The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-30

Fisher. writing Of the Incident years af-
forwards, said:
The House Set Afire Over Him.
The shadow of the Almighty was
over me, and under His wings He pro-
1ected me. My heart stood still. I did
not breath. Every act of my life passed
before me like a panorama. I lived.
but did not live. I died, but did not
die. In Gods goodness and mercy the
hour of my departure had not yet
coma"
The guerrilIas. thrown off their
guard by Mrs. Fishers conduct. did
not make thorough search and
failed to see the man hiding behind
the pile of dirt Convinced that their
intended victim had escaped them
they set fire to the house and left
Mrs. Fisher extinguished the flames
but the men returned and again set
fire to the house.
The brave wife fought the fire as
long as possible. Her husband had
crawled under the floor of a summer
kitchen and she kept the flames from
this as long as possible. Finding that
if her husband remained under the
floor he would be burned alive, she
went into the cellar and told him to
come out. A neighboring woman,
Mrs ShugrO, entering at that time.
helped her in the plan she had
formed.
Escapes Under a Carpet.
This plan was to get DR.. Fisher UNI
der a carpet, drag the carpet from the
house to the bushes, DR., Fisher, in
the meantime, to crawl along under
it. The trick was successfully per
formed while a number of the raiders
lined the fence near by and looked on.
When the carpet had been dragged to
the bushes Mrs. Fisher and Mrs
Shugro carried chairs from the house
and piled them on the carpet. Three
of those chairs are retained as soUV-
enirs by his children. DR.. Fisher lay
under the carpet until IL o'clock that
morning. when Quantrell and his
men left the town. During their stay
1S5 of the men of Lawrence had been
killed. That adventure was but one
of many that befell the pioneer min
lister
DR.. Fisher was born in steubenvilIe
o., March IA. 1924, and was, there
fore. nearly eighty years old at the
time of his death. At the age of IA he
felt himself called to the ministry, and
he was ordained fifty-seven years ago
in the Methodist Episcopal church.
In 1858. While he was a member
Of the Pittsburg, Pa, conference, he
was sent to LeavenWorth, Kas., where
he built the second Methodist church
building in the Kansas conference,
which comprised all or Kansas. Ne
braska. Colorado. Oklahoma, Indian
Territory. New Mexico and a part of
Texas. Nineteen ministers then sup
piled this immense territory. Now
there are nearly 700 in the same ter
ritory. During his career in Kansas
he was pastor at LeaVenWOrth, Law
renee, presiding elder of the Lawrence
district, pastor at Atchison, Ottawa.
Olathe, Marysville, WamegO and
WestmOreland, and financial agent to
Baker university, one of the biggest
Methodist colleges in the west.
For three years, from 1876 to 1879.
he held a pastOrate in Omaha and
cleared the First Methodist church of
that city of a debt of $4,000. While
in Omaha he organized such a Wig
orous crusade against the saloons that
he received dozens of letters threaten
ing his life. He did not permit these
to interfere. From Omaha DR.. Fisher
went to Salt Lake City, Utah, where
he was pastor for fifteen months, and
was afterward made superintendent
of the American Bible society of the
district which included Utah, Mon
tana and Idaho. His relations with
the head of the Mormon church were
pleasant. and he obtained permission
to speak in the tabernacles and other
houses of worship in which no other
gentle" had ever spoken.
DIR. Fisher missed being elected
chaplain of the national house of rep
resentatives by one-half vote in 1894,
and was elected chaplain of the Kan
sas house in 1898. DR.. Fisher was ed
ltOr ana puDlSner OF the Kansas
Methodist from 1884 to 1886. He was
also the author of "The Gun and the
Gospel" in which he tells the story
of the fight against slavery preceding
the war and the history of the war in
Kansas.
DR.. Fisher had dedicated or assist
ed at the dedication of more than 200
Methodist churches. The last cere-
mony of this kind in which he took
part was at the Howard Memorial
church, Kansas City, last spring I'm
til three years ago, when he removed
to Kansas City, DIR. Fishers home for
number of years had been in To-
peka The only surviving children are
DR.. H. r. Fisher of Kansas City, John
William Fisher of Baldwin, and DR.
c. z. Fisher of Little Orleans, Nd.