Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1870-01-05
A Remarkable Christian Life.

A Remarkable Christian Life.
The Farmer Missionary, when an
illiterate orphan fifteen yearS of age,
found a home with an uncle in west
ern Pennsylvania, and there, in log
cabin Sunday School, learned to read
a little and was converted.
He commenced working for Jesus,
by telling in his rude, simple way, to
his friends and neighbOrs. singly, in
their families, and in schoOl-house
meetings, so sincerely and earnestly,
what he Lord had done for him, that
they listened, and the Holy Spirit
frequently manifested approval.
He felt so deeply his own weakness
that he always went to the Lord for
wisdom and strength, and this kept
him fresh and full of precious truth.
He used to say: "I can't read well
hey to spell out my words, and l
don't know how to write, tho 1 do
mean to learn. May be if / knowed
more'n du, shouldn't feel the need
Of prayin' as / du now; but I know
so little that l feel all the time es if 1
must go to God to tell me what this
i
I in my heart, fust or last. Eff He don't
/ tell me rightaway / keep on askin,
and afOre long He's sure to tell me.p
In this way verse of the scripture
I was spelled out at time. and written
/ by the finger of God upon his heart.
/ After q time, he married a young
woman whom he had first led to
| Christ; moved off onto a new forrest
/ farm, and thereabout formed and su-
perintended Sabbath SehOOl-a great
/ work for one of his ability. And when
asked how he dare try it, he said she
couldn't bear to see the children and
their parents come along like savages
without Sunday School, and so 1
told the Lord about it, and told Him
ef there wasn't anybody else 'twould
/ da, why then 10 take me.n And
when the school was started, "I went
to Him, and told him everything about
it, and told Him just how ignorant
wus, and what poor, weak eritter 1
wus, and asked Him to help me, and
He did help me every time"
The school not appearing to do much
good, ''I went and told the Lord all
about it, and jest how bad I felt, 'cos
arter all it did seem jest as eff the devil
would get all the children, and their
fathers and mothers tu. Then ye see
one Sunday as was talkin' tn 'em,
the Lord He came right down amongst
us by His spirit, and ever so many of
'em began to cry and take on. That
wus the beginnin' of the fust revival
l ever see; ana oh, what a time it
wusl We sent and got minister to
come and preach to US, after we had |
fust told the Lord all about it, and
asked Him to send us one. And in |
the end of the revival, though don't |
think it ever ought to hev come to an |
end, church was formed the minis |
ter hired to stay; Il meetin' house was |
built, and then we had another revi-
val tu."
His next advancement in grace and I
usefulness, was through the chastise- |
ment brought upon him by the death /
of his beloved wife, leaving him with |
two young children. But he said:
''Es my wife was lyin' dead in my
cabin, the minister he come in, and
says he, the Lord gave and the Lord
hath taken away, blessed be the name
of the Lord y And says /, brother
Reed, how kin you say that? The
Lord gave me my wife l knOw-fur
asked Him for her twice't; fust as my
child (in jesus, and then as my wife;
but how kin YOU think He has taken
her away and left me and the little
ones here alone? So he talked to me
q good deal. but it didn't seem to do
me much good TO speak of. But that
night, on my bed, l told the Lord all
about it, how felt, and asked Him
Ms@NN III IL as.-N.
purity soon il seemed TO come right
down to me from heaven what the
'postle Paul said about its bein' better
to depart and be with Christ, and
what Christ hisself said, 4 go to pre-
pare place for you, that where I am,
there We may be also; and if I go and
prepare place for you, will come
again and receive you TO myself
Then ii come across me jest es eff my
dear wife in heaven had spoke to me
herself, and said, don't mourn for
me, Pm in glory! I'm with Jesus =
And then she seemed to say to me,
T, don't be afeared about the
the Lord will take care uv'em
and keep 'em de loves 'em better'n
you or /. ," /;
$50 then L was cOmforted sOme'ut. /
And then We see j was lonesome like, (
the world did look so awful dreary to
me, and it did seem es ef the days was
so awful long, and the nights too; and
to look ahead ten, twenty, forty, may
be fifty years to come, and all alone,
and my wife up in heaven oh il was I
terrible, and 1t grew wus and wus,
until at last l thO't what fool am
Me here, Tx, to go around
with such load on to me, and SolOng
to, and never go and tell the Lord
about it, and ask Him to tell me how
TO git red of it! So went and told
Him about it, and asked Him what to
do, and He told me that He would be =
to me more than my wife had BEEN
He brought to my mind the words of
the prophet, ''tIy Maker shall be thy
and oh, what a comfort it
was to me! Yes, the Lord would be
10 me what / had been to my wife,
He loved me a good deal more n I he'd
ever loved her. And alliuL after that I
The Lord seemed nearer to men He I
ever did afore, and 1 couldn't help [
.ellin' every body about il, my heart l
was so full. From that time 10 this, I
His salvation hes been nigh to me IN L
every time Nv trouble, jest as David 9
said, and I hev never felt lonesome G
any more, never :"
He next, after having placed the in C
some aeeruing from the ayails of his Q
arm so as to school his children, in
northern Ohio, with horse and wag-
IN, tracts and books, went out into the {
border towns of the west, where he o
'ormed a number of Sunday Schools, g
md sold and distributed many books ]
md tracts. When he entered house v
lis presence seemed almost like the i
'Pssce be to this house" j