Autobiography of Samuel Sterling Sherman, 1815-1910

W. L.

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REYNOLDS HrSTORlCAL
GSNEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 1833 01329 3649

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Au,tobiogra|thy

OF

Samuel Sterling Sherman

181^~1[91Q

CHICAGO:

M. A. DONOHUE & CO.

1910

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DEDICATED TO
MY FAMILY AND RELATIVES

The Sherman family is of German extraction.
In the fatherland, the name, Sherman, Shearman,
Schnrman, Schurmann, often occurs and was
doubtless transferred many centuries ago to the
vicinity of London, by Saxon emigration,* where
itr still remains. From this metropolitan stock a
scion was transplanted to Dedham. County Essex,
England, which long flourished and sent forth
other shoots. ♦

The name is derived from the original occupa-
tion of the family, for they were cloth dressers or
shearers of cloth. The family at Dedham retained
the same occupation, also the same coat of arms,
as those in and about London. — History of Strat-
ford and Bridgeport, Conn.

Autobiography
I

FAMILY LINEAGE

It appears that two or more distinct families
by the name of Sherman settled in the neighbor-
hood of Boston, at an early day. The genealogy
of that from which my own family is derived is
given, in the valuable book quoted on the preced-
ing page, as follows:

I. Sherman, Henry, the first of whom any
record is obtainable, was born in Ded-
ham. County Essex, England, and died
in 1589; married Agnes Butler, who
died in Dedham, 1580.

II. Henry 2d, son of the preceding, born in
Dedham; married Susan Hills; died
in 1610.

III. Edmund, son of Henry 2d and Susan

(Hills) ; born in 1611 ; married Judith
Angier; settled in Watertown, Mass.,
in 1632. He removed to Wethersfield,
Conn., about 1636, and thence to New
Haven, where he died.

IV. Samuel, son of Edmund and Judith (An-

gler) ; born in England ; came to

Autobiography-
America with his parents when he was
fourteen years old. He probably re-
moved with them to Wethersfield,
Conn., where he married Sarah ]\Iitch-
ell. He removed to Stratford in 1650
and became a prominent and substan-
tial citizen. He was a member of the
Committee, or Court, that declared
war against the Pequots. He served
the public so well, in numerous other
offices, that the General Court granted
him two hundred and fifty acres of
land, upon the New Haven River,
"whereof fifty acres may be meadow,
so it is out of the town." From this
Samuel Sherman are descended Sena-
tor John Sherman and Gen. W. T.
Sherman and my own family. Roger
Sherman, signer of the Declaration of
Independence and Senator from Con-
necticut, was descended from John,
another son of Edmund.

V. SiiERM.vN, Benjamin, son of Samuel
and Sarah (Mitchell) ; married Re-
bekah Phippany; died in 1741, aged
eighty years.

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Autobiography

A^I. Enos, sou of Benjamin and Rel^ekah
Phii)i)any; horn in 1699; married Abi-
L;ail Walker.

VII. J(j.siAii, son of Enos and Abigail
(Walker); born in 1729; married
■ Miriam Gregory; died in 1815; aged
eiglity-six.

\'11I. ]\X(jcii, sun (jf Josiah and ]\Iiriam Greg-
ory; burn October 3, 1762; married
Catherine Seeley ; died in West Rupert,
Vt., ]\Iarch 30, 1849.

Children of Encjch and Catherine (Seeley)
Sherman :

Seeley, married Betsey Phillips.
Levi, married Jerusha Bennett.
Catherine, married Jacob K. Drew.
.Sterling, married Jane Noble.
Jemima, married Xathan W. Wilson,
IsPiac, married Louisa Uising.

]\ly father was the third son of Enoch and
Catherine (Seeley) Sherman, lie was born in
Sandgate, Benningtrm County, \'t., August 17,
1794; married Jane Xoble; died in West Rupert,
\'t., Seiilember 2~ . i8<\S.

11

Autobiography

GENEALOGY OF THE NOBLE FAMILY

I. Noble, Thomas, born in England in
1632; died in Westfield, Mass., Janu-
ary 20, 1704; married Hannah Warri-
ner, of Westfield, Mass.

II. Noble, Luke, son of Thomas and Han-

nah (Warriner) ; born July 15, 1675;
was called "Sergeant Luke" ; married
Hannah Stebbins; was a farmer in
Westfield, Mass.

III. Moses, son of "Sergeant Luke," and Han-

nah (Stebbins) Noble; born in West-
field, ]\Iass., April, 1710; died in
Southwick, Mass., June 13, 1771 ; mar-
ried Mary Grant, February 2, 1731.

IV. Reuben, son of Moses and Mary (Grant)

Noble; born in Westfield, Mass., June
9, 1732; married Ann Ferguson, as
first wife, and Mrs. Scott, as second
wife.
V. Luke, son of Reuben and Ann (Fergu-
son) Noble; born in Southwick, Mass.,
February 24, 1761; married Mary
McCleary, of Mithuen, Mass.; died in
West Rupert, Vt., August 9, 1848.

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Autobiography

Children of Luke and Mary (McCleary)
Noble :

Luke, married IMartha Sargent.
Polly, never married.
Jane, married Sterling Sherman.
Martha, married David Colton.
The following are the children of Sterling and
Jane (Noble) Sherman:

I. Samuel Sterling, born November 24,
1815; married Eliza Dewey; is now
living in Chicago, 111.

IL Charles Austex, born August 28, 1818;
married Laura Graves Burton; died in
West Rupert, Vt., May 4, 1889.

in. Henry Osman, born March 23, 1820;
married Huldah Ingersoll ; died May
24, 1907, at Elkhart, Ind. ; buried at
Rosehill Cemetery, near Chicago, 111.

IV. Catherine Jane, born June 6, 1821;
married Stephen ]\I. Murdock ; died in
Detroit. ]\Iich., July 2, 1876; buried in
Milwaukee, Wis.

V. Willl\m AIcCleary, born October i,
1822; married Hannah Lewis; died in
Thomasville, Ga., January 26, 1891 ;
buried in Milwaukee, Wis.

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Autobiography

VI. Omer Byron, born April i8, 1824; mar-

ried Caroline Porter; died June 15,
1890; buried in New Hampton, Iowa,
where his family still resides.

VII. Enoch, born February 24, 1826; married

Lauretta Walton; died in Eagle, Wis.,
March 24, 1900,
VIII. Jesse Seeley, born February 7, 1828;
married Lucinda Woodard ; is now liv-
ing in Salem, N. Y.
IX. Mary Eliza, born October 7, 1829; is
unmarried and lives in Milwaukee,
Wis., 1910.
X. Martha Maria, born October 30, 183 1 ;
married Asa McNitt, who died Sep-
tember 20, 1864; died in Pasadena,
Cal., July 12, 1910.
Both of my grandfathers served in the War
of Independence, and during the latter part of
their lives received small pensions, which they
valued chiefly as a recognition of patriotic serv-
ices, for they were farmers in comfortable cir-
cumstances and near neighbors, in West Rupert,
Vt. My father's father served in the ranks, under
Lafayette. He also witnessed the execution of
Major Andre. My father's mother, Catherine
Seeley, who was born in Weston, Conn., Septem-

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Autobiography

ber 1 6, 1765, was the daughter of Samuel Seeley,
who was killed in battle at Bridgeport, Conn.,
April 27, 1777. She died in 1859, at the age of
ninety-four, her mind bright and memory good
to the end of life. She gave me the following
account of her father's death, only a few days
before her own death:

He was a captain of minute men at the time
the British invaded Connecticut. The messenger
who brought him the news that the British had
landed found him in the field plowing. She, her-
self, then some ten or twelve years old, and de-
votedly attached to her father, was with him, fol-
lowing in the furrow behind the plow. Without
waiting to unloose the oxen, he ran to the house;
she followed as fast as she could and met him at
the door equipped with uniform and sword. He
gave her a parting kiss and was gone. The next
day he was brought home a corpse, a literal illus-
tration of ]\Irs. Sigourney's patriotic lines:

They left the ploughshare in the mold,
Their flocks and herds without a fold,
And mustered in their simple dress,
For wrong to seek a stern redress, etc.

I
Soon after the war (in 1784) my grandfather

took his young wife upon the pillion of his saddle
15

Autobiography

•and started west, "to grow up with the country."
He located a claim in Bennington County, west
of the Green Mountains, in the disputed territory
then known as the "New Hampshire Grants," but
was uncertain to what state he owed allegiance
until Vermont was admitted to the Union in 1791'.
He lived in the rugged town of Sandgate until
1807, when, falling in love with the charming
valley, then called White Creek Meadows in the
adjoining town of Rupert, bordering on the State
of New York, he purchased a considerable tract
of land, built himself a comfortable home and be-
came a large and prosperous farmer. To him
were born four sons and three daughters, all of
whom he was able to settle on good farms in that
beautiful valley, and not far from the old home-
stead, which still remains in possession of one of
his descendants. His youngest son, Isaac, was
. liberally educated. After graduating frOm Union
College he studied law, but the profession' proved
uncongenial and he devoted most of his life to
farminir.

16

Autobiography
II

YOUTH AND EDUCATION

My father, Sterling Sherman, was the third
son. My mother was the danghter of a neighbor-
ing farmer, Luke Noble. To them were born seven
sons and three daughters.. My father was an en-
terprising and successful farmer, but took enough
interest in public affairs to represent his fellow-
citizens in the State Legislature occasionally.

]jut the lovely valley at length became too
strait for the rapidly increasing Sherman fami-
lies; there was no longer room for the ambitious
fledglings to spread their wings. Some sought
homes across the line in "York State" ; the fresher
lands of the far West attracted others, and some
embarked in other pursuits. Now only two or
three of the name are found in all that beautiful
valley. Strangers sit by the old familiar hearth-
stones and bask in the shade of the sugar maples
which our fathers planted to adorn the roadside;
but. we all hold in loving remembrance this home
of our childhood and feel in our hearts,

There is in the wide world no valley so sweet,
As that in whose bosom the brieht waters meet.

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Autobiography

My early years were passed on my father's
farm, with such educational advantages as the
district school afforded. When old enough to
perform light farm work I went to school only
in the winter; and such winters! They seemed
colder and crisper and the snows deeper than now ;
and the moons larger and brighter; the evenings
longer and more favorable to social gatherings
and apple-bees, to sleigh-rides, spelling matches
and singing schools ! And how I regretted having
no ear for music, a grievous defect in my mental
organization; one that has caused many regrets
and the loss of much of life's pleasures. And
now in my ninety-fifth year how strange it seems,
with so much gone of life and love, to still live
on!

My father owned a mountain farm called the
Reed Lot, where sheep were kept in large num-
bers from early spring until late in the fall, when
they were transferred to a meadow farm that he
owned near Salem, where hay was stored in large
quantities during the summer.

The winter after I was fifteen, it was my lot
to board with the farm tenant and look after and
feed the sheep. I also attended the district school.
The following spring I attended the academy in
Salem one term. In the fall of this year mycousin,

18

Autobiography-
Enoch S. Sherman, was going to New Hampton,
N. H., to school and urged me to accompany him.
My health was never robust, and my father, fear-
ing that I would not make a good "farm hand,"
gave me the choice of remaining on the farm or
going to college. I chose the latter alternative,
and accompanied my cousin to New Hampton, to
begin studies preparatory to college.

The school at New Hampton had considerable
reputation in those days, but I hear nothing of it
now. After some months, feeling aggrieved be-
cause I had to suffer for the misdeeds of other
students, I withdrew and continued my prepara-
tory studies at an excellent academy in East Ben-
nington, Vt.

19

Autobiography'

in

COLLEGE STUDENT AND DISTRICT SCHOOL TEACHER

In Septemljer, 1834, at the age of nineteen, I
entered Middlebnry College. This college was
chartered in 1800. There was no State Univer-
sity to antagonize its aspirations, for the Univer-
sity of Vermont, the college at Burlington, was
chartered the same year. Harvard, Yale and
other older and richer colleges did not cast a
blighting shadow on younger and less prosperous
ones. In fact, Dr. Timothy Dwight, the famous
President of Yale, was its sponsor, having discov-
ered that "the sober and religious character of
the inhabitants rendered Middlebury a very desir-
able centre for such an institute." He also dele-
gated a member of his own Faculty to serve as
its first President, and otherwise aided in its or-
ganization. But the community, though "sober
and religious," was not wealthy, and the college
began and continued for some years in a small
frame buifding and without endowment. When
I entered, the accommodations were still meager,
but there was a competent Faculty and good
undergraduate work was done; that is, good work
for the times. As in other colleges of the period,

20

Autobiography

Latin and Greek and Mathematics were the prin-
cipal studies of the Freshman and Sophomore
years, and most of the instruction was given by
"tutors." In the Junior and Senior years we
came mostly under the professors, while the ven-
erable President had charge of the class in Mental
and Moral Philosophy, All subjects were taught
from textbooks, the contents of which we were
expected to master and then give the substance
orally. In Natural Philosophy, which included
many subjects now classed as distinct sciences,
there were a few illustrations, accompanied by
oral explanations, called "lectures." There was
a chemical laboratory and lecture room adjoining;
but lectures were few and no student ever saw
the inside of the laboratory, except the one who
sometimes assisted the professor in preparing his
experiments. In Astronomy the only piece of ap-
paratus I ever heard of was a small telescope,
which no one ever looked through, and if he did
he coulS not see anything.

My class entered sixty-five strong and re-
ceived many accessions during the first two years,
but only forty received diplomas. I believe this
was the largest class that had graduated from
Middlebury at that time. Since then the col-
lege has had a varied experience. Better en-

21

Autobiography

dowed colleges and universities have multiplied,
and the best equipped have naturally secured the
largest patronage. At the semi-centennial of
my class, in 1888, the outgoing class numbered
only six, while thirteen of the class that gradu-
ated fifty years before were seated on the plat-
form, and six others were known to be living.
Since then, however, the college has acquired
new life. At the centennial celebration in 1900
it was announced that a liberal course of elec-
tive studies had been provided, the standard of
scholarship raised, and a more auspicious era
had dawned. Gifts, including the Starr Library
and Warner Science Hall, of more than four
hundred and fifty thousand dollars had recently
been received.

During my Freshman year I won the Par-
kerian prize for declamation, but the professor
having charge of that fund offered me a well-
worn copy of the "Spectator," instead of the
money, which he retained. I declined to receive
the book, and have no tangible evidence of the
honor.

Like many other students, I reduced expenses
and earned a little money by teaching a district
school in winter during my Freshman and Sopho-
more years. I still have pleasant recollections

22

Autobiography

of a snug little schoolhouse that nestled beside
a small lake among the hills of Sudbury, some
eighteen miles from Middlebury, where I taught,
as I then thought, a model school, at the munifi-
cent salary of twelve dollars a month the first
winter and fifteen dollars a month the second
winter.

A simple incident of this, my first school,
made a lasting impression on my mind. A bright
miss of some fourteen or fifteen years had not
studies enough to occupy her time and I sug-
gested that she might take up English grammar
to advantage. She replied, very properly, that
she would consult her mother. The next morn-
ing she brought in this reply : "Mother says I
must not touch a grammar, for she herself
studied one three weeks once and was never able
to learn anything afterward." Now I could
sympathize with that mother, for I verily believe
that if I had abandoned grammar after laboring
three months on Murray and Kftrkham I should
have had very little courage to attempt the mas-
tery of 2fny other subject. How great the im-
provement in elementary school books in the past
fifty years!

The following is also a pleasant reminder of
this same school: Mrs. C, an elderly lady and

23

Autobiography

wife of a professor in a well-known western col-
lege, called on me in Chicago a few years ago
and told me that she had been a pupil of mine
in that school in Sudbury; that her father^s
family were so much attached to me that they
all went to Middlebury to see me graduate and
had kept track of me as long as they lived; but
now her father and mother and brother and sister
had all passed away, and she thought it would
relieve the loneliness of life to see and renew
the acquaintance and friendship of her earliest
teacher. This attachment of pupils to teachers,
of which I have enjoyed many examples, is one
of the grateful compensations of a very laborious
life.

In the fall of my Junior year I obtained leave
of absence for some months that I might serve as
assistant principal of the Academy in Hancock,
N. H. ; but I was soon taken very sick with
typhoid fever. X My recovery being considered
doubtful my parents \vere sent for, but skillful
physicians, with one of whom I boarded, and
the careful nursing of my mother and others,
preserved my life. When able to travel I was
carried to my Vermont home to remain and re-
cuperate until the spring term of college, when
I resumed my studies.

24

Autobiography

I also taught a private school during the
winter of my Senior year in my native town.

I do not remember that my college years were
marked by anything unusual in student life; al-
ways industrious and a fair scholar, I passed the
four years without friction and cherish only the
pleasantest recollections of both Faculty and
students.

Early in my Sophomore year I made a pro-
fession of religion. This occurred during a pro-
tracted meeting held at the Congregational
Church and conducted by Mr. Burchard, a noted
evangelist of that period. I united with the
Baptist Church in Rupert during the following
summer.

A college education was easily obtained in
those days. Everything was cheap, tuition,
board, clothing, etc. The most I ever paid for
boardj including room, fuel and lights, was $2.50
a week, in the best private families; and the
studies for the winter teem were such and so
arranged that an industrious student could teach
a <listrict school three months, the usual length
of the winter school, and not fall behind his class.
My father was not penurious ; he never failed to
supply all the money I asked for and I was not
more economical than the majority of my class-

25

Autobiography ^

I-

mates; yet the whole six years of my preparatory
and college course did not cost him one thousand
dollars in cash. Alost of my clothing was sup-
plied from home and he usually carried me back
and forth, so that traveling expenses were light.

My class contained several men of good abili-
ties, Sift none of them has made a jDrilliant record.
i\Iany became preachers, some lawyers, others
doctors and teachers; a few engaged at once in
business pursuits. In those days a college grad-
uate was expected to aim higher than the farm
from W'hich he usually sprang, except in the
South, where a planter's life was the ne plus ultra
of a gentleman's aspirations. So far as I know,
only one of those who entered the 'ministry (the
Rev, Byron Sunderland) has been honored with
the degree of D. D., while none but myself has
received the degree of LL. D., conferred by the
William Jewell College in 1876, and by my alma
mater in 1888.

I reached the Conclusion of my college course
without looking far beyond. I had no object in
view when I entered, and the course of studies in
the colleges of that day did not tend to discover
or develop special talents. It was a sort of bed
of Procrustes, adapted to the capacity of the
average student, and all others must be adapted

2G

Autobiography

to it. It was constructed on the abstract prin-
ciple of developing and strengthening the mind,
and \va*s, perhaps, a good preparation for the
study of the so-called learned professions, and
served as a vestibule to their temple. It was also
in the direct line of the teacher's vocation, n As
the latter was the only pursuit for which I felt
in any degree qualified, I determined to teach for
a few years, at least.

27

Autobiography
IV

SEEKING A WARMER CLIMATE

Health prompted me to seek a warm climate.
On mentioning my wishes to Professor Fowler,
whai^iad recently spent a winter, in South Caro-
lina, he said that he had some acquaintance with
the Rev. Dr. Manly, an eminent Baptist minister
of Charleston, and kindly volunteered to inquire
of him if there was some opening for me in that
city. Meantime, Dr. Manly had been elected
President of the University of Alabama and had
removed to Tuscaloosa, but the letter was for-
warded and the Doctor replied promptly, assur-
ing him that a competent teacher would do well
in Tuscaloosa and inviting me to come there at
once. This I decided to do.

The journey was long and tedious at best, but
was made longer by unexpected delays. There
were few railroads in those days and only one
of considerable length lay in my direction. That
was the road from Charleston, S. C, to Augusta,
Ga. On reaching New York I learned that yel-
low fever was prevailing in Charleston. This
made it necessary for me to go by way of Savan-
nah. There had been two steamers plying be-

28

Autobiography

tween New York and Savannah, but one of them,
The Home, had recently been bunied, and the
other 'was disabled, so I had to \vaij|^ New York
more than a week for a sailing vessel.

On reaching Savannah, after a week on the
water, I found the only means of leaving the
city was by a tri-weekly stage to Macon. An-
other vessel arrived the day before ours and its
passengers had secured all the seats for three
weeks in ^vance. Our people tried to hire an
extra, but none could be had for so long a jour-
ney. Of course I regretted this delay, but there
were two classmates and other good company
with me and we resolved to make the best of
our necessity by familiarizing ourselves with one
of the oldest and largest cities in the "South. I
was especially interested in the broad streets,
with their quadruple rows of venerable "Pride-,
of China" trees, in the profusion of flowering
plants, most of which were quite new to me, and
in the wonderful luxuriance of the semi-tropical
vegetation. The cofton plantations and the
golden rice fields were also new to me; and the
slaves, apparently more numerous than the whites,
were especial objects of interest; so respectful, so
merry and light of heart, that one might think
they never had a care or serious thought.

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Autobiography

One thing -did not impress me so favorably,
and that was the cemetery. Nature and art had
done much to beautify this home of the dead,
but I noticed that nearly all of the tenants who
had passed life's middle age were sojourners,
born in one of the Northern states or in some
foreign- country. It was recorded of very few
that they were natives of Georgia or of any
other Southern state. I was also impressed by
the large proportion of church-goers who wore
habiliments of mourning. Hence I inferred that
the climate of Savannah was not favorable to
longevity. Another incident increased my desire
to leave the city : Inquiries were made at our
hotel, the Pulaski House, for the names of all
lodgers of military age, as the authorities were
about making a draft of volunteers, to send
against the Seminole Indians, who were giving
much trouble on the southern border of the
state and in Florida. Though in no danger of
being impressed into this service, I was quite
willing to resume my journey.

At this time, about forty miles of railroad
had been constructed from Savannah toward
Macon, but work had been suspended on ac-
count of financial troubles. The road terminated
in a low, sandy pine forest, where stages took

30

Autobiography

up the passengers and carried them to Macon.
This was my first railroad travel. I soon had
another short railroad journey of about thirty
miles, just before reaching Montgomery, Ala.,
but this road was in such wretched condition that
the passengers sometimes ran ahead of the loco-
motive to see that the rails were in place. With
these two exceptions, about seventy miles, the
journey from Savannah to Tuscaloosa, via Ma-
con and Columbus, Ga., Montgomery and Selma,
Ala., was made by stage. But stage travel in
those days and in that country had its pleasures —
when one got used to it. The coaches were
strong and roomy, the horses were good, and
when the weather was good and the roads passa-
ble the speed was quite equal to that of some of
the early railroads. ' I often enjoyed riding on
the box with the good-natured, loquacious Jehu,
and picking up from him information of the
country and the people. I remember on this
journey, when sitting beside the driver one night,
in the primitive forest of eastern Alabama, that
he called my attention to a pile of bones and
other rubbish beside the road, and gravely in-
formed me that that was all there was left of a
coach, horses and passengers, captured by the
Muscogee Indians a year or two before.

31

Autobiography
V

SOUTHERN CAMP MEETING

On reaching Montgomery I resolved to inter-
rupt my journey by visiting a couple of class-
mates. They had spent a vacation with me at
ray home in Vermont, and I imagined they would
be glad to reciprocate the favor, so I took a stage
to Wetumpka and went thence on horseback to
Talladega county, following a blind trail of
blazed trees most of the way, for most of the
country was newly settled. I found my friends
at a Presbyterian camp-meeting and remained
wnth them two days.

This camp-meeting was a well-known institu-
tion. A grove of several acres had been enclosed
and comfortable log cabins built around the bor-
der; in the center ample space was roofed over
and provided with benches; near tlie center was
a large platform with desk and chairs for the
preachers. Patrons living nearest had removed
thither, for the occasion, an abundance of bed-
ding, all their best tableware, their kitchen uten-
sils, etc. ; their house servants and an ample sup-
ply of food. In fact, everything necessary to
live comfortably and entertain hospitably was pro-

32

Autobiography

vided in abundance. The occasion was for both
social and religious enjoyment. Most of the peo-
ple who had settled in this and the adjoining
regions came from the same parts of North and
South Carolina; many of them had been friends
and neighbors in the older states and were quite
willing to go long distances to see and visit each
other once a year. The mornings and evenings
were set apart for religious services; the after-
noons were devoted as sacredly to social enjoy-
ment on this occasion. I was told some of the
visitors had come from fifty to one hundred
miles. In another part of the same county the
Baptists had a similar camping ground devoted
to the same purposes and quite as well known. I
found that my classmates were sons of people in
very moderate circumstances; that they went to
Middlebury College because their teacher was a
graduate of Middlebury and had recommended
the College for its excellence and its cheapness.
One of these subsequently visited me at the Uni-
versity of Alabama, and when I resigned my tu-
torship I had the satisfaction of securing his elec-
tion in my place. He subsequently studied law
and became a useful, but not conspicuous citizen;
the other one taught a small school for a while
and I heard no more of him.

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Autobiography
VI

DR. MANLY AND UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA

I finally reached Tuscaloosa about six weeks
after leaving my home in Vermont. Through
the kindness of Professor Fowler, who had rec-
ommended me to Dr. Manly more highly, per-
haps, than I deserved, I was received with much
kindness. The Doctor introduced me to Gov-
ernor Bagby and to Chief Justice Collier. All three
assured me that a good school preparatory to the
University was much needed and offered me their
names as reference. I acted on their suggestion
and issued a notice that I would open a private
school on the first of January ensuing, limiting
the number of pupils to twenty, and charging one
hundred dollars per session of ten months. The
proposed number of pupils soon applied, but in
the meantime the trustees of the University held
their annual meeting and I was surprised to find
myself elected tutor in Latin and Greek. Of
course, my excellent friend. Dr. Manly, was re-
sponsible for this unexpected honor, but the sal-
ary was only one thousand dollars a year, half as
much as I expected to make by my private school,
and I declined the appointment. A couple of days

34

Autobiography

later the Doctor called and advised me to accept
the tutorship, giving as reasons that the duties'
would be light, never more than two recitations
a day, and giving me all the rest of my time for
self-improvement. By discharging the duties of
librarian, which were only nominal, I could add
another one hundred dollars to my salary. Be-
sides, my personal expenses would be much less,
so I changed my mind, was reelected tutor and
accepted; a decision that I never had occasion to

regret. 203SfcJ45

Dr. Manly and his excellent wife snowea me
much kindness. I also enjoyed the friendship of
Professor Stafford and his accomplished wife,
whom he married soon after I became a member
of the Faculty, and of Prof. F. A. P. Barnard,
subsequently President of the University of Mis-
sissippi, and more recently President of Columbia
University, New York City. Through these and
my semi-official position in the University, I had
access to the best society of the city, then the
capital of the state and its principal seat of learn-
ing. Among others whom I have occasion to re-
member with respect and affection were Dr. John
L. Dagg, then Principal of the Atheneum, the
largest female seminary in the state, and subse-
quently President of Mercer University, a man

35

Autobiography

of much learning and practical wisdom, whose
name is still greatly respected by the Baptists of
the South. During this period I also made other
acquaintances and friends who proved valuable to
me in after years. My duties in the University
were light and I had much time for study and
general reading, which I improved diligently if
not wisely.

36

Autobiography
VII

SOCIAL CONDITIONS

At this time Alabama was comparatively a
new state. The Indians (the Creeks, Choctaws
and Cherokees) had recently been removed to
their present homes west of the Mississippi River.
The white population numbered little more than
three hundred thousand, but it consisted largely
of intelligent, well-to-do, law-abiding citizens,
emigrants from Virginia, the Carolinas and
Georgia, who had left their wornout estates for
the fresh and fertile prairies, cane-brakes and
river bottoms of Alabama and Mississippi, and
which they were rapidly bringing into subjection.
But there were also many restless, roving and
lawless characters, such as constitute a disturbing
element in most new countries. Gamblers and
others who lived by their wits infested most cities
of the Southwest and swarmed on the rivers, the
great channels of traffic and travel. Vicksburg
had recently rid itself of them in a summary way.
During the sessions of the Legislature they con-
gregated in Tuscaloosa in large numbers, and per-
sonal encounters and homicides were of frequent
occurrence. Nine such encounters, with fatal re-
sults, occurred during the winter of 1838-9.

37

Autobiography

Not long after my arrival I had an unpleasant
experience with one of these gentry. My room,
on the second floor of the hotel, opened upon a
long, outside piazza, which was reached by out-
side stairs. One day, in December, I was startled
by a man bursting into my room with a bowie
knife and pistol in hand calling loudly for help.
I quickly hustled him through the inside door into
the hall, and called the landlord. By this time his
pursuers had arrived, but the landlord, a sturdy
Kentuckian, thrust the fugitive into a vacant room
and seizing the poor fellow's bowie knife, planted
himself in the doorway and by his courage and
threats kept the assailants at bay until the police
arrived and relieved him of his unwelcome guests.
Many years after I was passing through the rich
prairie country south of Columbus, Miss., and
stopped to water my horse at an artesian well by
the roadside, near a large and well-kept residence,
and asked an old darky lounging near to whom
the property belonged. To my surprise I found
that it was owned by the widow of that same
fugitive gambler.

As a consequence of this unsettled state of
society, good citizens often thought it necessary
to burden themselves with weapons, which they
sometimes used rashly to settle differences among

38

Autobiography

themselves. But this transition state of society
was even then passing away, and a few years
later the pistol and bowie knife became badges
of the blackleg and desperado.

In some parts of the South the blacks greatly
outnumbered the whites. This was notably the
case in the rich cotton belt of Alabama and Missis-
sippi. Plantations were large and the slaves
numerous. Some belonged to non-residents and
were managed by agents and overseers; but most
planters lived on their estates; consequently the
whites were few and widely separated; yet there
was never, in those regions, any trouble with this
enforced labor. Occasionally a slave who had
been punished for idleness or wrongdoing would
run away and lie out in the woods until caught, or
starved into subjection; but organized opposition
and labor strikes were unknown. Conspiracies
and insurrections were matters of tradition, and
thiC utter helplessness of the whites on the larger
estates led to some precautions. Negroes were not
allowed to leave the plantations on which they be-
longed, or to be absent from their quarters at
night, without a pass or permit from the master,
or overseer; they were not allowed to possess
weapons of any kind, and there were stringent
law^s against teaching them to read. Yet owners

39

Autobiography

were often surprised at the rapidity with which
information that interested them would travel
from plantation to plantation. No matter how
dull and stupid a negro might be during the day,
he was usually wide awake at night and often
found means to elude the vigilance of his master
when so disposed. An illustration of this and of
the apprehension which the whites sometimes suf-
fered, occurred during the presidential election of
1840. In the warm political debates that preceded
the election, the opponents of the hero of Tippe-
canoe often asserted that the northern Whigs
were abolitionists, and declared that if Harrison
was elected measures hostile to slavery would be
inaugurated.

Negroes frequently listened to these discus-
sions, and talked the matter over among them-
selves and drew their own conclusions. In their
ignorance of the ways of politicians and of the
value of election declamation and partisan asser-
tions they imagined that the coming election con-
cerned them, in some way, and the rumor was
widely spread, gaining in extravagance as it went,
that all slaves would be freed if Harrison was
elected President. The whites, in turn, overheard
suspicious whisperings among the blacks and lis-
tening eagerly, they caught enough to excite their

40

Autobiography

sensitive imaginations. Soon they made them-
selves believe that the slaves in all Central Ala-
bama were planning a murderous insurrection,
and going to strike for their liberty about Christ-
mas or early in January, The alarm was sounded,
a rigorous espionage was established, volunteer
companies were raised, state arms were distrib-
uted, and several muskets were sent to the Uni-
versity during the Christmas recess. For some
weeks I, as well as other members of the Faculty,
slept with a loaded musket by my bed. When the
excitement had subsided it was found that the
poor negroes had been frightened much worse
than the whites ; that they had no thoughts of an
insurrection, or of lifting a hand to free them-
selves. They only knew that Harrison had been
elected President and dimly hoped that what white
folks so earnestly affirmed might be true.

It is not reasonable to suppose that the slaves
were contented with their lot; they simply ac-
quiesced and made the best of their hopeless con-
dition. If capable of forming concerted plans to
free themselves they were powerless to execute
them. Even during the late war, when left un-
guarded, and Union armies were overrunning the
country, they remained passive or sneaked into
Union camps as opportunity afforded.

41

Autobiography

The University of Alabama was organized in
1 83 1. After a troubled existence of five or six
years the students became very unruly, got the
upper hand of the Faculty so completely that the
trustees suspended operations and dismissed both
Faculty and students. A reorganization fol-
lowed; only one of the old Faculty was reap-
pointed; Dr. Basil Manly of Charleston, S. C,
was elected President, and enough of the former
students were readmitted, on examination, to form
the skeleton of four classes, about thirty in all.

During the first and second years, under the
reorganization, no trouble occurred. Early in
my second year, which was the third under the
reorganization, disorders began and all efforts of
the Faculty to detect the wrongdoers were fruit-
less. At length, the two tutors became the espe-
cial objects of attention. We roomed in sepa-
rate dormitories, on the second floor and near
the stairs. It was our duty to call the roll in
chapel at morning prayers. We did this alter-
nately a month at a time. The students often
annoyed my co-tutor by tying the knob of his
door to the stair rail, on mornings when it was
his turn to call the roll. But I always had the
names in my pocket and when he failed to appear,
called them as usual.

42

Autobiography

Finally one morning, when it was my turn to
call the roll, I found my door tied, but I man-
aged to wrench it open and was in chapel on
time. The next night, instead of going to bed,
I extinguished my light at the usual hour and
took my seat in a chair so near the door that I
could easily put my hand on the knob. I sat
there until morning, but nothing happened. I
did the same thing the next night; about twelve
o'clock I heard light footsteps in the hall, and
rising placed my hand upon the door knob ; soon
I felt it move and knew what was going on;
jerking the door open suddenly I came upon two
boys who did not stand upon the order of their
going, but leaped down stairs and I after them.
Out of doors they separated ; I followed one
into another dormitory, where he took refuge
under the bed, but came out promptly at my com-
mand. Of course, I reported the affair to the
Faculty, who were greatly pleased with the cap-
ture and promptly suspended the culprit, who was
the son of a prominent citizen.

The affair excited much interest. The Gov-
ernor of the state and others interceded for him,
but the Faculty was inexorable and the young
man had to return to his home in North Alabama.
This raised a terrific storm, of which I was the

43

Autobiography

centre. One evening a student, about my size,
and wearing a cloak similar to mine, was shot
at, and the Faculty advised me to be on my
guard; in fact, one of them loaned me a pistol
which I carried a day or two and, feeling
ashamed of myself, I then returned it to the
owner. There was little study and much dis-
order, especially at night, until the pranks of the
students became intolerable and the Faculty re-
solved to send them all home. A recess of three
weeks was declared ; during the interval the chief
mischief-makers were discovered and forbidden
to return. One student, who had broken into
my co-tutor's room and stolen his pistol, was ex-
pelled. No further disorders occurred during
my connection with the University, and no stu-
dent failed to treat me with all due consideration
and respect. But, subsequently, when there were
more students and a larger Faculty, even more
serious troubles sometimes occurred. And now,
after all these years and experience with stu-
dents, I cannot understand why the students of
the University of Alabama should have been so
ungovernable during the early years of its ex-
istence.

44

Autobiography
VIII

VACATION EXPERIENCES

During my first summer vacation (1839) I
suffered from the usual acclimating fever and
my physician sent me to Blount Springs in North
Alabama to recuperate. I remember passing
through the little town of Elyton, which then
consisted of a postoffice, a blacksmith shop and a
few scattered dwellings, but is now the seat of
the large and prosperous city of Birmingham, so
well known for its iron industries.

The second summer Professor Stafford, de-
siring to visit some lands he had purchased in
Central Mississippi, invited me to accompany
him. As an inducement, he had borrowed Pro-
fessor Barnard's riding horse. The novelty of
the trip and my desire to see the country prompted
me to accept the invitation. In those days, and
in the newer parts of the South, small light
vcliiclcs, as buggies, were quite unknown. Every
family that could afford the luxury had a large
and roomy carriage, but, like the piano, it was
u3td by the ladies only; if gentlemen accompanied
them it was, usually, on horseback. Hence every
man owned or desired to own a good horse, well

45

Autobiography

trained to rapid saddle gait. The women were
also expert equestrians and quite as fond of horse-
back riding as the men. At country gatherings,
especially at church, on the Sabbath, most of the
people often came on horseback or muleback,
sometimes two or more on the same back, a curi-
ous spectacle to one not "to the manner born."
On this trip, which occupied a couple of weeks
or more, I became quite an expert horseman and
could make thirty or forty miles a day without
much fatigue.

The following Christmas, tutor Foster invited
me to spend a few days with him on his father's
plantation, a few miles from Tuscaloosa, on the
Warrior River, promising me some lessons in
hunting. A morning or two after my arrival he
proposed an early duck hunt. My friend knew
where to find the game birds; going a short dis-
tance to a small lake, or pond, that he knew of,
he directed me to approach cautiously a certain
spot with my gun in position for instanbaim, but
the birds having keener eyes than mine, saw me
first and up flew the whole flock, but I was watch-
ing, and unconscious of taking any aim discharged
both barrels. Good luck favored me and I
brought down a fine pair of birds, and acquired
the reputation of being a good sportsman.

4G

Autobiography

Next day came a deer hunt, and I was placed
at a stand where it was thought a deer might pass,
while the men and dogs went to stir up the game.
After long waiting I heard the hounds at a dis-
tance, but the longer I waited, the farther they
seemed to get from me until it was quite evident
they had gone in another direction. After a time
horns were blown for the party to assemble, but,
for my life, I could not tell in what direction to
go. I galloped my horse first one way, then an-
other, until I became quite bewildered. Conclud-
ing that we should be a long time getting out of
the woods unless the horse had more sense than
I seemed to have, we stopped and rested until I
heard the horns again ; then I gave him loose
reins and an encouraging word and he soon car-
ried me to my friends. These were my first and
last — my only experiences in hunting.

During the summer vacation of 1841, Prof.
F. A. P. Barnard, who occupied the chair of
IMathematics and Astronomy, devoted much time
to photography, then in its infancy. In repeat-
ing the experiments of Niepce, Daguerre and
others, I was his most available subject and had
frequent and long sittings in the blazing sun.
In this way it happened that my photo, imperfect
and ficcling as all sun pictures were at the time,

47

Autobiography

was among the first taken in this country. Pro-
fessor Draper, of New York, is credited with
having made the first photos. But Professor
Barnard, who was a genius in his way, having
satisfied his curiosity, did not prosecute his re-
searches any further. He was subsequently
elected President of the University of Missis-
sippi and, soon after the war, became the popular
President of Columbia University.

48

Autobiography
IX

HOWARD COLLEGE

I had been in the University nearly three
years when the Baptists of Alabama, in conven-
tion assembled, resolved to establish and endow
a college or university of their own ; Marion was
selected as the location and I was invited to take
charge of the preparatory school that should
serve as the nucleus of the proposed university.
(See, also, Riley's History of the Baptists of
Alabama, pp. 132-136.)

By this time I had determined to make teach-
ing my lifework; but there seemed no prospect
of promotion in the University and I was get-
ting tired of serving as a non-cc^missioned
officer. Besides, I had become so familiar with
the few textbooks I was required to use that my
time was not profitably occupied. I felt that I
was capable of more and better work. There-
fore, I felt inclined to listen to the overtures.
On consulting with Dr. Manly, he advised
strongly against the proposed change; said that
he knew the Baptists of Alabama better than
I did and they would not, in my day, give money
enough to endow a college or university. But

49

Autobiography

those interested in the project were sanguine;
things looked hopeful to my inexperienced vision
and I resigned my tutorship at the end of three
years and committed myself to the new enterprise.

I found Marion a pleasant village of some
twelve hundred inhabitants, with a prosperous
female seminary. The Baptists, who were most
numerous and had contributed most in money
and pupils, felt that they were not allowed due
representation on the boards of administration
and instruction. Remonstrance proving useless,
they determined to have a school of their own.
Just at this time Prof. M. P. Jewett appeared on
the scene. He had recently resigned a professor-
ship in the college at Marietta, Ohio, on account
of having adopted Baptist views and usages and
was prepared to enter heartily into the new en-
terprise. Professor Jewett was then in the prime
of life, full of physical and mental vigor; capa-
ble, clear-headed and scholarly — just the man for
the occasion.

A private residence was soon fitted up for
temporary use and a school opened. Through
the personal efforts of Professor Jewett, Baptists
in other parts of the state became interested and,
in after years, the Judson Institute became the
best known and most liberally patronized female

50

Autobiography

seminary in the Southwest. A large and com-
modious brick edifice was soon erected and the
old building was swept and garnished for the
proposed Howard University.

On reaching Marion and studying the situ-
ation more carefully, I soon became satisfied that
efforts to establish a college or even the nucleus
of one were premature. Not one dollar had been
contributed or even promised for the purpose;
there was provided the modest frame building
recently vacated by the Judson. There was also,
in type, at the office of the local paper, a flaming
advertisement, announcing that "Howard Uni-
versity" would open for the reception of pupils,
in the spacious building lately occupied, etc. I
did not like the outlook, felt discouraged, and
feared that I had made a serious mistake, but
the resident trustees and friends ^f the enterprise
assured me that the denomination was ripe for
the harvest; that agents would soon be put into
the field to collect funds for the endowment and
buildings; that many young men were waiting
to enter upon the preparatory studies, and that I
woukl certainly have a large and highly remuner-
ative school until funds were collected and affairs
put into shape for organizing the University.

I did not attach much importance to all this,

51

Autobiography

but I had put my hand to the plow and resolved
not to look back, so I went to the printing office
and substituted, for the flaming advertisement I
found in type, a modest notice of the Howard
English and Classical School, which I began with
nine small boys. The tuition of the first term
did not pay my board bill, but the second term
opened more favorably. Another school for
boys was discontinued ; a Manual Labor Institute,
a couple of miles from town, under the auspices
of the Presbyterians failed, and I was able not
only to secure some of the pupils, but I purchased
the apparatus which cost in London five thou-
sand dollars for one thousand, five hundred dol-
lars. I took courage, and, at my suggestion, the
citizens contributed about one thousand volumes
as the beginning of a library.

52

Autobiography

X

CHAIR OF THEOLOGY ENDOWED

Meantime I was becoming better acquainted
with the situation and gaining courage. I found ,
that the denomination was really large and
wealthy ; that there had long been a feeling among
the more intelligent, that a better educated min-
istry was much needed. Many of the preachers
were illiterate, while the ablest and best educated
often depended for support on other pursuits.
Some were planters, some lawyers, others doc-
tors, etc. In fact, it was quite common to unite
some productive avocation with preaching. I
once asked one of these secular preachers, a regu-
lar M, D., how he managed to study theology
amid the active duties of a laborious profession.
He replied, "By preaching it," and he explained
his answer by saying for the first year or two he
preached "Dwight's Sermons." Observing a sur-
prised look he said, "Why not? They are better
sermons than I could write."

It is not strange that Anti-mission, often
called "Hard Shell" Baptist Churches flourished
in those days, nor were they quite extinct at a

53

Autobiography

recent date, as the following from the Alabama
Baptist, of March 19, 1896, will show:

"A pastor in Alabama a few Sundays ago, who
claims to be a Missionary Baptist, while preach-
ing from the text, 'Many are called, but few are
chosen,' made use of language about as follows:
'The reason I quit going to associations is that
there is always a big pile of money asked for.
The Lord has no use for money in heaven; he
only wants poor lost souls. My Bible teaches
me that the love of money is the root of all evil,
and all the money I want is enough to feed me
and clothe me. The long coat-tailed preachers
swallow a few dictionaries and chew up some
almanacs and then have to get a big pile of
money for it. If all the churches in Alabama
broke up because they could not pay these preach-
ers, I will quit my farm and preach to them all.
We are going to wash feet in April and, brethren,
I want you all to come, and them big preachers
with their gold rings, who think it too low down
to wash feet. When the churches quit washing
feet, I will wash my wife's and children's feet
and they will wash mine.' "

Thoughtful men were asking, how shall these
things be remedied? Believing that something
might be done in this direction, I proposed to the

54

Autobiography

board of trustees that an effort be made to endow
a chair of Theology, suggesting that some years
must elapse before there could be much use for a
Professor of Theology. That students desirous
of preparing for the ministry could obtain their
literary culture in the school and that the pro-
fessor could, in the meantime, render valuable
service in the literary departments; that churches
which should send and support students, having
the ministry in view, would thus become inter-
ested in the school and, in this way, a better
foundation would be laid on which to build in
future. The board promptly adopted these sug-
gestions and reported to the convention a plan
for endowing a chair of Theology. The plan
was approved by the convention; the Rev. J. H.
De Votie was appointed financial agent, and in^
less than a year the proposed endowment was
secured; the Rev. Jesse Hartwell was installed
Professor of Theology, and the name of the
school was changed to Howard Literary and
Theological Institute.

55

Autobiography
XI

VISIT MY NATIVE STATE

During the summer of 1843 ^ visited my
native state, Vermont, from which I had been
absent nearly five years. Professor Jewett and
wife, a Judson teacher and myself left Marion
the latter part of July, went down the Alabama
River to Mobile, thence by the inland passage to
New Orleans, where we remained a couple of
days, visited the famous cemetery and the more
famous French Market and other objects of in-
terest. We took a steamer for St. Louis. As
there was no railroad competition at that time,
all important travel and traffic were by steam-
boat. Many of these boats were floating palaces
with every appliance for comfort and even lux-
ury. We had a delightful trip; remained one
day, then took a smaller boat up the Illinois to
the head of navigation, where excellent coaches
took us up and, in due time, delivered us safely
in Chicago. This now great and famous city had
then so few attractions that we remained over
one night only.

The next morning Professor and Mrs. Jewett
took a lake steamer for Duluth, Miss R. and

56

Autobiography

myself took another for Milwaukee. I remem-
ber this trip to Milwaukee very well, because of
the extreme cold, for the season. It was the
eleventh day of August and I had to remain near
the smokestack in order to keep warm, for I had
brought no overcoat with me. My traveling
companion visited brothers in Milwaukee, while
I went by stage to Waukesha, then called Prairie-
ville, near where I found my brother, H. O.
Sherman. He had recently opened a new farm
on which he was making a home for himself and
family. In a few days I returned to Milwaukee,
was joined by my fair companion and resumed
my journey, by lake, to Buffalo. After visiting
Niagara Falls, we continued our journey east-
ward by railroad.

My relatives and friends were taken entirely
by surprise, for I had given them no intimation
of my coming. Among the changes in my father's
family, I found my oldest sister married and my
next sister, Mary, an attractive miss of fourteen
years. I soon felt that she ought to have a better
education than the district schools afforded and,
with my parents' permission, I placed her in an
academy of reputation, until I had a home of my
own, when I took her to Alabama and placed her
in the Judson Institute, of which my friend, Pro-

57

Autobiography

m

fessor Jewett, was principal. After graduating-
she taught in the female seminaries of Tuskegee,.
Ala., and La Grange, Ga., until I took charge of
the Judson Institute in 1855, when she became my
head teacher and soon repaid, in faithful service,
all the care I had bestowed on her.

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Autobiography
XII

FIRST CLASS GRADUATES

The ease with which the Professorship of
Theology in the Howard had been endowed en-
couraged the trustees to attempt greater things,
and it was resolved to begin the endowment of
the college proper. But only a few subscriptions
had been obtained, when the large frame building
which had sheltered the Institution hitherto was
burned and all efforts to raise the endowment
were immediately suspended. Fortunately the
fire occurred at midday, and the citizens promptly
joined the students in saving nearly all the more
valuable contents. The library and most of the
apparatus were removed to places of safety; the
frailer part of the chemical department only was
destroyed.

The exercises of the Institution were contin-
ued in the Baptist Church and in other rooms,
more or less adapted to the purpose, while the
trustees and citizens were preparing to erect a
larger and better building, but the denomination
did not respond to the ardor of the citizens of
IMarion and vicinity and appeals for help were
unheeded. In this respect we were much disap-

59

Autobiography

pointed, for we had prepared the foundations of
a large building. Then I had a careful reestimate
made of the building according to the plans
drawn, and found that they could not be carried
out without incurring considerable debt, to which
I was inflexibly opposed. I therefore reduced the
size of the structure by reducing the size of the
chapel, lecture and recitation rooms and the num-
ber of bedrooms.

The ladies of Marion undertook to repair the
loss of the chemical apparatus by the work of
their own hands, and a successful fair realized
enough for his purpose.

In September, 1846, the building was ready
for occupancy, but the formal dedication was
postponed until the meeting of the Baptist State
Convention in November, when the dedicatory
address was delivered by the venerable Dr. Ed-
ward Baptist, the convention adjourning one day
for the purpose.

By this time the number of students in the
higher classes had largely increased; the course
of studies had been extended until it included all
the usual college curriculum, and it seemed un-
necessary to send our students to the State Uni-
versity or elsewhere to graduate. Regular college
classes, therefore, were organized in 1847, ^^^ ^^

60

Autobiography-
July, 1848, a class of seven young men, all of
good abilities and at least of average attainments,
were graduated. Thenceforth the Institution as-
sumed the name and privileges conferred by its
charter, Howard College.

To build up and endow a denominational col-
lege, without large financial support in the early
stage, is always an onerous task. The history of
such institutions, of which there are too many
in this country, is always a record of long years
of patient, earnest, self-denying labor, and that of
Howard College is no exception.

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Autobiography
XIII

J,rARRIAGE

August 19, 1S45, I married Eliza Dewey, of
Philadelphia, Pa. A nohle, Christian woman, of
a bright and cultivated mind, amiable and affec-
tionate beyond most of her sex. Her mother's
ancestry contains men conspicuous for courage
and patriotism. It is given as follows in the
"Genealogies and History of Watertown," a
work of her uncle, Henry Bond, M. D.

I. Isaac Stearns came to America in 1630
in the same ship with Governor Win-
throp and Sir Richard Saltonstall.
II. John Stearns, son of Isaac, settled in
Billerica; died March, 1668-9.

III. John Stearns, son of preceding; born

in 1650; died October 26, 1728.

IV. JosiAii Stearns, son of John; born Oc-

tober 24, 1707; died April 11, 1750.
V. Capt. Phineas Stearns, son of Josiah;
born February 5, 1735; died March 2,
1798; was a soldier at Lake George
in 1756, and was a member of the
famous Boston Tea Party.

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Autobiography

VI. Hannah Stearns, daughter of Captain
Phineas; born April 28, 1768; married
Henry Bond, May 27, 1796.
Vn. Hannah Bond, daughter of Hannah
Stearns and Henry Bond, born April
15, 1794; died November 24, 1827;
married William Dewey, September
25, 1816.
Vni. Eliza Dewey, daughter of William
Dewey and Hannah Bond, born Au-
gust 16, 1 81 7; married Samuel Ster-
ling Sherman, August 19, 1845.
William Bond, the father of Henry Bond,
who married Hannah Stearns (6), was a lieu-
tenant-colonel at the battle of Bunker Hill; the
colonel being killed he succeeded to the command
of the regiment, was sent on that unfortunate
invasion of Canada by way of the lakes; return-
ing, his regiment was stationed at Mount Inde-
pendence, where he died August 3, 1776.

Children of Samuel Sterling and Eliza Dewey
Sherman :

Louisa Dewey,
Henry Bond,
W'illiam Dewey,
Elizabeth Jane,
Frederick Sterling,

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Autobiography

Charles Austen,
Clara.

Of these Louisa Dewey, William Dewey,
Charles Austen and Clara died in early child-
hood and are buried in Marion, Ala.

Friends who had recently visited the ceme-
tery in Marion reported to me that the graves of
our little ones were in a sad and neglected condi-
tion. This v/as inevitable. They were marked
by frail marbles in the usual way and tenderly
cared for so long as we remained near, but in
the long interval of forty-five years they were
well-nigh obliterated. I therefore resolved to
mark them with more enduring monuments and,
if possible, to have them put in a condition re-
quiring less care in the future. Accordingly I
had made in Chicago a small and simple monu-
ment of Vermont granite, consisting of a heavy
base and upright shaft, or die, of sufficient height
to receive the necessary inscription, and a heavy
marker or headstone for each, but whom could
I get to superintend their erection? No one of
my ante bellum friends was left in Marion, to
whom I could appeal for such a favor. All had
gone, and most of these had crossed the dark
river. I appealed to Col. J. T. Murfee, whom I
had casually met and with whom I had exchanged

64

Autobiography

a letter or two. He was President of Howard
College when it was unfortunately removed from
Marion, but he declined to be removed and re-
mained to open a private school in the vacated
buildings. That school has become, under his
skillful management, the well-known Marion
]\lilitary Institute. Colonel Murfee promptly
and most cheerfully took charge of the work.
]\Irs. Murfee also showed a kindly sympathy and
a mother's interest in the work; she decorated
the graves and superintended the taking of an
admirable photo.

Words fail to express my gratitude to Colonel
and Mrs. Murfee for these services.

During all my connection with Howard, both
as a preparatory school and college, I never had
any fixed salary, but I employed all teachers and
professors, except the Professor of Theology,
and paid them from the proceeds of the tuition,
appropriating to my own use what might be left.
In financial matters one principle always gov-
erned me; that was to keep the Institution (and
myself as far as possible) out of debt.

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XIV

RESIGN THE PRESIDENCY

At length, feeling that I had discharged my
duty to the Howard and that an increasing family
had higher claims upon me, I quietly purchased
a school property known as "Brownwood," near
La Grange, Ga., and much to the surprise of all
interested, in June, 1851, resigned the presidency
of the College.

Besides the consciousness of duty performed
to the best of my ability, I enjoyed, as the chief
reward of ten years of earnest labor, the confi-
dence and esteem of the public, especially of the
citizens of Alarion who gave me, as a substantial
assurance of this, a tea service of solid silver
accompanied by the following expressions of
esteem and friendship:

PUBLIC MEETING
President S. S. Sherman

Pursuant to notice, a meeting of citizens and members
of the Board of Trustees was held in the Town Hall.
Marion, on Thursday afternoon, July 22.

Hon. J. P. Graham was called to the chair. John
Moore, Esq., and John G. Markham, were appointed
Secretaries.

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Autobiography

Judgo Graham aniiounccd t!ic object of the meeting to
be, lo take such action as ihe resignation and contemplated
removal from our midst uf one of the most highly re-
spected and esteemed of our fellow-citizens, President S.
S. Sherman, rendered suitable.

A committee was then nominated, consisting of N.
Lockett, K. Parker, L. A. W'eisseinger, R. Goree and J.
Howze, Es(|rs., who reported the following resolutions:

Ri'si>!:\\l, 'ihat we ha\e learned with regret that
PresideiU S. S. Sherman, who has for the last ten years
presided with tlistingmshed ability over Howard College,
and ti; who-e taleiit>, energy ami perse\eranee we are
mainly indebted fur the existence and success of the In-
stitmii)!', is about \n lea\e it.

Ri.Siil'i'cd, That President Sherman has, by his unwaver-
ing iidelily and active self-sacrificing devotion to the best
iutcrots, both literary and moral, of his pupils, won for
Imn-elf the respect and admiration and endeared himself
to the hearts of the friends and patrons of the college, and
whilst we lament his loss to ourselves and to our commu-
nity, as one scarcely to l)e repaired, yet we take pleasure
in commending him to the world as a man of great private
worth and high literary and scientific attainments, as a
gentleman in every way worthy of confidence, and emi-
nently fittetl as :m instructor of youth.

Rcsoli'cd, That the citizens of Marion and the Trus-
tees and students of Howard College tender to President
Sherman, as a testimonial of their high appreciation of
him personally, a service of plate, together with their
best wishes for his prosperity and happiness wherever his
future lot in life may be cast.

Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings be signed
by the chairman and secretaries, and forwarded to Presi-
dent Sherman, and that a copy of theni be also furnished

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Autobiography

to the newspapers in Marion and La Grange, Ga., with a
request that they pubhsh them in their respective papers.
John P. Graham, Chairman.
John Moore,
John G. AIarkham,

Secretaries.

The College continued to prosper under my
successor, but in 1S54 the recently erected build-
ing was burned. Before, the fire occurred at
midday and most of the contents were saved;
this time, the disaster happened after midnight
and nothing was saved. Originating under the
stairs, in the basement, the fire had gained much
headway when discovered. Among the first to
awaken was the college janitor, a slave belong-
ing to President Talbird. When told to escape
while he could, he replied, "Not till I wake up
the boys," and he immediately started on his
errand of mercy, rapping and calhng loudly at
every door. When the last room on the upper
floor was reached, the flames were upon him; he
could not return by the stairs, but jumped from
the hall window and was fatally injured. Two
professors who lodged in the building, and all
the students but one, escaped by jumping from
their windows. Ten or twelve were more or less
injured. One student, overcome by smoke and

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Autobiography

heat, was rescued by aid of ladders, but died a
few days later.

The hero of the fire was the faithful slave,
Henry. In the cemetery at Marion is a hand-
some marble shaft erected by the joint contribu-
tions of the officers and students of the College
and members of the Baptist State Convention, all
of whom joined in the public dedication of this
monument to the fidelity and heroism of Henry.

This appalling disaster aroused the sympa-
thies and loosened the pursestrings of the denomi-
nation. Instead of one, three commodious brick
buildings were soon erected, on more spacious
grounds, donated by a member of the first class
that graduated from the College — Dr. J. T.
Barron.

The endowment now went forward rapidly.
When hostilities began, it is claimed that fully
two hundred and fifty 'thousand dollars had been
pledged. But in the whirlwind of excitement
that followed the secession of the state, President
Talbird, two of the professors and many of the
students volunteered ; the President was chosen
captain of the company, and soon after was made
colonel of the regiment, the Forty-first Alabama.
The cherished endowment soon vanished ; a part
of the pledges were redeemed in Confederate cur-

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Autobiography

rency and the balance was never paid. For a
time Federal troops occupied Marion and the
College buildings were used as a hospital.

After the war, the trustees, faithful to their
charge, made vigorous efforts to place the College
on its feet again, but debts began to accumulate
.and the ghost of the defunct scholarship system
rose to increase the embarrassment and would not
down until it had caused the sale of the College
buildings for debts. But two public-spirited citi-
zens purchased the property and deeded it to the
Convention on terms that will prevent another
occurrence of the kind.

At length the Convention, wearied with inces-
sant appeals for help, listened to proposals for
the removal of the College from Marion to the
young and enterprising city of Birmingham. In
1887, the East Lake Land Company offered to
donate one hundred and seventy thousand dollars
of land and money to secure the removal. It was
also understood that the citizens of the Magic
City were ready and anxious to give all the
money necessary to erect suitable buildings.
These propositions were finally accepted. Two
cheap frame structures were hastily built for the
temporary use of the College; the apparatus and
library were transferred from Marion to these

70

Autobiography

insufficient and temporary quarters; but Presi-
dent Murfee decided to remain behind and open
a private school in the vacated buildings. This
wise decision has resulted in the Marion Military-
Institute, no inconsiderable substitute for the lost
College.

But scarcely had tlie removal been effected
when the gorgeous bubble, that had lured the con-
vention, suddenly burst; inflated land values van-
ished and the transferred College found itself
penniless, poorly sheltered and in sore distress.
Some were anxious to return to Marion, but the
majority deemed it best to accept the changed
conditions, so they struggled on, sadder but wiser
men. Recently (in 1904) a much-needed dormi-
tory has been erected and the convention has
again resolved to attempt an endowment.

The following sketch of the early educational
efforts of the Baptists of Alabama is from
"Riley's History of the Baptists of the Southern
States East of the Mississippi:"

"Early in the '30s the Baptists of Alabama
began the agitation of the question of establish-
ing a denominational school suggested as in other
states, by the growth of the Baptists and the in-
efficiency of their ministry. In resolving to es-
tablish such a school the Baptists of Alabama

71

Autobiography .

adopted the manual labor plan, in spite of its fail-
ures in other states. At this time the leaders of
the denomination were D. P. Bestor, Hosea Hol-
combe, Alex Travis, J. H. De Votie and A. G.
IMcGraw. In 1834 provision was made for the
contemplated school to go into operation as soon
as practicable with two departments, literar}^ and
theological. W. L. Williford became the first
principal and D. P. Bestor Avas elected to deliver
lectures upon Theology.

"After a brief career the enterprise failed, and
in consequence the Baptists of Alabama found
themselves loaded with debt, after wrestling with
which for a period, the denomination sold the
property and for a number of years abandoned
the matter of education altogether. Meanwhile the
deficiency was met as far as was practicable by
supplying young ministers with theological works.
Driven by sheer necessity to establish a school to
meet the urgent demands of the denomination,
Howard College was organized in 1842. Under
the able management of S. S. Sherman it was
gradually developed into a respectable collegiate
institution. From the period of its establishment
to the outbreak of the Civil War it was ardently
fostered by the Baptists of Alabama. After an
eventful history of almost fifty years the College

72

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was removed from IMarion, its original location,
to East Lake, near Birmingham, where it now is.
At the outbreak of hostilities in 1861, the Col-
lege was in the enjoyment of a handsome endow-
ment, which was entirely wrecked by the war.
Efforts to endow the institution within the last
twenty-five years have been unavailing. In spite
of its vicissitudes the College has continued to
do excellent work. Its Presidents have been S.
S. Sherman, H. Talbird, S. R. Ereeman, J. L.
M. Curry, J. T. IMurfee, B. E. Riley and A. W.
McGaha."

Having a couple of months of leisure before
going to La Grange, I determined to spend the
time in the chemical laboratory of Harvard Uni-
versity. Though familiar with the elements of
chemistry and such laboratory work as was nec-
essary for class and lecture room illustration, I
had never given attention to the analytical chem-
istry and was extremely anxious to acquire some
practical knowledge of this important branch of
the science. In fact, all my knowledge of this and
other branches of natural science had been ac-
quired while teaching them. Having some taste
in this direction I had followed with interest and
pleasure all recent discoveries of importance. I,
first in our part of the state, made and experi-

73

Autobiography

merited with gun-cotton, administered ether for
dental and surgical purposes, and made the first
chloroform that I ever saw.

At Cambridge I was kindly received by Pro-
fessor Horsford, who invited me to his home,
also to witness some experiments which he and
Professors Agassiz and Wyman were making on
chloroform and its impurities, but I was soon re-
called to Alabama by sickness in my family.

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Autobiography

XV

BROWNWOOD AND JUDSON INSTITUTE

On the first of January, 1852, I commenced
my private school at Brownwood. This seemed
to me much hke beginning life anew, for I was
little known in Georgia and had to depend largely
on Alabama for pupils. The first year did not
meet my expectations financially. The second
year was more encouraging; day scholars, as well
as boarders, were increasing in numaber. The third
year was progressing satisfactorily when Profes-
sor Jewett announced his intention to retire from
the Judson and the trustees and the citizens urged
me to return to Marion. As the position offered
large pecuniary inducements, and was in other
respects attractive, I sold Brownwood and re-
turned to Marion in July, 1855.

There are few pleasant memories connected
with my short residence in Georgia. Brownwood
is nearly two miles from town, and I mingled
with the citizens so little that I made few friends.
At first my pupils were mostly boarders. There
were two large female seminaries in town and
my relations with the principals were always cor-
dial, but I saw little of the people not immediately

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Autobiography

connected with my school. Among my teachers
were D. G. Hooker and S. I. C. Sweezey. The
former returned North, studied law and settled
in ^Milwaukee, Wis., where he became a promi-
nent citizen, holding the offices of city attorney
and mayor as long as he chose. When I after-
ward settled in Milwaukee he became my attor-
ney and often served me as counselor and friend.
He died in 1888. Mr. Sweezey accompanied me
to Marion and was my most valuable assistant,
so long as I remained in the Judson. After study-
ing law in New York City, he married my wife's
sister, I»*Iiss Louisa Dewey, and settled in San
Francisco, where both are now buried.

A distinguished legal friend expressed sur-
prise that I should accept the charge of a "female
school." While I had some doubts of my adapta-
tion to the peculiar requirements of a large female
seminary, I did hot feel that I was descending to
a lower educational plane. True, the course of
mental discipline, in those days, was not usually
so exacting, and the survey of the numerous de-
partments of human knowledge was less exhaust-
ive than in colleges and universities for young
men, but this was believed to be in accordance
with the organization and mission of the sexes.
Girls mature earlier, both physically and mentally,

76

Autobiography

than boys, and it is believed that they should be
educated and prepared to assume life's duties at
an earlier age, and, therefore, that they should
not be required to devote so many years to pre-
paratory studies. Besides, "Woman is not un-
developed man, but diverse."

Both nature and civilized society impose on
her "diverse" responsibilities, for the adequate
discharge of which specific preparation is neces-
sary. Such was my opinion then, and neither
time nor modern progress has changed it, though
Yale and Harvard and many other colleges and
universities now admit young women to their reg-
ular courses of study.

The Judson had already acquired much repu-
tation for music, art and other studies that shed a
genial radiance around "Life's more cultured
walks and charm the way." Its reputation for
thoroughness in all the so-called "ornamental
branches" had attracted a large patronage; it had
become a sort of finishing school, whose diploma
was highly esteemed, because it was not easily
obtained.

llic' Institute prospered greatly under my ad-
ministration; the number of pupils was largely
increased ; during the second year an addition
more than doubling the capacity of the boardittg

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Autobiography

department was made to the building, and there
were corresponding improvements in all depart-
ments of instruction.

During the latter part of my first year in the
Judson I suffered from an acute attack of in-
flammatory rheumatism, that confined me to the
house for some weeks and permanently weakened
my hip joints. During my illness a protracted
meeting was held in the Baptist church and many
of the pupils made a profession of religion.

In all its long history the Judson has never
suffered a setback. In war time and during the
trouliles of reconstruction, its patronage was
somewhat diminished but its doors have never
been closed. It has sometimes felt the pinch of
financial stringency, but it has never lost any pe-
cuniary endowment, for the very good reason that
it never had any to lose. Its tuition fees have
always been adequate to the support of its large
Faculty and all facilities of instruction. In 1888
its home was reduced to ashes, but a large, more
modern and much nobler structure soon rose in
its place. In 1894 grateful alumnje erected a spa-
cious and beautiful structure, as a home for music
and fine arts.

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Autobiography
XVI

LEAVE THE SOUTH

I resigned the Presidency of the Judson Insti-
tute in July, 1859, and retired from a profession
to which I had devoted twenty-one years of as-
siduous labor.

Among the causes that contributed to my de-
sire to leave the South, at this time, were the
following :

1. My health was bad. The last year had
been unusually trying; I felt discouraged and
needed rest.

2. We had buried four children in Marion
and in our anxiety for the others had often looked
forward to a change of climate. One year before
I had placed our oldest son, Henry, a lad of eleven
years, in a private school in the family of a brother
in Vermont, and my wife was then spending the
summer in the North with the other children.

3. Just then I found an opportunity to trans-
fer my interest in the Institute to parties accept-
able to the trustees.

I never had much tact at saving money and
consequently never had much success in accumii-

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Autobiography

lating it, but as the result of twenty-one years
of arduous labor, besides many unsecured notes
and open accounts, I owned a house with a few
acres of land in jMarion and several servants. I
also owned the furniture of the large boarding
department of the Judson and the books, sta-
tionery, music and art, materials, etc., of the
literary department. For these, my steward and
my successor, as president, gave me their notes.
All these I regarded as valuable assets but not
then convertible into cash. Soon secession
claimed about one- fourth of these, but I never
regretted leaving the South when I did.

I\Iy loss would have been less if collections
had been pressed a little. My last considerable
receipt before the commencement of hostilities
was five thousand dollars for the sale of a family
of negroes. The proceeds of all debts that were
voluntarily paid were promptly remitted to me;
so far as I know no legal process was used to
hasten the collections or secure the payment of
any debt. But in one instance where I had com-
mitted to an attorney authority to settle my in-
terest in some coal lands; after the war he
reported he had sold the property according to
my instructions, but had paid the proceeds into
the Confederate treasury; he promptly admitted

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Autobiography

his liability for the same, but declared his in-
ability to meet it, and the matter was dropped.

Without recalling my wife and children, and
with the aid of my sister and other friends, I
packed up such articles as I desired to bring
North and left Alabama in August, 1859.

Believing war inevitable, I determined to seek
a home as far from the seat of trouble as pos-
sible, where I could settle down ciuietly and edu-
cate my children. The following incident shows
the strength of this conviction. Among the
places visited before deciding where to settle was
Madison, Wis. While there I went, one day,
upon the cupola of the State University to get a
good view of the city, the lakes and the surround-
ing country. Presently three gentlemen joined
me, one of whom, by pointing out objects of
interest to his friends, showed that he was a
resident of the city. I asked him some question
which indicated that I was a stranger, and he
inquired where I was from. This led to further
conversation and I soon found that he knew some
of my relations, in Vermont, and that we had
other associations in common. He then told me
that his name was Hastings, and he introduced
me to the gentlemen with him, one of whom was
T. O. Howe and the other Alex. Randall, the

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Autobiography

former United States Senator from Wisconsin
and the latter, subsequently, Postmaster General.
This led to several other acquaintances, at
the hotel in the evening, for there happened to
be a large political convention in session at that
time and place. This incident had quite passed
from my mind until, one cold winter day during
the second year of the war, Mr. Hastings called
at my house in Milwaukee. His first greeting
was, "Do you remember our meeting in Madi-
son?" I replied, "Yes, on the cupola of the
University." "Do you remember my asking why
you were leaving the South?" I said the ques-
tion had been asked often and probably the same
or a similar answer had always been given.
"Why, you told me that black Republicans were
going to carry the next presidential election, and
if they did, the South would certainly secede and
you believed that a long and bloody war was
surely coming. Now," said he, "I thought
you daft, quite beside yourself, but everything
you told me then has actually come to pass. I
think you must be a prophet, and I want to know
what is to be the result of this awful war."

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Autobiography
XVII

SETTLE IN MILWAUKEE: MILWAUKEE FEMALE
COLLEGE

After visiting other western cities and eastern
friends, we returned to Milwaukee in October,
1859, where we found a pleasant home for many-
years. The selection of this location was doubt-
less influenced greatly by finding there some ex-
cellent people from my native state and some
whom I had known in the South. Among the
former were the banker, C. D. Nash, and an
attorney, A. C. May ; among the latter were D. G.
Hooker, Esq., who had taught for me in Georgia,
and Alessrs. Strickland and Upson, booksellers.
Upson I had known well in Alabama, and Strick-
land was an Englishman. For many years they
had the largest book store in Mobile and were
doing a good business when, one day, a rival
bookseller came in and was casually looking over
their stock, when he came upon a copy of "Uncle
Tom's Cabin." On looking farther he found
another volume of anti-slavery tendencies. This
find was reported to the city authorities and
Strickland and Upson were chnrgod witli soiling
abolition books. A committee appointed to in-

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Autobiography

vestigatc conliniied the evil report, and a public
meeting of the citizens was called. The firm was
denounced as abolitionists and public enemies, and
they were ordered to leave the city immediately.
Public excitement became so great that Messrs.
Strickland and Upson, taking counsel of their
fears, did not stand on the order of their going,
but left a faithful employe in charge, who closed
their store and, when the excitement had sub-
sided and his principals had decided where to
locate, shipped their stock to Milwaukee. The
harsh treatment received in i\Iobile excited the
sympathies of publishers and enabled them to ob-
tain liberal credits, while extensive advertising
of the same, as one of the firm said to me, served
instead of capital and secured a large trade.
This firm was in full tide of prosperity when I
came to ]\Iihvaukee.

I soon became interested in educational mat-
ters; served many years on the City Board of
Education, on the State Board of Normal
Schools, and on the Board of Trustees of the
Milwaukee Female College. In the latter insti-
tution I eventually became more deeply inter-
ested. Miss Catherine Beecher, sister of Henry
Ward Beecher, had been largely influential in
founding the college, in order, as she stated, to

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Autobiography

give Alilwaukee and the West a practical illus-
tration of her ideas of an institution for the
"symmetrical education of woman." To give
dignity to her enterprise, and to supply the nec-
essary funds, Miss Beecher had induced a number
of prominent eastern women, among whom were
Airs. L. H. Sigourney and Mrs. Harriet Beecher
Stowe, to form with herself an organization called
the Woman's Educational Association. In 1852
the cornerstone of the college was laid with im-
posing ceremonies, and in due time the building
was completed at a cost of five thousand and
eighty-seven dollars.

In 1853 Miss Mary IMortimer and four other
ladies were appointed heads of departments "with
equal and coordinate jurisdiction." The imme-
diate financial problem was solved by the liberal
sale of scholarships and bonds.

In 1881 five thousand dollars, part of a prom- .'■,.• .'^ •-•w.,-/,
ised endowment, was received from the Woman's
Educational Association; but this afforded small
relief, as the interest only could be used. At the
close of this year Miss Mortimer, Miss Beecher's
special representative, "wearied with labors and
responsibilities," resigned and the Misses Chapin
were placed in charge of the institution.

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Autobiography

In i860 the trustees concluded that the fund
of five thousand dollars would be more productive
if invested in a home for the teachers and pupils
and, with the consent and cooperation of Miss
Beecher, such a structure was erected on the
grounds of the College; still, the expenses ex-
ceeded the income.

In 1863, being a member of the board, I sug-
gested that the premises be leased to some com-
petent gentleman, with liberal authority for the
employment of teachers and the charges of tui-
tion; that he be charged a moderate rental for
the premises and required to keep them in repair.
The board seemed pleased with the suggestion
and soon asked me if I would take charge of the
College on these terms. After further discussion
and consideration, I consented to do so, and, on
September i, 1863, a lease of the premises for
five years was executed. I loaned the board the
money necessary to pay arrears to teachers, put
the buildings in repair, etc.

A protest was promptly received from Miss
Beecher, who objected especially to a 7iian being
placed at the head of her College. So many of
the ladies of the city sympathized with her, that
private schools nourished for a year or two, to
the material disadvantage of the College. During

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Autobiography

the second year the receipts about equaled the ex-
penses. At the end of the third year there was
sufficient surplus to make good the deficit of the
first year and fully justify the belief that the
College could easily be made self-sustaining.

But Miss Beecher had already appeared on
the scene. Sending for me, she said in substance,
that she understood that I was a fair-minded
Christian gentleman, and that she appealed to me
as such, to be no longer a party to the great wrong
that was being done to her and her association;
that the trustees did not comprehend her views
and plans in regard to the College; that she hoped
I would appreciate them and retire in her favor.
I simply replied that my dealings were entirely
with the trustees; that I held a lease of the prem-
ises, which had some time longer to run, but I
would cheerfully cancel it at any time the board
of trustees might desire, and I referred her to
that body for any further communication on that
subject.

When she failed to arrive at any satisfactory
understanding with the trustees she published an
impassioned appeal to the public. This failing to
elicit any reply, she placed her claims in the hands
of attorneys with instructions to collect, at least,
the five thousand dollars which her association

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had advanced tlie College. Unwilling to become
a party to any legal complication, and wishing to
leave the trustees full liberty to make the best
settlement they could with Miss Beecher, I took
advantage of a clause in the lease permitting it,
and cancelled the offensive document. At the
same time I suggested to the board, as the easiest
way out of the trouble, that the premises be re-
stored to ]\Iiss Beecher on condition that she
would sign an agreement to waive all claims upon
the College in case she failed to provide the long-
promised endowment, within a reasonable time.
This was done and Miss Mortimer was again
placed at the head of the College. She remained
there three years, then retired and heartily united
with the trustees in securing Professor Farrar for
President, under whose efficient management the
college enjoyed many years of prosperity.

The only advantage I derived from my three
years' connection with the College was the per-
sonal acquaintance and friendship of many of
Milwaukee's most intelligent and interesting
young women.

About the time I closed my connection with
the ^Milwaukee Female College several of the
Regents of the State University came to Mil-
waukee to confer with me in regard to taking the

Autobiography

Presidency of that institution. The position was
an honorable one and congenial to my tastes, but
I did not feel like assuming responsibilities so nu-
merous and so weighty. Besides, I had become
interested in some business enterprises that re-
quired my personal attention and I declined to
consider the matter.

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XVIII

VISIT SOUTH AFTER THE WAR

Some months after the close of the war I re-
visited the South, especially my long-time and
much-cherished home, Marion. I did not feel
quite sure how I would be received, but all doubt
was soon removed. My efforts to relieve southern
prisoners at Camp Douglas, near Chicago, and at
Johnson's Island were generally known and thor-
oughly appreciated. I was received with great
kindness and hospitality at Columbus, Miss.,
where some of the boys in gray, whom I had
helped, lived. Others welcomed me at Meridian,
but at Marion, Ala., the citizens could not do
enough to show their esteem. They would not
permit me to go to a hotel, but some of them
almost quarreled for the privilege of entertaining
me. One declared that they would now have a
real old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration and
nothing would satisfy them but a public reception
and dinner, for which the following invitation
was received, and at which the ensuing bill of
fare was served :

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Autobiography

Mr. S. S. Sherman. Marion, Jan. 22, 1866.

Dear, Sir: — The citizens of IMarion, mindful of
your faithful and efficient services in years past in the
cause of education in their midst and of your many deeds
of beneficence and Christian charity towards our suffering
sons and brothers languishing in northern prisons during
the war that has just terminated, beg leave to testify their
respect and admiration for your character and their grati-
tude to you personally by tendering you the hospitalities
of our town and request the pleasure of your company
at a public dinner to be given at the Burton House at
such time as may suit your convenience.

Most respectfully,

N. LOCKETT,

A. B. MooRE,
Wm. N. Wyatt,
John Henze,
F. A. Bates,
S. H. Fowlkes.
Committee of Invitation.

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Dinner
S. S.

Complimentary

to
SHERMAN,

Burton Plouse

Friday,

January

26, 4 o'clock p.
FARE.

M.

1866.

Oyster Soup.

SOUPS :

Beef

Soup.

Mutton, Barbecued.
Mutton, Roast.
Pig, Barbecued.

Beef, Stuffed and Baked.

Beef, Roast.
Pig, Roast and Stuffed.

FOWLS :
Turkey, Roast. Chickens, Baked. Duck, Roast.

VEGETABLES :

Potatoes, Irish. Potatoes, Sweet.

Beans and Peas. Onions and Rice.

FRUIT :

Apples, Stewed. Peaches, Stewed.

Pickles and Piccalilli.

SAUCES :

DESSERT:

Cranberry.

Pound Cake.

Tomato.

Sponge Cake.

Cumberland

Cranberry Tarts.

Black Walnut.

Grape Tarts.

Pepper

Apple Tarts,

NUTS :

with sauces.

WINES :

Claret.

Sherry.

Champagne.

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Autobiography

As yet there had been no opportunity to re-
plenisli exhausted suppHes, and I wondered where
the various wines and other delicacies came from,
until I was reminded of the generous supplies
of the sutler to a Federal regiment stationed in
the town. The ladies also entered heartily into
the affair, sending to the hotel their choice china
and silverware. Some of them even superin-
tended the preparations, so that the table was
both sumptuously and elegantly furnished. The
historian of the Baptists of Alabama, already
quoted, speaking of the occasion, says : 'The
banquet given to Dr. Sherman was a notable
event in the annals of Marion. Every effort was
made by a people most generous in spirit, but
now greatly reduced in purse, to signalize the
occasion in the handsomest manner possible.
The town was decked out in gala garb; flowers
and evergreens, paint, bunting, artistic designs
and inscriptions which would give expression to
the wealth of affection — all were under tribute to
do honor to the man who had been the most dis-
tinguished citizen of IMarion, but whose fame
had been greatly enhanced by reason of his timely
goodness to men suft'ering in distant prisons.'*
(Pp. 318-319-)

Judge Brooks, President of the Convention

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that voted Alabama out of the Union, presided
at the dinner; the Hon. A. B. Moore, Governor
of the State during the entire secession period,
sat at my right hand; the Hon. J. L. M. Curry,
who had represented Alabama in both the United
States and the Confederate States Congresses,
who was then President of Howard College and
subsequently represented the United States at
the Court of Madrid, and who, at the time of
his death was agent of the Peabody and Slater
funds, with many other prominent gentlemen,
were present at this dinner.

Many pleasant speeches were made, but no
bitter or vindictive feehng cropped out. There
were occasional allusions to the late unpleasant-
ness, and to the noble heroism of the "boys in
gray," but all accepted the issue of the war in
good faith and expressed their purpose to make
the best of it, and to apply all their energies to
reconstructing their ruined fortunes. At that
time this sentiment seemed universal, for the car-
pet-bag era had not dawned, and the disastrous
efforts at reconstruction had only begun.

The following incident interested me : When
Governor Moore was called on for a speech, he
said, "Gentlemen, you must excuse me, for you
know that my neck is not out of the halter."

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Autobiography

Afterward I asked him the meaning of this re-
mark, and he gave me the following explanation :
Soon after the surrender General Rierson passed
through Marion with a part of his command and
he (the Governor) took to the woods — kept out
of the way, until the General sent him word that
he had better come in and deliver himself up.
This advice he followed, and was sent to one of
the forts near Savannah, Ga. ; there he found
Toombs and several other prominent civilians,
most of whom were not only unrepentant but
defiant, and not very respectful to the officers in
charge. He saw, at once, the folly of such con-
duct and was, perhaps, on that account, more
courteous to them when opportunity offered.
Soon the commandant called on him and after a
pleasant chat remarked that he feared the climate
of the locality wa-; not tavoraMe to the licalth ot
his guest (^the Governor was sutYering from
chronic rheumatism) ; but he replied that he was
then quite as well as usual; "I don't think you
are, sir," replied the commandant; 'T will send
my surgeon to examine you." The next day
the surgeon called and, soon after, he received
permission to return home on parole.

At this time, most of the people of the South
were hopeful. There was, of course, much

95

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anxiety in regard to their future political rela-
tions, for they had not been irritated by the
bungling efforts at reconstruction. Young men,
especially those inured to the hardships of the
field and camp, faced the industrial problem with
courage. One came in from his plantation to
see me, wearing a suit of clothes which I had
sent him when a prisoner on Johnson's Island,
and said they were the best he had. He informed
me that he had hired a few negroes but was do-
ing as much work in the field as any of them;
he believed he could make money by free labor
and he intended to do so.

But there were old men who could not ac-
commodate themselves to the changed conditions.
General W. was one of these. I knew him be-
fore the war. He lived in Demopolis, Ala., but
I now met him at Artemesia, Miss., near where
he owned a large plantation. He informed me
that he was there for the purpose of selling, at
public auction, all the personal property on the
place. I inquired why he did not continue to
cultivate the land, remarking that negroes must
work cheap and cotton was bringing a high price.
He replied, "Free negroes won't work, sir." But
he admitted that if they would work, he could
make more money by hiring than by owning them.

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I suggested that they must work or starve.
"They'll starve first/' he replied. "I tell you free
niggers won't work. I have, in Alabama, three
of the best plantations the sun shines on and there
is not a nigger on one of them." I mentioned
this conversation to Major B. of Columbus, Miss.,
a man of even greater wealth and of a noble
Christian spirit. He said, "General W. is all
wrong," and then he told me his experience. As
soon as he was sure General Lee had surrendered,
he went to the home plantation, called the negroes
together and told them the results of the war;
that they were all free; that he had no longer
any control over them and no further claim on
their labor; that all might go where and when
they pleased. Then he proceeded to give them a
kind and fatherly talk. He told them that white
men could not live without work, unless they had
plenty of money; that black men must also work
or they would have nothing to eat or to wear.

"You have," he said, "already put in a large
crop of cotton and of corn, and both are doing
well ; there is also enough corn and bacon on the
place to last until the next crop is gathered. Now,
my men, I will make you this offer: as many of
you as choose may stay on the place and work
just as you have always worked; you shall have

97

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the same allowance of food and other suppUes;
in short, everything shall go on just the same as
heretofore, until the crops are secured, in the
fall; then you shall have one-third of all the
money they bring for your labor. I can pay you
nothing now, for Confederate money is good for
nothing and I have no other. Now, men, think
and talk this matter over among yourselves ; then
corne and tell me what you will do."

They were not long in deciding. Soon some
of the best men came to thank him for his kind-
ness and assured him that all wished to remain
and would do the best they could to make a big
crop. He then went to his plantations on the
Sunflower and pursued the same course with the
same results.

I asked him if he had any difficulty in settling
with his negroes (this conversation occurred in
December, 1865) and he .said none whatever.
When the cotton was ready for market, he pro-
posed that he and they should agree on some
man or men to sell the cotton and divide the
proceeds according to their agreement. In all
cases, they replied that they had more confidence
in him than in any other man, so he had the cot-
ton sold and paid the negroes their share.

I asked how he managed to distribute the

98

Autobiography-
money among the negroes so that each should
receive his proper share. He said a committee
of the more intelhgent men was appointed by
their fellows to aid him in assigning to every
man, woman or child a proportion according to
the value of the labor of each. He also informed
me that he had made a similar contract for the
next year. A few negroes had been discharged
at the request of their fellows, because they had
been idle or thieving, or had caused trouble. I
asked if the Federal officers had approved of
these contracts, according to a law of Congress
then recently passed. He replied somewhat
proudly, that neither he nor his negroes had any-
thing to do with Federal officers !

Unfortunately he could not say as much in
favor of his domestic servants, every one of
whom had taken refuge with a negro regiment
stationed in the city, immediately after the war.
At the time of my visit an awkward negro woman
from the plantation was serving as cook and
maid of all work. What seemed to hurt the old
gentleman most was that his trusted body-servant,
a man in whom he had the utmost confidence and
in whose hands he had often trusted large sums
of money, and to whose fidelity he would have
willingly trusted his life, was the first to leave.

99

Autobiography

I believe it was usually the case that house serv-
ants, the best treated and the most intelligent,
were the most intoxicated with their freedom
and often made the poorest use of it.

In subsequent conversation with this noble
Christian gentleman on the causes and conse-
quences of the war, he said that he always looked
upon slavery as a great wrong, an inherited evil,
which the people of the South were powerless to
dispose of; that it was increasing rapidly to the
great injury of both races; therefore God him-
self had taken the matter in hand and had
brought this war upon them, as a chastisement
for their sins. "The Yankees think they have
whipped us; they have not; they have been used
as a scourge in the hands of Almighty God."

When j\Irs. Sherman and myself were return-
ing from Florida, in the spring of 1886, we made
it convenient to reach jMontgomery, Ala., during
the session of the Southern Baptist Convdition.
This organization was probably the first consider-
able body of people to begin the great secession
movement.

Southern Baptists had always contributed lib-
erally to the treasuries of the American Bible
Society; the Home and Foreign Missionary
societies, national organizations of the Baptists,

100

Autobiography

whose headquarters were in New York, Boston
and Providence, respectively. But for some
years there had been a growing feeUng that the
South was not receiving due consideration in the
appointment of missionaries and the distribution
of funds. Therefore in May, 1845, ^ consider-
able number of the leading men of the denomina-
tion South met in. Augusta, Ga., and resolved to
sever all connection with the Northern Societies.
Then and there was organized the Southern Bap-
tist Convention.

The second session of the Convention was
held in Charleston, S. C, and Alabama friends,
fearing that the state might not be adequately
represented, urged me to attend as a delegate to
the State Convention, and I have good reason to
remember this session of the Convention, for I
was taken very sick with dysentery early in the
session and was confined to my bed many weeks.
During this protracted illness I jvas tenderly
nursed by gentle hands. My friends, De Votie
and Holman, associate delegates, also attended
me faithfully and the former remained until!
was able to travel and then accompanied me
home. I have always regretted that I have had
no opportunity properly to show my appreciation
of the great kindness and hospitality of Dr. Men-

lor

Autobiography

denhall and family, whose guest I was, though
not lodged in their house. Two of the most emi-
nent physicians in the city attended me all the
time without charge. I thoroughly appreciated
their kindness, for I could then have ill afforded
to pay the usual doctor's fees, to say nothing of
nurses and board for so many weeks of suffer-
ing.

At this session of the Convention in Mont-
gomery I had the pleasure of meeting many
friends of former days; also Col. J. T. Murfee,
LL.D., then President of Howard College. The
latter urgently renewed a request that had been
made on two occasions before by the students
of the College, that I would have my portrait
painted for the institution of which I was re-
garded as the founder and had been for many
years the President. I gave the desired promise.
In due time the request was complied with and
the following acknowledgments received. * They
are much too flattering, but I preserve them as
tokens of esteem and friendship, even of affec-
tion, that do not often last so long. That of Dr.
Murfee was the more esteemed, because my per-
sonal acquaintance with him was slight; that of
the committee of the trustees is valued the more

• 102

Autobiography

because it comes thirty-five years after my con-
nection with the College had ceased.

President's Office, Howard College,

Marion, Ala., Nov. 8, 1886.

My Dear Doctor : — A thousand thanks, my dear friend,
from myself, from the trustees, from the students, from
the citizens of Marion, from the Baptist denomination, and
from the citizens of our state for the pleasure and profit
you have given us by the donation of your portrait.

It is one of the finest works of art I ever saw, and
the likeness could not be better. Placed on the front pier
and in the most prominent place in our chapel, the richness
of its setting, coloring and style give a wealth of tone to
all the surroundings. The picture has been unboxed since
chapel exercises this morning. At the assembly this after-
noon it will look upon the students for the first time.
They have heard of its arrival, and have asked a great
deal about it and about you. ♦ * *

Your friend,

J. T. MURFEE.

To Pres. S. S. Sherman, LL.D., Chicago, 111.

Marion, Ala., June 14, 1887.
President S. S. Sherman, LL.D., <

Dear Friend and Brother : — It is made our duty by
the trustees of Howard College in session this day, as it
is also with us a great pleasure, to acknowledge the grateful
favor which we have had the honor to receive from your
generous attentions in the form of a very fine picture of
yourself and it most elegantly framed. This rich and mag-
nificent portrait now hanging on the wall of the chapel of
our College has looked down upon the Commencement
exercises of the session nov/ closing, to inspire the young

103

Autobiography

man and to call up delightful remembrances in the minds
of those of riper years, and it and the distinguished person
whom it represents have received on this important occa-
sion very many pleasing references. As representing the
first President of Howard College and one of the Presi-
dents of Judson Female Institute, for you Avere both,
reminding us of one who did much for these schools and
for this community and state, and as calling up sensations
of sincere gratitude to a noble patriot whose broad man-
hood, while faithful lo his own section during the late
war, was capable of still loving those of the South among
whom he had lived and labored, and had both the heart
and the moral courage to minister so generously to their
men in reach who were prisoners of war, this "shadow
on the wall" will ever serve to remind and encourage com-
ing generations of students who will gather here for higher
education.

We assure you. Dr. Sherman, that we love and honor
you, and that we do thankfully accept and esteem this
present.

This is said and done by order of the board of trustees
of Howard College, with many wishes for your long life
and great happiness.

J. J. Renfroe.
M. W. Hand.

J. B. LoraLACE.

In 1878 a change in business made a change
in residence desirable and 1 moved my family
from Milwaukee to Chicago, where I built a con-
venient and pleasant home in which I am still
living, well advanced in the ninety-fifth year of
my age.

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Autobiography
XIX

MEMORY OF MY WIFE

My beloved wife died on November 14, 1900.
She is buried in Rosehill Cemetery, near Chicago.
She was a noble Christian woman. In all the
vicissitudes of our married hfe no harsh or un-
kind word ever .escaped her lips. She was the
light of our household, the fountain of all its
joys, and she never failed to bear her full share
of all its burdens and sorrows. The following
brief In Memoriam was published at her death:

MRS. S. S. SHERli^AN

Mrs. Sherman, whose maiden name was Eliza
Dewey, died at her home in Chicago on the 14th
day of November, 1900. She was the dai5ghter
of William Dewey, a merchant of Augusta, Me.,
and was born August 16, 181 7. She was edu-
cated in the Seminary at Ipswich, Mass., an in-
stitution of much celebrity before the founding
of Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Wellesley, Smith
and other modem colleges for women. In 1835
her father removed to Philadelphia, where she
united with the Spruce Street Baptist Church, of

105

Autobiography

which Dr. Rufus Babcock was then pastor. In
1843 she became a teacher in the Judson Female
Institute in Marion, Ala., and in 1845 was mar-
ried to Prof. S. S. Sherman, LL.D., then and for
many years President of Howard College and
subsequently of the Judson Institute.

Her bright and cultured mind, her gentle and
sympathetic nature endeared her to the pupils,
and she is still kindly remembered by those resi-
dents of Marion who were identified with the
early history of those institutions.

In the summer of 1859 the family came Noiih
and settled in Milwaukee, Wis., where she be-
came a member of the First Baptist Church and
was active in all church and charitable work un-
til 1878, when the family removed to Chicago.
She was, for a few years, a member of the Im-
manuel Baptist Church, of which Dr. Lorimer
was pastor. Subsequently her church relations
were transferred to the La Salle Avenue Baptist
Church, of which she continued a member until
death.

In consequence of ill health she was denied
active participation in church and social activities
for several years, but she never lost interest in
either. With mind as bright and affections as
sympathetic as ever, patient and cheerful in suf-

106

Autobiography

fering, forgetful of self and thoughtful of others,
her family and friends did not realize that the
shadows were lengthening until a painful acci-
dent confined her to a surgeon's couch and
hastened the end of a beautiful life.

The good die not!
God calls our loved ones, but we lose not wholly

What He hath given ;
They live on earth, in thought and deed, as truly

As in His heaven.

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Autobiography
XX

MY NINETIETH BIRTHDAY

On the 24th of November, 1905, I passed the
ninetieth milestone of Hfe's journey. Henry had
spent a part of the summer with Lizzie and Fred
at Green Lake, Wis., and the balance of the sea-
son with me. Before leaving for his home in
California he intimated to me that the occasion
was to be celebrated with some ado. To this I
objected so vigorously that I supposed the affair
had blown over. Not so, however. Friends and
neighbors were admitted to the secret, but prep-
arations went on so quietly that I had no knowl-
edge of them until the morning of the eventful
day. During breakfast, which was served in my
bedroom, the postman delivered several congratu-
latory letters; soon after came telegrams;' two
from California, and one from Boston, of hke
import. I had hardly digested these, when a
large basket made for the occasion and decorated
with ferns, filled with ninety magnificent Amer-
ican Beauty roses, was brought in — the joint gift
of my sons and daughter. Next came several
pots and vases of Japan's imperial Aower and a
vase of ninety large and fragrant carnations.

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Autobiography

Fred's three children followed each with a pot of
flowers. All the morning, in fact all day, at in-
tervals, roses in great variety and beauty, chrys-
anthemums, carnations and other choice flowers
continued to come, until I began to imagine that
the Annual Flower Show, which had been on
exhibition for several days, and which I was un-
able to visit, had resolved to pay me a visit. My
room looked like a genuine conservatory.

During the afternoon my pastor and his ex-
cellent wife looked in upon us. Several neigh-"*
bors called, and not the least welcome came a com-
mittee from my church with a letter of congratu-
lations and fraternal good wishes, and a fragrant
floral tribute.

Shortly after my ninetieth birthday I received
an obituary notice of the last of my college
friends and correspondents, Prof. J. D. Butler,
LL.D., of Madison, Wis. I was just going to
write him an account of the celebration of my
anniversary as he had written me an account of
his a few months before, when notice of his
death came. We were born in the same state in
the same year, and educated in the same college
at the same time, but not in the same class. After
graduating, our paths in life diverged widely for
many years. When I returned from the South,

109

Autobiography

in 1S59, I found him pleasantly settled in a pro-
fessorship in tlie University of Wisconsin. Sub-
sequently he was often a guest at my home in
Milwaukee. After I moved to Chicago in 1878,
I did not see him so often, but our correspondence
was more frequent. His last letter was the one
giving me an account of the celebration of his
ninetieth birthday. It occurred on the Ides (15th)
of March, as he was accustomed to designate the
day. At the time he was serving as chaplain of
the State Senate, then in session, and the members
overwhelmed him with flowers and congratula-
tory speeches and recorded his reply on the min-
utes of the Senate for that day. He also kept
open house and more than two hundred of the
citizens of Madison registered their names on
the occasion. From that time life faded and he
passed away gently without disease and without
pain. •

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Autobiography

XXI

DR. gilbert's article.: dr. murfee

I wish to express my grateful appreciation of
an article by Dr. Simeon Gilbert, published in the
Chicago Standard of March 27, 1909. Its theme
was "A Northern-Southern Educator." It was
much appreciated at the time and furnished the
basis of short biographical notices in the Bosto»>
Globe and many other papers, some of which
contained good photographs of the subject. To
prevent repetition I quote only the first and the
last paragraphs:

"The story of the development of the colleges,
seminaries and other agencies of the higher edu-
cation in the South, under the inspiration and
leadership of both men and women from the
North, is a shining part of our common 'national
history; a signal part of our history which has
never as yet been adequately set forth. Willing
as the country, and the world, may now be to
forget the fast vanishing years of the deadly
struggle, there was throughout the first half of
the last century a certain educational fellowship
that was altogether admit-able, and of the utmost
consequence. Without that peculiar southern, as

111

Autobiography

well as western, educational migration, so credit-
able to all concerned, our country would have pre-
sented to the world a totally different story.

"Verily, the work of the broad-minded and
devoted educator is not a thankless service. The
North and the South in the vast and varied edu-
cational reciprocities which, both before and since
the war, have been going on — have they not all
these years been weaving those mystic chords,
innumerable, which tend so mightily to bind the
hearts of all, and more and more, into the ma-
jestic and inclusive oneness of our common na-
tional life? And what sweeter memories could
a man in his ninety-fourth year have to look
back upon, or to be more devoutly grateful for,
than that of having had given him of God to
have a life consecrated to such beneficent serv-
ices ; a kind of public service which touches vitally
and so graciously all the better life of our coun-
try?"

Dr. J. T. Murfee was President of Howard
College when removed from Marion to Birming-
ham. He is now living in the enjoyment of a
well-earned pension of two thousand dollars a
year from the Carnegie fund. In a recent pub-

112

Autobiography

lie address he said: "A volume would be inade-
quate to set forth the executive genius, the
scholarly zeal, and the noble Christian character
of Dr. S. S. Sherman, His sainted children are
buried under beautiful monuments in our Marion
cemetery; and I ask the good ladies of this gen-
eration, and those who follow us, never to fail
to strew flowers on their graves. I am sure that
you, and your children's children, will never let
fade the memory of Dr. and Mrs. Sherman."

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XXII

GREETING OF THE ALABAMA BAPTIST CONVENTION

In February, 1909, I received the following
communication from the Alabama Baptist State
Convention that gave me much pleasure :

Howard College, East Lake Station,
Birmingham, Ala., Feb. 12, 1909.
Dr. S. S. Sherman, 545 N. State St., Chicago, IlL

Respected Sir and Brother :— During the meeting of
the Alabama Baptist State Convention, held in Montgom-
ery, November 27-29, 1908, on motion of Dr. John R.
Sampey, of Louisville, it was unanimously resolved that
Robert G. Patrick, President of Judson College, and A. P.
Montague, President of Howard College, be a committee
to convey by letter to you the greeting of the Baptists
of Alabama, in convention assembled, and to assure you
of the high appreciation in Avhich your eminent services
for education are held by the Baptists of this state.

This pleasant function we now perform, and in obeying
the direction of the Convention we desire to assure you of
our best wishes for your health and happiness.
With the highest respect, we are,

Yours fraternally,

Robert G. Patrick,
A. P. Montague,

Committee.

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Autobiography

In a personal letter subsequently Dr. Sampey
says : "If you could have seen the hearty enthusi-
asm with which the Alabama Baptist State Con-
vention voted for the resolution which I pro-
posed, it would have been exceedingly gratifying
to you. The work which you did as a young man
in Marion, Ala., will abide to the end of time."

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Autobiography
XXIII

FINAL WORD AT NINETY-FIVE

In the fall of 1896 I suffered from a severe
attack of muscular rheumatism which has dis-
abled me from visiting again in person the home
of my youth.

In fancy I often review the scenes of my
childhood, in my dear old New England home in
one of the most beautiful sections of the Green
Mountain State, and in the same county where
General Stark, with a few hundred Green Moun-
4 tain boys, defeated a division of Burgoyne's army
and thus hastened the surrender of that General.

So also does my memory keep going back,
burdened with deep interest and a great hope, to
the people of Alabama, where so large a part of
my educational work was done.

EJicH fugaces laj^iintiir anni! Ah, the fleeting
years, how fast they come and go !

Long since has "my way of life fallen into
the sere, the yellow leaf." Now I am deeply im-
pressed with Shakespeare's more earnest words:

Oh, sir, you are old.
Nature in you stands on the very verge of her
confine.

116

Autobiography

It is hard to realize that Hfe's work is done.
But the friends of my youth and busy manhood
are all gone, and I feel quite alone, or, as Frank-
lin used to say in his old age, "I feel as if living
in the next generation." Nevertheless, I want
to say, not altogether alone ; to the Unseen Pres-
ence, infinitely "gentle, patient and gracious, I
wish to bear grateful testimony, and to commend
most earnestly to Him all my kindred who may
chance to read this brief story of my life.
With Tennyson I can say :

Sunset and evening star

And one clear call for me ;
And may there be no moaning of the Bar,

When I put out to sea.

* * * ♦
For though from out our bourne of Time and Place

The flood may bear me far,
I hope to meet my Pilot face to face

When I have crossed tbe Bar.

117