Third Souvenir Main Page

Excerpts from Francis 

C. Waid's Third Souvenir

Submitted by David M. Waid 

On February 18, leaving Anna at her brother's, on account of her poor health, I proceeded alone (with her consent, as she was desirous I should go to see my friends) to Grand Island, Neb., 253 miles distant by the route I took, and which I had visited in November, 1880, with my brother, G. N., and brother-in-law, G. W. Cutshall, on which occasion we called on Judge Fleming at St. Paul, the county seat of Howard County, Neb. The scenery on the journey I found very picturesque and varied--hills, valleys, bluffs, woods, rocks and prairie land, with occasional deposits of snow where it had drifted--then there were to be seen, here and there, some "dugouts," relics of the homes of early settlers. At Marysville I arrive at 6 P. M., and am informed that there will be no train for Grand Island till 11:40 that night, so have fully five hours wherein to chew the cud of patience.

"How poor are they that have not patience!

What wound did ever heal, but by degrees?"

The time I utilized in part in strolling about the town, which has a population of some 2,800; the Union Pacific Railroad runs through it both from east to west and from north to south. In the waiting-room at the station there were a lady and her dog (her sole traveling companion) philosophically passing away the time, like myself, till the arrival of the same train I was waiting for. I thought of the line in Shakespeare: "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." She told me her name was Mrs. Truax, that she was of French descent, that the name of her canine friend was "Prince," and that she was on her way to St. Paul, Neb. She also informed me that she was acquainted with Mrs. Fleming, widow of Judge Fleming, who had died since my visit to St. Paul in 1880. Great was our relief and pleasure when our train pulled into the station and we found ourselves once more steaming along the iron road, although we had another "lay over" of over three hours at Fairfield. At last I arrived at Grand Island, and at 10 A. M. on the 19th found myself in the office of Dr. G. W. Weter, my arrival being quite unexpected though most welcome. Dr. Weter, a Christian friend and brother, now more than ever fully realized and appreciated--separation for a time makes a glad reunion!

I had really been looked for as a visitor ever since their coming to Grand Island, November 29, 1888. The Doctor had been our family physician in Blooming Valley, Penn., and he attended my wife, Eliza, in her last illness, so he seems to me almost like a member of the family. Miss Sadie Braymer, who lived with the Weters in Blooming Valley, came into the room along with Mrs. Weter, and in the evening, though very cold, we attended the Methodist Church, where revival meetings were being held under the direction of Rev. H. L. Powers, the pastor, who reported over one hundred having come into the fold of Christ up to that time.

Grand Island (the city) is situated on the Platte River, which here opens out into channels, forming a large island called "Grand Island," from which the city takes its name, and on this island, so I am informed, the first buildings were put up. Afterward, however, they commenced building on the north side of the river, which is higher ground and more eligible for a town site, and now the entire city is on the north side. Grand Island is a thriving, busy place, having a population numbering some 14,000 souls.

February 20.--To-day I visited the Nebraska Soldiers and Sailors' Home, which covers a quarter section of land. This is a State institution provided for not only soldiers and sailors, but also for their wives and children; hence suitable and convenient cottages have been built for the use of families. The Home, which is situated about two miles from Grand Island, is reached by street cars, and I was shown over the place in company with some eight or ten others, among them being Mr. Bates and Gen. Bates, of Pennsylvania, and Capt. Henry, of Nebraska. From the main building a fine view is to be had of Grand Island and the surrounding country. Among the 103 inmates I saw some aged veterans, whose march through life had about reached its close.

In the evening Dr. Weter and I visited the rooms of the Y. M. C. A., and took a stroll through the business part of the city, the Doctor pointing out places of interest, and occasionally introducing me to friends of his as we met them. He also made me acquainted with his business partner, Dr. Sumner Davis, also with Mr. and Mrs. Hatch and her mother, the former of whom has the care of the Doctor's rooms.

Among the many things the Doctor showed me in his office, in connection with his profession--things that a farmer knows little or nothing about--was the electromagnetic machine, which he operated for my edification. It reminded me much of the electric apparatus my son and I once saw at Niagara Falls, where at night-time the electric light, which was produced in a building in Prospect Park, was thrown alternately on the American Falls and the Horse-shoe or Canadian Falls, illuminating in its range the museum, Goat Island, &c. I was in all sincerity pleased to hear from the Doctor's own lips that he has prospered in both temporal and spiritual things, and that as a member of the most beneficent of all professions he was making many friends, good and true.

February 22.--To-day Dr. Weter drove me in his buggy about the town, showing me some more points of interest new to me, and then we paid a visit to the beet-sugar factory, which is in course of erection some three miles from the town, and which can be reached by street ears. The concern covers ten acres of ground, and the building is to be two and one-half stories high. I believe it has been started with a capital of $500,000, and I think there is only another of the kind in the United States, in California. The open prairie lying between Grand Island and this factory will soon be dotted with dwelling-houses, and already several building lots have been sold at good prices. On our return to the Doctor's office from our drive, I was introduced to a few more of his friends, among them being the principal of the school which the Doctor's children attend, and who had come from New York.

On Sunday I had the pleasure of hearing Rev. H. L. Powers deliver a stirring sermon from the text, as he announced it, "From Genesis to Revelation," and at that meeting over one hundred individuals testified for Christ in less than ten minutes! On returning from church in the evening we found waiting at Dr. Weter's Mr. A. G. Greenlee, attorney at law, of Lincoln, Neb., so my desire to meet this gentleman was unexpectedly gratified. Mr. Greenlee at one time taught school in Blooming Valley, Penn. [My daughter-in-law Anna M. (nee Slocum), Guinnip's wife, attended school in Blooming Valley when Mr. Greenlee was teaching there, and she boarded with my mother in the very house of which she is now mistress], where he was favorably known, and he and Dr. Weter are very old friends; they are within two days of being exactly the same age.

Among other places of prominence Dr. Weter drove me to was the Fair ground, which covers 160 acres, and has a very level half-mile track, round which we drove. The sugar factory, Fair ground and the Soldiers and Sailors' Home are all west of the city, nearly in a line and not very far apart. Afterward we made a call on Rev. W. H. H. Pillsbury, pastor of the Methodist Church on the "South Side," which the doctor and his family attend; Trinity Methodist Church, where they are holding the revivals, is on the "North Side." We were disappointed in finding Mr. Pillsbury from home, he having gone to attend a quarterly meeting in the country; Mrs. Pillsbury, however, entertained us most hospitably. They have seven children, the youngest of whom, Margaret, is a bright little girl of about five or six years of age, whose picture Mrs. Pillsbury handed me to give, on my return to Pennsylvania, to Dr. C. C. Hall (a college class-mate of Dr. Pillsbury), pastor of the First M. E. Church at Meadville, Penn., and with whom I am acquainted. She also spoke of Rev. T. L. Flood and others whom I knew. This visit, though brief and shorn of much of its enjoyment by the absence of Mr. Pillsbury, was a very pleasant one to me, and shed some more sunshine on the pathway of my life.

Dr. Weter next drove me to the City Hall and the Security National Bank, then to the old M. E. Church, a small building, "like a sheep pen," as Mr. Savage, the pastor, remarked, one that would not hold half his audience. Thence we drove to the railroad shops where we had a fine view of the high railroad embankment, where it crosses the streets and extends on down toward the Platte River. We next proceeded down the main road, which is an embankment similar to the railroad one I have just mentioned, but which is provided with deep ditches or channels like canals. We did not drive as far as Wood Creek [Wood Creek assists Platte River in forming the island the city is named after], probably half-way, and on our return homeward we passed the ice-houses and Harris' Park, a pleasant place shaded with abundance of trees. Thus ended what to me was a most enjoyable and profitable drive, rendered doubly so by the company and conversation of my friend and guide, Dr. Weter.

Sunday, February 23.--A beautiful day! The sun is shining resplendent in all its glory, and under its influence the garb of winter is fast being removed from the bosom of Mother Earth. How I wish my dear wife were here to enjoy the day with me!

In the morning Dr. Weter and I attended the Presbyterian Church, and were refreshed by listening to a remarkably interesting and earnest discourse by the pastor, Rev. Samuel Wykoff [Mr. Wykoff was at one time a resident of Crawford County, Penn., where I met him; in fact, my opinion is that he was born and raised in our township, and I think he told me of his boyhood days having been spent on his uncle's, Samuel Wykoff's, farm, where he grew lip, as I understand], his subject being, "Excuses,'' and his text Luke xiv: 20: And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. Mr. Wykoff introduced his subject to his hearers in a practical manner by speaking of a certain thorn bush which grew by the line fence on his uncle Samuel Wykoff's farm in Pennsylvania; of how the cattle on each side of the fence would come to get the fruit of the bush, or to enjoy its shade, in consequence of which the fence was frequently thrown down. Thus "it was troublesome." Uncle Wykoff would many a time cut off the limbs of the bush, to apparently little purpose, so one day, in order to make sure work, he took an axe and cut down the thorn bush close by the root, thus effectively putting an end to the trouble. Rev. Caldwell, who had come to assist Mr. Wykoff during the revivals, was present. Five individuals were received into the church--two young women and three young men--four of whom were baptized; and I was forcibly reminded of my own conversion and admittance into the M. E. Church, at State Road, Crawford County, Penn., in 1851, then a young man of seventeen. As I was drawn toward Mr. Wykoff in his discourse, his eyes seemed to be attracted toward Dr. Weter and myself, and at the conclusion of the sermon he came down the aisle and shook hands with us.

In the afternoon Dr. Weter and I went to the Y. M. C. A. meeting, the subject for the day being "Building," and in the evening we attended the revival meeting in Trinity Church. This church has now a membership, I believe, of 300, showing an increase of 140 members since the commencement of the revival meeting, a period of about five weeks. For this lovely and profitable Sabbath day I am devoutly thankful to the Giver of all good. I have had shown to me, in His infinite goodness, so much favor and mercy that I ought to rejoice alway, pray without ceasing, and so continue in His love, that each Sabbath may prove another Lord's-Day journey nearer to my Heavenly Home. To this end there is one cardinal duty for everybody:

"Do some good every day,

Be industrious, obedient

And honest."

LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

One hundred miles east of Grand Island, and in the very center of Lancaster County, Neb., stands the town of Lincoln, where reside my old friends Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Bowman, whom I wish to see before leaving this part of the West. Accordingly on Monday, February 24, I set out thither, as it is on my way back to Clifton, Kas., (for I have bidden adieu to my kind, hospitable friends at Grand Island). Mr. and Mrs. Bowman and I have not met for thirty-eight years, and the reader may well imagine that our reunion was a cordially happy one. I was sorry, however, to find Mrs. Bowman invalided and confined to her couch, yet we had a mutually interesting conversation about old times and old friends. Among many other things I learned in the course of our confabulation, was something about the late Matthew Smith's family, and Mr. Bowman jotted down as an aid to my memory some facts, in part as follows: Matthew Smith died March 31, 1884, Nancy, his wife, having preceded him to the grave, March 11, 1878; Jane (Cowen) died in October, 1881 (A. J. Cowen, her husband, lives on the old farm in Waterford, Erie County, Penn.); Elizabeth Smith died in June, 1884; Wilson Smith [I visited Wilson Smith during September, 1890, but did not know where lie lived till informed by Mr. Bowman] lives at Rouseville, Venango County, Penn.; Hunter Smith is a resident of Sheridan, Wyoming; grandmother Smith died in March, 1854. I will here relate how I became acquainted with the Matthew Smith family: In the fall of 1852 C. R. Slocum, E. T. Wheeler and myself boarded with Matthew Smith, at Waterford, Erie Co., Penn., as we were attending the academy in that town, and so I became well acquainted with the family--Elizabeth, Jane, Catherine ("Katie," as she was called, now Mrs. Bowman), Wilson and Hunter--and their parents and grandmother I also knew very well.

In the evening I continued my journey to Clifton by way of Wymore, Odell, Washington, Greenleaf, &c., and from Wymore to Washington I was glad to avail myself of a freight train rather than wait for a regular passenger. By this I gained about two hours time, and had the jolting and bumping thrown in, which was something like the weather outside--rather rough; but as I sit in the caboose and try to write a little in my diary, I console myself with the reflection that "variety is the spice of life," and that "sweet are the uses of adversity." A violent storm-of wind and rain prevailed as we crossed the State line between Nebraska and Kansas, which reminded me that I landed in Grand Island in the middle of a snow-storm, and was leaving Nebraska under a similar meteorological condition of things.

On the morning of the 25th I once more find myself in Clifton, and at the home of Dr. D. C. Tyler, my health improved by the journey, and my soul refreshed. I find all well, including Anna, I am happy to say, and all at home excepting the Doctor himself, who had been summoned to a distance on business; and as Anna and I are now about to return to Norwood I fear we will not be able to bid him adieu, and thank him in person for his generous kindness and hospitality.

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