June 17.--This is the
anniversary of the death of my brother, R. L. Waid,
who passed from earth just ten years ago. I regard each date of a death
in the family as a day of note, to be remembered and reverenced; hence
there are four days in the year by which I am reminded of the departure
from earth of members of my father's family, viz.: January 7 (my mother
died in 1882), January 27 (my father died in 1871), June 17 (my brother,
Robert L., died in 1880) and May 28 (my
twin brother, Franklin P., died in 1854).
But of all days in the year the one that claims my deepest reverence as
dearest to me among such anniversaries is "Independence Day,"
July 4, the day on which, in 1888, my beloved wife Eliza
C., was called from earth to spirit-land--called by death into
life, for is it not true that death is the parent of life?
"Like
leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green
in youth, now withering in the ground;
Another
race the following spring supplies;
They fall
successive, and successive rise."
In the afternoon I paid a visit to my brother-in-law, Moses
Masiker, calling on my way to see Miss S.
Braymer, who had recently returned from her visit to the West. I
met her at Dr. Weter's last February while I was spending a few days at
Grand Island, Neb., as already treated in full in the account of my
fourth trip to Kansas and the West [see page 17]; also drove and walked
to G. W. Cutshall's; thence walked to
Hickory Corners, and from the hill near there I had a grand view of the
country around me. Descending this long hill, and musing as I trudged
along, my eyes reveling in the beautiful landscape, I presently found
myself in Woodcock Valley, by the banks of the creek that bears the same
name. Here are to be found, not only pleasant homes and good farms, but
also kind-hearted, industrious people. At any season of the year
Crawford County is noted for her beauty, but in the month of June, when
in velvety verdure clad, with myriads of sweet-smelling flowers adorned,
and arrayed in all the glory; fair Nature can supply, there is no other
county in the State that can excel her in comeliness, fertility and
grandeur. Here reign health, peace and quiet, and as I look about me I
find it is a very hive of industry. Mr. Cutshall's new house is fast
growing with the assistance of masons and carpenters, while he himself,
son and hired man are busy in the fields cultivating corn and plowing a
piece of ground for buckwheat; and last, not least, among the busy ones
I find Aunt Jane (Mrs. Cutshall), my wife Eliza's only sister, whose
faithful work in the house can never be too highly commended.
On my return I called on Orlando Sutton,
postmaster at Hickory Corners, and still nearer to my home I stopped and
took supper with my cousin, Mrs. George Sutton,
daughter of William C. Morehead, whose
husband and their daughter had gone visiting a sick relative at
Enterprise. From there to my home I had a beautiful walk amid umbrageous
trees that lined both sides of the road [Our wood lot of six acres lies
just west of Mr. Sutton's farm, adjoining it, and fronts on the north
side of the road]; all the surroundings being the more endeared to me by
associations and pleasant memories of the past, of happy hours when Eliza
and I oft drove along this same sequestered pathway in the days of long
ago.
June 18.--Wrote to Anna
enclosing draft for fifty dollars, with the request that if it should so
please her she may for me remember her father and mother, Hattie
and little Vera, by giving each of
them five dollars. My desire is to treat them kindly in my own way, for
I know that peace and harmony are worth more than money. In such respect
I wish to be as my father when he prayed to the Lord for the evidence
whereby he might know that whatever he did was right; that is, his
desire was to avoid thinking, saying or doing anything he was not
convinced the Lord would approve of. And I want to imitate my father
also in acts of benevolence and kindness. Washington Irving says
somewhere, in speaking of benevolence and kindred virtues: "How
easy it is for one benevolent person to diffuse pleasure around him; and
how truly is a kind heart a fountain of gladness, making everything in
its vicinity to freshen into smiles!"
June 19.--Being in Meadville, I walked from
there to the house of my uncle and aunt, Robert
and Polly Morehead, about four miles west on the State Road, in
Vernon Township, and as we met they expressed themselves very glad to
see me. From there I went to my cousin, Robert A.
Fergerson, where I spent the evening and night. In the morning I
made a call on my relative, John C. Morehead,
living near by, and while there viewed his strawberry patch, rich with
ripe fruit of many varieties, and also his apiary containing, I should
think, about fifty hives. I would also here speak of Mr.
Fergerson's two-acre farm which by industry he has brought to
such a high state of productiveness; then his garden, profuse as it is
with many kinds of flowers, invariably commands the admiration of the
passer-by. After another brief stop at Uncle Robert
Morehead's, I proceeded on my way homeward, dropping in as I
passed to see a sick aged couple, Mr. and Mrs.
Kycenceder, the former of whom was born in 1803. He knew my
father and mother and also my grandfather, Pember
Waid. He said my father "was an honest man," and that
he loved him. The venerable couple thanked me for calling on them, and
invited me to come again.
Sunday, June 22.--There was a large attendance
today at church and Sunday-school, and while at the latter I had the
pleasure of sitting beside Mrs. Handly, one
of the three aged ladies who had "thanksgiving dinner" with
Eliza and myself a few years ago; these three old ladies--Mrs.
Handly, Mrs. Long and Mrs. Kiser--are yet living.
June 26.--This is "Commencement Day,"
class of 1890, Allegheny College, and I went to Meadville on purpose to
attend the exercises which were held in the First M. E. Church building.
It was a noted day for Meadville in other respects, for in the evening
the Republicans and friends of Hon. Wallace W.
Delamater, State Senator, who was nominated for governor of
Pennsylvania, was given a grand general reception on his return home to
Meadville. Irrespective of party polities, all united in giving our
candidate a welcome reception, worthy of so prominent a man, one of good
record and noble character. Before leaving Meadville for Jamestown, N.
Y,, and other points (for I am now on my way thither), I called on Hon.
W. W. Delamater, just to shake hands and congratulate him on his
success, etc., and I need hardly add I was greeted with a most cordial
and friendly reception by him.
June 27 to July 4.--[Here comes my short trip
to Jamestown, N. Y., and other points, for an account of which the
reader is referred to page 37.]
JULY 4.
"Long,
long be my heart with such memories fill'd!
Like
the vase in which roses have once been distill'd:
You
may break, you may ruin the vase if you will,
But
the scent of the roses will hang round it still."
The "Fourth of July" is a day to be ever
remembered by me, and held in calm and peaceful reverence. Two years
ago, to-day, Eliza passed from things temporal to things eternal. On her
fell on that bright summer morn the mantle of immortality.
"Cold
in the dust her perish'd heart may lie,
But
that which warm'd it once shall never die."
Should any one ask how it is I think and speak and
write so much of my dear departed wife, my reply would be, "Can a
true lover forget his first love? Am I different from other men, that I
should forever banish from my thoughts the memory of her who was the
wife of my early and later manhood, and became the mother of my
children?" No! I cannot forget, nor do I wish to have obliterated
from the tablet of my memory thoughts of my departed wife, the most
devoted of mothers, a true Christian woman, kind-hearted, noble and
amiable, the leading star of my life!
In the afternoon of the day I went with an excursion
party to Conneaut Lake, where a large gathering had assembled to
celebrate the "Glorious Fourth." The three little ferry
steamers--Queen, Nickel Plate and Keystone--were as busy as shuttles in
a loom, as they ran to and fro between the different wharves on the
lake. And I lacked only one thing to complete my comparative
happiness--the presence of my dear wife Anna, who, alas! is still absent
from me, many miles away, seeking in her quiet paternal Kansas home
restoration to health. But who has not seen sunshine and storm on the
same day; joy and sorrow within the same hour; the rose and the thorn on
the same stem?
"Life
is a waste of wearisome hours,
Which
seldom the rose of enjoyment adorns:
And
the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers
Is
always the first to be touched by the thorns."
A heavy rainstorm in the early part of the day
threatened to mar the prospective pleasures of the excursionists; but it
soon cleared up, after cooling the air and laying the dust, whereat
those who lamented on account of the rain were the first to rejoice when
the sun shone again; verily, every cloud has a silver lining. At the
lake, which I had not visited for several years, although quite near to
my home, I met many of my friends, with whom I had pleasant greetings,
and when I returned home in the evening I felt refreshed and well
rewarded by my short "Fourth-of-July Trip" to the crystal
waters of Conneaut Lake.
Sunday, July 6.--This Lord's day I spent in
Meadville, in company with Mr. and Mrs. S. C.
Derby, with whom I usually stop when in town. In the forenoon we
all three attended the M. E. (State Street) Church and class meeting, Rev.
J. Clyde officiating, and in the afternoon Mr. Derby accompanied
me a mile or two west in order to pay our last tribute of respect to the
late Joseph Kycenceder [Mr. Kycenceder's
widow did not long survive him], who died, at his home in Vernon
Township on the 4th, at the age of eighty-seven years, having been born
in November, 1803. He was interred in the Denny Cemetery, in the
presence of a large assemblage of mourners, among whom were Uncle Robert
Morehead, Robert Fergerson, and other relatives of my own, but
Mr. Derby and I did not go to the cemetery as it is distant several
miles from Mr. Kycenceder's late home. At 4 P. M. Mr. Derby and I
attended the Y. M. C. A. meeting, where we heard Brother H.
McClintock and others address the members, and in the evening we
listened to the exercises of the M. E. Society in their church at
Meadville, of which Dr. Hall is pastor; but
on this occasion Brother G. S. W. Phillips,
a graduate of Allegheny College, class of 1890, filled the pulpit. The
text he preached from was Romans iii: 23: For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God.
Tuesday, July 8--Being in Meadville on business
today, I availed myself of the opportunity to pay a visit to my
relatives, Smith Leonard and family, who live near Meadville. Mrs.
Leonard, who is my niece, I always thought resembled my wife Eliza
in looks. I had the pleasure of dining in the company of Mr.
David Compton, who was taking the census and happened to be in
the neighborhood; he and I attended school together, one term years ago,
and we have ever since been friends. I also called on William
Magaw and Aunt Maria Lord, and,
later, on my friend Hiram Blystone who also
has a very pleasant home near Meadville. On Wednesday I was present at
the funeral of Rev. W. H. Marshall's child,
which died in its second year a few days after Mr. Marshall had sailed
for Europe, and on my return home, being caught in a severe storm I
remained over night at James McKinney's
house, where a relative of mine is living at present. For some days
after this, not wishing to abandon active work, which I enjoy, and which
I always find beneficial to my health, I helped my son Guinnip
in the hay field--mowing with a scythe (the boys used a mower), hauling,
loading and unloading--and also mowed and trimmed the front yard at both
Guinnip's and Fred's place. The wheat and hay crop are both good this
year in our neighborhood, but fruit generally, such as apples, pears and
peaches, is a failure. To-day (July 12) in the afternoon, I went to
Meadville, where I received a letter from Anna,
who, I rejoice to be able to say, writes in good spirits as her health
is much improved. While in the city I learned of the death of Capt.
Leslie, and on my way home I dropped in on Henry
Smith, where to my surprise and pleasure, I found my venerable
friend Mr. Ebenezer Harmon, who had left
his home in Michigan [Mr. Harmon moved to Michigan in 1833, and still
lives on his farm there at Lake Ridge, Lenawee County. During August of
1891, in company with my brother G. N., I paid a visit to our relatives
in Michigan and called on my aged friend Mr. Harmon, an account of which
visit will he given in my FOURTH SOUVENIR] on Tuesday, 8th instant. He
reported our relatives there all well; and I might here mention that his
son, James (who lives on the Harmon Farm in Michigan), is married to my
niece Anna Waid, daughter of Samuel
Waid. Mr. Harmon who, by the way, is now in his eighty-second
year, visited us three years ago last June. It was quite a pleasure and
diversion for me to listen to the chat and merry jokes between him and Mr.
William Chase, Henry Smith's father-in-law, who is in his
eighty-third year, as we sat on the verandah in the cool of the evening;
they talked, among other things, of "rastlin" and such like
gymnastic exploits, and, both being farmers, had a good deal to say
about their agricultural experience, etc.
Sunday, July 13.--To-day my brother, G.
N. and I attended the funeral of Capt.
Leslie, who died on his farm near Meadville at the age of
eighty-three years, having been born May 25, 1807; the interment was in
Greendale Cemetery, and the services were conducted by Rev.
Craighead, of Meadville. While in the cemetery, G. N. and I
visited several of the graves of our kindred, including those of Uncle Joseph
and Aunt Sarah Finney and their family, and
those of other relatives and descendants on my mother's side. On Monday Mr.
Harmon came to spend a few days with us, and we were reminded of
having been favored in November, 1888, with a call from his
daughter-in-law, Anna, and her two sisters,
Clarissa and Lovina. He is making a trip, alone, to his native place,
Phelps, Ontario County, N. Y., visiting friends in Ohio and elsewhere en
route. I drove Mr. Harmon round a good deal, making calls on relatives
and friends, and the reader may be sure we did not forget the busy hay
field, where I lost no opportunity of doing some share of the work,
which becomes a second nature to me.
"Tis
the first sanction Nature gave to man-
Each
other to assist in what they can."
In looking over some old pictures and daguerreotypes,
while visiting with Mr. Harmon at the home of my cousin, Lucinda
Gillett, near Townville, Penn., my eye alighted on a clipping
from an old newspaper, preserved in the case along with the pictures,
and which read as follows:
Pember
Waid [Pember Waid was my paternal grandfather, of whom special
mention is made in the Biographical sketch of myself elsewhere in my
SOUVENIRS] departed this life in full hope of endless life. He
experienced religion in one of our revivals last year in the 77th year
of his age, and left for the good world in his 78th year, giving to all
who knew him, a Christian example of one year and one month. He was
noted for being an honest man, all his life. His class-leader told me
that "Father" Waid attended every class meeting but one, after
his profession of religion up to the day of his death.
S. R. PADEN.
Sunday, July 20.--Along with Mr. Derby and
family, of Meadville, I attended State Street M. E. Church and class
meeting, and heard a young man, by name McKinney, preach, and in the
afternoon we went to the cottage prayer meeting held at the residence of
Mr. McKinney, father of the gentleman we listened to in the morning.
This was a good meeting, some eighteen being present, among them being
Sister Wilson and her brother, Ephraim Williams,
for many years members of the old State Road Church. In the evening Mr.
Derby and I attended the Park Avenue Congregational Church, where an
interesting discourse based on the day's Sunday-school lesson delighted
and instructed us. On the following day, Monday, I called on Mr.
and Mrs. J. R. Reynolds of Mead Township, to express my sympathy
with them in their recent sudden bereavement, their son Earl having been
killed at Bairdstown, Ill., while employed as brakeman on the C., B.
& Q. R. R., Tuesday, July 15, 1890, at the age of twenty-nine years.
On Wednesday I attended the funeral of the Rev. J.
V. Reynolds' wife, and afterward went some four and one-half
miles into the country to visit my friend, Jeremiah
Cutshall, who owns a good farm pleasantly located on the west
side of French Greek, well watered and sloping to the east.
July 25.--Two cases, being first shipments of
my SECOND SOUVENIR, 184 copies of the 300 ordered bound, arrived this
afternoon from my publishers in Chicago, so I now have plenty of work on
my hands in addition to my regular labor. In the forenoon I visited my
aged friend, Isaac Blystone, residing on
College Hill, Meadville, who is very sick and not expected to recover;
also called on Hon. G. B. Delamater, in
behalf of his son, Hon. W. W. Delamater,
State Senator, who presented me with a copy of "Birds of
Pennsylvania," an elegant work containing fifty illustrations.
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