Henry Lyman Morehouse; a biography

Front matter

s iSi Ill*

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Book. J^(p 5j

Introduction

I FIRST knew Doctor Morehouse in the early eighties when he took me by the hand in such way as to make me forever after his friend. His greatness at once impressed me, his friendship at once gripped me, his fine manfulness gained my respect and admiration, his manifest interest and confidence in the young gave me courage and high resolve. There are many hundreds of men who could say all this and who with me regard the friendship of Henry L. Morehouse as one of life's greatest rewards.

He was a large man generously endowed with all attributes of true greatness. He did not live in a world of trifles but dwelt always with the immortals. He was a great Secretary, but he would have been equally great in the commercial world, in education, or in statecraft. He had rare tenderness, delicate sympathy, refined tastes, generous fellowships. He gave himself without reserve to the service of his fellow men. He loved mankind and he loved every man. He cultivated what President Eliot felicitously calls " the enduring satisfactions of life." And how he did enjoy life! What a big portion of human blessedness he gained for himself because he had learned that it is more blessed to give than to receive. This leads us to the fundamental secret of his greatness — he was a disciple of Jesus, a friend of our greatest Friend. He lived with him in holy fellowship and gave constantly to others the inspiration he gained daily from close companionship with Christ. Let us never forget that this was the hiding of his power,

INTRODUCTION

He was a great honest soul. Incapable of duplicity, he was not lacking in diplomacy. He had great skill in securing advantages that properly belonged to him and his cause; he was master of the high art of managing men and affairs. He measured swords with the best but always looked his antagonist squarely in the eye.

He was a man of deep convictions from which he could not be swerved. Bravely did he always defend those convictions, with strong logic, with fine oratory, and with a command of the situation which carried conviction and assent. When aroused, what a masterful debater he was !

And he was gentle too, tender and affectionate with a sweetness the memory of which brings tears to one's eyes. In the home he won the confidence of little children, and joyed in their companionship. His conversation with them was not condescending though it was simple, and he left them bigger in soul for having spent an hour with him. When he came to one's church to speak the whole tone of the people was lifted up and the responsibilities of the Christian life were felt more deeply. When one traveled with him on long journeys every hour was filled with earnest talk of things important, and one gained a new grasp of the responsibility of living. And it was all sweetened with delightful companionship, humanized with poetry and even song. Every friend of his must trace holy impulse and aspiration to that high friendship. ,■ Yes, he had faults, but I do not recall what they were ; who " marks the scar on the tall pine which outtops them all"?

Wallace Buttrick.

Contents

Chapter Page

I. The Early Years i

III. Pastoral Work 34

II

IN the fall of 1854, young Morehouse entered the University of Rochester. The attempt to move Madison — now Colgate — University to the City of Rochester had failed, and a new institution had been established which was opened to students in November, 1850. While the University of Rochester and the Rochester Theological Seminary are, and always have been, under the control of separate corporations, their relations have been close and mutually helpful. Beginning their careers at about the same time, they were joint occupants of the same building — the old United States Hotel. In was in this building that the University was housed during the years when Morehouse was a student there. Unfortunately, we have little memoranda concerning either his college or seminary life, except such as may be gathered from a few family letters, and his father's account-book in which were recorded the sums of money advanced for Henry's education.

Compared with the Rochester of to-day, the University of sixty-five years ago was lacking in almost everything that is essential to a college of the first class. It had no buildings. One hundred and thirty thousand dollars had been raised to meet the condition imposed by the Regents of the State, and without which a charter could not be secured. The first graduating class, that of 1851, numbered ten. Laboratories, museums, et cetera, were yet to be established. It is when we come to the teaching force that the real strength of the school becomes mani- B 17 fest. From the beginning, the University of Rochester has been strong in men. One year before Morehouse entered the University, Martin B. Anderson had come to the presidency. We may not accept Garfield's definition of a college as '^ a sawlog with Mark Hopkins at one end and a student at the other," but no one will question the importance of the personal element in education. If education is more than the accumulation of knowledge, if it implies the broadening of the mind, the shaping of character, the assimilation of great formative principles, then the young men who came under the influence of Doctor Anderson and his coworkers were highly favored. With Doctor Anderson were associated such men as Conant, Kendrick, Maginnis, and Richardson.

That Morehouse won high rank in scholarship is attested by his election to Phi Beta Kappa. If we are to trust a class poem written by Prof. F. B. Palmer for the fiftieth anniversary of the Class of '58, devotion to study did not wholly prevent Henry from having a good time:

Said jolly Henry, who would go Where fun reigned every minute,

" This world is all a cattle show And we are cattle in it."

But where a life is measured up

By deeds that live in memory, That fill with blessings misery's cup,

All stand aside for Henry.

By one who knew the men of '58 well, this olass is declared to have been " one of the most notable that has ever passed out to service from the halls of any institution of learning." Among those from this class who won distinction in the service of their country were Major-General Elwell S. Otis and Rear-Admiral William

Plarkness. It should be said here that only the pleadings of his widowed mother kept young Morehouse from participation in the war for the defense of the Union. Writing of this period in his life Doctor Morehouse says : " The war had just broken out. There was great excitement. I had a commission from Albany to raise a company, and took active steps to do so. The great distress of my mother, however, at the thought of my leaving her, decided me to dismiss the subject." Ardent patriot that he was, we can understand something of the struggle through which he passed when compelled to decide between his mother and military service. What a soldier he would have made !

Among those from this class who entered the ministry, in addition to Doctor IMorehouse, were Lemuel Moss, Cephus B. Crane, A. J. Padelford, and J. S. Gubelman; men who greatly served the cause of Christ as represented by our denomination, and whose names became household words in Baptist homes.

It is sometimes assumed that if the student is to appreciate his opportunities and develop qualities of selfreliance and independent action, he must earn his own way. Large numbers of men who have secured an education by their own unaided exertions, have come to fill important places in the life of their time, and have signally served their generation. On the other hand, some men who have had the expenses of their education met by others have failed to take advantage of their opportunities and have never achieved distinction. Any hasty generalization from these facts, however, is dangerous. Not all men who supported themselves in college have achieved distinction. Many whose college expenses were met by parents or friends have risen to eminence. Not a little depends upon temperament and home influences.

The father of Doctor Morehouse was able and wilHng to provide for the expenses of his children's education. This does not imply that these sons were excused from work. Through regular tasks while at home, they formed habits of industry. Careful account was kept of the money expended upon the education of Doctor Morehouse, as will be seen by extracts from- the account-book of his father:

Henry L. Morehouse, Dr.,

To cash while at school at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary. .$228.59

This covered the period from November, 1851, to June, 1854. When all allowance is made for the larger purchasing power of the dollar of 185 1 as compared with that of 1918, it cannot be said that young Morehouse was in any danger of being seriously harmed by the help which he received. Even in the light of the fact that he went home every Friday night and so reduced expenses somewhat, seventy-six dollars per year would hardly tempt him to form extravagant habits.

While in the University of Rochester Henry received from his father $258.82 the first year, $193.75 the second, $255.50 the third, and $250 the fourth. The whole amount expended for his education up to the completion of his college course was $1,186.97.

The most significant event of his college life, for himself, for his family, and for the world, was his conversion. His father and mother had made no public profession of faith in Christ until after the removal of the family to East Avon. Here they openly pledged themselves to Christian service and united with the Baptist church. That their religious life was real, their interest in the conversion of their children deep and constant, is attested by letters written by them to Henry while he was in college. Under date of ]\Iay 8, 1855, the father, after some reflections upon his forty-eighth birthday which he has just passed, continues :

You are now enjoying special privileges and the time of such privileges will soon be past. The advice which the wise man gave his son I think would not be inappropriate in me to you. " Know thou the God of your fathers, and serve him ^vith a perfect heart and willing mind. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever ! " The encouragement to seek the favor of your heavenly Father is the greatest that can be offered, and the terms are most reasonable; while to reject is the most dangerous as w^ell as the most inconsistent decision you can make. May the goodness of God that has upheld you from your earliest days and supplied your numerous wants, lead you to accept the offer of mercy presented to you through the gospel and repent of your sins and become an heir to that inheritance that is "incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away."

The mother wrote on June 11, 1855 :

Our daily prayer is that the Lord will take kind care of our dear children ; that he will keep them from the dangers and temptations to which they are exposed; that they may be guided by wisdom from on high in the paths of piety and virtue, and that they may be made heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

On November 25 of the same year, writing on a Sabbath evening, the father refers to a letter received from Henry in which the latter states that he does not think that he has met with a change of heart, but that his feelings are different:

I wish you would write me in what way they are different: whether you love the company of religious people more or less than before, and whether you take more or less pleasure in reading the Scriptures and in hearing them read. These may seem unimportant questions, but I hope not, for the question at issue is one of great importance. The decision which you make now may be the last, whether for good or evil.

On the margin of this letter Doctor Morehouse has written, " My conversion in 1855." At this time Charles G. Finney was holding revival services in Rochester, resulting in a great religious awakening. Just how much, if any, impression was made upon young Morehouse by Doctor Finney we do not know. Always thoughtful concerning religious matters, growing up in a home where God was honored, it would be strange indeed if the deep and general spiritual awakening did not stir him profoundly. In one of the family letters there is a reference to '' that night," hinting that on some particular night the great decision was made that brought Henry L. Morehouse into the ranks of those who deliberately follow where Jesus Christ leads the way. It was not until the fall of the following year that Henry was baptized and united with the church. Under date of September 29, 1856, his father writes :

Next Saturday will be our regular covenant meeting preceding communion. We expect there will be two or three that will come forward and relate their experience with a view of being baptized on Sunday. If you think the present Is the best time for you to put on Christ by following his example, it would be a day of rejoicing to your friends, especially to your father and mother.

Evidently this suggestion was acted upon, as this letter bears a memorandum in Doctor Morehouse's handwriting, " My baptism in 1856." How little any of the company gathered on this occasion realized its significance for the kingdom of God ! Even the rejoicing parents could not have anticipated in their loving hopes the large and important service which their son v^as to render.

After being graduated from the University he returned to his home and to the familiar tasks of the farm. He had not yet found himself. Whatever inclination he may have had toward specific undertakings went unrecorded. Did he, even then, hear a voice saying, " Whom shall I send ? " Was the work to which he turned simply a '' stop-gap," giving him time to get his bearings? In the records, kept more or less intermittently, he gives us no answer.

In the February following Henry's graduation, his father died when in his fifty-second year. Seth S. Morehouse was a man greatly respected, as is evident from a tribute appearing in the Livingston County *' Republican " :

Seth S. Morehouse died on February 11, 1859. He was a man of unflinching principles, of candor, of sound judgment, an arbiter in difficulties, a peacemaker. That the deceased was a man held in universal respect is sufficiently evidenced in the fact that two other churches of the place on the Sabbath of his funeral, suspended their usual services and, with their pastors, united with the church of which he was a member in paying the last tribute of friendship.

As the elder of the two brothers, upon the death of the father, the conduct of the farm devolved, in large measure, upon Henry. Now came months and even years of strenuous manual labor, lightened by such diversions as are common to country communities. Diaries kept for a portion of this time furnish a vivid picture of the routine of farm Hfe: January 3, "Butchered 11 hogs." January 4, "Went to Rochester with hogs. Got 6^ for pigs and 6.30 for old hogs." 5, " Packed down the pork." 6, '' Bought a hive of bees for which I paid $6.00." " Drew stalks." 19, " Drew corn on bam floor and threshed with horses." 26, '* Worked at ice-house." February 3, " Attended convention." 8, " In evening

went to a party at and had a tip-top time." Much

of the time in February was spent in filling the ice-house,

but he managed to call upon Miss on a certain

evening, and to stay, as he records it, " until about 2 o'clock this morning." He chopped and drew wood, trimmed the grape-vines, sawed wood, fixed fences, attended auctions, picked stone, plowed, dragged, seeded, harvested, and threshed.

Donation parties, church socials, singing-schools, and an expedition to Chenango County where he feasted upon maple-sugar, and another to Niagara Falls which he had never visited, made welcome breaks in the monotony of farm life.

In the records of the fall of i860 we have indubitable evidence of his ardent Republicanism. Under date of September 21, he wrote: "Went to Republican meeting in Geneseo. Torchlight procession in evening. Gelorious time." On the eleventh of October he attended a Republican mass-meeting at Caledonia. " High time in evening. Over 250 torches, fireworks, and victuals." The next week he canvassed his school district ; result : " Lincoln 23, Douglas 19, doubtful 5." He attended a great mass-meeting in Rochester, getting home at three o'clock the next morning. When victory for the Republican Party had been won, he wrote :

The Republicans of the country elected Abraham Lincohi President. Stayed all night at West Avon to hear telegraph returns. Great time. Had bonfire about 4 a. m. Woke everybody up between East and West Avon. Routed the folks in the East village. Fired guns, beat the drum, hurrahed, and made a

H. L. MOREHOUSE

H. L. MOREHOUSE 1864 fuss generally. Had a big bonfire in the evening and a grand pow-wow.

On the testimony of his brother we are assured that he hurrahed and yelled until he could " only barely croak by night."

As the year i860 was drawing to a close, Henry turned from the farm to adventure as a seller of maps. A copy of the agreement into which he entered on December 4, i860, has been preserved :

This agreement, made and entered into between J. R. Nisbet, of Rockport, N. Y., of the first part and Henry L. Morehouse, of Avon, Livingston County, N. Y., of the second part, witnesseth :

That party of first part covenants and agrees with party of second part to pay him for his services in the canvass and sale of maps and books, from the fourth day of December, i860, to the fourth day of December, 1861, at the rate of four hundred and fifty dollars per year, for the time of actual service in said canvass and sale. Party of first part also agrees to pay all necessary expenses connected with the business, with the exceptions mentioned below, commencing with the date of actual commencement of work.

Party of first part also agrees to pay in quarterly payments, except the first payment which shall be paid with the second payment at the expiration of six months service.

Party of second part agrees to work for party of first part from the said day of December, i860, until the same day of December, 1861, at the rate of four hundred and fifty dollars per year, for the time of actual service. He also agrees to furnish a suitable horse and conveyance for the business. Party of second part agrees to pay his own washing bills, horseshoeing, and repairs of his conveyance. Party of second part further agrees to pay his own expenses and those of his team while not in service for party of first part. He also agrees to furnisli a weekly statement of his expenses, sales, and other matters required by the printed forms, to the superintendent, and to keep a just and true account of the same; also, to promote in every honorable way the sales of said work, to the best of his ability.

In case of ill success after a fair trial, the superintendent shall have the privilege of canceling this agreement by paying fifty cents each for bona fide, responsible subscribers, to be paid when maps are delivered, which shall be within six months of dismissal.

And the said party of the second part contracts in no case to sell perfect maps or books for less than their full retail price, under penalty of two hundred dollars, to be paid to party of first part by party of second part for every copy sold below the retail price.

In witness whereof, we have set our hands this fourth day of December, i860, at Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Party of first part, J. R. Nisbet, Party of second part, H. L. Morehouse.

His diary for 1861 furnishes a somewhat full account of experiences as a map-seller. The record begins with Madison, on the Ohio River, where he saw boats loaded with ice floating lazily down the stream, " going to cool off the fire-eaters, I suppose." On January third he is at Greensburg, where he " got Bell, the city marshal, to ride with me. He has sold bells, apple trees, made lovepowders, traded horses, and is a good specimen of a Hoosier Yankee." Here he sold several maps and " saw a splendid girl — age 18 — weight 175 — eyes like an eagle, form good, face handsome and noble — pappy, rich."

On Saturday the fifth he " went on horseback. Saw men shooting hogs preparatory to butchering them.

Sold a map to old Colonel . Said he, as I was

about leaving, ' Can't I do something for you ? * I stared at him. ' I have got some good rum.; won't you take a little ? ' Was much obliged to him. Maybe he had enough for both of us."

At Versailles he ran out of funds and had trouble with a " sour kraut, red-nosed, meerschaum Dutchman," from whom they tried to hire horses. The owner's ultimatum was, " You no got te monish te horse 3htand in der sthaple."

Staying at Westport one night he is led to exclaim — for some unrecorded reason — " Oh, the volubiHty of some women ! " Going from Westport to Greensburg the next day on horseback he got off to walk : " Old horse plunged into the woods. Chased him about an hour. Time 8 o'clock p. m. Fell down, waded creeks, lost overshoe. At last got into the road and got ahead of him. Scared all the dogs for miles around, shouting for a man to help. Got the help, caught the horse, and reached Greensburg about 10 p. m."

At Newburg he stopped in a house " with one room for parlor, dining-room, bedroom, etc., etc. Man and wife, two children and myself slept in that room: three beds in there almost touching. Went to bed by the light of a blazing fire in the fire-place. North Carolinians. She smokes!'

" Old Barney," his horse, was " all stove up " from traveling the frozen mud. He would break through at almost every step. It took six hours to make the journey from Greensburg to Milney — twelve miles. He writes of having sassafras-tea for supper, and of singing with the boys of the family until about lo p. m.

Writing at Greensburg on February twelfth he says : " Hurrah ! for a squint at the Presidential phiz ! Crowds coming to town on foot, horseback, etc. Should think that there were nearly three hundred horses hitched around the court-house. ' Lo ! the conquering hero comes ! ' Drums beat, the band plays, a quartet sings the ' Star Spangled Banner ' and ' Abe ' speaks. Cheers !

The crowd leaves and I get my horse and do likewise."

The young man is attending a rough school. Ever and again he writes, " Oh, the mud ! " Some days he canvasses in the rain. The storms occasionally catch him far from shelter and he is drenched to the skin. He fords streams where the water comes half-way up the horse's sides, and wets his trousers even when his feet are drawn up as high as he can get them. Now and then he is compelled to go " on foot and across lots," as he puts it. The food is not always palatable, although he writes of one place of entertainment where he had sausage for supper, sausage for breakfast, sausage for dinner, and exclaims, " Linked sweetness, long drawn out." He buys a peck of apples and eats most of them the next day. In one place he " tried the intelligence and pockets of the people and concluded that it would go tough. P. S. — The above remark was confirmed by subsequent observation." He evidently tires of his job, for he writes under date of March 4, " The same old treadmill to-day, with but few variations."

" Footing it " from Cambridge City to Milton, he attended singing-school in the evening. " Sung tenor and got a compliment by being called a * stranger from civilization.* A rock was thrown against the window: a Shanghai rooster the night before. Had a pleasant time and went home with myself."

Three months of selling maps proved to be enough, at least for the " party of the second part," for writing at Fayetteville on April thirteenth, he says, " After to-night I am free." The following week he met Mr. Nisbet in Indianapolis, settled up, disposed of his horse and buggy and then spent some days visiting the camps of the soldiers, listening to debates in the legislature, and seeing the sights of the city. He was privileged to hear Stephen A. Douglas and Governor Morton, greatly to his satisfaction.

After the strenuous months in Indiana he decided to take a pleasure trip farther west, and May second found him en route for St. Louis. This city filled him with admiration both for its size and the beauty of its buildings. He speaks especially of the Southern Hotel " six stories high and with 21 windows on one square." Here he saw a slave sale which he describes as follows :

Auctioneer. "Now how much for Jane? Nine years old, nice girl, well grown." Started at $140, sold for $320.

Emily. "Can set table and wash dishes." Six years old. Sold for $240.

Henry. " Fine countenance, bright eye, good teeth. What'll you give me for Henry? " Sold for $155.

George. About four years old. " Stout, hearty boy and in good health." Sold for $155.

Mother sold for $545. Family separated. No tears shed. The man who bought the girl told me that he would take her home and give her to one of his daughters and tell her to bring her up well. He told the mother that she could come out and see the girl whenever she wanted to.

Leaving St. Louis he visited LTpper Alton, where he saw Shurtleff College. By way of Springfield and Bloomington he went to Fulton and crossed over into Iowa, spending some days with a cousin residing on a farm near Lyons. Here he shoots pigeons and prairiechickens, and on Sunday goes to church where he hears a sermon of which he writes, " poor preaching." Of the prairie he says that it looks "as if old Mother Earth had been taking a shave."

After a week here he took a boat from Lyons for St. Paul, and at Galena "saw Doctor Kane*s Esquimaux dog, ' Myonk.' " After leaving Dubuque he went up into the wheel-house and was allowed to steer the boat. This leads him to write : " H. L. Morehouse, River Pilot. Wouldn't that sound well?" He was indeed to be a pilot, but of a larger and much more important craft than any that ever navigated the Mississippi.

This trip up the Mississippi was full of interest to the young Easterner, and nothing seems to escape him. He describes Prairie du Chien as " well laid out, but thinly populated." Winona is a " small town of about 1,500 population on a small strip of river-bottom"; while Wabasha, now only a hamlet, is credited with a population of 1,800. He visited Fort Snelling and " rode several miles without seeing a sign of civilization." At Minnehaha he went under and back of the waterfall. St. Anthony and Minneapolis were then distinct villages separated by the river over which there was a suspension bridge. St. Paul had a population of 11,000, much larger than that of its neighboring twin city. This portion of his diary is illustrated by spirited pencil-sketches, presenting views of Fort Snelling, Maiden Rock, Indians at Red Wing, and the hands on the steamboat as they were eating dinner. On his way down the river he stopped off at Dubuque and visited the lead-mines some three miles from the city. From Chicago, where he visited the University, he returned to his East Avon home, reaching there the last of May.

A trait of character is revealed in this diary which persisted through life, viz., his appetite for information. He learns what salary is paid the pilot, captain, and deckhands on the Mississippi River steamboats. Visiting the lead-mines at Dubuque he is not satisfied, as were most visitors, simply to descend to the bottom of the perpendicular shaft: he must explore every part of the mine. At St. Louis, Bloomington, and Chicago he cUmbs in each place to the top of the court-house, that he may get the view and gain an idea of the general plan of the city. He learns everything possible of the size, industries, and probable future of each place he visits. No amount of labor is thought too great if it adds to his store of information. In after years and in foreign lands this same trait of character found even more striking illustration.