that was impending. Hitherto, they had 
 supposed it was something that could be 
 put down in a few weeks, and only a police 
 force was necessary. But this Bull Run 
 battle removed the cloud from the horizon, 
 
BULL RUN BATTLEFIELD. 193 
 
 and showed the desperate situation of the 
 country, that even the capital of the 
 nation was in danger ; and such an uprising 
 as followed was, perhaps, never seen before 
 in the history of the world. It was with 
 the remembrance of this feeling that I 
 viewed this historic battlefield, its ravines 
 and wooded slopes which the rebels had 
 well chosen for defensive warfare. 
 
 As we approached Richmond, it seemed 
 every station had its history and the whole 
 country around was a vast battlefield at 
 least strategic points of more or less interest. 
 
 At Gfordonsville where we dined and 
 were obliged to stay some two hours to 
 make connections, we fell in with a gentle- 
 man and his wife from Washington, going 
 to Richmond. At this gentleman's sugges- 
 tion, he telegraphed to the Spotswood Hotel, 
 the proprietor being a relative of his, for 
 rooms for himself and wife, and also for us, 
 he expressed it in his dispatch, ' ' a gentle- 
 man and his wife from New York," as it 
 was reported Richmond hotels were over- 
 crowded, the state convention being in 
 session and other attractions in the city at 
 that time. 
 
194 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 On our arrival at the hotel in the evening, 
 we found the very best room in the house 
 ready for us, with a glowing grate fire and 
 most obsequious attention. It was the same 
 room occupied by Jeff. Davis and wife, and 
 where many of the state papers were 
 prepared by the Confederate president, 
 and where he was wont to meet with his 
 cabinet ministers. 
 
 This hotel was one of the finest in the 
 South at that time, but was destroyed by 
 fire soon after. 
 
 It was the time of reconstruction, and the 
 state convention was in session to make a 
 new constitution for the state, and to codify 
 and make new laws for the new order of 
 things. 
 
 This convention was composed largely of 
 colored men and ex-slaves, while their 
 ex-masters and many ex-rebel generals and 
 other officers congregated at the hotel to 
 swear and curse the government "for 
 
 allowing the d d niggers to sit in their 
 
 state house to make their laws." 
 
 I had many discussions with this class of 
 men, talking very plainly the things that 
 were uppermost in my mind to say, and 
 
195 
 
 what they had not been accustomed to hear, 
 and what would have been unsafe in former 
 times to say anywhere in the South. 
 
 I knew they were powerless for harm ; 
 their sting had been extracted ; they could 
 " cuss " and that was about all they dared 
 to do. 
 
 On the train from Richmond were several 
 of these men beside three or four colored 
 delegates ; it being Saturday the convention 
 had adjourned over Sunday. We had had 
 a discussion on the cars and at Gordons- 
 ville where we dined, and were detained 
 two or three hours, the discussion became 
 quite animated, the colored people were 
 all on the alert to catch every word. These 
 men blamed the government for its recon- 
 struction methods, especially for allowing 
 their "niggers" to vote and to make 
 laws for them, and for the hard condi- 
 tions it exacted, and they went so far as 
 to argue that they were not defeated, but 
 compromised when they gave up fight- 
 ing, and might have continued the war 
 indefinitely. 
 
 I replied that as to the matter of allowing 
 the colored people to make the laws, all the 
 
196 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 government required was that loyal men 
 should make and administer the laws, and 
 if such could not be found among the 
 whites, they must take the blacks ; as 
 loyalty to the government was the first 
 condition, and the colored people were 
 known to be loyal. 
 
 And as to the matter which they asserted 
 that they were not defeated, but had 
 compromised with the usual and liberal 
 conditions of war, I replied that no 
 people in any age of the world had ever 
 continued to fight as did the South when 
 it was known to all the world they were 
 whipped ; 'that every chance of success 
 had left them more than two years before 
 they surrendered, and only just brute 
 courage and obstinacy held them up to 
 the fighting mark. But as they had allowed 
 their courage, which was the best part of 
 them, to mislead their judgment they must 
 take the consequences and not blame the 
 government which was far more liberal than 
 they deserved. 
 
 The colored porter, who had taken our 
 baggage from the station to the hotel and 
 had carried it back to the depot, refused to 
 
VISIT LIBBY PRISON. 197 
 
 accept the money I handed him, though I 
 pressed it upon him. "No, massa," he 
 said, " I will not take any pay from you ; I 
 like the way you talk -to dese men." He 
 reached out and shook my hand with a 
 grip that meant what he said. 
 
 While in Richmond, myself and wife 
 visited Libby prison which had been left in 
 the same condition as when our poor boys 
 were shut up there. It was then in charge 
 of Union officers who showed us the 
 different rooms, and the window where 
 several prisoners had been shot for looking 
 out to get a breath of fresh air ; also, the 
 underground passage which the prisoners 
 had dug to escape and were recaptured, 
 brought back, kept in dark " dungeons and 
 nearly starved to death. 
 
 As I said we spent a week in Richmond. 
 The business which called me there was 
 finally arranged, the preferred family cred- 
 itors waiving their claims under the assign- 
 ment, so that we got a fair percentage of 
 our claim, and on Saturday morning we 
 left for Washington. Arriving there on 
 Saturday evening, we went to the National 
 Hotel and spent three or four days in that 
 
198 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 city. Andrew Johnson was then president, 
 and William H. Seward, secretary of state. 
 We attended a public reception at the 
 White House, a brilliant affair; so many 
 foreign ministers and officers in their 
 official regalia, officials from every depart- 
 ment of our own government, ladies most 
 richly dressed, wearing fortunes in dia- 
 monds and real laces. The president and 
 his daughter received with grace and court- 
 esy. I shook hands with him with a very 
 different feeling from the honest hand of 
 the great and good President Lincoln, 
 which I had shaken in the same place five 
 years before. What a history the country 
 had passed through, and what changes had 
 been wrought 'during that time ! 
 
AN ORIGINAL MUGWUMP. 199 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 The years immediately following the close 
 of the war were years of great political 
 excitement arid anxiety. President Johnson 
 had changed from a radical Republican as 
 he seemed to be when he was nominated 
 and elected vice-president, to an out-and- 
 out Obstructionist, opposing all the recon- 
 struction measures of the Republican party 
 an original Mugwump. 
 
 The excitement throughout the country 
 was about as great as it was during the war. 
 
 The country, however, was too strong and 
 solid to be set back by any one man, even 
 though that man was president, and when 
 General Grant was triumphantly elected in 
 1868, confidence was fully restored, and the 
 nation soon in the full tide of prosperity. 
 Business was good, the country felt almost 
 a new life and the future looked bright and 
 promising. 
 
 The firm, with whom I had been so 
 pleasantly and confidentially connected for 
 more than fourteen years, stood amongst 
 
200 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 the highest and soundest in credit and 
 reputation and in the amount of its business, 
 aggregating in the neighborhood of 
 eighteen million dollars a year. No house 
 in the city or nation stood higher. I felt 
 proud to be connected with it and especially 
 so, that I had the promise and expectation 
 of becoming a partner at the expiration of 
 the old partnership in a little more than a 
 year. - 
 
 This was something I had been working 
 for. For years I had devoted my best ener- 
 gies to further the interest of the house in 
 every way in my power, and I felt that both 
 the interest of the house and my own would 
 be greatly benefited by it. 
 
 What then was my astonishment on 
 going to the store the day after Christmas, 
 1868, to be told by the head of the house 
 they had failed and made an assignment. 
 A clap of thunder out of a clear sky or any 
 other unnatural or unlocked for occur- 
 rence, could not have been more astonishing. 
 
 I could not believe it possible; I knew the 
 house had been prosperous. Their credit 
 never was better; it was practically unlimited 
 not only in our country but in all the 
 
FAILURE OF OUR FIRM. 201 
 
 markets of Europe. They had the soundest 
 and safest customers in the country and 
 everything betokened prosperity and safety. 
 In a moment my expectations were blasted, 
 though I felt thankful that my desires of a, 
 partnership had not been accomplished. I 
 was yet a free man, not a bankrupt. That 
 was something I never had nor never 
 have experienced, but the anticipation of 
 being a partner in such a house, in which I 
 had spent so many of the best years of 
 my life in such pleasant and confidential 
 relations, had been my guiding star for 
 years, and to have that star suddenly 
 eclipsed was a stunning blow. 
 
 I will say here, it was not on account of 
 the business of the house that caused the 
 failure, but outside speculations ; something 
 that surprised and astonished the city and 
 the business world, as every member of the 
 firm was supposed to be the most conserva- 
 tive and careful in the trade. 
 
 The firm expected, however, to arrange 
 matters very soon to reorganize and con- 
 tinue the business. They urged me to 
 remain with them for six months under 
 this expectation ; but they were unable to 
 
202 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 accomplish it and, on the first of July, 
 1869, they finally abandoned the effort and 
 I had to make other arrangements. 
 
 I had no difficulty in making satisfac- 
 tory connection with another large house. 
 Indeed, I could have made the same arrange- 
 ments with any house in the city ; but I 
 selected to go with the house of Cochran, 
 McLean & Co., a new firm, with a large 
 special capital. My arrangement was on a 
 commission basis, which I much preferred 
 to a salary, and I remained with this house 
 seven years, until they retired from busi- 
 ness, when I went with the house of Dun- 
 ham, Buckley & Co., also a large, wealthy 
 firm, under the same arrangement of a 
 commission. 
 
 I remained with this house only about 
 three years. It was a pleasant connection, 
 but I had ceased to have any desire to be a 
 partner in any dry goods house ; my faith 
 had been shaken and I distrusted them all. 
 
 I was, therefore, on the lookout for some 
 other business if any that seemed feasible 
 should offer. In the fall of 1879 such a 
 business seemed to offer and, in company 
 with my cousin, Rev. Levi S. Weed and 
 
A TRIP TO EUROPE. 203 
 
 several other gentlemen, we purchased a 
 patent and an established manufacturing 
 business for making pressed veneer wood 
 plates for the use of grocers, bakers, con- 
 fectioners, etc., with factories at Newbern, 
 N. C., Georgetown, Del. and Sunderland, 
 Vt. 
 
 We had the company incorporated under 
 the name of " The Smith & Stevens Mfg. 
 Co." of which I was secretary, treasurer, 
 and general manager for five years, the 
 term for which I agreed to hold this 
 position. At the expiration of this time or 
 a few months later, on the first day of 
 January, 1885, I retired from its manage- 
 ment, and from all active business, having 
 been engaged in business nearly fifty years, 
 without scarcely any cessation during all 
 that time. I desired a change, if not a 
 rest, and felt glad to be relieved. 
 
 During my management of this business, 
 it was thought best by the directors of the 
 company to see if a market could not be 
 opened for our goods in Europe, and it was 
 deemed advisable that I should go abroad 
 and see what could be done. 
 
 Accordingly, I made arrangements, and 
 
204 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 with my wife sailed on the steamship 
 Egypt, of the National line, the last of 
 March, 1883. 
 
 The health of my wife at this time was 
 not good, and we thought the trip would 
 benefit her. 
 
 It was new experience for both of us and, 
 aside from a terrible storm at sea, very 
 enjoyable. 
 
 On our outward voyage, when off the 
 Banks of Newfoundland, a terrible storm 
 struck us about dark, and raged during the 
 night ; a regular March blizzard, growing 
 into almost a hurricane before morning. 
 
 Every port hole was closed, the cabin 
 doors battened, skylights covered, and 
 every preparation made for a cyclone, and 
 we came pretty near having it. There was 
 not much sleep that night ; we could hear 
 the great waves dash against and over our 
 ship, making her tremble from stem to 
 stern. One giant wave fell so heavy on 
 her deck as to break the skylight, the glass 
 being an inch thick and covered with heavy 
 canvass. 
 
 A great body of water came through 
 down into the dining cabin, carrying with 
 
STORM AT SEA. 205 
 
 it the swing shelf, containing glass and 
 china ware and dishes, making a terrible 
 crash and clatter. We could hear over our 
 heads the tramping of the sailors, the 
 rattling of cordage, the thumping of the 
 engine, and could feel the ship part of the 
 time submerged under the water, and again 
 on top of a giant wave, which was indicated 
 by the peculiar whirr of the screw as it 
 was lifted out of the sea. It was an awful 
 night, and next day was almost as bad. 
 Nobody attempted to leave their state- 
 rooms, nor was any attempt made to set any 
 table for meals. The stewards and 
 stewardesses would bring the passengers, to 
 their staterooms, pitchers of bouillon and 
 soup and crackers, and a little tempting 
 food, but there was not much appetite on 
 that ship. 
 
 An English gentleman and his wife, who 
 had crossed the Atlantic twenty-six times, 
 said they never experienced anything like it. 
 
 During the day this gentleman attempted 
 to go out of his stateroom into the cabin 
 and, missing his hold of the rail, was thrown 
 violently across the cabin against a post ; 
 injuring him severely, cutting his forehead 
 
206 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 badly and nearly closing one of his eyes. He 
 was a pitiable object to see. Next day, 
 while the sea was still very rough, his wife 
 attempted to go to the stewards' room with 
 a pitcher to get some ale. She managed, by 
 holding on to the railing, to get the pitcher 
 filled and get back as far as their state- 
 room door. This door was directly opposite 
 our stateroom door, a narrow passage way 
 separating; my wife and myself were sitting 
 up holding on to the edge of our berths. 
 There was a lurch of the ship just as this 
 woman entered the door of their stateroom 
 and she, at the moment not having hold of 
 any support, was pitched headlong directly 
 against her husband who, poor man, was 
 sitting up, nursing his bandaged head and 
 eye ; the pitcher striking him squarely in 
 the face and blackening his other eye, 
 spilling the whole contents of the pitcher 
 on his face and neck. He did not take it 
 as a joke, nor did she ; they both used 
 some expression that sounded much like 
 "cuss words," while my wife and I, 
 although we were both seasick, couldn't 
 help but laugh; though careful not to let 
 them see us. We enjoyed many a hearty 
 
INCIDENTS ON SHIPBOARD. 207 
 
 laugh about it since. It was no laughing 
 matter to them ; they were two of the most 
 forlorn passengers the rest of the voyage on 
 that ship. The man was under the care of the 
 surgeon until we landed, and the woman 
 never smiled. 
 
 When the passengers were allowed to go 
 up on deck the sea was still rough and 
 looked so frightful and angry. The 
 passengers told their experience to each 
 other and how frightened they were, and of 
 their mishaps trying to sit up in their state- 
 rooms or get out in the cabin. 
 
 One timid lady called the captain when 
 he was passing, to enquire how far we were 
 from land. "Oh," he said, " he guessed 
 about three or four miles." " Good ! good ! " 
 said the lady, "I'm so glad we'll soon be 
 there." "But," he said, pointing down, "it 
 is three or four miles in this direction." 
 Such a look of disgust as came over that 
 woman's face ! I was reminded of a story 
 about a lot of ministers who came over to 
 attend the evangelical alliance, and on 
 going back were overtaken by a terrible 
 storm and expected surely to go to the 
 bottom. 
 
208 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 They concluded, however, that something 
 ought to be done ; some preparation for 
 such an event ; but first thought they had 
 better find out from the captain whether 
 there was any hope, and appointed a dele- 
 gation of their number to see the captain 
 about it. The captain referred them to the 
 sailors, saying that they knew just as much 
 about it as he did. 
 
 They went forward among the sailors, and 
 found them in the forecastle swearing, and 
 reported this to the captain. The captain 
 asked them if they supposed they would be 
 swearing if they thought the ship was going 
 to the bottom. Why, no ; they thought 
 not, and so they reported to the rest of the 
 ministers. After this the delegation would 
 go forward every few minutes come back 
 and report, " Thank Grod ! they are swearing 
 yet;" so while the sailors kept swearing 
 they felt safe. 
 
 We felt very happy on the eighth day 
 out, when the coast range of Ireland rose 
 just above the horizon in the distance, and 
 feeling that we were almost across the 
 dreary waste of waters. Next day we 
 landed in Liverpool, where we had our first 
 
RAILROAD INCIDENTS. 209 
 
 experience of custom house examination, 
 and this only to see if we had spirituous 
 liquors, tobacco or cigars. Of course we 
 had none, and easily passed. 
 
 After a day or two in Liverpool, we took 
 the express train, on the Great Northern 
 Railroad, for London. We began imme- 
 diately to see the difference between the 
 cars iii England ; and, indeed, it is the 
 same in all European countries. They have 
 compartments. Instead of entering the car 
 at either end, as in our country, they have 
 the doors opening on the sides into each 
 compartment, the seats facing each other; 
 two seats in a compartment holding six or 
 seven persons each, and no communication 
 between the compartments. We had a 
 little experience of this compartment busi- 
 ness while traveling in Germany. Stopping 
 for a meal on going back to our car 
 we stepped into the wrong compartment. 
 Before the cars started, a high official, 
 dressed in military with sash and epaulets, 
 came to the door, and though we didn't 
 understand his words, we understood, by 
 his gestures, he desired us to get out of 
 the car. We started to do so when he 
 
210 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 motioned my wife to remain, and pointed 
 to another compartment for me to go in. 
 Of course my wife went with me. I in- 
 quired of an English speaking gentleman, 
 what it meant ; he informed me that there 
 were compartments set apart especially for 
 women traveling without male escorts, 
 and that happened to be the one so set 
 apart. While we were talking about it, 
 this official came to the door, and in Ger- 
 man which the gentleman who I was talk- 
 ing with translated very politely informed 
 us that there were no such women going 
 in that compartment and we could occupy 
 it, which we did, and for several hours 
 were the only passengers in that compart- 
 ment. 
 
 On arriving in London, we took a cab for 
 a boarding house in Woburn Square which 
 had been recommended to us, and found it 
 a pleasant place and our fellow boarders 
 very congenial, where we remained some 
 two weeks ; and again, on our return from 
 the Continent, two months later, we spent 
 two weeks more. The four weeks we spent 
 in London were very pleasant and enjoy- 
 able. 
 
SIGHTS IN LONDON. 211 
 
 There were many places in London of 
 great interest to us old historic places. 
 I will mention a few. The British Museum 
 was one which we visited several times. 
 Its old manuscripts and parchments, dating 
 back to the times of the Pharaohs ; its coins, 
 dating back to before the Christian Era ; its 
 tablets, excavated from the old ruins of 
 Babylon, Nineveh and Pompeii ; its ancient 
 histories and parchments, the oldest any- 
 where in the world ; relics of all the ages, 
 from the earliest history of mankind all 
 wonderfully interesting. 
 
 The tower of London, one of the most 
 tragic and historic places on the globe, 
 where can be seen the stone rooms in which 
 state prisoners used to be confined kings, 
 queens, princes, and high officials, and from 
 which they were led to execution. 
 
 In one of the rooms are kept the block 
 and axe which were used to decapitate 
 them, and many instruments of torture. 
 
 In this tower are kept the implements of 
 war from the earliest historic times ; war 
 clubs succeeded by spears, swords, coats of 
 mail, and after the invention of gunpowder 
 the crudest kinds of fire arms, wood cannon 
 
212 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 with iron hoops, down to the later flint 
 locks and still more modern inventions of 
 repeating artillery and rifled cannon. 
 
 One room in the tower contains the 
 crown jewels and crowns of all the kings 
 and queens of England from its earliest 
 history, more than a thousand years, to the 
 modern crown of Victoria. 
 
 Jewels and precious stones, amounting 
 to many millions of dollars in value, the 
 crowns studded with diamonds and other 
 precious stones, the baptismal font, mace 
 of office, sword of justice, and many other 
 things are kept in the large glass case 
 or cage, circular in form, perhaps ten feet 
 high and eight or ten feet in diameter. 
 Around this case or cage are bars of steel, 
 and outside of all an iron rail to prevent 
 spectators from approaching within touching 
 distance, and as a further protection there 
 is always a guard of two or three officials in 
 the room ; while outside, but within the 
 grounds, are hundreds of old pensioners, 
 ex-officers, and soldiers who have distin- 
 guished themselves in some of the wars 
 they have been engaged in. These men 
 are dressed very peculiar in a sort of 
 
SIGHTS IN LONDON. 213 
 
 light gray trimmed with bright red. They 
 are called u beef eaters;" are a hardy set 
 of men and rank as a sort of military 
 aristocracy. 
 
 Westminster Abbey is another historic 
 place to visit. The tombs of the kings 
 and queens of England for a thousand 
 years, soldiers, statesmen, poets, and dis- 
 tinguished men and women, rest here. 
 The most beautiful carved monuments, 
 tablets, and sarcophagus in finest marble 
 and bronze. 
 
 The houses of Parliament, called the 
 House of Commons and the House of Lords, 
 like our House of Representatives and 
 Senate. We visited these houses, though 
 Parliament was not in session. An usher 
 showed us through, and pointed out the 
 different sections. 
 
 I was reminded of a story, the truth of 
 which I will not vouch for as being strictly 
 true though it illustrates the stupidity of 
 some public servants. . 
 
 One door of the Parliament house is 
 guarded by an usher, and only a member of 
 the House of Lords can enter by this door. 
 A dissenting preacher, not understanding 
 
214 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 this, attempted to enter by this door, 
 was stopped by the usher who told him 
 only a lord could enter by this door. The 
 preacher said he was not a lord, but a 
 servant of the Lord. The usher asked 
 what lord, and he said, u Lord Jehovah." 
 " Never, heard of him," said the usher; 
 "but," he added, u wait a minute;" and 
 he asked an usher inside if he ever heard of 
 Lord Jehovah; and he said, "No, he had 
 not ; " but added, " possibly there might be 
 such a lord who didn't come there very 
 often, and he had better let him come in." 
 Missionaries or the Salvation Army, I 
 suppose, had not visited that section of 
 London up to that time. 
 
 The Salvation Army was, at that time, 
 just beginning its work in London and 
 other cities. They have done wonderful 
 work ; though, perhaps, like all new con- 
 verts, inclined to be fanatic and injudicious 
 in their methods. 
 
 A young woman, a convert, thought she 
 must do some good work in the cause, and 
 so she procured a bundle of tracts and went 
 into the by-ways of the city in the evening 
 to distribute them. About the lirst tract 
 
SIGHTS IN LONDON. 215 
 
 she handed out was to a gentleman standing 
 on the corner. He held it up to the gas- 
 light and looked at it ; then handed it back, 
 saying, ' ' You must excuse me ; I am a 
 married man." She looked at the tract 
 and discovered its heading was, " Abide 
 with me." She gave up the attempt to 
 distribute tracts. 
 
216 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 I began to tell you, in my last letter, 
 about some of the places we visited in 
 London. I must not dwell too long on 
 these, but will mention one other, perhaps 
 more interesting than any. This was Wind- 
 sor Castle, the residence of Queen Victoria. 
 It was in the latter part of June, after the 
 queen and her household had left the castle 
 for their summer residence in Scotland. It 
 was announced in the London papers that 
 the castle would be open on certain days to 
 visitors. On one of these public days, 
 therefore, we took the train for Windsor, 
 some twenty-five miles from London. Quite 
 a number of visitors were on the train. 
 Arriving at the station, nearly all walked 
 to the castle as we did, a distance of, per- 
 haps, a third of a mile. Windsor is an 
 old city, with fine, broad avenues well 
 shaded, with large parks and public 
 grounds. 
 
 The castle itself stands in a large park 
 on high ground overlooking the city and 
 
WINDSOR CASTLE. 217 
 
 surrounding country. St. George's Chapel 
 and vaults, which contain many of the 
 royal family, are connected or in close 
 proximity with the castle, and with other 
 buildings cover many acres of ground. 
 
 I was somewhat disappointed in the 
 castle ; it was not as magnificent as I 
 supposed, though some of the state rooms 
 and other apartments might be called 
 grand. 
 
 Some of the walls are hung with tapestry 
 woven figures of Queen Esther before the 
 King, Mordecai, and other Bible scenes. 
 
 On the whole, I was not greatly impressed 
 with the magnificence of Windsor Castle. 
 
 After spending a couple of weeks in and 
 about London, we crossed the straits of 
 Dover and proceeded by rail to Paris. 
 
 We spent two weeks in that city very 
 pleasantly ; visited many places of interest. 
 The Tuilleries, Napoleon's Tomb, Arc de 
 Triumph, the picture galleries of Louvre 
 and Luxenburg, the Grand Opera House, 
 the finest in all Europe if not in the world, 
 Champ de Mars, and took a sail on the 
 River Seine to St. Cloud, a most beautiful 
 place, the former residence of the great 
 
218 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Napoleon, and more recently of his nephew, 
 the emperor. 
 
 The residence of these emperors was in 
 ruins, having been burned by the German 
 army on its approach to Paris in the late 
 German war. The Hotel des Invalides, 
 where are kept the old veterans of the 
 French wars. Napoleon's tomb being 
 near this hotel or Soldier's Home it might 
 be called. 
 
 This tomb or grand mausoleum is one of 
 the finest works of art, probably, in the 
 world. It is a large granite building, 
 nearly circular in form, with an immense 
 dome, under which, on the ground floor 
 which is of fine marble, is the sarcophagus 
 standing on beautiful carved pillars 
 containing the remains of the great 
 Napoleon. In niches all around this 
 circular room are life size statues of the 
 marshals of the empire Ney, Duroc, Murat, 
 Prince Eugene, and scores of others. Take 
 it altogether it is a wonderful work of 
 art. The French people are very proud of it, 
 and well they may be. 
 
 The streets of Paris are broad, well 
 paved and lighted, and kept scrupulously 
 
SIGHTS IN PARIS. 219 
 
 clean. The picture galleries are the most 
 extensive and varied of any in the world. 
 
 The Louvre contains the world-renowned 
 works of art in painting and sculpture and 
 statuary, mostly quite ancient. 
 
 The Luxenburg contains the works of 
 modern artists. These latter, to my mind, 
 are far superior to the old masters. 
 
 Much of the statuary, and many of the 
 pictures would scarcely be allowed in any 
 gallery in our country ; and the same holds 
 true as regards the galleries of other cities 
 we visited. 
 
 On leaving Paris we took an early 
 morning express train for Switzerland, and 
 after a ride of some fifteen hours, arrived at 
 Geneva late in the evening. We passed 
 through the finest portion of France its 
 vineyards, wineries, beautiful villas and 
 well-kept fields and lawns. 
 
 Geneva is one of the oldest cities in 
 Europe. The old part looks ancient ; 
 but the more modern section is very 
 beautiful, with broad avenues, parks, 
 fountains and fine public buildings. The 
 people are very industrious. The city has 
 every appearance of thrift and comfort, to 
 
220 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 say nothing of luxury and wealth that 
 seem to abound. 
 
 After leaving Geneva we had a pleasant 
 journey through Switzerland, skirting the 
 lake for many miles, passing through the 
 city of Lausanne, a beautiful old cathedral 
 city. 
 
 We spent a few hours in Berne, the 
 capital of Switzerland, a quaint old 
 city, and proceeded part of the distance 
 by boat on Lake Thun, and after a 
 day's ride reached the most beautiful 
 little city in Switzerland, Interlachen, 
 where we spent several days. We found 
 here the greatest variety of scenery. We 
 rode up to the top of one of the high 
 points in the vicinity on donkeys ; at 
 least my wife rode a donkey, but the livery 
 man brought to our hotel a mule instead 
 for me, thinking my legs were rather long 
 to stride one of his little donkeys. I was 
 glad he did, though my wife enjoyed the 
 donkey ride very much. We had a 
 guide to lead each animal, as the mountain 
 path often led along cliffs overlooking 
 awful chasms hundreds of feet below, and 
 these guides would walk between the 
 
SWITZERLAND. 221 
 
 animal and the edge of the cliff steadying 
 the animal with his strong arm. 
 
 The views from the elevation were some- 
 thing grand; I suppose nothing surpasses it 
 in 'all Switzerland. 
 
 The valley itself, lying between snow- 
 capped mountains, is some eight or ten 
 miles long by one or two miles wide, and 
 level as a house floor. The fields well 
 cultivated, or in lawns of the most beautiful 
 green. The two little lakes, Thun and 
 Brienze, in full view with the connecting 
 river between, of three or four miles, look- 
 ing like a silver thread through the valley. 
 
 The sides of the mountains to the timber 
 line are well cultivated vineyards ; above 
 this a space of bare rock, and above all the 
 snow-capped peaks. In the distance, seem- 
 ing only a few miles but in reality thirty 
 miles, was the great glacier, Jungfrau, 
 glistening in the sun, altogether a picture 
 of landscape and mountain of surpassing 
 beauty. 
 
 From Interlachen we went by diligence 
 over the Brunig Pass and Bernese Oberland, 
 a days' ride through Swiss scenery of re- 
 markable beauty, to Lucerne, another Swiss 
 
222 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 city of great interest. It is here one of the 
 greatest works of art is to be seen, the Lion 
 of Lucerne. It is a lion of immense size, if 
 I remember, some thirty feet long and well 
 proportioned, cnt on the face of the solid 
 rock. The lion is in its death agony, with 
 an arrow penetrating its vitals. It is a 
 world-renowned work of genius, designed 
 by Thorwaldsen, and is a monument to 
 commemorate the Swiss guard who fell in 
 defense of the Tuilleries in Paris, in the 
 French Revolution, and was erected at great 
 expense by Napoleon the first, in J821. 
 From Lucerne we went to Zurich, where we 
 spent two or three days. The Swiss national 
 fair was being held there and much of 
 interest to be seen; very beautiful works of 
 art, looms in operation turning out silks 
 and velvets and tapestries and laces and 
 almost every other product of the loom. 
 
 Zurich is a historical city, being one of the 
 centres of the Reformation in the time of 
 Martin Luther and Zwingle, this being 
 Zwingle's native city. I learned here at this 
 national fair, from an intelligent English 
 speaking Swiss, that the story in the school 
 books of my boyhood days, about the tyrant 
 
GERMANY. 223 
 
 Gessler and the patriot William Tell and his 
 shooting the apple from his boy's head, was 
 all a myth; there was no such man as Tell. 
 Thus another of the historic legends of our 
 boyhood days vanishes into thin air ; like 
 the great maelstrom on the coast of Norway, 
 and the poisonous Upas tree, as pictured in 
 early geographies, are only myths. 
 
 Boys have many things to unlearn as 
 well as to learn. 
 
 From Zurich we went to Shaffhausen 
 Falls, the head of the Rhine River naviga- 
 tion a sort of Niagara summer resort. We 
 went through the Black Forest which com- 
 mences at this place, a wild mountain ride 
 through numerous tunnels and windings 
 among the mountains. Our next stopping 
 place was charming Baden Baden. This 
 is a famous German watering place re- 
 sembling our Saratoga. The waters here 
 are, however, hot, and come out of the 
 ledge of a rock instead of deep wells, 
 as at Saratoga. The waters are all differ- 
 ent in properties and medicinal value, and 
 are greatly sought after. It is a great 
 health resort for invalids ; also for pleasure 
 and gambling. 
 
224 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 From here we went to Strasburg the 
 cathedral city. It is in Alsace-Lorraine, 
 formerly belonging to France, but cap- 
 tured by the Germans in the late war, and 
 now held by them. 
 
 A large military force is stationed here, 
 and we saw them drill in the public park. 
 They are a very fine body of men, especially 
 the officers, who were splendidly mounted 
 and elegantly equipped. 
 
 The great cathedral here bears the marks 
 of German cannon balls which were fired 
 on the French occupants before the city 
 surrendered. The cathedral was repaired, 
 and the famous clock, which has been keep- 
 ing time for hundreds of years, is still tick- 
 ing away. 
 
 We waited for the time, twelve o'clock, to 
 see the twelve apostles march out one by 
 one from a side door, and with a hammer 
 strike the great bell and retire as another 
 came out, until twelve had struck the 
 hours. 
 
 From this city we went to Heidelberg, 
 the seat of a large university, where many 
 American youths go to finish their 
 education. 
 
HEIDELBERG AND WORMS. 225 
 
 It is a beautiful city and what I was 
 much interested to see was its old castle 
 now in ruins, built many hundreds of years 
 ago, probably by the Romans. It is on the 
 top of a cliff, and covers several acres of 
 ground. The wonder is, how the massive 
 blocks of stone were ever gotten up there 
 and into its walls. It would be a wonder 
 in this age of invention and engineering, 
 to say nothing of those times beyond the 
 Dark Ages. 
 
 From Heidelberg our next stopping 
 place was the city of Worms, the old town 
 made famous by Martin Luther and the 
 Reformation. 
 
 The old town hall, still standing, is said 
 to be the same building (though now 
 enlarged and built over) in which was held 
 the great convention called " The Diet 
 of Worms." 
 
 The Luther monument, built in the public 
 square, represents him holding an open 
 Bible in one hand, the other raised, exclaim- 
 ing : "Here I stand ; I cannot, and I will 
 not retract; may God help me." 
 
 There are twelve other figures of life 
 size in a circle around Luther, Zwingle, 
 
226 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 Erasmus, Knox, Melangthen, and others of 
 the reformers. 
 
 We visited the Worms cathedral, one of 
 the oldest in Europe, built or commenced 
 in the year about 800 A. D., and other 
 public buildings ; but one had especial 
 interest, if tradition is true. 
 
 This was a Jewish synagogue, said to be 
 the oldest now in the world ; built before 
 the Christian Era. 
 
 It is a quaint one story granite building, 
 the roof being also of granite, supported on 
 a central column from which extends 
 granite arches to the outer walls, the 
 floor itself being granite or marble. 
 
 Upon payment of a small fee to the man 
 and his wife who were in charge, we were 
 shown the old parchments carefully kept 
 in one of the cloisters. A German lady, 
 who understood English, translated to us 
 this story as it was told her : ' ' That this 
 synagogue was built and flourishing at the 
 time Christ came ; that information of his 
 appearance and doings came to them, and 
 of his persecution and crucifixion by the 
 Jews ; that the Jews of Worms were 
 not responsible for his death ; they had 
 
LUTHER'S MONUMENT. 227 
 
 sent a delegation to Jerusalem to protest 
 against it." 
 
 In the centre of this synagogue was hung 
 an old lamp burning. The history of this, 
 as they gave it, was that between seven and 
 eight hundred years ago two men came to 
 the Jews of Worms and notified them of a 
 plot, an intended massacre of all the Jews 
 on a certain day, whereupon they got 
 together and arranged for defense, and 
 were not harmed. 
 
 These two men were unknown, and no 
 information could be obtained concerning 
 them ; they firmly believed they were 
 angels sent to save their lives, and this 
 lamp was then put up as a memorial of the 
 interposition of divine Providence, and it 
 had been burning there for over seven 
 hundred years. I suggested it was not so 
 old, but they said, of course, it was not the 
 very same lamp, but as one burned out it 
 was always replaced, and the light never 
 had gone out, a very pretty story and they 
 firmly believed it. Another legend they 
 told us. They took us outside of the 
 synagogue where a very narrow lane runs 
 alongside of the granite walls in which is 
 
228 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 an indentation just large enough for a 
 person to stand in. The legend, as told us, 
 is that some five or six hundred years ago the 
 mother of the rabbi was passing through 
 this lane, and being met by a team, 
 she pressed her body against the granite 
 wall and would have been crushed only 
 by a miracle, the indentation, as now seen, 
 was made in which she stood and was saved. 
 They believe this implicitly. 
 
 From Worms we went to Bingen on the 
 Rhine, a beautiful little city where we took 
 a steamboat for Cologne. The river Rhine 
 is noted for the beauty of its scenery and 
 comparisons are often made by tourists 
 between this and our own Hudson. I think 
 most people would give the preference to 
 our own river, but there are many points of 
 interest on the Rhine which we don't have. 
 The old castles, most of which are only 
 ruins now, having been built, according to 
 tradition, by the half civilized tribes 
 occupying the territory against the 
 encroachments of the Romans, in the early 
 centuries of the Christian Era. On the 
 mountain slopes grow the hardy grapes 
 which produce the famous Rhine wine. 
 
RIVER RHINE. 229 
 
 The famous Apollinaris Springs are not far 
 from this river ; its bottling establishment 
 is at one of the landings. 
 
 We left the boat at the city of Bonn, and 
 proceeded by rail to Cologne. The great 
 Cologne cathedral here is a splendid 
 work of art, with its many spires and paint- 
 ings and carvings, its gothic windows, its 
 magnificent chime of bells all exceedingly 
 beautiful. 
 
 From Cologne we took an early morning 
 train for Brussels. This is another historic 
 city, the capital of Belgium. The royal 
 palaces, its picture galleries and art build- 
 ings are well worth seeing. It was here, or 
 a few miles from this city, where was 
 fought the decisive battle of Waterloo, 
 which crushed the great Napoleon and 
 decided the fate of Europe. 
 
 I had intended to visit the battlefield 
 of Waterloo, but a heavy rain, muddy 
 road, and limited time discouraged the 
 attempt. 
 
 I regretted very much not going out to 
 this field; the most decisive, probably, in 
 all history. 
 
 What American visiting Brussels does 
 
230 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 not remember Byron's thrilling description 
 of the opening scenes of the battle. 
 
 " There was a sound of revelry by night, 
 And Belgium's capital had gathered 
 
 then, 
 
 Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright 
 The lamps shone o'er fair women and 
 
 brave men : 
 A thousand hearts beat happily : and 
 
 when 
 
 Music arose with its voluptuous swell, 
 Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spoke 
 
 again, 
 
 And all went merry as a marriage bell : 
 But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes 
 like a rising knell ! 
 
 " Did ye not hear it? No : 'twas but the 
 
 wind, 
 
 Or the car rattling o'er the stony street : 
 On with the dance ! let joy be unconfined 
 No sleep till morn when youth and 
 
 pleasure meet, 
 To chase the glowing hours with liying 
 
 feet. 
 
 But hark ! that heavy sound breaks in 
 once more, 
 
BRUSSELS. 231 
 
 As if the clouds its echo would repeat : 
 And nearer, clearer, deadlier than 
 
 before ! 
 Arm ! arm ! it is, it is the cannon's opening 
 
 roar. 
 
 " And there was mounting in hot haste : 
 
 the steed, 
 
 The mustering squadron and the clatter- 
 ing car, 
 Went pouring forward with impetuous 
 
 speed : 
 And swiftly forming in the ranks of 
 
 war : 
 
 And the deep thunder peal on peal afar : 
 And near, the beat of the alarming 
 
 drum 
 Roused up the soldier ere the morning 
 
 star : 
 While thronged the citizens with terror 
 
 dumb, 
 
 Or whispering with white lips, ' the foe ! 
 they come ! they come ! ' 
 
 From Brussels our next stopping place 
 was the city of Antwerp, where we spent a 
 day visiting its picture galleries, cathedral, 
 parks and public buildings. 
 
232 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 A little incident occurred at Antwerp, 
 somewhat amusing, but a little embarras- 
 sing, at the time. We had traveled from 
 Cologne to Brussels with an English 
 clergyman, Canon Falconer and his wife 
 and daughter, a miss of some fifteen years. 
 They were with us during our stay in 
 Brussels, and accompanied us to Antwerp, 
 where we were to separate after a day's 
 sight-seeing in that city ; they to take the 
 steamer for England and we the train for 
 Holland. We took an early morning train 
 for Antwerp, some thirty miles ; but when 
 we arrived the name was not called, nor 
 could we see any name on the station. We 
 asked the guard who was promenading up 
 and down the platform if this was Antwerp. 
 He did not reply, but shook his head, 
 evidently not understanding the question ; 
 and before we could decide, the train started 
 and we were soon beyond the city. A new 
 conductor came along for tickets, and we 
 tried to explain the situation ; but he only 
 shrugged his shoulders and held out his 
 hand for tickets, speaking in French. 
 Young Miss Falconer had learned a little 
 French in school, and she tried to tell him 
 
ANTWEEP. 233 
 
 how it happened ; but he evidently didn' t 
 quite understand. 
 
 It was rather amusing, and we felt it was 
 solely the fault of the railroad, and we 
 were not going to pay for being carried 
 where we didn't want to go. Probably the 
 conductor would have put us off at the first 
 stopping place, but we got the start of him. 
 When our train stopped there was a 
 train standing at the station, headed the 
 other way. I said, " Let us get aboard and 
 go back to Antwerp"; and we proceeded 
 to change cars, rushing for the first open 
 door. I helped my wife and Mrs. Falconer 
 in, while the canon and his daughter, being 
 more burdened with baggage, were a little 
 behind. Xhey came up to the door, and 
 right near them came along the station- 
 guard ; and when I reached out my hand to 
 help Miss Falconer up the step, this official 
 caught and, by main force, pulled her away 
 and held her. I then perceived the cars had 
 started, and in spite of my remonstrance, 
 to which he replied in a jargon which, of 
 course, I did not understand no more than 
 he did mine. I sprang on the car, calling 
 back to them to come on the next train and 
 
234 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 we would wait for them at Antwerp ; so our 
 party was divided. 
 
 A new conductor came around for tickets, 
 with the same questions and jargon, and I 
 answered him in the same kind, and we 
 both laughed. Of course he got no tickets 
 or money. 
 
 When we got to Antwerp station, before 
 the train had fairly stopped, a high official 
 there, in his sash and military equipage, 
 met us at the door of our compartment as 
 we were stepping off. The conductor had 
 notified him, probably, of an American 
 crank on his train. He spoke very pleas- 
 antly in English, asking what was the 
 trouble. I explained to him how it was, 
 and he said he was very sorry for our 
 mishap ; was exceedingly pleasant ; said 
 the next train would be there with the rest 
 of our party at twelve o'clock, and hoped 
 the hour we would have to wait would be 
 passed pleasantly. He pointed to a beau- 
 tiful park in sight, if we preferred to wait 
 there, which we did until the canon and his 
 daughter came, when we all had a good 
 laugh about it. We passed the afternoon 
 in visiting the picture galleries, cathedral, 
 
ANTWERP. 235 
 
 public buildings and parks. They took the 
 steamer that evening for England, and we 
 the train for Holland. 
 
236 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 In my last letters I have been giving you 
 some little glances of what we saw in our 
 journey ings. I have, however, to draw on 
 my memory for these incidents, having 
 kept no diary or memorandum. Since 
 writing these letters many interesting inci- 
 dents occur to my mind ; but what I have 
 written will give you some little idea of our 
 manner of sight-seeing, and the use we made 
 of our limited time. 
 
 After leaving Antwerp, we very soon 
 crossed the border line between Belgium 
 and Holland. The usual custom house for- 
 mality had to be gone through on entering 
 the new country. I don't remember the 
 questions we were asked or how closely our 
 baggage was examined, or the contraband 
 articles the officials were looking after. As 
 I remember it was a mere matter of formal- 
 ity, and then we found ourselves whirling 
 through a flat country, apparently made up 
 of about half land and half water, the water 
 and land being about on a level, and innum- 
 
HOLLAND. 237 
 
 erable bridges it seemed we were crossing 
 bridges nearly all the time. This was more 
 noticeable as we were nearing Rotterdam. 
 
 I made it a point to find out in advance, 
 either by inquiry or from our Badeker 
 guide book, a suitable hotel. 
 
 We generally found an English speaking 
 clerk or proprietor, and were always treated 
 with the utmost courtesy. I believe, as a 
 rule, Americans receive more attention at 
 hotels than any other nationality ; at least, 
 we never had the least occasion or reason 
 for complaint. Our bills were usually 
 reasonable ; of course the customary fee 
 expected by waiters and servants, or any- 
 one who has lifted a hand for you, seemed 
 a little odd. Somehow, all these servants 
 knew just the time guests were leaving, and 
 were in waiting. 
 
 I understood this, and always had change 
 provided to hand them. To simplify mat- 
 ters in my own mind, I made it a rule to 
 add ten per cent, to my hotel bills, dividing 
 it among the servants ; so that if my bill 
 was ten dollars, I would divide one dollar 
 additional among the servants. 
 
 Rotterdam is one of the quaintest old 
 
238 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 cities in Europe many of the streets nar- 
 row, and houses standing close to the street, 
 with sidewalks only wide enough for one 
 person to walk, and some of the houses, from 
 the second story, projecting over the street ; 
 so that persons on the second and third 
 stories, and above, could shake hands 
 across the streets, or make morning calls 
 without leaving their chambers. 
 
 The city is permeated with canals, and 
 little steamboats which bring the country 
 produce right up alongside of the markets 
 and stores, and deliver their freight without 
 any trouble. 
 
 It is the cleanest city I ever saw. In a 
 morning walk we saw the Dutch women on 
 their knees scrubbing the narrow sidewalk 
 with soap and water, and the streets and 
 fronts of their houses looked as if they had 
 been scrubbed. These Hollanders are very 
 fond of flowers ; their windows are filled 
 with them. 
 
 At the large central public market, 
 where the Dutch women go with their 
 baskets for supplies, are the greatest 
 quantities of flowers, and almost every 
 woman supplies herself liberally with 
 
ROTTERDAM. 239 
 
 these. We were quite interested in 
 standing on the bridge leading from the 
 market, to see the long procession of women 
 with their market baskets loaded with 
 provisions, and about every one of them 
 carried a bunch of flowers. 
 
 These Hollanders seem to be a jolly 
 people, the women look healthy and happy, 
 and the men solid ; perhaps a better word 
 would be stolid and contented. There are 
 some line buildings in Rotterdam, and a 
 large beautiful park. A very handsome 
 statue of Erasmus, one of the reformers and 
 coadjutor of Martin Luther, stands in a 
 little park in the centre of this, his native 
 city ; and the house in which he lived is 
 still standing, a small old-fashioned brick 
 house. 
 
 From Rotterdam we took a steamer in the 
 afternoon for England, crossing the North 
 Sea usually a very rough passage ; but it 
 happened to be mild and pleasant, and a 
 full moon, which seemed to rise out of the 
 sea right behind us, almost in speaking 
 distance. 
 
 Next day we landed on the English coast, 
 and at evening were back at our old 
 
240 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 quarters in Woburn Square, London, which 
 seemed almost like getting back home. 
 We found letters here awaiting us, with 
 the good news that all were well. 
 
 We remained here nearly two weeks, 
 visiting and revisiting the many places of 
 interest the description of which I gave in 
 a former letter and then took an express 
 train on the Great Northern Railroad for 
 Edinburgh, Scotland, having sent our 
 baggage to the steamship office in Liverpool. 
 
 I must not dwell too long on this 
 Scotland trip, though no country in Europe 
 has, to my mind, so much of interest ; it 
 seemed to me the very paradise of ro- 
 mance. Nothing in romance can excel 
 some of Scott's descriptive poetry, his 
 " Lady of the Lake " and "Marmion," or 
 the heart poetry of Robert Burns in his 
 " Bonny Boon" and "Highland Mary," 
 and other poems that has stirred the hearts 
 of millions. What American boy has not 
 been thrilled with the story of Wallace in 
 the " Scottish Chiefs," and Douglass, and all 
 the heroes in Scottish history. When, 
 therefore, I crossed the borders of 
 Scotland, and entered that romantic 
 
SCOTLAND. 241 
 
 country, I felt I was in the land of heroes 
 and great men. 
 
 Our first stopping place was Edinburgh, 
 one of the pleasantest cities in Europe, with 
 its beautiful streets, avenues, parks, monu- 
 ments, and old historic buildings. 
 
 Edinburgh castle, built hundreds of years 
 ago, is still used as an armory. Hollyrood, 
 the ancient residence of the Scottish kings, 
 and where the unfortunate Mary Queen of 
 Scots lived, is still intact. Her bed-chamber 
 has been kept just as it was when she occu- 
 pied it. A large picture gallery, with very 
 line old paintings and portraits of the kings 
 and queens of Scotland, is, also, one of the 
 sights. 
 
 In the public square stands the Scott 
 monument, a magnificent work of art. 
 The Scotch people are very loyal to the 
 memory of their great men, and well they 
 may be ; no country in the world has ever 
 produced greater. 
 
 We spent a few days in Edinburgh, 
 then went to Stirling, the old home of 
 Wallace, the. hero of the " Scottish Chiefs." 
 Stirling castle stands as it did in his 
 day, just back of the city on a high bluff 
 
242 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 overlooking the city and valley, and Frith 
 of Forth. The battle of Bannockburn was 
 fought three miles from Stirling. We 
 drove down to the battlefield ; our guide 
 pointed out the stone in which Bruce 
 planted his standard when his little army 
 of thirty thousand Scotch Highlanders 
 routed the British army of one hundred 
 thousand, with a loss larger than Bruce' s 
 entire army, which ended a long war, and 
 established the independence of Scotland. 
 
 Burns' immortal poem of Bruce' s address 
 to his army on this occasion will go down 
 the ages as a knell to tyranny and an 
 inspiration to liberty : 
 
 " Lay the proud usurpers low ! 
 Tyrants fall in every foe ! 
 Liberty's in every blow ! 
 Let us do or die ! ' ' 
 
 Our journey through the trossacks, the 
 mountain and lake region of Scotland, was 
 very enjoyable; riding on the top of the 
 four horse coach and sailing on the lakes, 
 through the country of Roderick Dhu 
 and Fitz-James of Stirling, made famous 
 by Walter Scott's poem, "The Lady of 
 
EMBARKING FOR HOME. 243 
 
 the Lake." The whole thing, the scenery 
 and mountains, beautiful lakes, and bright 
 skies, all seemed to us a poem a romance, 
 a landscape picture, all combined. 
 
 We spent a couple of days in Glasgow, 
 and from this city took the train for 
 Liverpool, and boarding our steamer, the 
 " Spain," were again on the broad Atlantic, 
 with our faces turned toward America our 
 own dear home. 
 
 Probably no travelers ever saw more of 
 the different countries or took in more of 
 the places of interest than did my dear wife 
 and myself in so short a time. 
 
 My wife was a good traveler. She did 
 not tire as do many ladies, and could adapt 
 herself to all kinds of travel, and enjoyed 
 new scenes; it was all recreation and pleasure 
 to her. She grew stronger and returned to 
 our home in much better health than when 
 we left. Next day after leaving Liver- 
 pool, we cast anchor off the old city of 
 Cork, in Ireland, now called Queenstown, 
 where a steamboat came alongside of our 
 ship, her deck crowded with over a 
 thousand emigrants to be put on board. 
 It was a sad sight to see these poor 
 
244 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 creatures; whole families, men, women and 
 children; some very old and some mere 
 children, all carrying their baggage, mostly 
 sacks and hemp bags; some with boxes and 
 baskets, and some with beds and bundles. 
 All seemed poor, wretched, and sad, many 
 in tears ; not a smile did I see in that whole 
 surging mass. 
 
 As I stood on the deck of the ship and 
 looked down on this crowd being marched 
 in single file over the gangplank to the 
 steerage, bending down under their bur- 
 dens, all going to an untried, and, to them, 
 an unknown country, among strangers, I 
 felt sorry for the poor creatures. I could 
 not help but feel how doomed most of 
 them were to disappointment, though it 
 was perhaps impossible for their condition 
 to be much worse. 
 
 We saw but little of these steerage pas- 
 sengers on the voyage, as they were not 
 allowed on the after deck where the cabin 
 passengers were. 
 
 I would sometimes go forward and look 
 down in the steerage and see the cooking ; 
 a sort of stew, made of corned-beef and 
 potatoes, in a cauldron, stirred and dipped 
 
ON SHIPBOARD. 245 
 
 out with a long-handled iron scoop basin. 
 
 Our voyage was comparatively pleasant 
 and uneventful. 
 
 Exactly at twelve o'clock each day the 
 captain would take his reckoning. I made 
 it a point to watch for the time and stand 
 by him and see how it was done. Modern 
 science has invented a little instrument 
 called a sextant, something a little larger 
 than an opera glass, by looking into which, 
 when the sun is exactly at zenith, the 
 mirrors are so arranged as to show the 
 latitude and longitude of the ship, and the 
 number of miles we have made in the 
 twenty-four hours since his last reckoning. 
 
 This he posts in a conspicuous place 
 where the passengers can see it. Passengers 
 guess and sometimes bet on the number of 
 miles the ship would make the next twenty- 
 four hours. I carried a map, and each day, 
 when the captain had taken his reckoning, 
 would mark on the map just where we 
 were. 
 
 As we approached New York we began to 
 be on the lookout for pilot boats. There is 
 always great strife among pilots as to who 
 should reach one of these big ships first ; 
 
246 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 the pay is large some two hundred dollars 
 or more for piloting one of these large ships 
 into port. Several pilot boats sighted us 
 apparently at the same time, and then there 
 was a friendly race. The one that conies 
 first, near enough to speak and be answered, 
 gets the job ; and after putting a pilot on 
 board the ship, will sail away and be on 
 the watch for the next steamer. The 
 pilot brought late New York papers, 
 which were seized and read with great 
 interest, as we had been isolated from the 
 world for a week. The last night on the 
 ship passengers gathered in the cabin 
 and had a sociable recitations, singing, 
 speeches, stories and a right jolly time. 
 A collection is always taken up on these 
 occasions for the benefit of a marine hos- 
 pital in Liverpool, if on an English ship. 
 At the quarantine station, near Sandy 
 Hook, we were detained an hour or two 
 for the examination of our steerage pas- 
 sengers ; but as we showed a clean bill 
 of health, were allowed to pass, and were 
 soon steaming up the bay and alongside of 
 our dock in New York. Scores of long- 
 shoremen, with our own sailors, were soon 
 
HOME AGAIN. 247 
 
 engaged transferring baggage from the ship 
 to the dock, where were waiting custom 
 house officers to examine the baggage. 
 
 There is often more or less trouble here, 
 as these custom house men use their own 
 discretion as to how thorough they examine 
 trunks and baggage. Sometimes they take 
 out the entire contents of a trunk, article 
 by article, to see if there is any dutiable 
 goods. If they find any, away it is sent to 
 the custom house, and, if it is found 
 the intention was to smuggle any taxable 
 goods, the whole contents are forfeited to 
 the government. 
 
 Our baggage passed with little examina- 
 tion, the inspector only lifting the cover of 
 the trunk and top tray and passed it. 
 
 We found at the steamship landing, 
 waiting for us, our dear children Marion 
 and Ella. I said, waiting for us; yes, 
 waiting for us. These darling ones are 
 now, at this writing, with their dear 
 mother, the companion of my life's voyage, 
 all now waiting, waiting for me. 
 
 They have taken their last voyage, 
 escaped its perils and are safely landed 
 in a haven beyond the reach of all dan- 
 
248 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 ger, the storms of life with them being 
 passed. 
 
 This was a joyous meeting. They were 
 delighted to see us, to welcome us home, 
 and we were as glad to get back to our 
 home and loved ones ; to find that no 
 serious sickness or mishap had befallen 
 any of them during our absence. We 
 felt that no country or people in the 
 wide world, could compare with our 
 own. 
 
 We met during our travels many 
 delightful people, and received the most 
 courteous attention wherever we went. 
 
 There is a feeling in all European 
 countries, especially among the common 
 people, that America is a paradise. Their 
 highest ambition is to be able sometime to 
 go to that country. 
 
 We had occasion to make a little pur- 
 chase in a store in Heidelberg, and the 
 only English speaking person in the 
 establishment was a young girl, perhaps 
 sixteen or eighteen years of age. She 
 asked if she should not send the article 
 home. I said it was too far we lived in 
 New York. " What ! " she exclaimed, " in 
 
DAUGHTER MARION'S DEATH. 249 
 
 New York ! in America ! Oh, how I wish I 
 was there." Poor girl, she thought if she 
 was only in America, if she was not in 
 paradise, it would be the very next thing 
 to it. 
 
 The peasantry of Germany and Holland, 
 and indeed of all European countries, have 
 a life of toil and want, and little encourage- 
 ment. 
 
 We saw, in passing through the agricul- 
 tural districts, women and girls doing the 
 most menial work, carrying burdens under 
 which they bent too heavy for strong 
 men. Children looked prematurely old and 
 careworn. They have to work for a mere 
 pittance, and have no hope of any better 
 condition. 
 
 As I said we were glad to get home and 
 be with our dear ones again. Little, how- 
 ever, did we realize that we should so 
 soon be called to part with our daughter 
 Marion, this dear one who seemed so 
 necessary to us all; the two young 
 daughters, so dependent on a mother's 
 care ; a devoted husband, a loving father 
 and mother and sisters, all these ties were 
 sundered. 
 
250 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 It was an awful and crushing blow for all 
 of us, and one that her mother never 
 recovered from. The years that she lingered 
 here, before going to join her darling child, 
 were years of suffering; and yet she was 
 a true Christian mother, and tried to be 
 brave and resigned, but this touched the 
 very core of her heart. 
 
 Although this was more than ten years 
 ago, and the flowers on her grave have 
 budded and blossomed and been nipped by 
 winter's frosts ten successive times, yet it 
 seems but as yesterday when this darling 
 one lay as if asleep, so life-like and beauti- 
 ful, amid the banks of flowers which kind 
 friends had brought and loving hands 
 arranged so emblematic of herself; the 
 house packed with mourners and mourning 
 friends, who came to pay their last tribute 
 of love and respect; the beautiful address 
 of Dr. McLeod, her pastor, in which he 
 paid a glowing tribute to her character 
 as a Christian in her life, walk, and 
 example ; the choir of her church, who 
 volunteered to come and sing some of the 
 hymns they knew she loved. 
 
 Next day the family and nearest friends 
 
DAUGHTER MARION'S DEATH. 4 251 
 
 followed her remains to her final resting 
 place in beautiful Greenwood, where in a 
 cemented vault, clean and white, we laid 
 her precious remains and covered her tomb 
 with flowers. 
 
 During her last sickness, her sister, Ella, 
 and husband, Rev. Albert J. Lyman, were 
 with her, both ministering angels and God's 
 blessed comforters. 
 
 Dr. Lyman made a beautiful address at 
 the grave, so appropriate and so expressive 
 of all our feeling that I asked him for a 
 synopsis, which I prize very highly. 
 
 "In the name of this family circle, and 
 this group of kindred and friends, I now 
 solemnly and tenderly, pronounce this our 
 united testimony over our beloved sister 
 Minnie's grave. Here lies the pure body of 
 one of God's sweet saints; she walked in 
 white while among us, and she walks in 
 white to-day in the city of God. We have 
 loved the light of her face; she was our 
 sister of peace. 
 
 u The eldest born, she was the pattern of 
 our family fidelity. Her name was the 
 music of the home life we have shared. In 
 her hands she held the bond of all our 
 
252 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 fellowship, and beyond our sight she holds 
 it still. 
 
 " We bear our witness, that as daughter, 
 sister, wife and mother, she served with 
 utter constancy the ends of love and duty; 
 she was our well beloved one, and her 
 memory is blessed for ever. Acquainted 
 with care, she made care seem beautiful; 
 she taught us gentleness, and Christian 
 resignation. Suffering she bore with 
 patience; privation with dignity; and in her 
 words and ways dwelt to us a deathless 
 loveliness. She won the crown she wears. 
 We say no final farewell, she rests in God; 
 we lay her away, not in fear, but in 
 honor and hope; we lay her in the midst of 
 the flowers she loved. 
 
 "Believing in nature and in God, to nature 
 we entrust her mortal and precious form, 
 and to God we commit her immortal spirit. 
 Nothing of her life can fade. 
 
 * ' In Christ whom she trusted, she lives, 
 and in His presence she awaits the final 
 resurrection of the blessed. 
 
 " Rest thee in peace sweet sister, thy 
 spirit is above, not beneath the sod; we 
 will not suffer thy words to fail." 
 
After this address a dear friend of hers 
 and of our family, Rev. Fritz W. Baldwin, 
 made a beautiful and touching prayer and 
 benediction. And so closed the last rites 
 we could pay to one of Grod's own dear 
 children. Her memory is very precious; 
 her grave a Mecca to us all. Not now a 
 lonely grave, but by her side rest her 
 darling sister, Ella, and the dear mother of 
 them both. Heaven is richer and earth so 
 much poorer. 
 
254 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 MY DEAR fr- 
 ill my last letter I told you of the sick- 
 ness and death of our darling daughter 
 Marion. Without going too much into detail, 
 I will only say here, the devoted husband 
 and the young daughters, thus suddenly 
 bereaved, met the situation bravely. Her 
 sisters, Ella and Florence, and her mother, 
 and indeed all of us adopted these chil- 
 dren who, with their early training, have 
 developed into the noble Christian charac- 
 ter of their sainted mother. After the 
 death of this dear daughter, the health of 
 my wife became more feeble. I gave up 
 active business, and in the winter of 1886-7 
 we went to California, hoping the change 
 of climate and surroundings might benefit 
 her. 
 
 Our hopes were partially realized ; she 
 enjoyed the change, and we all felt 
 encouraged. 
 
 My dear wife was one who loved 
 nature and beautiful scenery, and the 
 journey and grand scenery, and the world 
 
JOURNEY TO CALIFORNIA. 255 
 
 of flowers in Southern California all tended 
 to bring the wonted bloom to her cheeks 
 and brightness to her eyes. 
 
 The journey to California was not so tire- 
 some as we supposed it would be. The 
 Pullman palace cars and arrangements for 
 sleeping nights and resting, makes travel- 
 ling a luxury in comparison to what it used 
 to be. What occupies only about six days, 
 with comforts almost like a home parlor, 
 took six months of weary and toilsome 
 travel for the pioneers and early settlers of 
 that far off country. 
 
 Our journey, too, was broken by a 
 delightful visit in Kansas with our dear 
 sister and brother, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin R. 
 Van Horn. After leaving this pleasant 
 home, we were whirled over the vast plains 
 of western Kansas, skirting the Rocky 
 Mountains for three days and nights, 
 through wild unsettled parts of New 
 Mexico and Arizona, a country of lava 
 beds and volcanic formations. 
 
 We saw several parties of Indians who. 
 had come down from their reservations, 
 situated some twenty or thirty miles from 
 the railroad, to see the passing trains 
 
256 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 something strange and wonderful to these 
 poor savages. 
 
 The conductors are instructed to treat 
 the Indians with civility, and let them ride, 
 if they desire, on the platforms ; otherwise 
 they might do harm to the railroad. 
 
 At a place called "The Needles," near 
 the border line between Arizona and 
 California, a whole tribe, it seemed, of 
 Indians, squaws and papooses were at the 
 station, perhaps a hundred or more, waiting 
 for their rations which were on one of the 
 cars of our train quarters of beef, carcasses 
 of mutton, -and bags of meal and other 
 provisions. 
 
 This was an eating station ; but the sight 
 of these filthy creatures peering into the 
 windows of the kitchen where almost as 
 filthy looking Chinamen were cooking, and 
 the dining room only separated from the 
 kitchen by a rail, with waiters of the same 
 sort as the cooks, altogether took away 
 the appetites of most of the passengers ; 
 beside curiosity to look at these poor half 
 naked savages was stronger than the 
 appetite for food under these circumstances. 
 
 After emerging from the arid plains and 
 
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 257 
 
 lava beds through which we had been 
 traveling for two or three days, we arrived 
 at San Barnardino, in California. Here we 
 got the first whiff of orange blossoms, and 
 were in the land of flowers. Some fifty 
 miles further is the beautiful city of Los 
 Angeles, the place of our destination, where 
 we spent two or three months reveling 
 among the flowers and orange groves. 
 The rainy season was about over, and 
 the weather was perfect. We formed 
 pleasant acquaintances with Eastern people, 
 and would make frequent all day ex- 
 cursions many miles in the country, driving 
 our own livery team, often making it a 
 pic-nic day, taking our own provisions. 
 Would get permission to drive into an 
 orange grove, sometimes by paying a small 
 amount, but generally they said go in, in 
 welcome, and help yourselves. 
 
 After spreading our blankets on the 
 ground under the shade of an orange tree, 
 the limbs bending down under the load of 
 its luscious fruit, we would eat our lunch 
 and pick oranges all we wished just by 
 reaching up without rising from our 
 blanket seat on the ground. These orange 
 
258 KECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 orchards of Southern California are 
 immense fifty and a hundred acres. Many 
 of the trees having to be propped up, 
 and many of the limbs broken under the 
 great weight ; the most beautiful sight 
 imaginable. 
 
 You can see the same tree loaded down 
 with ripe, golden, and green fruit and 
 blossoms at the same time; the fragrance 
 filling the air as you ride through the 
 country. 
 
 It is something wonderful the quan- 
 tity of oranges and lemons shipped from 
 Southern California ; apparently enough to 
 supply the world. Train after train of cars, 
 loaded with this fruit, leave the different 
 stations every day for eastern markets. At 
 Riverside, in the centre of the orange belt 
 of Southern California, some forty miles 
 east of Los Angeles, are several large pack- 
 ing and shipping houses. We spent three 
 weeks in this place very pleasantly. It is 
 called the " Garden of California," and 
 rightly named. One of the finest avenues I 
 ever saw is "Magnolia Avenue." For nine 
 miles this broad avenue, lined with double 
 rows on each side of magnolia, eucalyptis, 
 
CALIFORNIA ORANGES. 259 
 
 palm and pepper trees, and all sorts of 
 flowers, beautiful villas and endless groves 
 of oranges, as far as the eye can reach. I 
 used to go to the packing houses and watch 
 the process of assorting, packing and ship- 
 ping the fruit. I was told there would be 
 shipped from that station, that season, two 
 thousand car loads of oranges. A car load 
 is three hundred boxes, and the average 
 number in a box is one hundred and fifty 
 oranges making an aggregate of ninety 
 millions of oranges from that one station ; 
 and that is only one out of a score of ship- 
 ping stations. These packers will buy an 
 orange orchard and pick the fruit as they 
 require. Oranges are different from apples 
 or most other fruit. The picking season 
 commences in December and lasts till June, 
 the ripening oranges keeping fresh all this 
 time while on the tree. 
 
 It is interesting to watch the process of 
 assorting and packing. The oranges are 
 dumped into a hopper, through which they 
 run down into an inclined broad wire 
 sieve, the meshes of which are graduated 
 for different sizes, the first meshes being 
 small to let the small oranges drop through ; 
 
260 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 the next larger, and so on until the last ; the 
 sieve being shaken meanwhile, the oranges 
 dropping through into canvas sacks, and 
 carried to the packers, who lay them care- 
 fully in boxes, each orange wrapped in 
 tissue paper, pressed down and nailed ; the 
 box marked with stencil plate, with the 
 name of the packers, number, and brand of 
 oranges in the box ; the boxes are then run 
 out on the platform and packed in the car. 
 When the train of fifteen or twenty cars are 
 loaded, away it goes on the long journey of 
 three thousand miles to the eastern markets. 
 
 A young orange orchard in Southern 
 California with irrigation, is worth from 
 five hundred to a thousand dollars an acre, 
 and some are valued much higher. 
 
 They don't count on any off years, every 
 year is a bearing year, and the trees im- 
 prove the older they grow. A frost is 
 scarcely ever known, though there has been 
 a little frost a few times just enough to 
 nip some of the fruit on the most exposed 
 branches. 
 
 After leaving Riverside we concluded to 
 make a trip over the Sierra Mountains to 
 the Yosemite. 
 
A TRIP TO YOSEMITE. 261 
 
 This valley of the Yosemite is one of the 
 wonders of the world, and well worth the 
 journey to see. Formerly it was an over- 
 land ride of a hundred miles by stage over 
 several ranges of mountains, but has been 
 shortened by a railroad from Berenda to 
 Raymond, a distance of twenty-five miles, 
 making a stage ride of seventy-five miles. 
 We started from Raymond after an early 
 breakfast in company with three four-horse 
 stage loads of passengers, eleven inside 
 each coach, three on a seat and two with 
 the driver. Our coach contained a jolly 
 load, mostly gentlemen with their wives. 
 Dr. Herrick Johnson was the third occupant 
 of our seat, and his wife occupied the 
 seat in front of us, with a gentleman and 
 his wife from Auburn, N. Y. After nearly 
 a week in the valley we came back in the 
 same order. 
 
 The first day from Raymond we rode 
 fifty miles, stopping once for dinner 
 ( changing horses every ten miles ) bringing 
 up at sunset at Clark's Hotel, where we 
 enjoyed a good supper, a bright open fire- 
 place fire and the sleep of tired travelers. 
 
 After breakfast we resumed our places in 
 
262 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 the stages and started for the wonderful 
 valley, a ride of twenty-five miles further. 
 This ride took us through the finest 
 scenery in the very heart of the Sierras, 
 through forests of pines of enormous 
 growth, trees six and eight feet in diameter 
 and straight as a mast, one hundred and 
 fifty and two hundred feet tall. 
 
 Almost the entire distance of this last 
 twenty-five miles was a gradual ascent 
 through these primeval forests, only very 
 recently traversed by white men. 
 
 On emerging from the forest on the top 
 of the mountain, our driver made a little 
 detour from the main road to a jutting 
 point overlooking the wonderful Yosemite 
 Valley, called "Inspiration Point," and it 
 is well named. The view is one never to 
 be forgotten ; all the adjectives possible 
 grouped together would fail to give the 
 reality. Grand ! sublime ! majestic ! are 
 mild terms. 
 
 The valley lay at our feet, almost per- 
 pendicular, a mile below us, seemingly 
 walled in with granite a mile high. 
 
 My descriptive powers are inadequate 
 to do justice to this grandest work of 
 
YOSEMITE VALLEY. 263 
 
 nature on this continent, if not in the 
 world. 
 
 The first white man who ever visited this 
 valley, Mr. J. M. Hutchings, is now a 
 resident of, and known all over California 
 as the " Patriarch of Yosemite." He has 
 published a book, the title is "In the Heart 
 of the Sierras," in which he describes this 
 wonder of nature. 
 
 During our stay in the valley I became 
 acquainted with this man, and was charmed 
 and thrilled with his story of early 
 incidents in his pioneer life. From his 
 book I gathered some of the descriptions 
 which I fully indorse. 
 
 I will give his own description first : 
 " Successively and successfully, we passed 
 through dark and apparently interminable 
 forests, penetrated brushy thickets, ascended 
 rocky ridges, and descended talus-covered 
 slopes until, in the afternoon of the third 
 day of our deeply interesting expedition, 
 we suddenly came in full view of the 
 marvelous valley. 
 
 u The inapprehensible, the uninterpre table 
 profound was at last opened before us. 
 
 " That first vision into its wonderful depths 
 
264 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 was to me the birth of an indescribable 
 'first love' for scenic grandeur that has 
 continued, unchangeably, to this hour, and 
 I gratefully treasure the priceless gift. 
 
 "I trust, moreover, to be forgiven for now 
 expressing the hope, that my long after- 
 life among the angel-winged shadows of her 
 glorious cliffs, has given heartfelt proof of 
 the abiding purity, and strength of that 
 ' first love ' for Yosemite. 
 
 u This mere glimpse of the enchanting 
 prospect seemed to fill our souls to over- 
 flowing with gratified delight, that was 
 only manifest in unbidden tears. Our lips 
 were speechless from thanksgiving awe. 
 Neither the language of tongue nor pen, 
 nor the most perfect successes of art, can 
 approximately present that picture. 
 
 " It was sublimity materialized in granite, 
 and beauty crystallized into object forms, 
 and both drawing us nearer to the Infinite 
 One." 
 
 Samuel B. Bowles, of the Springfield 
 Republican, writes his first impression of 
 the sight of Yosemite Valley from 
 " Inspiration Point." 
 
 " The overpowering sense of the sublime, 
 
YOSEMITE VALLEY. 265 
 
 of awful desolation, of transcendent marvel- 
 ousness, and unexpectedness, that swept over 
 us, as we reined our horses sharply out of 
 green forest, and stood upon a high jutting 
 rock that overlooked this rolling-up 
 heaving sea of granite mountains, holding, 
 far down in its rough lap, the vale of 
 meadow, and grove, and river. Such a 
 tide of feeling, such stoppage of ordinary 
 emotions, comes at rare intervals in any 
 life. It was the confrontal of G.od face to 
 face, as in great danger, or sudden death. 
 
 "It was Niagara magnified. 'All that 
 was mortal shrunk back : all that was im- 
 mortal swept to the front, and bowed down 
 in awe.' ' 
 
 Benjamin F. Taylor, in his "Between 
 the Gates," says : "Yosemite awaited us 
 without warning, met us without coming. 
 Spectral white in the glancing of the 
 sun, the first thought was that the 
 granite ledges of all the mountains had 
 come to resurrection, and were standing 
 pale and dumb before the Lord. I turned 
 to it again, and began to see the towers, the 
 domes, the spires, the battlements, the 
 arches, and the white clouds of solid 
 
266 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 granite, surging up into the air, and come 
 to everlasting anchor till 'the mountains 
 shall be moved.' You hasten on ; you 
 hear the winds intoning in the choral 
 galleries a mile above your heads ; you 
 hear the crash of waters as of cataracts in 
 the sky ; you trample upon broad shadows 
 that have fallen thousands of feet down, 
 like the cast off garments of descending 
 night" 
 
 Albert D. Richardson, in his "Beyond 
 the Mississippi," says : "Nature had here 
 lifted her curtain to reveal the vast and 
 the infinite. It elicited no adjectives, no 
 exclamations. With a bewildering sense 
 of divine power and human littleness, I 
 could only gaze in silence till the view 
 strained my brain and pained my eyes, 
 compelling me to turn away and rest from 
 its oppressive magnitude." 
 
 "H. H.," in her "Bits of Travel," thus 
 describes it: "An indescribable delight 
 took possession of me. The silence seemed 
 more than silence ; it seemed to quiver 
 without sound, just as the warm air shim- 
 mered without stir, along the outlines of 
 the rocky walls. On my left hand rose the 
 
YOSEMITE VALLEY. 267 
 
 granite watch tower Loya (Sentinel Rock); 
 on my right, the colossal buttress Tutock- 
 ahnu-la (El Capitan), the Cathedral Spires, 
 the Three Brothers all were in full sight. 
 
 "Wherever I stood, the mountain wall 
 seemed to shut close around me in a circle. 
 
 "I said to myself, again and again : ' Only 
 between three thousand and four thousand 
 feet high.' But the figures had lost their 
 meaning. AH sense of estimated distance 
 was swallowed up, obliterated by the feel- 
 ing of what seemed to be immeasurable 
 height," 
 
 I will only give one more extract from the 
 pen of travelers to this wonderful valley. 
 Horace Greeley said: "Of the grandest 
 sights I have enjoyed Rome from the 
 dome of St. Peter's ; the Alps from 
 the valley of Lake Como ; Mount Blanc 
 and her glaciers from Chamonni ; Niagara 
 and the Yosemite I judge the last named 
 the most unique and stupendous. It is 
 a partially wooded gorge, one hundred to 
 three hundred rods wide and three thou- 
 sand to four thousand feet deep, between 
 almost perpendicular walls of gray granite, 
 and here and there a dark yellow pine, 
 
268 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 rooted in a crevice of either wall, and 
 clinging, with desperate tenacity, to its 
 dizzy elevation. 
 
 u The isolation of the Yosemite, the 
 absolute wilderness of its sylvan solitudes, 
 many miles from human settlements or 
 cultivation, its cascade two thousand feet 
 high, though the stream which makes this 
 leap has worn a channel in the hard bed 
 rock to a depth of one thousand feet, 
 renders it the grandest marvel that ever met 
 my gaze." 
 
 From ' ' Inspiration Point' ' our road led 
 down the mountain side into the valley 
 below, the road being in many places cut in 
 the solid rock, with sharp acute angles 
 around which our driver would crack his 
 whip and make the turn under a full run 
 on the very brink of the precipice, just for 
 pure cussedness and to scare his passengers. 
 There were some blanched faces and some 
 protests, but our cowboy driver didn't care 
 a snap; it only seemed to make him more 
 reckless and to see how near he could come 
 to the edge of the abyss without going 
 over. 
 
 There were three hotels in the valley. Our 
 
YOSEMITE VALLEY. 269 
 
 party went to the Yosemite Valley Hotel, 
 kept by Mr. J. J. Cook, a gentleman, 
 formerly a merchant in New York way 
 back in the fifties. 
 
 We had mutual acquaintance with many 
 New York people, and passed hours in 
 reminiscence of those early days. 
 
 He was very kind and showed us many 
 attentions during our stay with him, took 
 myself and wife in his carriage around the 
 valley, and pointed out the most interesting 
 features. The valley is from five to six 
 miles long, and half to three-fourths of a 
 mile wide, and the walls almost perpen- 
 dicular, and from three thousand to four 
 thousand feet high; not all the same height, 
 some loom up higher than others and have 
 been given different names such as 
 "Cathedral Spires," from their resemblance 
 to them; " Sentinel Dome," Half Dome," 
 " Three Brothers," " Clouds' Rest," "Mt. 
 Starr King," and others. 
 
 The great rock of the valley " El 
 Capitan" does not seem like a mountain 
 ledge, but more like an enormous ever- 
 lasting boulder with its smooth, gray sides 
 reaching up almost to the clouds ; its 
 
270 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 measurement being, from its base in the 
 valley, three thousand and three hundred 
 feet almost perpendicular. 
 
 The height of the falls which pour them- 
 selves down into the valley, through which 
 runs the Merced River, according to the 
 government surveyor is the " Sentinel 
 Falls ' ' three thousand two hundred and 
 seventy feet. The " Yosemite Falls," two 
 thousand five hundred and forty-eight feet ; 
 several other falls of less height. 
 
 When we consider that the Niagara 
 Falls are only one hundred and sixty feet, 
 it is easy to see the stupendous height of 
 these falls. There is one or two breaks in 
 the highest falls, though in a spring freshet 
 Mr. Cook told me they appeared to be one 
 tremendous fall from the top to the bottom. 
 
 The most beautiful fall is called the 
 " Bridal Veil." The height is only eight 
 hundred and sixty feet, but it pours over 
 the brink in a broad stream and becomes a 
 mist before reaching the bottom, hence its 
 name. When the sun shines one or more 
 rainbows are always to be seen. 
 
 The Merced river, running through this 
 valley, is a great trout stream. The Indians 
 
INDIANS OF YOSEMITE. 271 
 
 bring in long strings of these speckled 
 beauties every day and sell them to the 
 hotels for fifteen to twenty -five cents a 
 pound. Our tables were abundantly 
 supplied with these at every meal. Mr. 
 Cook said the Indians have -a knack of 
 catching trout which no tourist or white 
 man can attain. 
 
 At one end of the valley is a small settle- 
 ment of Indians, the remnant of a native 
 tribe, living in huts, gathering acorns 
 which they grind between fiat stones by 
 hand and make their own acorn bread ; this 
 with fish and small game is their daily food. 
 
 Our party made excursions, on broncoes 
 led by half breeds and Mexicans over 
 dangerous paths, to the Domes and different 
 points about the valley, so that every day 
 was fully occupied. 
 
 Our return trip was a little changed, to 
 take in the Mariposa big tree section. 
 Starting in the morning from Yosemite we 
 reached Wa-Wa-Na in time for dinner. 
 After dinner and a short rest we were 
 driven to the wonderful big tree forest, 
 some eight or ten miles. The whole forest 
 of many miles in extent is covered with 
 
272 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 trees of large dimensions, mostly pines. 
 The noted big trees, however, are of another 
 species called "sequois" or red wood, and 
 are within a section of a few square miles, 
 and perhaps numbering three or four 
 hundred trees. 
 
 Some of the largest of these have been 
 given names, such as " Grizzly Giant," 
 1 ' Mariposa, " " Washington, " " Grant, ' ' 
 ' < Longfellow, " " Wa- Wa-Na, "etc. These 
 have cards attached giving their dimen- 
 sions ; "Grizzly Giant," thirty-three feet in 
 diameter ; several others nearly as large, 
 and from two hundred and fifty to two 
 hundred and seventy -five feet high. One 
 of these trees is called "Wa- Wa-Na" the 
 tunnel tree, through the heart of which the 
 road passes. At the base, this tree is 
 twenty-eight feet in diameter, is solid 
 wood, still alive and growing. The arch 
 or tunnel is about ten feet in height, 
 and nine or ten feet wide at the bottom ; 
 not quite so wide at the top, but ample 
 room to drive our four-horse stages through, 
 stopping in the centre for us to count the 
 rings to see if we could approximate its 
 age. 
 
CALIFORNIA BIG TREES. 273 
 
 We could scarcely do this, but it is said 
 as many as two thousand rings have been 
 counted in some of these trees, making 
 their age at least two thousand years. 
 
 One of the largest of these trees lies pros- 
 trate and is hollow. It is said two horse- 
 men have ridden through abreast, for the 
 distance of eighty feet. 
 
 There was a ladder against this tree, 
 which I ascended, and walked on the top ; 
 it seemed like walking on an arched roof of 
 a barn or house, it was so high, and yet it 
 was partly imbedded in the earth. 
 
 One of these trees, still standing, is hollow 
 at the base ; said to have been burned and 
 cut out by the Indians. The room is per- 
 haps fifteen feet in diameter ; large enough 
 for our three stage loads of passengers, 
 thirty persons at least, to stand within its 
 walls without crowding. 
 
 This Mariposa Big Tree Grove, and the 
 Yosemite Valley are both California State 
 Parks, and under the care of commissioners, 
 and heavy penalties prescribed for depreda- 
 tions ; also, strict regulations against fires. 
 
 From here we went directly to San 
 Francisco, where we spent two weeks 
 
274 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 very pleasantly, visiting many places of 
 interest. In many respects this is a won 
 derful city, with its enormous hotels, its 
 palatial residences and evidences of great 
 wealth. 
 
 The United States Mint in this city, 
 which we visited, is the largest mint for 
 coining money in the world. The process 
 of rolling out the gold and silver bars in 
 correct size for the dies of different coins, 
 cutting and pressing them into coins is a 
 wonderful process. 
 
 The director of the mint was exceedingly 
 courteous, and showed us all over the estab- 
 lishment and explained the details. I 
 was surprised to learn from him that the 
 mint second in size to this, in the world, 
 was in Japan. 
 
 In a glass case on the wall, in the coin 
 room, are samples of every coin ever made 
 in the mint. 
 
 In this case, also, are some valuable relics, 
 among which are two silver spoons from 
 Solomon's Temple, at Jerusalem. I ven- 
 tured to express a little skepticism about 
 this, but he said there was no doubt, as 
 their history had been traced back to the 
 
SALT LAKE CITY. 275 
 
 sacking of the Temple by Shishak, and 
 these spoons were among the trophies. 
 
 On leaving San Franciso, we came by 
 another route, the Southern Pacific, stop- 
 ping a few days, and over Sunday, at Salt 
 Lake City, the home of the " Latter Day 
 Saints." 
 
 It is a very clean, handsomely laid out 
 city, with some fine stores and public 
 buildings. The tabernacle and temple are 
 immense. We attended service on Sun- 
 day in the temple, which is said to seat 
 ten thousand people. There were several 
 speakers but not much worship. The organ 
 was grand, and fairly good congregational 
 singing. The themes of the discourse was 
 to glorify the Mormon and the "Church 
 of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints." 
 They receive strangers visiting their city 
 with a great deal of courtesy, and are ready, 
 on all occasions, to argue in favor of their 
 peculiar system. 
 
 They were quite excited at this time, on 
 account of the Edmunds law, passed by 
 Congress, making polygamy a crime. They 
 were very bitter and defiant. Some of their 
 leaders had been arrested and were in 
 
276 EECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 prison ; they all talked of martyrdom and 
 were ready to die for the cause. 
 
 I ventured to advise some of these saints 
 that it was a good time to have a new 
 revelation, and to soften down some of the 
 tenets of their peculiar creed. 
 
OVER THE ROCKIES. 277 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 MY DEAR H. 
 
 On leaving Salt Lake City, we came, by 
 the Denver and Rio Grande railroad, over 
 the Marshall Pass, to Colorado Springs, 
 where we spent a week. 
 
 This road is over the wildest range and 
 deepest canyons of the Rocky Mountains, 
 and over the backbone of the continent. 
 The head waters of the great Colorado 
 River have their source here, running in 
 a southwesterly direction for thousands of 
 miles, finding an outlet in the Gulf of 
 California ; while the North Platte, having 
 its source in the immediate vicinity, run- 
 ning in a directly opposite, or northeast- 
 erly direction, finds its way into the 
 waters of the upper Missouri and, finally, 
 into the Gulf of Mexico, more than three 
 thousand miles from its source. 
 
 The engineering involved in building the 
 road over this mountain range and through 
 the deep gorges and canyons, is something 
 marvelous. 
 
 Through the " Black Canyon " the river 
 
278 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 rushes, with a mighty torrent, between 
 perpendicular rocks, hundreds of feet high ; 
 the track of the railroad being suspended 
 on iron cranes, overhanging the rushing 
 waters below. 
 
 Before entering the canyon, there are 
 open platform cars attached, on which 
 passengers can ride through this awful 
 chasm of one or two miles. They can see, 
 directly beneath the track upon which 
 they are riding, the mighty rushing of the 
 water, and above them the perpendicular 
 wall of rock, three hundred feet, almost 
 shutting out the light of day ; hence its 
 appropriate name, the "Black Canyon of 
 the Colorado." 
 
 We spent a week very pleasantly at 
 Colorado Springs, visiting and drinking the 
 waters of the different mineral springs in 
 the vicinity, going through the Garden of 
 the Gods and up the mountain of Pike's 
 Peak. It is a beautiful place and is becom- 
 ing quite a health resort, the waters being 
 highly recommended for many diseases and 
 the invigorating air a panacea for all lung 
 troubles. 
 
 We also spent a week in Denver, the 
 
DENVER CITY. 279 
 
 great mountain city of the West, one of the 
 most attractive cities of our country; its 
 large stores, public buildings, churches, and 
 boulevards, all show plainly the enterprise 
 of its people. 
 
 After leaving Denver we came to Illinois, 
 and although it was in midsummer and a 
 hot season, we enjoyed visiting among our 
 brothers and sisters there and in Wisconsin, 
 from whom we had been separated more 
 than forty years, some of whom we had not 
 seen in all that time. They made family 
 gatherings for us of all the relatives within 
 thirty or forty miles, who could come, and 
 the weeks we spent with them are pleasant 
 memories ; a delightful period to look back 
 to. Quite a number of the dear ones who 
 enjoyed these scenes with us have since 
 joined the greater family gathering on the 
 other side ; have exchanged their earthly 
 homes for heavenly mansions. 
 
 The health of my dear wife through 
 these journey ings and changes seemed to 
 improve. We all felt greatly encouraged 
 with the hope that she would continue to 
 gain health and strength, but were doomed 
 to disappointment. Sometimes for months 
 
280 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 there was no perceptible change, yet we 
 could see the tendency was towards a 
 decline. We tried in every way to ward off 
 the insidious progress of the disease, gave 
 up the care of housekeeping for three or 
 four years, spent our summers at the best 
 health resorts, and under the care and 
 advice of the best physicians. Nothing 
 was left undone that we could think of or 
 were advised to do. She did not lose heart 
 or courage; she was brave and patient to 
 endure. 
 
 Our first visit to California was beneficial 
 to her, and with the hope it might be so 
 again, we concluded to try it ; and in the 
 fall of 1892 we crossed the continent for 
 the third time, breaking the journey 
 as before in Kansas, and spending the 
 winter, over six months, in Southern 
 California. 
 
 The disease had fastened itself so firmly 
 in her system, even the change and health- 
 ful climate could not dislodge it. The 
 struggle between hope and fear continued, 
 but hope with her was always predominant. 
 We consulted the best physicians on the 
 Pacific coast, and omitted nothing that 
 
RETURNING HOME. 281 
 
 could in any way conduce to her recovery 
 or comfort. Early in the month of May, 
 1893, we started for our Eastern home, 
 breaking the journey in Kansas again, and 
 spending a couple of weeks in Barrington, 
 near Chicago, with a dear nephew and 
 niece, Mr. and Mrs. Howarth, who did every 
 thing possible for our comfort. My wife 
 was weak and suffering, but her courage 
 was indomitable she desired to go to the 
 World's Fair, in Chicago, and went with us 
 for two days, and enjoyed it, as she always 
 enjoyed the beautiful works of art and of 
 nature. 
 
 While at Barrington, we received a dis- 
 patch from Dr. Lyman that Ella had had a 
 bad turn, and desired us to keep him 
 informed of our whereabouts in case she 
 should get worse. We knew she had been 
 ill, but they kept from us the serious nature 
 of her illness ; indeed her weekly letters to 
 us never failed. Only a day or two before 
 the dispatch, we received a long, cheerful 
 letter in her own hand, saying she was 
 improving. On receipt of the dispatch, we 
 lost no time but hastened home by fastest 
 train, arriving on Friday P. M., driving 
 
282 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 immediately to her house and found her 
 very low but still hopeful of recovery. She 
 was so weak, we could only see her a few 
 moments. Oh what a change had come over 
 the poor child since we left her, six months 
 before. Then the picture of health, now the 
 faded cheek and emaciated form, bolstered 
 up in the bed to receive us, which she did 
 with outstretched arms and loving embrace. 
 It was the last loving embrace of her poor 
 mother. 
 
 It was not thought best by the physicians 
 for us to see her again for a day or two. I 
 went frequently to inquire and held 
 whispered conversations with her husband 
 in another room ; it was impossible for her 
 to hear two doors between and both 
 closed but she sent one of the nurses to 
 inquire if I was there, and to request me to 
 come in, which I did. 
 
 I shall never forget the angelic look on 
 that sweet face of my darling child. I felt 
 sure then that she was already at the gates 
 of the Celestial City. With both arms 
 clasped round my neck, she whispered how 
 glad she was that we had come home, and 
 how she had longed to see us, and how 
 
283 
 
 sorry she was to see dear mother look so 
 poorly. She sent her love, and said, "Have 
 her come down early in the morning, I want 
 to see her." I promised she would. Next 
 morning (Sunday) we went to the house 
 and we found the spirit had departed just a 
 few moments before our arrival. With 
 words of love upon her lips to her dearly 
 loved husband who had just smoothed her 
 pillow, she said, "Thank you, dear;" her 
 eyes closed, and her pure spirit took its 
 departure. 
 
 " Passed through glory's morning gate 
 And walked in paradise." 
 
 I shall never forget the wail that escaped 
 from the heart-broken, loving, and dearly 
 loved mother. Another arrow had pierced 
 her heart through the frail tenement of clay, 
 and it was never dislodged ; the wound 
 never healed. Henceforth the burden of 
 her inlirmities and mournings for her 
 darlings grew too heavy, and in a little 
 more than ten months, after much suifering 
 borne with great patience and Christian 
 fortitude, she joined them in the Celestial 
 City, where the three walk in white 
 among God's blessed angels. 
 
284 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 I must say a word more in regard to the 
 character of this dear one. No parents 
 ever had a more loving or devoted child, 
 more thoughtful and tender. And in every 
 relation of life, as wife of the pastor of 
 a large and influential city church, she 
 fulfilled every duty ; always trying to bring 
 comfort to the afflicted, and sunshine and 
 cheerfulness into darkened and despondent 
 hearts. 
 
 In her journeys abroad with her husband, 
 she never omitted her weekly letter to the 
 loved ones at home. While traveling in 
 Palestine, she heard of the death of a 
 child in Brooklyn whom she dearly loved. 
 She gathered and sent flowers from Naza- 
 reth, the birthplace of our Saviour, to the 
 mother of the child with a touching letter 
 of sympathy. 
 
 She brought bottles of water from the 
 river Jordan, to be used in the baptismal 
 font for the infants, which fond mothers 
 blessed her for. 
 
 In a word, I can conscientiously say, if 
 one can think of what a daughter, a sister, 
 a wife, a friend ought to be, she was that. 
 She has left a precious memory. 
 
DAUGHTER ELLA'S DEATH. 285 
 
 At her grave in beautiful Greenwood, 
 Rev. Dr. Baldwin, whose wife is Mr. 
 Lyman's sister, made a short address 
 and prayer. His words were so apt and 
 beautiful I will copy them : 
 
 "Our Heavenly Father, in His eternal 
 love, has spoken to our dear one and called 
 her behind the veil. We bow, with filial 
 reverence, before the majesty and mystery 
 of that love. He doeth all things well. 
 
 "As our beloved was clothed in this 
 mortal form, so now is she clothed in 
 supernal light. Tenderly, trustingly, lov- 
 ingly we lay her body to rest. Here, amidst 
 the beauty and glory of the world, its 
 springing life and its unchanging joy, we 
 leave that which was so dear to us. He 
 who lives in nature will care for what His 
 children loved, as He cares for her and for 
 us ; and she cares for us and is ours still. 
 Nearer to God in that new life, nearer and 
 dearer than ever to us. We think of her 
 now as active, radiant and blessed in the 
 city and home of our God. We believe, 
 also, that she is not far from any one of us. 
 Somehow, in God's own mysterious and 
 blessed way, we shall feel her over watch- 
 
286 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 ing presence, and she will serve us more 
 divinely than ever. 
 
 "In this blessed hope let us live, and 
 may God make us brave to endure, strong 
 to serve, and patient to wait until our day 
 shall dawn, and we shall greet her again, 
 and walk by her side forever in the realms 
 of light." 
 
DEATH OF MY WIFE. 287 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 MY DEAR H- 
 
 The year following the death of our dear 
 daughter Ella was a year of suffering for 
 my precious wife and of great anxiety for 
 us all. The malady, which finally proved 
 fatal, made gradual progress in spite of the 
 best medical skill. She made a brave fight, 
 and not only kept up her own courage but 
 imparted courage to us all. She did not 
 fear death, but desired to live on account 
 of those she loved. She was no specula- 
 tive Christian ; she believed in a material 
 heaven mansions and golden streets and 
 that she would meet her loved ones in the 
 Celestial City. 
 
 She loved to read about heaven. Not 
 long before her death, she spoke of a verse 
 she was reading: " In my Father's house are 
 many mansions," and said, " Isn't that 
 beautiful?" 
 
 We saw her fading and growing weaker 
 day by day, but never despondent. 
 
 It was a source of great satisfaction that I 
 could be constantly with her. It was a 
 
288 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 comfort to her. It was my custom after 
 arranging her pillow and making her as 
 comfortable as possible, to pray by her bed- 
 side with her hand in mine. On the last 
 night I did so and closed with the child' s 
 prayer, which she repeated with me. "Now 
 I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my 
 soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, 
 I pray the Lord my soul to take." And 
 this prayer, the first that her infant lips 
 ever uttered, and one she taught her own 
 little ones at her knee, were the last 
 conscious words she ever spoke. She died 
 with her child's prayer on her lips she 
 soon fell asleep ; after an hour she woke, 
 but her mind wandered, and I saw the end 
 was near. Florence and Marguerite and I 
 watched beside her bed. She was unable to 
 swallow; all we could do was to moisten her 
 lips and smooth her dying pillow. 
 
 We sent for Albert (Dr. Lyman), Mr. 
 Smith and the grandchildren, and we were 
 all with her when she passed away, about 
 eight o'clock, on the morning of April 16th, 
 1894, like a child going to sleep, parting 
 from the loved ones here to join the loved 
 ones there. 
 
DEATH OF MY WIFE. 289 
 
 Her long illness and gradual fading had 
 in a measure prepared us for this, yet 
 the sense of a great loss, that something 
 had gone out of my life, overshadowed 
 everything else; I felt alone, and more than 
 that, that a part of myself was gone. Dear 
 friends came and loving letters of sympathy; 
 and many who knew and loved her sent 
 flowers and came to pay their last respects. 
 
 Dr. McLeod, our pastor, who conducted 
 the funeral services, paid a beautiful tribute 
 to her Christian character and personal 
 worth, and read a part of the last chapter 
 of Proverbs. 
 
 "The heart of her husband doth safely 
 trust in her. 
 
 " She will do him good and not evil all 
 the days of her life. 
 
 " She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh 
 willingly with her hands. 
 &&*#**#*# 
 
 " She stretcheth out her hands to the 
 poor ; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to 
 the needy. 
 
 **.*..-* #*#** 
 
 " She openeth her mouth with wisdom; 
 and in her tongue is the law of kindness. 
 
290 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 " She looketh well to the ways of her 
 household, and eateth not the bread of 
 idleness. 
 
 ' ' Her children arise up, and call her 
 blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth 
 her. 
 
 " Many daughters have done virtuously, 
 but thou excellest them all." 
 
 I had often read this chapter, the descrip- 
 tion of a good wife, but the application of 
 it on this occasion seemed most appropriate. 
 
 The leader of the choir of Clinton Avenue 
 Church, Mr. Baird, a dear friend who was 
 present, sang some choice selections among 
 which was one of her favorite hymns. 
 
 " Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling 
 gloom, 
 
 Lead Thou me on ; 
 
 The night is dark, and I am far from 
 home, 
 
 Lead Thou me on. 
 
 Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see 
 The distant scene ; one step enough 
 
 for me. 
 ** ****** 
 
 " So long Thy power has blest me, sure 
 it still 
 
 Will lead me on 
 
DEATH OF MY WIFE. 291 
 
 Through dreary doubt, through pain and 
 
 sorrow, till 
 
 The night is gone, 
 And with the morn those angel faces 
 
 smile, 
 Which I have loved long since, and lost 
 
 awhile." 
 
 Next morning, the family and most 
 intimate friends followed the remains to the 
 silent city, where, in a vaulted grave, we 
 laid her precious remains amid the flowers 
 she loved. 
 
 Again our dear friend, Rev. Dr. Baldwin, 
 always ready to stand by us in our 
 afflictions, mingling his tears with ours, 
 spoke words of comfort and commended us 
 to Him who grieves not willingly nor 
 afflicts His children. The following beauti- 
 ful and appropriate words were spoken by 
 him on this occasion : 
 
 "I heard a great voice out of heaven, 
 saying, behold the tabernacle of God is 
 with men, and He will dwell with them, and 
 they shall be His people, and God Himself, 
 shall be with them and be their God. And 
 there shall be no more death, neither sorrow 
 nor crying, neither shall there be any more 
 
292 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 pain, for the former things are passed 
 away. 
 
 " Through the mystic and shining gates of 
 death another loved one of our circle here 
 on earth, wife, mother, grandmother 
 sacred and blessed names has passed on to 
 greet those who dwell beyond the stars and 
 the light of setting suns. One less at 
 home ; one more in Heaven. I love to 
 think of these dear ones as forming a circle 
 there. I think of them also as ministering 
 to us in myriad and blessed ways, too 
 blessed and divine for us to comprehend. 
 
 " Here, amidst all that is beautiful and 
 prophetic in this present lovely world, we 
 reverently lay to rest the earthly form of 
 her whose spirit is with God. 
 
 " Nature will care for her own. God will 
 care for His child, more tenderly than we 
 could do. And may God care for us, make 
 us brave and true, and worthy in His own 
 time to pass on into the larger life, the 
 holier love, the sweeter peace, of His 
 immortal realms. Nothing is our own 
 except our dead. They are ours ; and hold 
 in faithful keeping, safe forever, all they 
 took away." 
 
THE SILENT CITY. 293 
 
 Her grave beside that of dear Ella was 
 covered with flowers, and together with the 
 grave of our dear Marion, are tenderly 
 cared for, decorated with flowers, watered 
 with tears of love and affection which 
 the grave cannot extinguish " until the 
 daybreak." 
 
 "Day after day we'll think what they 
 
 are doing, 
 In that bright world so fair." 
 
 My narrative must now draw to a close. 
 As I said in the beginning, it would be a 
 simple commonplace narrative, nothing 
 marvelous or out of the beaten track of 
 common experience. 
 
 If it shall help any poor boy in his 
 commencement of life's struggle, or any 
 man in mature life surrounded by dis- 
 couragements, which are inherent and 
 come to us all as we journey through life, 
 it will have served its purpose. I take no 
 credit to myself for any success I may have 
 attained, only a determination to always 
 do what I believed to be just and honor- 
 able. 
 
 If I had but one motto to leave to be the 
 
294 RECOLLECTIONS OF A LIFETIME. 
 
 guide of any young man, it would be the 
 Golden Rule : 
 
 " Whatsoever you would that men should 
 do unto you, do you even so unto them." 
 
 Although I do not feel the infirmities of 
 age, as many do who have attained to 
 ruy years, yet I know in all human proba- 
 bility the time of my departure is not far 
 off. 
 
 " Beyond the smiling and the weeping 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 
 Beyond the waking and the sleeping, 
 Beyond the sowing and the reaping, 
 
 I shall be soon ; 
 Love, rest, and home 
 Sweet hope ! Lord, tarry not, but come." 
 
 "If I should die to-night, 
 My friends would look upon my quiet face, 
 Before they laid it in its resting place, 
 And deem that death had left it almost 
 
 fair, 
 And laying snow white flowers against my 
 
 hair, 
 
 Would smooth it down with tearful tender- 
 ness, 
 
 And fold my hands with lingering caress, 
 Poor hands, so empty and so cold to-night ! 
 
295 
 
 " If I should die to-night, 
 My friends would call to mind with loving 
 
 thought 
 Some kindly deed the icy hand had 
 
 wrought, 
 
 Some gentle word the frozen lips had said : 
 Errands on which the willing feet had sped. 
 The memory of my selfishness and pride, 
 My hasty words, would all be put aside, 
 And so, I should be loved and mourned 
 
 to-night. 
 
 U O friends, I pray to-night, 
 Keep not your kisses for my dead, cold 
 
 brow ; 
 
 The way is lonely, let me feel them now. 
 Think gently of me ; I am travel worn ; 
 My faltering feet are pierced with many a 
 
 thorn. 
 Forgive, O hearts estranged, forgive, I 
 
 plead ! 
 When dreamless rest is mine, I shall not 
 
 need 
 The tenderness for which I long to-night." 
 

m.