The record-union., 1898-02-24
A QUAINT OLD INDIANA TOWN.
THE PRESENT HOME OF REV
r.. M. STEVENSON.
Interesting Letter From the Recent
Pastor of the Westminster
Church.


Church.
Eds. Record Union: This is quaint
old town of 10000 people. with old-style
architecture, many of the houses be-
ing built directly on the street Ii
| stretches along the Ohio River, backed
by lofty bluffs, on which are a goodly
number of handsome residences anc
summer homes. 1t overlooks the beau
| tiful hills of Kentucky, across the river
Out from this town was built the first
railroad of the State, and for a time
that road made this the most important
business center of the State. Mer-
| chandise came ON the river from Pitts
burg and Cincinnati, Louisville and
| New Orleans, and at this point was dis
tributed through the interior. But the
stream of business ceased to flow this
way SO strongly when railroads We're
built across the State connecting di-
rectly with the large cities of the East
/ However, cheap fuel and cheap trans
portation have been favorable to man
ufacture here. With good Pittsburs
coal at 81 70 a ton retail, and food and
rents correspondingly cheap, factories
are still run at a profit. There are tive
cotton mills. one employing 300 hands,
| a Woolen mill, a hub. and spoke FAC
tory, a saddle-tr factory, a furniture
/ factory, tack and nail factory, a flour
mill with a capacity Of 1. $50 barrels a
| day and a ship yard, besides many
| smaller mills and factories
While there is no disposition to put
on airs or cut a wide swath, there Is
no shoddy, but solid business and re-
| liable people. The town has two in
surance companies, sustained by local
| capital, and the money is kept in cir
culation here which might be sent tc
New York ard London.
/ AS the desire to educate my daughters
brought me to the East 1 found a favor
able place by settling in Madison. Only
six miles away is Hanover College, with
long and noble record. with it's gradu-
ates scattered far and wide over the
| land, many OF them doing honor on
| the Pacific Coast to their alma mater
| There one of our daughters has spent
one Of the happiest years of her life,
with greatly improved health, and busi-
] ly interested in her studies. The other
| has been no less happy at Oxford, O.,
but has met with great disappointment
| in having to give up study for the pres
ent on account of trouble with her eyes.
A kindly people, intelligent and re-
| fined, welcomed US to large, old-fash-
| ioned parsonage with eight rooms,
where we sit before open CRATES, glow
| ing with the best of coal, and have
every comfort that we could desire. My
| health has been well nigh perfect, so
| that / have not lost a day. as has been
that of the other members of my little
| family.
] The church Of which I am pastor has
little more than go members; owes
no man anything but to love him;
makes fifty-two offerings a year
to the benevolent objects of
/ the church, besides the same
| number for current expense, but takes
no collections at the evening service,
and has all the organizations common
| to a well-equipped church. One Of
my flock last month gave 81, 900 to our
Sabbath-school, ST 900 to our Board of
Home Missions. $1,000 to the Old
Ladies' Home of this city, and $4,000
| to Hanover College.
| Four young men raised up in this
| church are ministers of the Gospel; one
| of them a missionary in Korea, another
| in New Mexico, and one in the city of
| New York. One of it's members is now
| in Princeton Theological Seminary, an
| other in the senior class at Hanover
| College, both preparing for the minis
| try. Mrs. Stevenson does not find her
| self idle with a class in literature
meeting every Thursday evening, now
numbering eighteen; a large Bible
class in Sabbath-school. and with talk
| ing the Kings Daughters through a
course of study, to say nothing of mis-
sionary societies and other forms of
church work Just now we are having
our pipe organ made over at an ex-
pense of nearly $500 and changes made
in the church to better accommodate
an enlarged Sabbath-school
One of our pleasant diversions in the
| early morning is new experience. that
of going to market. Tuesday, Thurs
day and Saturday mornings we have
free market Farmers. gardeners,
butchers, fishermen and hunters come
with everything good to eat, and we get
things fresh and cheap. AS nearly
everybody goes to market, we meet
friends on every hand, and make it
to have such a market
The winter has been Unexpectedly
mild, quite like California weather. We
all look eagerly for the coming of the
Record Union" and read with interest
what takes place in California We
do not forget our many good friends
in Sacramento and elsewhere in the
State
Since beginning this letter I have
been called down out of my study to
marry a couple. While / have a good
ly number who come to me to be joined
in marriage, l cannot keep up with
Brother HefTick / have not quite had
the experience which I once rad in
Sacramento, of bridegroom paying
me fee and then coming stranded next
day and borrowing it, but I did get out
of bed late one night, walk a half-mile
to marry couple, and get 80 cents
for it. But even that was better than
some persons served me in California.
r. M. STEVENSON.
Madison, Ind, February 18th.