stansberry (2)

8/10/2019 STANSBERRY (2)

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/stansberry-2 1/6

Tlie oftrly.Quaknr Church in '^7-iyiu 3ville nnd i t s Drn/'prU

tors .

last third of

art icle

^îven here; historical

part oinitttid,

l^^^^pled Pumas 2 3 19 ^l.

The

o l d

church stood

upon th e

bro\'? of

the h i l l

which over-

̂ ^• ̂ ^^.ooked th e brofid

valley

of

the Miami Kiver to the

P/ist,

while

nearer on th e

South

was

the

s teep narrow

v a l le y o f a .snail

^^^•tresm the steeo hillsides of which were

densely

wooded with

,

^ n a t i v e

t imber

of

g i g a n t i c

growth.

Immediately west of the mee ting house

was

the graveyard,

which s l e e p

so

many o f

the form er worshipers .

Here I

have seen

g r e a t

Gongregat ions o f men,

women and

\ children gathered together to worship Cxod in

silence

or

listen

k , •

. p to the outpourings of the

spirit

by

which

some friend male or

J: female, might be

visited.

Vividly can I recall the appearance

, | ; ' of those friends as I saw and knew them in the past and now

that

time had whitened my

hair and

diiruued

my

s ight;

now

that, so many

of those whom

I

once knew have

gone to Join

the innumerable host ,

I

love

to

l e t

memory

recall

those

I knew

in early

childhood.

Among them were men who

would

have b een p romin en t i n

any

s t a t i o n of l i f e niany who

were

p a r t i c u l a r l y

f i t t e d

fo r usefulness

In

pioneer

l i f e

and

others whose

examole, advice

and

admonition

- •

were a continued

beacon

l i g h t along a C i i r i s t i a n s pathway.

• In th e woraens meet ing

on

the

pre- 'chers '

bench,

wider

t h e i r

'-f

; .

plain

white

bonnets

and

kerchiefs,

I

recall

the

full

round

fraces

. nad forms of tîe

sisters,

Charity Cook and Susanna Holllngswortth.

i-''*

, :the

first

Charity Cook was

Indeed

a gifted woman. She traveled

^^•ough

the

states extensively, and twice visited

England

and

^ ®land. Then her husband

drove

his

stasre

vâgon

into

a stream at

Ôod

height,

drovmed

two

horses,

and

only

escaped

himself by riding

-'Mi

r* -r.

I;-.;:

' if * )

I *



a log to land, she

swam

to the shore and thus saved

herself

unaided.

The

slaters Mrs. H. and Mrs. C., were the dau^^hters of

Jo}in Wright

who

lived

to a very ripe old age. and at the time

prior

to his

death, he gathered around him

all

his descendants, including the

husbands and wives of

his

sons and daughters, to the fourth

- generation,

and

when

the

enumeration

was

tehen

they

numbered

Ihere could such a

family

be found now?

To the

infant society

there

was

no

more

useful member than

Asher Brown.

Industrious, active, energetic, he was a

worker

in

every

relation of

life There

was no duty either in the chui ch

. or out,

which

was left

by

him undischarged. He

a-nuroached

his

various

inibliG

duties

with

great diffidence, tut

never

failed,

by

perseTerlng

Industry to make himself

fully

equal to

the

duty

de

manded

of him.

His

hospitality

was

unbounded

and

his aid

and

assistance were always extended to the

weary

irnigrant,

and

his

home was the objective-point always enouired for

by

the

toll

worn

traveler s a v n of

rest

Side by

side just below the preacher s

br-nch.

eat

the

I

brothers-in-law.

Abljah

0 Neall

and

Snmuel

Kelly.

These

two men

I loved each

other

with alove that was that of Johnathan and David

I SVen

the traits of character which

were

dis-similar served to draw

I y,. them

closer

and

to make

the

one more

necessary

for

the

other.

The

* conceived the Idea, the other planned

tb.e

execution. One over-

the obstacles by force of character - the other removed them

diplomacy.

The

one

was

the

enibodlement

of active,

aggressive

the other of

firmness tempered

by

conciliation.

The wish

of

one was always seconded by the action oi the other.

E IPt O Heall was a

little

below the

m dium

height,

with

^ - ;^®®wpact well-knit frame; slightly round shouldered with

massive

r

s - iS

> W

•i-Mi-y

•m



Paê j

J .

head, cloae-clioried

brovm

hair throu.: v/iilcih iihown aeveral white

gleaniin;?: scars

mute testimonials

of his •nntrlotinm

duriru*

the

revolution; a Roman nose, a gray eye rather long uuper lip and

a strong square jaw

all marked

a

man

of firmness aid strong

cha r ac t e r i s t i c s .

Samuel

KeJJ^y s hair was

light brom

almost auburn worn

rather long and usually thro^m back

over

the ears displaying

the temple. Tn form he was above the medium height standing a

little over six feet

hi|^

broad shouldered and well proportioned

with a clear rish complexion and akin whidh he inherited from

his father; a frank blue eye a long straight nose a broad

forehead,

and

a

well

shaped

mouth,

all

went

to

make

up

a dignified

manly man,

whom

one turned to look after a

second

time

Henry

Steddom

was

a man

above

the

medbira

size of a

prepos-

slng

countenance.

Mildness and benevolence were

blended together,

and

those attcactive qualities were lighted pp

by

a pecularily

soft eye.

Oentlen

and

unaffected in his manners, he was a most

agreeable

coraoanion.

Iâsy

of

Access

and

familiar

In

his inter

course, he was always a welcome visitor amongst th^ fomilies of

Friends Unassuming

and

at the

same time

dignified in his depert-

nent his

oresence

always commanded resoect Ke was free from

any

thing

like austerity on the one

h-nd^

an êvity

on

the other.

He was honored and loved alike by

members

the church

and

̂ vthoae

w

were

not.

David Holloway was

of

medium

size rather disposed to

be

Mneshy: hair dark, hi^ forehead. sli--htly inclined to baldness;

Wface well

formed

rather florid,

betokening

good

health.

His

i»^ril8nosition was cheerful and happy as

was

seen in

his

pleasant

°<«intenance. For quite a long time he

was

In the

habit

of keeping

t

••

i ..

i



few boarders at his house, and his invariable ch?irê ^7as 1.^

week

for

boarding.

At

one

time there was

a sharp

advance

in

price of eg^s

and the

old man

was

much

disconcerted

thereby.

iMiTttt. tut, tut, he

said; I can«t keep boarders at 1.50 a week

price

of

eggs gone up

three

cents

a

dozen.

Sainuel

Linton

was

a

man who would have

left

his

mark

in

any

lâtation of society. orn in

affluent

circumstances he received

I ̂ aliberal

education which

was

suoplemented by

a

thorough business

I training. His family had enjoyed every advantage which wealth.

Fi education and a cultivated society could give-

I

He

was aman of

rare social qualities,

a fluent talker, an

Bpealcer,

of

graceful

deportment, and

scrupulously

neat

In

his

I personal

hahits.

It

was

no wonder that hie home became the social

I center around

which

the pioneer society was

wont to concentrate;

and with

his

amiable

daughters

and manly

sons.

J.t

is

only

truth

to

I

say

that

no one

poseessed more attraction for

the young

persons

I •

than

did that of Samuel

Linton.

It would

be

a mistake

to suppose

i ; that rusticity was universal among

the

pioneers, or that

it

was

I f the

rule.

It

would he

a

mistake to think the

best

gowns of our

I grandmothers was lineey. or the breeches of

grandfathers

were

i

I made

of huokakin. V e raaember

to have heard one

wh o

was

contem-

I

poraneouB with the Lintons daughters tell ho w

they

attended

^ church

dressed

iA

elegant

silk gowns, and how

their

pro-gress

up

I

ithe

aisle was described by

one

mas

tictheir

frocks rattled like

^ ̂ ôrn

fodder.

| |p The Pumas brothers Robert and

John

were men whose

oppor-

-Sîtiee had been In advance of their fellows, an d w hich gave

f. |«iem prominent places

in all church work

and government.

Robert was the elder

and

longest connected with

this

church

V

i I

r

h

k \

.r^ '

r. .

fe;.

,

?? •

V



I He possessed plain, unpretending good sense, and a

great

deal

of

t practical ,

useful

knowledge. He was an

honest,

pure, good man,

i

I

full

of

mercy

and good work. Blessed with an

even

temoer, and a

«

s

I cheerful,

social

and hapoy disoosition, when these came also

to

be pur i f ied

by

r e l i g ion

he

became

worthy

o f the s:re at

love

and

t

i

;

r es p ec t r ec eiv ed

from

a l l

who kne'w him. He

was punc t i l ious

In

i

th e discharge

o f

a l l dut ies to h is

church ,

at tending a l l

meet ings ,

V

and a t h is death

it

was sa id th a t in going to and

from

h is

p l ace

of warship he had t raveled f a r the r than would

have

put

a

g i r t l e

a round th e e a r t h .

Jehu T i lson v;a3 a t yp i ca l Quaker , in manners s imple and

V i •unpretending as

a

ch i l d .

Thoroughly honest

and

s t ra ighforward

f

y: > himself, he

ms

unsuspicious of others; conscious of his

o-m

§

'

in tegr i ty

he was unwilling

t o b^e li eve evi l

o f h is neighbors .

k

p.-•;

f I l lus t ra t ive of th is character we have

heard

this anecdote:

v h On

going

to

h is

corn

cr ib

one

morning

he

surpr ised

a t h i e f

%

V

s t ea l ing co rn . The

man had c r ep t

i n s ide

and

was hold ing h is

if sack on

the

ou t s ide with one hand, while

he

f i l l e d

it

with the

• Other from wi th in . Friend

Wilson

quie t ly

took the sack from the

: .

»

V . •

t

.

man s

hand

with

the remark: Fr iend, I ll hold thy sack, and t e l l

^

thee

when

i t

is

fu l l ; then thee

can come

out and

go

in peace.

X

.. want to

know

who t h e e is.

fc.',

A.mong

the ear ly

Fr iends were

some charac te r s .

There

was

jne old gentleman, well reiiJ«i bered st i l l by

some

of our old

^tlzong^

one

whose

characteristic

v aR great

deliberation of

^ch - weighing every word well and thinking before he

snoke-

1^?® upon a

time he

had a large lot of corn on hand and a trader

•l to

t ry and

buy it. He

found

t.he

o ld gentleman

a t home,

asked

i f

he wished to

sell

his corn,

and received an

affirmative

ilMUMItilfaA

i

l.

h-

K: '

I



-fage

* r. What do you ask? was the question. A q-u-a-r-t-e-r

d-o-l-l-a-r- I Will take i t .

And

a fi-p-p-e-n-n-y t- i- t ,

^x -^ntinued our friend. Aether the trade was consumated

or

not.

the

o lde st i nhab it an t

doesn t

say*

QT

him

there is s t i l l another anecdote told: In those days,

when t he count ry was covered with decaying vegetation and stagnant

pools were numerous,

malaria

was

very

orevalent,

and every

house

hold kept i t s private dispensary a

preparation

generally

consisting

of

spi r i t s of

some

kind with

dogwood,

wild

cherry, or

the berries

of the fever bush.

When

our

f r i end was

ahked

what

kind

o f

b i t t e r s

he prefer red

the reply was,

Well,

I

believe

I

l ike John

Steddon's

bi t ters

about

as

well

ae any I

ever used.

And wliat

are

they made

of?

Well,

he has

a great jiig, I reckon t will hold

nearly

three gallons; and he

ICr ,fll^

that

with whiskey, and then puts into i t a piece of snakeroot

•gm v

about that long, (marking on his finger about an inch and half

now

matters

l ttl

whether

our o ld

Friend

prefer s

h is

tralght or not— his sons and grand sons are* now among our very

•i . .

i ^«st

temperailice

citizens.

I

Such were the men

who composed

the Qroaker Church

of

Waynos

el0i ty

f ive

years ago*

Of a l l Whose

names were enro l l ed on

the church

r ecord in

there i s now bu t one

so l i t a r y

i nd iv idua l

l e f t

- the venerable

Kelly, who

occupies

a seat on

this

stand.

^ This

is

a

par t

of a paper written and read by GpOrge T.

, a t

the

Miami Valley Pioneers meeting

1S90*

^Pled from a newspaper

clipping

preserved

in

the acrapbook

^ ® late Mrs. W. H.

Allen.

Esquire Edwards Orove was the

stansberry (2)

Documents