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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36966-8.txt b/36966-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a10c80e --- /dev/null +++ b/36966-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2319 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Toys, by Mary Harris Toy Dodge + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of the Toys + +Author: Mary Harris Toy Dodge + +Release Date: August 3, 2011 [EBook #36966] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE TOYS *** + + + + +Produced by David E. Brown and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Mary H. Dodge] + + + + + THE STORY OF + THE TOYS + + BY + + MARY H. DODGE + + + CAMBRIDGE + PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE PRESS + 1909 + + + + +"We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the noble +works that Thou didst in their days and in the old time before them." + +"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of +witnesses ... let us run with patience the race that is set before +us." + + + + +FOREWORD + + +This story of my mother's family was set down by her originally only to +recall it to my mind when I might no longer listen to it as it fell so +often from her own lips. It was written in the intervals of her +ill-health, without copying or revision, and was not intended for +publication. For this reason, she has dwelt more at length upon the +history of her own family life than upon that of her sisters, and has +purposely omitted all but a slight reference to the grandchildren and +the events of later years, her intention being to record only what was +outside my memory, leaving the rest to some other pen. The story, +however, has proved to be of so much interest to the other members of +the family that she was expecting to review it with me as soon as +possible, in order to prepare it to be printed for them. Her sudden +illness and death cut short her plans; but I have carried them out as +closely as I could, and the little book is printed very nearly as she +wrote it. Any errors or inaccuracies are mine and not hers. + +It has seemed to me that there could be no more fitting memorial of my +mother among ourselves, than this story. Its style is appropriate to the +subject and characteristic of herself--forceful, yet full of tender +sentiment, ready wit and apt quotation of Scripture; while through it +all, quite unconsciously to herself, there shine her cheery hopefulness, +her rare unselfishness, and her beautiful faith in God. Since my +father's death her health had been very much better, and she was looking +forward to years of comfort; but, in December, 1908, she was suddenly +seized with a serious heart trouble, and after a distressing illness of +about three months, which she bore with her own brave patience, on the +morning of February 27, 1909, she went to join her beloved. + +For those of us who have known her wonderful personality, no memorial is +needed to increase our love and admiration of her; but to the younger +members of the family, whose memory of her may be slight, I hope that +this little book may give a glimpse of the beauty of her life, as well +as of the noble souls whom she so worthily represented and whose blood +we are proud to share. + + "They climbed the steep ascent of Heaven + Through peril, toil and pain; + O God, to us may grace be given + To follow in their train." + + + S. W. D. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE TOYS + + +I wish to preface this memorial by a little sketch of Cornwall, +especially those parts of it most nearly connected with our family +history. I have gathered the materials for it from a little book on +Cornwall, by Mr. Tregellas. + + +The long coast-line of Cornwall, the most southern and western county of +England, has been, like Italy, compared in shape to a Wellington boot, +the iron heel of which is the mass of serpentine rock which forms the +southern point of the Lizard, and the foot that part which lies between +Mounts Bay and Land's End. The instep is at St. Ives Bay, and the body +of the boot constitutes the main portion of the county, the highest part +toward the eastern end forming the Bodmin moors. Along the northern +coast, the mural cliffs, against which the Atlantic rollers forever +break, are in marked contrast to the tamer and more sylvan scenery of +the south and west shores; while across the low-lying lands between St. +Ives and Mounts Bay the sea often threaten to meet in the spring tides. + +The climate of Cornwall, owing to its situation, is so remarkable as to +deserve notice. The month of January at Penzance is as warm as at +Florence or Madrid, and July is as cool as at St. Petersburg. There is +scarcely a country in the world with a climate so mild and equable. + +The people are "ardent and vivacious, self-reliant and versatile." It is +no uncommon thing for a Cornishman to build his own house, make his own +shoes, be both fisherman and miner, and, possibly, small shop-keeper +besides; and wherever the Cornish miner emigrates, he is pretty sure to +take the lead in enterprise and danger. + +Wilkie Collins says: "As a body of men they are industrious, +intelligent, sober, and orderly, neither soured by hard work, nor +depressed by harsher privations"; and the old poet Taylor, in 1649, +writes: "Cornwall is the compleate and repleate Home of Abundance, for +high, churlish hills and affable, courteous people. The country hath its +share of huge stones, mighty rocks, noble free gentlemen, bountiful +housekeepers, strong and stout men, handsome and beautiful women." + +Many curious old customs linger in Cornwall, among them the ceremony of +"cutting the neck," or last few ears of corn at harvest time, the +lighting of bonfires on the hills at St. John's Eve, and the "furry" or +Flora dance at Helston, on the eighth of May. Among the peculiar dishes +of the Cornish cuisine, prominent is the pasty, the almost universal +dinner of the working class. It is a savory compound of meat and +potatoes, inclosed in a crescent-shaped crust; but one must be a +Cornishman to appreciate this dish thoroughly. The variety of pies is +truly marvelous. It has been said that the devil himself would be put +into a pie if he were caught in Cornwall. Most of them are richly +saturated with clotted cream, a real Cornish dainty, which is very +popular, as are also Cornish seed-cakes. + +From time immemorial Cornwall has had a leading part in the mineral +industries of England. Mines of tin, copper, lead, and zinc abound, and +have been the chief source of revenue to the county. They give +abundant employment to the laboring class, and men, women, and even +children are freely employed in various ways about the mines. Since 1870 +the mining industries have declined; the mines have been less +productive, and the great discoveries of ore in this and other countries +have greatly reduced prices and scattered the Cornish miners over the +world. + +The fisheries of Cornwall have been another very important industry, +especially the mackerel and pilchard fishing. The pilchard is a very +delicious fish, similar to a herring, and is found almost exclusively on +the Cornish coast. + +Cornwall abounds in interesting antiquities, and many of these are +claimed to be almost as old as the granite rocks and cliffs of which +they are composed. They are relics of the early Britons,--remains of +villages, various sorts of sepulchral and memorial stones, and also some +that were associated with ancient religious rites. Some of these, such +as the "holed stones," have given rise to many superstitions among the +common folk, who have been in the habit of dragging invalids through +the orifices in the hope of curing them. There are also "cliff castles," +especially at Land's End and at other points on the coast,--retreats of +the native tribes from enemies,--and also earth-work forts on elevated +sites throughout the country. The early Christian antiquities include +churches and priories and the oratories or small chapels, frequently +associated with a Baptistery or holy well. Some of these are as early as +the fifth century. There is also an unusual number of crosses. As to +their uses an ancient manuscript says: "For this reason ben crosses by +ye way, that when folk passynge see ye croysses they shoulde thynke on +Hym that deyed on ye croysse, and worshyppe Hym above althyng." They +were also sometimes erected to guide and guard the way to the church, +and sometimes for the beautiful custom of leaving alms on the crosses +for poor wayfarers. The crosses were formerly far more numerous than +now, but recently some of them have been rescued from doing duty as +gate-posts and the like, to be reerected in the churchyards. There are +also inscribed stones, such as the Camborne altar-slab, and others. + +Of the towns of Cornwall, almost all have some interest, ancient or +modern. Truro has recently become the episcopal town of the county; a +fine cathedral has been built, and the Bishop has his residence there. +Falmouth, at the mouth of the Fal, is a comparatively modern town, +beautifully situated. Its magnificent and famous harbor has given it +considerable commercial importance in former times. One of its chief +attractions is Pendennis Castle. It stands on a bold promontory two +hundred feet high, on the western side of the harbor. It was one of the +works of defense undertaken by Henry VIII, but the enclosure is of the +time of Elizabeth. It is an interesting example of the military +architecture of the period. During the Civil War, Pendennis Castle +played a prominent and interesting part, and was the last but one of the +old castles that held out for the King's cause. + +A picturesque spot of much interest on the coast is the jutting headland +of the Lizard. The serpentine rock of which it is composed is very +beautiful when polished. The best time to visit this spot is at low +tide on a summer day, after a storm. Its soft yellow sandy beach, its +emerald waves, deep rock-pools and gorgeous serpentine cliffs, of green, +purple, crimson, and black, are then of astonishing beauty. Passing +eastward along the coast, we come to the little town of Marazion, in +front of which rises from the strand the far-famed St. Michael's +Mount--an isolated, rugged pyramid of granite, about a mile in +circumference and two hundred and thirty feet high at the chapel +platform. Several Sir John St. Aubyns have successively inherited it +since 1860, the date on which they acquired it from a Bassett of Tehidy. +The chapel and the hall are the portions most worthy of examination. A +few steps below the chapel is a recess called the dungeon; near it, a +narrow winding stair leads to the tower. Near the platform are the +remains of a stone cresset called St. Michael's Chair, which is supposed +to bring good fortune to those that sit in it. + +The town of Penzance, "the Holy Headland," is the place of approach to +the Land's End--a bold promontory standing out into the sea at the +southwestern extremity of England. Its granite cliff-scenery is the +finest in Cornwall. The tempest-scarred cliffs, the furious onset of the +waves in stormy weather, and the gorgeous sunsets, so frequent at that +point, invest Land's End with a deep and almost melancholy grandeur. It +is said that Wesley stood upon this point when he wrote the hymn, + + "Lo! on a narrow neck of land + 'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand." + +But the chief interest of Cornwall for our present purpose lies in the +town of Camborne on the Cam, or "crooked river." It is one of the great +mining centres, and has numerous rich mines, of which the principal is +Dolcoath, one of the deepest and most ancient in Cornwall. It is a busy +town, built mostly of stone, with nothing of note in the way of +architecture. The plain parish church, with its three sharp gables, +contains nothing of special interest. It stands in the midst of the +churchyard, in which are found many monuments and inscriptions to +attract the attention of those who love to recall the past. About three +miles to the north is Tehidy, the seat of the Bassetts, with its fine +park and gallery containing pictures by Gainsborough, Sir Joshua +Reynolds, and Vandyke. In driving to the high bluffs on the north shore +it is easy to visit Carn Brea, a rocky headland seven hundred feet above +the sea, with picturesque granite blocks piled upon its summit. Here, it +is said, was the chief scene of Druid worship; here was the sacrificial +rock, in the hollows of which the victim was laid; and here were the +granite basins hollowed out to receive his blood. The castle, of Norman +origin, was built by Ralph De Pomeroy, and was occupied by a Bassett in +the time of Edward IV. There are also here the remains of ancient +British earthworks, and "hut circles," and a tall monument to Lord De +Dunstanville of Tehidy, erected in 1836. + +A point of great interest to us is that Mr. Samuel Davey, the inventor +of the safety fuse for blasting and mining, was a native of Camborne, +and had his residence there, as did also his partner in business, George +Smith, LL.D. Mr. Smith was a man of high character, and great ability as +a scholar and writer, and the author of many works of theology and +biblical history. Among these are "The Hebrew People" and "The Gentile +Nations," which have been accepted as text-books in some theological +courses. The other member of the firm was Major John S. Bickford, a man +of wealth and influence, and the title of the firm became "Bickford, +Smith and Davey." The manufactory was located at Tuckingmill, a village +a little distance from Camborne. The business, at first small, has grown +and become very successful, and has branches in many parts of Europe and +America. The original firm, as represented by its successors, still +carries on the business in Tuckingmill. + +One of the noteworthy features of the town life is the Saturday +market-day. On this day are gathered the people from all the outlying +country, with varied products of farm, garden and dairy, as well as +wares of all kinds, which are offered for sale in the great market-house +of the town. + +"Camborne Feast" is a harvest festival answering to our Thanksgiving. It +occurs on November 13. + +[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF JOSEPH TOY] + +In the little hamlet of Roskear, an outlying village of Camborne, my +father, Joseph Toy, was born. The long, low stone cottage, with small +windows and overhanging roof, still stands. A narrow drive runs in from +the village street, and a low stone wall separates it from the plain +yard in front adorned with here and there a shrub or climbing vine. The +house is little changed since the large family of children were +sheltered under its eaves and played about the yard, and the dear mother +spread the simple food on the white table, and sanded the well-scoured +floor. My father was born in April, 1808. He was the son of Robert and +Ann Hosking Toy. He was the youngest of eight children: John, Robert, +Nicholas, William, James, Joseph, and his sisters Mary Ann (Mrs. Sims), +and Nanny (Mrs. Granville). His parents were honest, God-fearing people, +training their children to a life of industry and integrity, and early +leading them into the ways of piety and obedience. Joseph, being a +bright, attractive child, and possessing an affectionate nature, was +very naturally the pet and darling of the family. While he was quite +young his father died suddenly, and as the elder children were mostly +married, the home was broken up, and he, with his widowed mother, was +received into the family of his brother John, a man of much energy and +ability, who afterwards became captain of the West Seaton mine. In a few +years his mother, too, entered into rest, leaving her beloved Joseph to +the care of his elder brother, and well did that brother and his +estimable wife fulfill their trust. The home was full of love and +sunshine, and the most tender affection was lavished upon the young +brother. My uncle scarcely ever came home without the inquiry, "Where is +the dear boy?" + +Mrs. Jane Gilbert, my Uncle John's youngest daughter, writes thus of the +family. "Their father died when Joseph was a lad, but he was always a +great pet with his brothers. I have heard my father tell how when he was +going courting Joseph had cried to go with him, and he has taken him +many a time. Their mother died when your father was young, and he came +to him at our house and continued to live with us until his marriage. So +my sisters looked upon him more as a brother than an uncle. I can +remember that when the letter came to father announcing your dear +mother's death, he wept aloud and said, 'Poor little Joe!' Their +mother's maiden name was Ann Davey, and she was born at Nans Nuke +Illogan. She was a grand old Christian, a splendid character and +handsome. I have always heard her children speak of her with reverence +and love. Our grandfather's mother's name was Andrews, and she was born +in the parish of Newlyn East." + +The circumstances of the family made it necessary that all should share +in its support, and, as soon as he was thought capable, my father was +put--as were other children of his age--to do such work at the mine as +was then almost the only employment open to children. They were set at +picking up the ore for wheeling from the opening, and other light work +suited to their age, the labor and responsibility being increased as +they grew older. The advantages of education for the children of the +working classes were few indeed at that day, and where so many mouths +were to be fed, but little could be spared for books or schooling. My +father early developed a fondness for reading which grew into an earnest +thirst for knowledge, leading him to devote much of the time spent by +other boys in play to the search for it as for hid treasure. + +There was considerable natural musical talent in the family, and, as my +father had a sweet voice, he was early taken into the surpliced +boy-choir of the parish church, to which one or two of his brothers +belonged, though his family were devoted members of the Wesleyan church +of Camborne. The beautiful ritual of the church and its impressive +services had a refining influence upon the sensitive boy, and the +musical training he there received was of much value to him, and gave +him much enjoyment in after life. He used to speak with enthusiasm of +this experience, and I have often heard him tell of the delight with +which the boys would go forth in the frosty air of the Christmas morning +to sing carols under the windows of their friends, and how eagerly they +would catch the pennies which were thrown from the windows in response +to their greeting. The drinking habit of those days was universal, and +total abstinence was a thing unknown; and I have heard him say that the +good rector, Parson Rogers, would often pat the boys affectionately when +they had done particularly well, and say, "You have done well, boys. Now +come with me and have a little drop of something warm." His connection +with the parish choir was also the means of attracting the notice of +some people of influence who were afterwards of much assistance to him. + +As he grew older, his interest in education increased greatly, and +produced a distaste for the drudgery of his life at the mine. The +conviction grew upon him that he was fitted for something better, and +while he patiently bided his time, he was diligently improving every +opportunity for study. Kind friends soon noticed the boy's struggles, +and began to encourage him by lending him books, assisting him in +evening studies, and giving him help in every possible way. Prominent +among these were Mr. Thomas Davey, Mr. Thomas Garland, Dr. George Smith, +the author and scholar, Lady Bassett, and Lord De Dunstanville of +Tehidy, whose kindness and sympathy were very helpful. + +At the age of nineteen my father passed the religious crisis of his +life, and his conversion was thorough and complete. He united with the +Wesleyan church, and threw himself with all the ardor of his nature into +its Christian work. He was very active in the social meetings, and +showed such decided talent in that line that he was soon appointed a +class-leader. He was also a teacher in the Sunday School, where he +showed such aptitude for the work as to incline him to the profession of +teaching as a vocation. He became Superintendent of the Sunday School, +and was soon licensed to preach, receiving an appointment as local +preacher on a circuit. + +By untiring diligence he had qualified himself for the position of +teacher and obtained a situation in one of the Lancastrian schools, so +popular at that day, located in Camborne. He filled this position for +some years with much acceptance, continuing at the same time his own +studies, until he acquired, almost wholly by his own exertions, a solid +and excellent education. He was a good English scholar, a fine reader, +carefully exact in spelling and pronunciation, well read in history, a +good mathematician, fairly proficient in algebra and geometry, with +considerable knowledge of Latin, Greek, and French. He demonstrated +clearly what can be accomplished by any boy with a good mind, by energy +and perseverance, in the face of the most serious obstacles. + +[Illustration: BENJAMIN OSLER] + +About this time he formed the acquaintance of Miss Jane Osler, a young +lady of refinement and culture, who was at that time proprietor of a +millinery establishment in Camborne; and he married her in 1833. My +mother was the daughter of Benjamin and Jane Osler of Falmouth, and was +born August 1, 1802. The family was a very excellent one. Benjamin Osler +was the son of Edward Osler and Joan Drew, sister of the famous Cornish +metaphysician. He was a man of very decided character, a "gentleman of +the old school." His discipline in his family was very strict, though +kind, the rod always occupying a conspicuous place over the mantel for +the admonition of any child inclined to disobedience. A fine miniature +of my Grandfather Osler is in my possession, and it is our most +cherished heirloom. It is in the form of a locket. The picture shows a +fine oval face, with delicate features, powdered hair, and the heavy +eyebrows we have learned to call "the Osler eyebrows." On the reverse +side it has the hair of my grandfather and grandmother, smoothly +crossed, and upon it the monogram, "B. J. O.," in exquisite letters +formed of tiny pearls. This locket was given to my mother by her father +when the family went out to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, in the +year 1819. It was painted in London some time previous to that. + +In April, 1797, according to the Falmouth church register, my +grandfather married Jane Sawle, the daughter of Stephen Sawle of +Falmouth, an officer in the British navy and afterward Captain of a +Falmouth packet, the _Hanover_. A solid silver tankard is preserved in +our family, which was presented to our great-grandfather by the +British Admiralty. It bears this inscription: "For twenty years' +faithful service"; and on the side, the letters, "S. S." It is now the +property of my sister, Mrs. R. H. Ensign. There is also somewhere in the +Osler family a picture of our Grandfather Sawle, an old gentleman in +naval uniform. + +My mother was also one of a large family, which consisted of eight girls +and two brothers.[1] They were: Susan, Eliza, Mary Ann, Amelia, +Philippa, Jane, Julia, Sarah, Stephen, and Benjamin. + +While my mother was still young, her father went out to the Cape of Good +Hope, in charge of a colony of settlers. Dr. William Osler has kindly +loaned me a diary of my grandfather's, containing lists of provisions +and supplies purchased for the party, as well as other items. The +entries extend from January 3, 1815, to January 25, 1821. There seem to +have been in the party fourteen men, sixteen women, one boy, and three +girls. All payments were to be made in a proportion of the products of +the land. My grandfather settled in Simons Town, with most of his +family, and was probably a magistrate of the new colony. Two of the +daughters, Julia and Philippa, being in business in England, had +remained behind. My mother was left in the care of her mother's sister, +Mrs. John Harris. They were people of some culture, and having no +children of their own, were very fond of my mother and gave careful +attention to the cultivation of her mind and manners. Her uncle took +special delight in training her in reading and elocution. I have often +heard her recite with much spirit: + + "My name is Norval. On the Grampian hills + My father feeds his flock"; + +also many selections from the Iliad and Odyssey, taught her by her +uncle. Her home with these dear friends was most pleasant, and she +cherished the loving memory of their kindness all her life. It found +expression in the name she gave to me, her first-born, of Mary Harris. +She learned her business while she remained with them, and became the +head woman in a large millinery establishment in Falmouth, and +afterwards set up in business for herself in Camborne. My mother became +a member of the Church of England, to which all her family belonged, at +the age of seventeen, and so continued till near her marriage, when she +united with the Wesleyan church in Camborne. + +My grandfather Osler died at Simons Town, after some years' residence +there. My grandmother returned to her English home, but most of the +children, being married and settled in business at the Cape, made their +homes permanently there, and their descendants are now living mostly in +Simons Town and in Cape Town. After my grandmother's return to England, +she taught for a time a school for girls; but later came to Camborne and +made her home with her daughters who were in business there. Her home +was with my mother till her departure for America. + +While my mother remained in Falmouth, her Aunt Osler, the last of the +old family, lived near her with her two daughters, and they were a +great comfort to her. This Aunt Osler died in April, 1864. She was Mary +Paddy Osler, the wife of my grandfather's eldest brother, Edward. Their +eldest son, Edward, has descendants in Canada, with whom we have had +very pleasant relations, and a daughter, Mary, was the mother of Mrs. +Truran of Truro. Another son, Rev. Featherstone Osler, came out to +Canada as a missionary, and became the founder of a large and +influential family there. Our own relationship to them has been only +lately discovered, and has been the source of much pleasure to us. Mrs. +Featherstone Osler died at the age of one hundred, in 1907, a woman very +remarkable and greatly beloved; and her large family of sons, including +Dr. William Osler of Oxford, Hon. Justice Osler of Toronto, Britton Bath +Osler, the eminent lawyer, and Mr. Edmund Osler, the financier are all +distinguished in public life. + +Of my mother's sisters, Susan married a Mr. Fineran of Cape Town, and +had an interesting family of children. She was early left a widow. Her +daughter, Mrs. Kate Divine, has written me several times, and given me +interesting details of the family. One daughter went to New Zealand to +live after her marriage; one son, Charles, died early. Mrs. Divine's +son, Edmund, went to sea quite young, in a British ship, and coming to +New York, visited us all, which was a great pleasure. Mrs. Divine is now +quite an invalid, and with her unmarried daughter, Maude, lives in +Plumstead, a suburb of Cape Town, very near two of her sons and their +families. + +Mary Ann married Mr. Sayers of Simons Town, and her children are still +there. She was a very lovely character, and died about 1855, after a +long and severe illness borne with great fortitude and patience. The +inscription chosen for her tombstone was the same as that on my +mother's: Rev. xiv: 13. Her daughter, Mrs. Eliza Storrier, has written +me under date March 13, 1882, from the address: Mrs. J. E. Storrier, +Patent Slip, Simons Town. + +Eliza Osler married Mr. Jordan, and lived at Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope. +Her husband was in good business, and they had a family of seven +daughters and one son. She was also left a widow. + +Philippa married Mr. William Cogill, a merchant of Simons Town, who had +several children. She had three of her own--two sons and a daughter, +Julia, who married a Captain Bray and went to England to live. She was +left a widow with two children, in rather unpleasant circumstances. I +corresponded for some time with my Aunt Philippa, and her son Arthur, +who was at sea, came into the port of Boston at one time and we went to +see him while in port. Aunt Philippa died February 14, 1879. She had a +stroke of apoplexy and lingered for twenty-four hours, but never +regained consciousness. She was a woman of lovely character, and an +earnest Christian. + +Julia Osler, who, with Aunt Philippa, went out to the Cape after we left +England, was married there and had one child, but died early. I have not +the name of her husband. + +Amelia married Gilbert Williams of Falmouth, who followed the sea. She +sometimes went with him, leaving her two children, Gilbert and Amelia, +with her mother. The son, Gilbert, lived in Falmouth. He was an +engineer, and had a large family. We visited them while in England. One +daughter was named Mary Harris Dodge, for me, and one Julia Osler, for +my sister Julia. My cousin Gilbert had a good mind and was well +educated, but was never very successful in life. He died several years +ago. His children are doing well, and are still located in Falmouth. His +sister Amelia had always lived with them, being of feeble intellect and +a great care. My Aunt Williams had a hard struggle in life. She was +early left a widow, and her health was delicate, but she supported her +family by teaching, and educated her children. Her health failed, +however, and at last her reason gave way. She was for some time in the +Bodmin Asylum, but later her reason returned, and she lived some years +with her son, and died in Falmouth a few years ago. + +Sarah, the youngest daughter, was nine years of age when the family +returned from the Cape. She was adopted by her Aunt Harris and her +husband, and through them received an excellent education--a thing very +difficult to acquire in those days. She remained with them till their +death, then went to Camborne to her sisters, and afterwards secured a +situation in Truro, where she became engaged to a man much older than +herself. She lost her interest in him as the time drew near for her +marriage, and determined not to marry him. Hearing of a family who were +going to Gibraltar and wished a governess, she at once secured the +position, and after a hasty farewell to her mother, having gained her +very unwilling consent, she left England in two days. This was in 1838. +In 1840 she married Mr. Watson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, who belonged to +the Royal Artillery. At the end of two years they returned to England, +and were stationed at Woolwich, but in 1845 they removed to Edinburgh. +In 1852 the discovery of gold in Australia created a rush to that +colony. My Aunt Sarah with her family removed there, her husband joining +in the search for gold with varying success, while she labored +energetically to rear and educate her children. + +She was a widow for some years before her death. Her children, of whom +six lived to grow up, were a great comfort and an honor to her. They are +all respectably settled in Australia. Her eldest daughter, Julia Osler, +married a Mr. Thomas Sayle, and they now live at Queenscliff, Australia. +My sister Julia met them in her journey to the East, in 1900, as well as +another daughter, Mrs. Evans, and two sons, William and Arthur, the +latter of whom has since died. My Aunt Watson died after a short illness +a few years ago,--I have not the exact date. In a letter received from +my Aunt Sarah, dated June 10, 1872, she thus speaks of my mother:-- + +"My first recollection of your mother was when we returned from the +Cape. I was then nine years old. She was much occupied by business, but +often on evenings she would take a walk in a quiet, beautiful lane near +our home, with your Aunt Phillis and myself. In these rambles I first +learned to love nature and poetry, for, to our delight, she would repeat +to us choice poems which I have never forgotten. She sowed the seeds of +a love of literature in my mind, which time has never effaced and which +has been a solace to me in prosperity and adversity. I never think of my +dear sister Jane but as the most perfect and consistent Christian I ever +knew." + +She also quotes from a letter written to her by my mother, August 15, +1844, in which she says:-- + +"Mary is smaller than our other children, but she is a kind-hearted +little creature, and is able to render me many little services. I think +her disposition resembles that of our dear mother. Joseph is naturally +self-willed, and little Susan volatile. Ann Jane is now two years old. +She is an engaging little creature, and can sing and talk remarkably +well. She is named for her two grandmothers." + +Of the two sons, my Uncle Stephen Osler remained at the Cape. He was for +many years a teacher in the government schools. I had for some years an +interesting correspondence with him. He had two sons, Stephen and +Benjamin, and a very sweet daughter, Katherine Jane, who died quite +young. The sons were both men of position and influence at the Cape. My +uncle and his wife both died some years ago. + +My Uncle Benjamin returned to England and established his business +there. He lived for some years in Barnstaple, and died of apoplexy, +February 3, 1864. He left two sons, both of whom were men of character. +One of them, Rev. Benjamin Osler of Exmouth, afterwards became a Baptist +clergyman. I have recently had a delightful correspondence with him, and +my sister Susan has met him and his family. He has two sons, John +Stephen and Ernest Edward, both of whom have children. + +I should have inserted before a sketch of the family of my Uncle John +Toy, with whom we have been more intimately connected than with any +other branch of either family. My uncle married Jane Rule of Camborne, +and they had four daughters and one son. The eldest, Mary Ann, married +Mr. Josephus Snell. He was a builder and contractor, and had a +prosperous business. They removed to London, and most of their life was +spent there. They had a very pleasant home, and Mr. Snell owned several +houses which he rented. They have both died within a few years. The +second daughter, Amelia, married James Snell, a brother of Josephus. +They had two daughters. Asenath, the elder, was adopted by her Uncle +Josephus, as they had no children of their own. She married Edward +Brundell, and their home was in London. Louisa, the younger, always +lived with her parents. My cousin Amelia died quite suddenly about two +years ago. Jennefer married Philip Morshead of Camborne. They had two +children: a son, John, who has always been a teacher, and a daughter, +Annie Davis, who has been also a very successful teacher. My cousin +Jennefer was a little older than myself, and was very fond of us as +children before we left England. She was a favorite of my mother, and I +always corresponded with her occasionally. Both she and her husband have +recently died. Jane, the youngest, married John Gilbert, since captain +of one of the large mines, and a man of much intelligence and influence. +He has made several visits to America in the interest of the mines, also +he was sent to India, where he was employed for two years by the +mine-owners. They have a pleasant home in Camborne and three fine +children: two sons, Arthur and Bertie, who are both in business, and +Leonora, a sweet girl who is soon to be married to a Wesleyan +minister.[2] The only son, John Toy, was not as successful as the rest. +He came to America, and went from here to Australia, where he died some +years ago. + +I wish also to mention the family of my aunt, Mrs. Mary Ann Sims. She +was my father's only remaining sister when we visited England in 1882. +She was then living with her daughter, Mrs. Arthur, in Camborne, and was +about eighty years of age. She was a lovely old lady, petite in figure, +exquisitely neat in dress, her face beaming with kindness from beneath +one of the snowy caps with which her grandson, Johnnie Arthur, delighted +to keep her supplied. She was greatly beloved by her grandchildren, and +the pet of all the nieces and nephews. She reared a large family of +children, who are widely scattered. One son has long lived in Norway, +and is the father of Joseph Sims of Simsbury, Connecticut. One is the +Rev. James Sims[3] of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who was for many years a +Methodist minister in Wisconsin. Reverend and Mrs. James Sims celebrated +the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage in 1907, when they were both +over eighty. They had ten children, of whom seven are still living, Mrs. +Mary Bainbridge being best known to us. Two sons and two daughters are +living in England. + +My Aunt Sims had a cosy cottage at Carwinning, in the country, a few +miles from Camborne; and it was one of my mother's chief pleasures to +take her little children to this pleasant country home, where we were +always cordially welcomed and treated to the best of Cornish cream and +gooseberry pasties. It was a pleasant relief from her busy and confining +life in the shop where she personally superintended her millinery +business. + +My father lived, for over five years after his marriage, in Camborne, +holding the position of principal of the Lancastrian School, and making +himself very useful as local preacher and class-leader in the Wesleyan +church. Three children were born to them in these happy days of their +early married life. I was the first-born, and was ushered into life +October 31, 1834, at about 8 o'clock in the morning. I have often heard +my father speak of the joy he felt when I was placed in his arms for the +first time. The second was my brother Joseph, born July 23, 1836, a +bright, active boy, who made life busy for those who had the care of +him. Then came my sister Susan, born June 3, 1838. She was the household +pet when we turned our faces from the dear old home to seek a new one in +a land of strangers. This great change which now came into our family +life was in connection with the introduction of the manufacture of +safety fuses into America. The firm, having an established and lucrative +business in England, naturally sought to enlarge and extend it, and +America was considered an inviting field for the new industry. + +About this time Mr. Richard Bacon of Simsbury, Connecticut, was +travelling in England in the interest of copper-mining, which was then +carried on at the old prison in East Granby, Connecticut, known as +Newgate. He met with the firm of Bickford, Smith & Davey, and they +determined to make an effort through him to introduce their business +into America. The first attempt was accordingly made at the old prison, +with some success. It had been transferred to Simsbury, and was in +successful operation there, when, in the summer of 1839, my father, who +was well and favorably known to the firm, and had been greatly +encouraged and befriended by Mr. Smith and Mr. Davey, and in their +employ, received from them an offer of a position as bookkeeper in the +American establishment, which was known as Bacon, Bickford & Co., with +what was for those days a good salary. The accounts of the new branch +were confused and unsatisfactory, and the company desired to have +accurate statements rendered. It was a fine opening for the future for +my father, as was proved a few years later when he became a member of +the firm of which he was afterwards the head. + +This startling proposition brought a season of anxious thought and +prayerful consideration into the little home. My mother was well +established in her business; her mother and two sisters were with her; +her love for her English home and friends was deep and true; and she +shrank with all the force of her loving nature from the separation. The +journey was long and trying. No ocean steamers made the voyage a +pleasant pastime of a few days. Long weeks of tossing on the stormy +ocean were to be followed by the search for a new home in a land of +strangers. But with my mother the voice of duty was always the voice of +God. The prospects of a wider field for her husband, and enlarged +opportunities for her children, were not to be neglected. Her decision +was made, and saying, as did Ruth, "Where thou goest, I will go," she +bravely put away the arms of love which would have held her back, and +set herself to the task of closing her business and arranging for her +journey. At length the preparations were over. The last farewells were +said to the dear little home, to the church they loved and had served so +faithfully, and to the dear ones from whom it was so hard to part. The +van laden with luggage for the voyage, with space reserved for the +family, was ready to start; and amid the tears and prayers of those who +loved them, the dear old home faded forever from the eyes of my father +and mother. + +The first stage of the journey was to Falmouth, my mother's early home, +where we remained for a rest of a day or two with my mother's sister, +Mrs. Williams. Pleasant days they were, of loving sisterly communion. +The children, wild with the excitement of the new experience, were +eagerly spying out the wonders of the city, in company with their +cousins. My brother Joseph, a bold, adventurous little fellow of +scarcely three, wandered off one day, to the great anxiety of his +mother. He was found, after a long search, by my aunt, gazing intently +into the mysteries of a rope-walk. Seeing his aunt, he exclaimed, +eagerly, "Oh, here comes Aunt Philippa! Now we'll go through the gate!" + +These pleasant days soon passed, and with renewed good-byes, we left for +Portsmouth, from which port we were to sail. A vexatious delay of some +days was experienced there, but at last the good ship spread her sails +and stood off down the harbor. With tearful eyes they stood on deck and +watched the receding shores of their dear native land fade from their +sight. Then, with new devotion to each other and to the God who was +leading them, they turned with hope and courage to the new life opening +before them. + +For six long weeks the vessel ploughed its way over the heaving sea. My +father was almost immediately prostrated by sea-sickness, and for most +of the passage was confined to the stateroom, unable to render any +assistance in the care of the family. My mother bravely rose to the +emergency, caring for her sick husband and the restless children, and +bearing the weariness and discomfort of the voyage without a murmur. My +brother Joseph, being of an inquiring mind and full of restless energy, +was constantly wandering about the ship, exploring every new place, +talking with the sailors, trying to climb the ropes, and requiring +unceasing vigilance to keep him from harm. Little Susan, then just past +her first birthday, learned to walk on board the ship, and one of her +first exploits in climbing about was to upset a teapot of hot tea into +her bosom, making a bad scald of which she carries the scars to this +day, thus adding much to the care and anxiety of her mother. + +At last the weary weeks wore away, and their eyes were gladdened by the +sight of land. On the eighteenth of August, 1839, they made safe anchor +in the harbor of New York. From there an easy sail by the Sound brought +them to Hartford. Once more the luggage was mounted on a heavy wagon, +with space reserved for the family, and they were off on the ten-mile +drive over the mountains to Simsbury, their place of destination. + +As the afternoon was wearing away, they came to the top of the high hill +rising abruptly at the eastern end of the street of East Weatogue, +where their journey was cut short by the breaking down of the wagon. The +prospect which opened before them was beautiful indeed. The little +village which was to be their home nestled at the foot of the mountain +range, while fertile meadows stretched away in the distance, through +which the Farmington river with its wooded banks wound its peaceful way, +the horizon bounded by the range of mountains west of the town. It was a +lovely picture, but the way-worn travellers could not realize its +beauty, as they alighted from the broken wagon, and took their weary way +down the hill to the village, leaving the driver to repair the wagon and +follow later. My mother, walking on, came to a hospitable-looking home +and ventured to ask a drink for the tired children. A pleasant-faced +matron greeted them kindly, invited them in to rest, and offering my +mother a cup of tea, proceeded to regale the hungry children with bread +and molasses. This was their first welcome to their new home. My mother +rejoiced to find that her new friend was from the dear home land, also +that her husband was in the employ of the same firm. They became +lifelong friends, and in sickness and in health it was their delight to +show a sisterly kindness to each other. This good woman was "Auntie +Whitehead," a warm friend of our family, who has since joined my mother +in the heavenly home. + +At last, as the evening shadows were falling, the heavy wagon came +slowly down the mountain, and we were lodged in our first home in +America. It was an old-fashioned New England house, with long sloping +roof and lean-to running down behind. It is still standing and in fair +repair, just opposite the Cornish house, which stood by the old +schoolhouse in East Weatogue. One half the house was occupied by the +family of Mr. Joseph Eales, who was a member of the firm. We remained +there for a time, and afterwards removed to the house standing where Mr. +Aman Latimer's house now stands. But, desiring a more permanent home, my +father bought the farm owned by Mr. Roswell Phelps, lying just at the +foot of the mountain. It is now owned by Mr. Henry Ensign. My mother +rejoiced to feel that at last her wanderings were over and she was +settled in a home of her own. + +[Illustration: THE HOME IN EAST WEATOGUE] + +How plainly I can see it now! The plain house with its gambrel roof and +double front-doors kept secure by a stout oak bar resting in sockets of +iron; the narrow front hall, the family sitting-room on one side, with +the east door opening on the grassy yard; and the wide stone steps, our +only piazza. The parlor was on the west of the hall, with its ingrain +carpet and plain furniture, which then seemed quite fine to my childish +eyes. The best bed standing in the corner with the heavy English +counterpane was one of the conspicuous features of the room. Behind was +the long kitchen with its great fireplace, my mother's bedroom at one +end, and a smaller one for the children at the other. Plain and simple, +indeed, and even bare as compared with the homes of these days, as was +this home of our childhood, it was "sweet home" to us, for it was bright +with the love that made our lives all sunshine, and peace and +contentment were our constant guests. + +Two large buttonwood trees stood at the front gate, up to which led +some stone steps. By the street was an open shed under which wagons +could drive, and beyond was the garden with the great apple tree at the +top of it, flanked by peach trees, whose fruit was "sweet to our taste." +Behind the house was the well with its long sweep and its "oaken +bucket," which was our only refrigerator. It sometimes befell that a +luckless pail of cream or butter fell to the bottom. Then one of the +children was despatched in haste over the fields to borrow neighbor +Bissel's iron creepers, and great was the excitement as we watched the +grappling which surely brought up the pail, if not always the contents. +There, too, was the old pear tree, in the back garden, whose fruit was +so delicious as we ran out in the early morning to gather what had +fallen during the night; and the orchard with its long grass, often +trampled in our hasty search for the "golden sweets" which strewed the +ground. The hill rising at the back of it was crowned with the fine +spreading chestnut trees, which were such a joy to us in the autumn when +the frost had opened the burs and strewed the brown nuts on the ground. +Behind the house was the barn, with the cow which we early learned to +milk, and the white horse which carried the family to church on Sunday, +and my father on his semi-weekly journeys to the post office in +Hopmeadow. For daily mails were unknown in the peaceful valley then. The +yellow stage rumbled through the streets on its semi-weekly trip from +Hartford and was hailed with joy as a messenger from the great world +beyond. + +Across the brook and farther down the street was the little brown +schoolhouse, with its stiff hard benches, and open Franklin stove. +Behind was an old apple tree, and a barnyard flanked it on the north +side. There was a row of maples under which we played, and built stone +houses in the soft sand, making wonderful china closets of bricks and +shingles and filling them with bits of bright crockery laboriously +gathered from the children's homes and carried to school in our aprons. + +Early rising was the rule in our house, for the early breakfast was +always preceded by family prayers, from which none might be excused; +and after it my father went to his office and the children to school. We +were happy children then; our simple sports and homely pleasures had a +zest which, it seems to me, children in these days of multiplied means +of diversion know little of. The free life of the fields and woods; the +fun of driving the cows to and from the mountain pastures, and, in +spring, carrying home pails of maple sap, and boiling it into sugar; +scouring the mountain-sides and pastures for berries and nuts, picking +up apples and potatoes in the fall, by which we gained a little money +which was all our own; and, in winter, the joys of coasting down the +steep hill and far across the fields below by moonlight. The wonderful +snow-forts our brothers built and stormed, and the rides over the snow +behind the frisky steers on the ox-sled they made; in-doors the +home-made dolls and pleasant games, and in the evenings the delightful +stories and songs with which our mother entertained us--all these were +enjoyed with a relish so keen as to leave nothing more to be desired. + +As was most natural, my parents immediately connected themselves with +the church of their choice in their new home. The little band composing +the Methodist Episcopal church, which answered to the Wesleyan they had +left at home, had at that time no church edifice and were holding +Sabbath services in the schoolhouses, mostly at West Weatogue, about a +mile from our house. I well remember pleasant Sabbath morning walks down +the village street, through the "River Lane," bordered by a tall row of +Normandy poplars, over the bridge and by the sheep-fold of Squire Owen +Pettibone at the corner, where we were allowed, much to our delight, to +stop to look at the young lambs with their soft white coats and bright +eyes. I remember, too, the weekly evening prayer-meetings held at our +own schoolhouse at "early candle-light," when lamps and chairs were +brought in by the neighbors, and the simple service, generally conducted +by my father, was often as "the house of God and the gate of heaven" to +the earnest worshippers. It sometimes happened in the spring-time, when +the swollen river flooded the meadows and made the roads along its +banks impassable, that the brook which crossed our street was raised to +a small river, and the street could be crossed only by boats. When this +occurred on a Sabbath the young men would bring a boat, and to our great +delight we were rowed over, and the neighbors gathered at the +schoolhouse for a Sabbath service at which my father preached. + +His talents as a preacher and religious leader were soon perceived and +appreciated by the people, and his services were in much demand. It is +said that he preached in the schoolhouse at West Weatogue on the evening +after his arrival in Simsbury. In those early days he preached +frequently, supplying every alternate Sabbath for many of the weaker +churches in the vicinity which could not afford a regular pastor. He +preached in this way at North Canton, Granby, Bloomfield, Washington +Hill, Newfield, Burlington, and many other places. He would often start +off on Saturday afternoon for a drive of ten or fifteen miles, leaving +his little family to get to church on Sunday as best they could. In cold +weather he would wrap himself in his long cloak brought over from +England, and with the faithful white horse, go forth to wrestle with the +wintry winds and snows, often not returning till Monday. In 1840 the +Methodist Episcopal church edifice was built, on land donated by Squire +Ensign, a Congregationalist. My father, J. O. Phelps, Esquire, and Mr. +Edward C. Vining were appointed building-committee. Through their +earnest efforts, it was finally located at Hopmeadow, in spite of strong +opposition from some of the most influential members, who resided at +"Cases' Farms," now West Simsbury, and who favored its erection there. +It was said of my father by his pastor, Rev. I. Simmons, "He was one of +the most efficient workers and liberal givers in the erection of the +Simsbury church." A contribution was secured by his efforts from the +English firm to aid in building the church. It was a plain white +structure with long windows and green blinds. The steeple much resembled +that of the present Congregational church, but was smaller. They have +been not inaptly compared to two boxes piled on one another. The +pleasant-toned bell still hangs in the church tower, and it was music +in the ears of the little company of Methodists, when its clear notes +rang out over the meadows and hillsides, calling them to worship in a +church of their own. + +The interior was very simple: the plain pews with high doors; the +swinging gallery at the rear with the stiff green curtains on brass +rings across the front, which were drawn with all due ceremony when the +preliminary sounding of the tuning fork announced the beginning of +preparations for singing; the plain white pulpit with its purple velvet +cushion and hangings and straight seat cushioned with green baize, its +door closed and carefully buttoned after the minister had ascended the +narrow stairs; the high altar railing inclosing the communion table at +which it was so tiresome for children to kneel;--all these form a vivid +picture in my memory. Some years later an improvement(?) was introduced +which was thought to be a marvel of art, in the shape of a fresco behind +the pulpit. It represented two heavy curtains, supported by pillars on +each side, looped back by a large cord with immense dark tassels. This +was the wonder of our childish eyes for many years. Two large box stoves +stood near the entrance doors, at which I used to stand tremblingly to +warm myself after our cold ride in winter, while the stalwart young +sexton, whose rough manners concealed a kind heart, raked at the glowing +coals with his long poker and thrust in the big sticks which soon sent a +glow through our chilled hands and feet. The plain little church has +been transformed into a neat modern one with a corner tower,[4] and the +worshippers with whom my memory fills those pews all lie quietly +sleeping on the hillside in the neighboring cemetery. Only their +children remain to remind us of them and the good work they did in those +early days, but their memory is green, and the fruit of their labors is +enjoyed by their children to-day. + +In 1844 my father served as pastor of the Simsbury church, giving his +services that the church might free itself from debt, which it did. He +conducted during all those years a Bible class of ladies in the Sunday +School, by whom he was greatly appreciated and beloved. The Sabbaths of +those early days were far from being "days of rest" to my father and +mother. They were obliged to rise early to get the family ready for +church, leaving home at about half-past nine for the two-mile ride to +Hopmeadow. Then the two services with Sunday School between, and the +drive home occupied the time till four P. M. Then my mother had to +prepare the warm supper, and when all was over it was nearly time for +the evening prayers, which were never omitted. Not until the restless +children were in bed and soothed to sleep by the sweet hymns she used to +sing to us, was there a moment of quiet rest for the dear mother. My +father at that time always drove to Hopmeadow for the evening service, +and later one or two of the older children were allowed to go with him. +In pleasant weather, when my father was absent on his preaching tours, +my mother would take such of the children as were old enough, and walk +to church on Sabbath mornings, leaving the little ones with her friend +Mrs. Whitehead. + +One of the chief pleasures of that early time was the receipt of letters +from the dear mother and sisters left behind, for letters were indeed +like angels' visits then. They were full of tender memories and loving +messages for the dear ones over the sea. One of my most cherished +mementos is a letter written to my mother by my Grandmother Osler in +October, 1839, in which she speaks of her joy in hearing of our safe +arrival and settlement in our new home and of how much she missed my +mother, and her affectionate longing to see the children who were so +dear to her. She says,-- + +"Kiss the three darling children for me. I cannot express my love for +them and you, nor my feelings on account of the great distance between +us. I shed many tears in reading your much valued letter over and over +again. You are all generally uppermost in my thoughts, and I find you +wanting more than I can describe. I am very glad you like the appearance +of the country and that you were so kindly received. I hope the winters +will be more mild than we expected, and that by the blessing of the +Almighty you will all be happy and comfortable. Oh! how I would love to +see my beloved little Mary, and my darling little Joseph, who seems +inclined to remember me by expecting to find me in his new home, and I +should have been much pleased to see my dear, sweet, pretty little Susan +take to run off, but suppose the misfortune of pulling the hot tea over +into her tender bosom put her back some time. Pretty dear! I used to +love them all as if they were my own." + +She goes on to speak of her health and prospects, and in closing says,-- + +"I hope the Lord will give me strength according to my day, and by His +divine assistance, may I and all of you be led on by His grace in the +way to everlasting life." + +Such was the love and blessing which descended to us from our godly +ancestors. As nearly as I can learn, my grandmother Osler died in 1842, +about three years after our coming to America. I well remember my +mother's grief when the sad tidings came, and the black dress she wore +for some time afterward. Her sisters Julia and Philippa soon returned to +the Cape of Good Hope, where their brother and sisters were, and both +were married there, but my Aunt Julia only lived a short time, dying +soon after the birth of her first child. The sad news came to my mother +just before the birth of my sister Julia, and she was named for this +dear sister. My mother always loved dear old England with a right loyal +affection. She always spoke of it lovingly as "Home," and cherished a +longing desire to revisit it at some future day, but she never allowed +any feeling of homesickness to interfere with present duty. Her whole +heart was given to her family. It was her highest joy to make home +bright and happy for her husband and children, though her heart was +large enough to take in the church and the neighborhood and every one to +whom she might do a kindness. From year to year she toiled patiently +and quietly on, with very little to relieve the monotony of her life. +Vacations were a thing unheard of in that day, especially for women, and +though my father made frequent journeys to various parts of the country +on business, it was not thought of as possible that the mother could +leave her post. But her life, so far from being dreary or unsatisfying, +was bright with the love and confidence of her husband and the affection +of her children. These were her "joy and crown," the approval of the +Saviour she loved and served was her constant inspiration, and her +well-stored mind, and her fondness for good reading furnished pleasant +occupation for her leisure hours. + +So the years passed quietly and peacefully with little change in the +life of the family. Two other children came to bless the home, Ann Jane, +named for her two grandmothers, born February 23, 1842, and Julia Osler, +born June 14, 1845. I must not fail to make mention of one who played +quite an important part in the history of our family at this time. This +was a young woman named Lucinda Andrus, who came into the family April +1, 1843. She had employment in the factory and assisted my mother in +such ways as she could for her board. She was a woman of excellent +Christian character and great kindness of heart, though possessed of +strong peculiarities. She was warmly attached to my mother and the +children, and very self-sacrificing in her efforts to assist in every +possible way. She was, in this way, a member of our family for many +years, passing with us through scenes of joy and sorrow, always +identifying her interests with ours and giving the most faithful service +and unchanging friendship. She was a woman of shrewd good sense and +often quite witty, and her quaint remarks and amusing stories and songs +enlivened many an evening for the children. She was somewhat credulous, +and had great faith in dreams and omens, which we eagerly drank in, +somewhat to the discomfort of our mother, who was singularly free from +any trace of superstition, and was the very soul of truth in all her +conversation with her children. Lucinda married later in life old Mr. +Thomas Morton, who, as she herself allowed after his death, was not +always "the best of husbands," though she did think the minister "might +have said a little more about him at his funeral." Her married life was +burdened with hard work and poverty, but her last years were made quite +comfortable by the kindness of many friends who respected her and were +glad to assist her. She died in the autumn of 1896. She is remembered by +the young people of our family as "Aunt Lucinda." + +We come now to the time when the clouds gathered heavily over the happy +family, and its sweet light went out in darkness. My mother had not been +in her usual good health during the summer, and had been at times a +little low-spirited. On Monday, July 19, 1848, my father went on a short +business trip to Boston, and returning found my mother quite poorly. On +Friday she felt decidedly ill and asked Lucinda to remain at home to +assist her, which she gladly did. That evening my father, who was +suffering from severe headache, asked my mother to offer prayer at the +evening worship, as she often did, and Lucinda, whose recollection of +those scenes was very vivid, describes it as one of the most remarkable +prayers she ever heard. The mother's whole soul seemed drawn out in +special pleading for her children, that God would make them His own, and +would care for them if she was taken away from them. On Saturday she was +much worse, and on Sunday her condition was very alarming. The disease +having developed as malignant erysipelas, one of the most experienced +and skilful physicians from Hartford was called, a good nurse put in +charge, and all that human skill could do was done to save the life so +precious to us all. But all in vain. It became evident during Monday +night that the end was near, and toward morning the family were gathered +at her bedside for the last farewell. She called each separately, and +commended them to God with her dying blessing. + +Little Julia, only three years old, was in my father's arms, too young +to realize the sad parting. My mother asked, "Where is my little Annie?" +My father lifted her and she laid her hand on Annie's head, but could +not speak. My brother Joseph, always impulsive and warm-hearted, burst +into tears, and begged forgiveness for any trouble he might have caused +her. She spoke words of comfort to him and sank back exhausted. My +father asked her, "Is all well?" She answered, "All is well. It is well +with my soul." And so in the morning of July 27, 1848, at 6 A. M., +gently and peacefully passed away one of the purest and sweetest spirits +that ever brightened this dark world. Her lifework was finished, and she +"entered into the joy of her Lord." + +No relatives were near enough to comfort and help the family in this +time of trial, but neighbors and friends were unwearied in their +kindness and sympathy. One instance worthy of mention was that of a +young girl named Delia Foley, who was living with the Phelps family and +to whom my mother had shown kindness as a stranger. She volunteered her +services in preparing the dear form for burial, which was the more +remarkable as the disease was of such a nature that there was great fear +of contagion. This fact became known to me by accidentally finding Miss +Foley, who was now a gray-haired woman, in the family of Hon. Joshua +Hale of Newburyport, where she had been an honored and trusted servant +for nearly forty years. It was a great pleasure to me to meet her, and +to express to her, in such ways as I could, our gratitude for the great +kindness rendered to the living and to the dead in the years so long +gone by. I gladly record this as an instance of unselfish kindness all +too rare in a world like this. + +It was in the sultry heat of summer that our great loss occurred, and +the oppressive weather seemed to increase the burden of our sorrow. I +well remember the desolation which settled down over the home on the +evening of that first sorrowful day. To add to the gloom, the +storm-clouds gathered darkly. The picture is forever printed in my +memory. The father and his little motherless flock were alone in the +upper chamber. The rain fell in torrents, the thunder crashed, and every +flash of lightning lit up the surrounding country and showed the tall +row of poplars in the distant lane, standing stiff and straight against +the stormy sky. No wonder that my father gave way to the grief he could +no longer control, and the children mingled their tears and sobs with +his in unutterable sorrow. The funeral service was held in the Methodist +Episcopal church, which was filled with friends who loved and honored my +mother in life and sincerely mourned her death. A funeral sermon was +preached by her pastor, Rev. M. N. Olmstead, from Acts xxvi, 8,--"Why +should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise +the dead?"--in which the sorrowing family were led for comfort to the +glorious certainty of the resurrection; and afterwards the sad +procession took its way to the cemetery on the hillside. The little +children with their black bonnets and frocks were a pathetic picture +which appealed to the sympathy of every heart. The last solemn words +were said, and we left her there to the peaceful rest of those who sleep +in Jesus. The inscription on the stone above her resting-place--"Blessed +are the dead who die in the Lord"--was never more fitly applied. + +The months passed on, and life resumed its usual course, but the painful +vacancy was sadly felt in the family. A housekeeper was obtained who +did what she could to fill the dreadful void, and our faithful Lucinda +remained at her post. But there was no real harmony, and the children +began to show the need of a mother's care and love. In this dilemma my +father's thoughts were turned, as was natural, towards some one who +might fill the important place, and in February, 1849, he married Mrs. +Sarah G. H. Merritt. She was the daughter of one of the old and +excellent families of the town, and had been for years a friend of my +father and mother, and belonged to the same church. She was married when +quite young to Mr. James Merritt, a young man of much promise, and went +with him to Spring Hill, Alabama, where they were both engaged in +teaching. In little more than a year he died, leaving her a widow before +the birth of her first child, which occurred soon after. Her adopted +sister had married Mr. Rush Tuller, a merchant in good business at +Spring Hill, and with them she found a home and all needed sympathy and +help in this time of trial. She was a woman of strong character and most +indomitable energy, and rising above her sorrow, she bravely set +herself to the task of earning a support for herself and her child. She +remained in her position as teacher till her son was old enough to be +left, and then coming north she left him in the care of her mother and +grandmother, and returned to take up her work. She was a woman of very +attractive personality and pleasant manners, vivacious and entertaining +in conversation, and though she had not been without opportunities to +change her situation, she remained a widow about ten years. Such was the +person whom my father brought to us as our new mother, and to make us +happy again. There were no relatives to interfere or to make unpleasant +comparisons, and we received her with love and confidence, gladly +yielding to her the respect and obedience we had been accustomed to give +to our own mother, and so the family life flowed on harmoniously. It was +no light task she had undertaken, to train a family of five children, +and she addressed herself to it with her accustomed energy and courage. +She identified herself fully with the family, and made our interests +her own. She endeavored faithfully to improve our manners, to teach us +to have confidence in ourselves, and to develop the best that was in us, +and in every way to promote the best interests of us all. + +She brought with her as members of our family, her son, a boy of nine +years, and her mother. It might have been a question whether the new +elements would mingle harmoniously with the old, but in this case they +certainly did. We were delighted with the idea of a new brother, and he +and my brother Joseph, who was near his age, became and always continued +real brothers in heart. They were devotedly attached to each other, and +were inseparable till my brother's death. Her mother, Mrs. D. G. +Humphrey, was a lady of refinement and intelligence. Though delicate in +health and nervously weak, she bore with commendable patience the noise +of children, and the rushing life of such a large family, which was a +great contrast to the quietness of her former life. We rejoiced in the +acquisition of a grandma, as we had no remembrance of our own. She was +an honored member of our family for many years, and as many of her +tastes and sentiments were similar to my own, we were much together and +enjoyed each other's society. + +The schools in our town were very unsatisfactory, and when I reached the +age of fifteen it was thought that some better advantages should be +given me. Accordingly, I was sent to Wilbraham Academy, one of the +oldest and best schools under Methodist auspices in all that region. I +was to room with my friend, Miss Mary Weston, of Simsbury, but as she +was not quite ready when the term began, I had to begin my experience +alone. I was taken by my father and mother in a carriage to Wilbraham, a +distance of about thirty miles. I was full of anticipation, and all was +well as long as they were with me, but I shall never forget the +heart-sinking which overwhelmed me when they left me the next day. When +I settled down at evening in my little bare room alone, I could not keep +the tears from falling as I thought of the pleasant home circle, and +heartily wished myself among them. The school buildings were in sharp +contrast to the beautiful and nicely adapted appointments of most of +the schools and colleges of to-day. They were plain to severity, and +some of them showed marks of years of hard usage. The halls and rooms of +our dormitory were uncarpeted. Each little room was furnished with a bed +with dark chintz spread, a small study table, two wooden chairs, a +little box stove for burning wood, and a triangular board fastened in +the corner, with a white muslin curtain, for a wash-stand, with a small +bookcase above it. These, with a small mirror, completed the furniture, +and dreary enough it looked to me on that sad evening. But with the +young, though "weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the +morning," and as my room-mate soon came, and I began to be acquainted +with the students and interested in my studies, I was very happy. The +two years I spent there were among the happiest and most profitable of +my life. My sister Susan joined me there the second year, and afterward +my brother Joseph. He was also sent later to a school for boys in +Norwich, Connecticut, and Susan afterwards attended a private school in +Milford, Connecticut. My sisters Annie and Julia were educated in the +Hartford schools. Annie also studied music at Music Vale Seminary, +Connecticut. Brother James Merritt studied with a private tutor, Mr. T. +G. Grassie, of Amherst College. + +[Illustration: THE HOME ON CHESTNUT HILL] + +It was the wish of my father that Joseph should have a college +education, but though he had a very bright mind, and was very literary +in his tastes, and himself a good writer, his choice was strongly for a +mechanical training. Accordingly, he was placed with the firm of Lincoln +Bros. of Hartford to learn the business of a machinist, and afterwards +worked with Woodruff & Beach of the same city. He became an expert in +the business, and some of the finest work was entrusted to him. + +I should mention here the birth of two other children who were most +welcome additions to the family circle--George Bickford Davey, named for +the business partners, who was born March 18, 1852, and Sarah Jennette, +born October 26, 1857. + +The year 1857 was one of severe financial crisis. Business of all kinds +was almost at a stand-still, and hundreds of workmen were everywhere +discharged. The younger men of course were the first to go, and both +Joseph and James, being unemployed, resolved to set off for the West and +take any chance that offered. After a short experience as farmers' help, +they both obtained schools in Illinois. This, however, continued but a +short time, as business revived, and Joseph came home and took a +position as machinist in the factory. James remained West, and was with +his uncle Humphrey's family in Quincy most of the time till he settled +later on a farm of his own. + +That year was also marked by deep and extensive religious interest, and +both brothers became Christians during that year. So all of our family +were united in their religious life, as in all other things. In +December, 1859, a sad accident cast its dark shadow over us. My father's +factory was destroyed by fire. It was about 8 A. M. My father was +preparing to go to Hartford, and I was standing by him near a window, +when suddenly a sheet of flame shot from beneath the eaves of the +factory, lifting the roof, and instantly the wooden building was +enveloped in flames. The alarm and excitement were intense. A crowd soon +collected, and every effort was made to check the fire and to save those +in danger. But the explosion had done its deadly work, and eight of the +girls employed were instantly killed, while others were rescued with +great difficulty and were badly burned. My brother Joseph, who was at +that time employed in the machine department, found himself almost +without warning buried beneath a mass of falling timbers, while flames +and smoke poured in all about him. He managed to extricate himself, and +made a brave dash for his life. Carrying the window with him, he plunged +into the race-way of the water-wheel, and so escaped, though terribly +burned. The sad occurrence shrouded the town in gloom. The funeral of +the eight unfortunate girls was an event long to be remembered. The +company did everything in its power to care for the sufferers, and to +help the afflicted families, bearing all expenses and erecting a +monument to the dead. + +My brother lingered through months of terrible suffering. For some time +his life was despaired of, but at last, by the blessing of God on the +efforts of the most skilful physicians, and with good nursing, he slowly +recovered. His nervous system, however, had received a shock from which +he never fully recovered. As mother was not at all well at that time, +most of the day nursing fell to me, while kind friends freely offered +their services for the nights. It was a long and trying experience and +was followed for me with quite a serious illness, but I always rejoiced +in the privilege of ministering to him in this time of greatest need. + +In the autumn of 1860 occurred the exciting political campaign which +resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United +States. I need not describe here the gathering of the clouds nor the +bursting of the storm of civil war, whose mutterings had long been heard +in the distance. My brother was elected a member of the Connecticut +Legislature for 1861, and, though the youngest member, he was very +popular and made a fine record as a speaker on the floor of the House. +The war was the absorbing topic of the time. Energetic measures were +used to raise troops in response to the call of the President. A +committee of the legislature, of which my brother was one, was appointed +for this purpose. He threw himself into the cause of his country with +all the ardor of his nature. As he labored to induce others to enlist, +the conviction grew upon him that he must go himself, or he could not +ask others to do so, and when the news of the disaster at Bull Run +filled the country with dismay, the question was settled for him. Duty +called and he must go. The company of young men he had raised chose him +for its Captain, and in November, 1861, leaving his home and promising +business prospects, he with his company, Co. H, joined the Twelfth +Connecticut regiment, which was soon encamped at Hartford for drill. His +health was far from strong, and our family physician declared he should +never have consented to his going, but he passed the examination and was +accepted. He was very popular with his men, and they were ready to do +and dare anything with him. + +The regiment was encamped at Hartford for the most of the winter, and in +the spring was ordered to join Gen. Butler in his expedition against New +Orleans. Before the departure, my brother was presented with a beautiful +sword and sash by his fellow-townsmen, as a testimonial of their +appreciation of his bravery. They left Hartford Feb. 26, 1862. The ship +was greatly crowded, and the voyage was made with many discomforts, but +on March 8 they reached Ship Island, where they were encamped for some +weeks. They were not ordered up to New Orleans until just after the +taking of the city, much to the disappointment of the young Captain, who +was ambitious to see a little of actual warfare. They were stationed at +Carrollton just above the city. The situation was low and unhealthy, and +my brother, who was greatly weakened by an attack of dysentery while at +Ship Island, was poorly able to resist the malaria of the region. He +felt his danger, and wrote home that if he felt it would be honorable, +he should be tempted to resign and come home. But as the young men he +had influenced to enlist had not the privilege of resigning, he could +not feel that he ought to leave them. He was attacked by typhoid fever +soon after the hot weather became intense. He was ill a few days in his +tent, but as he grew worse, he was removed to the regimental hospital, a +large house near the camp, where he had comfortable quarters and +excellent care. Kind comrades stood about his bed, anticipating with +brotherly kindness his every want. But the most skilful surgeons and +faithful nurses were powerless to save him. His system was too much +weakened to resist the disease, and after a short illness he passed +quietly away on the afternoon of Saturday, June 21, exchanging the +scenes of strife for the land of everlasting peace. + +The sad news was flashed over the wires, carrying the deepest sorrow to +the home he had so lately left. The family gathered and waited in silent +grief for further particulars. A letter from his friend and First +Lieutenant, George H. Hanks of Hartford, soon told the sad story. He +gave full particulars of his Captain's last hours, and spoke of a +conversation they had just before his sickness, in which they mutually +promised that in case of the death of either, the survivor should take +charge of his effects and inform his friends, and said that he had +requested that if he should fall, his body should be sent home to +Simsbury. Lieut. Hanks says, "I promised, and to the extent of my +ability I have carried out his request, assisted by some of his townsmen +and personal friends who were at his bedside at the last hour. The body +is sent by steamer _McLellan_, in a cask of spirits, carefully fastened +in a sitting posture, dressed in full military uniform, and when it was +adjusted he looked so natural, one might imagine it was our dear Captain +sitting asleep in his chair, with his hands folded across his lap. But +alas! it is the long, silent sleep of death. Dear afflicted friends, it +is the saddest duty of my life, thus to return to you him who a few +months since took leave of you so buoyant and hopeful, and many a tear +have I shed while performing it. Possessing but few faults and many +virtues, generous to a fault, and honorable to the extreme, he was +universally esteemed and beloved by the entire regiment." + +On arriving at New York, the body was transferred to a metallic casket +and sent to Simsbury. It was met at Plainville by a delegation of the +citizens, who with saddened hearts received him who had recently gone +out from them brave and bright and hopeful. The sad home-coming was +almost overwhelming to the family. They gathered sorrowfully to mingle +their tears for his early death. The body was taken to the Methodist +Episcopal church, but the public service was held in the Congregational +church, as the other was too small to accommodate the numbers who wished +to attend. The large church was filled with a throng of citizens of our +own and neighboring towns. Comrades, friends, companions, the Masonic +fraternity, all came to mingle their tears and sympathies with the +family and relatives, for the brave young life so early sacrificed, and +to do honor to him whom they all loved and lamented so sincerely. The +funeral discourse was given by the former pastor and dear friend of the +family, Rev. Ichabod Simmons of New Haven, from the text, II Timothy +iv:3--"A good soldier." It was a beautiful and appropriate tribute to +the departed, with words of hope and comfort for those who mourned him +so truly. After the service he was borne tenderly from the Methodist +church to his last rest in the hillside cemetery where he had requested +to be laid beside his beloved mother. The solemn burial service of the +Masonic order closed the services, and so the second great sorrow +settled down upon our home. + +My brother was a young man of fine natural endowment and a most genial +disposition. He was greatly beloved at home, and popular everywhere, +especially among the young people, with whom he was always a leader. Mr. +Simmons said of him at his funeral: "It is a part of my mission to-day +to say that a young man of promise has fallen. An earnest and close +debater, a great reader of history, with a good memory, and an +imagination sparkling with poetry and beauty, he would have stood high +among the men of his day. He was a close thinker and reasoner, but never +anchored outside the clear, deep waters of the Bible. He was keenly +sensitive to the ridiculous, and on occasions could be very sarcastic, +yet his tenderness of feeling prevented his wit from wounding the most +sensitive. His nature was cast in a merry mould, his wit was original, +and in the social circle he was the happy pivot on which the pleasant +moments swung. The death of our friend is a general loss to this +community. He was a representative spirit among you. As a citizen you +had already learned to rank him high in your esteem. His large circle of +young friends are especially called to mourn. A bright light has gone +out among you." + +The affliction fell with crushing force upon my father. His heart was +almost broken, and it was years before he recovered from the blow. + +The events which now came into our family life were of a more cheerful +nature. The first break in the home circle was occasioned by my marriage +to Rev. John W. Dodge of Newburyport, Massachusetts, which occurred +November 7, 1860. Mr. Dodge was a graduate of Amherst and Andover, and +had at that time accepted a call to be pastor of the Congregational +church of Gardiner, Maine. Our acquaintance began by his coming to +Simsbury, in November, 1855, to teach a select school. His friend, Mr. +T. G. Grassie of Amherst, had taught it the year before with great +acceptance and was engaged to return, and as our family were greatly +interested in him, my mother had promised to take him as a boarder. He +was taken very ill during the fall term of college, and being unable to +fulfil his engagement, he sent his friend as substitute. So apparently +trivial events often change the whole current of our lives. We became +engaged during that winter, which was Mr. Dodge's junior year in +college. I attended his graduation in August, 1857, accompanied by my +cousin, Sarah Jane Tuller, and visited his home in Newburyport in the +summer of 1859. Though hampered by delicate health and small means, he +completed his theological course at Andover in 1860, and our marriage +took place as soon as he secured a suitable parish. + +The first wedding in the family was a great event, and no pains were +spared to make it a delightful occasion. It was an evening wedding, +with about fifty guests. My sister Susan was bridesmaid, and was +attended by my husband's brother Austin as best man. Our dresses were +similar, of figured grey silk, mine being trimmed with white silk and +lace, and I wore a bunch of white Japonicas. The ceremony was performed +by our friend and pastor, Rev. I. Simmons, assisted by Rev. Allen +McLean, the blind pastor of the Congregational church, to whom I was +much attached.[5] A wedding supper was served, followed by a pleasant +social evening. Mr. Dodge's mother and brother were the only friends of +his who could be present. The good-byes were said early the next day and +we set our faces toward our new home. After several pleasant days in +Boston, we went to Newburyport, only to be met by the sad tidings that +Mr. Dodge's father had died suddenly on the very day of our marriage, +and that they were delaying the funeral till our arrival. It was a sad +home-coming and clouded the brightness of those first days. We remained +in Newburyport several weeks, and Mr. Dodge prepared his first sermon as +pastor, in the study of his old friend and minister, Dr. Dimmick, who +had recently died. + +We were most kindly received by the people at Gardiner. Mr. Dodge was +ordained December sixth, 1860. The sermon was preached by Dr. Chickering +of Portland, and the ordaining prayer was offered by the venerable David +Thurston. We found a pleasant home for ourselves, and my father and +mother and Mother Dodge came to assist in our going to housekeeping. Our +outfit would seem simple indeed to the young people of this day, but +love and content abode with us, and we were happy. Our first great +sorrow and disappointment came in the loss of a little one to whose +coming we had looked forward with joy. This was followed by months of +weakness and ill-health for me. My husband's health also gave way in the +spring, making necessary a long summer vacation. Six months of this were +spent in tenting on Salisbury beach, which resulted in great gain to us +both. Our three years' pastorate in Gardiner was pleasant and +successful, but a second break in health, in the fall of 1863, made a +resignation necessary, and we came to Newburyport to spend the winter +with Mother Dodge. In December, through the kindness of his friend, +Captain Robert Bayley, my husband was offered a voyage in one of his +vessels to the West Indies. He sailed for Porto Rico in the _Edward +Lameyer_, commanded by Captain Charles Bayley, and received much benefit +and enjoyment from the six weeks' trip. + +After coming home he supplied for some time at Northboro, Massachusetts, +and in the autumn he received a call to Gardner, Massachusetts, which he +did not accept. Later, however, he went to Yarmouth, Massachusetts, +where he supplied for six months for Rev. J. B. Clark, who was with the +Christian Commission in the Army of Virginia. We found a pleasant home +with Mr. Clark's mother in the parsonage, and greatly enjoyed this +experience, and as it proved it prepared the way for our chief life +work. On the return of Mr. Clark, in July, 1865, we went to Hampton, +New Hampshire, where my husband was immediately called to the vacant +pulpit of the Congregational church. A pleasant pastorate of three years +there was followed in 1868 by a call to succeed Mr. Clark, who had +resigned as pastor of the Yarmouth church. During our second year in +Hampton we had adopted a little girl, whom we called Mary Webster. She +was at this time nearly three years old. + +We broke up our Hampton home in the cold, dark, December days, and I +shall never forget how delightful the change seemed to the warmth and +cheer of the cosy Yarmouth parsonage, where we spent so many happy +years. A pastorate of twenty-three years followed. The union between +pastor and people was remarkable. Nothing occurred to ruffle the harmony +during all those years. The best of our life work was done in Yarmouth, +and it was amply rewarded by the love and confidence of our people. A +new church edifice was built the year after our coming; and though the +strain of feeling was very great in consequence of a change of +location, and threatened at one time to divide the society entirely, the +crisis was safely passed with the loss of only two or three families, +and the attachment of all to the pastor who had led them safely through +the conflict remained unshaken. + +In the summer of 1871 we adopted a boy of nine months. He was a sweet +and pleasant child, and for several years was a source of much comfort. +But as he grew older seeds of evil all unsuspected began to spring up, +and resulted later in bitter disappointment. + +On the fourteenth of November, 1875, our dear daughter, Susan Webster, +was born. It was a boon we had not dared to hope for. Our home was +radiant with joy. The people showered congratulations, and gifts poured +in to attest the general joy at the advent of the parsonage baby. Our +Thanksgiving Day that year was one to be remembered. + +This happy year was followed by one of severe trial. My husband's +health, never very strong, broke down entirely, and a long season of +complete nervous prostration followed. He kept his bed for months, and +at last rallied very slowly, appearing again in his pulpit after an +interval of nine months. The love of our people stood the trying test +bravely. They continued the salary and supplied the pulpit, and were +unwearied in their kindness and sympathy. + +In the spring of 1882 we had the long-desired privilege of a journey to +Europe. Our people granted us a vacation of six months, and the means +were furnished by my father. We left our little Susie with my sister +Susan, the other children remaining with friends in Yarmouth. It was a +season of great enjoyment and profit. We visited England, Scotland, +France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Returning, we +spent some pleasant weeks with friends in London and Cornwall, and came +home greatly benefited in mind and body. + +On the 22d of April, 1884, Mother Dodge passed to the heavenly rest. Her +home had been with us for many years. She had been failing perceptibly +for some time, and disease of the heart developed, which caused her +death, after an illness of a few days. Her funeral was attended in +Yarmouth by Rev. Bernard Paine of Sandwich, and afterward she was taken +to her old home in Newburyport, and a service was held at the North +Church, conducted by Rev. Mr. Mills. She was then laid to rest in +Highland Cemetery, by the side of her husband. She was a woman of strong +character and large heart, and her life was full of devotion and +self-sacrifice for her family, as well as usefulness in the church. + +In the spring of 1889 we took a very delightful trip to California, +visiting the famed Yosemite valley, and spending some time very +pleasantly with my brother James's family in Oakland. Soon after our +return I was seized with a very severe nervous illness which centered in +my head, causing terrible attacks of vertigo. It resulted in shattering +my health completely, and was followed by ten years of invalidism. The +next year my husband again suffered a serious break-down, followed by +another long season of nervous prostration. It was the result, in part, +of over-exertion in revival services, joined with unusual labors in +connection with the quarter-millennial celebration of the town of +Yarmouth. As his strength slowly returned, he attempted to take up his +work again, with the aid of an assistant; but it soon became evident +that he was unequal to the task, and he was reluctantly obliged to +resign the office of pastor. He was dismissed October 20, 1891. We +removed to Newburyport November 7 of the same year, and made a home for +ourselves there on land previously purchased, adjoining my husband's old +home. We occupied our new house for the first time June 2, 1892. It has +proved a comfort and joy to us, and we have both greatly improved in +health. + +I cannot close this chapter of our history without making special +mention of our dear friends, Dr. and Mrs. Eldridge of Yarmouth, who +played such an important part in our life there, whose friendship and +sympathy were so constant and helpful during all the years, and whose +frequent and well-chosen gifts added so much to the brightness of our +home life, especially of the great kindness of Dr. Eldridge in providing +a night nurse at his own expense all through my husband's first long +illness. They have both passed to their reward, but their memory is a +treasure to us. Our people also manifested their love and appreciation +by numerous and valuable gifts. A full china dinner and tea service were +given us at our china wedding, and an elegant set of silver forks and a +fine cake-basket at our silver anniversary. A costly and beautiful +silver loving-cup was their parting gift to my husband. It was +appropriately inscribed with the text of his last sermon, "God is Love," +significant of the character of his whole life work. The girls of my +mission circle also presented a silver tray and tea service to me. +These, and innumerable tokens of love scattered all along the way, form +a chain of adamant to bind our hearts to the dear friends of those happy +days, many of whom have gone before us to the heavenly home. + +In April, 1896, Susie having left Wellesley College, her father took her +abroad. They were accompanied by her friend and classmate, Miss Effie A. +Work, of Akron, Ohio. My husband's illness on the way obliged them to +cut short their trip and return home, and another long illness followed. +He has now recovered, and my own health having greatly improved, we now +gladly "thank God and take courage." + + +After an interval of some years, caused by returning ill-health, I take +up again the story of our family life. Sadly enough, the first record +must be of the great sorrow which came to us in the years 1903 and 1904. +On the morning of August 8, 1903, my husband was taken very suddenly ill +with an attack of congestion of the brain, while standing by his library +table. He passed a day of great suffering and semi-unconsciousness, and +at night was carried up to his bed, from which he only arose after +months of utter prostration. He rallied at last very slowly, after an +alarming relapse, and so far recovered as to be able to come down-stairs +and walk about the house and mingle with the family at the table and +otherwise socially. He was able to read a little and join in +conversation, and greatly enjoyed his daily drives. On the evening of +June 14 he was suddenly seized with a hemorrhage of the brain as he was +retiring for the night, and became entirely unconscious. Every possible +effort was made to arouse him, but all was unavailing. He lingered +unconscious until the evening of June 17, when he passed quietly away, +and entered into the "rest that remaineth for the people of God." My +daughter Susan was absent from home, having gone to Simsbury, to act as +bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousin, Susie Alice Ensign. She +returned as speedily as possible, only to find that her father was +unable to recognize her. She was with him at the last, holding his hand +in hers as he passed over the dark river. The funeral services were held +in the North Church on Tuesday, June 21. Prayer was offered at the house +by Rev. Doctor Cutler of Ipswich, a lifelong friend. The procession +entering the church was led by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Newcomb, reading the +selections beginning, "I am the resurrection and the life." The music +was by the Temple Male Quartet, who sang the hymns, "Rock of Ages" and +"Abide with Me." Remarks followed by Rev. Dr. Cutler and Rev. Bartlett +Weston, both intimate friends, also a few appropriate remarks by the +pastor. The burial was at Oak Hill, the committal service being read by +Dr. Hovey, and our dear one was laid to rest in a quiet, beautiful spot +overlooking the meadows and hills he had loved so well. A granite +monument in the form of a St. Martin's cross, bearing the inscriptions, +"Resurgam," and "I am the resurrection and the life," marks his +resting-place. Beautiful flowers in profusion were sent by relatives and +friends and by different organizations in the city in which he had been +prominent in token of the love and esteem in which he was held. The +Yarmouth church, where most of his life work was done, sent two +representatives, and an elegant wreath of ferns and orchids. + + +The second marriage in the family was that of my sister Susan. She was +married July 21, 1863, to Ralph H. Ensign, a son of one of the oldest +and best families of the town. Their friendship began in early youth, +and was fitly crowned by this most happy marriage. The wedding took +place in the Methodist Episcopal church in Simsbury, and the ceremony +was performed by Rev. Arza Hill, then pastor of the church. It was in +the early days of the Civil War, not long after the death of my brother +Joseph. The family were in mourning at the time, and the bride made no +change, but was married in a gown of white crêpe. The reception at the +home consisted only of the two families, and as it was a time of alarms, +the men of the family had been called in different directions, so that +only the two fathers were present. The wedding was followed by a bridal +trip to Niagara. + +Mr. and Mrs. Ensign made their home in Simsbury, occupying the house on +the hill now occupied by their daughter, Mrs. Robert Darling. Mr. Ensign +was in the fuse business with my father, and soon became a member of the +firm. He has been its head ever since my father's death, and it has +steadily prospered under his leadership. Their present home, "Trevarno," +was built in 1881, and they have lived there since that time. They have +travelled a great deal, especially in England and France. Their +children: Sarah Isabel, who died at the age of four years, Joseph +Ralph, Susan Alice, Julia Whiting, and Edward William, who died at the +age of three. They also reared to manhood a child, Ralph Newbert, whom +they took into their family shortly after the death of their youngest +child, Edward. + +Next in order was my sister Julia, who was married on May 29, 1886, to +Rev. Charles H. Buck of Neponset, Massachusetts, at that time pastor of +the Simsbury Methodist church. He was a graduate of Wesleyan University +and a young man of much promise, which has been abundantly fulfilled in +his ministerial career. They were married in the Methodist church by my +father and Rev. Mr. Simmons, and left at once on their wedding journey. +On their return they removed to Westville, Connecticut, where Mr. Buck +had just been appointed pastor. Since then, Mr. Buck has filled many of +the most important appointments in the New York East Conference, serving +large churches in Brooklyn, Stamford, Bristol, New Britain, and others. +He has always been greatly beloved and appreciated by his people and +urged to return to them, particularly at Bristol, where he had three +pastorates. When he retired from the active ministry in 1900, he was +presented by his people there with a magnificent loving cup, as well as +other tokens of their affection. Mr. Buck had previously been given the +degree of D. D., and he was Treasurer of Wesleyan University for a +number of years after his retirement, besides holding other prominent +positions. The Bucks have always been great travellers, both in this +country and abroad, and spent a year travelling in the far East, in +1900-01, before settling in a home of their own. On their return, Dr. +Buck was for a time Presiding Elder in the New York East Conference and +also pastor of a large church in Brooklyn. In 1903 they built a +beautiful Colonial house at Yonkers, New York, on land overlooking the +Hudson River, where they now live, having their daughter and her +interesting family near them. + +They adopted two children: William Henry and Sarah Humphrey. + + +On the 19th of October, 1866, my sister Annie was married to L. +Stoughton Ellsworth of Windsor, Connecticut. He came of the straitest +of Puritan stock, including the historic Ellsworths and Edwardses of +Windsor, and has most creditably borne up the reputation of those +families. The ceremony took place in the Methodist church and was +performed by his brother-in-law, Rev. C. H. Buck, who was assisted by +Rev. J. W. Dodge. They resided for a short time in Windsor, Connecticut, +after which they removed in April, 1867, to Oakland, California, where +Mr. Ellsworth had charge of a branch of the fuse business, which had +been established there. They remained there only a few years. Two +children were born to them there, but both died very young, which +hastened their return to Connecticut, in the autumn of 1871. They +settled on a fine farm in East Weatogue, but in 1889 they built and +occupied their present residence in Hopmeadow, and Mr. Ellsworth also +became a member of my father's firm. Their children: Lucy Stoughton, +George Toy, Annie Stoughton, Henry Edwards, John Stoughton. + +My brother George was married October 6, 1875, to Mary Seymour of +Granby. They were married at the bride's home by Rev. C. H. Buck, and +took a wedding trip to Canada. They lived afterwards in my father's +family, as George was associated in the business. There were no living +children. + +My sister Jennie was married April 19, 1876, to Mr. Charles E. Curtiss +of Simsbury. They lived for a short time with Mr. Curtiss' parents, and +then removed to Westfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Curtiss was afterwards +taken into my father's business, and they lived in the house adjoining +his on the hill. Their children: Joseph Toy and Grace Gilbert. + +Having been divorced from Mr. Curtiss, my sister Jennie married Mr. +Charles A. Ensign, December 2, 1890. They settled in a very pleasant +home in Tariffville, where they have since lived, with the exception of +a short residence in Ottawa, Canada.[6] No children. + +[Illustration: JOSEPH TOY] + +On November 7, 1873, our grandmother, Mrs. D. G. Humphrey, who had long +been an honored and valued member of our family, died at the age of +81. She was a very intelligent, and interesting woman, and was loved and +mourned by us all. + +My brother George died March 25, 1881, after a long and trying illness, +which eventually weakened him in mind as well as body. + +My stepmother, Sarah G. H. Toy, died September 24, 1881. She had a long +illness, resulting from a shock of apoplexy which partially paralyzed +her and ended in softening of the brain. I was with her when she passed +away, and closed her eyes for the last long sleep. She was a brilliant +and interesting woman, a devoted wife, and a kind mother to the children +whose care she undertook. + +After her death my father married Mary Seymour Toy, April 11, 1882. One +child was born to them, Josephine Seymour, born January 19, 1884. They +continued to live in the house on the hill until some years after my +father's death, which occurred when Josephine was three years old. As +she grew older and the question of a suitable education for her arose, +Mrs. Toy removed to Hartford, and the old house was closed. It was +later divided into two parts; the back portion was moved away and used +as a small tenement for the employees of the factory, while the rest was +rented as it stood. Later, in 1904, it also was removed to its present +position just back of the old site, where Mr. Joseph Ensign's house now +stands. Mrs. Toy and Josephine settled in a very pleasant home in +Hartford, and the latter attended Miss Barbour's school, and later went +for two years to Miss Porter's school in Farmington. On June 5, 1907, +she was married to Mr. Frederick Starr Collins, a son of one of the old +and prominent families of Hartford. The marriage was a very happy one, +especially as Josephine and her husband still remained with her +mother.[7] + +On the second of April, 1887, my father entered into rest. He had been +growing rather more feeble for some time. He was very ill during most of +the winter, and was confined to his bed a great part of the time. His +trouble was of such a nature that it was impossible for him to lie down, +which was very distressing, but he bore his sufferings with great +fortitude and patience. He improved as the spring came on, and was able +to walk about the house, and had even been out of doors once or twice. I +had not been able to go to see him during the winter, but on the last of +March I went to Simsbury. He was occupied by business on the first day +of April, so that I did not see him, but on the morning of the second, I +went in a driving snowstorm to see him. He was just coming out of his +room as I came in. I was greatly struck by his altered and feeble +appearance, but he received me cheerfully, and we talked pleasantly +together for an hour. His physician, Dr. R. A. White, came in at that +time, and suggested that he be given a little liquid nourishment. As he +attempted to swallow it, there was a struggle, and he threw back his +head, groaning heavily. I took his head in my arms, and in an instant +he had passed away. We laid him quietly down, and even amid our tears, +it was a relief to see him lying peacefully after his winter's +sufferings. The funeral took place in the Methodist church. His pastor, +Rev. C. W. Lyon, officiated, assisted by Rev. C. P. Croft. The +procession passed up the aisle, preceded by the pastor reading the +beautiful words of the burial service, "I am the resurrection and the +life." The choir sang "Servant of God, well done," and "It is well with +my soul." Mr. Lyon preached from the text, "I have fought a good fight +... I have kept the faith," and the choir sang, "Thy will be done." + +Two wreaths were laid upon the casket, one of white callas, and in the +center was a sheaf of wheat. The church was thronged with friends and +neighbors who came to pay their last tribute of love and respect. Over +one hundred of the employees of the firm were present. The bearers were +S. C. Eno, D. B. McLean, A. G. Case, Erwin Chase, J. N. Race, and A. S. +Chapman. So he was carried forth from the church of which he had so +long been a pillar, and laid to rest on the hillside, in the midst of +his family who had gone before. So closed a long, honored and useful +life. "The memory of the just is blessed." + + + + +GRANDCHILDREN + + +SUSAN WEBSTER DODGE, born November 14, 1875. + +MARY WEBSTER DODGE (adopted), born January 24, 1866. + +GEORGE TOY DODGE (adopted), born June 7, 1872. + +SARAH ISABEL ENSIGN, born December 19, 1864; died January 25, 1869. + +JOSEPH RALPH ENSIGN, born November 24, 1868; + _married_ Mary J. Phelps, April 5, 1894. + _Child_: MARY PHELPS, born February 9, 1902. + +SUSAN ALICE ENSIGN, born September 7, 1873; + _married_ Rev. William Inglis Morse, June 15, 1904. + _Child_: SUSAN TOY, born July 4, 1905. + +JULIA WHITING ENSIGN, born October 3, 1878; + _married_ Robert Darling, May 14, 1902. + _Child_: ROBERT ENSIGN, born September 19, 1904. + +EDWARD WILLIAM ENSIGN, born July 5, 1881; died June 9, 1884. + +LUCY STOUGHTON ELLSWORTH, born February 1, 1868; died April 13, 1870. + +GEORGE TOY ELLSWORTH, born April 24, 1869; died October 24, 1869. + +ANNIE STOUGHTON ELLSWORTH, born September 22, 1873; + _married_ Emmet Schultz, April 16, 1895. + +HENRY EDWARDS ELLSWORTH, born March 27, 1878; + _married_ Susan Hotchkiss Starr, February 11, 1903. + _Children_: JOHN EDWARDS, born September 15, 1904; MARY AMELIA, born + July 30, 1907; JANE OSLER, born December 16, 1908. + +JOHN STOUGHTON ELLSWORTH, born August 21, 1883; + _married_ Lida Burpee, July 15, 1905. + _Child_: JOHN STOUGHTON, JR., born June 16, 1907. + +WILLIAM HENRY BUCK (adopted), born March 6, 1870; + _married_ Sadie Fielding, April 25, 1893. + _Child_: JULIA, born November 3, 1893. + +SARAH HUMPHREY BUCK (adopted), born June 22, 1872; + _married_ Dr. Albert Cushing Crehore, July 10, 1894. + _Children_: DOROTHY DARTMOUTH, born May 17, 1895; VIRGINIA + DAVENPORT, born February 4, 1900; VICTORIA LOUISE, born February + 4, 1900; FLORENCE ENSIGN, born August 21, 1903, died November 10, + 1905; JULIA OSLER, born December 15, 1906. + +JOSEPH TOY CURTISS, born December 16, 1878; + _married_ Abigail Goodrich Eno, December 16, 1899. + _Children_: JOSEPH TOY, JR., born May 8, 1901; AUSTIN ENO, born June + 15, 1907. + +GRACE GILBERT CURTISS, born September 26, 1883; + _married_ William Pollard Lamb, May 11, 1904. + _Children_: WILLIAM POLLARD, JR., born December 28, 1906; RICHARD + HUMPHREY, born February 23, 1909. + +JOSEPHINE TOY COLLINS, born July 5, 1909. + + + + +APPENDIX + + + + +APPENDIX + + +The following letter from Miss Maude Divine, a granddaughter of my +mother's Aunt Susan, gives a little different account of the events of +Benjamin Osler's life, as her mother knew them. She says: + +"Our great-grandfather, Benjamin Osler, was a merchant in Gibraltar and +Cadiz from about 1814. Not doing well, he decided to try trading to the +West Indies, and bought a small vessel and fitted it with merchandise. +His son, Joseph, who had been a midshipman in the Navy, went with him, +but died at Trinidad of yellow fever. On the way home, grandfather's +vessel was seized by a French privateer, and he was imprisoned, where he +remained some time, unable to communicate with his family. Finally they +received information of his whereabouts, through the Free Masons, and an +exchange of prisoners being arranged, he came home, a helpless cripple. + +"Just at that time South Africa was being much talked of, and he thought +he would try his fortune there. He brought out most of his family, my +grandmother being the eldest. He never recovered his health, and died +about a year afterwards. Our great-grandmother then returned to England +with the younger children. My grandmother, having married Lieutenant +Coleman of the Navy (who came out in their vessel the _Weymouth_), +decided to remain, as did also her young brother, Stephen and a sister, +afterwards Mrs. Sayers. + +"My grandmother settled at Simon's Town, and after her first husband's +death had a school, having been left with two little girls. She +afterwards married my grandfather Fineran who was in the Commissariat +Department of the Army, and mother was their only daughter. Her two +brothers died as young men. There are several descendants of the other +Osler daughters, grandmother's sisters, about Simon's Town whom we have +never seen, mother not having kept in touch with them after +grandmother's death." + + S. W. D. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] My mother's cousin, Mrs. Kate Divine, in a letter from South Africa, +dated September 8, 1809, speaks of another son, Joseph, the oldest of +the family, who died before they went out to the Cape. She also gives +additional information about Benjamin Osler and his family which I have +added as an appendix.--S. W. D. + +[2] Mrs. Gilbert has now been for several years a widow, and all her +children are married and have children of their own. Her home is with +her daughter Leonora, whose husband is a successful clergyman.--S. W. D. + +[3] Reverend Mr. Sims died in August, 1909. + +[4] The beautiful stone church which now replaces the first wooden +building was dedicated June 10, 1909, shortly after my mother's death. +It was the gift of Mr. R. H. Ensign and is entirely furnished with organ +and fittings by the generosity of members of his family. The large +Tiffany window over the chancel is a memorial to my grandfather +presented by his daughters.--S. W. D. + +[5] My mother was closely associated for some years before her marriage +with "Father McLean," as he was affectionately called, reading to him, +writing sermons for him, and delighting to render him in his blindness +such little services as she could.--S. W. D. + +[6] In the winter of 1908-09, Mr. and Mrs. Ensign bought the attractive +place in East Weatogue, where they have since lived. + +[7] On July 20, 1909, five months after my mother's death, Josephine Toy +Collins died very suddenly at her home in Hartford, leaving a baby +daughter, little Josephine Toy, only two weeks old. Her early death was +a terrible blow to her young husband and to her mother, to whom she had +always been a close companion. Her short life was sweet and lovely, and +a host of sorrowing friends mourned its early close.--S. W. D. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + + + Italicized text is indicated by underscores: _italics_. + + Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from + the original. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Toys, by Mary Harris Toy Dodge + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE TOYS *** + +***** This file should be named 36966-8.txt or 36966-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/9/6/36966/ + +Produced by David E. 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Dodge. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + +p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + +hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + +.big {font-size: 125%;} +.huge {font-size: 150%;} +.giant {font-size: 200%;} + +.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} + +.blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + +.center {text-align: center;} +.right {text-align: right;} +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} + + +.figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Toys, by Mary Harris Toy Dodge + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of the Toys + +Author: Mary Harris Toy Dodge + +Release Date: August 3, 2011 [EBook #36966] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE TOYS *** + + + + +Produced by David E. Brown and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/iCover.jpg" alt="" /></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i002.jpg" alt="Mary H. Dodge" /></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="giant">THE STORY OF<br/> +THE TOYS</span></p> + +<p class="center">BY</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="big">MARY H. DODGE</span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i003.jpg" alt="" /></div> + +<p class="center">CAMBRIDGE</p> + +<p class="center">PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE PRESS</p> + +<p class="center">1909</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> +<p>"We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the noble +works that Thou didst in their days and in the old time before them."</p> + +<p>"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of +witnesses ... let us run with patience the race that is set before +us."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">FOREWORD</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>This story of my mother's family was set down by her originally only to +recall it to my mind when I might no longer listen to it as it fell so +often from her own lips. It was written in the intervals of her +ill-health, without copying or revision, and was not intended for +publication. For this reason, she has dwelt more at length upon the +history of her own family life than upon that of her sisters, and has +purposely omitted all but a slight reference to the grandchildren and +the events of later years, her intention being to record only what was +outside my memory, leaving the rest to some other pen. The story, +however, has proved to be of so much interest to the other members of +the family that she was expecting to review it with me as soon as +possible, in order to prepare it to be printed for them. Her sudden +illness and death cut short her plans; but I have carried them out as +closely as I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> could, and the little book is printed very nearly as she +wrote it. Any errors or inaccuracies are mine and not hers.</p> + +<p>It has seemed to me that there could be no more fitting memorial of my +mother among ourselves, than this story. Its style is appropriate to the +subject and characteristic of herself—forceful, yet full of tender +sentiment, ready wit and apt quotation of Scripture; while through it +all, quite unconsciously to herself, there shine her cheery hopefulness, +her rare unselfishness, and her beautiful faith in God. Since my +father's death her health had been very much better, and she was looking +forward to years of comfort; but, in December, 1908, she was suddenly +seized with a serious heart trouble, and after a distressing illness of +about three months, which she bore with her own brave patience, on the +morning of February 27, 1909, she went to join her beloved.</p> + +<p>For those of us who have known her wonderful personality, no memorial is +needed to increase our love and admiration of her; but to the younger +members of the family, whose memory of her may be slight, I hope that +this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> little book may give a glimpse of the beauty of her life, as well +as of the noble souls whom she so worthily represented and whose blood +we are proud to share.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"They climbed the steep ascent of Heaven</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Through peril, toil and pain;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O God, to us may grace be given</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To follow in their train."</span></p> + +<p class="right">S. W. D.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">THE STORY OF THE TOYS</span></p> +<p> </p> + + +<p>I wish to preface this memorial by a little sketch of Cornwall, +especially those parts of it most nearly connected with our family +history. I have gathered the materials for it from a little book on +Cornwall, by Mr. Tregellas.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The long coast-line of Cornwall, the most southern and western county of +England, has been, like Italy, compared in shape to a Wellington boot, +the iron heel of which is the mass of serpentine rock which forms the +southern point of the Lizard, and the foot that part which lies between +Mounts Bay and Land's End. The instep is at St. Ives Bay, and the body +of the boot constitutes the main portion of the county, the highest part +toward the eastern end forming the Bodmin moors. Along the northern +coast, the mural cliffs, against which the Atlantic rollers forever +break, are in marked contrast to the tamer and more sylvan scenery of +the south and west shores; while across the low-lying lands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> between St. +Ives and Mounts Bay the sea often threaten to meet in the spring tides.</p> + +<p>The climate of Cornwall, owing to its situation, is so remarkable as to +deserve notice. The month of January at Penzance is as warm as at +Florence or Madrid, and July is as cool as at St. Petersburg. There is +scarcely a country in the world with a climate so mild and equable.</p> + +<p>The people are "ardent and vivacious, self-reliant and versatile." It is +no uncommon thing for a Cornishman to build his own house, make his own +shoes, be both fisherman and miner, and, possibly, small shop-keeper +besides; and wherever the Cornish miner emigrates, he is pretty sure to +take the lead in enterprise and danger.</p> + +<p>Wilkie Collins says: "As a body of men they are industrious, +intelligent, sober, and orderly, neither soured by hard work, nor +depressed by harsher privations"; and the old poet Taylor, in 1649, +writes: "Cornwall is the compleate and repleate Home of Abundance, for +high, churlish hills and affable, courteous people. The country hath its +share of huge stones, mighty rocks, noble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> free gentlemen, bountiful +housekeepers, strong and stout men, handsome and beautiful women."</p> + +<p>Many curious old customs linger in Cornwall, among them the ceremony of +"cutting the neck," or last few ears of corn at harvest time, the +lighting of bonfires on the hills at St. John's Eve, and the "furry" or +Flora dance at Helston, on the eighth of May. Among the peculiar dishes +of the Cornish cuisine, prominent is the pasty, the almost universal +dinner of the working class. It is a savory compound of meat and +potatoes, inclosed in a crescent-shaped crust; but one must be a +Cornishman to appreciate this dish thoroughly. The variety of pies is +truly marvelous. It has been said that the devil himself would be put +into a pie if he were caught in Cornwall. Most of them are richly +saturated with clotted cream, a real Cornish dainty, which is very +popular, as are also Cornish seed-cakes.</p> + +<p>From time immemorial Cornwall has had a leading part in the mineral +industries of England. Mines of tin, copper, lead, and zinc abound, and +have been the chief source<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> of revenue to the county. They give +abundant employment to the laboring class, and men, women, and even +children are freely employed in various ways about the mines. Since 1870 +the mining industries have declined; the mines have been less +productive, and the great discoveries of ore in this and other countries +have greatly reduced prices and scattered the Cornish miners over the +world.</p> + +<p>The fisheries of Cornwall have been another very important industry, +especially the mackerel and pilchard fishing. The pilchard is a very +delicious fish, similar to a herring, and is found almost exclusively on +the Cornish coast.</p> + +<p>Cornwall abounds in interesting antiquities, and many of these are +claimed to be almost as old as the granite rocks and cliffs of which +they are composed. They are relics of the early Britons,—remains of +villages, various sorts of sepulchral and memorial stones, and also some +that were associated with ancient religious rites. Some of these, such +as the "holed stones," have given rise to many superstitions among the +common folk, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> have been in the habit of dragging invalids through +the orifices in the hope of curing them. There are also "cliff castles," +especially at Land's End and at other points on the coast,—retreats of +the native tribes from enemies,—and also earth-work forts on elevated +sites throughout the country. The early Christian antiquities include +churches and priories and the oratories or small chapels, frequently +associated with a Baptistery or holy well. Some of these are as early as +the fifth century. There is also an unusual number of crosses. As to +their uses an ancient manuscript says: "For this reason ben crosses by +ye way, that when folk passynge see ye croysses they shoulde thynke on +Hym that deyed on ye croysse, and worshyppe Hym above althyng." They +were also sometimes erected to guide and guard the way to the church, +and sometimes for the beautiful custom of leaving alms on the crosses +for poor wayfarers. The crosses were formerly far more numerous than +now, but recently some of them have been rescued from doing duty as +gate-posts and the like, to be reerected in the churchyards. There are +also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> inscribed stones, such as the Camborne altar-slab, and others.</p> + +<p>Of the towns of Cornwall, almost all have some interest, ancient or +modern. Truro has recently become the episcopal town of the county; a +fine cathedral has been built, and the Bishop has his residence there. +Falmouth, at the mouth of the Fal, is a comparatively modern town, +beautifully situated. Its magnificent and famous harbor has given it +considerable commercial importance in former times. One of its chief +attractions is Pendennis Castle. It stands on a bold promontory two +hundred feet high, on the western side of the harbor. It was one of the +works of defense undertaken by Henry VIII, but the enclosure is of the +time of Elizabeth. It is an interesting example of the military +architecture of the period. During the Civil War, Pendennis Castle +played a prominent and interesting part, and was the last but one of the +old castles that held out for the King's cause.</p> + +<p>A picturesque spot of much interest on the coast is the jutting headland +of the Lizard. The serpentine rock of which it is composed is very +beautiful when polished. The best<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> time to visit this spot is at low +tide on a summer day, after a storm. Its soft yellow sandy beach, its +emerald waves, deep rock-pools and gorgeous serpentine cliffs, of green, +purple, crimson, and black, are then of astonishing beauty. Passing +eastward along the coast, we come to the little town of Marazion, in +front of which rises from the strand the far-famed St. Michael's +Mount—an isolated, rugged pyramid of granite, about a mile in +circumference and two hundred and thirty feet high at the chapel +platform. Several Sir John St. Aubyns have successively inherited it +since 1860, the date on which they acquired it from a Bassett of Tehidy. +The chapel and the hall are the portions most worthy of examination. A +few steps below the chapel is a recess called the dungeon; near it, a +narrow winding stair leads to the tower. Near the platform are the +remains of a stone cresset called St. Michael's Chair, which is supposed +to bring good fortune to those that sit in it.</p> + +<p>The town of Penzance, "the Holy Headland," is the place of approach to +the Land's End—a bold promontory standing out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> into the sea at the +southwestern extremity of England. Its granite cliff-scenery is the +finest in Cornwall. The tempest-scarred cliffs, the furious onset of the +waves in stormy weather, and the gorgeous sunsets, so frequent at that +point, invest Land's End with a deep and almost melancholy grandeur. It +is said that Wesley stood upon this point when he wrote the hymn,</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Lo! on a narrow neck of land</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand."</span> +</p> + +<p>But the chief interest of Cornwall for our present purpose lies in the +town of Camborne on the Cam, or "crooked river." It is one of the great +mining centres, and has numerous rich mines, of which the principal is +Dolcoath, one of the deepest and most ancient in Cornwall. It is a busy +town, built mostly of stone, with nothing of note in the way of +architecture. The plain parish church, with its three sharp gables, +contains nothing of special interest. It stands in the midst of the +churchyard, in which are found many monuments and inscriptions to +attract the attention of those who love to recall the past. About three +miles to the north is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> Tehidy, the seat of the Bassetts, with its fine +park and gallery containing pictures by Gainsborough, Sir Joshua +Reynolds, and Vandyke. In driving to the high bluffs on the north shore +it is easy to visit Carn Brea, a rocky headland seven hundred feet above +the sea, with picturesque granite blocks piled upon its summit. Here, it +is said, was the chief scene of Druid worship; here was the sacrificial +rock, in the hollows of which the victim was laid; and here were the +granite basins hollowed out to receive his blood. The castle, of Norman +origin, was built by Ralph De Pomeroy, and was occupied by a Bassett in +the time of Edward IV. There are also here the remains of ancient +British earthworks, and "hut circles," and a tall monument to Lord De +Dunstanville of Tehidy, erected in 1836.</p> + +<p>A point of great interest to us is that Mr. Samuel Davey, the inventor +of the safety fuse for blasting and mining, was a native of Camborne, +and had his residence there, as did also his partner in business, George +Smith, LL.D. Mr. Smith was a man of high character, and great ability as +a scholar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> and writer, and the author of many works of theology and +biblical history. Among these are "The Hebrew People" and "The Gentile +Nations," which have been accepted as text-books in some theological +courses. The other member of the firm was Major John S. Bickford, a man +of wealth and influence, and the title of the firm became "Bickford, +Smith and Davey." The manufactory was located at Tuckingmill, a village +a little distance from Camborne. The business, at first small, has grown +and become very successful, and has branches in many parts of Europe and +America. The original firm, as represented by its successors, still +carries on the business in Tuckingmill.</p> + +<p>One of the noteworthy features of the town life is the Saturday +market-day. On this day are gathered the people from all the outlying +country, with varied products of farm, garden and dairy, as well as +wares of all kinds, which are offered for sale in the great market-house +of the town.</p> + +<p>"Camborne Feast" is a harvest festival answering to our Thanksgiving. It +occurs on November 13.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i022.jpg" alt="BIRTHPLACE OF JOSEPH TOY" /></div> +<p class="caption">BIRTHPLACE OF JOSEPH TOY</p> +<p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>In the little hamlet of Roskear, an outlying village of Camborne, my +father, Joseph Toy, was born. The long, low stone cottage, with small +windows and overhanging roof, still stands. A narrow drive runs in from +the village street, and a low stone wall separates it from the plain +yard in front adorned with here and there a shrub or climbing vine. The +house is little changed since the large family of children were +sheltered under its eaves and played about the yard, and the dear mother +spread the simple food on the white table, and sanded the well-scoured +floor. My father was born in April, 1808. He was the son of Robert and +Ann Hosking Toy. He was the youngest of eight children: John, Robert, +Nicholas, William, James, Joseph, and his sisters Mary Ann (Mrs. Sims), +and Nanny (Mrs. Granville). His parents were honest, God-fearing people, +training their children to a life of industry and integrity, and early +leading them into the ways of piety and obedience. Joseph, being a +bright, attractive child, and possessing an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> affectionate nature, was +very naturally the pet and darling of the family. While he was quite +young his father died suddenly, and as the elder children were mostly +married, the home was broken up, and he, with his widowed mother, was +received into the family of his brother John, a man of much energy and +ability, who afterwards became captain of the West Seaton mine. In a few +years his mother, too, entered into rest, leaving her beloved Joseph to +the care of his elder brother, and well did that brother and his +estimable wife fulfill their trust. The home was full of love and +sunshine, and the most tender affection was lavished upon the young +brother. My uncle scarcely ever came home without the inquiry, "Where is +the dear boy?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Jane Gilbert, my Uncle John's youngest daughter, writes thus of the +family. "Their father died when Joseph was a lad, but he was always a +great pet with his brothers. I have heard my father tell how when he was +going courting Joseph had cried to go with him, and he has taken him +many a time. Their mother died when your father<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> was young, and he came +to him at our house and continued to live with us until his marriage. So +my sisters looked upon him more as a brother than an uncle. I can +remember that when the letter came to father announcing your dear +mother's death, he wept aloud and said, 'Poor little Joe!' Their +mother's maiden name was Ann Davey, and she was born at Nans Nuke +Illogan. She was a grand old Christian, a splendid character and +handsome. I have always heard her children speak of her with reverence +and love. Our grandfather's mother's name was Andrews, and she was born +in the parish of Newlyn East."</p> + +<p>The circumstances of the family made it necessary that all should share +in its support, and, as soon as he was thought capable, my father was +put—as were other children of his age—to do such work at the mine as +was then almost the only employment open to children. They were set at +picking up the ore for wheeling from the opening, and other light work +suited to their age, the labor and responsibility being increased as +they grew older. The advantages of education for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> children of the +working classes were few indeed at that day, and where so many mouths +were to be fed, but little could be spared for books or schooling. My +father early developed a fondness for reading which grew into an earnest +thirst for knowledge, leading him to devote much of the time spent by +other boys in play to the search for it as for hid treasure.</p> + +<p>There was considerable natural musical talent in the family, and, as my +father had a sweet voice, he was early taken into the surpliced +boy-choir of the parish church, to which one or two of his brothers +belonged, though his family were devoted members of the Wesleyan church +of Camborne. The beautiful ritual of the church and its impressive +services had a refining influence upon the sensitive boy, and the +musical training he there received was of much value to him, and gave +him much enjoyment in after life. He used to speak with enthusiasm of +this experience, and I have often heard him tell of the delight with +which the boys would go forth in the frosty air of the Christmas morning +to sing carols under the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> windows of their friends, and how eagerly they +would catch the pennies which were thrown from the windows in response +to their greeting. The drinking habit of those days was universal, and +total abstinence was a thing unknown; and I have heard him say that the +good rector, Parson Rogers, would often pat the boys affectionately when +they had done particularly well, and say, "You have done well, boys. Now +come with me and have a little drop of something warm." His connection +with the parish choir was also the means of attracting the notice of +some people of influence who were afterwards of much assistance to him.</p> + +<p>As he grew older, his interest in education increased greatly, and +produced a distaste for the drudgery of his life at the mine. The +conviction grew upon him that he was fitted for something better, and +while he patiently bided his time, he was diligently improving every +opportunity for study. Kind friends soon noticed the boy's struggles, +and began to encourage him by lending him books, assisting him in +evening studies, and giving him help in every possible way. Prominent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +among these were Mr. Thomas Davey, Mr. Thomas Garland, Dr. George Smith, +the author and scholar, Lady Bassett, and Lord De Dunstanville of +Tehidy, whose kindness and sympathy were very helpful.</p> + +<p>At the age of nineteen my father passed the religious crisis of his +life, and his conversion was thorough and complete. He united with the +Wesleyan church, and threw himself with all the ardor of his nature into +its Christian work. He was very active in the social meetings, and +showed such decided talent in that line that he was soon appointed a +class-leader. He was also a teacher in the Sunday School, where he +showed such aptitude for the work as to incline him to the profession of +teaching as a vocation. He became Superintendent of the Sunday School, +and was soon licensed to preach, receiving an appointment as local +preacher on a circuit.</p> + +<p>By untiring diligence he had qualified himself for the position of +teacher and obtained a situation in one of the Lancastrian schools, so +popular at that day, located in Camborne. He filled this position for +some years with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>much acceptance, continuing at the same time his own +studies, until he acquired, almost wholly by his own exertions, a solid +and excellent education. He was a good English scholar, a fine reader, +carefully exact in spelling and pronunciation, well read in history, a +good mathematician, fairly proficient in algebra and geometry, with +considerable knowledge of Latin, Greek, and French. He demonstrated +clearly what can be accomplished by any boy with a good mind, by energy +and perseverance, in the face of the most serious obstacles.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i030.jpg" alt="BENJAMIN OSLER" /></div> +<p class="caption">BENJAMIN OSLER</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>About this time he formed the acquaintance of Miss Jane Osler, a young +lady of refinement and culture, who was at that time proprietor of a +millinery establishment in Camborne; and he married her in 1833. My +mother was the daughter of Benjamin and Jane Osler of Falmouth, and was +born August 1, 1802. The family was a very excellent one. Benjamin Osler +was the son of Edward Osler and Joan Drew, sister of the famous Cornish +metaphysician. He was a man of very decided character, a "gentleman of +the old school." His discipline in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> family was very strict, though +kind, the rod always occupying a conspicuous place over the mantel for +the admonition of any child inclined to disobedience. A fine miniature +of my Grandfather Osler is in my possession, and it is our most +cherished heirloom. It is in the form of a locket. The picture shows a +fine oval face, with delicate features, powdered hair, and the heavy +eyebrows we have learned to call "the Osler eyebrows." On the reverse +side it has the hair of my grandfather and grandmother, smoothly +crossed, and upon it the monogram, "B. J. O.," in exquisite letters +formed of tiny pearls. This locket was given to my mother by her father +when the family went out to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, in the +year 1819. It was painted in London some time previous to that.</p> + +<p>In April, 1797, according to the Falmouth church register, my +grandfather married Jane Sawle, the daughter of Stephen Sawle of +Falmouth, an officer in the British navy and afterward Captain of a +Falmouth packet, the <i>Hanover</i>. A solid silver tankard is preserved in +our family, which was presented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> to our great-grandfather by the +British Admiralty. It bears this inscription: "For twenty years' +faithful service"; and on the side, the letters, "S. S." It is now the +property of my sister, Mrs. R. H. Ensign. There is also somewhere in the +Osler family a picture of our Grandfather Sawle, an old gentleman in +naval uniform.</p> + +<p>My mother was also one of a large family, which consisted of eight girls +and two brothers.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> They were: Susan, Eliza, Mary Ann, Amelia, +Philippa, Jane, Julia, Sarah, Stephen, and Benjamin.</p> + +<p>While my mother was still young, her father went out to the Cape of Good +Hope, in charge of a colony of settlers. Dr. William Osler has kindly +loaned me a diary of my grandfather's, containing lists of provisions +and supplies purchased for the party, as well as other items. The +entries extend from January 3, 1815, to January 25, 1821. There seem to +have been in the party fourteen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> men, sixteen women, one boy, and three +girls. All payments were to be made in a proportion of the products of +the land. My grandfather settled in Simons Town, with most of his +family, and was probably a magistrate of the new colony. Two of the +daughters, Julia and Philippa, being in business in England, had +remained behind. My mother was left in the care of her mother's sister, +Mrs. John Harris. They were people of some culture, and having no +children of their own, were very fond of my mother and gave careful +attention to the cultivation of her mind and manners. Her uncle took +special delight in training her in reading and elocution. I have often +heard her recite with much spirit:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My name is Norval. On the Grampian hills</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My father feeds his flock";</span> +</p> + +<p>also many selections from the Iliad and Odyssey, taught her by her +uncle. Her home with these dear friends was most pleasant, and she +cherished the loving memory of their kindness all her life. It found +expression in the name she gave to me, her first-born, of Mary Harris. +She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> learned her business while she remained with them, and became the +head woman in a large millinery establishment in Falmouth, and +afterwards set up in business for herself in Camborne. My mother became +a member of the Church of England, to which all her family belonged, at +the age of seventeen, and so continued till near her marriage, when she +united with the Wesleyan church in Camborne.</p> + +<p>My grandfather Osler died at Simons Town, after some years' residence +there. My grandmother returned to her English home, but most of the +children, being married and settled in business at the Cape, made their +homes permanently there, and their descendants are now living mostly in +Simons Town and in Cape Town. After my grandmother's return to England, +she taught for a time a school for girls; but later came to Camborne and +made her home with her daughters who were in business there. Her home +was with my mother till her departure for America.</p> + +<p>While my mother remained in Falmouth, her Aunt Osler, the last of the +old family,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> lived near her with her two daughters, and they were a +great comfort to her. This Aunt Osler died in April, 1864. She was Mary +Paddy Osler, the wife of my grandfather's eldest brother, Edward. Their +eldest son, Edward, has descendants in Canada, with whom we have had +very pleasant relations, and a daughter, Mary, was the mother of Mrs. +Truran of Truro. Another son, Rev. Featherstone Osler, came out to +Canada as a missionary, and became the founder of a large and +influential family there. Our own relationship to them has been only +lately discovered, and has been the source of much pleasure to us. Mrs. +Featherstone Osler died at the age of one hundred, in 1907, a woman very +remarkable and greatly beloved; and her large family of sons, including +Dr. William Osler of Oxford, Hon. Justice Osler of Toronto, Britton Bath +Osler, the eminent lawyer, and Mr. Edmund Osler, the financier are all +distinguished in public life.</p> + +<p>Of my mother's sisters, Susan married a Mr. Fineran of Cape Town, and +had an interesting family of children. She was early left a widow. Her +daughter, Mrs. Kate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> Divine, has written me several times, and given me +interesting details of the family. One daughter went to New Zealand to +live after her marriage; one son, Charles, died early. Mrs. Divine's +son, Edmund, went to sea quite young, in a British ship, and coming to +New York, visited us all, which was a great pleasure. Mrs. Divine is now +quite an invalid, and with her unmarried daughter, Maude, lives in +Plumstead, a suburb of Cape Town, very near two of her sons and their +families.</p> + +<p>Mary Ann married Mr. Sayers of Simons Town, and her children are still +there. She was a very lovely character, and died about 1855, after a +long and severe illness borne with great fortitude and patience. The +inscription chosen for her tombstone was the same as that on my +mother's: Rev. xiv: 13. Her daughter, Mrs. Eliza Storrier, has written +me under date March 13, 1882, from the address: Mrs. J. E. Storrier, +Patent Slip, Simons Town.</p> + +<p>Eliza Osler married Mr. Jordan, and lived at Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope. +Her husband was in good business, and they had a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> family of seven +daughters and one son. She was also left a widow.</p> + +<p>Philippa married Mr. William Cogill, a merchant of Simons Town, who had +several children. She had three of her own—two sons and a daughter, +Julia, who married a Captain Bray and went to England to live. She was +left a widow with two children, in rather unpleasant circumstances. I +corresponded for some time with my Aunt Philippa, and her son Arthur, +who was at sea, came into the port of Boston at one time and we went to +see him while in port. Aunt Philippa died February 14, 1879. She had a +stroke of apoplexy and lingered for twenty-four hours, but never +regained consciousness. She was a woman of lovely character, and an +earnest Christian.</p> + +<p>Julia Osler, who, with Aunt Philippa, went out to the Cape after we left +England, was married there and had one child, but died early. I have not +the name of her husband.</p> + +<p>Amelia married Gilbert Williams of Falmouth, who followed the sea. She +sometimes went with him, leaving her two children,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> Gilbert and Amelia, +with her mother. The son, Gilbert, lived in Falmouth. He was an +engineer, and had a large family. We visited them while in England. One +daughter was named Mary Harris Dodge, for me, and one Julia Osler, for +my sister Julia. My cousin Gilbert had a good mind and was well +educated, but was never very successful in life. He died several years +ago. His children are doing well, and are still located in Falmouth. His +sister Amelia had always lived with them, being of feeble intellect and +a great care. My Aunt Williams had a hard struggle in life. She was +early left a widow, and her health was delicate, but she supported her +family by teaching, and educated her children. Her health failed, +however, and at last her reason gave way. She was for some time in the +Bodmin Asylum, but later her reason returned, and she lived some years +with her son, and died in Falmouth a few years ago.</p> + +<p>Sarah, the youngest daughter, was nine years of age when the family +returned from the Cape. She was adopted by her Aunt Harris and her +husband, and through them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> received an excellent education—a thing very +difficult to acquire in those days. She remained with them till their +death, then went to Camborne to her sisters, and afterwards secured a +situation in Truro, where she became engaged to a man much older than +herself. She lost her interest in him as the time drew near for her +marriage, and determined not to marry him. Hearing of a family who were +going to Gibraltar and wished a governess, she at once secured the +position, and after a hasty farewell to her mother, having gained her +very unwilling consent, she left England in two days. This was in 1838. +In 1840 she married Mr. Watson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, who belonged to +the Royal Artillery. At the end of two years they returned to England, +and were stationed at Woolwich, but in 1845 they removed to Edinburgh. +In 1852 the discovery of gold in Australia created a rush to that +colony. My Aunt Sarah with her family removed there, her husband joining +in the search for gold with varying success, while she labored +energetically to rear and educate her children.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>She was a widow for some years before her death. Her children, of whom +six lived to grow up, were a great comfort and an honor to her. They are +all respectably settled in Australia. Her eldest daughter, Julia Osler, +married a Mr. Thomas Sayle, and they now live at Queenscliff, Australia. +My sister Julia met them in her journey to the East, in 1900, as well as +another daughter, Mrs. Evans, and two sons, William and Arthur, the +latter of whom has since died. My Aunt Watson died after a short illness +a few years ago,—I have not the exact date. In a letter received from +my Aunt Sarah, dated June 10, 1872, she thus speaks of my mother:—</p> + +<p>"My first recollection of your mother was when we returned from the +Cape. I was then nine years old. She was much occupied by business, but +often on evenings she would take a walk in a quiet, beautiful lane near +our home, with your Aunt Phillis and myself. In these rambles I first +learned to love nature and poetry, for, to our delight, she would repeat +to us choice poems which I have never forgotten. She sowed the seeds of +a love of literature in my mind, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> time has never effaced and which +has been a solace to me in prosperity and adversity. I never think of my +dear sister Jane but as the most perfect and consistent Christian I ever +knew."</p> + +<p>She also quotes from a letter written to her by my mother, August 15, +1844, in which she says:—</p> + +<p>"Mary is smaller than our other children, but she is a kind-hearted +little creature, and is able to render me many little services. I think +her disposition resembles that of our dear mother. Joseph is naturally +self-willed, and little Susan volatile. Ann Jane is now two years old. +She is an engaging little creature, and can sing and talk remarkably +well. She is named for her two grandmothers."</p> + +<p>Of the two sons, my Uncle Stephen Osler remained at the Cape. He was for +many years a teacher in the government schools. I had for some years an +interesting correspondence with him. He had two sons, Stephen and +Benjamin, and a very sweet daughter, Katherine Jane, who died quite +young. The sons were both men of position<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> and influence at the Cape. My +uncle and his wife both died some years ago.</p> + +<p>My Uncle Benjamin returned to England and established his business +there. He lived for some years in Barnstaple, and died of apoplexy, +February 3, 1864. He left two sons, both of whom were men of character. +One of them, Rev. Benjamin Osler of Exmouth, afterwards became a Baptist +clergyman. I have recently had a delightful correspondence with him, and +my sister Susan has met him and his family. He has two sons, John +Stephen and Ernest Edward, both of whom have children.</p> + +<p>I should have inserted before a sketch of the family of my Uncle John +Toy, with whom we have been more intimately connected than with any +other branch of either family. My uncle married Jane Rule of Camborne, +and they had four daughters and one son. The eldest, Mary Ann, married +Mr. Josephus Snell. He was a builder and contractor, and had a +prosperous business. They removed to London, and most of their life was +spent there. They had a very pleasant home, and Mr. Snell owned several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +houses which he rented. They have both died within a few years. The +second daughter, Amelia, married James Snell, a brother of Josephus. +They had two daughters. Asenath, the elder, was adopted by her Uncle +Josephus, as they had no children of their own. She married Edward +Brundell, and their home was in London. Louisa, the younger, always +lived with her parents. My cousin Amelia died quite suddenly about two +years ago. Jennefer married Philip Morshead of Camborne. They had two +children: a son, John, who has always been a teacher, and a daughter, +Annie Davis, who has been also a very successful teacher. My cousin +Jennefer was a little older than myself, and was very fond of us as +children before we left England. She was a favorite of my mother, and I +always corresponded with her occasionally. Both she and her husband have +recently died. Jane, the youngest, married John Gilbert, since captain +of one of the large mines, and a man of much intelligence and influence. +He has made several visits to America in the interest of the mines, also +he was sent to India,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> where he was employed for two years by the +mine-owners. They have a pleasant home in Camborne and three fine +children: two sons, Arthur and Bertie, who are both in business, and +Leonora, a sweet girl who is soon to be married to a Wesleyan +minister.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> The only son, John Toy, was not as successful as the rest. +He came to America, and went from here to Australia, where he died some +years ago.</p> + +<p>I wish also to mention the family of my aunt, Mrs. Mary Ann Sims. She +was my father's only remaining sister when we visited England in 1882. +She was then living with her daughter, Mrs. Arthur, in Camborne, and was +about eighty years of age. She was a lovely old lady, petite in figure, +exquisitely neat in dress, her face beaming with kindness from beneath +one of the snowy caps with which her grandson, Johnnie Arthur, delighted +to keep her supplied. She was greatly beloved by her grandchildren, and +the pet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> of all the nieces and nephews. She reared a large family of +children, who are widely scattered. One son has long lived in Norway, +and is the father of Joseph Sims of Simsbury, Connecticut. One is the +Rev. James Sims<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who was for many years a +Methodist minister in Wisconsin. Reverend and Mrs. James Sims celebrated +the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage in 1907, when they were both +over eighty. They had ten children, of whom seven are still living, Mrs. +Mary Bainbridge being best known to us. Two sons and two daughters are +living in England.</p> + +<p>My Aunt Sims had a cosy cottage at Carwinning, in the country, a few +miles from Camborne; and it was one of my mother's chief pleasures to +take her little children to this pleasant country home, where we were +always cordially welcomed and treated to the best of Cornish cream and +gooseberry pasties. It was a pleasant relief from her busy and confining +life in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> shop where she personally superintended her millinery +business.</p> + +<p>My father lived, for over five years after his marriage, in Camborne, +holding the position of principal of the Lancastrian School, and making +himself very useful as local preacher and class-leader in the Wesleyan +church. Three children were born to them in these happy days of their +early married life. I was the first-born, and was ushered into life +October 31, 1834, at about 8 o'clock in the morning. I have often heard +my father speak of the joy he felt when I was placed in his arms for the +first time. The second was my brother Joseph, born July 23, 1836, a +bright, active boy, who made life busy for those who had the care of +him. Then came my sister Susan, born June 3, 1838. She was the household +pet when we turned our faces from the dear old home to seek a new one in +a land of strangers. This great change which now came into our family +life was in connection with the introduction of the manufacture of +safety fuses into America. The firm, having an established and lucrative +business in England, naturally sought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> to enlarge and extend it, and +America was considered an inviting field for the new industry.</p> + +<p>About this time Mr. Richard Bacon of Simsbury, Connecticut, was +travelling in England in the interest of copper-mining, which was then +carried on at the old prison in East Granby, Connecticut, known as +Newgate. He met with the firm of Bickford, Smith & Davey, and they +determined to make an effort through him to introduce their business +into America. The first attempt was accordingly made at the old prison, +with some success. It had been transferred to Simsbury, and was in +successful operation there, when, in the summer of 1839, my father, who +was well and favorably known to the firm, and had been greatly +encouraged and befriended by Mr. Smith and Mr. Davey, and in their +employ, received from them an offer of a position as bookkeeper in the +American establishment, which was known as Bacon, Bickford & Co., with +what was for those days a good salary. The accounts of the new branch +were confused and unsatisfactory, and the company desired to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> have +accurate statements rendered. It was a fine opening for the future for +my father, as was proved a few years later when he became a member of +the firm of which he was afterwards the head.</p> + +<p>This startling proposition brought a season of anxious thought and +prayerful consideration into the little home. My mother was well +established in her business; her mother and two sisters were with her; +her love for her English home and friends was deep and true; and she +shrank with all the force of her loving nature from the separation. The +journey was long and trying. No ocean steamers made the voyage a +pleasant pastime of a few days. Long weeks of tossing on the stormy +ocean were to be followed by the search for a new home in a land of +strangers. But with my mother the voice of duty was always the voice of +God. The prospects of a wider field for her husband, and enlarged +opportunities for her children, were not to be neglected. Her decision +was made, and saying, as did Ruth, "Where thou goest, I will go," she +bravely put away the arms of love<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> which would have held her back, and +set herself to the task of closing her business and arranging for her +journey. At length the preparations were over. The last farewells were +said to the dear little home, to the church they loved and had served so +faithfully, and to the dear ones from whom it was so hard to part. The +van laden with luggage for the voyage, with space reserved for the +family, was ready to start; and amid the tears and prayers of those who +loved them, the dear old home faded forever from the eyes of my father +and mother.</p> + +<p>The first stage of the journey was to Falmouth, my mother's early home, +where we remained for a rest of a day or two with my mother's sister, +Mrs. Williams. Pleasant days they were, of loving sisterly communion. +The children, wild with the excitement of the new experience, were +eagerly spying out the wonders of the city, in company with their +cousins. My brother Joseph, a bold, adventurous little fellow of +scarcely three, wandered off one day, to the great anxiety of his +mother. He was found, after a long search, by my aunt, gazing intently +into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> mysteries of a rope-walk. Seeing his aunt, he exclaimed, +eagerly, "Oh, here comes Aunt Philippa! Now we'll go through the gate!"</p> + +<p>These pleasant days soon passed, and with renewed good-byes, we left for +Portsmouth, from which port we were to sail. A vexatious delay of some +days was experienced there, but at last the good ship spread her sails +and stood off down the harbor. With tearful eyes they stood on deck and +watched the receding shores of their dear native land fade from their +sight. Then, with new devotion to each other and to the God who was +leading them, they turned with hope and courage to the new life opening +before them.</p> + +<p>For six long weeks the vessel ploughed its way over the heaving sea. My +father was almost immediately prostrated by sea-sickness, and for most +of the passage was confined to the stateroom, unable to render any +assistance in the care of the family. My mother bravely rose to the +emergency, caring for her sick husband and the restless children, and +bearing the weariness and discomfort of the voyage without a murmur.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> My +brother Joseph, being of an inquiring mind and full of restless energy, +was constantly wandering about the ship, exploring every new place, +talking with the sailors, trying to climb the ropes, and requiring +unceasing vigilance to keep him from harm. Little Susan, then just past +her first birthday, learned to walk on board the ship, and one of her +first exploits in climbing about was to upset a teapot of hot tea into +her bosom, making a bad scald of which she carries the scars to this +day, thus adding much to the care and anxiety of her mother.</p> + +<p>At last the weary weeks wore away, and their eyes were gladdened by the +sight of land. On the eighteenth of August, 1839, they made safe anchor +in the harbor of New York. From there an easy sail by the Sound brought +them to Hartford. Once more the luggage was mounted on a heavy wagon, +with space reserved for the family, and they were off on the ten-mile +drive over the mountains to Simsbury, their place of destination.</p> + +<p>As the afternoon was wearing away, they came to the top of the high hill +rising abruptly at the eastern end of the street of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> East Weatogue, +where their journey was cut short by the breaking down of the wagon. The +prospect which opened before them was beautiful indeed. The little +village which was to be their home nestled at the foot of the mountain +range, while fertile meadows stretched away in the distance, through +which the Farmington river with its wooded banks wound its peaceful way, +the horizon bounded by the range of mountains west of the town. It was a +lovely picture, but the way-worn travellers could not realize its +beauty, as they alighted from the broken wagon, and took their weary way +down the hill to the village, leaving the driver to repair the wagon and +follow later. My mother, walking on, came to a hospitable-looking home +and ventured to ask a drink for the tired children. A pleasant-faced +matron greeted them kindly, invited them in to rest, and offering my +mother a cup of tea, proceeded to regale the hungry children with bread +and molasses. This was their first welcome to their new home. My mother +rejoiced to find that her new friend was from the dear home land, also +that her husband<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> was in the employ of the same firm. They became +lifelong friends, and in sickness and in health it was their delight to +show a sisterly kindness to each other. This good woman was "Auntie +Whitehead," a warm friend of our family, who has since joined my mother +in the heavenly home.</p> + +<p>At last, as the evening shadows were falling, the heavy wagon came +slowly down the mountain, and we were lodged in our first home in +America. It was an old-fashioned New England house, with long sloping +roof and lean-to running down behind. It is still standing and in fair +repair, just opposite the Cornish house, which stood by the old +schoolhouse in East Weatogue. One half the house was occupied by the +family of Mr. Joseph Eales, who was a member of the firm. We remained +there for a time, and afterwards removed to the house standing where Mr. +Aman Latimer's house now stands. But, desiring a more permanent home, my +father bought the farm owned by Mr. Roswell Phelps, lying just at the +foot of the mountain. It is now owned by Mr. Henry Ensign. My mother +rejoiced to feel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> that at last her wanderings were over and she was +settled in a home of her own.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i055.jpg" alt="THE HOME IN EAST WEATOGUE" /></div> +<p class="caption">THE HOME IN EAST WEATOGUE</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>How plainly I can see it now! The plain house with its gambrel roof and +double front-doors kept secure by a stout oak bar resting in sockets of +iron; the narrow front hall, the family sitting-room on one side, with +the east door opening on the grassy yard; and the wide stone steps, our +only piazza. The parlor was on the west of the hall, with its ingrain +carpet and plain furniture, which then seemed quite fine to my childish +eyes. The best bed standing in the corner with the heavy English +counterpane was one of the conspicuous features of the room. Behind was +the long kitchen with its great fireplace, my mother's bedroom at one +end, and a smaller one for the children at the other. Plain and simple, +indeed, and even bare as compared with the homes of these days, as was +this home of our childhood, it was "sweet home" to us, for it was bright +with the love that made our lives all sunshine, and peace and +contentment were our constant guests.</p> + +<p>Two large buttonwood trees stood at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> front gate, up to which led +some stone steps. By the street was an open shed under which wagons +could drive, and beyond was the garden with the great apple tree at the +top of it, flanked by peach trees, whose fruit was "sweet to our taste." +Behind the house was the well with its long sweep and its "oaken +bucket," which was our only refrigerator. It sometimes befell that a +luckless pail of cream or butter fell to the bottom. Then one of the +children was despatched in haste over the fields to borrow neighbor +Bissel's iron creepers, and great was the excitement as we watched the +grappling which surely brought up the pail, if not always the contents. +There, too, was the old pear tree, in the back garden, whose fruit was +so delicious as we ran out in the early morning to gather what had +fallen during the night; and the orchard with its long grass, often +trampled in our hasty search for the "golden sweets" which strewed the +ground. The hill rising at the back of it was crowned with the fine +spreading chestnut trees, which were such a joy to us in the autumn when +the frost had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> opened the burs and strewed the brown nuts on the ground. +Behind the house was the barn, with the cow which we early learned to +milk, and the white horse which carried the family to church on Sunday, +and my father on his semi-weekly journeys to the post office in +Hopmeadow. For daily mails were unknown in the peaceful valley then. The +yellow stage rumbled through the streets on its semi-weekly trip from +Hartford and was hailed with joy as a messenger from the great world +beyond.</p> + +<p>Across the brook and farther down the street was the little brown +schoolhouse, with its stiff hard benches, and open Franklin stove. +Behind was an old apple tree, and a barnyard flanked it on the north +side. There was a row of maples under which we played, and built stone +houses in the soft sand, making wonderful china closets of bricks and +shingles and filling them with bits of bright crockery laboriously +gathered from the children's homes and carried to school in our aprons.</p> + +<p>Early rising was the rule in our house, for the early breakfast was +always preceded by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> family prayers, from which none might be excused; +and after it my father went to his office and the children to school. We +were happy children then; our simple sports and homely pleasures had a +zest which, it seems to me, children in these days of multiplied means +of diversion know little of. The free life of the fields and woods; the +fun of driving the cows to and from the mountain pastures, and, in +spring, carrying home pails of maple sap, and boiling it into sugar; +scouring the mountain-sides and pastures for berries and nuts, picking +up apples and potatoes in the fall, by which we gained a little money +which was all our own; and, in winter, the joys of coasting down the +steep hill and far across the fields below by moonlight. The wonderful +snow-forts our brothers built and stormed, and the rides over the snow +behind the frisky steers on the ox-sled they made; in-doors the +home-made dolls and pleasant games, and in the evenings the delightful +stories and songs with which our mother entertained us—all these were +enjoyed with a relish so keen as to leave nothing more to be desired.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>As was most natural, my parents immediately connected themselves with +the church of their choice in their new home. The little band composing +the Methodist Episcopal church, which answered to the Wesleyan they had +left at home, had at that time no church edifice and were holding +Sabbath services in the schoolhouses, mostly at West Weatogue, about a +mile from our house. I well remember pleasant Sabbath morning walks down +the village street, through the "River Lane," bordered by a tall row of +Normandy poplars, over the bridge and by the sheep-fold of Squire Owen +Pettibone at the corner, where we were allowed, much to our delight, to +stop to look at the young lambs with their soft white coats and bright +eyes. I remember, too, the weekly evening prayer-meetings held at our +own schoolhouse at "early candle-light," when lamps and chairs were +brought in by the neighbors, and the simple service, generally conducted +by my father, was often as "the house of God and the gate of heaven" to +the earnest worshippers. It sometimes happened in the spring-time, when +the swollen river flooded the meadows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> and made the roads along its +banks impassable, that the brook which crossed our street was raised to +a small river, and the street could be crossed only by boats. When this +occurred on a Sabbath the young men would bring a boat, and to our great +delight we were rowed over, and the neighbors gathered at the +schoolhouse for a Sabbath service at which my father preached.</p> + +<p>His talents as a preacher and religious leader were soon perceived and +appreciated by the people, and his services were in much demand. It is +said that he preached in the schoolhouse at West Weatogue on the evening +after his arrival in Simsbury. In those early days he preached +frequently, supplying every alternate Sabbath for many of the weaker +churches in the vicinity which could not afford a regular pastor. He +preached in this way at North Canton, Granby, Bloomfield, Washington +Hill, Newfield, Burlington, and many other places. He would often start +off on Saturday afternoon for a drive of ten or fifteen miles, leaving +his little family to get to church on Sunday as best they could. In cold +weather he would wrap him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>self in his long cloak brought over from +England, and with the faithful white horse, go forth to wrestle with the +wintry winds and snows, often not returning till Monday. In 1840 the +Methodist Episcopal church edifice was built, on land donated by Squire +Ensign, a Congregationalist. My father, J. O. Phelps, Esquire, and Mr. +Edward C. Vining were appointed building-committee. Through their +earnest efforts, it was finally located at Hopmeadow, in spite of strong +opposition from some of the most influential members, who resided at +"Cases' Farms," now West Simsbury, and who favored its erection there. +It was said of my father by his pastor, Rev. I. Simmons, "He was one of +the most efficient workers and liberal givers in the erection of the +Simsbury church." A contribution was secured by his efforts from the +English firm to aid in building the church. It was a plain white +structure with long windows and green blinds. The steeple much resembled +that of the present Congregational church, but was smaller. They have +been not inaptly compared to two boxes piled on one another. The +pleasant-toned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> bell still hangs in the church tower, and it was music +in the ears of the little company of Methodists, when its clear notes +rang out over the meadows and hillsides, calling them to worship in a +church of their own.</p> + +<p>The interior was very simple: the plain pews with high doors; the +swinging gallery at the rear with the stiff green curtains on brass +rings across the front, which were drawn with all due ceremony when the +preliminary sounding of the tuning fork announced the beginning of +preparations for singing; the plain white pulpit with its purple velvet +cushion and hangings and straight seat cushioned with green baize, its +door closed and carefully buttoned after the minister had ascended the +narrow stairs; the high altar railing inclosing the communion table at +which it was so tiresome for children to kneel;—all these form a vivid +picture in my memory. Some years later an improvement(?) was introduced +which was thought to be a marvel of art, in the shape of a fresco behind +the pulpit. It represented two heavy curtains, supported by pillars on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +each side, looped back by a large cord with immense dark tassels. This +was the wonder of our childish eyes for many years. Two large box stoves +stood near the entrance doors, at which I used to stand tremblingly to +warm myself after our cold ride in winter, while the stalwart young +sexton, whose rough manners concealed a kind heart, raked at the glowing +coals with his long poker and thrust in the big sticks which soon sent a +glow through our chilled hands and feet. The plain little church has +been transformed into a neat modern one with a corner tower,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and the +worshippers with whom my memory fills those pews all lie quietly +sleeping on the hillside in the neighboring cemetery. Only their +children remain to remind us of them and the good work they did in those +early days, but their memory is green,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> and the fruit of their labors is +enjoyed by their children to-day.</p> + +<p>In 1844 my father served as pastor of the Simsbury church, giving his +services that the church might free itself from debt, which it did. He +conducted during all those years a Bible class of ladies in the Sunday +School, by whom he was greatly appreciated and beloved. The Sabbaths of +those early days were far from being "days of rest" to my father and +mother. They were obliged to rise early to get the family ready for +church, leaving home at about half-past nine for the two-mile ride to +Hopmeadow. Then the two services with Sunday School between, and the +drive home occupied the time till four <small>P. M.</small> Then my mother had to +prepare the warm supper, and when all was over it was nearly time for +the evening prayers, which were never omitted. Not until the restless +children were in bed and soothed to sleep by the sweet hymns she used to +sing to us, was there a moment of quiet rest for the dear mother. My +father at that time always drove to Hopmeadow for the evening service, +and later one or two of the older children were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> allowed to go with him. +In pleasant weather, when my father was absent on his preaching tours, +my mother would take such of the children as were old enough, and walk +to church on Sabbath mornings, leaving the little ones with her friend +Mrs. Whitehead.</p> + +<p>One of the chief pleasures of that early time was the receipt of letters +from the dear mother and sisters left behind, for letters were indeed +like angels' visits then. They were full of tender memories and loving +messages for the dear ones over the sea. One of my most cherished +mementos is a letter written to my mother by my Grandmother Osler in +October, 1839, in which she speaks of her joy in hearing of our safe +arrival and settlement in our new home and of how much she missed my +mother, and her affectionate longing to see the children who were so +dear to her. She says,—</p> + +<p>"Kiss the three darling children for me. I cannot express my love for +them and you, nor my feelings on account of the great distance between +us. I shed many tears in reading your much valued letter over and over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +again. You are all generally uppermost in my thoughts, and I find you +wanting more than I can describe. I am very glad you like the appearance +of the country and that you were so kindly received. I hope the winters +will be more mild than we expected, and that by the blessing of the +Almighty you will all be happy and comfortable. Oh! how I would love to +see my beloved little Mary, and my darling little Joseph, who seems +inclined to remember me by expecting to find me in his new home, and I +should have been much pleased to see my dear, sweet, pretty little Susan +take to run off, but suppose the misfortune of pulling the hot tea over +into her tender bosom put her back some time. Pretty dear! I used to +love them all as if they were my own."</p> + +<p>She goes on to speak of her health and prospects, and in closing says,—</p> + +<p>"I hope the Lord will give me strength according to my day, and by His +divine assistance, may I and all of you be led on by His grace in the +way to everlasting life."</p> + +<p>Such was the love and blessing which descended to us from our godly +ancestors.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> As nearly as I can learn, my grandmother Osler died in 1842, +about three years after our coming to America. I well remember my +mother's grief when the sad tidings came, and the black dress she wore +for some time afterward. Her sisters Julia and Philippa soon returned to +the Cape of Good Hope, where their brother and sisters were, and both +were married there, but my Aunt Julia only lived a short time, dying +soon after the birth of her first child. The sad news came to my mother +just before the birth of my sister Julia, and she was named for this +dear sister. My mother always loved dear old England with a right loyal +affection. She always spoke of it lovingly as "Home," and cherished a +longing desire to revisit it at some future day, but she never allowed +any feeling of homesickness to interfere with present duty. Her whole +heart was given to her family. It was her highest joy to make home +bright and happy for her husband and children, though her heart was +large enough to take in the church and the neighborhood and every one to +whom she might do a kindness. From year to year she toiled patiently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +and quietly on, with very little to relieve the monotony of her life. +Vacations were a thing unheard of in that day, especially for women, and +though my father made frequent journeys to various parts of the country +on business, it was not thought of as possible that the mother could +leave her post. But her life, so far from being dreary or unsatisfying, +was bright with the love and confidence of her husband and the affection +of her children. These were her "joy and crown," the approval of the +Saviour she loved and served was her constant inspiration, and her +well-stored mind, and her fondness for good reading furnished pleasant +occupation for her leisure hours.</p> + +<p>So the years passed quietly and peacefully with little change in the +life of the family. Two other children came to bless the home, Ann Jane, +named for her two grandmothers, born February 23, 1842, and Julia Osler, +born June 14, 1845. I must not fail to make mention of one who played +quite an important part in the history of our family at this time. This +was a young woman named Lucinda Andrus, who came into the family<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> April +1, 1843. She had employment in the factory and assisted my mother in +such ways as she could for her board. She was a woman of excellent +Christian character and great kindness of heart, though possessed of +strong peculiarities. She was warmly attached to my mother and the +children, and very self-sacrificing in her efforts to assist in every +possible way. She was, in this way, a member of our family for many +years, passing with us through scenes of joy and sorrow, always +identifying her interests with ours and giving the most faithful service +and unchanging friendship. She was a woman of shrewd good sense and +often quite witty, and her quaint remarks and amusing stories and songs +enlivened many an evening for the children. She was somewhat credulous, +and had great faith in dreams and omens, which we eagerly drank in, +somewhat to the discomfort of our mother, who was singularly free from +any trace of superstition, and was the very soul of truth in all her +conversation with her children. Lucinda married later in life old Mr. +Thomas Morton, who, as she herself allowed after his death, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> not +always "the best of husbands," though she did think the minister "might +have said a little more about him at his funeral." Her married life was +burdened with hard work and poverty, but her last years were made quite +comfortable by the kindness of many friends who respected her and were +glad to assist her. She died in the autumn of 1896. She is remembered by +the young people of our family as "Aunt Lucinda."</p> + +<p>We come now to the time when the clouds gathered heavily over the happy +family, and its sweet light went out in darkness. My mother had not been +in her usual good health during the summer, and had been at times a +little low-spirited. On Monday, July 19, 1848, my father went on a short +business trip to Boston, and returning found my mother quite poorly. On +Friday she felt decidedly ill and asked Lucinda to remain at home to +assist her, which she gladly did. That evening my father, who was +suffering from severe headache, asked my mother to offer prayer at the +evening worship, as she often did, and Lucinda, whose recollection of +those scenes was very vivid,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> describes it as one of the most remarkable +prayers she ever heard. The mother's whole soul seemed drawn out in +special pleading for her children, that God would make them His own, and +would care for them if she was taken away from them. On Saturday she was +much worse, and on Sunday her condition was very alarming. The disease +having developed as malignant erysipelas, one of the most experienced +and skilful physicians from Hartford was called, a good nurse put in +charge, and all that human skill could do was done to save the life so +precious to us all. But all in vain. It became evident during Monday +night that the end was near, and toward morning the family were gathered +at her bedside for the last farewell. She called each separately, and +commended them to God with her dying blessing.</p> + +<p>Little Julia, only three years old, was in my father's arms, too young +to realize the sad parting. My mother asked, "Where is my little Annie?" +My father lifted her and she laid her hand on Annie's head, but could +not speak. My brother Joseph, always impulsive and warm-hearted, burst +into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> tears, and begged forgiveness for any trouble he might have caused +her. She spoke words of comfort to him and sank back exhausted. My +father asked her, "Is all well?" She answered, "All is well. It is well +with my soul." And so in the morning of July 27, 1848, at 6 <small>A. M.</small>, +gently and peacefully passed away one of the purest and sweetest spirits +that ever brightened this dark world. Her lifework was finished, and she +"entered into the joy of her Lord."</p> + +<p>No relatives were near enough to comfort and help the family in this +time of trial, but neighbors and friends were unwearied in their +kindness and sympathy. One instance worthy of mention was that of a +young girl named Delia Foley, who was living with the Phelps family and +to whom my mother had shown kindness as a stranger. She volunteered her +services in preparing the dear form for burial, which was the more +remarkable as the disease was of such a nature that there was great fear +of contagion. This fact became known to me by accidentally finding Miss +Foley, who was now a gray-haired woman, in the family of Hon. Joshua<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +Hale of Newburyport, where she had been an honored and trusted servant +for nearly forty years. It was a great pleasure to me to meet her, and +to express to her, in such ways as I could, our gratitude for the great +kindness rendered to the living and to the dead in the years so long +gone by. I gladly record this as an instance of unselfish kindness all +too rare in a world like this.</p> + +<p>It was in the sultry heat of summer that our great loss occurred, and +the oppressive weather seemed to increase the burden of our sorrow. I +well remember the desolation which settled down over the home on the +evening of that first sorrowful day. To add to the gloom, the +storm-clouds gathered darkly. The picture is forever printed in my +memory. The father and his little motherless flock were alone in the +upper chamber. The rain fell in torrents, the thunder crashed, and every +flash of lightning lit up the surrounding country and showed the tall +row of poplars in the distant lane, standing stiff and straight against +the stormy sky. No wonder that my father gave way to the grief he could +no longer control, and the children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> mingled their tears and sobs with +his in unutterable sorrow. The funeral service was held in the Methodist +Episcopal church, which was filled with friends who loved and honored my +mother in life and sincerely mourned her death. A funeral sermon was +preached by her pastor, Rev. M. N. Olmstead, from Acts xxvi, 8,—"Why +should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise +the dead?"—in which the sorrowing family were led for comfort to the +glorious certainty of the resurrection; and afterwards the sad +procession took its way to the cemetery on the hillside. The little +children with their black bonnets and frocks were a pathetic picture +which appealed to the sympathy of every heart. The last solemn words +were said, and we left her there to the peaceful rest of those who sleep +in Jesus. The inscription on the stone above her resting-place—"Blessed +are the dead who die in the Lord"—was never more fitly applied.</p> + +<p>The months passed on, and life resumed its usual course, but the painful +vacancy was sadly felt in the family. A housekeeper was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> obtained who +did what she could to fill the dreadful void, and our faithful Lucinda +remained at her post. But there was no real harmony, and the children +began to show the need of a mother's care and love. In this dilemma my +father's thoughts were turned, as was natural, towards some one who +might fill the important place, and in February, 1849, he married Mrs. +Sarah G. H. Merritt. She was the daughter of one of the old and +excellent families of the town, and had been for years a friend of my +father and mother, and belonged to the same church. She was married when +quite young to Mr. James Merritt, a young man of much promise, and went +with him to Spring Hill, Alabama, where they were both engaged in +teaching. In little more than a year he died, leaving her a widow before +the birth of her first child, which occurred soon after. Her adopted +sister had married Mr. Rush Tuller, a merchant in good business at +Spring Hill, and with them she found a home and all needed sympathy and +help in this time of trial. She was a woman of strong character and most +indomitable energy, and rising<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> above her sorrow, she bravely set +herself to the task of earning a support for herself and her child. She +remained in her position as teacher till her son was old enough to be +left, and then coming north she left him in the care of her mother and +grandmother, and returned to take up her work. She was a woman of very +attractive personality and pleasant manners, vivacious and entertaining +in conversation, and though she had not been without opportunities to +change her situation, she remained a widow about ten years. Such was the +person whom my father brought to us as our new mother, and to make us +happy again. There were no relatives to interfere or to make unpleasant +comparisons, and we received her with love and confidence, gladly +yielding to her the respect and obedience we had been accustomed to give +to our own mother, and so the family life flowed on harmoniously. It was +no light task she had undertaken, to train a family of five children, +and she addressed herself to it with her accustomed energy and courage. +She identified herself fully with the family, and made our interests<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +her own. She endeavored faithfully to improve our manners, to teach us +to have confidence in ourselves, and to develop the best that was in us, +and in every way to promote the best interests of us all.</p> + +<p>She brought with her as members of our family, her son, a boy of nine +years, and her mother. It might have been a question whether the new +elements would mingle harmoniously with the old, but in this case they +certainly did. We were delighted with the idea of a new brother, and he +and my brother Joseph, who was near his age, became and always continued +real brothers in heart. They were devotedly attached to each other, and +were inseparable till my brother's death. Her mother, Mrs. D. G. +Humphrey, was a lady of refinement and intelligence. Though delicate in +health and nervously weak, she bore with commendable patience the noise +of children, and the rushing life of such a large family, which was a +great contrast to the quietness of her former life. We rejoiced in the +acquisition of a grandma, as we had no remembrance of our own. She was +an honored member of our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> family for many years, and as many of her +tastes and sentiments were similar to my own, we were much together and +enjoyed each other's society.</p> + +<p>The schools in our town were very unsatisfactory, and when I reached the +age of fifteen it was thought that some better advantages should be +given me. Accordingly, I was sent to Wilbraham Academy, one of the +oldest and best schools under Methodist auspices in all that region. I +was to room with my friend, Miss Mary Weston, of Simsbury, but as she +was not quite ready when the term began, I had to begin my experience +alone. I was taken by my father and mother in a carriage to Wilbraham, a +distance of about thirty miles. I was full of anticipation, and all was +well as long as they were with me, but I shall never forget the +heart-sinking which overwhelmed me when they left me the next day. When +I settled down at evening in my little bare room alone, I could not keep +the tears from falling as I thought of the pleasant home circle, and +heartily wished myself among them. The school buildings were in sharp +contrast to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> the beautiful and nicely adapted appointments of most of +the schools and colleges of to-day. They were plain to severity, and +some of them showed marks of years of hard usage. The halls and rooms of +our dormitory were uncarpeted. Each little room was furnished with a bed +with dark chintz spread, a small study table, two wooden chairs, a +little box stove for burning wood, and a triangular board fastened in +the corner, with a white muslin curtain, for a wash-stand, with a small +bookcase above it. These, with a small mirror, completed the furniture, +and dreary enough it looked to me on that sad evening. But with the +young, though "weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the +morning," and as my room-mate soon came, and I began to be acquainted +with the students and interested in my studies, I was very happy. The +two years I spent there were among the happiest and most profitable of +my life. My sister Susan joined me there the second year, and afterward +my brother Joseph. He was also sent later to a school for boys in +Norwich, Connecticut, and Susan afterwards attended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> a private school in +Milford, Connecticut. My sisters Annie and Julia were educated in the +Hartford schools. Annie also studied music at Music Vale Seminary, +Connecticut. Brother James Merritt studied with a private tutor, Mr. T. +G. Grassie, of Amherst College.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i082.jpg" alt="THE HOME ON CHESTNUT HILL" /></div> +<p class="caption">THE HOME ON CHESTNUT HILL</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>It was the wish of my father that Joseph should have a college +education, but though he had a very bright mind, and was very literary +in his tastes, and himself a good writer, his choice was strongly for a +mechanical training. Accordingly, he was placed with the firm of Lincoln +Bros. of Hartford to learn the business of a machinist, and afterwards +worked with Woodruff & Beach of the same city. He became an expert in +the business, and some of the finest work was entrusted to him.</p> + +<p>I should mention here the birth of two other children who were most +welcome additions to the family circle—George Bickford Davey, named for +the business partners, who was born March 18, 1852, and Sarah Jennette, +born October 26, 1857.</p> + +<p>The year 1857 was one of severe financial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> crisis. Business of all kinds +was almost at a stand-still, and hundreds of workmen were everywhere +discharged. The younger men of course were the first to go, and both +Joseph and James, being unemployed, resolved to set off for the West and +take any chance that offered. After a short experience as farmers' help, +they both obtained schools in Illinois. This, however, continued but a +short time, as business revived, and Joseph came home and took a +position as machinist in the factory. James remained West, and was with +his uncle Humphrey's family in Quincy most of the time till he settled +later on a farm of his own.</p> + +<p>That year was also marked by deep and extensive religious interest, and +both brothers became Christians during that year. So all of our family +were united in their religious life, as in all other things. In +December, 1859, a sad accident cast its dark shadow over us. My father's +factory was destroyed by fire. It was about 8 <small>A. M.</small> My father was +preparing to go to Hartford, and I was standing by him near a window, +when suddenly a sheet of flame shot from beneath the eaves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> of the +factory, lifting the roof, and instantly the wooden building was +enveloped in flames. The alarm and excitement were intense. A crowd soon +collected, and every effort was made to check the fire and to save those +in danger. But the explosion had done its deadly work, and eight of the +girls employed were instantly killed, while others were rescued with +great difficulty and were badly burned. My brother Joseph, who was at +that time employed in the machine department, found himself almost +without warning buried beneath a mass of falling timbers, while flames +and smoke poured in all about him. He managed to extricate himself, and +made a brave dash for his life. Carrying the window with him, he plunged +into the race-way of the water-wheel, and so escaped, though terribly +burned. The sad occurrence shrouded the town in gloom. The funeral of +the eight unfortunate girls was an event long to be remembered. The +company did everything in its power to care for the sufferers, and to +help the afflicted families, bearing all expenses and erecting a +monument to the dead.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>My brother lingered through months of terrible suffering. For some time +his life was despaired of, but at last, by the blessing of God on the +efforts of the most skilful physicians, and with good nursing, he slowly +recovered. His nervous system, however, had received a shock from which +he never fully recovered. As mother was not at all well at that time, +most of the day nursing fell to me, while kind friends freely offered +their services for the nights. It was a long and trying experience and +was followed for me with quite a serious illness, but I always rejoiced +in the privilege of ministering to him in this time of greatest need.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of 1860 occurred the exciting political campaign which +resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United +States. I need not describe here the gathering of the clouds nor the +bursting of the storm of civil war, whose mutterings had long been heard +in the distance. My brother was elected a member of the Connecticut +Legislature for 1861, and, though the youngest member, he was very +popular and made a fine record as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> speaker on the floor of the House. +The war was the absorbing topic of the time. Energetic measures were +used to raise troops in response to the call of the President. A +committee of the legislature, of which my brother was one, was appointed +for this purpose. He threw himself into the cause of his country with +all the ardor of his nature. As he labored to induce others to enlist, +the conviction grew upon him that he must go himself, or he could not +ask others to do so, and when the news of the disaster at Bull Run +filled the country with dismay, the question was settled for him. Duty +called and he must go. The company of young men he had raised chose him +for its Captain, and in November, 1861, leaving his home and promising +business prospects, he with his company, Co. H, joined the Twelfth +Connecticut regiment, which was soon encamped at Hartford for drill. His +health was far from strong, and our family physician declared he should +never have consented to his going, but he passed the examination and was +accepted. He was very popular with his men, and they were ready to do +and dare anything with him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>The regiment was encamped at Hartford for the most of the winter, and in +the spring was ordered to join Gen. Butler in his expedition against New +Orleans. Before the departure, my brother was presented with a beautiful +sword and sash by his fellow-townsmen, as a testimonial of their +appreciation of his bravery. They left Hartford Feb. 26, 1862. The ship +was greatly crowded, and the voyage was made with many discomforts, but +on March 8 they reached Ship Island, where they were encamped for some +weeks. They were not ordered up to New Orleans until just after the +taking of the city, much to the disappointment of the young Captain, who +was ambitious to see a little of actual warfare. They were stationed at +Carrollton just above the city. The situation was low and unhealthy, and +my brother, who was greatly weakened by an attack of dysentery while at +Ship Island, was poorly able to resist the malaria of the region. He +felt his danger, and wrote home that if he felt it would be honorable, +he should be tempted to resign and come home. But as the young men he +had influenced to enlist had not the privilege<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> of resigning, he could +not feel that he ought to leave them. He was attacked by typhoid fever +soon after the hot weather became intense. He was ill a few days in his +tent, but as he grew worse, he was removed to the regimental hospital, a +large house near the camp, where he had comfortable quarters and +excellent care. Kind comrades stood about his bed, anticipating with +brotherly kindness his every want. But the most skilful surgeons and +faithful nurses were powerless to save him. His system was too much +weakened to resist the disease, and after a short illness he passed +quietly away on the afternoon of Saturday, June 21, exchanging the +scenes of strife for the land of everlasting peace.</p> + +<p>The sad news was flashed over the wires, carrying the deepest sorrow to +the home he had so lately left. The family gathered and waited in silent +grief for further particulars. A letter from his friend and First +Lieutenant, George H. Hanks of Hartford, soon told the sad story. He +gave full particulars of his Captain's last hours, and spoke of a +conversation they had just before his sickness, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> which they mutually +promised that in case of the death of either, the survivor should take +charge of his effects and inform his friends, and said that he had +requested that if he should fall, his body should be sent home to +Simsbury. Lieut. Hanks says, "I promised, and to the extent of my +ability I have carried out his request, assisted by some of his townsmen +and personal friends who were at his bedside at the last hour. The body +is sent by steamer <i>McLellan</i>, in a cask of spirits, carefully fastened +in a sitting posture, dressed in full military uniform, and when it was +adjusted he looked so natural, one might imagine it was our dear Captain +sitting asleep in his chair, with his hands folded across his lap. But +alas! it is the long, silent sleep of death. Dear afflicted friends, it +is the saddest duty of my life, thus to return to you him who a few +months since took leave of you so buoyant and hopeful, and many a tear +have I shed while performing it. Possessing but few faults and many +virtues, generous to a fault, and honorable to the extreme, he was +universally esteemed and beloved by the entire regiment."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>On arriving at New York, the body was transferred to a metallic casket +and sent to Simsbury. It was met at Plainville by a delegation of the +citizens, who with saddened hearts received him who had recently gone +out from them brave and bright and hopeful. The sad home-coming was +almost overwhelming to the family. They gathered sorrowfully to mingle +their tears for his early death. The body was taken to the Methodist +Episcopal church, but the public service was held in the Congregational +church, as the other was too small to accommodate the numbers who wished +to attend. The large church was filled with a throng of citizens of our +own and neighboring towns. Comrades, friends, companions, the Masonic +fraternity, all came to mingle their tears and sympathies with the +family and relatives, for the brave young life so early sacrificed, and +to do honor to him whom they all loved and lamented so sincerely. The +funeral discourse was given by the former pastor and dear friend of the +family, Rev. Ichabod Simmons of New Haven, from the text, II Timothy +iv:3—"A good soldier." It was a beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> and appropriate tribute to +the departed, with words of hope and comfort for those who mourned him +so truly. After the service he was borne tenderly from the Methodist +church to his last rest in the hillside cemetery where he had requested +to be laid beside his beloved mother. The solemn burial service of the +Masonic order closed the services, and so the second great sorrow +settled down upon our home.</p> + +<p>My brother was a young man of fine natural endowment and a most genial +disposition. He was greatly beloved at home, and popular everywhere, +especially among the young people, with whom he was always a leader. Mr. +Simmons said of him at his funeral: "It is a part of my mission to-day +to say that a young man of promise has fallen. An earnest and close +debater, a great reader of history, with a good memory, and an +imagination sparkling with poetry and beauty, he would have stood high +among the men of his day. He was a close thinker and reasoner, but never +anchored outside the clear, deep waters of the Bible. He was keenly +sensitive to the ridiculous, and on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> occasions could be very sarcastic, +yet his tenderness of feeling prevented his wit from wounding the most +sensitive. His nature was cast in a merry mould, his wit was original, +and in the social circle he was the happy pivot on which the pleasant +moments swung. The death of our friend is a general loss to this +community. He was a representative spirit among you. As a citizen you +had already learned to rank him high in your esteem. His large circle of +young friends are especially called to mourn. A bright light has gone +out among you."</p> + +<p>The affliction fell with crushing force upon my father. His heart was +almost broken, and it was years before he recovered from the blow.</p> + +<p>The events which now came into our family life were of a more cheerful +nature. The first break in the home circle was occasioned by my marriage +to Rev. John W. Dodge of Newburyport, Massachusetts, which occurred +November 7, 1860. Mr. Dodge was a graduate of Amherst and Andover, and +had at that time accepted a call to be pastor of the Congregational<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +church of Gardiner, Maine. Our acquaintance began by his coming to +Simsbury, in November, 1855, to teach a select school. His friend, Mr. +T. G. Grassie of Amherst, had taught it the year before with great +acceptance and was engaged to return, and as our family were greatly +interested in him, my mother had promised to take him as a boarder. He +was taken very ill during the fall term of college, and being unable to +fulfil his engagement, he sent his friend as substitute. So apparently +trivial events often change the whole current of our lives. We became +engaged during that winter, which was Mr. Dodge's junior year in +college. I attended his graduation in August, 1857, accompanied by my +cousin, Sarah Jane Tuller, and visited his home in Newburyport in the +summer of 1859. Though hampered by delicate health and small means, he +completed his theological course at Andover in 1860, and our marriage +took place as soon as he secured a suitable parish.</p> + +<p>The first wedding in the family was a great event, and no pains were +spared to make it a delightful occasion. It was an evening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> wedding, +with about fifty guests. My sister Susan was bridesmaid, and was +attended by my husband's brother Austin as best man. Our dresses were +similar, of figured grey silk, mine being trimmed with white silk and +lace, and I wore a bunch of white Japonicas. The ceremony was performed +by our friend and pastor, Rev. I. Simmons, assisted by Rev. Allen +McLean, the blind pastor of the Congregational church, to whom I was +much attached.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> A wedding supper was served, followed by a pleasant +social evening. Mr. Dodge's mother and brother were the only friends of +his who could be present. The good-byes were said early the next day and +we set our faces toward our new home. After several pleasant days in +Boston, we went to Newburyport, only to be met by the sad tidings that +Mr. Dodge's father had died suddenly on the very day of our marriage, +and that they were delaying the funeral till our arrival. It was a sad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +home-coming and clouded the brightness of those first days. We remained +in Newburyport several weeks, and Mr. Dodge prepared his first sermon as +pastor, in the study of his old friend and minister, Dr. Dimmick, who +had recently died.</p> + +<p>We were most kindly received by the people at Gardiner. Mr. Dodge was +ordained December sixth, 1860. The sermon was preached by Dr. Chickering +of Portland, and the ordaining prayer was offered by the venerable David +Thurston. We found a pleasant home for ourselves, and my father and +mother and Mother Dodge came to assist in our going to housekeeping. Our +outfit would seem simple indeed to the young people of this day, but +love and content abode with us, and we were happy. Our first great +sorrow and disappointment came in the loss of a little one to whose +coming we had looked forward with joy. This was followed by months of +weakness and ill-health for me. My husband's health also gave way in the +spring, making necessary a long summer vacation. Six months of this were +spent in tenting on Salisbury beach,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> which resulted in great gain to us +both. Our three years' pastorate in Gardiner was pleasant and +successful, but a second break in health, in the fall of 1863, made a +resignation necessary, and we came to Newburyport to spend the winter +with Mother Dodge. In December, through the kindness of his friend, +Captain Robert Bayley, my husband was offered a voyage in one of his +vessels to the West Indies. He sailed for Porto Rico in the <i>Edward +Lameyer</i>, commanded by Captain Charles Bayley, and received much benefit +and enjoyment from the six weeks' trip.</p> + +<p>After coming home he supplied for some time at Northboro, Massachusetts, +and in the autumn he received a call to Gardner, Massachusetts, which he +did not accept. Later, however, he went to Yarmouth, Massachusetts, +where he supplied for six months for Rev. J. B. Clark, who was with the +Christian Commission in the Army of Virginia. We found a pleasant home +with Mr. Clark's mother in the parsonage, and greatly enjoyed this +experience, and as it proved it prepared the way for our chief life +work. On<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> the return of Mr. Clark, in July, 1865, we went to Hampton, +New Hampshire, where my husband was immediately called to the vacant +pulpit of the Congregational church. A pleasant pastorate of three years +there was followed in 1868 by a call to succeed Mr. Clark, who had +resigned as pastor of the Yarmouth church. During our second year in +Hampton we had adopted a little girl, whom we called Mary Webster. She +was at this time nearly three years old.</p> + +<p>We broke up our Hampton home in the cold, dark, December days, and I +shall never forget how delightful the change seemed to the warmth and +cheer of the cosy Yarmouth parsonage, where we spent so many happy +years. A pastorate of twenty-three years followed. The union between +pastor and people was remarkable. Nothing occurred to ruffle the harmony +during all those years. The best of our life work was done in Yarmouth, +and it was amply rewarded by the love and confidence of our people. A +new church edifice was built the year after our coming; and though the +strain of feeling was very great in consequence of a change<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> of +location, and threatened at one time to divide the society entirely, the +crisis was safely passed with the loss of only two or three families, +and the attachment of all to the pastor who had led them safely through +the conflict remained unshaken.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1871 we adopted a boy of nine months. He was a sweet +and pleasant child, and for several years was a source of much comfort. +But as he grew older seeds of evil all unsuspected began to spring up, +and resulted later in bitter disappointment.</p> + +<p>On the fourteenth of November, 1875, our dear daughter, Susan Webster, +was born. It was a boon we had not dared to hope for. Our home was +radiant with joy. The people showered congratulations, and gifts poured +in to attest the general joy at the advent of the parsonage baby. Our +Thanksgiving Day that year was one to be remembered.</p> + +<p>This happy year was followed by one of severe trial. My husband's +health, never very strong, broke down entirely, and a long season of +complete nervous prostration followed. He kept his bed for months, and +at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> last rallied very slowly, appearing again in his pulpit after an +interval of nine months. The love of our people stood the trying test +bravely. They continued the salary and supplied the pulpit, and were +unwearied in their kindness and sympathy.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1882 we had the long-desired privilege of a journey to +Europe. Our people granted us a vacation of six months, and the means +were furnished by my father. We left our little Susie with my sister +Susan, the other children remaining with friends in Yarmouth. It was a +season of great enjoyment and profit. We visited England, Scotland, +France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Returning, we +spent some pleasant weeks with friends in London and Cornwall, and came +home greatly benefited in mind and body.</p> + +<p>On the 22d of April, 1884, Mother Dodge passed to the heavenly rest. Her +home had been with us for many years. She had been failing perceptibly +for some time, and disease of the heart developed, which caused her +death, after an illness of a few days. Her funeral was attended in +Yarmouth by Rev.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> Bernard Paine of Sandwich, and afterward she was taken +to her old home in Newburyport, and a service was held at the North +Church, conducted by Rev. Mr. Mills. She was then laid to rest in +Highland Cemetery, by the side of her husband. She was a woman of strong +character and large heart, and her life was full of devotion and +self-sacrifice for her family, as well as usefulness in the church.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1889 we took a very delightful trip to California, +visiting the famed Yosemite valley, and spending some time very +pleasantly with my brother James's family in Oakland. Soon after our +return I was seized with a very severe nervous illness which centered in +my head, causing terrible attacks of vertigo. It resulted in shattering +my health completely, and was followed by ten years of invalidism. The +next year my husband again suffered a serious break-down, followed by +another long season of nervous prostration. It was the result, in part, +of over-exertion in revival services, joined with unusual labors in +connection with the quarter-millennial celebration of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> the town of +Yarmouth. As his strength slowly returned, he attempted to take up his +work again, with the aid of an assistant; but it soon became evident +that he was unequal to the task, and he was reluctantly obliged to +resign the office of pastor. He was dismissed October 20, 1891. We +removed to Newburyport November 7 of the same year, and made a home for +ourselves there on land previously purchased, adjoining my husband's old +home. We occupied our new house for the first time June 2, 1892. It has +proved a comfort and joy to us, and we have both greatly improved in +health.</p> + +<p>I cannot close this chapter of our history without making special +mention of our dear friends, Dr. and Mrs. Eldridge of Yarmouth, who +played such an important part in our life there, whose friendship and +sympathy were so constant and helpful during all the years, and whose +frequent and well-chosen gifts added so much to the brightness of our +home life, especially of the great kindness of Dr. Eldridge in providing +a night nurse at his own expense all through my husband's first long +illness. They have both passed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> their reward, but their memory is a +treasure to us. Our people also manifested their love and appreciation +by numerous and valuable gifts. A full china dinner and tea service were +given us at our china wedding, and an elegant set of silver forks and a +fine cake-basket at our silver anniversary. A costly and beautiful +silver loving-cup was their parting gift to my husband. It was +appropriately inscribed with the text of his last sermon, "God is Love," +significant of the character of his whole life work. The girls of my +mission circle also presented a silver tray and tea service to me. +These, and innumerable tokens of love scattered all along the way, form +a chain of adamant to bind our hearts to the dear friends of those happy +days, many of whom have gone before us to the heavenly home.</p> + +<p>In April, 1896, Susie having left Wellesley College, her father took her +abroad. They were accompanied by her friend and classmate, Miss Effie A. +Work, of Akron, Ohio. My husband's illness on the way obliged them to +cut short their trip and return home, and another long illness followed. +He has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> now recovered, and my own health having greatly improved, we now +gladly "thank God and take courage."</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>After an interval of some years, caused by returning ill-health, I take +up again the story of our family life. Sadly enough, the first record +must be of the great sorrow which came to us in the years 1903 and 1904. +On the morning of August 8, 1903, my husband was taken very suddenly ill +with an attack of congestion of the brain, while standing by his library +table. He passed a day of great suffering and semi-unconsciousness, and +at night was carried up to his bed, from which he only arose after +months of utter prostration. He rallied at last very slowly, after an +alarming relapse, and so far recovered as to be able to come down-stairs +and walk about the house and mingle with the family at the table and +otherwise socially. He was able to read a little and join in +conversation, and greatly enjoyed his daily drives. On the evening of +June 14 he was suddenly seized with a hemorrhage of the brain as he was +retiring for the night, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> became entirely unconscious. Every possible +effort was made to arouse him, but all was unavailing. He lingered +unconscious until the evening of June 17, when he passed quietly away, +and entered into the "rest that remaineth for the people of God." My +daughter Susan was absent from home, having gone to Simsbury, to act as +bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousin, Susie Alice Ensign. She +returned as speedily as possible, only to find that her father was +unable to recognize her. She was with him at the last, holding his hand +in hers as he passed over the dark river. The funeral services were held +in the North Church on Tuesday, June 21. Prayer was offered at the house +by Rev. Doctor Cutler of Ipswich, a lifelong friend. The procession +entering the church was led by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Newcomb, reading the +selections beginning, "I am the resurrection and the life." The music +was by the Temple Male Quartet, who sang the hymns, "Rock of Ages" and +"Abide with Me." Remarks followed by Rev. Dr. Cutler and Rev. Bartlett +Weston, both intimate friends, also a few appropriate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> remarks by the +pastor. The burial was at Oak Hill, the committal service being read by +Dr. Hovey, and our dear one was laid to rest in a quiet, beautiful spot +overlooking the meadows and hills he had loved so well. A granite +monument in the form of a St. Martin's cross, bearing the inscriptions, +"Resurgam," and "I am the resurrection and the life," marks his +resting-place. Beautiful flowers in profusion were sent by relatives and +friends and by different organizations in the city in which he had been +prominent in token of the love and esteem in which he was held. The +Yarmouth church, where most of his life work was done, sent two +representatives, and an elegant wreath of ferns and orchids.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p>The second marriage in the family was that of my sister Susan. She was +married July 21, 1863, to Ralph H. Ensign, a son of one of the oldest +and best families of the town. Their friendship began in early youth, +and was fitly crowned by this most happy marriage. The wedding took +place in the Methodist Episcopal church in Simsbury,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> and the ceremony +was performed by Rev. Arza Hill, then pastor of the church. It was in +the early days of the Civil War, not long after the death of my brother +Joseph. The family were in mourning at the time, and the bride made no +change, but was married in a gown of white crêpe. The reception at the +home consisted only of the two families, and as it was a time of alarms, +the men of the family had been called in different directions, so that +only the two fathers were present. The wedding was followed by a bridal +trip to Niagara.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Ensign made their home in Simsbury, occupying the house on +the hill now occupied by their daughter, Mrs. Robert Darling. Mr. Ensign +was in the fuse business with my father, and soon became a member of the +firm. He has been its head ever since my father's death, and it has +steadily prospered under his leadership. Their present home, "Trevarno," +was built in 1881, and they have lived there since that time. They have +travelled a great deal, especially in England and France. Their +children: Sarah Isabel, who died at the age<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> of four years, Joseph +Ralph, Susan Alice, Julia Whiting, and Edward William, who died at the +age of three. They also reared to manhood a child, Ralph Newbert, whom +they took into their family shortly after the death of their youngest +child, Edward.</p> + +<p>Next in order was my sister Julia, who was married on May 29, 1886, to +Rev. Charles H. Buck of Neponset, Massachusetts, at that time pastor of +the Simsbury Methodist church. He was a graduate of Wesleyan University +and a young man of much promise, which has been abundantly fulfilled in +his ministerial career. They were married in the Methodist church by my +father and Rev. Mr. Simmons, and left at once on their wedding journey. +On their return they removed to Westville, Connecticut, where Mr. Buck +had just been appointed pastor. Since then, Mr. Buck has filled many of +the most important appointments in the New York East Conference, serving +large churches in Brooklyn, Stamford, Bristol, New Britain, and others. +He has always been greatly beloved and appreciated by his people and +urged to return to them, particularly at Bristol, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> he had three +pastorates. When he retired from the active ministry in 1900, he was +presented by his people there with a magnificent loving cup, as well as +other tokens of their affection. Mr. Buck had previously been given the +degree of D. D., and he was Treasurer of Wesleyan University for a +number of years after his retirement, besides holding other prominent +positions. The Bucks have always been great travellers, both in this +country and abroad, and spent a year travelling in the far East, in +1900-01, before settling in a home of their own. On their return, Dr. +Buck was for a time Presiding Elder in the New York East Conference and +also pastor of a large church in Brooklyn. In 1903 they built a +beautiful Colonial house at Yonkers, New York, on land overlooking the +Hudson River, where they now live, having their daughter and her +interesting family near them.</p> + +<p>They adopted two children: William Henry and Sarah Humphrey.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p>On the 19th of October, 1866, my sister Annie was married to L. +Stoughton Ellsworth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> of Windsor, Connecticut. He came of the straitest +of Puritan stock, including the historic Ellsworths and Edwardses of +Windsor, and has most creditably borne up the reputation of those +families. The ceremony took place in the Methodist church and was +performed by his brother-in-law, Rev. C. H. Buck, who was assisted by +Rev. J. W. Dodge. They resided for a short time in Windsor, Connecticut, +after which they removed in April, 1867, to Oakland, California, where +Mr. Ellsworth had charge of a branch of the fuse business, which had +been established there. They remained there only a few years. Two +children were born to them there, but both died very young, which +hastened their return to Connecticut, in the autumn of 1871. They +settled on a fine farm in East Weatogue, but in 1889 they built and +occupied their present residence in Hopmeadow, and Mr. Ellsworth also +became a member of my father's firm. Their children: Lucy Stoughton, +George Toy, Annie Stoughton, Henry Edwards, John Stoughton.</p> + +<p>My brother George was married October 6, 1875, to Mary Seymour of +Granby. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> were married at the bride's home by Rev. C. H. Buck, and +took a wedding trip to Canada. They lived afterwards in my father's +family, as George was associated in the business. There were no living +children.</p> + +<p>My sister Jennie was married April 19, 1876, to Mr. Charles E. Curtiss +of Simsbury. They lived for a short time with Mr. Curtiss' parents, and +then removed to Westfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Curtiss was afterwards +taken into my father's business, and they lived in the house adjoining +his on the hill. Their children: Joseph Toy and Grace Gilbert.</p> + +<p>Having been divorced from Mr. Curtiss, my sister Jennie married Mr. +Charles A. Ensign, December 2, 1890. They settled in a very pleasant +home in Tariffville, where they have since lived, with the exception of +a short residence in Ottawa, Canada.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> No children.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i114.jpg" alt="JOSEPH TOY" /></div> +<p class="caption">JOSEPH TOY</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>On November 7, 1873, our grandmother, Mrs. D. G. Humphrey, who had long +been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> an honored and valued member of our family, died at the age of +81. She was a very intelligent, and interesting woman, and was loved and +mourned by us all.</p> + +<p>My brother George died March 25, 1881, after a long and trying illness, +which eventually weakened him in mind as well as body.</p> + +<p>My stepmother, Sarah G. H. Toy, died September 24, 1881. She had a long +illness, resulting from a shock of apoplexy which partially paralyzed +her and ended in softening of the brain. I was with her when she passed +away, and closed her eyes for the last long sleep. She was a brilliant +and interesting woman, a devoted wife, and a kind mother to the children +whose care she undertook.</p> + +<p>After her death my father married Mary Seymour Toy, April 11, 1882. One +child was born to them, Josephine Seymour, born January 19, 1884. They +continued to live in the house on the hill until some years after my +father's death, which occurred when Josephine was three years old. As +she grew older and the question of a suitable education for her arose, +Mrs. Toy removed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> Hartford, and the old house was closed. It was +later divided into two parts; the back portion was moved away and used +as a small tenement for the employees of the factory, while the rest was +rented as it stood. Later, in 1904, it also was removed to its present +position just back of the old site, where Mr. Joseph Ensign's house now +stands. Mrs. Toy and Josephine settled in a very pleasant home in +Hartford, and the latter attended Miss Barbour's school, and later went +for two years to Miss Porter's school in Farmington. On June 5, 1907, +she was married to Mr. Frederick Starr Collins, a son of one of the old +and prominent families of Hartford. The marriage was a very happy one, +especially as Josephine and her husband still remained with her +mother.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>On the second of April, 1887, my father<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +entered into rest. He had been growing rather more feeble for some time. +He was very ill during most of the winter, and was confined to his bed a +great part of the time. His trouble was of such a nature that it was +impossible for him to lie down, which was very distressing, but he bore +his sufferings with great fortitude and patience. He improved as the +spring came on, and was able to walk about the house, and had even been +out of doors once or twice. I had not been able to go to see him during +the winter, but on the last of March I went to Simsbury. He was occupied +by business on the first day of April, so that I did not see him, but on +the morning of the second, I went in a driving snowstorm to see him. He +was just coming out of his room as I came in. I was greatly struck by +his altered and feeble appearance, but he received me cheerfully, and we +talked pleasantly together for an hour. His physician, Dr. R. A. White, +came in at that time, and suggested that he be given a little liquid +nourishment. As he attempted to swallow it, there was a struggle, and he +threw back his head, groaning heavily. I took his head<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> in my arms, and +in an instant he had passed away. We laid him quietly down, and even +amid our tears, it was a relief to see him lying peacefully after his +winter's sufferings. The funeral took place in the Methodist church. His +pastor, Rev. C. W. Lyon, officiated, assisted by Rev. C. P. Croft. The +procession passed up the aisle, preceded by the pastor reading the +beautiful words of the burial service, "I am the resurrection and the +life." The choir sang "Servant of God, well done," and "It is well with +my soul." Mr. Lyon preached from the text, "I have fought a good fight +... I have kept the faith," and the choir sang, "Thy will be done."</p> + +<p>Two wreaths were laid upon the casket, one of white callas, and in the +center was a sheaf of wheat. The church was thronged with friends and +neighbors who came to pay their last tribute of love and respect. Over +one hundred of the employees of the firm were present. The bearers were +S. C. Eno, D. B. McLean, A. G. Case, Erwin Chase, J. N. Race, and A. S. +Chapman. So he was carried forth from the church of which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> had so +long been a pillar, and laid to rest on the hillside, in the midst of +his family who had gone before. So closed a long, honored and useful +life. "The memory of the just is blessed."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">GRANDCHILDREN</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p> +<span class="smcap">Susan Webster Dodge</span>, born November 14, 1875.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Mary Webster Dodge</span> (adopted), born January 24, 1866.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">George Toy Dodge</span> (adopted), born June 7, 1872.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Sarah Isabel Ensign</span>, born December 19, 1864; died January 25, 1869.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Joseph Ralph Ensign</span>, born November 24, 1868;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Mary J. Phelps, April 5, 1894.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Child</i>: <span class="smcap">Mary Phelps</span>, born February 9, 1902.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Susan Alice Ensign</span>, born September 7, 1873;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Rev. William Inglis Morse, June 15, 1904.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Child</i>: <span class="smcap">Susan Toy</span>, born July 4, 1905.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Julia Whiting Ensign</span>, born October 3, 1878;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Robert Darling, May 14, 1902.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Child</i>: <span class="smcap">Robert Ensign</span>, born September 19, 1904.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Edward William Ensign</span>, born July 5, 1881; died June 9, 1884.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Lucy Stoughton Ellsworth</span>, born February 1, 1868; died April 13, 1870.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">George Toy Ellsworth</span>, born April 24, 1869; died October 24, 1869.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Annie Stoughton Ellsworth</span>, born September 22, 1873;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Emmet Schultz, April 16, 1895.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Henry Edwards Ellsworth</span>, born March 27, 1878;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Susan Hotchkiss Starr, February 11, 1903.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Children</i>: <span class="smcap">John Edwards</span>, born September 15, 1904; <span class="smcap">Mary</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><span class="smcap">Amelia</span></span>, born July 30, 1907; <span class="smcap">Jane Osler</span>, born December 16, 1908.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">John Stoughton Ellsworth</span>, born August 21, 1883;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Lida Burpee, July 15, 1905.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Child</i>: <span class="smcap">John Stoughton, Jr.</span>, born June 16, 1907.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">William Henry Buck</span> (adopted), born March 6, 1870;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Sadie Fielding, April 25, 1893.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Child</i>: <span class="smcap">Julia</span>, born November 3, 1893.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Sarah Humphrey Buck</span> (adopted), born June 22, 1872;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Dr. Albert Cushing Crehore, July 10, 1894.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Children</i>: <span class="smcap">Dorothy Dartmouth</span>, born May 17, 1895; <span class="smcap">Virginia</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><span class="smcap">Davenport</span></span>, born February 4, 1900; <span class="smcap">Victoria Louise</span>, born February</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">4, 1900; <span class="smcap">Florence Ensign</span>, born August 21, 1903, died November 10,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">1905; <span class="smcap">Julia Osler</span>, born December 15, 1906.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Joseph Toy Curtiss</span>, born December 16, 1878;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> Abigail Goodrich Eno, December 16, 1899.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Children</i>: <span class="smcap">Joseph Toy, Jr.</span>, born May 8, 1901; <span class="smcap">Austin Eno</span>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">born June 15, 1907.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Grace Gilbert Curtiss</span>, born September 26, 1883;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>married</i> William Pollard Lamb, May 11, 1904.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>Children</i>: <span class="smcap">William Pollard, Jr.</span>, born December 28, 1906; <span class="smcap">Richard</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;"><span class="smcap">Humphrey</span></span>, born February 23, 1909.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Josephine Toy Collins</span>, born July 5, 1909.<br /></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">APPENDIX</span></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">APPENDIX</span></p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The following letter from Miss Maude Divine, a granddaughter of my +mother's Aunt Susan, gives a little different account of the events of +Benjamin Osler's life, as her mother knew them. She says:</p> + +<p>"Our great-grandfather, Benjamin Osler, was a merchant in Gibraltar and +Cadiz from about 1814. Not doing well, he decided to try trading to the +West Indies, and bought a small vessel and fitted it with merchandise. +His son, Joseph, who had been a midshipman in the Navy, went with him, +but died at Trinidad of yellow fever. On the way home, grandfather's +vessel was seized by a French privateer, and he was imprisoned, where he +remained some time, unable to communicate with his family. Finally they +received information of his whereabouts, through the Free Masons, and an +exchange of prisoners being arranged, he came home, a helpless cripple.</p> + +<p>"Just at that time South Africa was being much talked of, and he thought +he would try his fortune there. He brought out most of his family, my +grandmother being the eldest. He never recovered his health, and died +about a year afterwards. Our great-grandmother then returned to England +with the younger children. My grandmother, having married<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> Lieutenant +Coleman of the Navy (who came out in their vessel the <i>Weymouth</i>), +decided to remain, as did also her young brother, Stephen and a sister, +afterwards Mrs. Sayers.</p> + +<p>"My grandmother settled at Simon's Town, and after her first husband's +death had a school, having been left with two little girls. She +afterwards married my grandfather Fineran who was in the Commissariat +Department of the Army, and mother was their only daughter. Her two +brothers died as young men. There are several descendants of the other +Osler daughters, grandmother's sisters, about Simon's Town whom we have +never seen, mother not having kept in touch with them after +grandmother's death."</p> + +<p class="right">S. W. D.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">FOOTNOTES:</span></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> My mother's cousin, Mrs. Kate Divine, in a letter from +South Africa, dated September 8, 1809, speaks of another son, Joseph, +the oldest of the family, who died before they went out to the Cape. She +also gives additional information about Benjamin Osler and his family +which I have added as an appendix.—S. W. D.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Mrs. Gilbert has now been for several years a widow, and +all her children are married and have children of their own. Her home is +with her daughter Leonora, whose husband is a successful clergyman.—S. +W. D.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Reverend Mr. Sims died in August, 1909.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The beautiful stone church which now replaces the first +wooden building was dedicated June 10, 1909, shortly after my mother's +death. It was the gift of Mr. R. H. Ensign and is entirely furnished +with organ and fittings by the generosity of members of his family. The +large Tiffany window over the chancel is a memorial to my grandfather +presented by his daughters.—S. W. D.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> My mother was closely associated for some years before her +marriage with "Father McLean," as he was affectionately called, reading +to him, writing sermons for him, and delighting to render him in his +blindness such little services as she could.—S. W. D.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> In the winter of 1908-09, Mr. and Mrs. Ensign bought the +attractive place in East Weatogue, where they have since lived.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> On July 20, 1909, five months after my mother's death, +Josephine Toy Collins died very suddenly at her home in Hartford, +leaving a baby daughter, little Josephine Toy, only two weeks old. Her +early death was a terrible blow to her young husband and to her mother, +to whom she had always been a close companion. Her short life was sweet +and lovely, and a host of sorrowing friends mourned its early close.—S. +W. D.</p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class="center"><span class="huge">TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p>Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.</p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Toys, by Mary Harris Toy Dodge + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE TOYS *** + +***** This file should be named 36966-h.htm or 36966-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/9/6/36966/ + +Produced by David E. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of the Toys + +Author: Mary Harris Toy Dodge + +Release Date: August 3, 2011 [EBook #36966] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE TOYS *** + + + + +Produced by David E. Brown and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Mary H. Dodge] + + + + + THE STORY OF + THE TOYS + + BY + + MARY H. DODGE + + + CAMBRIDGE + PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE PRESS + 1909 + + + + +"We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the noble +works that Thou didst in their days and in the old time before them." + +"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of +witnesses ... let us run with patience the race that is set before +us." + + + + +FOREWORD + + +This story of my mother's family was set down by her originally only to +recall it to my mind when I might no longer listen to it as it fell so +often from her own lips. It was written in the intervals of her +ill-health, without copying or revision, and was not intended for +publication. For this reason, she has dwelt more at length upon the +history of her own family life than upon that of her sisters, and has +purposely omitted all but a slight reference to the grandchildren and +the events of later years, her intention being to record only what was +outside my memory, leaving the rest to some other pen. The story, +however, has proved to be of so much interest to the other members of +the family that she was expecting to review it with me as soon as +possible, in order to prepare it to be printed for them. Her sudden +illness and death cut short her plans; but I have carried them out as +closely as I could, and the little book is printed very nearly as she +wrote it. Any errors or inaccuracies are mine and not hers. + +It has seemed to me that there could be no more fitting memorial of my +mother among ourselves, than this story. Its style is appropriate to the +subject and characteristic of herself--forceful, yet full of tender +sentiment, ready wit and apt quotation of Scripture; while through it +all, quite unconsciously to herself, there shine her cheery hopefulness, +her rare unselfishness, and her beautiful faith in God. Since my +father's death her health had been very much better, and she was looking +forward to years of comfort; but, in December, 1908, she was suddenly +seized with a serious heart trouble, and after a distressing illness of +about three months, which she bore with her own brave patience, on the +morning of February 27, 1909, she went to join her beloved. + +For those of us who have known her wonderful personality, no memorial is +needed to increase our love and admiration of her; but to the younger +members of the family, whose memory of her may be slight, I hope that +this little book may give a glimpse of the beauty of her life, as well +as of the noble souls whom she so worthily represented and whose blood +we are proud to share. + + "They climbed the steep ascent of Heaven + Through peril, toil and pain; + O God, to us may grace be given + To follow in their train." + + + S. W. D. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE TOYS + + +I wish to preface this memorial by a little sketch of Cornwall, +especially those parts of it most nearly connected with our family +history. I have gathered the materials for it from a little book on +Cornwall, by Mr. Tregellas. + + +The long coast-line of Cornwall, the most southern and western county of +England, has been, like Italy, compared in shape to a Wellington boot, +the iron heel of which is the mass of serpentine rock which forms the +southern point of the Lizard, and the foot that part which lies between +Mounts Bay and Land's End. The instep is at St. Ives Bay, and the body +of the boot constitutes the main portion of the county, the highest part +toward the eastern end forming the Bodmin moors. Along the northern +coast, the mural cliffs, against which the Atlantic rollers forever +break, are in marked contrast to the tamer and more sylvan scenery of +the south and west shores; while across the low-lying lands between St. +Ives and Mounts Bay the sea often threaten to meet in the spring tides. + +The climate of Cornwall, owing to its situation, is so remarkable as to +deserve notice. The month of January at Penzance is as warm as at +Florence or Madrid, and July is as cool as at St. Petersburg. There is +scarcely a country in the world with a climate so mild and equable. + +The people are "ardent and vivacious, self-reliant and versatile." It is +no uncommon thing for a Cornishman to build his own house, make his own +shoes, be both fisherman and miner, and, possibly, small shop-keeper +besides; and wherever the Cornish miner emigrates, he is pretty sure to +take the lead in enterprise and danger. + +Wilkie Collins says: "As a body of men they are industrious, +intelligent, sober, and orderly, neither soured by hard work, nor +depressed by harsher privations"; and the old poet Taylor, in 1649, +writes: "Cornwall is the compleate and repleate Home of Abundance, for +high, churlish hills and affable, courteous people. The country hath its +share of huge stones, mighty rocks, noble free gentlemen, bountiful +housekeepers, strong and stout men, handsome and beautiful women." + +Many curious old customs linger in Cornwall, among them the ceremony of +"cutting the neck," or last few ears of corn at harvest time, the +lighting of bonfires on the hills at St. John's Eve, and the "furry" or +Flora dance at Helston, on the eighth of May. Among the peculiar dishes +of the Cornish cuisine, prominent is the pasty, the almost universal +dinner of the working class. It is a savory compound of meat and +potatoes, inclosed in a crescent-shaped crust; but one must be a +Cornishman to appreciate this dish thoroughly. The variety of pies is +truly marvelous. It has been said that the devil himself would be put +into a pie if he were caught in Cornwall. Most of them are richly +saturated with clotted cream, a real Cornish dainty, which is very +popular, as are also Cornish seed-cakes. + +From time immemorial Cornwall has had a leading part in the mineral +industries of England. Mines of tin, copper, lead, and zinc abound, and +have been the chief source of revenue to the county. They give +abundant employment to the laboring class, and men, women, and even +children are freely employed in various ways about the mines. Since 1870 +the mining industries have declined; the mines have been less +productive, and the great discoveries of ore in this and other countries +have greatly reduced prices and scattered the Cornish miners over the +world. + +The fisheries of Cornwall have been another very important industry, +especially the mackerel and pilchard fishing. The pilchard is a very +delicious fish, similar to a herring, and is found almost exclusively on +the Cornish coast. + +Cornwall abounds in interesting antiquities, and many of these are +claimed to be almost as old as the granite rocks and cliffs of which +they are composed. They are relics of the early Britons,--remains of +villages, various sorts of sepulchral and memorial stones, and also some +that were associated with ancient religious rites. Some of these, such +as the "holed stones," have given rise to many superstitions among the +common folk, who have been in the habit of dragging invalids through +the orifices in the hope of curing them. There are also "cliff castles," +especially at Land's End and at other points on the coast,--retreats of +the native tribes from enemies,--and also earth-work forts on elevated +sites throughout the country. The early Christian antiquities include +churches and priories and the oratories or small chapels, frequently +associated with a Baptistery or holy well. Some of these are as early as +the fifth century. There is also an unusual number of crosses. As to +their uses an ancient manuscript says: "For this reason ben crosses by +ye way, that when folk passynge see ye croysses they shoulde thynke on +Hym that deyed on ye croysse, and worshyppe Hym above althyng." They +were also sometimes erected to guide and guard the way to the church, +and sometimes for the beautiful custom of leaving alms on the crosses +for poor wayfarers. The crosses were formerly far more numerous than +now, but recently some of them have been rescued from doing duty as +gate-posts and the like, to be reerected in the churchyards. There are +also inscribed stones, such as the Camborne altar-slab, and others. + +Of the towns of Cornwall, almost all have some interest, ancient or +modern. Truro has recently become the episcopal town of the county; a +fine cathedral has been built, and the Bishop has his residence there. +Falmouth, at the mouth of the Fal, is a comparatively modern town, +beautifully situated. Its magnificent and famous harbor has given it +considerable commercial importance in former times. One of its chief +attractions is Pendennis Castle. It stands on a bold promontory two +hundred feet high, on the western side of the harbor. It was one of the +works of defense undertaken by Henry VIII, but the enclosure is of the +time of Elizabeth. It is an interesting example of the military +architecture of the period. During the Civil War, Pendennis Castle +played a prominent and interesting part, and was the last but one of the +old castles that held out for the King's cause. + +A picturesque spot of much interest on the coast is the jutting headland +of the Lizard. The serpentine rock of which it is composed is very +beautiful when polished. The best time to visit this spot is at low +tide on a summer day, after a storm. Its soft yellow sandy beach, its +emerald waves, deep rock-pools and gorgeous serpentine cliffs, of green, +purple, crimson, and black, are then of astonishing beauty. Passing +eastward along the coast, we come to the little town of Marazion, in +front of which rises from the strand the far-famed St. Michael's +Mount--an isolated, rugged pyramid of granite, about a mile in +circumference and two hundred and thirty feet high at the chapel +platform. Several Sir John St. Aubyns have successively inherited it +since 1860, the date on which they acquired it from a Bassett of Tehidy. +The chapel and the hall are the portions most worthy of examination. A +few steps below the chapel is a recess called the dungeon; near it, a +narrow winding stair leads to the tower. Near the platform are the +remains of a stone cresset called St. Michael's Chair, which is supposed +to bring good fortune to those that sit in it. + +The town of Penzance, "the Holy Headland," is the place of approach to +the Land's End--a bold promontory standing out into the sea at the +southwestern extremity of England. Its granite cliff-scenery is the +finest in Cornwall. The tempest-scarred cliffs, the furious onset of the +waves in stormy weather, and the gorgeous sunsets, so frequent at that +point, invest Land's End with a deep and almost melancholy grandeur. It +is said that Wesley stood upon this point when he wrote the hymn, + + "Lo! on a narrow neck of land + 'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand." + +But the chief interest of Cornwall for our present purpose lies in the +town of Camborne on the Cam, or "crooked river." It is one of the great +mining centres, and has numerous rich mines, of which the principal is +Dolcoath, one of the deepest and most ancient in Cornwall. It is a busy +town, built mostly of stone, with nothing of note in the way of +architecture. The plain parish church, with its three sharp gables, +contains nothing of special interest. It stands in the midst of the +churchyard, in which are found many monuments and inscriptions to +attract the attention of those who love to recall the past. About three +miles to the north is Tehidy, the seat of the Bassetts, with its fine +park and gallery containing pictures by Gainsborough, Sir Joshua +Reynolds, and Vandyke. In driving to the high bluffs on the north shore +it is easy to visit Carn Brea, a rocky headland seven hundred feet above +the sea, with picturesque granite blocks piled upon its summit. Here, it +is said, was the chief scene of Druid worship; here was the sacrificial +rock, in the hollows of which the victim was laid; and here were the +granite basins hollowed out to receive his blood. The castle, of Norman +origin, was built by Ralph De Pomeroy, and was occupied by a Bassett in +the time of Edward IV. There are also here the remains of ancient +British earthworks, and "hut circles," and a tall monument to Lord De +Dunstanville of Tehidy, erected in 1836. + +A point of great interest to us is that Mr. Samuel Davey, the inventor +of the safety fuse for blasting and mining, was a native of Camborne, +and had his residence there, as did also his partner in business, George +Smith, LL.D. Mr. Smith was a man of high character, and great ability as +a scholar and writer, and the author of many works of theology and +biblical history. Among these are "The Hebrew People" and "The Gentile +Nations," which have been accepted as text-books in some theological +courses. The other member of the firm was Major John S. Bickford, a man +of wealth and influence, and the title of the firm became "Bickford, +Smith and Davey." The manufactory was located at Tuckingmill, a village +a little distance from Camborne. The business, at first small, has grown +and become very successful, and has branches in many parts of Europe and +America. The original firm, as represented by its successors, still +carries on the business in Tuckingmill. + +One of the noteworthy features of the town life is the Saturday +market-day. On this day are gathered the people from all the outlying +country, with varied products of farm, garden and dairy, as well as +wares of all kinds, which are offered for sale in the great market-house +of the town. + +"Camborne Feast" is a harvest festival answering to our Thanksgiving. It +occurs on November 13. + +[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF JOSEPH TOY] + +In the little hamlet of Roskear, an outlying village of Camborne, my +father, Joseph Toy, was born. The long, low stone cottage, with small +windows and overhanging roof, still stands. A narrow drive runs in from +the village street, and a low stone wall separates it from the plain +yard in front adorned with here and there a shrub or climbing vine. The +house is little changed since the large family of children were +sheltered under its eaves and played about the yard, and the dear mother +spread the simple food on the white table, and sanded the well-scoured +floor. My father was born in April, 1808. He was the son of Robert and +Ann Hosking Toy. He was the youngest of eight children: John, Robert, +Nicholas, William, James, Joseph, and his sisters Mary Ann (Mrs. Sims), +and Nanny (Mrs. Granville). His parents were honest, God-fearing people, +training their children to a life of industry and integrity, and early +leading them into the ways of piety and obedience. Joseph, being a +bright, attractive child, and possessing an affectionate nature, was +very naturally the pet and darling of the family. While he was quite +young his father died suddenly, and as the elder children were mostly +married, the home was broken up, and he, with his widowed mother, was +received into the family of his brother John, a man of much energy and +ability, who afterwards became captain of the West Seaton mine. In a few +years his mother, too, entered into rest, leaving her beloved Joseph to +the care of his elder brother, and well did that brother and his +estimable wife fulfill their trust. The home was full of love and +sunshine, and the most tender affection was lavished upon the young +brother. My uncle scarcely ever came home without the inquiry, "Where is +the dear boy?" + +Mrs. Jane Gilbert, my Uncle John's youngest daughter, writes thus of the +family. "Their father died when Joseph was a lad, but he was always a +great pet with his brothers. I have heard my father tell how when he was +going courting Joseph had cried to go with him, and he has taken him +many a time. Their mother died when your father was young, and he came +to him at our house and continued to live with us until his marriage. So +my sisters looked upon him more as a brother than an uncle. I can +remember that when the letter came to father announcing your dear +mother's death, he wept aloud and said, 'Poor little Joe!' Their +mother's maiden name was Ann Davey, and she was born at Nans Nuke +Illogan. She was a grand old Christian, a splendid character and +handsome. I have always heard her children speak of her with reverence +and love. Our grandfather's mother's name was Andrews, and she was born +in the parish of Newlyn East." + +The circumstances of the family made it necessary that all should share +in its support, and, as soon as he was thought capable, my father was +put--as were other children of his age--to do such work at the mine as +was then almost the only employment open to children. They were set at +picking up the ore for wheeling from the opening, and other light work +suited to their age, the labor and responsibility being increased as +they grew older. The advantages of education for the children of the +working classes were few indeed at that day, and where so many mouths +were to be fed, but little could be spared for books or schooling. My +father early developed a fondness for reading which grew into an earnest +thirst for knowledge, leading him to devote much of the time spent by +other boys in play to the search for it as for hid treasure. + +There was considerable natural musical talent in the family, and, as my +father had a sweet voice, he was early taken into the surpliced +boy-choir of the parish church, to which one or two of his brothers +belonged, though his family were devoted members of the Wesleyan church +of Camborne. The beautiful ritual of the church and its impressive +services had a refining influence upon the sensitive boy, and the +musical training he there received was of much value to him, and gave +him much enjoyment in after life. He used to speak with enthusiasm of +this experience, and I have often heard him tell of the delight with +which the boys would go forth in the frosty air of the Christmas morning +to sing carols under the windows of their friends, and how eagerly they +would catch the pennies which were thrown from the windows in response +to their greeting. The drinking habit of those days was universal, and +total abstinence was a thing unknown; and I have heard him say that the +good rector, Parson Rogers, would often pat the boys affectionately when +they had done particularly well, and say, "You have done well, boys. Now +come with me and have a little drop of something warm." His connection +with the parish choir was also the means of attracting the notice of +some people of influence who were afterwards of much assistance to him. + +As he grew older, his interest in education increased greatly, and +produced a distaste for the drudgery of his life at the mine. The +conviction grew upon him that he was fitted for something better, and +while he patiently bided his time, he was diligently improving every +opportunity for study. Kind friends soon noticed the boy's struggles, +and began to encourage him by lending him books, assisting him in +evening studies, and giving him help in every possible way. Prominent +among these were Mr. Thomas Davey, Mr. Thomas Garland, Dr. George Smith, +the author and scholar, Lady Bassett, and Lord De Dunstanville of +Tehidy, whose kindness and sympathy were very helpful. + +At the age of nineteen my father passed the religious crisis of his +life, and his conversion was thorough and complete. He united with the +Wesleyan church, and threw himself with all the ardor of his nature into +its Christian work. He was very active in the social meetings, and +showed such decided talent in that line that he was soon appointed a +class-leader. He was also a teacher in the Sunday School, where he +showed such aptitude for the work as to incline him to the profession of +teaching as a vocation. He became Superintendent of the Sunday School, +and was soon licensed to preach, receiving an appointment as local +preacher on a circuit. + +By untiring diligence he had qualified himself for the position of +teacher and obtained a situation in one of the Lancastrian schools, so +popular at that day, located in Camborne. He filled this position for +some years with much acceptance, continuing at the same time his own +studies, until he acquired, almost wholly by his own exertions, a solid +and excellent education. He was a good English scholar, a fine reader, +carefully exact in spelling and pronunciation, well read in history, a +good mathematician, fairly proficient in algebra and geometry, with +considerable knowledge of Latin, Greek, and French. He demonstrated +clearly what can be accomplished by any boy with a good mind, by energy +and perseverance, in the face of the most serious obstacles. + +[Illustration: BENJAMIN OSLER] + +About this time he formed the acquaintance of Miss Jane Osler, a young +lady of refinement and culture, who was at that time proprietor of a +millinery establishment in Camborne; and he married her in 1833. My +mother was the daughter of Benjamin and Jane Osler of Falmouth, and was +born August 1, 1802. The family was a very excellent one. Benjamin Osler +was the son of Edward Osler and Joan Drew, sister of the famous Cornish +metaphysician. He was a man of very decided character, a "gentleman of +the old school." His discipline in his family was very strict, though +kind, the rod always occupying a conspicuous place over the mantel for +the admonition of any child inclined to disobedience. A fine miniature +of my Grandfather Osler is in my possession, and it is our most +cherished heirloom. It is in the form of a locket. The picture shows a +fine oval face, with delicate features, powdered hair, and the heavy +eyebrows we have learned to call "the Osler eyebrows." On the reverse +side it has the hair of my grandfather and grandmother, smoothly +crossed, and upon it the monogram, "B. J. O.," in exquisite letters +formed of tiny pearls. This locket was given to my mother by her father +when the family went out to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, in the +year 1819. It was painted in London some time previous to that. + +In April, 1797, according to the Falmouth church register, my +grandfather married Jane Sawle, the daughter of Stephen Sawle of +Falmouth, an officer in the British navy and afterward Captain of a +Falmouth packet, the _Hanover_. A solid silver tankard is preserved in +our family, which was presented to our great-grandfather by the +British Admiralty. It bears this inscription: "For twenty years' +faithful service"; and on the side, the letters, "S. S." It is now the +property of my sister, Mrs. R. H. Ensign. There is also somewhere in the +Osler family a picture of our Grandfather Sawle, an old gentleman in +naval uniform. + +My mother was also one of a large family, which consisted of eight girls +and two brothers.[1] They were: Susan, Eliza, Mary Ann, Amelia, +Philippa, Jane, Julia, Sarah, Stephen, and Benjamin. + +While my mother was still young, her father went out to the Cape of Good +Hope, in charge of a colony of settlers. Dr. William Osler has kindly +loaned me a diary of my grandfather's, containing lists of provisions +and supplies purchased for the party, as well as other items. The +entries extend from January 3, 1815, to January 25, 1821. There seem to +have been in the party fourteen men, sixteen women, one boy, and three +girls. All payments were to be made in a proportion of the products of +the land. My grandfather settled in Simons Town, with most of his +family, and was probably a magistrate of the new colony. Two of the +daughters, Julia and Philippa, being in business in England, had +remained behind. My mother was left in the care of her mother's sister, +Mrs. John Harris. They were people of some culture, and having no +children of their own, were very fond of my mother and gave careful +attention to the cultivation of her mind and manners. Her uncle took +special delight in training her in reading and elocution. I have often +heard her recite with much spirit: + + "My name is Norval. On the Grampian hills + My father feeds his flock"; + +also many selections from the Iliad and Odyssey, taught her by her +uncle. Her home with these dear friends was most pleasant, and she +cherished the loving memory of their kindness all her life. It found +expression in the name she gave to me, her first-born, of Mary Harris. +She learned her business while she remained with them, and became the +head woman in a large millinery establishment in Falmouth, and +afterwards set up in business for herself in Camborne. My mother became +a member of the Church of England, to which all her family belonged, at +the age of seventeen, and so continued till near her marriage, when she +united with the Wesleyan church in Camborne. + +My grandfather Osler died at Simons Town, after some years' residence +there. My grandmother returned to her English home, but most of the +children, being married and settled in business at the Cape, made their +homes permanently there, and their descendants are now living mostly in +Simons Town and in Cape Town. After my grandmother's return to England, +she taught for a time a school for girls; but later came to Camborne and +made her home with her daughters who were in business there. Her home +was with my mother till her departure for America. + +While my mother remained in Falmouth, her Aunt Osler, the last of the +old family, lived near her with her two daughters, and they were a +great comfort to her. This Aunt Osler died in April, 1864. She was Mary +Paddy Osler, the wife of my grandfather's eldest brother, Edward. Their +eldest son, Edward, has descendants in Canada, with whom we have had +very pleasant relations, and a daughter, Mary, was the mother of Mrs. +Truran of Truro. Another son, Rev. Featherstone Osler, came out to +Canada as a missionary, and became the founder of a large and +influential family there. Our own relationship to them has been only +lately discovered, and has been the source of much pleasure to us. Mrs. +Featherstone Osler died at the age of one hundred, in 1907, a woman very +remarkable and greatly beloved; and her large family of sons, including +Dr. William Osler of Oxford, Hon. Justice Osler of Toronto, Britton Bath +Osler, the eminent lawyer, and Mr. Edmund Osler, the financier are all +distinguished in public life. + +Of my mother's sisters, Susan married a Mr. Fineran of Cape Town, and +had an interesting family of children. She was early left a widow. Her +daughter, Mrs. Kate Divine, has written me several times, and given me +interesting details of the family. One daughter went to New Zealand to +live after her marriage; one son, Charles, died early. Mrs. Divine's +son, Edmund, went to sea quite young, in a British ship, and coming to +New York, visited us all, which was a great pleasure. Mrs. Divine is now +quite an invalid, and with her unmarried daughter, Maude, lives in +Plumstead, a suburb of Cape Town, very near two of her sons and their +families. + +Mary Ann married Mr. Sayers of Simons Town, and her children are still +there. She was a very lovely character, and died about 1855, after a +long and severe illness borne with great fortitude and patience. The +inscription chosen for her tombstone was the same as that on my +mother's: Rev. xiv: 13. Her daughter, Mrs. Eliza Storrier, has written +me under date March 13, 1882, from the address: Mrs. J. E. Storrier, +Patent Slip, Simons Town. + +Eliza Osler married Mr. Jordan, and lived at Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope. +Her husband was in good business, and they had a family of seven +daughters and one son. She was also left a widow. + +Philippa married Mr. William Cogill, a merchant of Simons Town, who had +several children. She had three of her own--two sons and a daughter, +Julia, who married a Captain Bray and went to England to live. She was +left a widow with two children, in rather unpleasant circumstances. I +corresponded for some time with my Aunt Philippa, and her son Arthur, +who was at sea, came into the port of Boston at one time and we went to +see him while in port. Aunt Philippa died February 14, 1879. She had a +stroke of apoplexy and lingered for twenty-four hours, but never +regained consciousness. She was a woman of lovely character, and an +earnest Christian. + +Julia Osler, who, with Aunt Philippa, went out to the Cape after we left +England, was married there and had one child, but died early. I have not +the name of her husband. + +Amelia married Gilbert Williams of Falmouth, who followed the sea. She +sometimes went with him, leaving her two children, Gilbert and Amelia, +with her mother. The son, Gilbert, lived in Falmouth. He was an +engineer, and had a large family. We visited them while in England. One +daughter was named Mary Harris Dodge, for me, and one Julia Osler, for +my sister Julia. My cousin Gilbert had a good mind and was well +educated, but was never very successful in life. He died several years +ago. His children are doing well, and are still located in Falmouth. His +sister Amelia had always lived with them, being of feeble intellect and +a great care. My Aunt Williams had a hard struggle in life. She was +early left a widow, and her health was delicate, but she supported her +family by teaching, and educated her children. Her health failed, +however, and at last her reason gave way. She was for some time in the +Bodmin Asylum, but later her reason returned, and she lived some years +with her son, and died in Falmouth a few years ago. + +Sarah, the youngest daughter, was nine years of age when the family +returned from the Cape. She was adopted by her Aunt Harris and her +husband, and through them received an excellent education--a thing very +difficult to acquire in those days. She remained with them till their +death, then went to Camborne to her sisters, and afterwards secured a +situation in Truro, where she became engaged to a man much older than +herself. She lost her interest in him as the time drew near for her +marriage, and determined not to marry him. Hearing of a family who were +going to Gibraltar and wished a governess, she at once secured the +position, and after a hasty farewell to her mother, having gained her +very unwilling consent, she left England in two days. This was in 1838. +In 1840 she married Mr. Watson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, who belonged to +the Royal Artillery. At the end of two years they returned to England, +and were stationed at Woolwich, but in 1845 they removed to Edinburgh. +In 1852 the discovery of gold in Australia created a rush to that +colony. My Aunt Sarah with her family removed there, her husband joining +in the search for gold with varying success, while she labored +energetically to rear and educate her children. + +She was a widow for some years before her death. Her children, of whom +six lived to grow up, were a great comfort and an honor to her. They are +all respectably settled in Australia. Her eldest daughter, Julia Osler, +married a Mr. Thomas Sayle, and they now live at Queenscliff, Australia. +My sister Julia met them in her journey to the East, in 1900, as well as +another daughter, Mrs. Evans, and two sons, William and Arthur, the +latter of whom has since died. My Aunt Watson died after a short illness +a few years ago,--I have not the exact date. In a letter received from +my Aunt Sarah, dated June 10, 1872, she thus speaks of my mother:-- + +"My first recollection of your mother was when we returned from the +Cape. I was then nine years old. She was much occupied by business, but +often on evenings she would take a walk in a quiet, beautiful lane near +our home, with your Aunt Phillis and myself. In these rambles I first +learned to love nature and poetry, for, to our delight, she would repeat +to us choice poems which I have never forgotten. She sowed the seeds of +a love of literature in my mind, which time has never effaced and which +has been a solace to me in prosperity and adversity. I never think of my +dear sister Jane but as the most perfect and consistent Christian I ever +knew." + +She also quotes from a letter written to her by my mother, August 15, +1844, in which she says:-- + +"Mary is smaller than our other children, but she is a kind-hearted +little creature, and is able to render me many little services. I think +her disposition resembles that of our dear mother. Joseph is naturally +self-willed, and little Susan volatile. Ann Jane is now two years old. +She is an engaging little creature, and can sing and talk remarkably +well. She is named for her two grandmothers." + +Of the two sons, my Uncle Stephen Osler remained at the Cape. He was for +many years a teacher in the government schools. I had for some years an +interesting correspondence with him. He had two sons, Stephen and +Benjamin, and a very sweet daughter, Katherine Jane, who died quite +young. The sons were both men of position and influence at the Cape. My +uncle and his wife both died some years ago. + +My Uncle Benjamin returned to England and established his business +there. He lived for some years in Barnstaple, and died of apoplexy, +February 3, 1864. He left two sons, both of whom were men of character. +One of them, Rev. Benjamin Osler of Exmouth, afterwards became a Baptist +clergyman. I have recently had a delightful correspondence with him, and +my sister Susan has met him and his family. He has two sons, John +Stephen and Ernest Edward, both of whom have children. + +I should have inserted before a sketch of the family of my Uncle John +Toy, with whom we have been more intimately connected than with any +other branch of either family. My uncle married Jane Rule of Camborne, +and they had four daughters and one son. The eldest, Mary Ann, married +Mr. Josephus Snell. He was a builder and contractor, and had a +prosperous business. They removed to London, and most of their life was +spent there. They had a very pleasant home, and Mr. Snell owned several +houses which he rented. They have both died within a few years. The +second daughter, Amelia, married James Snell, a brother of Josephus. +They had two daughters. Asenath, the elder, was adopted by her Uncle +Josephus, as they had no children of their own. She married Edward +Brundell, and their home was in London. Louisa, the younger, always +lived with her parents. My cousin Amelia died quite suddenly about two +years ago. Jennefer married Philip Morshead of Camborne. They had two +children: a son, John, who has always been a teacher, and a daughter, +Annie Davis, who has been also a very successful teacher. My cousin +Jennefer was a little older than myself, and was very fond of us as +children before we left England. She was a favorite of my mother, and I +always corresponded with her occasionally. Both she and her husband have +recently died. Jane, the youngest, married John Gilbert, since captain +of one of the large mines, and a man of much intelligence and influence. +He has made several visits to America in the interest of the mines, also +he was sent to India, where he was employed for two years by the +mine-owners. They have a pleasant home in Camborne and three fine +children: two sons, Arthur and Bertie, who are both in business, and +Leonora, a sweet girl who is soon to be married to a Wesleyan +minister.[2] The only son, John Toy, was not as successful as the rest. +He came to America, and went from here to Australia, where he died some +years ago. + +I wish also to mention the family of my aunt, Mrs. Mary Ann Sims. She +was my father's only remaining sister when we visited England in 1882. +She was then living with her daughter, Mrs. Arthur, in Camborne, and was +about eighty years of age. She was a lovely old lady, petite in figure, +exquisitely neat in dress, her face beaming with kindness from beneath +one of the snowy caps with which her grandson, Johnnie Arthur, delighted +to keep her supplied. She was greatly beloved by her grandchildren, and +the pet of all the nieces and nephews. She reared a large family of +children, who are widely scattered. One son has long lived in Norway, +and is the father of Joseph Sims of Simsbury, Connecticut. One is the +Rev. James Sims[3] of Council Bluffs, Iowa, who was for many years a +Methodist minister in Wisconsin. Reverend and Mrs. James Sims celebrated +the sixtieth anniversary of their marriage in 1907, when they were both +over eighty. They had ten children, of whom seven are still living, Mrs. +Mary Bainbridge being best known to us. Two sons and two daughters are +living in England. + +My Aunt Sims had a cosy cottage at Carwinning, in the country, a few +miles from Camborne; and it was one of my mother's chief pleasures to +take her little children to this pleasant country home, where we were +always cordially welcomed and treated to the best of Cornish cream and +gooseberry pasties. It was a pleasant relief from her busy and confining +life in the shop where she personally superintended her millinery +business. + +My father lived, for over five years after his marriage, in Camborne, +holding the position of principal of the Lancastrian School, and making +himself very useful as local preacher and class-leader in the Wesleyan +church. Three children were born to them in these happy days of their +early married life. I was the first-born, and was ushered into life +October 31, 1834, at about 8 o'clock in the morning. I have often heard +my father speak of the joy he felt when I was placed in his arms for the +first time. The second was my brother Joseph, born July 23, 1836, a +bright, active boy, who made life busy for those who had the care of +him. Then came my sister Susan, born June 3, 1838. She was the household +pet when we turned our faces from the dear old home to seek a new one in +a land of strangers. This great change which now came into our family +life was in connection with the introduction of the manufacture of +safety fuses into America. The firm, having an established and lucrative +business in England, naturally sought to enlarge and extend it, and +America was considered an inviting field for the new industry. + +About this time Mr. Richard Bacon of Simsbury, Connecticut, was +travelling in England in the interest of copper-mining, which was then +carried on at the old prison in East Granby, Connecticut, known as +Newgate. He met with the firm of Bickford, Smith & Davey, and they +determined to make an effort through him to introduce their business +into America. The first attempt was accordingly made at the old prison, +with some success. It had been transferred to Simsbury, and was in +successful operation there, when, in the summer of 1839, my father, who +was well and favorably known to the firm, and had been greatly +encouraged and befriended by Mr. Smith and Mr. Davey, and in their +employ, received from them an offer of a position as bookkeeper in the +American establishment, which was known as Bacon, Bickford & Co., with +what was for those days a good salary. The accounts of the new branch +were confused and unsatisfactory, and the company desired to have +accurate statements rendered. It was a fine opening for the future for +my father, as was proved a few years later when he became a member of +the firm of which he was afterwards the head. + +This startling proposition brought a season of anxious thought and +prayerful consideration into the little home. My mother was well +established in her business; her mother and two sisters were with her; +her love for her English home and friends was deep and true; and she +shrank with all the force of her loving nature from the separation. The +journey was long and trying. No ocean steamers made the voyage a +pleasant pastime of a few days. Long weeks of tossing on the stormy +ocean were to be followed by the search for a new home in a land of +strangers. But with my mother the voice of duty was always the voice of +God. The prospects of a wider field for her husband, and enlarged +opportunities for her children, were not to be neglected. Her decision +was made, and saying, as did Ruth, "Where thou goest, I will go," she +bravely put away the arms of love which would have held her back, and +set herself to the task of closing her business and arranging for her +journey. At length the preparations were over. The last farewells were +said to the dear little home, to the church they loved and had served so +faithfully, and to the dear ones from whom it was so hard to part. The +van laden with luggage for the voyage, with space reserved for the +family, was ready to start; and amid the tears and prayers of those who +loved them, the dear old home faded forever from the eyes of my father +and mother. + +The first stage of the journey was to Falmouth, my mother's early home, +where we remained for a rest of a day or two with my mother's sister, +Mrs. Williams. Pleasant days they were, of loving sisterly communion. +The children, wild with the excitement of the new experience, were +eagerly spying out the wonders of the city, in company with their +cousins. My brother Joseph, a bold, adventurous little fellow of +scarcely three, wandered off one day, to the great anxiety of his +mother. He was found, after a long search, by my aunt, gazing intently +into the mysteries of a rope-walk. Seeing his aunt, he exclaimed, +eagerly, "Oh, here comes Aunt Philippa! Now we'll go through the gate!" + +These pleasant days soon passed, and with renewed good-byes, we left for +Portsmouth, from which port we were to sail. A vexatious delay of some +days was experienced there, but at last the good ship spread her sails +and stood off down the harbor. With tearful eyes they stood on deck and +watched the receding shores of their dear native land fade from their +sight. Then, with new devotion to each other and to the God who was +leading them, they turned with hope and courage to the new life opening +before them. + +For six long weeks the vessel ploughed its way over the heaving sea. My +father was almost immediately prostrated by sea-sickness, and for most +of the passage was confined to the stateroom, unable to render any +assistance in the care of the family. My mother bravely rose to the +emergency, caring for her sick husband and the restless children, and +bearing the weariness and discomfort of the voyage without a murmur. My +brother Joseph, being of an inquiring mind and full of restless energy, +was constantly wandering about the ship, exploring every new place, +talking with the sailors, trying to climb the ropes, and requiring +unceasing vigilance to keep him from harm. Little Susan, then just past +her first birthday, learned to walk on board the ship, and one of her +first exploits in climbing about was to upset a teapot of hot tea into +her bosom, making a bad scald of which she carries the scars to this +day, thus adding much to the care and anxiety of her mother. + +At last the weary weeks wore away, and their eyes were gladdened by the +sight of land. On the eighteenth of August, 1839, they made safe anchor +in the harbor of New York. From there an easy sail by the Sound brought +them to Hartford. Once more the luggage was mounted on a heavy wagon, +with space reserved for the family, and they were off on the ten-mile +drive over the mountains to Simsbury, their place of destination. + +As the afternoon was wearing away, they came to the top of the high hill +rising abruptly at the eastern end of the street of East Weatogue, +where their journey was cut short by the breaking down of the wagon. The +prospect which opened before them was beautiful indeed. The little +village which was to be their home nestled at the foot of the mountain +range, while fertile meadows stretched away in the distance, through +which the Farmington river with its wooded banks wound its peaceful way, +the horizon bounded by the range of mountains west of the town. It was a +lovely picture, but the way-worn travellers could not realize its +beauty, as they alighted from the broken wagon, and took their weary way +down the hill to the village, leaving the driver to repair the wagon and +follow later. My mother, walking on, came to a hospitable-looking home +and ventured to ask a drink for the tired children. A pleasant-faced +matron greeted them kindly, invited them in to rest, and offering my +mother a cup of tea, proceeded to regale the hungry children with bread +and molasses. This was their first welcome to their new home. My mother +rejoiced to find that her new friend was from the dear home land, also +that her husband was in the employ of the same firm. They became +lifelong friends, and in sickness and in health it was their delight to +show a sisterly kindness to each other. This good woman was "Auntie +Whitehead," a warm friend of our family, who has since joined my mother +in the heavenly home. + +At last, as the evening shadows were falling, the heavy wagon came +slowly down the mountain, and we were lodged in our first home in +America. It was an old-fashioned New England house, with long sloping +roof and lean-to running down behind. It is still standing and in fair +repair, just opposite the Cornish house, which stood by the old +schoolhouse in East Weatogue. One half the house was occupied by the +family of Mr. Joseph Eales, who was a member of the firm. We remained +there for a time, and afterwards removed to the house standing where Mr. +Aman Latimer's house now stands. But, desiring a more permanent home, my +father bought the farm owned by Mr. Roswell Phelps, lying just at the +foot of the mountain. It is now owned by Mr. Henry Ensign. My mother +rejoiced to feel that at last her wanderings were over and she was +settled in a home of her own. + +[Illustration: THE HOME IN EAST WEATOGUE] + +How plainly I can see it now! The plain house with its gambrel roof and +double front-doors kept secure by a stout oak bar resting in sockets of +iron; the narrow front hall, the family sitting-room on one side, with +the east door opening on the grassy yard; and the wide stone steps, our +only piazza. The parlor was on the west of the hall, with its ingrain +carpet and plain furniture, which then seemed quite fine to my childish +eyes. The best bed standing in the corner with the heavy English +counterpane was one of the conspicuous features of the room. Behind was +the long kitchen with its great fireplace, my mother's bedroom at one +end, and a smaller one for the children at the other. Plain and simple, +indeed, and even bare as compared with the homes of these days, as was +this home of our childhood, it was "sweet home" to us, for it was bright +with the love that made our lives all sunshine, and peace and +contentment were our constant guests. + +Two large buttonwood trees stood at the front gate, up to which led +some stone steps. By the street was an open shed under which wagons +could drive, and beyond was the garden with the great apple tree at the +top of it, flanked by peach trees, whose fruit was "sweet to our taste." +Behind the house was the well with its long sweep and its "oaken +bucket," which was our only refrigerator. It sometimes befell that a +luckless pail of cream or butter fell to the bottom. Then one of the +children was despatched in haste over the fields to borrow neighbor +Bissel's iron creepers, and great was the excitement as we watched the +grappling which surely brought up the pail, if not always the contents. +There, too, was the old pear tree, in the back garden, whose fruit was +so delicious as we ran out in the early morning to gather what had +fallen during the night; and the orchard with its long grass, often +trampled in our hasty search for the "golden sweets" which strewed the +ground. The hill rising at the back of it was crowned with the fine +spreading chestnut trees, which were such a joy to us in the autumn when +the frost had opened the burs and strewed the brown nuts on the ground. +Behind the house was the barn, with the cow which we early learned to +milk, and the white horse which carried the family to church on Sunday, +and my father on his semi-weekly journeys to the post office in +Hopmeadow. For daily mails were unknown in the peaceful valley then. The +yellow stage rumbled through the streets on its semi-weekly trip from +Hartford and was hailed with joy as a messenger from the great world +beyond. + +Across the brook and farther down the street was the little brown +schoolhouse, with its stiff hard benches, and open Franklin stove. +Behind was an old apple tree, and a barnyard flanked it on the north +side. There was a row of maples under which we played, and built stone +houses in the soft sand, making wonderful china closets of bricks and +shingles and filling them with bits of bright crockery laboriously +gathered from the children's homes and carried to school in our aprons. + +Early rising was the rule in our house, for the early breakfast was +always preceded by family prayers, from which none might be excused; +and after it my father went to his office and the children to school. We +were happy children then; our simple sports and homely pleasures had a +zest which, it seems to me, children in these days of multiplied means +of diversion know little of. The free life of the fields and woods; the +fun of driving the cows to and from the mountain pastures, and, in +spring, carrying home pails of maple sap, and boiling it into sugar; +scouring the mountain-sides and pastures for berries and nuts, picking +up apples and potatoes in the fall, by which we gained a little money +which was all our own; and, in winter, the joys of coasting down the +steep hill and far across the fields below by moonlight. The wonderful +snow-forts our brothers built and stormed, and the rides over the snow +behind the frisky steers on the ox-sled they made; in-doors the +home-made dolls and pleasant games, and in the evenings the delightful +stories and songs with which our mother entertained us--all these were +enjoyed with a relish so keen as to leave nothing more to be desired. + +As was most natural, my parents immediately connected themselves with +the church of their choice in their new home. The little band composing +the Methodist Episcopal church, which answered to the Wesleyan they had +left at home, had at that time no church edifice and were holding +Sabbath services in the schoolhouses, mostly at West Weatogue, about a +mile from our house. I well remember pleasant Sabbath morning walks down +the village street, through the "River Lane," bordered by a tall row of +Normandy poplars, over the bridge and by the sheep-fold of Squire Owen +Pettibone at the corner, where we were allowed, much to our delight, to +stop to look at the young lambs with their soft white coats and bright +eyes. I remember, too, the weekly evening prayer-meetings held at our +own schoolhouse at "early candle-light," when lamps and chairs were +brought in by the neighbors, and the simple service, generally conducted +by my father, was often as "the house of God and the gate of heaven" to +the earnest worshippers. It sometimes happened in the spring-time, when +the swollen river flooded the meadows and made the roads along its +banks impassable, that the brook which crossed our street was raised to +a small river, and the street could be crossed only by boats. When this +occurred on a Sabbath the young men would bring a boat, and to our great +delight we were rowed over, and the neighbors gathered at the +schoolhouse for a Sabbath service at which my father preached. + +His talents as a preacher and religious leader were soon perceived and +appreciated by the people, and his services were in much demand. It is +said that he preached in the schoolhouse at West Weatogue on the evening +after his arrival in Simsbury. In those early days he preached +frequently, supplying every alternate Sabbath for many of the weaker +churches in the vicinity which could not afford a regular pastor. He +preached in this way at North Canton, Granby, Bloomfield, Washington +Hill, Newfield, Burlington, and many other places. He would often start +off on Saturday afternoon for a drive of ten or fifteen miles, leaving +his little family to get to church on Sunday as best they could. In cold +weather he would wrap himself in his long cloak brought over from +England, and with the faithful white horse, go forth to wrestle with the +wintry winds and snows, often not returning till Monday. In 1840 the +Methodist Episcopal church edifice was built, on land donated by Squire +Ensign, a Congregationalist. My father, J. O. Phelps, Esquire, and Mr. +Edward C. Vining were appointed building-committee. Through their +earnest efforts, it was finally located at Hopmeadow, in spite of strong +opposition from some of the most influential members, who resided at +"Cases' Farms," now West Simsbury, and who favored its erection there. +It was said of my father by his pastor, Rev. I. Simmons, "He was one of +the most efficient workers and liberal givers in the erection of the +Simsbury church." A contribution was secured by his efforts from the +English firm to aid in building the church. It was a plain white +structure with long windows and green blinds. The steeple much resembled +that of the present Congregational church, but was smaller. They have +been not inaptly compared to two boxes piled on one another. The +pleasant-toned bell still hangs in the church tower, and it was music +in the ears of the little company of Methodists, when its clear notes +rang out over the meadows and hillsides, calling them to worship in a +church of their own. + +The interior was very simple: the plain pews with high doors; the +swinging gallery at the rear with the stiff green curtains on brass +rings across the front, which were drawn with all due ceremony when the +preliminary sounding of the tuning fork announced the beginning of +preparations for singing; the plain white pulpit with its purple velvet +cushion and hangings and straight seat cushioned with green baize, its +door closed and carefully buttoned after the minister had ascended the +narrow stairs; the high altar railing inclosing the communion table at +which it was so tiresome for children to kneel;--all these form a vivid +picture in my memory. Some years later an improvement(?) was introduced +which was thought to be a marvel of art, in the shape of a fresco behind +the pulpit. It represented two heavy curtains, supported by pillars on +each side, looped back by a large cord with immense dark tassels. This +was the wonder of our childish eyes for many years. Two large box stoves +stood near the entrance doors, at which I used to stand tremblingly to +warm myself after our cold ride in winter, while the stalwart young +sexton, whose rough manners concealed a kind heart, raked at the glowing +coals with his long poker and thrust in the big sticks which soon sent a +glow through our chilled hands and feet. The plain little church has +been transformed into a neat modern one with a corner tower,[4] and the +worshippers with whom my memory fills those pews all lie quietly +sleeping on the hillside in the neighboring cemetery. Only their +children remain to remind us of them and the good work they did in those +early days, but their memory is green, and the fruit of their labors is +enjoyed by their children to-day. + +In 1844 my father served as pastor of the Simsbury church, giving his +services that the church might free itself from debt, which it did. He +conducted during all those years a Bible class of ladies in the Sunday +School, by whom he was greatly appreciated and beloved. The Sabbaths of +those early days were far from being "days of rest" to my father and +mother. They were obliged to rise early to get the family ready for +church, leaving home at about half-past nine for the two-mile ride to +Hopmeadow. Then the two services with Sunday School between, and the +drive home occupied the time till four P. M. Then my mother had to +prepare the warm supper, and when all was over it was nearly time for +the evening prayers, which were never omitted. Not until the restless +children were in bed and soothed to sleep by the sweet hymns she used to +sing to us, was there a moment of quiet rest for the dear mother. My +father at that time always drove to Hopmeadow for the evening service, +and later one or two of the older children were allowed to go with him. +In pleasant weather, when my father was absent on his preaching tours, +my mother would take such of the children as were old enough, and walk +to church on Sabbath mornings, leaving the little ones with her friend +Mrs. Whitehead. + +One of the chief pleasures of that early time was the receipt of letters +from the dear mother and sisters left behind, for letters were indeed +like angels' visits then. They were full of tender memories and loving +messages for the dear ones over the sea. One of my most cherished +mementos is a letter written to my mother by my Grandmother Osler in +October, 1839, in which she speaks of her joy in hearing of our safe +arrival and settlement in our new home and of how much she missed my +mother, and her affectionate longing to see the children who were so +dear to her. She says,-- + +"Kiss the three darling children for me. I cannot express my love for +them and you, nor my feelings on account of the great distance between +us. I shed many tears in reading your much valued letter over and over +again. You are all generally uppermost in my thoughts, and I find you +wanting more than I can describe. I am very glad you like the appearance +of the country and that you were so kindly received. I hope the winters +will be more mild than we expected, and that by the blessing of the +Almighty you will all be happy and comfortable. Oh! how I would love to +see my beloved little Mary, and my darling little Joseph, who seems +inclined to remember me by expecting to find me in his new home, and I +should have been much pleased to see my dear, sweet, pretty little Susan +take to run off, but suppose the misfortune of pulling the hot tea over +into her tender bosom put her back some time. Pretty dear! I used to +love them all as if they were my own." + +She goes on to speak of her health and prospects, and in closing says,-- + +"I hope the Lord will give me strength according to my day, and by His +divine assistance, may I and all of you be led on by His grace in the +way to everlasting life." + +Such was the love and blessing which descended to us from our godly +ancestors. As nearly as I can learn, my grandmother Osler died in 1842, +about three years after our coming to America. I well remember my +mother's grief when the sad tidings came, and the black dress she wore +for some time afterward. Her sisters Julia and Philippa soon returned to +the Cape of Good Hope, where their brother and sisters were, and both +were married there, but my Aunt Julia only lived a short time, dying +soon after the birth of her first child. The sad news came to my mother +just before the birth of my sister Julia, and she was named for this +dear sister. My mother always loved dear old England with a right loyal +affection. She always spoke of it lovingly as "Home," and cherished a +longing desire to revisit it at some future day, but she never allowed +any feeling of homesickness to interfere with present duty. Her whole +heart was given to her family. It was her highest joy to make home +bright and happy for her husband and children, though her heart was +large enough to take in the church and the neighborhood and every one to +whom she might do a kindness. From year to year she toiled patiently +and quietly on, with very little to relieve the monotony of her life. +Vacations were a thing unheard of in that day, especially for women, and +though my father made frequent journeys to various parts of the country +on business, it was not thought of as possible that the mother could +leave her post. But her life, so far from being dreary or unsatisfying, +was bright with the love and confidence of her husband and the affection +of her children. These were her "joy and crown," the approval of the +Saviour she loved and served was her constant inspiration, and her +well-stored mind, and her fondness for good reading furnished pleasant +occupation for her leisure hours. + +So the years passed quietly and peacefully with little change in the +life of the family. Two other children came to bless the home, Ann Jane, +named for her two grandmothers, born February 23, 1842, and Julia Osler, +born June 14, 1845. I must not fail to make mention of one who played +quite an important part in the history of our family at this time. This +was a young woman named Lucinda Andrus, who came into the family April +1, 1843. She had employment in the factory and assisted my mother in +such ways as she could for her board. She was a woman of excellent +Christian character and great kindness of heart, though possessed of +strong peculiarities. She was warmly attached to my mother and the +children, and very self-sacrificing in her efforts to assist in every +possible way. She was, in this way, a member of our family for many +years, passing with us through scenes of joy and sorrow, always +identifying her interests with ours and giving the most faithful service +and unchanging friendship. She was a woman of shrewd good sense and +often quite witty, and her quaint remarks and amusing stories and songs +enlivened many an evening for the children. She was somewhat credulous, +and had great faith in dreams and omens, which we eagerly drank in, +somewhat to the discomfort of our mother, who was singularly free from +any trace of superstition, and was the very soul of truth in all her +conversation with her children. Lucinda married later in life old Mr. +Thomas Morton, who, as she herself allowed after his death, was not +always "the best of husbands," though she did think the minister "might +have said a little more about him at his funeral." Her married life was +burdened with hard work and poverty, but her last years were made quite +comfortable by the kindness of many friends who respected her and were +glad to assist her. She died in the autumn of 1896. She is remembered by +the young people of our family as "Aunt Lucinda." + +We come now to the time when the clouds gathered heavily over the happy +family, and its sweet light went out in darkness. My mother had not been +in her usual good health during the summer, and had been at times a +little low-spirited. On Monday, July 19, 1848, my father went on a short +business trip to Boston, and returning found my mother quite poorly. On +Friday she felt decidedly ill and asked Lucinda to remain at home to +assist her, which she gladly did. That evening my father, who was +suffering from severe headache, asked my mother to offer prayer at the +evening worship, as she often did, and Lucinda, whose recollection of +those scenes was very vivid, describes it as one of the most remarkable +prayers she ever heard. The mother's whole soul seemed drawn out in +special pleading for her children, that God would make them His own, and +would care for them if she was taken away from them. On Saturday she was +much worse, and on Sunday her condition was very alarming. The disease +having developed as malignant erysipelas, one of the most experienced +and skilful physicians from Hartford was called, a good nurse put in +charge, and all that human skill could do was done to save the life so +precious to us all. But all in vain. It became evident during Monday +night that the end was near, and toward morning the family were gathered +at her bedside for the last farewell. She called each separately, and +commended them to God with her dying blessing. + +Little Julia, only three years old, was in my father's arms, too young +to realize the sad parting. My mother asked, "Where is my little Annie?" +My father lifted her and she laid her hand on Annie's head, but could +not speak. My brother Joseph, always impulsive and warm-hearted, burst +into tears, and begged forgiveness for any trouble he might have caused +her. She spoke words of comfort to him and sank back exhausted. My +father asked her, "Is all well?" She answered, "All is well. It is well +with my soul." And so in the morning of July 27, 1848, at 6 A. M., +gently and peacefully passed away one of the purest and sweetest spirits +that ever brightened this dark world. Her lifework was finished, and she +"entered into the joy of her Lord." + +No relatives were near enough to comfort and help the family in this +time of trial, but neighbors and friends were unwearied in their +kindness and sympathy. One instance worthy of mention was that of a +young girl named Delia Foley, who was living with the Phelps family and +to whom my mother had shown kindness as a stranger. She volunteered her +services in preparing the dear form for burial, which was the more +remarkable as the disease was of such a nature that there was great fear +of contagion. This fact became known to me by accidentally finding Miss +Foley, who was now a gray-haired woman, in the family of Hon. Joshua +Hale of Newburyport, where she had been an honored and trusted servant +for nearly forty years. It was a great pleasure to me to meet her, and +to express to her, in such ways as I could, our gratitude for the great +kindness rendered to the living and to the dead in the years so long +gone by. I gladly record this as an instance of unselfish kindness all +too rare in a world like this. + +It was in the sultry heat of summer that our great loss occurred, and +the oppressive weather seemed to increase the burden of our sorrow. I +well remember the desolation which settled down over the home on the +evening of that first sorrowful day. To add to the gloom, the +storm-clouds gathered darkly. The picture is forever printed in my +memory. The father and his little motherless flock were alone in the +upper chamber. The rain fell in torrents, the thunder crashed, and every +flash of lightning lit up the surrounding country and showed the tall +row of poplars in the distant lane, standing stiff and straight against +the stormy sky. No wonder that my father gave way to the grief he could +no longer control, and the children mingled their tears and sobs with +his in unutterable sorrow. The funeral service was held in the Methodist +Episcopal church, which was filled with friends who loved and honored my +mother in life and sincerely mourned her death. A funeral sermon was +preached by her pastor, Rev. M. N. Olmstead, from Acts xxvi, 8,--"Why +should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise +the dead?"--in which the sorrowing family were led for comfort to the +glorious certainty of the resurrection; and afterwards the sad +procession took its way to the cemetery on the hillside. The little +children with their black bonnets and frocks were a pathetic picture +which appealed to the sympathy of every heart. The last solemn words +were said, and we left her there to the peaceful rest of those who sleep +in Jesus. The inscription on the stone above her resting-place--"Blessed +are the dead who die in the Lord"--was never more fitly applied. + +The months passed on, and life resumed its usual course, but the painful +vacancy was sadly felt in the family. A housekeeper was obtained who +did what she could to fill the dreadful void, and our faithful Lucinda +remained at her post. But there was no real harmony, and the children +began to show the need of a mother's care and love. In this dilemma my +father's thoughts were turned, as was natural, towards some one who +might fill the important place, and in February, 1849, he married Mrs. +Sarah G. H. Merritt. She was the daughter of one of the old and +excellent families of the town, and had been for years a friend of my +father and mother, and belonged to the same church. She was married when +quite young to Mr. James Merritt, a young man of much promise, and went +with him to Spring Hill, Alabama, where they were both engaged in +teaching. In little more than a year he died, leaving her a widow before +the birth of her first child, which occurred soon after. Her adopted +sister had married Mr. Rush Tuller, a merchant in good business at +Spring Hill, and with them she found a home and all needed sympathy and +help in this time of trial. She was a woman of strong character and most +indomitable energy, and rising above her sorrow, she bravely set +herself to the task of earning a support for herself and her child. She +remained in her position as teacher till her son was old enough to be +left, and then coming north she left him in the care of her mother and +grandmother, and returned to take up her work. She was a woman of very +attractive personality and pleasant manners, vivacious and entertaining +in conversation, and though she had not been without opportunities to +change her situation, she remained a widow about ten years. Such was the +person whom my father brought to us as our new mother, and to make us +happy again. There were no relatives to interfere or to make unpleasant +comparisons, and we received her with love and confidence, gladly +yielding to her the respect and obedience we had been accustomed to give +to our own mother, and so the family life flowed on harmoniously. It was +no light task she had undertaken, to train a family of five children, +and she addressed herself to it with her accustomed energy and courage. +She identified herself fully with the family, and made our interests +her own. She endeavored faithfully to improve our manners, to teach us +to have confidence in ourselves, and to develop the best that was in us, +and in every way to promote the best interests of us all. + +She brought with her as members of our family, her son, a boy of nine +years, and her mother. It might have been a question whether the new +elements would mingle harmoniously with the old, but in this case they +certainly did. We were delighted with the idea of a new brother, and he +and my brother Joseph, who was near his age, became and always continued +real brothers in heart. They were devotedly attached to each other, and +were inseparable till my brother's death. Her mother, Mrs. D. G. +Humphrey, was a lady of refinement and intelligence. Though delicate in +health and nervously weak, she bore with commendable patience the noise +of children, and the rushing life of such a large family, which was a +great contrast to the quietness of her former life. We rejoiced in the +acquisition of a grandma, as we had no remembrance of our own. She was +an honored member of our family for many years, and as many of her +tastes and sentiments were similar to my own, we were much together and +enjoyed each other's society. + +The schools in our town were very unsatisfactory, and when I reached the +age of fifteen it was thought that some better advantages should be +given me. Accordingly, I was sent to Wilbraham Academy, one of the +oldest and best schools under Methodist auspices in all that region. I +was to room with my friend, Miss Mary Weston, of Simsbury, but as she +was not quite ready when the term began, I had to begin my experience +alone. I was taken by my father and mother in a carriage to Wilbraham, a +distance of about thirty miles. I was full of anticipation, and all was +well as long as they were with me, but I shall never forget the +heart-sinking which overwhelmed me when they left me the next day. When +I settled down at evening in my little bare room alone, I could not keep +the tears from falling as I thought of the pleasant home circle, and +heartily wished myself among them. The school buildings were in sharp +contrast to the beautiful and nicely adapted appointments of most of +the schools and colleges of to-day. They were plain to severity, and +some of them showed marks of years of hard usage. The halls and rooms of +our dormitory were uncarpeted. Each little room was furnished with a bed +with dark chintz spread, a small study table, two wooden chairs, a +little box stove for burning wood, and a triangular board fastened in +the corner, with a white muslin curtain, for a wash-stand, with a small +bookcase above it. These, with a small mirror, completed the furniture, +and dreary enough it looked to me on that sad evening. But with the +young, though "weeping may endure for a night, joy cometh in the +morning," and as my room-mate soon came, and I began to be acquainted +with the students and interested in my studies, I was very happy. The +two years I spent there were among the happiest and most profitable of +my life. My sister Susan joined me there the second year, and afterward +my brother Joseph. He was also sent later to a school for boys in +Norwich, Connecticut, and Susan afterwards attended a private school in +Milford, Connecticut. My sisters Annie and Julia were educated in the +Hartford schools. Annie also studied music at Music Vale Seminary, +Connecticut. Brother James Merritt studied with a private tutor, Mr. T. +G. Grassie, of Amherst College. + +[Illustration: THE HOME ON CHESTNUT HILL] + +It was the wish of my father that Joseph should have a college +education, but though he had a very bright mind, and was very literary +in his tastes, and himself a good writer, his choice was strongly for a +mechanical training. Accordingly, he was placed with the firm of Lincoln +Bros. of Hartford to learn the business of a machinist, and afterwards +worked with Woodruff & Beach of the same city. He became an expert in +the business, and some of the finest work was entrusted to him. + +I should mention here the birth of two other children who were most +welcome additions to the family circle--George Bickford Davey, named for +the business partners, who was born March 18, 1852, and Sarah Jennette, +born October 26, 1857. + +The year 1857 was one of severe financial crisis. Business of all kinds +was almost at a stand-still, and hundreds of workmen were everywhere +discharged. The younger men of course were the first to go, and both +Joseph and James, being unemployed, resolved to set off for the West and +take any chance that offered. After a short experience as farmers' help, +they both obtained schools in Illinois. This, however, continued but a +short time, as business revived, and Joseph came home and took a +position as machinist in the factory. James remained West, and was with +his uncle Humphrey's family in Quincy most of the time till he settled +later on a farm of his own. + +That year was also marked by deep and extensive religious interest, and +both brothers became Christians during that year. So all of our family +were united in their religious life, as in all other things. In +December, 1859, a sad accident cast its dark shadow over us. My father's +factory was destroyed by fire. It was about 8 A. M. My father was +preparing to go to Hartford, and I was standing by him near a window, +when suddenly a sheet of flame shot from beneath the eaves of the +factory, lifting the roof, and instantly the wooden building was +enveloped in flames. The alarm and excitement were intense. A crowd soon +collected, and every effort was made to check the fire and to save those +in danger. But the explosion had done its deadly work, and eight of the +girls employed were instantly killed, while others were rescued with +great difficulty and were badly burned. My brother Joseph, who was at +that time employed in the machine department, found himself almost +without warning buried beneath a mass of falling timbers, while flames +and smoke poured in all about him. He managed to extricate himself, and +made a brave dash for his life. Carrying the window with him, he plunged +into the race-way of the water-wheel, and so escaped, though terribly +burned. The sad occurrence shrouded the town in gloom. The funeral of +the eight unfortunate girls was an event long to be remembered. The +company did everything in its power to care for the sufferers, and to +help the afflicted families, bearing all expenses and erecting a +monument to the dead. + +My brother lingered through months of terrible suffering. For some time +his life was despaired of, but at last, by the blessing of God on the +efforts of the most skilful physicians, and with good nursing, he slowly +recovered. His nervous system, however, had received a shock from which +he never fully recovered. As mother was not at all well at that time, +most of the day nursing fell to me, while kind friends freely offered +their services for the nights. It was a long and trying experience and +was followed for me with quite a serious illness, but I always rejoiced +in the privilege of ministering to him in this time of greatest need. + +In the autumn of 1860 occurred the exciting political campaign which +resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United +States. I need not describe here the gathering of the clouds nor the +bursting of the storm of civil war, whose mutterings had long been heard +in the distance. My brother was elected a member of the Connecticut +Legislature for 1861, and, though the youngest member, he was very +popular and made a fine record as a speaker on the floor of the House. +The war was the absorbing topic of the time. Energetic measures were +used to raise troops in response to the call of the President. A +committee of the legislature, of which my brother was one, was appointed +for this purpose. He threw himself into the cause of his country with +all the ardor of his nature. As he labored to induce others to enlist, +the conviction grew upon him that he must go himself, or he could not +ask others to do so, and when the news of the disaster at Bull Run +filled the country with dismay, the question was settled for him. Duty +called and he must go. The company of young men he had raised chose him +for its Captain, and in November, 1861, leaving his home and promising +business prospects, he with his company, Co. H, joined the Twelfth +Connecticut regiment, which was soon encamped at Hartford for drill. His +health was far from strong, and our family physician declared he should +never have consented to his going, but he passed the examination and was +accepted. He was very popular with his men, and they were ready to do +and dare anything with him. + +The regiment was encamped at Hartford for the most of the winter, and in +the spring was ordered to join Gen. Butler in his expedition against New +Orleans. Before the departure, my brother was presented with a beautiful +sword and sash by his fellow-townsmen, as a testimonial of their +appreciation of his bravery. They left Hartford Feb. 26, 1862. The ship +was greatly crowded, and the voyage was made with many discomforts, but +on March 8 they reached Ship Island, where they were encamped for some +weeks. They were not ordered up to New Orleans until just after the +taking of the city, much to the disappointment of the young Captain, who +was ambitious to see a little of actual warfare. They were stationed at +Carrollton just above the city. The situation was low and unhealthy, and +my brother, who was greatly weakened by an attack of dysentery while at +Ship Island, was poorly able to resist the malaria of the region. He +felt his danger, and wrote home that if he felt it would be honorable, +he should be tempted to resign and come home. But as the young men he +had influenced to enlist had not the privilege of resigning, he could +not feel that he ought to leave them. He was attacked by typhoid fever +soon after the hot weather became intense. He was ill a few days in his +tent, but as he grew worse, he was removed to the regimental hospital, a +large house near the camp, where he had comfortable quarters and +excellent care. Kind comrades stood about his bed, anticipating with +brotherly kindness his every want. But the most skilful surgeons and +faithful nurses were powerless to save him. His system was too much +weakened to resist the disease, and after a short illness he passed +quietly away on the afternoon of Saturday, June 21, exchanging the +scenes of strife for the land of everlasting peace. + +The sad news was flashed over the wires, carrying the deepest sorrow to +the home he had so lately left. The family gathered and waited in silent +grief for further particulars. A letter from his friend and First +Lieutenant, George H. Hanks of Hartford, soon told the sad story. He +gave full particulars of his Captain's last hours, and spoke of a +conversation they had just before his sickness, in which they mutually +promised that in case of the death of either, the survivor should take +charge of his effects and inform his friends, and said that he had +requested that if he should fall, his body should be sent home to +Simsbury. Lieut. Hanks says, "I promised, and to the extent of my +ability I have carried out his request, assisted by some of his townsmen +and personal friends who were at his bedside at the last hour. The body +is sent by steamer _McLellan_, in a cask of spirits, carefully fastened +in a sitting posture, dressed in full military uniform, and when it was +adjusted he looked so natural, one might imagine it was our dear Captain +sitting asleep in his chair, with his hands folded across his lap. But +alas! it is the long, silent sleep of death. Dear afflicted friends, it +is the saddest duty of my life, thus to return to you him who a few +months since took leave of you so buoyant and hopeful, and many a tear +have I shed while performing it. Possessing but few faults and many +virtues, generous to a fault, and honorable to the extreme, he was +universally esteemed and beloved by the entire regiment." + +On arriving at New York, the body was transferred to a metallic casket +and sent to Simsbury. It was met at Plainville by a delegation of the +citizens, who with saddened hearts received him who had recently gone +out from them brave and bright and hopeful. The sad home-coming was +almost overwhelming to the family. They gathered sorrowfully to mingle +their tears for his early death. The body was taken to the Methodist +Episcopal church, but the public service was held in the Congregational +church, as the other was too small to accommodate the numbers who wished +to attend. The large church was filled with a throng of citizens of our +own and neighboring towns. Comrades, friends, companions, the Masonic +fraternity, all came to mingle their tears and sympathies with the +family and relatives, for the brave young life so early sacrificed, and +to do honor to him whom they all loved and lamented so sincerely. The +funeral discourse was given by the former pastor and dear friend of the +family, Rev. Ichabod Simmons of New Haven, from the text, II Timothy +iv:3--"A good soldier." It was a beautiful and appropriate tribute to +the departed, with words of hope and comfort for those who mourned him +so truly. After the service he was borne tenderly from the Methodist +church to his last rest in the hillside cemetery where he had requested +to be laid beside his beloved mother. The solemn burial service of the +Masonic order closed the services, and so the second great sorrow +settled down upon our home. + +My brother was a young man of fine natural endowment and a most genial +disposition. He was greatly beloved at home, and popular everywhere, +especially among the young people, with whom he was always a leader. Mr. +Simmons said of him at his funeral: "It is a part of my mission to-day +to say that a young man of promise has fallen. An earnest and close +debater, a great reader of history, with a good memory, and an +imagination sparkling with poetry and beauty, he would have stood high +among the men of his day. He was a close thinker and reasoner, but never +anchored outside the clear, deep waters of the Bible. He was keenly +sensitive to the ridiculous, and on occasions could be very sarcastic, +yet his tenderness of feeling prevented his wit from wounding the most +sensitive. His nature was cast in a merry mould, his wit was original, +and in the social circle he was the happy pivot on which the pleasant +moments swung. The death of our friend is a general loss to this +community. He was a representative spirit among you. As a citizen you +had already learned to rank him high in your esteem. His large circle of +young friends are especially called to mourn. A bright light has gone +out among you." + +The affliction fell with crushing force upon my father. His heart was +almost broken, and it was years before he recovered from the blow. + +The events which now came into our family life were of a more cheerful +nature. The first break in the home circle was occasioned by my marriage +to Rev. John W. Dodge of Newburyport, Massachusetts, which occurred +November 7, 1860. Mr. Dodge was a graduate of Amherst and Andover, and +had at that time accepted a call to be pastor of the Congregational +church of Gardiner, Maine. Our acquaintance began by his coming to +Simsbury, in November, 1855, to teach a select school. His friend, Mr. +T. G. Grassie of Amherst, had taught it the year before with great +acceptance and was engaged to return, and as our family were greatly +interested in him, my mother had promised to take him as a boarder. He +was taken very ill during the fall term of college, and being unable to +fulfil his engagement, he sent his friend as substitute. So apparently +trivial events often change the whole current of our lives. We became +engaged during that winter, which was Mr. Dodge's junior year in +college. I attended his graduation in August, 1857, accompanied by my +cousin, Sarah Jane Tuller, and visited his home in Newburyport in the +summer of 1859. Though hampered by delicate health and small means, he +completed his theological course at Andover in 1860, and our marriage +took place as soon as he secured a suitable parish. + +The first wedding in the family was a great event, and no pains were +spared to make it a delightful occasion. It was an evening wedding, +with about fifty guests. My sister Susan was bridesmaid, and was +attended by my husband's brother Austin as best man. Our dresses were +similar, of figured grey silk, mine being trimmed with white silk and +lace, and I wore a bunch of white Japonicas. The ceremony was performed +by our friend and pastor, Rev. I. Simmons, assisted by Rev. Allen +McLean, the blind pastor of the Congregational church, to whom I was +much attached.[5] A wedding supper was served, followed by a pleasant +social evening. Mr. Dodge's mother and brother were the only friends of +his who could be present. The good-byes were said early the next day and +we set our faces toward our new home. After several pleasant days in +Boston, we went to Newburyport, only to be met by the sad tidings that +Mr. Dodge's father had died suddenly on the very day of our marriage, +and that they were delaying the funeral till our arrival. It was a sad +home-coming and clouded the brightness of those first days. We remained +in Newburyport several weeks, and Mr. Dodge prepared his first sermon as +pastor, in the study of his old friend and minister, Dr. Dimmick, who +had recently died. + +We were most kindly received by the people at Gardiner. Mr. Dodge was +ordained December sixth, 1860. The sermon was preached by Dr. Chickering +of Portland, and the ordaining prayer was offered by the venerable David +Thurston. We found a pleasant home for ourselves, and my father and +mother and Mother Dodge came to assist in our going to housekeeping. Our +outfit would seem simple indeed to the young people of this day, but +love and content abode with us, and we were happy. Our first great +sorrow and disappointment came in the loss of a little one to whose +coming we had looked forward with joy. This was followed by months of +weakness and ill-health for me. My husband's health also gave way in the +spring, making necessary a long summer vacation. Six months of this were +spent in tenting on Salisbury beach, which resulted in great gain to us +both. Our three years' pastorate in Gardiner was pleasant and +successful, but a second break in health, in the fall of 1863, made a +resignation necessary, and we came to Newburyport to spend the winter +with Mother Dodge. In December, through the kindness of his friend, +Captain Robert Bayley, my husband was offered a voyage in one of his +vessels to the West Indies. He sailed for Porto Rico in the _Edward +Lameyer_, commanded by Captain Charles Bayley, and received much benefit +and enjoyment from the six weeks' trip. + +After coming home he supplied for some time at Northboro, Massachusetts, +and in the autumn he received a call to Gardner, Massachusetts, which he +did not accept. Later, however, he went to Yarmouth, Massachusetts, +where he supplied for six months for Rev. J. B. Clark, who was with the +Christian Commission in the Army of Virginia. We found a pleasant home +with Mr. Clark's mother in the parsonage, and greatly enjoyed this +experience, and as it proved it prepared the way for our chief life +work. On the return of Mr. Clark, in July, 1865, we went to Hampton, +New Hampshire, where my husband was immediately called to the vacant +pulpit of the Congregational church. A pleasant pastorate of three years +there was followed in 1868 by a call to succeed Mr. Clark, who had +resigned as pastor of the Yarmouth church. During our second year in +Hampton we had adopted a little girl, whom we called Mary Webster. She +was at this time nearly three years old. + +We broke up our Hampton home in the cold, dark, December days, and I +shall never forget how delightful the change seemed to the warmth and +cheer of the cosy Yarmouth parsonage, where we spent so many happy +years. A pastorate of twenty-three years followed. The union between +pastor and people was remarkable. Nothing occurred to ruffle the harmony +during all those years. The best of our life work was done in Yarmouth, +and it was amply rewarded by the love and confidence of our people. A +new church edifice was built the year after our coming; and though the +strain of feeling was very great in consequence of a change of +location, and threatened at one time to divide the society entirely, the +crisis was safely passed with the loss of only two or three families, +and the attachment of all to the pastor who had led them safely through +the conflict remained unshaken. + +In the summer of 1871 we adopted a boy of nine months. He was a sweet +and pleasant child, and for several years was a source of much comfort. +But as he grew older seeds of evil all unsuspected began to spring up, +and resulted later in bitter disappointment. + +On the fourteenth of November, 1875, our dear daughter, Susan Webster, +was born. It was a boon we had not dared to hope for. Our home was +radiant with joy. The people showered congratulations, and gifts poured +in to attest the general joy at the advent of the parsonage baby. Our +Thanksgiving Day that year was one to be remembered. + +This happy year was followed by one of severe trial. My husband's +health, never very strong, broke down entirely, and a long season of +complete nervous prostration followed. He kept his bed for months, and +at last rallied very slowly, appearing again in his pulpit after an +interval of nine months. The love of our people stood the trying test +bravely. They continued the salary and supplied the pulpit, and were +unwearied in their kindness and sympathy. + +In the spring of 1882 we had the long-desired privilege of a journey to +Europe. Our people granted us a vacation of six months, and the means +were furnished by my father. We left our little Susie with my sister +Susan, the other children remaining with friends in Yarmouth. It was a +season of great enjoyment and profit. We visited England, Scotland, +France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Returning, we +spent some pleasant weeks with friends in London and Cornwall, and came +home greatly benefited in mind and body. + +On the 22d of April, 1884, Mother Dodge passed to the heavenly rest. Her +home had been with us for many years. She had been failing perceptibly +for some time, and disease of the heart developed, which caused her +death, after an illness of a few days. Her funeral was attended in +Yarmouth by Rev. Bernard Paine of Sandwich, and afterward she was taken +to her old home in Newburyport, and a service was held at the North +Church, conducted by Rev. Mr. Mills. She was then laid to rest in +Highland Cemetery, by the side of her husband. She was a woman of strong +character and large heart, and her life was full of devotion and +self-sacrifice for her family, as well as usefulness in the church. + +In the spring of 1889 we took a very delightful trip to California, +visiting the famed Yosemite valley, and spending some time very +pleasantly with my brother James's family in Oakland. Soon after our +return I was seized with a very severe nervous illness which centered in +my head, causing terrible attacks of vertigo. It resulted in shattering +my health completely, and was followed by ten years of invalidism. The +next year my husband again suffered a serious break-down, followed by +another long season of nervous prostration. It was the result, in part, +of over-exertion in revival services, joined with unusual labors in +connection with the quarter-millennial celebration of the town of +Yarmouth. As his strength slowly returned, he attempted to take up his +work again, with the aid of an assistant; but it soon became evident +that he was unequal to the task, and he was reluctantly obliged to +resign the office of pastor. He was dismissed October 20, 1891. We +removed to Newburyport November 7 of the same year, and made a home for +ourselves there on land previously purchased, adjoining my husband's old +home. We occupied our new house for the first time June 2, 1892. It has +proved a comfort and joy to us, and we have both greatly improved in +health. + +I cannot close this chapter of our history without making special +mention of our dear friends, Dr. and Mrs. Eldridge of Yarmouth, who +played such an important part in our life there, whose friendship and +sympathy were so constant and helpful during all the years, and whose +frequent and well-chosen gifts added so much to the brightness of our +home life, especially of the great kindness of Dr. Eldridge in providing +a night nurse at his own expense all through my husband's first long +illness. They have both passed to their reward, but their memory is a +treasure to us. Our people also manifested their love and appreciation +by numerous and valuable gifts. A full china dinner and tea service were +given us at our china wedding, and an elegant set of silver forks and a +fine cake-basket at our silver anniversary. A costly and beautiful +silver loving-cup was their parting gift to my husband. It was +appropriately inscribed with the text of his last sermon, "God is Love," +significant of the character of his whole life work. The girls of my +mission circle also presented a silver tray and tea service to me. +These, and innumerable tokens of love scattered all along the way, form +a chain of adamant to bind our hearts to the dear friends of those happy +days, many of whom have gone before us to the heavenly home. + +In April, 1896, Susie having left Wellesley College, her father took her +abroad. They were accompanied by her friend and classmate, Miss Effie A. +Work, of Akron, Ohio. My husband's illness on the way obliged them to +cut short their trip and return home, and another long illness followed. +He has now recovered, and my own health having greatly improved, we now +gladly "thank God and take courage." + + +After an interval of some years, caused by returning ill-health, I take +up again the story of our family life. Sadly enough, the first record +must be of the great sorrow which came to us in the years 1903 and 1904. +On the morning of August 8, 1903, my husband was taken very suddenly ill +with an attack of congestion of the brain, while standing by his library +table. He passed a day of great suffering and semi-unconsciousness, and +at night was carried up to his bed, from which he only arose after +months of utter prostration. He rallied at last very slowly, after an +alarming relapse, and so far recovered as to be able to come down-stairs +and walk about the house and mingle with the family at the table and +otherwise socially. He was able to read a little and join in +conversation, and greatly enjoyed his daily drives. On the evening of +June 14 he was suddenly seized with a hemorrhage of the brain as he was +retiring for the night, and became entirely unconscious. Every possible +effort was made to arouse him, but all was unavailing. He lingered +unconscious until the evening of June 17, when he passed quietly away, +and entered into the "rest that remaineth for the people of God." My +daughter Susan was absent from home, having gone to Simsbury, to act as +bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousin, Susie Alice Ensign. She +returned as speedily as possible, only to find that her father was +unable to recognize her. She was with him at the last, holding his hand +in hers as he passed over the dark river. The funeral services were held +in the North Church on Tuesday, June 21. Prayer was offered at the house +by Rev. Doctor Cutler of Ipswich, a lifelong friend. The procession +entering the church was led by the pastor, Rev. Mr. Newcomb, reading the +selections beginning, "I am the resurrection and the life." The music +was by the Temple Male Quartet, who sang the hymns, "Rock of Ages" and +"Abide with Me." Remarks followed by Rev. Dr. Cutler and Rev. Bartlett +Weston, both intimate friends, also a few appropriate remarks by the +pastor. The burial was at Oak Hill, the committal service being read by +Dr. Hovey, and our dear one was laid to rest in a quiet, beautiful spot +overlooking the meadows and hills he had loved so well. A granite +monument in the form of a St. Martin's cross, bearing the inscriptions, +"Resurgam," and "I am the resurrection and the life," marks his +resting-place. Beautiful flowers in profusion were sent by relatives and +friends and by different organizations in the city in which he had been +prominent in token of the love and esteem in which he was held. The +Yarmouth church, where most of his life work was done, sent two +representatives, and an elegant wreath of ferns and orchids. + + +The second marriage in the family was that of my sister Susan. She was +married July 21, 1863, to Ralph H. Ensign, a son of one of the oldest +and best families of the town. Their friendship began in early youth, +and was fitly crowned by this most happy marriage. The wedding took +place in the Methodist Episcopal church in Simsbury, and the ceremony +was performed by Rev. Arza Hill, then pastor of the church. It was in +the early days of the Civil War, not long after the death of my brother +Joseph. The family were in mourning at the time, and the bride made no +change, but was married in a gown of white crepe. The reception at the +home consisted only of the two families, and as it was a time of alarms, +the men of the family had been called in different directions, so that +only the two fathers were present. The wedding was followed by a bridal +trip to Niagara. + +Mr. and Mrs. Ensign made their home in Simsbury, occupying the house on +the hill now occupied by their daughter, Mrs. Robert Darling. Mr. Ensign +was in the fuse business with my father, and soon became a member of the +firm. He has been its head ever since my father's death, and it has +steadily prospered under his leadership. Their present home, "Trevarno," +was built in 1881, and they have lived there since that time. They have +travelled a great deal, especially in England and France. Their +children: Sarah Isabel, who died at the age of four years, Joseph +Ralph, Susan Alice, Julia Whiting, and Edward William, who died at the +age of three. They also reared to manhood a child, Ralph Newbert, whom +they took into their family shortly after the death of their youngest +child, Edward. + +Next in order was my sister Julia, who was married on May 29, 1886, to +Rev. Charles H. Buck of Neponset, Massachusetts, at that time pastor of +the Simsbury Methodist church. He was a graduate of Wesleyan University +and a young man of much promise, which has been abundantly fulfilled in +his ministerial career. They were married in the Methodist church by my +father and Rev. Mr. Simmons, and left at once on their wedding journey. +On their return they removed to Westville, Connecticut, where Mr. Buck +had just been appointed pastor. Since then, Mr. Buck has filled many of +the most important appointments in the New York East Conference, serving +large churches in Brooklyn, Stamford, Bristol, New Britain, and others. +He has always been greatly beloved and appreciated by his people and +urged to return to them, particularly at Bristol, where he had three +pastorates. When he retired from the active ministry in 1900, he was +presented by his people there with a magnificent loving cup, as well as +other tokens of their affection. Mr. Buck had previously been given the +degree of D. D., and he was Treasurer of Wesleyan University for a +number of years after his retirement, besides holding other prominent +positions. The Bucks have always been great travellers, both in this +country and abroad, and spent a year travelling in the far East, in +1900-01, before settling in a home of their own. On their return, Dr. +Buck was for a time Presiding Elder in the New York East Conference and +also pastor of a large church in Brooklyn. In 1903 they built a +beautiful Colonial house at Yonkers, New York, on land overlooking the +Hudson River, where they now live, having their daughter and her +interesting family near them. + +They adopted two children: William Henry and Sarah Humphrey. + + +On the 19th of October, 1866, my sister Annie was married to L. +Stoughton Ellsworth of Windsor, Connecticut. He came of the straitest +of Puritan stock, including the historic Ellsworths and Edwardses of +Windsor, and has most creditably borne up the reputation of those +families. The ceremony took place in the Methodist church and was +performed by his brother-in-law, Rev. C. H. Buck, who was assisted by +Rev. J. W. Dodge. They resided for a short time in Windsor, Connecticut, +after which they removed in April, 1867, to Oakland, California, where +Mr. Ellsworth had charge of a branch of the fuse business, which had +been established there. They remained there only a few years. Two +children were born to them there, but both died very young, which +hastened their return to Connecticut, in the autumn of 1871. They +settled on a fine farm in East Weatogue, but in 1889 they built and +occupied their present residence in Hopmeadow, and Mr. Ellsworth also +became a member of my father's firm. Their children: Lucy Stoughton, +George Toy, Annie Stoughton, Henry Edwards, John Stoughton. + +My brother George was married October 6, 1875, to Mary Seymour of +Granby. They were married at the bride's home by Rev. C. H. Buck, and +took a wedding trip to Canada. They lived afterwards in my father's +family, as George was associated in the business. There were no living +children. + +My sister Jennie was married April 19, 1876, to Mr. Charles E. Curtiss +of Simsbury. They lived for a short time with Mr. Curtiss' parents, and +then removed to Westfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Curtiss was afterwards +taken into my father's business, and they lived in the house adjoining +his on the hill. Their children: Joseph Toy and Grace Gilbert. + +Having been divorced from Mr. Curtiss, my sister Jennie married Mr. +Charles A. Ensign, December 2, 1890. They settled in a very pleasant +home in Tariffville, where they have since lived, with the exception of +a short residence in Ottawa, Canada.[6] No children. + +[Illustration: JOSEPH TOY] + +On November 7, 1873, our grandmother, Mrs. D. G. Humphrey, who had long +been an honored and valued member of our family, died at the age of +81. She was a very intelligent, and interesting woman, and was loved and +mourned by us all. + +My brother George died March 25, 1881, after a long and trying illness, +which eventually weakened him in mind as well as body. + +My stepmother, Sarah G. H. Toy, died September 24, 1881. She had a long +illness, resulting from a shock of apoplexy which partially paralyzed +her and ended in softening of the brain. I was with her when she passed +away, and closed her eyes for the last long sleep. She was a brilliant +and interesting woman, a devoted wife, and a kind mother to the children +whose care she undertook. + +After her death my father married Mary Seymour Toy, April 11, 1882. One +child was born to them, Josephine Seymour, born January 19, 1884. They +continued to live in the house on the hill until some years after my +father's death, which occurred when Josephine was three years old. As +she grew older and the question of a suitable education for her arose, +Mrs. Toy removed to Hartford, and the old house was closed. It was +later divided into two parts; the back portion was moved away and used +as a small tenement for the employees of the factory, while the rest was +rented as it stood. Later, in 1904, it also was removed to its present +position just back of the old site, where Mr. Joseph Ensign's house now +stands. Mrs. Toy and Josephine settled in a very pleasant home in +Hartford, and the latter attended Miss Barbour's school, and later went +for two years to Miss Porter's school in Farmington. On June 5, 1907, +she was married to Mr. Frederick Starr Collins, a son of one of the old +and prominent families of Hartford. The marriage was a very happy one, +especially as Josephine and her husband still remained with her +mother.[7] + +On the second of April, 1887, my father entered into rest. He had been +growing rather more feeble for some time. He was very ill during most of +the winter, and was confined to his bed a great part of the time. His +trouble was of such a nature that it was impossible for him to lie down, +which was very distressing, but he bore his sufferings with great +fortitude and patience. He improved as the spring came on, and was able +to walk about the house, and had even been out of doors once or twice. I +had not been able to go to see him during the winter, but on the last of +March I went to Simsbury. He was occupied by business on the first day +of April, so that I did not see him, but on the morning of the second, I +went in a driving snowstorm to see him. He was just coming out of his +room as I came in. I was greatly struck by his altered and feeble +appearance, but he received me cheerfully, and we talked pleasantly +together for an hour. His physician, Dr. R. A. White, came in at that +time, and suggested that he be given a little liquid nourishment. As he +attempted to swallow it, there was a struggle, and he threw back his +head, groaning heavily. I took his head in my arms, and in an instant +he had passed away. We laid him quietly down, and even amid our tears, +it was a relief to see him lying peacefully after his winter's +sufferings. The funeral took place in the Methodist church. His pastor, +Rev. C. W. Lyon, officiated, assisted by Rev. C. P. Croft. The +procession passed up the aisle, preceded by the pastor reading the +beautiful words of the burial service, "I am the resurrection and the +life." The choir sang "Servant of God, well done," and "It is well with +my soul." Mr. Lyon preached from the text, "I have fought a good fight +... I have kept the faith," and the choir sang, "Thy will be done." + +Two wreaths were laid upon the casket, one of white callas, and in the +center was a sheaf of wheat. The church was thronged with friends and +neighbors who came to pay their last tribute of love and respect. Over +one hundred of the employees of the firm were present. The bearers were +S. C. Eno, D. B. McLean, A. G. Case, Erwin Chase, J. N. Race, and A. S. +Chapman. So he was carried forth from the church of which he had so +long been a pillar, and laid to rest on the hillside, in the midst of +his family who had gone before. So closed a long, honored and useful +life. "The memory of the just is blessed." + + + + +GRANDCHILDREN + + +SUSAN WEBSTER DODGE, born November 14, 1875. + +MARY WEBSTER DODGE (adopted), born January 24, 1866. + +GEORGE TOY DODGE (adopted), born June 7, 1872. + +SARAH ISABEL ENSIGN, born December 19, 1864; died January 25, 1869. + +JOSEPH RALPH ENSIGN, born November 24, 1868; + _married_ Mary J. Phelps, April 5, 1894. + _Child_: MARY PHELPS, born February 9, 1902. + +SUSAN ALICE ENSIGN, born September 7, 1873; + _married_ Rev. William Inglis Morse, June 15, 1904. + _Child_: SUSAN TOY, born July 4, 1905. + +JULIA WHITING ENSIGN, born October 3, 1878; + _married_ Robert Darling, May 14, 1902. + _Child_: ROBERT ENSIGN, born September 19, 1904. + +EDWARD WILLIAM ENSIGN, born July 5, 1881; died June 9, 1884. + +LUCY STOUGHTON ELLSWORTH, born February 1, 1868; died April 13, 1870. + +GEORGE TOY ELLSWORTH, born April 24, 1869; died October 24, 1869. + +ANNIE STOUGHTON ELLSWORTH, born September 22, 1873; + _married_ Emmet Schultz, April 16, 1895. + +HENRY EDWARDS ELLSWORTH, born March 27, 1878; + _married_ Susan Hotchkiss Starr, February 11, 1903. + _Children_: JOHN EDWARDS, born September 15, 1904; MARY AMELIA, born + July 30, 1907; JANE OSLER, born December 16, 1908. + +JOHN STOUGHTON ELLSWORTH, born August 21, 1883; + _married_ Lida Burpee, July 15, 1905. + _Child_: JOHN STOUGHTON, JR., born June 16, 1907. + +WILLIAM HENRY BUCK (adopted), born March 6, 1870; + _married_ Sadie Fielding, April 25, 1893. + _Child_: JULIA, born November 3, 1893. + +SARAH HUMPHREY BUCK (adopted), born June 22, 1872; + _married_ Dr. Albert Cushing Crehore, July 10, 1894. + _Children_: DOROTHY DARTMOUTH, born May 17, 1895; VIRGINIA + DAVENPORT, born February 4, 1900; VICTORIA LOUISE, born February + 4, 1900; FLORENCE ENSIGN, born August 21, 1903, died November 10, + 1905; JULIA OSLER, born December 15, 1906. + +JOSEPH TOY CURTISS, born December 16, 1878; + _married_ Abigail Goodrich Eno, December 16, 1899. + _Children_: JOSEPH TOY, JR., born May 8, 1901; AUSTIN ENO, born June + 15, 1907. + +GRACE GILBERT CURTISS, born September 26, 1883; + _married_ William Pollard Lamb, May 11, 1904. + _Children_: WILLIAM POLLARD, JR., born December 28, 1906; RICHARD + HUMPHREY, born February 23, 1909. + +JOSEPHINE TOY COLLINS, born July 5, 1909. + + + + +APPENDIX + + + + +APPENDIX + + +The following letter from Miss Maude Divine, a granddaughter of my +mother's Aunt Susan, gives a little different account of the events of +Benjamin Osler's life, as her mother knew them. She says: + +"Our great-grandfather, Benjamin Osler, was a merchant in Gibraltar and +Cadiz from about 1814. Not doing well, he decided to try trading to the +West Indies, and bought a small vessel and fitted it with merchandise. +His son, Joseph, who had been a midshipman in the Navy, went with him, +but died at Trinidad of yellow fever. On the way home, grandfather's +vessel was seized by a French privateer, and he was imprisoned, where he +remained some time, unable to communicate with his family. Finally they +received information of his whereabouts, through the Free Masons, and an +exchange of prisoners being arranged, he came home, a helpless cripple. + +"Just at that time South Africa was being much talked of, and he thought +he would try his fortune there. He brought out most of his family, my +grandmother being the eldest. He never recovered his health, and died +about a year afterwards. Our great-grandmother then returned to England +with the younger children. My grandmother, having married Lieutenant +Coleman of the Navy (who came out in their vessel the _Weymouth_), +decided to remain, as did also her young brother, Stephen and a sister, +afterwards Mrs. Sayers. + +"My grandmother settled at Simon's Town, and after her first husband's +death had a school, having been left with two little girls. She +afterwards married my grandfather Fineran who was in the Commissariat +Department of the Army, and mother was their only daughter. Her two +brothers died as young men. There are several descendants of the other +Osler daughters, grandmother's sisters, about Simon's Town whom we have +never seen, mother not having kept in touch with them after +grandmother's death." + + S. W. D. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] My mother's cousin, Mrs. Kate Divine, in a letter from South Africa, +dated September 8, 1809, speaks of another son, Joseph, the oldest of +the family, who died before they went out to the Cape. She also gives +additional information about Benjamin Osler and his family which I have +added as an appendix.--S. W. D. + +[2] Mrs. Gilbert has now been for several years a widow, and all her +children are married and have children of their own. Her home is with +her daughter Leonora, whose husband is a successful clergyman.--S. W. D. + +[3] Reverend Mr. Sims died in August, 1909. + +[4] The beautiful stone church which now replaces the first wooden +building was dedicated June 10, 1909, shortly after my mother's death. +It was the gift of Mr. R. H. Ensign and is entirely furnished with organ +and fittings by the generosity of members of his family. The large +Tiffany window over the chancel is a memorial to my grandfather +presented by his daughters.--S. W. D. + +[5] My mother was closely associated for some years before her marriage +with "Father McLean," as he was affectionately called, reading to him, +writing sermons for him, and delighting to render him in his blindness +such little services as she could.--S. W. D. + +[6] In the winter of 1908-09, Mr. and Mrs. Ensign bought the attractive +place in East Weatogue, where they have since lived. + +[7] On July 20, 1909, five months after my mother's death, Josephine Toy +Collins died very suddenly at her home in Hartford, leaving a baby +daughter, little Josephine Toy, only two weeks old. Her early death was +a terrible blow to her young husband and to her mother, to whom she had +always been a close companion. Her short life was sweet and lovely, and +a host of sorrowing friends mourned its early close.--S. W. D. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES: + + + Italicized text is indicated by underscores: _italics_. + + Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from + the original. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of the Toys, by Mary Harris Toy Dodge + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE TOYS *** + +***** This file should be named 36966.txt or 36966.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/9/6/36966/ + +Produced by David E. 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