River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1895-03-07
CONKY STILES.
He Was veritable Concordance
of the Holy Scriptures.


of the Holy Scriptures.
As near as could find out nobody
ever knew how ConIty stiles came to
knew So much Of the Bible as ne did.
Thirty wears ago people as a class were
much better acquainted with the Bible
than folk are nowadays. and there
VIZ sn't another one of EN- in the whole
Connecticut valley from the Canada
line to the sound that could stand up
'IOngside OF COnkv Stiles and quote
Scripture. Well. he knew the whole
thing by heart, from Genesis, chapter
one, to the amen at the end Of the Rev
elation Of ~. John the Divine; that's
the whole business in a nutshell.
His name wasn't Conky; we called
him Conky for short. His real name
was SiIas Stiles. hut one time at sun
day school convention Mr.. Hubbell,
the minister. spoke Of him as VERT
able concordance Of the Holy Scrip
lures" and 50 We boys undertook to
call him Concordance hut bimeby that
name got whitfield down to Conky. and
Conky stuck To him all the rest of his
life; not a had name for him. neither.
as names 90; heap more digniiied than
81!
NY father always insisted that Conky
got his start in the Scriptures in this
way: ConIy'S folks Lived for about five
wears (while Conxy was boyl in the
old Ransom house Their next neigh
bOrs were the COOlcys. and just over
ncross the road lived tn, kelSeys. May
l.. = - ok
debate? Mo- Funny isn't il. how soon
folks forget events and epOchs and
things. Fifty years ago nOthiu' else
hat the Cooley-KeIsey debate was
talked Of in Hampshire county, and vet
here we are livin' in this intelligent
state Of Illinois. and it's dollars to
dOughnuts that half our people never
heard of Lawyer Kelsey or of Deacon
Cooley.
You see, the deacon was high up in
the Congregational church. and he be
lieved i'm ~baptyzo." which IS the
Greek for the congregational doctrine
Of sprinkling Lawyer Kelsey had
never been converted and had never
made profession. hut. havinga brother
who was a BAPTIST minister in Penn
sylvania, he was counted with the
Baptists. too. aud ! guess he was a
Baptist II he was anything, although.
like e. not. he'd have said he was a
heather il he thought he could get up
an argument by >ayin' it. for Of all the
folks YOU ever saw Lawyer Kelsey was
the worst for keepin' things stirred up
One time Deacon Cooley and Lawyer
Kelsey come together an locked horns
on that word "b1ptyzo. Lawyer KEEL
sey maintaiuiu' that the word wasn't
or shouldn't he "baptyzo.' hut hap
tidzo, and. a you know. Of course,
there is aS much difference between
''baptyzO' aud .'baptidzo" a. there is
between fog and thunder shower.
Well. for about six months they had
st up hill and down dale. in all the
meetin' houses. and schoolhouSeS. and
vestrv-roomS and town halls in the
country and IL did heat all how much
learnin they got ont of the books and
dictionaries. and what long sermons
they made. and what a sensation there
was among the unhelicvers as well as
the elect. guess they'd have been
nrguin vet IL the freshet hadn't come
and distracted public attention by car
ryin' away the Northampton bridge
and the Holyollc dam.
II happened that while this theo-
logical cataclvsm was at its height
Ccnky. stiles. being six years old, was
born again and. repentiu' Of his sins.
made profession of faith And from
that time he never iapSed or hack
Sided. but was always conscientious
and devout follower. illustrating in his
daily walks las Mr.. lluhbell, the min
lister. said those priceless virtues which
had Illuminated the career of his
grandmother Cowles. lady esteemed
not more by the elders for her piety
than by the younger folks for her
cookies and squash pies.
When ConlSv was eight years I'd he
got the prize ~ our Sunday school for
having committed 10 memory the most
bible verse IN the wear and that same
spring he got up and rccited every lire
of the Acts IF the Apostles without
having u he prompted once. Ivy the
time hc was twelve years old he knew
the whole Bible 10y heart and most of
the hymn book. too: although. as
have said. the Bible was his speciality.
Yet he WASH one If Your pale-faced.
studiOus boys. nc. sir. not "a bit Of IT,
Hs took Just a. much consolation in
plavin thr~e bid eat and barn hall and
hockey. - any of the resi- IF - boys.
RLd ne coul beat - all fi>hin'. al
though perhaps that was because ne
learnt new way 81 ~pittin' ON his bait
from his nclc Lutte Mason. who VAS
considerable of = mort in those days.
l. 4 -.
we all felt ,good when he was around
w never minded that way hC had nt
qucti In things from the Bih'"; we'd
got used t. IL. and maybe y was de-
sirahle influence. At any raj we all
'''1ed ConlSy
But perhaps YOU dou't understand
what mean when ! refer u his way
az quot n the Bible. II was like this:
Copky. well say. would I've goin' down
the road. and Id come out of the house
aud holler: Hello. there, Conky.
Where he You goin'?'
Then he'd Say. John 9l:3r-thIt
would ~ all he'd say. and that would
he enough: for n gave uS to understand
that he was eoin' a-fishin'.
Conky never made a mistake. his
quotations were always rlGnts nc al
ways hit the chapter and the verse sure
pop the first time.
The habit grew On him Is he got
older NSsociatiug with Conlzy Tor RI
teen or twenty minutes wasn't much
different readiu' the Bible for a
couple of DAYS. except that there WASH
any manual labor about IL. guess
he'd have been a minister II the war
hadn't come along and spoiled 1t all
In the fall IF 1872 there was war
meetin' in the town hall. and Elijah
Cutler make a speech urgin' the men
folks t. COME forward and contribute
their services their lives. IL need be
To- the cause Of freedom and right We
were all keyed mp with excitement, for
next To Wendell Phillips and Henry
Ward Bcccher. I guess Elijah Cutler
was the greatest orator that ever lived
White we were >hiverin' and waitin'
for somebody 10 lead off. CunlSy stiles
rose up and saws: First Kings. 10:
30. SAYS he. and with that he put ON
his cap and walked out ~ the meetin-
LET me. pray thee. kiss my father
and my mother. and then l will follow
thee"
That's what ConlSy sailor as good
as said-aud that's what he meant.