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Excerpts from Souvenir Submitted by David M. Waid |
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The following letters and testimonials I desire to be
preserved in this my SECOND SOUVENIR, as showing what my kindred and
friends think of my first effort in this direction.
If in a multitude of counselors there is safety, so in a multitude
of friends there is pleasure. These
favors have not been poured on me in vain; they have proven a blessing to
me in thought, in word, in deed and in truth.
That all may be seed sown on good ground, and bear fruit for others
when we are gone, is my earnest prayer.
F. C. Waid
BLOOMING VALLEY, August 25, 1886.
Dear Sir: I am in
receipt of your book and for this distinguished mark of your esteem in
presenting to me the memories of a man whose name has become a household
word in Crawford County, permit me to return my sincere thanks with the
hope that I may always have the honor to remain, Your friend, J. W. HEARD. ATHENS, Bradford Co., October 18, 1886. Mr. F. C. Waid: Accept my thanks for your book which I lately received and have read with interest. It contains much that I appreciate. The very good portraits of your wife, yourself and especially your parents I am glad to possess. Although it may be vanity I am strongly drawn back to the past; the farms, people, scenes and reminiscences all have for me a kind of fascination. Your book refers to many of the characters. Perhaps it is not best to be too fond of the past, for it keeps gliding farther and farther away. All the old landmarks, the face of nature and the places of the times even, vanish with our friends, leaving us lovely retrospective, often too late for the train of present realities. Nothing of this world seems to be permanent although its substances and associations have great power to bind. I gather from your book that you look to the future as well as to thepast. Years after our neighborhood history is mostly forgotten your book will remain to give the past to the future, for books outlive men. Your essay on "Farm Economy" is good enough to stand on its own merits. I think it would be a great help to this world's affairs if people would become more intelligently interested in agriculture. Give my regards to Eliza, Respect fully your friend, CAROLINE DRAKE. ABERDEEN, Dak., October 24, 1886.
My Dear Friend: I
received your book and return many thanks for the kind remembrance.
I see father and mother's names and also the names of friends of my
childhood. Seeing the
pictures of Uncle Ira and Aunt Betsy, I think of them as I used to see
them as I passed their house coming home from school, Uncle Ira always
with a smile for the children. With
best regards for your family, I am Ever your friend, MITTIE J. PROUD. "HOME," MEADVILLE, November 29, 1886.
My Dear Mr. Waid: I
have the honor of having been favored with a Souvenir under your
frank, which will be preserved, treasured and prized, as such, as all that
word implies in its truest sense--a Keepsake.
In making acknowledgment of this token of friendship, let me thank
you sincerely for the evidence of respect and esteem that its presentation
carries with it. Such a
manifestation from such a source I value more than parchment commissions,
money, or favor that springs from selfishness or sycophancy.
I have read your historical sketch, the family biographies, your
"Essay on Farm Economy," "Treatise on Money Loaning,"
and the "Address to the Youth," with mingled feelings of
admiration, gratification, and satisfaction, and I may add with profit.
Of the "Address to the Youth" it may be said, that it
will prove a beacon light to every young man who reads it and heeds its
teachings.
Should I begin to particularize I should not know where to stop,
and yet I can not withhold the meed of praise.
I think my friend of other days, Mrs. A. D. Brown, earned and is
entitled to in speaking for you in her two poems, one entitled "My
Twin Brother and I," and the other, "From the Death of My
Brother to this Date," for truly a high order of talent was developed
in so faithfully sketching, I might say photographing, in rhyme, and
measure your feelings, character and nature.
But I must desist, or I shall soon find myself particularizing,
which I forbade myself engaging in.
In conclusion, may I be pardoned if I indulge in a single personal
reflection. My own life has
been a somewhat checkered one, I might say not an entirely uneventful one. I might write a book five times the size of the Souvenir
before me of the favors I have cheerfully rendered mankind, unselfish upon
my part, but advantageous to the recipients, and yet those for whom I have
done the most, have treated me the worst, but this is a theme I do not
care to dwell upon, but for a moment was betrayed into an allusion to it
by memories that thrust themselves upon my mind, and will dismiss the
subject and ask you to name some day that you and Mrs. Waid will gratify
Mrs. Pettis and myself by your dropping in upon us long enough to eat a
plain dinner with us and have a social chat.
With kindest regards to Mrs. Waid I remain, as ever, Yours faithfully, S. NEWTON PETTIS. To Francis C. Waid, Esq., Blooming Valley, Pa. KNOXVILLE, Tenn., December 4, 1886. My Dear Mr. Waid, Meadville, Pa.:
Going to the postoffice to-day I was much surprised and gratified
to receive a finely written account of your life and character.
I am glad you have not forgotten me and that I still hold a place
in your esteem and confidence. The
"Book" is a gem, and illustrates the brilliant success of a man
who has worked himself up to the formation of a shining character, a large
fortune and a useful-life. You
and your wife and children must feel a just pride in the enjoyment of such
eminent success with which you have been blessed.
Your whole life shows what integrity, frugality and good practical
sense may accomplish. Could
your" Book" be freely circulated among the young men of the
country, there is no telling the good it might bring about them.
What you have done they may and can do.
The trouble is our young men are afraid of work.
They evade it and too often become idle, extravagant and immoral. They
are lacking in manhood. You
battled with poverty and untoward circumstances, and yet you triumphed
over all obstacles. To-day
you have a standing among your fellows worthy of imitation.
By the way, I must thank you for the complimentary notice of myself
you were kind enough to write for our home paper, the Tribune.
Indeed, I thank you.
Please give my kindest regards to Mrs. Waid, your son's family and
all inquiring friends. I
shall not soon forget my visit to your section, and the kindness I
received everywhere I went. I
hope to meet you in a better country. As ever, etc., C. W. CHARLTON. MADISONVILLE, Tenn., December 12, 1886.
My Dear Friend: I
assure you that I was greatly surprised to receive such a nice present, a
history of part of your life. I
think it nicely gotten up, and it cannot fail to interest all your old
friends and scholars. It brought many things fresh to my memory, and I cannot keep
from feeling sad when I read of the large number of friends and neighbors
that rest in Blooming Valley graveyard.
There were so many that have died that I had not heard of the death
of one, your brother, Robert L. Waid.
I was very sorry to hear of it, but glad to know his honored name
still lives. The photographs
of the old home place, your residence and the Goodrich Farm, especially
the old well sweep where I have taken many a good drink of water in days
that are forever gone, are splendid. JOHN W. THOMPSON. MEADVILLE, January 13, 1887.
My Dear Sir: I find on
my return home the beautiful Souvenir from you, and I write to
thank you for it. It shows a
good, grand thought of you. It
not only proves a book of great interest to many, but will become more and
more so as years go by.
How many would value a like work left by those long since gone, a
work which would give them a desired information that can not be had now. There is much which interests me in your book:
The journey of the Shattuck family which brought the first of your
family to this section. It
was the interest in this family which brought my mother (a young girl) to
this place. Then there is my
first boyhood's recollection of your father and mother and your old
homestead; the impression made on my boyish mind of their Christian
character peculiarly affected me at this time.
My nurse, Sarah Morehead, who
accompanied the family's trip to Rhode Island, the marriage in our
homestead (the Central Hotel now) of Sarah to Joseph Finney, the kind,
noble-hearted man who was under my father's employ so long, who showed me
one of the grandest sights of my boyhood life (a new hand sled he had made
for me). Joseph's true friendship to me never became exhausted. And so perusing your work brings interesting incidents to me pleasant to recall. I shall value the work and the spirit of the friendship in which you sent it. Very truly yours, LEON C. MAGAW. NEW ORLEANS, La., January 3, 1887.
Dear Francis: I have
been tardy in answering your letter and acknowledging receipt of your Souvenir.
The present is indeed most happily appreciated, and since its
receipt I have spent time enough in reading it to have written you many
letters; and I really should have written first.
This book will serve throughout the balance of my life to recall
pleasant recollections of our boyhood days and of you, my old friend--for
not a single incident between us or any of yours I ever heard of but what
has given me pleasure to think of. I
am now looking forward to the time when I can see more of you, and be,
more than ever before, in our company and the society of your good wife.
When I can afford to take rest and recreation, I want it to be in
my native country; and I have worked long and hard enough to be entitled
to rest for a while. However,
as I have undertaken the task of building up a large orange grove, it will
be probably some years yet before I can afford to cease constant work.
As you receive our paper, you must have a pretty good idea of what
I am doing. My duties as
secretary of the sugar societies as well as my paper business give me more
than I can possibly do, I see so many people who have nothing to do, and I
almost always have had more than I could accomplish. I often think if a man shows himself worthy he will generally
get work.
I am pleased to learn my mother's health is so good, and I greatly
regret I can not be there now, while my brother William
and sister Melissa are present.
With my best respects to you, I remain, Ever your friend, J. Y. GILMORE. ST. CHARLES, Minn., January 27, 1887.
Mr. Waid: Your book
came to hand on the 24th. Mr.
Dickson is in California, and will perhaps stay a year or more, where our
son is now residing. I have
written to him that you had sent him a nice present, and if he wishes I
will send it to him, and then you will hear from him.
I will say, many thanks for such a valuable keepsake. My respects to you and family. MRS. S. B. DICKSON. MEADVILLE, January 27, 1887. Francis C. Waid, Dear Sir: I am directed by the trustees of the Library, Art and Historical Association to tender to you their thanks for a copy of historical sketches of your family. Very truly yours, SAMUEL P. BATES. CHESTER, Minn., February 8, 1887. F. C. Waid, Meadville,
Crawford Co., Pa.,
Dear Friend: I
received your welcome book [Souvenir] giving a history of Ira
C. Waid and F. C. Waid and their
families (and others with whom they were connected or associated), the
perusal of which to me was an entertainment and pleasure which language
fails to describe, so you will be compelled to accept the will for the
deed. Many of the old
landmarks are so natural.
The Ira C., the F. C. Waid and Jabez Goodrich
places all make me think I am back in old Crawford County again.
Then the faces of Ira C. and wife and
of Francis C. and wife are so natural, so
familiar and so life-like that almost instinctively I reach out my hand to
give them a good hearty greeting, and talk over the reminiscences of
thirty-six years which have passed. In
fact, the past all seems to be crowded into the present.
Then I ask myself if it is all real, and I am compelled to
acknowledge that these only represent what is past and can not be recalled. How
it makes me think I ought to have been better in all these years, and to
have done much more good and gathered more into the fold of Christ.
Last, not least, is the view of the State Road Church.
How natural the size, the height, the doors, the windows, the steps
and all the surroundings are to me, all associated with the most sacred
memoirs! How many times have
I had the privilege of opening those doors and of sitting on the seats
within, which were hallowed by the presence of Him who rules on high! I then felt as did Moses, that we were on holy ground.
Then and there the Gospel was preached with power by men whose lips
seemed touched by coals from "God's Altar."
And it was impossible to stand or sit without feeling that we were
in God's house and at Heaven's gate.
Then those who sought and found Him of whom Moses in the Law and
Prophets did write were numbered by scores and hundreds.
And of that number are, besides myself, my brothers and sisters:
Nathan S., Eleazer, Thomas W., Sarah J., Mary
A., Sylvester N., Letitia P., Loretta P., Margaret E., Amelia S. and Emma
A. * * *
Well do I remember Simeon Brown, known
as "Father Brown," who laid his hand on my head and said:
"It is good enough for you" ( thought so too).
He was a leader of the leaders.
There were Jabez Goodrich and wife, Ira
C. Waid and wife, William Williams and
wife, Ephraim Williams, and many whom I
cannot mention for want of time. When
I think of Ira C. Waid I think of a man quiet
and unassuming, never putting himself forward, always ready and willing to
do his share in supporting the right, and at the right time.
I then associate Goodrich with these words, "I yield, I
yield," and rising on his feet till the house shook.
His latch string was always out.
Ephraim Williams brings to mind these
words: "My camp is in
the wilderness," and then there was Simeon Glen, another earnest
Christian. But they have
nearly all gone before. Yours faithfully, T. W. PHELPS. DENVER, Colo., February 9, 1887. To F. C. Waid, Esq., Blooming
Valley, Pa.
Very dear brother: I
have with great pleasure seen your volume of autobiographies.
It brings freshly to my remembrance the many very agreeable things
relating to our acquaintance in those pleasant years.
Let me congratulate you on having seen an active and successful
life. You know who has been
your silent partner without whose blessing you would have labored in vain.
It is a pretty serious matter to keep our accounts straight with
"God, who giveth the increase."
I trust you will deal with Him as He has dealt with you.
I hope your later years may be bright with the sunshine of His
favor, Here, in Colorado, I find in His mercy health and work and fair
success. It is good land but
different from yours. Heaven is better than either.
Let us make sure of that. Believe
me, very thankful for your book, and ever yours very truly, A. B. HYDE. MEADVILLE, Pa., February 24, 1887.
Dear Brother in Christ: I
received your "Souvenir;" it was a real surprise to me,
but it was a very pleasant surprise, and I am greatly obliged.
My wife and daughter, although knowing nothing of the persons and
places mentioned in your book, save what I had previously told them,
seemed scarcely less interested in its contents than myself.
When I read so many familiar names of persons and places, and more
especially when I look at the portraits and views given in the book, my
thoughts are crowded with memories of years now long past away.
How well I remember your father and mother, and yourself and wife,
too. Sabbath after Sabbath I
saw you and your parents in the old State Road Church, and heard you bear
witness unto the truth. Your
wife may not remember me, but I remember her very distinctly.
I was at your father's house once at least when the young lady you
discovered in your parents' kitchen was there engaged as when you made the
discovery, and if subsequent years have verified what youth promised I am
not surprised that you are satisfied with your partner. If you did find her in your mother's kitchen, that was indeed
a good place to make such a discovery, for if she pleased your mother it
was quite natural that you also should be pleased.
You certainly cannot be displeased if I tell you that nothing in
your book gave me greater pleasure than the view of the old State Road
Church. The most important
event of my whole life occurred at the altar of that church.
It was the turning point of my destiny for time and eternity.
It is the spot to me more dear than native vale or mountain,
because it is where I first my Savior found and felt my sins forgiven.
God was pleased to give me a most glorious conversion.
Truly I saw His brightness around me shine, and I shouted
"Glory! Glory!" I never could doubt my conversion, and I have always
cherished the memory of that sacred hour and that hallowed spot.
It was the nineteenth day of December, 1850, over thirty-six years
ago now, and through all of these years God has kept me by His grace and
always caused me to triumph through Christ Jesus.
If it had not been for His grace I should have utterly failed long
ago. Six of my father's
family were converted that same day.
I left Pennsylvania in September, 1855, now more than thirty-one
years ago. I did not think
then that so many years would pass before I should find an opportunity of
returning, and I have all this time cherished a desire to again see those
places made sacred by so many pleasant associations and once more to greet
my brethren with whom I traveled during the first years of my Christian
journey. Thus far I have never been able to find the favorable
opportunity. While I was
engaged in ministerial work I could never find time or money to devote to
such a pleasure, and since I have been out of the pastoral work it has
been very much the same. Until
recently my health has been such, quite a portion of the time, that I
could not undertake such a trip even if I had all the needed funds.
I am beginning to fear that I may never again visit those places so
long cherished in my memory, and that I may not be permitted to greet the
dear Christian friends from whom I have been so long separated until we
meet on the other shore with all we have loved so dearly who have gone on
before us.
I rejoice to learn of your distinguished success in your pleasant
and honorable vocation, and trust that every step you have taken has been
with a proper regard for our Lord's command:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.
Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven.
Too many forget this and while the world may credit them with great
success, their lives are an utter failure.
When one does amass a fortune every dollar of which is consecrated
to the service and glory of God, his example is most commendable, and when
he gives an account of his stewardship his Lord will say:
Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord. Very truly yours, S. N. PHELPS.
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