Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1911-06-01

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attack on his own paper, and his sis
ter found him one day making bull
let's in the kitchen. She asked wha
he was making them for.
ITO Kill men with" he answered
grimly, and Mrs. Stowe, telling heI
son about it years later, said 81
never saw Henry look so terrible.
did not like it, for I feared he was
growing bloodthirsty,"
Professor Stowe helped at times the
underground railroad. He it was who
took the original of Eliza and Little
Harry" to the house of the old Quaker
when the master was pursuing the
fugitives. 1t was not long after this
that she wrote she felt keenly the
need of an intermediate party which
would oppose slavery without the vio-
lence of abolitionists. But, she said,
If no such party was formed many
people would be forced to join the
abolitionists lin spite of their ex-
cesses.'
In 1850 the Stoves left Cincinnati
for Brunswick, Me. 1t was there that
her great resolve was taken that she
would use her pen to fight slavery.
Already she was a successful author
and deeply interested in the cause of
the slave. Her brother wrote and put
the proposition to her squarely: why
did she not write about the subject
nearest her heart and make people
understand? 1t was in the little parlor
of her Brunswick home. She read
the letter aloud. AS she finished the
appeal she rose from her chair, crush
ing the letter in her hand and said:
God helping me, l will write
The material for Uncle Toms
Cabin" came from various sources,
but she verified them all The Ken
lucky plantation she already knew
The slaves whom she had known in
Cincinnati had talked freely, giving
the light as well as the tragedy of
their lot
Uncle Tom seems to have been
drawn from Joshua Hoosen, a black
man of great sweetness and piety, who
told her appalling stories of life as
he had seen it.
The book, then, was published. with
many misgivings, but none among
them was that the south would fail
70 understand the friendliness of her
spirit Then she found herself the |
most famous and the most abused |
in the world
Mrs. Stowe had that exaltation of |
character which lifts a soul above .
praise or blame. In the midst of the |
umult she wrote poetry and planned
. trip to England in the interest of
he cause. 1t is typical of her in
that she was much sur
,rised to find herself welcomed and
eted on the other side of the ocean.
Where she had expected to rest and
ee nobody, she discovered she was
be talk of the country.
When the war broke out Mrs.
towe's son was among the first to go.
he wrote afterward: 1t was the will
( God that the slave mothers
hose tears nobody regarded should
ave with them a great company Of
Keepers, north and south-Rachels
'eeping for their children and refus-
lg to be comforted."
After the war Mrs. Stowe went
Outh and lived for a time in Florida.
he scheme was to raise cotton with
zee labor. but it failed disastrousIy.
! other ways the stay in the south
as a success, and everywhere Mrs.
towe appears to have been treated I
it'll consideration. The era of abuse ,
as over.
After cotton they tried to raise
ranges, but a frost spoiled that plan {
rs. Stowe lost $4,000 in this way. ,
I'D then she founded the Christian A.,
nion with her brother. Henry Ward
eecher. and lost most Of the rest Of
sr money. She kept writing. not be
.use her fame tempted her. but be- /.
.use the money was needed. Uncle ]
oms Cabin" which made so many
rtunes, never yielded her more than
few hundred dollars.