Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-03-13

no politician. He, was a preacher. The
cross roads are full of the sort of pol
iticians he was, but there are not many
such preachers. But he ever after had
regret that he was not chosen to poll
tics. 1t did not sour his spirit, nor
hinder his fervency as a preacher but
it put a ranking in his thought that
yeNed him. And he was never quite
able to see that he was much stronger
aud more useful when he spoke .as a
preacher than when he essayed the
role of politician. Few men in Iowa
have been more familiar to us all our
life than he. He came to Iowa and
the Iowa conference in the early fiji
ties. He was wholly devoted to his
ministerial work then, and was a good
preacher. He was not a grear man,
he was not wise man, he was not
church leader, he did not have mas
siveness of character. He was deft,
facile, ambitious man and when he
made a good prayer always had a
smack of self conscious admiration of
himself because, of his ability to adj
dress the Lord in such an eloquent
way. 1t was not hypocrisy; it was
not an atfectation. He was perfectly
sincere and genuine but he was not a
God-intoXicated man. The overwhalm-
ing verities of Gods spiritual world
never awed his spirit or gave gravity
to his thought. He was merely a man
OF his limitations He was courageous.
At the outset of the war for the Union
he was back in his old home in Vir4
ginla when great rebel meeting was
held. The rampant secessionisn that
carried Virginia into the Confederacy
voiced itself thru a tumultuous meet
ing and a strenuous day. The tide was
all runningrebelward. AT last Teter
walked to the stand unannounced and
unattended, and made an intensely
Union speech. The crowd fell into a
great rage. There were shouts of
hang him, lynch him, and his hearers
We're wild with fury. One local polii
tfcian, counting local favor, was espe-
cially jealous and started towards the
speakers stand, as if to lead in. the
violence to be done on Mr.. Teter. But
letter was a Vfrginian and knew his
man. He waited until the politician
stood a few feet from. him and then
turned upon hima torrent of personal
invective which every person in the
community. knew to be true of him !.
letter Went on in something like this
fashion: "Jim B, I know you, you
propose to lynch me who was born
and raised here. You are trying to
become a leader of these good and hon
est people whom / have known since
my boyhood. You are scoundrel and
You know it. You are such a scoun-
drel that your wife can't live with you
and she has applied for a divorce. You
are thief, you stole the Widow Ms
hogs. You are the meanest man in
this community. You are coward as
we'll as a thief and if you come within
reach of me I'll break your neck BY
that time the crowd had forgotten all
about political matters, or secession
land was roaring with delight at the
hiding Jim B. was getting, and which
they knew to be deserved. A few cool
and prudent men took advantage of
the diversion to. hurry Mr.. Teter away
and into safety before the reaction
could set in and public sentiment re-
kindle against Mr.. Teter. We do not
! give the exact facts but merely such
a general outline Of them as remains
in our memory.
/ ~ -