The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1916-09-01


he has always been cheerful in dis
position, helpful in spirit and in deed,
and he has surmounted the obstacles
in such manner as to live a long
and eminently successful life. He
never burdened anyone with his
Affections. Within the last week
when asked how he was, he replied:
81 feel fine" He has taught again
the lesson of patient endurance, and
brave perseverance.
Perhaps ones first thought of NV.
Woodman was Of a sturdy, substan-
tial successful, generous citizen.
One of the kind that form the bull
wark Of the nation. He was thor
oughly businesslike in his methods
very progressive in his ideals, and
altogether capable in his chosen bus
mess of farming and stock raising. He
possessed the ability of doing large
things in a large way. At one time
he farmed eight hundred acres of
land, and had on the place some eigh-
vt head Of horses. He was able TO
carry in mind not only the large, out
line movements of his work and farm
but also an abundance of little details
that always of necessity go with such
enterprises. He had special inter-
est in and fondness for pure bred
stock Whether it was his horses or
cattle or hogs and dogs, they were
nearly always thoroughbred. At one
time he went to France to purchase
horses. He was not only up to date
in his ideas and ideals but as we say
in the language of the farm she kept
things up. When he was in failing
health he still maintained his inter-
est in the things about the place.
Though he himself was rapidly going
down he still kept things up.
If there were two things that he
loved more than others, / suppose
stern and businesslike as he was,
he was Unexpectedly kind and tender
hearted to animals and to men. No
/ one came to him ever went away
without his help. If a neighbor in
need however busy and pressing his
own work, he would stop and send a
man + a team or whatever was
needed If it was a stranger his wants
had a sympathetic hearing. He was
the friend Of children. They were his
pets. He was able to do these things
and what is better, he had the heart
to do them. Kindness to animals
was also a characteristic of his nat
ure. When he went into the pasture
all the horses gathered about him.
He had won their confidence; they re-
garded him as their friend. He al
lowed none of his stock to go unshel-
tered He never sold a horse be-
cause it had grown old and useless.
He said that it had served him well
and deserved of him a home and a
grave. 1t is gratifying to find these
/ tenderer strains in a life that was
absorbed in practical affairs.
Another element of his nature not
known to all was that of sentiment.
! He possessed more of sentiment than
might be expected of a man of his
interests. He loved beautiful eX-
pressions Of sentiment. He had a
large wallet full of poems, the like
of which had pleased him enough to
cut them out and preserve them. He
often committed these to memory.
Sometimes at night after the toll of
the day and before the quiet of slum-
Der, he would recall and quote some
of these expressions. Two of them
will illustrate the trend of his finer
feelings; one shows his devotion to
the home ties and beloved wife:
A Little Way
"a little way to walk with you, my
own,
| Only a little way;
Then one Of us must weep and walk
! alone
Until Gods day.
A little way!It is so sweet to live
Together that / know
Life would not have one withered
rose to give