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Excerpts from Francis C. Waid's Third Souvenir Submitted by David M. Waid |
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MY FIFTH TRIP TO KANSAS AND THE WEST.
FALL OF 1890. FRIENDS OLD AND NEW. "Make new friends, but keep the old, Those are silver, these are gold; New-made friendships, like new wine, Age will mellow and refine. Friendships that have stood the test-- Time and change--are surely best; Brow may wrinkle, hair grow gray, Friendship never knows decay. For 'mid friends, tried and true, Once more we our youth renew, But old friends, alas! may die, New friends must their place supply. Cherish friendship in your breast, New is good, but old is best; Make new friends, but keep the old, Those are silver, these are gold." Since we can pass along life's journey but once, why should we not make it as useful and pleasant as possible, and by so doing share much of the enjoyment of this life with our friends? As the pleasures of the world are much like flowers, whose beauty and fragrance are free to all, so what is ours to give, that might brighten the pathway of others, is not ours to withhold; and it is with these reflections, and the intent of doing good, I launch upon its voyage among my friends, in company with my previous writings, the record of my fifth trip to Kansas and the West. At 4 P. M. on Tuesday, September 30, 1890, I left Meadville, Guinnip's wife, Anna, and her sister, Bessie, seeing me off at the station. At about 9 A. M., following day, I arrived at Chicago, and at once paid my publishers a business and social visit, and at 2:30 P. M. I was on my way, via the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad to Monroe, Ogle County, In., arriving at 3:30 same afternoon, Here were waiting for me my father-in-law, Freeman Tyler, and his son, F. A. Tyler, to whose home, four miles north of Monroe, I was immediately driven, and there I found my wife and her mother as well as some other friends. There was joy unalloyed in this meeting. It was one I had been anticipating many weeks before leaving home, as my wife had written to me from Norwood, Kas. (where she had been living for some considerable time on account of her health, that her parents had decided to pay a visit to northern Illinois, where they formerly lived, and that she was to accompany them. Mr. Freeman Tyler came to Illinois in 1845, and lived at different times at Belvidere, Roscoe, Beloit (Wis.), Monroe and Sycamore, so that he not only became well acquainted with this section of country, but also knows a large number of people. True, many of his earlier friends and acquaintances have passed from earth, or removed to other parts; but some are yet left to greet each other when they meet. We have to catch the golden opportunity while we may, and such opportunities after years of separation are rare; yet occasionally we find them, as on the occasion of this propitious visit I am now speaking of. Ten years ago Mr. Freeman Tyler and his family moved from Sycamore to Franklin Couuty, Kas., during which decade many changes had taken place; and it was while they were on the cars on that occasion that I first met them as I was traveling west to Columbus, Neb., in company with my brother, George N., and brother-in-law, G. W. Cutshall. And now here, in Illinois, I find myself, nearly ten years thereafter, enjoying the pleasure of a visit, with Mr. and Mrs. Tyler and Anna, to many spots familiar to them and endeared by old associations. BELOIT, WISCONSIN. On the following Thursday F. A. Tyler drove us (Mr. and Mrs. Freeman Tyler, Anna and myself) to Monroe, and there we took train for Beloit, Wis., thirty-five miles distant, where we paid a visit to Freeman Tyler's sister, Mrs. Almira Jackson [Mrs. Jackson is from Titusville Penn., where I met her son's, Frank's, wife who, with her mother, Mrs. Coombs, was visiting in Beloit while I was there, as above related], and her husband, Mr. A. D. Jackson, at whose home we stopped during our four days' visit at Beloit. Anna and I walked out together, and among many, to her, interesting spots, paid a visit to the house where her sister Hattie was born, and we met from time to time, while here, many of Anna's old friends. While we were at dinner Mrs. Frank Jackson and her mother, Mrs. Coombs [Mrs. Coombs has died since my return home, I think in January or February], called. On Sunday, October 5, I went to church with Mrs. Almira Jackson, and heard an excellent sermon delivered by Rev. William Alexander, a Presbyterian minister, the subject of his discourse being taken from Genesis vii: 16: And the Lord shut him in. Before leaving Beloit we paid several visits, among those with whom we spent a pleasant hour or so being Mr. Jackson's son-in-law, L. J. Rogers [Anna and I met Mr. and Mrs. Rogers at F. A. Tyler's, in Monroe, in July, 1889, when we were coming home], and his wife, who have a beautiful home; another visit was to the old home of Freeman Tyler on Wheat Street, where incidents of interest to me were related. SYCAMORE, ILLINOIS. On Monday we went to Sycamore, In., where we were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Warren F. Peters, the former of whom kindly drove me over the town, and whose friendship I shall ever remember. Our five days' visit at Sycamore were full of enjoyment, and among the many places we went to was (accompanied by Mr. John Sphon, a friend whose kindness is still remembered with pleasure) the old farm home where Mr. Freeman Tyler had lived thirteen years. We also drove to Elmwood Cemetery, where sleep their last sleep that good couple, Deacon David West and his wife, of whom I had heard so much; I also stood by the graves of the Waterman and Ellwood families, and jotted down in my memorandum book some of the tombstone inscriptions. Deacon West died February 4, 1890, aged eighty-four years. While visiting his son Elias C. West, who lives on the old homestead, he showed me over the farm, a good one, and made a call with us on his sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Loves; we also drove to De Kalb to see other relatives, and I will not forget the kindness shown us by all whom we visited. Family prayer at the old home of Mr. West and other places, and many other pleasant experiences, all left good impressions on my mind. Mr. Peters and I paid a visit to the water-works, pumping station and the stock sheds. Among the latter is one for sheep, a very large building, haying accommodation for many thousand animals, there being at the time of our visit no less than 7,000 enclosed therein. We saw the "good" sheep separated from the "poor" ones, and the process was very simple. The sheep were driven along a narrow passage way, the best grade animals being let into a yard by themselves, while the inferior ones, by a turn of the gate, were passed into a separate pen. While in Sycamore I got a very fair insight into their method of farming in this part of the country, and availed myself of much useful information which I shall take home with me to Pennsylvania. We returned to Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Tyler's farm, near Monroe, October 11, and time passed away in a pleasant manner during the remainder of our sojourn with our kind friends. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman Tyler stayed at the home of Uncle Silas Tyler, Anna and myself at that of his son-in-law, Mr. E. Raupp. I may here mention that Asa L. Tyler, who had been a soldier in the War of 1812, died October 2, 1882, at the age of ninety-one years, eighteen days, and his wife, Fanny, on November 14, 1871, when aged eighty-seven years, eight months. We spent a day with Aunt Abbie, who gave us much interesting information about her six children, all of whom were at that time at home. On the 14th I went out with Mr. Freeman Tyler to the field, where his son Frank was ploughing with three horses and sulky-riding plow. I rode one round by myself, and then went several rounds along with Frank. From this field, which lies in the northwest corner of Ogle County, we could see several towns, among them being Belvidere, eighteen miles distant; and we also had a view of three other counties besides Ogle, viz.: Winnebago, Boone and De Kalb. Friday, October 17, being the twenty-ninth anniversary of the wedding of Uncle Silas D. and Aunt Frank Tyler, there was held a surprise celebration, during the evening, at their home. Forty people were present at this happy gathering, but among them there was only one, Mrs. Tyler's mother, who had attended the wedding years ago. On the following morning yet another friend came in, Mr. George Blackman, from South Dakota, a little late though none the less welcome. Among many others whom we visited in the vicinity of Monroe was Mr. L. Summers, who lives south of the town. ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS. Our trip to Rockford on October 22 I must not omit. Mr. Frank Tyler, whose kindness is worthy of remembrance, and whose hospitality I will not forget, drove us (his father, his wife and son, Berna, Anna and myself) to that lively town, fourteen miles across a beautiful piece of country, by way of New Milford. Anna and I remained at Rockford a day or two with our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Leander Blackman, Frank and his wife and father having returned home. This is a busy city of nearly 25,000 inhabitants, and is noted for its factories of various kinds, its schools, seminaries, churches, railroads and its fourteen miles of electric street-railway. There is a fine square here whereon stand the courthouse (built in 1836) and jail. Anna and I paid several visits in this town, where she had spent many happy days in her girlhood, among her old friends whom we called on being Mrs. Kelsey, with whom she learned the millinery trade; also Mrs. Kelsey's daughter, Mrs. Rowe, and Dr. E. J. Johnson, dentist. The Doctor's mother, I understand, was still living, a wonderfully well-preserved old lady, considering her patriarchal age of ninety-three years. Mrs. Johnson had recently returned from a visit to relatives in Athens, Penn., and Elmira, N. Y. On October 24 we returned to Monroe, and at once began making preparations for our departure for Chicago. Our several visits while in Ogle County have been the occasion of not a few large gatherings of relatives and friends--old and new--whom I shall ever remember with feelings of cordial fraternity. Heaven bless you and prosper your affairs, and send you peace. On the evening of the 27th Mr. and Mrs. Freeman Tyler, Anna and myself find ourselves in Chicago, and for the night we put up at the home of Mrs. Gibson, in Evanston, In., some twelve miles from the Union Depot. Mrs. Gibson is a daughter of Horace and "Aunt Abbie" Tyler (the former of whom is deceased), and her husband is at present residing in Denver, Colo. She and her nine-year-old son, Harry, came to Monroe on the 11th of this month on a visit to her mother, and while there invited us to call and see her when we should come to Chicago. While at Evanston we made a pleasant call, along with Mrs. Gibson, on Mrs. Eleanor Skelton, widow of Rev. Skelton, who was pastor at Sycamore for over three years; also called on Mr. Milton George, editor of the Western Rural, No. 158 Clark Street, Chicago, whose excellent paper my father-in-law has taken twenty-eight years, and which I now take, having commenced as a subscriber since my return home to Pennsylvania, for I learned its value by reading it at Freeman Tyler's. Next day we proceeded to Galesburg, Knox County, In., where we were the guests of Mr. Chris. Tyler, a relative of my wife's people, a good-natured, pleasant man, whose family circle consists of himself, his wife and his mother, the latter now eighty years old. A Mr. Bennedick, who was visiting at Mr. Tyler's, drove us about the city, which has a population of some 20,000, and out to the cemetery. We enjoyed a very fine view of the neighborhood, including the two colleges, Sunbury and Knox. I had often heard Anna speak of Mr. Chris. Tyler, and I was now glad in having made his acquaintance and in spending a day in his company. |
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