Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-04-03
CONKY STILES.


much of the Bible as he did. Thirty years
ago people as a class were much better &C
quainted with the Bible than folk are now
adays, and there wasn't another one of 'em
in the whole Connecticut valley from the
Canada line to the sound that could stand
up 'longside of Conky Stiles and quote
Scripture Well. he knew the whole thing
by heart, from Genesis, chapter i, to the
amen at the end of the Revelation of st
John the Divine That's the whole business
in NUTSHELL
His name wasn't Conky. We called him
Conky for short His real name was Silas
Stiles, but one time at Sunday school con.
vention Mr.. Hubbell, the minister, spoke OF
him az ''veritable concordance Of the Holy
Scriptures" and so we boys undertook to
call him Concordance, but bimeby that
name got whitfield down to Conky, and
Conky stuck to him all the rest of his life.
Not bad name for him, neither, as names
go. Heap more dignified than 81!
MY father always insisted that Conky got
his start in the Scriptures in this way:
Conky's folks lived for about five years
while Conky was boy in the old Ransom
house. Their next neighbors were the
Cooleys and just over across the road lived
the Kelseys. Maybe you've heard of the
Cooley Kelsey debate? MOI Funny, isn't
it, how soon folks forget events and epochs
and things! Fifty years ago nothin else
but the Cooley Kelsey debate was talked
of in Hampshire county, and yet here we
are Twin in this intelligent state of Illinois
and its dollars to doughnuts that half our
IF 7 a ~ ut
Deacon Cooley
You see, the deacon was high up in the
Congregational church, and he believed III
"baptyxo," which is the Greek for the Con-
gregational doctrine of sprinklin. Law.
yer Kelsey had never been converted and
had never made profession; but, havin a
brother who was Baptist minister in
Pennsylvania, he was counted with the
Baptists, too and guess he was Baptist
il he was anything, although, like as not,
he'd have said he was heather If he
could get up an argument by sayin it. fol-
of all the folks you ever saw Lawyer Kelsey
was the worst for keepin things stirred up
One time Deacon Cooley and.Lawyer Kel
sey came together and locked horns on that
word ''baptyzo," Lawyer Kelsey main
tainin that the word wasn't or shouldn't
be "baptyzo," but "baptidzo," and, as you
know, of course, there is as much difference
between "baptyzo'' and "baptidzo" as there
| Is between fog and thunder shower.
Well, for about six months they had II
| I'D hill and down dale, in all the meetir
houses and schoolhouses and yestry rooms
| and town halls in the country, and it die
beat all how much learnin they got out o.
! the books and dictionaries, and what long
sermons they made and what sensation
there was among the unbelievers as well a!
| the elect guess they'd have been arguir
| yet If the freshet hadn't come an distracted
| public attention by carryin away the North
ampton bridge and the Holyoke dam.
It happened that while this theological
cataclysm was at its height Conky Stiles
bein years old, was born again, and, re
pentin of his sins, made profession 0
faith. And from that time he never lapset
or backslided, but was always conscien
tious and devout follower. illustratin il
his daily walks las Mr.. Hubbell, the minis
ter, said) those priceless virtues which hat
| Illuminated the career Of his Grandmothe
Cowles, a lady esteemed not more by tn
elders for her piety than by the younge
folks for her cookies and squash pies.
When Conky was 8 years old, he got tn
prize at our Sunday school for havin com
mittetl to memory the most Bible verses il
| the year, and that same spring he got Vi
and recited every line Of the Acts of tn
Apostles without havin to be prompte
once. By the time he was 70 years old
knew the whole Bible by heart and most 9
the hymnbook, too. although, as hay
said, the Bible was his speciality. Yet b
wasn't one of your palefaced, studiou
bows; no, sir, not a bit Of It'll He took jus
al much consolation in playin three old ca
and barn ball and hockey as any Of the res
Of us boys, and he could beat US all fishii
although perhaps that was because
learnt q new way of spittin on his bait froi
his Uncle Lutte Mason, who was conside
able Of sport In those days
We all felt good when he was around. w
never minded that way ne had OF quoti
j things from the Bible. We'd got used
It, and may be it was desirable intiuenc
At any rate, we all liked Conky.
But perhaps you don't understand VIII,
Imean whenAI refer to his way of QUOT
the Bible. It was like this: Conky, we
! say. would be goin down the road, and I
come out Of the house and holler: "Hell
. there, Conkyl Where be you goinw
Then he'd say, John xxi, g." Thu
! would be all he'd say, and that would
enough, for II gave US to understand thu
he was goin a-flshin.
Conky never made mistake. His gu
! tations were always right. He always b
the chapter and the verse sure pop the fir
. | time.
The habit grew on him - be got olde
} Associatin with Conky for il or 90 mi
utes wasn't much different from readin Il
. Bible for . couple Of days, except that the
wasn't any manual labor about IT. Igus