Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-07-11
QUEER LORENZO DOW.
SCRAPS FROM THE DIARY OF THE
nINERANT REvIvALIsT.

SCRAPS FROM THE DIARY OF TIL
TINERANT REvIvALIsT.
Peculiar lIetheds which He Explored
In His Career ~ . Travelling PrsaeAs
His Marriage 70 PseU-Concludin,
Entries In His Diary.
Such mas Of exaggerated and insigni6
can't anecdotes have bssn told Of this grea
and eccentric missionary revivalist that il
Is hard to imagine Or discover him Just q,
be vas Yet thers are safe sources through
which picture Of him may be obtained
That be was NO humbug every point in hi
life and character goes to show He va
earnest to the very verge Of fanaticim
The atmosphere In which be was raised va.
one Of extreme religious fervor, and b
showed signs Of it, eject from his sarlies,
yearA
One evening when be had q houseful Of
young men be placed his back against thu
door 80 none Of them could escape, and
preached to them with such fervor that
some cried aloud for mercy. A young
woman with whom he was talking suddenly
broke away from him and ran. He fol
lowed her TO the houss of Q nsighbor, and
sitting down in door, would not let hsr
out until she had chosen to serve either God
or Satan for q fortnight She chose the
latter, saying can't keep the other. u
Lorenzo solemnly called on GOD to witness,
and added: I'm pray God that you may
be taken sick before the fortnight's up
Before night she grew uneasy, soon broke
her promise. and became Q convert and a
member OF tas church
OFFENDED BY PLAIN PREACHING.
A man whom'he had offended by plain
preaching came into church and tried to
pull his ncs. Dow lodged, whereupon tine
women arose en- masse and put the intrude,
out Of doors In his diary Lorenzo sets
down many incidents which show the pecv-
liar bent OF his mind and the tenor OF his
belize. In illustration: "A reprobation
preacher sought to do US harm when pub
liciy besougat God, il he was a true minister
to bless his iabors and make it manifest: bu.
II he had jumped presumptuously into the
work that God would remove him, so that
he SHOULD not hurt the people Shortly
after he fell into q scandalous sin, and SO
his influence was lost As l en-
tered the meeting house, having an old Dor
rowei greatcoat on and two hats, the peo-
pie were alarmed, and thought it singular
that did not bow to every pew as | went
toward the pulpit, which was the custom
there My hat being taken from me with
out my consent and two others forced upon
me, was carrying one to give a young
man besought God in public that some
thing awful might happen in tho neighbor-
hood, if nothing else would do to alarm the
people. A company of young people going
TO tavern ono Of them said, a will ride
there Us Christ rode into Jerusalem In
stantly his horse started, and threw him
against log He spoke no moro until he
died, which was next morning"
Lorenzo had determined to marry no
woman who would object to his travelling,
and when he came to his courtship it was
pursued after his own peculiar plan One
$. n, Of Western, kept house for preach
srs, or Methodist tavern" as it was called
by the people. When Dow preached in that
n asked him to come to his
house, and added MY daughter will be glad
10 see you Lorenzo remained there all
night, but not q word passed between him
and Peggy, who was an adopted child. He
went TO his appointment, and while he was
preaching he felt AN uncommon exercise,
10 run through his mind He pondered on
It, and before evening he asked NJ. if he
would object to Lorenzo's talking with the
girl about matrimony. The reply was, Il
have nothing to say only have requested
her, il she has any regard for me, not to
marry SO as to leave my house.
HIS MARRIAGE TO PEGGY.
On reaching the house Dow abruptly
asked the wife what they had been doing
IN his absence She told him, and added
hat Peggy was resolved that she would
never marry, except to a preacher, and that
,e must keep on travelling. Just then Peggy
anne into the room. Lorenzo repeated this
.emark, and asked her il she had made it
She answered In the affirmative, whereupon
lorenzo said: do you think you could &C
;ept Of such an object as me." She made
10 answer, but retired from the room He
vent away, but returned In q few days,
when he told her b would be back again
in year and q half or %" and receive
Ter answer. After he bad been south some
ime the family removed TO that section,
md he was quietly married to Peggy in the
al, Of 1904.
During the closing months Of that year
md the early ones Of 1905, he crossed Ohio
md went into the Mississippi valley, preach
ng at Pittsburg, Stsubsnvills, and Wheeling
N the way. He makes this entry: Il have
zen in each Of the seventeen states Of the
lnion" OF Chillicothe, then the capital of
ohio, he writes: Stayed with the gov
rnor two days No slavery can 10 intro
luced here. There are lands laid or for
chools in great magnitude" Once he trav-
led all night, until 10 O'Clock on the follow.
ng morning. stopped at q place called
,ethel, finished his sermon, stepped from his
'ulpit to an open window, jumped out,
mounted his horse, rode seventeen miles,
making nearly eighty miles Of travel and
i've meetings without sleep.
The concluding entries in his dairy are as
ollows: @In q few weeks expect to start
or the west again, but where may be this
ims twelvemonth 10 very uncertain to me;
whether in England, Sierra Leone, in AZ
lea; West Indies, or New England, or eter-
ity; but the controversytwith the nations is |
Iot over, nor viii it b until the divine gov |
rnment BE- r>versntially acknowledged by |
be human family" His troubled and re-
aarkable career came to an end at Wash |
ngton, D. C., on Feb 2 lsA-Cor. New
Iork TimeA