St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-02-09

tcnderlN To some weak and suffering
member, but the head takes notice of
1t. and the memory records it affection
;ItelN to the credit of the one who has
done 1t. and the whole being is thank
full The fine mechanism of nerve and
Thought and memory is all adjusted
with extreme nicely and every Sensa
ton makes itself understood. So Christ
;IS ''the head of all things to the church,
which l. his body. the fullneSS of Him
that iillrth all in ALL feels what every
member feels. There is in the unseen
spiritual World. some spiritual mcchan-
Ism. aS subtitle aS the nervous system.
which makes him instantly aware of all
that PASSES among those to whom he iS
joined. He Is present III humanity. as
he life and thought and will is present
III the body. He came to understand
all about lis and began in the lowest de
partmcnt. He feels most for that which
Is weakest because he cannot help it.
amy more than the brain in IL healthy
man can prevent the nerves from max
ing known what tranSpircS within their
jurisdiction. Yea. more than this. He
is the ever active head, mind. spirit in
the diseased and = distracted body of
10y sin. and one member and another
unable to perform their functions. or
uncomfortable. through the naladl of
sin. He feels krrnly when amy crisis
arrives. when the heavenly nature shall
conquer. and soul health hc restored
or W hen amputatiuu shall become ncc-
cSSarN that one worthless member may
not destroy all the rest. 1t is not less
IcutrlN. we believe, that Jesus feels for
men. and feels what is done for them or
against them. 1t i not with less vii
limgncSs, nor for less rc;iSum that lie
suffers amy one To l,c lost.
If i'll improvement of this truth, |
shall speak of the character and career
of our sister whom tod hath taken. |
am confident that | shall only bring an
illustration of one who did rs. those W h"
are pronounced blessed are represented
aS having done. and that with an allcc-
ti"m as di>imtcrc>tcd and worthy.
Martha Johnson w;ls born in Peach
am Sept. IL. l~12. and died in Beaufort.
:. c.. Dec. u, I-7I. being therefore ~
Years 3 months and days of age, the
oldest of Il family of nine children. of
whom it is said that not one word or
act that even she might justly regret
can bc remembered 10y ANY of them.
Her birth place WAS on the hight at
the north pant of the town known a~
the "Hicktord place., and there she
spent her earlier Years. seeing little that
Wis beyond the Immediate ntighhor-
hood except on Sahlaths when she III
common with all the Young met at the
house of God.
Her education WAS such ;tS the citi-
zcrIs of pricham have been privileged
To- enjoy at home. i'll the common school
and academy, except about Il Year,
tI~:i-!V when she studied at the Frank
lin. y. II. academy.
he date of her conversion does not
appear. but she Was received into fellow .
ship of the church hl profession March
18th. II, i'll company With ten others
wL" are still li> ing. Most of them.
however. must have been Older than
herself, and we hrlic>c that Year was
characterized hl the c"n\ cr>lum of MANY
heads of families who were reaching
mature wears. The names of thu>, ten
are. Thomas Eastman. Asa Skccle. Dra.
| Ezra &. Chamh,rlin. Thomas Morse.
| Lucy Eastman. EliHahctht e. Strohridgc,
| Hannah C. SanhurrI. Martha and Mary
johnson and Laura y. C"wle>. This
took place under the ministry of Rev.
/ DaN i'll Merrill. in " hose family she WAS
at that time residing, and where she
remained until l-lG. From that time
| until the wintcr of lS5l5, she was com
| PEELED bN i'll health to remain At home
most of the time. At the date last
| named she bcCanIr nItron III the female
! department of the prison work house "ll
! Blackwell Island. y. Y. which p">iti"u
| She resigned III the autumn of l-J5. ON
account of the sickness and ultimate
death her mother. Who>, place she filled
| in Clrim" for the Younger mrmh, - ul
| the flmil, for over two Years. lu l~.E
hc VII employed hN Il society of Ladies
| in New York city, a~ teacher im an in
du>trial school. where she remained tNo
Years.
In February l~tGi. She received hrI
first commission ;l:> teacher Ia the freed
men. This was only one month after
the Proclamation of freedom. and WAS
one uf the darkest Sr:i>UnS experienced
| bN the nation. Thus We see that. hIN
inc begun hN working for the wicked
and the unfortunate, She was ready ~
one of thrlirSt to % to the cmamcipatcd
and that She went from right and tru,
motives, such aS she had been taught
at home is plain, since in the midst ot
50 many dangers. and obliged to keep
under the protection OF our army. $h,
contracted for 80 per month. and
soldiers rations. She expected to 90
to Jack ksunViilc. Florida. but our forces
! having evacuated there she was turned
aside To Beaufort. and set at work there
In the summer she suffered very much
from the Srltry climate. hut remained
at her post. until July "a. when she re-
signed and came north. to spend tn,
hottest months. In October, however
she was commissioned under Il contract
for $40 per month and soldiers rationS
In June 65.the plantation schools being
discontinued. and until l-67. she re-
manned north. 1t was during this time
that | became acquainted with her and
learned to prize her aS Il friend. In
October "a she went ont again on con
tract ITO receive SO per month and
expenses, these not to exceed ~ pei
week"
The superintendent writes that she
and Miss Clary who kept house together
never drew x per week. and sent i'll tn,
smallest bills of any of the teachers
under his charge Under this contract
for about eight months of each year sh,
remained until her death.
While resting at home last summer. il
appeared plainly to her friends and t,
herself that she WAS not very strong, and
she was cornselled not to return south
To this she replied This shall he my
last year. words that seem now t,
3 Il,