1890.
Wednesday, January 1, 1890.--Another year has glided into the
realms of the Past! Another drop of time has fallen into the infinite
ocean of Eternity! Another year has been born, in its turn to
ceaselessly throb out its life, moment by moment, to the end of its
appointed course, till it, too, shall have irrevocably vanished.
Yesterday was the to-morrow of Monday, to-day is the to morrow of
yesterday; and so will run the record till time shall be no more.
"To-morrow,
and to-morrow and to-morrow
Creeps in
this petty pace from day to day,
To the
last syllable of recorded time."
As I review the several events of the past year in which I was called
to play an humble part I feel myself deeply grateful to my merciful
Creator for the many blessings He has vouchsafed me, and for having
brought me safely to the shore of a new year, endued with renewed health
and strength. And as I think of the changeable condition of health I
experienced, I am forcibly reminded of this saying of Emerson, the sage:
"What a searching preacher of self-command is the varying
phenomenon of health!"
My diary for the year 1890 commences in Jamestown, N. Y., for
yesterday, the last day of the old year, I betook myself by rail to that
beautiful town, arriving at half past seven in the evening. My object
was to visit my aunt Mary Ann Simmons, who
is living with her son-in law and daughter, Mr.
and Mrs. Frank Colt. My aunt is in her eighty-seventh year and in
fast-failing health [Since above was written, my aunt Mary
Ann Simmons departed this life April 4, 1890, in her
eighty-eighth year, and I regret that I did not get home from the west
at least a day sooner, so I could have attended her funeral]. I enjoyed
my New Year's dinner at the home of Frank Simmons, in company with the
Williams Family, twelve people sitting down to the first table, and
fourteen children, besides a few adults, to the second. All was bright
and cheerful within the house, a pleasant contrast to the gloomy, wet
and uninviting condition of things in the outer world.
"Kindness
by secret sympathy is tied;
For noble
souls in nature are allied."
On the following day, after making several calls among my friends,
and transacting some business with Mr. F. Bush,
I took the stage for Frewsburg, in order to call on Mr.
E. T. Burns and family, whom I found in good health, although
Mrs. Burns had been ill during the fall. On my return to Jamestown Mr.
Burns accompanied me, having some business to transact there. I called
on Mr. Bowen, and bade my aunt
"good-bye," which meeting proved to be our last on earth, as I
have already intimated.
From Jamestown I came to Union City, Erie Co., Penn., to see my
niece, Mrs. Blanche Underholt, and family,
but I found her rather unwell; her two children, Eva
and Fred, however, had a grand romp with their "Uncle
Francis." On Saturday morning I took train to Saegertown,
specially, I may say, to call on my old friend,
Lorenzo Wheeler, whom I had not met for a long time, and who was
living with his son in Saegertown. He lost his wife last March, I think,
and had been very ill himself, at which time he was living at Little
Cooley, Crawford Co., Penn. After a brief visit at the new residence of
Hon. Salvedor Slocum, and a business call at the bank in
Saegertown, I returned to Meadville.
Sunday, January 5.--This is the birthday of my eldest son,
Franklin, who is now thirty-five years old. At church I enjoyed
listening to an excellent sermon by Presiding Elder
J. A. Kummer, from the text Isaiah lii: 1: Awake, awake: put on
thy strength, 0 Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, 0 Jerusalem, the
holy city. I contributed toward the dues for the presiding elder, not
forgetting that money is useful, and that to it the Lord has a prior
claim, in our recognition of which He blesses us. On Tuesday I proceeded
to Meadville on business, and while there attended the Teachers'
Institute meetings being held there during the week in the courthouse,
and also the lectures delivered in the Academy of Music, all of which I
found of much interest and profit. On Saturday I was present at the
quarterly meeting held at the M. E. Church, and heard another
interesting sermon from the lips of Elder J. A.
Kummer. For some days after this I was not in very good health,
but through God's blessing recovered.
Thursday, January 15.--Mr. G. W.
Cutshall was here with his daughter, Mrs.
Sadie Russell, and her children Leon and
Lynn [They were on their way to Cleveland, Ohio, to their new
home, where Mr. Russell was waiting their arrival, and I have since
visited them there, at the time of the dedication of the Garfield
Monument, May 30, 1890], they having stayed at our house over night; and
thinking it might improve my health, I accompanied him to his home,
where I remained till Saturday, when I returned to my own home.
January 21 to April 8, 1890.--[Here comes my fourth trip to
Kansas and the West, an account of which commences at page 9.]
During my absence in the West, certain resolutions of thanks to me
were adopted by Advent Church, of which I here give a copy:
WHEREAS, We do fully appreciate the benevolence of our kind friend,
Mr. F. C. Waid, who has so generously aided us, therefore,
Resolved, That we, as a church, do extend to him our hearty thanks
for his generosity in contributing fifty dollars to aid in erecting
sheds for the benefit of the public attending our church.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to Mr. Waid, also
furnished the Pennsylvania Farmer for publication.
Respectfully submitted,
(Signed) W. G. ONGLEY, Secretary
On my arrival home from the West, on the evening of April 8, I was
informed at Meadville, by my cousin, S. Phillips,
of the death of Aunt Mary Ann Simmons, her
funeral having taken place on the day before my arrival. This is the
first news I receive after setting my foot once again "on my native
heath"--tidings of death; and but for the grace of God, instead of
my aunt in her tottering years of fourscore and eight, it might have
been Francis C. Waid in the prime of life!
I feel that I cannot too often proclaim my thankfulness to the Lord,
even in my disappointments and discouragements. I think it is well for
us to remember Him and praise His name for what we have, and for our
hope in Heaven. He who is thankful for a little is in a fair way to get
more; he who in adversity remembers the Lord, will in prosperity praise
him--thus we should always be faithful. I am thankful this morning, as I
sit by the window in one of the rooms of my old home, the home of my
birth, writing on the same desk I bought, when a young man, of David
Finney; I say I am thankful for the Lord's unbounded goodness to me. I
believe He heareth our I prayers and I know He does bless as when we
call on Him. I am glad my mind and heart rest in His promises, and I
delight to trust in Him, and, as far as possible do His will. How can I
refrain from being sympathetic in feelings and reflective in my thoughts
in this, to me, precious home, by this chamber window, through which I
can see, in one direction, the same old pear trees in the door yard that
stood there when I was a child; and, in another direction, fields
wherein I had played in infancy, and worked in boyhood, youth and
manhood!
"How
dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond
recollection presents them to view;
The
orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild wood,
And ev'ry
loved spot which my infancy knew."
Amid these old-time associations I cannot but think of my parents; of
their family; of my dead wife and our children; of my children's
children and last, not least, of my dear wife Anna, absent from me, in
Kansas, because of her poor health, myself being also far from well; but
"What
fates impose, that man must needs abide
It boots
not to resist both wind and tide."
I know I should not burden my remembrance with a heaviness that's
gone, but rather bear in mind that sufficient for the day is the evil
thereof, and consider the many thousands who in this transitory life are
in sorrow, need, sickness and other adversity, and rest thankful that
fate has not been more unfriendly toward me.
In writing the record of my fourth trip to Kansas, which will be
found in the earlier part of this work, I endeavored to portray in my
own way the different phases of life--particularly its joys and sorrows.
The real test of these comes through the experience of them, and I will
here confess that in my latter writings I have not spoken as much of the
sorrowful or dark side as I have of the brighter or more hopeful. It is
better for each individual to bear his own burden than to ask his
brother to bear it for him. Do thoughts live? Yes. Are our prayers
heard? Yes, when offered in faith--but it may be a long time before they
are answered. Parents have prayed for their children, and not till long
after their death have their sons and daughters given their hearts to
the Lord.
I desire here to place on record some of the sincere wants of my
soul, my earnest prayer, and I humbly trust it may be in keeping with
the will of my Heavenly Father who hears when we pray. I wish to be a
living witness for Christ as long as I live; and, while I desire the
salvation of all men, I devoutly pray more especially for my own family,
and every one endeared to me by the ties of nature, that they may be all
brought into the fold of Christ under the divine Shepherd's care. And in
order that this greatest desire of my life may be accomplished, I know
that I must consecrate all to the Lord--life, friends, property, and
everything I have from this day forth and for ever. It is good for us if
we can keep all these on the altar. An every-day consecration is better
than only one in a life time. We are liable to forget our obligations,
and either remove something from off the altar of the Lord, or neglect
to place thereon something we may have obtained since the consecretion.
That the reader may understand more clearly what I mean, I add: let
every dollar, as well as everything else we may possess, honor the Lord
in doing good--if it is worth anything at all it should speak something
for the Lord. Each individual has his own conscience in that respect,
and happy is the man who seeketh no witness from without, for it shows
that be has wholly committed himself unto God. But I must now continue
my diary.
April 11.--To-day I visited Lewis M.
Slocum, and at his house met Mrs. David
Roberts and Mrs. Armitage Roberts,
so I was enabled to hand the former the portrait of her grandson, Wilber
A. Hobbs, which had been entrusted to me by Emery
F. Hobbs at Lawrence, Kas., when I was there. On the following
day I rode to Meadville with my brother-in-law, Moses
Masiker, and was pleasantly surprised to meet there Mr. Manrice
McMullen, secretary of the Y. M. C. A. at Ottawa, Kas., who had been
called to his old home through the serious illness of his mother. I also
had the pleasure of handing to Dr. E. C. Hall, of
the First M. E. Church of Meadville, the "photo" of the
youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Pillsbury, of Grand Island, Neb., with
which commission I had been entrusted by Mrs. Pillsbury while I was
visiting them.
April 12.--Again at Saegertown, where I called on Mr.
and Mrs. George Floyd, but regret to say found Mrs. Floyd quite
unwell, as she was when I and my wife visited her last summer. On the
following day, Sunday, Mr. Floyd and I attended the M. E. Church, where
we heard an excellent sermon preached by their pastor, Rev.
A. J. Parsons, from the text Matthew xvi: 19: And I will give
unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shall
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shall loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven. For the missionary cause in distant
lands the sum of nearly one hundred dollars was collected, and I
increased the pleasure I enjoyed in listening to the discourse by adding
my mite of five dollars toward the spread of the Gospel among the
heathen. In the afternoon I rode to Blooming Valley, from Saegertown in
company with their pastor, and in the evening again heard him proclaim
the good news of salvation, his text being Matthew xxviii: 6: He is not
here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord
lay. It seems to me that none but a true Christian can fully appreciate
all the blessed benefits the resurrection our Lord assures. O how good
it is for us to trust in the Saviour of mankind, and to know that He has
robbed death of its sting and the grave of its victory! What great
consolation it brings to our hearts to have a true knowledge and just
conception of and faith in Jesus Christ! What comfort it brings to the
soul of man!
After the services I paid a visit to my cousin, Ralph
Roudebush, and together we walked over to the cemetery where in
peaceful rest my departed wife, Eliza,
awaits the resurrection; and as I stood by her grave I thought of Jesus,
the Light of the world who gives to us the hope of a reunion beyond. I
am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever believeth in
me shall never die.
"Calm
on the bosom of thy God,
Fair
spirit rest thee now!
E'en
while ours thy footsteps trod,
His seal
was on thy brow.
Dust to
its narrow house beneath,
Soul to
its place on high!
They who
saw thy look in death
No more
may fear to die."
Wednesday, April 16.--My nephew, Grant
Waid, and I left quite early in the morning in order to pay a
visit to his brother-in-law, Walter Josling,
who lives in Richmond Township, some five miles distant, and on our way
I called on a sick neighbor, George Dewey,
who has been ill a long time, owing to a stroke of paralysis he received
several years ago. Eliza and I visited him at that time, and I have
called on him frequently since, as opportunity presented. We were glad
to meet, and he appeared to be much better than when I last saw him. Mr.
Josling we did not find at home, as he had gone to my nephew's (Nick
P. Waid), but Mrs. Josling and family we saw, and found in good
health. On our return my nephew and I called on my uncle, Horace
Waid, where we heard from my aunt news of my uncle, Gilbert
Waid [I have before me an old letter written in 1847 to his
friends in Crawford County, Penn., by Gilbert Waid,
after his arrival in Washtenaw County, Mich. It is in substance as
follows: WEBSTER, WASHTENAW CO., MICH., May 10, 1847. Mr.
George Roudebush and Friends: We are all well, and hope you are
the same. We took the boat Saturday morning at 2 o'clock at Erie;
stopped at Cleveland, Sandusky and Detroit, and arrived all safe, none
of us seasick. Traveled from Detroit across the country to Webster; sold
the wooden bowels; traded horse and wagon for 25 acres of land. It is
good land. I like it very well, and I have got three acres to put in
with corn, and a piece for potatoes. I have a job to do for eighteen
dollars, and am going to do it as soon as I get my corn and potatoes
planted. Tell my brother, Samuel, I like the country very well, what
little I have seen; there are good crops of wheat, and it looks well.
Tell father we are all well and hearty. I am satisfied this is a good
country, and we are not discouraged. ANDREW G.
WAID], in Michigan. She had also heard by letter from my three
cousins--daughters of Samuel Waid.
Friday, April 18.--Proceeded to-day to Randolph Township,
where I visited Mr. and Mrs. P. M. Cutshall; afterward
Mrs. Cutshall and I called on Mrs. Mary Jane
Seaman, who has been sick since last fall; then on my return home
I paid Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, of Blooming
Valley, the visit I had last February promised their son-in-law,
Dr. Weter, of Grand Island, Neb.
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