Samuel A. Purdie, his life and letters, his work as a missionary and Spanish writer and publisher in Mexico and Central America

Front matter

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

Preface

It is usual when those have passed away who by their greatness, their goodness or by their talents, or ambition and devotion to some special line of effort, and sometimes apparently at least by the force of circumstances, become land marks in society, or stand as mountain peaks before the world, for their surviving contemporaries, to leave in permanent form, some sketch of their life and labors, as a memorial to them and an historical record for others who follow them.

Such annals serve as an inspiration to the young leading

*•• them out to nobler and greater efforts in life. >; We trust that this volume, the record of a man of rare ^ abilities and attainments, who gave them all and his life ta also for the upbuilding of humanity; may prove an incen- "" tiveto its readers to go forth with renewed courage in the

battle against wrong in the world. w With this thought in mind one of the New York Friends JIf, interested in the distribution of literature cast about for a ^ writer to do this work, and made inquiry of a friend of the § author for some one in this locality who would accept the

task, finding no one else attainable, he appealed to him

to take it up. Quite unused to such a work and with O limited abilities in that line, it was with much reluctance

that h« consented, in consideration of the fact that he was o a relative as well as a life-long acquaintance and friend of

2 the subject.

uj It has been a labor of love, otherwise the hindrances E5 and discouragements which have arises might have caused

3 its abandonment.

The task was accepted In the summer of 1904, in the autumn, material was collected consisting of several hundred letters which he had written to the old folk* at home; the family having all passed away they were left with a relative who willingly surrendered them; also a package from

44:8338 iv PREFACE

the wife and son in North Carolina, containing his early journal, many letters written to them in his absence, papers, etc., added to these were several letters to the writer, and he is also indebted for letters from Perrin Reynolds, a friend and companion of Samuel in North Carolina, from Santiago G. Gonzalez and Andres Campillo Spanish co-workers in Mexico, and to Joseph M. Purdie for the translation of their communications and especially to Allen Jay of Richmond, Indiana, for the introduction to this volume.

Having secured the material, work was commenced early in 1905, but springtime brought duties which laid it by with the expectation that it would be taken up again in the autumn, if not sooner; but with the falling of the leaves, the loved life long companion of the writer was stricken with fatal illness and after four months of intense suffering passed to the life beyond, a rest seemed necessary so the work was delayed until the winter of 1906 and 1907, since which with many interruptions and hindrances not the least of which was a thorn in the flesh by which the writer is handicapped, it has been going forward.

Many of the letters were very lengthy and abound in descriptive detail expressed in beautiful language, thus calling for much reading and study in the selection of so small a portion as space would permit.

While we have sought to make it as free as possible from errors, it is quite possible that the readers will find some mistakes, and we ask their kind indulgfence for the same.

Smyrna, N. Y., Jan. 1908. J. P. Knowles.

Introduction

Over fifty years ago Commodore Perry sailed into the harbor of the Japanese capital and held religious services on board his warships, while on the gates of their city the Japanese had posted the warning that if any one tried to introduce the Christian religion they would cut his head oflf. Perry remained there, entered into a treaty with them and the gates were opened. Not only have the gates of their cities been opened but also the doors of their homes. China has followed. Other nations have heard the knock and have swung their doors open to receive the light until today the dark places of the earth are reaching out their hands for help.

The history of the foreign mission work among Friends reveals the fact that it came into the church soon after the revival movement. Some forty years ago a number of the members of Indiana Yearly Meeting organized a committee on this subject. This committee realized the leading of the Holy Spirit in that direction and the object of their organization was to foster and encourage this work, and to extend the helping hand to those who might feel a call to the foreign field. About the same time individuals in different parts of the church began to feel that the Lord was calling them to this work and they began to make applications to the committee to enter different missionary vi INTRODUCTION

fields. Lewis and Sarah Street heard the call from Madagascar and they went out under the care of the English committee. Elkanah and Irena Bean saw India in their vision. Joel and Hannah Bean were impressed that the Sandwich Islands were their field. Eli and Sybil Jones, who had visited Liberia on a missionary tour as early as 1851, also some places in Europe, were now stirring up New England and stating that they had found a field in Palestine. So the missionary spirit was abroad in the church.

"When the Baltimore Association called us to take charge of the work in North Carolina, I found one of the teachers who had come to that field from New York, who had caught the same spirit and was feeling that Mexico was calling him to come over and help. He was not enjoying the work he was engaged in for his mind was in Mexico. This man was Samuel A. Purdie. The second year I was there this was impressed on me so clearly that I never doubted it again. Driving up to the schoolhouse at Back Creek one day, at the noon recess, I found him out in the woods sitting on an old log, with an aged Spanish miner sitting by his side, engaged in studying the Spanish language. When I came up he said, "Excuse me, for I must obtain a knowledge of Spanish," and in a serious manner added, "Some day the Lord will open the way for me to use this knowledge to his glory." So a few months after this time, when Charles P. Coflln, of Richmond, Indiana, wrote to know my opinion about Samuel A. Purdie's going to Mexico as a

INTRODUCTION vii

missionary, I was prepared to give my approval. There was no doubt but that he was filled with a true missionary spirit. His mind and heart were there in body. It was not home to him anywhere else. He rejoiced when the time came for him to leave all and go, and when he received the word that he was accepted by the committee, it did not take him long to be on the way.

He came to our house one evening with his youthful wife. It was a night long to be remembered. We talked until a late hour of the work ahead of them. Neither of us knew much about what foreign missionary work meant, but the way looked bright before him. To him it was the way of duty. His wife, who was leaving all her people, was nevertheless cheerful in the prospect of the work before them. We loaded what few goods they had into the spring wagon and drove to the depot at High Point, where they took the train. A.s I watched the train go out of sight I turned away feeling that it was carrying a man who was going cheerfully at the call of the Master. He believed the Master had other sheep who were not of this fold and he was going in the name of the Shepherd to bring them in.

Years rolled on. He stood at his post and the Lord blessed the work. The church was organized and the seed sown, not only by the voice but by the printing press with which he was provided by Friends in New York State. Through the press the Spanish speaking people, not only in Mexico but in other places also heard the message of the viii INTRODUCTION

gospel. Today the work is spreading. Others have entered in and are gathering the whitened harvest.

The time came when he believed that he heard the call to another portion of the vineyard. There was no hesitation on his part. He hastened on and entered this latter field, and when the Master called he found him "faithful unto death." He laid down his life among those he loved.

Thus Uved and died Samuel A. Purdie. Others may have been just as devoted, may have done a greater work, but none have been more loyal, none possessed a truer missionary spirit.

Allen Jay.

List of Illustrations.

Samuel A. Purdie Frontispiece

Facing Page

Samuel A Purdie' s Birthplace 25

The C. G. Hussey School for Girls 107

Meeting House at Gomez Far as 125

Samuel A. Purdie and Family 139

Elisco and Eva L. Mascorro 148

Gertrudis G. G. De Uresle IS"?

Silver Weddinif Group 183

Townsend. Moodv and Purdie 187

Contents

Page

PREFACE 3

INTRODUCTION 5

Chapter I. Ancestry

Scotch. Removal to England. In business as a weaver. Contact with Friends. Joiningf the Society. Financial embarrassment. Removal to America. A stormy voyage. In Canada. Back to New Yors. Their home at Smyrna. Samuel's marriage. Howard Ancestry Located at Columbus 17

Chapter II. Childhood And Youth

Location. Birthplace. An Humble Home. A Mother's Teaching. His love of nature and of Literature. A family encyclopedia. His schooling. Reading and study at home. Teaching school 25

Chapter III. Religious Experiences

Parental traits. Inherent tendencies. Doubts and difficulties. His journal. Extracts from a former one. Comments and quotations. Interrupted by teaching school. Fear of a call. A lost opportunity. A New Year's Prayer. Courtmartialed. Brother's death. Prophetic pointings. Closer to Friends. Looking toward teaching in the South. Attends New York Yearly Meeting 30

Chapter IV. Teacher And Preacher

Going to North Carolina. On the Chesapeake Bay. Battle grounds. Friends meeting house. Opening school.

X CONTENTS

Incidents among the Freedmen. Appearance in the mi - istry. North Carolina Yearly Meeting. Meets Eli Jones and others. Joseph Moore. School prospering'. In Normal school. ''Not much larnin. " Teaching at Back Creek. Social life. Astronomy. Sabbath School Work. Lovely Carolina. Loving People. A letter from Parrin Reynolds. A good school. A Normal. "Quakerism in Dixie. " Teaching among Freedmen. 38

Chapter V. Marriage

Friends at Back Creek. The Hoovers. Close of School.

The Wedding. Trip northward. Life at old home.

Ministry. Return South. Farming and teaching. A

full school. Letter from Allen Jay. Resigns farm life.

. • . • 52

Chapter VI. Mission Fields

Travels in the ministry. Looking toward Mexico. A call to Richmond, Ind. A marked coincidence. A Spanish teacher. The work accf^pted. Trip to Mexico. Del tained at Mataraoras. The work opening. A printing press. Need of School books. Called for outside the mission. Learning the language. An interesting incident. The responsibility of the work. Mechanica skill. Under siege. Bathing in the Rio Grande 57

Chapter VII. Mingled Races

Social Traits. Reliability. A peaceable admixture. A peon. Mexican slavery. Estovan Galegos. Brotherhood 65

Chapter VIII. As Publisher

Religion and Science. War vs. Peace. The Periodical Books as remedies. Under Siege. Printing press. The

CONTENTS xi

Flores sisters. Three languages, A busy life. Sabbath School meeting. The mission funds. Scattering the truth. School books. Peace again. Prevalence of fever. An arid region. A donation. Fluent in Spanish. Plans. Change of residence. A wind storm. . . 69

Chapter IX. A Visit To Victoria

Location. The journey. Improved health. Fear for Gulielma. Added workers. The Binfords. New Experiences. Busy day. Low funds. Return of the Binfords. Added funds 78

Chapter X. The Story Of Angelita

Birthplace. Early days. Roman Superstition. Father's death. Removal to San Fernando. Catholic education. Resolved to be a Protestant. She unites with Friends. Her sister also 84

Chapter XI. Visit To Tamaulipas

A stormy voyage. Through the breakers. A storm at seat A school of porpoise. A calm. A long voyage. On foot. The country. The market. Trip to Tancol. Puebla Viego. Religious labor. Antiquities. Hastened return. On the Alba. A stormy time. Well at home 90

Chapter XII. Revolution

General Diaz at Brownsville. A Sabbath Attack. The Victory. Quiet restored. At his post. Return of government forces. No resistance. A turbulent summer. Horrors of war. Political chaos. A night attack. Diaz Bweepingr the south. Cortinez enters Matamoras. A touching incident 98 xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER Xril.

PEACE AND PROSPERITY.

The meeting increases. A remarkable incident. El Tejon. Schools flourishinjf. Independence of opinion Change of teachers. Pedro Gonzalez. Francisco Pena. A wedding. Mexican Marriages. Julio Gonzalez Gea. A useful member. A distant member 107

Chapter XIV. Vicissitudes

On the Gulf. A gloomy letter. Stereotyping. His library. Yellow fever. Faithful Shepherds. Letter to Perrin Reynolds. Trip to Gomez Farias. A ride to San Fernando. On horseback to Gomez Farias. The Southern Cross. A mountain path. A beautiful village. Father Lozano 114

Chapter XV. Building Chapel

On Liberty Square. Many sick. Angelita's journey City of Victoria. Image of the Virgin 125

Chapter XVI. The Hurricane

A dark night. Ruined Homes. Hurricane of 1867 and 1874. A midnight tour of inspection. Bailing out the water. Brother J. G. Gea. Small pox epidemic. William A. Walls goes to Gomez Farias. Return. Incident with highwayman. From jest to earnest. Guliel-

- ma in North Carolina. The epidemic. Samuel has pneumonia. Encarnation Gonzalez. Goes to Gomez Farias. Angelinas return and death 129

Chapter XVII. Visit To The Home Land

Takes Janita and Petra. Arrival at Back Creek. Moves northward. To Indiana. The reunion at home. Return

CONTENTS xiii

in the autumn. Janita goes to Earlham College. Marriage of Wm. A. Walls. The office work. A heavy burden. The call of duty. A Summer outing. Yellow fever 139

Chapter XVIII. To The Southern Mission With Isaac Sharp

To Gomez Farias. The return trip. "A time of storm'' and mud. Some curious plants. Home life brightening. Rushing the work. A railroad. Visit San Fernando. Joseph gets the smallpox. Trip to Soto La Marina. Sabbath service. Joseph questions. Isaac Sharp. Julia L. Ballenger. Killing rattle snakes. Trophies for England. Isaac's return. Samuel goes to Gomez Farias. Building the meeting house. Its location. Ancient ruins. Again at home 144

Chapter XIX. The Home Work

Quarne. A New press. A feeling letter. New helper. A visit to Gomez Farias. A plague of locusts. A boarding school building. A stormy election. A trip southward with Mahala Jay and Gertrudis G. G. de Ureste. Moves to Matamoras Street. Hie mother's death. A trip to Richmond. Flying yisits. At New Orleans. Storm on the Gulf 153

Chapter XX. Removal To Victoria

Smallpox. Return of Frances' father. Moves hie family to Victoria. Elevation and Climate. The Alameda. Trip to Matamoras. Margaret M. Marriage. A letter to his father from Matamoras. Meets Murray Shipley. In storm on the Gulf. At Matamoras. Prostrated with congestive chills. Again at Victoria. A horse-back ride. On furlough. In North Carolina. Once more at the old home. The Pan American conference. Visits President Harrison. A week in North Carolina. The return 1^1 xiv CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXL

FINANCIAL BURDENS.

Financial responsibilities. Purchasing school building^s. Making repairs. A public servant. A man of all trades. A railroad. Acting Vice Consul. Many responsibilities. Summoned to Matamoras. A new correspondent. Removal of the business to Victoria. Emma Cavendish. The typhoid fever hospital. A letter to the author. On the school board. Building a residence. Joseph's help. A missionary rest. Generous bequest. Has yard and garden. Nature studies. A letter to his brother. A country home. A letter to the author. Public service 170

Chapter XXII. The Second Visit Of Isaac Sharp

His arrival. A letter to the writer. Interpreter. A silver wedding. Memorial trees. "Human flesh vs. patchwork." The abundant fruits in the tropics. Agraphia narrative. A fatal storm. Deep snow. A busy day. Letter to his brother. A telescope. Joseph the observer « 182

Chapter XXIII. Conference At Toluca

Another interesting letter. A large conference. Volcano of Nevado. The great divide. Snow capped Popocatapel. Mexico. Its antiquities and wonders. A wireless message. Hastening homewai'd 187

Chapter XXIV. The Northland

W. J. Kel»ey at the head. The family come to North Carolina. He goe» northward alone. A man of culture. Surrender the work. Faithful service. Considering Central America. Accepts an appointment. A letter to the writer. The means forthcoming. Gulielma and

CX)NTENTS XV

Joseph in North Carolina. The Central American Missionary As«sociation. A journey to Texas. Then to Victoria. On toward the south. Last letter from Victoria 190

Chapter XXV

iLHE JOURNEY SOUTHWARD.

Last farewell. Tampico at midnight. A Sabbath service. On board the Spero. At Goatzocoacos. Railroad to Tehuantepec. The route. The city. The people. The first Sabbath. Among Catholics. Boarding himself. A letter to his wife. Ways of the people. A long delay 197

Chapter XXVI. The Zapotecas

The primitive race. A long letter. A letter to his wife. Love of display. A kindly quiet people. Drunken festivities. An interesting race 204

Chapter XXVII. The Long Delay

Waiting for steamer. A severe trial. Translating. A letter to Joseph. One to his wife. First visit to the Pacific. Landing the passengers. Loneliness. His best literary work. Thankfulness 214

CHAPTER XXVIIL

THE NEW FIELD.

On the "Barranconta." Death of a passenger. At his destination. A letter to Joseph. A study of the situation. A letter to the writer. Astronomy and agriculture. Izalco and Ilopango. Annual festivities. A letter to the "American Friend." Prices high. Boards himself. Feast of San Salvador. Idolatry. Visit to Mexicanos. Union between state and church. Letter to G. W. Hoover. Another to the author. P«nzotti. Opposition. Yellow fever. His family in New York. They join him. Letter to the Central American Bullexvi CONTENTS

tin. R. H. Bender. A printing press. First number of La Luz de la Verdad 218

CHAPTER XXTX.

CLOSING SCENES.

Press work again. A slight accident. A fatal result. His last letter. Unfinished. Lockjaw in the tropics. A remarkable card. A lonely home. Heroic lives. Return to North Carolina. Joseph at Guilford College. Married and went to Cuba 234

CHAPTER XXX.

IN MEMORIUM.

Remarks. His rare endowment. His wide experience. The great promotion. The Heavenly welcome. A sketch by W. A. Walls. Letter of Rev. Luther Rees. One from Andres Campillo. And also one from Santiago G. Gonzales 240

Life and Letters of

SAMUEL A. PURDIE

Chapter I. Ancestry

Blessed are the happy parents

Of those who in this world's wild strife,

By being grandly strenuous

Stand sun-crowned at the goal of life.

While it is the privilege of every individual by the best use of the gifts God has bestowed upon them to build up a noble and useful life, whether it be in the humble walks of society or in those more exalted; still it is common to look to ancestry for the prototypes of the gifts by the use of which men become famous. So perhaps we need make no apology for introducing our readers to the rugged Scottish hfe of the eighteenth century.

James Purdie, the grandfather of our subject was born in Kilmarneck, near Paisley, Scotland, Jan. 10, 1768. His youth was spent among the mountains and lakes that gave inspiration to the poet Burns whose wife, Jean Amous, was his cousin.

In a family of six children he was the only son. We know but little of the father except a well preserved tradition, that he was a descendent of the famous clan of Percy, but that in some of the Scottish wars for political reasons, the name was •changed to Purdie. When James was in his childhood his parents died and he went to live with an uncle, schooled in the austere creed of Calvin and Knox, life was to him a stern reality and prompted him as guardian of the orphan boy to follow the maxim spare the rod and spoil the child so his life could not have been a very sunny one, for the uncle was wont to punish with undue severity the waywardness of the lad. In that city widely known for its woven fabrics, he learned the trade of a weaver, all of which was hand work in those days.

In July 1794 he married Marion, daughter of Alexander and Margaret Dunlop, Lisle of Paisley. Little strangers came to stay with them until there were five in the family, when in 1802 he moved to Norwich England, where he started into business for himself as a weaver of silks, bombazines and shawls, and gradually extended his work until he gave employment to many others in his prosperous business.

Here on June 12, 1804, their fourth son Samuel was born and after him four sisters and one brother were added to the family besides several, one a twin, who died in infancy.

Samuel received his education in a school taught by Priscilla Gurney, a sister of Elizabeth Fry, later three of his sisters and one brother attended Ackworth, the Friends High School for the kingdom.

Norwich was the home of the Gurneys, thatfamily so well known in Quaker history, especially for the great controversolist Joseph John Gurney as •well as the world-wide philanthropist his sister Elizabeth Fry.

James Purdie and his wife had been nurtured in. the Presbyterian church of Scotland but contact with these and other Friends about them led them finally to the acceptance of Friends principles, and a request for membership in the society; a change that met with some resentment for a time by her father but which was finally forgiven.

They accepted heartily the ways and customs as well as the doctrines of the society and sought to be active, useful members honoring the sect of their choice by their exemplary lives.

The fellowship and intimacy of the family with the Gurneys and Frys in those days of their public activity brought to their knowledge many incidents and experiences to be narrated in later years to their descendant its impress upon their young iives was in some of them undoubtedly a potent factor in the building of their character.

Among their neighbors and acquaintances they could number Amelia Opie, Harriet Martineau and William Grimshaw, afterward celebrated authors.

James Purdie assisted by his sons had extended his business very successfully up to 1826, when a general financial depression so embarrassed him that rather than to go on and perhaps sacrifice his credit and wrong his creditors, he chose to close his shops, sell his property and pay his debts.

Having a little money left, his friends urged him to start again in business offering him pecuniaryassistance, but he declined their proffered aid and decided to try their fortune in the new world, so early in the spring of 1827 he gathered his family (except the oldest son Alexander who was already married and did not come until later), Marion from Ackworth school and Margaret the oldest daughter from a delightful winter's sojourn among her relatives and friends in Scotland; they all met at Liverpool and embarked on an old sailing vessel for New York; the voyage proved a very stormy one, so they were tossed for six weeks on the rolling billows of the Atlantic. A journey that is made by modern liners in six days.

The writer has frequently heard his mother, the oldest daughter Margaret then in her twentieth year, relate to her children the perils of that stormy voyage, until his young mind became so filled with dread of the ocean, that many years of knowledge and experience in life were necessary to efface it.

The roughness of the sea soon caused the ship to spring a leak and to prevent danger from it the pumps were put to work, not by steam, but by hand power, so continuous and arduous did the task become that the men among the passengers were called upon to help in the work and for days together they were obliged to take their turn and relieve the crew.

So severe was the storm that much fear was felt

for the safety of the vessel so much that when a

passing ship which came along side offered to take

the passengers on board, the captain said that the

•women and children might go, but that the men must remain to assist the crew, an alternative they did not see fit to accept, preferring to share together the fearful dangers of the voj^age rather than be separated.

Margaret, who had become somewhat familiar with the captain, had asked him if it was not a very bad storm and he playfully told her that when she saw two men at the helm and his hair standing on end she might conclude it was a severe storm; so as it continued with increasing fury for days to come, she concluded to go on deck and investigate; on going up the hatchway she met the captain and in response to her request to see if there were two men at the helm, he told her that it was no place for her up there, and hfting her in his strong arms he carried her back into the cabin, his hair she thought already on end thus confirming her worst fears over the situation.

But time will pass and after six weeks of struggle with the elements the welcome cry of "land ahead" rang through the ship and they finally passed up the harbor to their landing in New York a thankful and happy company. They came expecting to locate on British soil, so passing up the Hudson to Albany they took a packet boat on the recently completed Erie Canal. In those days when railroads were unknown this mode of travel was quite pleasant and satisfactory, irksome as it would seem to the world today.

From Buffalo they passed on to British soil. And taking up Crown lands near Lake Simpcoe he purchased three hundred acres and then started in as a backwoodsman, the change from city Ufe to country hfe, from silk weaving to wood chopping was a great change. Bears killed their hogs and James and Samuel who went farther into the wilds were pursued by wolves, and Samuel lost his favorite silk umbrella in a fight with a lynx or a wild cat, only rescuing the ivory handle as a memento.

After a brief sojourn in Canada they decided to abandon pioneer life and returned to New York Mills near Utica, N. Y., where some of the family found employment in the Mills and remained there until the autumn of 1831, when they purchased a farm in the town of Smyrna, N. Y., and removed there. This was the last home of the parents and remained in possession of the family until within a few years.

Some of the boys worked the farm, while the father again turned to his old pursuit, as weaver, so with his rare mechanical skill and inventive genius he soon had a shop well equipped for weaving such fabrics as table spreads, bed spreads and coverlids of linen or cotton or wool, some of the latter woven in two thicknesses with contrasted colors on the opposite sides, figured with beautiful designs and bordered with lions or eagles, were unique and rare productions which have been handed down as heirlooms in many of the families of the section.

James Purdie, never robust, being of moderate stature and slender build with a highly nervous temperment passed away in one of the closing days of 1839, at the age of 72, his wife more vigorous and enduring hved to her 83rd year. Soon after coming to Smyrna Samuel made the acquaintance of a young woman, a teacher of select schools among the Friends of Smyrna and Brookfield, a woman of marked ability and good culture, having an academic education embracing nearly all the natural sciences, especially astronomy and chemistry.

Her name was Waity, the daughter of Stephen and Lucinda Angel Howard who came from Rhode Island and settled in Columbus, N. Y., in 1802. The next year he built a house on a farm about half a mile east of Columbus village where he resided until his death in 1847, here Waity, the oldest of of the seven children (three of whom died in childhood) was born and reared.

Stephen's father was William the fifth of the seven sons of Isaac Howard who came from England about 1722 landing at Marblehead, Mass., and settled in what is now Foster, R. I. His family were noted for there stature none of the seven being less than six feet, one being six feet six inches and another six feet five inches in height.

William is known in the annals of Rhode Island as a revolutionary soldier. The Howards were a family of great energy and force of character traits which were inherited very largely by their danghter Waity. The housewife where she taught one of the schools referred to above used to say that she frequently expressed her ideas of family government and kindred topics in those days and that in after years she came nearer fulfilling her ideals than any other woman she had known.

It is recorded that Stephen Howard was active in the work of the Universalist church, however much the daughters may have been led by precept and example in that belief, her acquaintence and intercourse with the Friends led her to join the Society about the time of her marriage to Samuel Purdie which occured February 23, 1836. They lived for one season in Smyrna and then bought a farm about a mile from her fathers in Columbus where they settled, reared a family and lived the remainder of their days. It was an upland farm of light soil and it was only by industry and economy that they were able to enjoy the necessaries not to say the luxuries of life and lay by a little for old age and a rainy day. The younger son William remained at home and worked the farm thro their declining years and kept it until his death in 1901 when it passed from the family into other hands.