CHAPTER 7:
THE PREACHERS' CHAPTER

REV. WILLIAM TAYLOR HART

William Taylor Hart was born at the old home, Sand Hill farm, in Clay Township Bartholomew County, Indiana, near the present center of population of the United States (1899), Dec. 8, 1833. He bears the name of his mother's brother—William Taylor.

Among his earliest recollections are those concerning his Grandfather Hart. When he (William) was about six years old his great grandfather, Taylor, then 84 years old, came to visit Grandfather Hart, who lived at our house, and talk over their Revolutionary War experience, they having been in the same company and messmates. And when Grandfather Hart was wounded at the battle of Cowpens, Great Grandfather Taylor nursed him. Their war stories were of intense interest to my boyish curiosity.

The first school that I attended was taught by Harvey Sloan. The teacher always called me Captain Riley, and the scholars for many years called me "T. Hart," because I insisted that my name was William T. Hart. Among my other teachers were John Foster, two winters; my father two winters; a Mr. Doolittle, who had but one hand; John Rolston two winters and David E. McCauley. In 1850-51 my Uncle, C. C. Hart, taught school in the old County Seminary in Columbus. I went to school to my uncle in the fall and winter of 1850-5l, and boarded with David Pence, but roomed in the Seminary building with the teacher. The next winter I went to school in Columbus to Rev. and Mrs. Godden and boarded with David Pence.

During the winter of 1850, while rooming with my uncle, there was a revival of religion in Columbus. Rev. James Brownlee was our pastor. Myself, with many others in the school, were deeply anxious about our souls. One night my uncle left me alone, and after a great struggle with myself I accepted of Christ as my Savior and was made happy in His love. In the morning my uncle came in early to make the fire and sweep the school room, and finding this work done exclaimed, "Why, you are up early!" I replied, "I did not go to bed." "What is the matter?'' he asked. "I have been trying to settle the controversy between the Lord and myself, and I have made an unconditional surrender." In taking this step I was greatly helped by the preaching of our pastor, but especially by the prayers and counsels of my uncle, and by what he knew of the wish of my father and mother. Soon after this I united with the church. I was then seventeen years old. Young Christians at that day were not given much to do that would develop spiritual life, and I made but little progress in Christian life. I attended church regularly at Columbus, four miles from home, and I usually rode horseback.

My father being hl poor health, I could not attend school in the winter of 1853-54, but worked on the farm. Feb. 22, 1854, my father died, and as I was the oldest son, the care of farm, in a great measure, rested on me. This care I had until the fall of 1855. During the winter of 1854-55 I taught a three months' subscription school in a log school house one mile north of our home. A few days before my father's death he asked me to take his place in keeping up family worship. This I did, though it was a great cross at first.

My father was superintendent of the Sunday School in the neighborhood, and the first Sabbath after his death it became necessary to choose a superintendent. Against my strong protest, the choice fell on me. And thus I was gradually led into Christian work.

Rev. Henry Little, D. D., of Madison, and others often urged upon me the duty of giving myself to the work of the ministry. I also knew that this was my mother's wish. After much thought and prayer I made the decision and consecration. My brothers, Edward and Gideon, being old enough to take care or the farm, in September, 1855, I entered the preparatory department of Wabash College, Crawfordsville. Ind. For the first two years I received some financial aid from home. Afterwards I received aid from the Presbyterian Board of Education.

During my preparatory course I had the care of the preparatory building. I sawed the wood, made the fires, swept the room, and in this way I paid a large part of my expenses. Two years I waited on the table at the hotel for my board, and two years I was steward of a boarding club for my board. I also took care of the college hall; sawed wood and did other work, and in this way I met most of my expenses.

One winter I taught school in my native county and boarded with Newton Jones, my brother-in-law. At another time I went home at the spring vacation and worked on the farm until September for Newton Jones. One summer's vacation I spent in Shelby County, Indiana, laboring for the American Tract Society, but the most of the summers I spent at home working on the farm.

June 26, 1861, I graduated from Wabash College, taking the degree of A. B. By the faculty of the college I was invited to deliver one of the master orations at the commencement of 1864. I chose for my subject, "The Westminster Assembly." At this time I received the degree of A. M.

After I graduated, on account of the unsettled state of the country and the need of funds, I did not go to the Theological Seminary that fall, but taught an eight months' school at Sardinia, Decatur County, Indiana. As my brothers had gone into the army, I spent the summer of 1862 on the farm and taught a fall school in Columbus. The way now being open, I went to Lane Seminary after the fall term had opened, arriving there on my twenty-ninth birthday, Dec. 20, 1862. The next summer I spent on the farm. In my senior vacation—1864—I preached at Wabash, Ind., for Rev. William Essick, an old college friend.

I graduated at Lane Seminary May 11, 1865. During my senior year I preached at Lebanon, New Richmond and Morrow, O., Jamestown, Ky., and several times at Bethlehem and New Washington, Clarke County, Indiana. Through Rev. John W. Walter, of Milan, O.—son-in-law of Dr. Allen, of Lane Seminary—I received an invitation to preach at Lyme, Huron County, Ohio. I spent the Sabbath, March 6, with that church. Near the close of the Seminary year I received a call from that church to become their pastor. About the same time I received a similar call from the churches of New Washington and Bethlehem. After careful and prayerful consideration, I accepted the call to Lyme, and entered upon my work there May 28, 1865. In April, 1864, I was licensed at Columbus, Ind., by the Presbytery of Madison, and on Sept. l1, 1865, I was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry at the same place and by the same Presbytery. My uncle, Rev. C. C. Hart, preached the ordination sermon.

April 29, 1865, I became engaged to Miss Chloe L. Barbour, of Walnut Hills, O. We were married by Rev. C. C. Hart at Walnut Hills, Sept. 7, 1865. Miss Barbour was born Nov. 3 1845, at Greenwood, Ill. At the age of six her parents moved to Minnesota. They lived four years in Minneapolis and four years at Monticello, Ill. In 1860 they moved to Cincinnati, O., where the daughter attended the Female College, Rev. Geo. M. Maxwell, D. D., president. In May, 1865, she graduated from the Cincinnati College of Music. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church of Walnut Hills and their organist. During the greater part of my ministry she has been a most efficient helper in church and Sabbath School, especially in infant class work and music. After our marriage we visited my mother at the Sand Hill farm, and the next day we attended my ordination at Columbus, and thence to Lyme. When I began work at Lyme the membership of the church numbered seventy-five. During my ministry there several precious revivals were enjoyed, at which twenty-five, thirty and fifty were added to the church. I remained at Lyme nearly seventeen years. During this time one hundred and sixty-eight members were added to the church, one hundred and twenty-four on examination, thirty-four by letter. At the close of my pastorale the church numbered one hundred and twenty-one. The Sabbath School had been doubled. Ninety per cent of the school were adults, and ninety per cent of the congregation were regular attendants of the Sabbath School. This church was organized on the "Plan of Union" for Presbyterian and Congregational members. In 1873 it became a Congregational church. I continued to serve the church until September, 1881, but still retained my membership in Presbytery.

I received a call to the pastorale of the churches of Bloomville and Melmore, which I accepted, and was installed in November, 1881. My uncle, Rev. C. C. Hart, preached the installation sermon. I served these churches four and a half years. During this time ninety-seven members were received, sixty-nine on examination and twenty-eight by letter. The churches were increased, one from seventy-five to one hundred; the other from sixty to seventy members. Sabbath Schools increased also.

In the spring of 1886 I accepted a call to the church at Huron, Erie County, Ohio, in the bounds of the Presbytery of Huron. The other three churches of which I have been pastor were also in the bounds of this Presbytery. During the thirteen years I have been pastor at Huron the church has grown from a membership of ninety-eight to two hundred and fifteen. Two hundred and twelve have been received to membership; one hundred and sixty-six on examination, forty-six by letter. The enrollment in the Sabbath School is three hundred and ninety-two. There have been one hundred and fifty-one baptisms; sixty adults and ninety-one children.

During the thirty-five years of my ministry I have preached 3,821 sermons, married 156 couples and attended 420 funerals. Three times I have been moderator of the Presbytery. Three times I have represented the Presbytery in the General Assembly: In 1869, the year of the reunion at New York, in May, and at Pittsburgh in October; in 1885 at Cincinnati, and in 1893 at Washington, D. C.

We have four children, two daughters and two sons, viz: Alice Hart, born at Lyme, July 25, 1866. She united with the church at the age of ten. Graduated from the Western Female Seminary, Oxford, O., June, 1887, and was married by her father to Mr. Elwin Little, of Hayes City, Kan., December, 1889. They have three children: Elwin, born Nov. 15, 1890; Kenneth Sada, born July 21, 1892; and Constance, born Aug. 26, 1895.

Sada Hart was born at Lyme, Aug. 5, 1872. She united with the church at ten years of age. Graduated from the Western Female Seminary, June, 1891. In the fall and winter of 1892-93 she taught in Sumter, S. C., in a school of the Freedmen's Board. June 19, 1895, she was married to Mr. Edward Powel Childs, of Granville, O., by her father. Rev. E. W. Childs, father of the bridegroom, assisted in the ceremony. Mr. Childs taught two years in the High School in Pueblo, Col. He is now Professor of Physics and Chemistry in the State University of New Mexico, at Albuquerque. They have three children, one son and two daughters: Edward Powel, born in Hayes City, Kan., May 27, 1896; Margaret, born at Pueblo, Col., Dec. 5,1897; and Katharine, born in Albuquerque, Deb. 26,1899.

Edward Gideon Hart was born at Lyme, Aug. 6, 1880. At ten years of age he united with the Presbyterian church. The year 1896-7 he attended the High School at Sandusky, O. In 1897-8 he attended the High School at Pueblo, Col. He is now (1899) a student in the University at Albuquerque, N. M.

Harry William Hart was born in Bloomville, O., Sept. 23, 1883. He united with the Presbyterian church at ten years of age. He has just completed, June, 1899, his second year in Huron High School.

Our children were all baptized in infancy, were all converted in their youth and have all been active, consistent Christians.

WILLIAM TAYLOR HART

Huron, O., July 24, 1899

REV. G. A. MATHES

George Anderson Mathes, a native of Jefferson County, Tennessee, was born Aug. 21, 1809, and died at Rogersville, Tenn., March 30, 1846, in the thirty-seventh year of his age.

He was educated at Maryville College, in East Tennessee, under the tuition of Rev. Dr. Isaac Anderson, a celebrated preacher and teacher in those times. He was a young man of great promise, of more than ordinary intellect, a high-toned gentleman of strictest integrity, with a profound sense of his obligation to God and man; of whom Dr. Anderson used to say: "He is a coming giant." On April 7, 1836, in his twenty-seventh year, George A. Mathes was married to Miss Nancy Shanklin Hart, daughter of Edward Hart, of Blount County, Tennessee. To them were born three daughters: Serena Judson, who died in infancy; Mary Jane, who married Mr. James Chandler, and moved to Arkansas, where they both died, leaving no living children; Margaret, who married Mr. Samuel Foster, a farmer of Blount County, Tennessee, and moved to Coffee County, Tennessee, where they both died.

After a thorough course of academical and theological studies Mr. Mathes was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. His only pastorate was at Rogersville, Tenn. His labors were greatly blessed. He was greatly loved by the people, and had every reasonable prospect of taking high rank in the ministry. He was a very affectionate son, and till near the close of his life seemed more concerned for his widowed mother than for himself, and often wrote to her most tender and affectionate letters. He contracted consumption, and for several months was a great sufferer. His end was peace with God and man.

This short sketch was prepared by Rev. N. Beecher Mathes,
September, 1899.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. WILLIAM ALFRED MATHES
By His Son, Rev. N. Beecher Mathes.

William Alfred Mathes was born Sept. 28, 1814, in Jefferson County, Tennessee. At the age of twenty-three he was married to Miss Margaret Maria Hart, daughter of Edward Hart, of Blount County, Tennessee. They had eight children, all of whom lived to adult age, except one; and are as follows: James Harvey, Nancy Elizabeth, George Anderson, Rachel Emaline William Edward Hart, John Theroll, Nathaniel Beecher, Cordelia Josephine. Mr. Mathes started out in life as a farmer, but before very long turned his attention to a vocation better suited to his talents and temperament. He was at different times employed by the American Tract Society, American Sunday School Union and American Bible Society, and also in distributing religious literature, organizing Sunday Schools, making temperance addresses and ministering to the afflicted the consolations of the Christian religion. In this way he spent the best years of his life. In this work he canvassed very thoroughly several counties in Tennessee and Arkansas. He thus picked up a large fund of useful information on a great variety of subjects, and accomplished much good.

His education in youth was limited to the common schools of those early times, but he was a close student of the Bible, had been accustomed to the best preaching from childhood up, and few men of his acquaintance were better posted on religious subjects than he was.

When about sixty years of age it occurred to him that he ought to become a preacher of the Gospel. He had serious thoughts on this subject long before, and had been doing religious work publicly all the time; but as his education had not been directed in those channels required of the ministry in the Presbyterian church, of which he was a member, he decided to cast his lot with the Cumberland Presbyterians, and by them he was licensed and ordained in 1875. He preached wherever there was an opportunity, sent appointments to remote school houses, conducted protracted meetings alone and in conjunction with other ministers, and filled appointments for others; but never took regular charge of any particular church. At the age of sixty-seven he lost his wife. This left him entirely alone, as all his children had long since scattered from home.

He married a second time, Miss Harriet E. Edgar, an elderly lady, well suited to his temperament and condition in life. Mr. Mathes had been in delicate health since early manhood, and as infirmities increased and old age crept up on him, he conceived the idea of building a chapel on his own land and near his own door, where he could preach and hold Sunday School and have others preach. This he did, raising the funds and overseeing the work in person. After a year or so the chapel upon which he had spent so much labor and thought and prayer was burned to the ground. This was a great grief to him, as he was now quite old and feeble. But though cast down, not discouraged, he immediately set to work to rebuild the chapel, which was accomplished, notwithstanding the difficulties usually attending such enterprises, his faith and energy never faltered. For a number of years it was his habit to celebrate his birthday by holding religious service in the chapel (called for him "Mathes' Chapel"). Sometimes a sermon was preached by a minister invited beforehand, addresses were made by laymen, and then he would relate his spiritual condition, give expression to his hopes and exhort the young and unconverted to walk in the ways of righteousness. Or if those invited failed to be present, he would conduct. the entire service himself. On these occasions he would take a number of his special friends home with him to dinner. These seasons were very precious to him and, towards the last, very affecting to all present.

He outlived all of his father's family, buried a beloved wife and infant daughter, two grown sons and a grow daughter. He had many other trials and sore conflicts. Strange that one apparently so frail could hold on to life so long and accomplish so much.

Jonesboro, Ga., April l0, 1899.

P. S.—After months of lingering illness, this man of God entered into rest Sept. 26, 1899, lacking two days of eighty-five years of earthly life. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.''—C. C. H., Jan. 25, 1900.

REV. ROBERT HERVEY HOOKE

John P. Hooke and Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Hart, were married May 15, 1849, at the family homestead of the Harts, three and one-half miles northeast of Maryville, Blount County, East Tennessee. I was born April 6, 1850, four miles east of Maryville, and remained on my father's farm until I grew to manhood. My father inherited his farm from his grandfather, Robert Hooke, who received the title to it from the government. All my ancestors on both sides, as far back as I can learn, were members of the Presbyterian church, except my grandmother on my father's side.

The civil war and the disturbance immediately preceding it deprived me of many advantages of early education, I being the oldest of six children. My father not being able for service in the Union army, and not willing to serve the Confederate cause, was subject to be conscripted into the Rebel army, he was in hiding from the conscript officers for eleven months. This left me, at the age of thirteen, with the care of the family, and the farm to manage and work as best I could. With what help my mother and my brother, two years younger than myself, and a day or two when my father dared to venture out, we made a good crop in 1863, the most of which, by force, was taken to help supply one army or the other, for each seemed to be needy and did not hesitate to take, without permission, whatever they could get. I was arrested by General John Morgan's men for hiding horses and held for eight hours; and on the next day was hemmed in by General Joe Wheeler's men and lay hid in the weeds and grass within one hundred feet of the road while the entire command passed by. A Lieutenant and orderly and ten men passed within forty feet of where I lay. They were getting apples on the first of September, 1863. At another time I played sick to prevent General Wheeler's men from taking me with them. Thus I was often in hiding or fleeing to prevent the Confederates from getting me.

After the war was over everything was so devastated that we had but few advantages in the way of schools. The terms were so short that it took half the time to get up to where we left off ten months before, so that my early education was much neglected.

In the fall of 1865 I accepted Christ as my Savior and joined New Providence Presbyterian Church, of which my father was, and still is, an elder. In September, 1869, my brother Albert and I entered the preparatory department of Maryville College in the same class, walking from home, a distance of four miles. Thus walking between eight and nine miles every school day for four years. After this we rented a room in town and did our own cooking for eighteen months. At this time our sisters entered the preparatory department of the college. We rented rooms and they did the cooking for us all. My brother and I, after many journeys to and from home, many hardships, some delays in the way, graduated in the class of 1874, receiving the degree of A. B. We worked on the farm nearly every Saturday during school months and every summer between school terms. In this way we obtained our college education.

After graduating from college I worked on the farm for my father two years, except three months, when I taught school on Willams Creek, near the spot where the patriarch, my great grandfather, Joseph Hart, camped the first night after leaving the old home, September, 1821.

January 3, 1876, I entered the Theological Seminary, Danville, Ky. My brother Albert had entered four months before. We pursued our studies in the same class and completed the course in 1878, when I returned home, and on the last of May, after four hours' examination by the Presbytery of Kingston, I was licensed to preach. (My brother Albert was licensed at the same time.) Thus my brother and I pursued our classical and theological course together, and were licensed together. From that time our lives have been separated.

On Aug. 25, 1878, I was ordained by the Presbytery of Kingston as an evangelist, that I might go to Texas on missionary work. But before I could get away the yellow fever at Chattanooga and other points was so prevalent that the quarantine prevented my getting through the lines; and I continued to work on my father's farm that summer and fall, preaching occasionally for some of the brethren. In January, 1879, I commenced in St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Hambler County, East Tennessee, a series of evangelistic meetings that continued three weeks, preaching morning and evening. The Spirit was poured out, the people confessed their sins, confessed wrongs done to each other during the war, forgave each other, renewed their covenant vows, a number confessed Christ and united with the church.

After this I began missionary work in Knoxville, Tenn., under the direction of the Second Church. I preached at Erin, seven miles west of Knoxville, on one Sabbath morning (going on foot) and in one of the city mission churches in the evening. On the alternate Sabbath I preached at New Prospect, four miles out, in the morning, preaching in the evening to another church in the city. I supplied these churches and chapels until August, 1880. Each year I spent several weeks in evangelistic labors in this field, in which time over one hundred members were added to the churches. I then offered myself to the Board of Home Missions for work in the West. I was commissioned to go to Flandreau, Dakota Territory, which place I reached Nov. 11, 1880, where I made my home. Here I preached on alternate Sabbaths, morning and evening, and in the afternoon at some school house. On the alternate Sabbath I preached at Dell Rapids, twenty miles distant, for one year. I built a church at Flandreau, one also at Dell Rapids. I also organized a church at Coleman. By this time the work was so great and the demands for preaching so numerous, I asked the Board to send a man to Dell Rapids and Coleman.

During the winter of 1880-81 the snow was so deep and the blizzards so numerous that the railroad trains did not make any regular trips from Christmas until May, 1881. And there was no train of any kind from February 14 to April 20. The supply of fuel was so short that many burned hay all winter. This was prepared by twisting it up in balls, six or seven inches in diameter, and placing two or three balls in an air-tight stove. Some families would go to bed at dark and remain there until daylight, and in this way save fuel and light. Just four months after I arrived at Flandreau, and during a severe blizzard, Mr. Isaac B. Taylor's residence, where I roomed and boarded, was destroyed by fire, in which I lost my entire library, including notes of lectures received at the Theological Seminary. This was on March 12, 1881, more than a month before the snow began to break up. The snow averaged from three to four feet all over the whole country. The drifts in some places were over the tops of the telegraph poles. I preached in school houses when the only fuel was twisted hay. The stove would be filled before preaching, I would then preach from twenty-five to thirty-five minutes, the service concluded, and all returned home, thanking God for His goodness. Although the mercury was often forty degrees below zero, I missed only one Sabbath's appointment. Sometimes I went with the mail carrier, when he dared to venture out. When he did not go, I sometimes went on horseback, if a horse could get through the snowdrifts. When all these failed, I went on foot, and often came home from a twenty-mile trip, and sometimes forty miles, with my feet sore and bleeding from walking through the crusts of snow. Provisions of all kinds were scarce and held at enormous prices. Eggs were fifty cents per dozen and could not be had at that. At one time I had a sleigh and two horses to go to the river for flour. But at times I had to get out and lead the horses with a long rope to get them through the drifts. When the snow melted towards the last of April, the water was so abundant that I had to try the swimming process. I would swim my horse across the creeks, get off, pull off my shoes and socks, and sometimes pantaloons and drawers, wring the water out of them, put them on and go on my way. I always carried my Bible with me, and when I went in swimming I held it in my left hand while I guided my horse with the other. I held sway over a large territory. Thirty-two miles west was the nearest Presbyterian minister. On the northwest, sixty miles; southeast, forty miles; one hundred miles east, another; northeast, sixty miles; eighty miles to another on the north.

After securing a man for the churches at Dell Rapids and Coleman, I preached at Flandreau twice each Sabbath, and in the afternoon at some school house. Thus preaching and working up the field. To do this I sometimes drove from. fourteen to thirty-two miles and preached three times each Sabbath.

About the last of November, 1882, I gave up work at Flandreau and went northwest two hundred miles to Columbia, just at the junction of several settlements. I preached at Columbia, Ordway, seven miles distant; Groton, twenty miles off; Freeport, twenty-five miles, as regularly as I could, working and organizing churches at Columbia, Groton and Freeport. I continued to supply these churches for awhile as best I could, but the results were so unsatisfactory to myself, and so many of other churches coming in, that I lost some of the churches I had organized, through men of no principle and but little religion.

In the spring of 1884 I left this field and commenced work at several points forty miles further north. Here I had a triangular field, but I spent much time preaching at little towns springing up where it was supposed railroads would be built. I preached in school houses, sod houses, hotels, unfinished dwellings, unfinished stores, in part of a saloon. Wherever I could find a place large enough to hold a small congregation, there I preached. I preached in many little towns, in some I organized churches. But with the building of the railroad, many of the towns were moved to the railroad, and some of the church organizations were thus broken up. I saw that hundreds and thousands of people were coming in and settling on claims. Beginning May 1, 1884, I continued this work until August, 1886, twenty-seven months. During this time I traveled with a small horse and buggy nearly 13,000 miles, much of the time over the broad, trackless prairie, when there was a great rush to see who could locate the first claim and build a shanty on it. I usually stopped at night wherever I could find lodging, but sometimes I had to travel all night, or sleep in or under my buggy. On Dec. 21, 1884, I preached twice, drove twelve miles with the thermometer below zero, and snowing most of the time. Before I could reach my hotel I was caught in a blizzard and had to accept lodging on the prairie for the night, without dinner or supper. After wandering about for an hour I came to a small sod house, which I broke open, led my horse in and closed the door behind us. Here I spent the night, tramping up and down, standing on my feet, for there was not room for either myself or horse to lie down safely. The night passed; joyfully the morning came. The mercury stood at thirty-six below zero when I came out of thirteen hours of total darkness. My feet and legs were so cold that I could scarcely move my joints below my hips. My feet were so badly frozen that I did not put on a shoe for three months. Two sermons, fifteen miles' drive, mercury below zero all day, snowing most of the time, caught in a blizzard, an awful night in the dark, twenty-four hours without food for self or horse—experiences not to be repeated.

After preaching every night for six weeks at Hudson, I organized a church. In these meetings we had Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Germans, Scotch, Canadians and Americans— all singing at the same time, each in his own native tongue, the wonderful story of redemption in the Gospel hymns. And if any desired to speak or pray, they used their native language. (See Acts 2: 5-12.) Such meetings I never enjoyed before and can hardly expect to experience again, so great was the interest, so many nationalities represented, that it seemed a Pentecostal season. Here I built a church and school house combined, which is used as such yet. In October, 1886, I began preaching at a railroad crossing, five miles north of Hudson. I preached in a building without doors or sash. Two women and twenty-five men were present, and it was so cold that I requested the men to keep their hats on. Here I organized a church in 1887 and the next year I built a house of worship. I also preached at Oakes and Sweden. For awhile I lived at Hudson, and then moved to Oakes, where I owned a small house of two rooms. I have been in storms, blizzards and cyclones, in one of which the top of my buggy was wrenched off; in another I was almost thrown out of it. I have seen the thermometer mark fifty-six degrees below zero several times. I have been in hunger and pain. At one time I was so hard pressed, money all exhausted, that I had to mortgage my horse and buggy to secure the means for daily living.

About the time of the adoption of the State constitution, and afterwards, the temperance question, or rather the saloon question, deeply agitated the public mind. The saloon men honored my work by threatening my life. They said I would be killed if I did not mind my own business and let theirs alone. At one time I was threatened with a "coat of tar and feathers." At another with "dynamite and a blowing up." At another, "If Hooke knew what was good for him, he would let us alone." At another time the saloon men held a secret meeting and selected a man to kill me. Soon after this a saloon man hailed me on the street about something I should have said in a sermon. In the conversation that followed I kept cool, but told him I knew they had threatened my life at various times and in different ways but you don't dare to do it. Your business makes you cowards. You dare not meet me face to face like men, but you would sneak around the corner and shoot me when I am alone. Or you will hire some one else to do it. No one but a coward will do this. I am not afraid of you or any of your associates. My door is unlocked many a time all night. It is not you men that I fight, but your business; and I shall never cease fighting that. You may kill me, but that won't help your business. It was after this conversation that I heard of the secret meeting in which they hired a man to kill me. Their man became alarmed, and thinking the secret was out, fled from the country. This plan for killing me was heard by a man in an adjoining room, with only a thin board partition, and that did not reach to the ceiling, and thus he heard every word that was said. I believe it was the conversation I had with the saloon man on the street that made them weaken and saved my life. After that there were no more threats that I heard of, but I fought the saloons all the same The man that I had the conversation with I afterwards prosecuted for violating the liquor law, and finally secured his conviction, and had had him placed under bonds not to engage in the liquor business again. All of which cost him not less than $1,000. I was through all this saloon battle previous to March, 1887, and I believe I did as much as any man in North Dakota to carry the State for "constitutional prohibition."

In April, 1887, I became acquainted with Miss Viola A. Knox, a young lady from Altoona, Pa., who was keeping house for her brother, Rev. George Knox, of Sioux City, Ia. On the 15th of May, 1888, we were married at her father's home in Altoona. After visiting for a short time among friends in Tennessee and Indiana, we reached Oakes, N. D., June 29, 1887, and were welcomed with an ovation. We began housekeeping in our house of two rooms. I afterwards built a house, two stories, and four rooms. During these eleven years I organized seven churches opened the way for organizing three others, built and dedicated three houses of worship, and assisted in the dedication of two others, made a vigorous and successful fight for constitutional prohibition and married a wife. (Good for eleven years, brother. May your future years be as fruitful and more peaceful.—C. C. H.)

Having accepted a call to the church at Kentland, Presbytery of Logansport, Indiana; we left Dakota in December, 1891. I preached at Kentland three years. Here I built a fine manse and greatly improved things in general. I also preached for a Reformed Presbyterian Church, eight miles distant, on alternate Sabbath afternoons. In 1895 I engaged in some general missionary work in Indiana. In October, 1896, I accepted a call to the pastorale of the "Old Indiana and Upper Indiana Churches." I entered on this work at once. We moved into the manse at "Old Indiana Church," six miles from Vincennes, our post office.

At all the places where I have preached any length of time the church has been greatly benefited and souls have been led to confess Christ. We have no children.

Old Indiana Church Manse, July, 1900.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. ALBERT MELVILLE HOOKE

My parents were John Purvis and Mary Elizabeth Hooke, nee Hart, daughter of Edward Hart. I was born Oct. 19, 1851, on a farm four miles east of Maryville, East Tennessee, a part of the same which my great grandfather, Robert Hooke, purchased in the early settlement of East Tennessee, and which my father still owns. My great grandfather was one of the first elders of New Providence Church in Maryville, and my father succeeded him, and is now the senior elder in the church. The most precious memory of my childhood is our Christian home, daily family worship, regular attendance at church and a holy keeping of the Sabbath day. My childhood and youth were spent in attending the country schools during a part of the autumn and winter, and working on the farm the rest of the year.

In 1867 my brother Robert and myself entered the preparatory department of Maryville College. We went from home, walking eight miles each day, doing our share of morning and evening chores and reciting every morning at eight o'clock. When we entered the freshman class we secured a room in town, went from home Monday morning, kept house through the week and returned home Friday evening, ready for work on Saturday. During our junior year our sisters, Ada and Arena, entered college and kept house for us. For seven years Robert and myself attended college in term time and worked on father's farm during vacations, graduating hl 1874. I worked on the farm through the summer and taught school during the autumn and a part of the winter of 1874-5, and returning home, worked on the farm the following spring and summer, studying law in the meantime.

I cannot remember the time when I did not yearn for a Christian hope and experience, though the way seemed dark till I was eighteen years of age. During a revival in the church and college (1869) I united with the church. From the age of ten years, when I read the life of Henry Martyn I felt that if ever I became a Christian I must enter the ministry; but when I united with the church an overwhelming sense of unfitness seemed to bar the way to gospel ministry, and for five years I strove to put it out of mind. In the summer of 1875, however, I yielded to the voice of duty and entered the Theological Seminary of Danville, Ky., September, 1875, and graduated from the same in 1878, having spent the first vacation as colporteur of the Shelby County (Kentucky) Bible Society, and the second vacation in preaching at New Castle, Ky. I was licensed by Union Presbytery in May, 1878, in the chapel of Maryville College, at the close of the college year. On July 19, same year, I took charge of the Second Church of Bowling Green, Ky. and was ordained by the Presbytery of Louisville in November 1879. In 1880 I received a call from the church in Greenville Tenn., which I accepted, and began work there October 1, and remained two years as stated supply. Through the solicitation of Dr. Walker, Synodical Missionary of Missouri, I visited that State in October, 1882. But seeing no encouraging outlook in the field to which I was sent, I returned to Bowling Green; and in January, 1883, I resumed labor as stated supply of the Second Church. In 1884-5 I was Professor of English Language and Literature and of Mental and Moral Science in Ogden College Bowling Green, Ky.

In 1886 I received a call to the pastorale of the church in Blue Spring, Neb., Presbytery of Nebraska City, which I accepted, and labored with that church two years. In 1888 I was called to Clinton, Ind., in the Presbytery of Crawfordsville, where I labored three years. During these three years the church secured a manse, a church was organized at Dana, an outpost fifteen miles distant, and which grew to fifty-two members. There was general prosperity in the field. From 1891 to 1895 I was pastor of the churches of Waveland and Bethany, same Presbytery. My health failing, I was compelled to suspend the work of the ministry for a time, and for the last three years I have been on a farm two miles from Bowling Green, Ky., preaching as opportunity offered.

I was married to Miss Laura Clark, of Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 30, 1881. We have five children: Clark Purvis, born Dec. 16, 1882; Wishard, born Sept. 26, 1885; May Genevieve, born Aug. 31, 1887; J. Wendell, born Oct. 3, 1889; Virginia Joy, born July 3, 1893. Our children are at home with us. They have been born, baptized and bred within the pale of the Presbyterian church, though none of them have assumed Christian vows personally. They have attended the public and city schools ever since they were old enough to enter. It is our desire to give them a college education, and thus fit them for the Lord's work. ALBERT MELVILLE HOOKE.

Bowling Green, Ky., Feb. 3, 1899.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF N. BEECHER MATHES

Nathaniel Beecher Mathes, son of Rev. W. A. and M. M. (Hart) Mathes, grandson of Edward Hart, and great-grandson of Joseph Hart, was born near Dandridge, Jefferson County, Tennessee, July 9, 1855. With the exception of nine months, most of which was spent with his brother Edward in Middle Tennessee, he remained at home, on the farm, till he was twenty-two years of age. During his childhood he attended the common schools of the neighborhood for two or three months during the winter. At the age of seventeen he spent six months in the High School at Mount Horeb, near his father's home, under the instruction of Samuel Anderson, M. D. Later on he attended school at the same place for two months, when his teacher was Professor G. A. Zirkle, a graduate of Kings College, Bristol, Tenn. Within the next two years he spent fifteen months in Maury Academy at Dandridge, Tenn., under Professor W. R. Marard, as assistant teacher, and teaching school himself during vacations. From the age of seventeen he paid his own tuition and met most of his expenses. To do this he practiced the most rigid economy. At times he had scarcely enough nourishing food to preserve good health and strength, but never permitted anything to hinder procuring that upon which his heart was set —a thorough education. In the summer of 1881 he attended one term of the State Normal School at Knoxville, and soon after was elected associate principal of Maury Academy. Here he taught one term. In December of that year his mother died. He had long wanted to try his fortune in other States, but remained near home on account of his mother. Feeling now that the strongest tie that bound him to his native heath was severed, he went to Hempstead County, Arkansas, where he taught school eight months. This was in 1882. He next went to Coles County, Illinois, and engaged in teaching. To better prepare himself for such work, early in 1883 he spent one term in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. Then he went back to Illinois, took work on a farm in the summer and fall and taught again in the winter. This brings us to speak of his call to the ministry and preparation for this work. His parents had from early childhood desired to see him become a preacher and mentioned the subject to him more than once. But he had no inclination in that direction at first. By the time he reached his twentieth year he had decided to be a physician, and held to this idea quite a while. Then the career of a lawyer allured him, or something else foreign to the ministry, so that his mind was unsettled; From the first he had determined never to accept aid from any one in prosecuting his studies. Hence his education, for want of means, was retarded.

While in this unsettled state of mind he received what was, to him, a remarkable intimation of the divine will. He had two brothers that were not Christians, and for whose conversion he had prayed for years. He now made a vow that if God would save them he would at once enter upon any work that Providence might point out to him. In a few days after making this vow the glad news came that those brothers had accepted Christ as their Savior. This rather strange experience led him to give himself unreservedly to the Lord, though not fully assured that he was wanted in the ministry. It is proper to state here that about this time his father joined the Cumberlands, and a great "split" occurred in the old home church, and that he also joined that denomination. It is also proper to state that while in Illinois the Lord gave him a very dear lady friend, of mature age, who acted the part of mother and sister, and often urged the claims of the ministry upon him.

Soon after he had been made willing to do whatever the Lord would have him to do, the Cumberland Presbytery held their semi-annual meeting. His good friend, Mrs. M. A. Bryden, urged him to attend, as she had friends at the place of meeting and would go herself. He went; an opportunity was given to any who desired to converse with the Presbytery on the subject of a call to the ministry. Young Mathes went forward and was taken under care of the Presbytery as a candidate for the ministry. This was in the spring of 1883, in Bethany, Ill. He sustained his relation to that Presbytery one year, but not receiving the encouragement he expected in regard to further preparation for the ministry, he returned to Tennessee, intending to take a course at Maryville College. On his way he stopped at McMinnville, Tenn., to visit his sister, Mrs. Barton. The pastor of the Presbyterian Church, not knowing that he was a member of the Cumberland church, urged the claims of the Southwestern University, of Clarksville, Tenn. (Presbyterian), upon him. After studying over the matter for a week, Mr. Mathes consented to change his church relation to that of the Presbyterian (Old School).

A meeting of the Presbytery of Nashville was held at McMinnville, and young Mathes was taken under the care of Presbytery in July, 1884, with arrangements to enter the university at Clarksville the following September, with such aid as their Board of Education could give. At Clarksville, with his previous advanced studies, he was enabled to complete the academic and theological course in four years. During this period he was an active member of the Young Men's Christian Association, and its president at one time, and did some excellent work in Mission Sunday Schools. He was one of the best singers in the University, and during vacations taught vocal music, and in this way paid part of his current expenses.

His third vacation (1887) was spent in charge of the church at Pass Christian, Miss., for which he received $50 per month and traveling expenses. He finished his course at the University in the class of 1888. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Nashville, in the City of Nashville, Tenn., June 12, 1888, and in a few days after took charge of the West End Church, Atlanta, Ga. This was a small organization, owning a lot, but having no house of worship. During the fall a chapel was built and the congregation increased. In the spring of 1889 Mr. Mathes was ordained to the full work of the ministry by the Presbytery of Atlanta. He remained with this church seven years and five months. The membership was largely increased, a two-story building had been erected, but not finished. The pastor's health was greatly impaired and a change of fields of labor became imperative. He resigned his pastorale at West End Dec. 1, 1895, and at once took charge of a group of churches in Clayton County, Georgia, with headquarters at Jonesboro. His health soon improved, and his work, for the most part, has always been successful, both in the pulpit and in his pastoral duties.

June 28, 1893, Mr. Mathes was married to Miss Cora Blanche Clarke, of Atlanta, Ga., who has been in every sense a helpmeet for his ministerial work, as well as a devoted wife. They have two children: Margaret Amanda, born June 6, 1895, and lived only one month; William Clarke, born Aug. 9, 1897, a robust, promising child, whose parents have consecrated him to the Lord in the gospel ministry.

Mr. Mathes' conversion occurred in his eleventh year, during a protracted meeting in Mount Horeb Church, near his father's home, conducted by Rev. W. H. Lyle, the pastor. He was a child of the covenant, and had been carefully trained in the Presbyterian faith; and often, from childhood, had deep conviction for sin. At this meeting there was an "anxious seat," filled with youths and adults, crying aloud for mercy. The little ten-year-old boy looked on at first with interest and childish wonder, but at this particular time felt very little concern for his soul's salvation. These scenes were repeated for several days till finally his mother, a godly woman, left her seat and went to him, a tear in her eye and a tremor in her voice, very quietly asked him to go forward to the "anxious seat." There was a moment's hesitation on his part, when she remarked: "You need to go as much as any of the rest." That glistening tear, that trembling voice, that one earnest word, was the chosen instrument that shot conviction quite through his soul. He went forward, and the next day found peace in trusting in Christ and joined the church. His father, on account of his extreme youth, asked him if he had not better wait some little time before joining the church, and referred to the fact that he himself had postponed the matter six months after he thought he had found the Savior. The little boy said no, he wanted to join the church at once; and has never regretted the step he shell took. Since then he has passed through many and sore conflicts, and has sometimes fallen before the enemy, but has never doubted his acceptance with God, and still lives to thank God for a pious ancestry, for Presbyterian training and for what God did for him through his mother that day in the old Mount Horeb meetinghouse.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. JOHN SAMUEL EAKIN

I was born near Maryville, Blount County, East Tennessee, Nov. 22, 1867. My father's name is John Wickliff Eakin. My mother's maiden name was Hetty Ann Hart, daughter of Edward Hart and granddaughter of Joseph Hart, the patriarch. My boyhood was spent on my father's farm. I received my early education in the schools of the neighborhood. At the age of sixteen I was converted and united with New Providence Church in Maryville.

I received my preparatory and classical education at Maryville College, and graduated in the class of 1887, with the degree of A. B. From my birth I was dedicated, by my godly mother, to the Christian ministry, and before I completed my college course I was led to choose the ministry as my life work. I entered Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, in September, 1887, and graduated in May, 1890. I was licensed and ordained to the work of the gospel ministry by the Presbytery of Union, May 30, 1890.

My first field of labor was at Anniston, Ala., where I ministered to the Noble Street Presbyterian Church one year. From Sept. 4, 1891, I was pastor of New Market and Hebron Churches, in Jefferson County, East Tennessee, to March 1, 1897.

Having accepted a call to the pastorale of the Second Church of Jonesboro, East Tennessee, I entered on this work March 4, 1897.

Summary: From June 1, 1890, to Aug. 1, 1900, I have preached 915 sermons, made 4,400 pastoral visits, married no couples, attended 57 funerals, baptized 76 persons, received to membership in the church, by letter 40, on examination 120. Total, 160. I have conducted eight series of evangelistic meetings for my brother ministers. Since October, 1891, I have been a trustee of Maryville College. Since May, 1897, a trustee of New Market Presbyterian Academy. Chairman of Committee on Colleges and Academies for the Presbytery of Union from 1892 to 1897. Chairman of the Committee on Sunday School Work for the Presbytery of Holston since April, 1897. President of Jefferson County Sunday School Convention from1893 to 1895. President of New Market Bible Society from 1893 to 1897. Chaplain to Sons of Veterans, Department of Alabama and Tennessee, 1892 and 1893. On the staff of Commander William Good, of Greenville, East Tennessee.

On June 30, 1897, I was married in Maryville to Miss Agnes Brown Clemens. Miss Clemens' home was with her widowed mother in Maryville. She graduated from Maryville College in the class of 1886; spent the winter of 1889-90 at the College of Music, Cincinnati. From 1890 to 1893 she was teacher of music in Maryville College. In June, 1893, she accepted the position of teacher in the Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, and organist in Chicago Avenue Church. This position she kept for two years, and in the meantime studying music under some of the best teachers of Chicago. In September, 1895, she again took up her work as music teacher in Maryville College, resigning this position in May, 1897. After our marriage we began housekeeping in Jonesboro in rented property, which we occupied for two years. In the meantime the church bought a most desirable lot and erected a suitable manse, into which we moved July 10, 1899. We have one daughter, Mary Hart Eakin, born Feb. 9, 1899.

I spent the month of August, 1899, at Winona Lake, Ind., being a member of the Tennessee Synodical Quartette, which assisted in the music of the Winona Assembly and Bible Conference during that month. The quartette is composed of Revs. John S. Eakin, John B. Creswell, John G. Newman and Herman A. Gaff, all members of the Synod of Tennessee.

The past year has been uneventful in pulpit and pastoral work. Since January I have acted as chorister in our Sunday School A new hymn book has been introduced; the school has learned the music readily and sing heartily. The Presbytery of Holston, at the spring meeting, elected me moderator, and also a commissioner to the General Assembly, which met in St. Louis, Mo., May 17, 1900. It was my privilege to be present at all the sessions of the Assembly and to participate in its work.

While in St. Louis I was kindly entertained in the home of my uncle, Rev. C. C. Hart, of Webster Groves. Previous to this visit our acquaintance had been only through correspondence. But I am thankful that I was permitted to know him and his household personally and to listen to his entertaining reminiscence of his early history and experiences in fifty years of ministry, and to get wisdom and strength from his fatherly counsel. The memory of my visit with him in his home, and the personal acquaintance with relatives whom I had never seen, will ever be gratefully cherished. I should be glad to be a minister so long, so useful and with so beautiful an old age.

JOHN S. EAKIN.
Jonesboro, East Tennessee, August, 1900.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. EDWARD HART PENCE, D. D.

I was born in Columbus, Ind., April 10, 1868, the fag end of a family of ten. The supply of names had been somewhat reduced, so they called me Edward Hart, after my mother's brother; an honor which I did not appreciate as I should have done while young, but which I have come to feel more and more. My earliest days were spent in the old seat of my nativity. My earliest ambition was to swim, which ambition rotated annually with one of equal ardor, to skate; both of which were early realized. At six I went to school; plodded for twelve years; failed often enough to teach me the necessity of hard work, and was graduated without honor at Columbus High School in 1886. A tremendous elocutionary spasm at graduation, together with a complimentary of my brother George to the miserableness of my handwriting, nearly forced me into the law as a manifest destination. I had long cherished an aspiration to be a doctor— ever since the doctor pulled the lad of five from the jaws of the grave. Then the inheritance of very much of my father's passion for mechanics nearly drove me into mechanical engineering as a calling. The law won, on the persuasion of two brothers in that profession, and in July, 1886, I went to Denver, Col., where I expected to attend the Denver University and eventually practice law. From September to Christmas sufficed to prove that it were wiser to return to Indiana and study at Hanover, where I matriculated January, 1887, entering the sophomore class. In the same class was a young lady, who is now the mother of my children. It was not "love at first sight," happily, else I might have failed to pass some more. Albeit, two years' association in a chemical laboratory developed and consummated other than chemical affinities. My wife insists that I mention certain oratorical triumphs while in college, and also that she finally took me because I was so smart, which compliment I would fain reciprocate. During the senior year came the decision to study for the ministry, abandoning a cherished, and as I supposed, a confirmed purpose to practice law; entering McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, September, 1889.

During the two following summers I supplied small churches at Shakopee and Eden Prairie, Minn. Graduated at McCormick April, 1892, and went to Georgetown, Col. Was settled and began as stated supply there May 1, 1892.

In June went back to Hanover to bring my bride, Jessie Archer, daughter of William and Orma L. Archer, and classmate in college. The service at Georgetown was one of spiritual and mental delight. In October, 1893, was called to Boulder, Col. At the same time I held a call to the First Presbyterian Church of Janesville, Wis. The latter was accepted and entered upon service in November, 1893, being installed Jan. 22, 1894. Nearly six and a half years witnessed a steady growth in the church. In that time there have been about twelve accessions at each quarterly communion. Of details, there is nothing aside from the ordinary to relate.

We have three children, viz: David William, born July 6, 1893; Jessie Norma, born July 9, 1895; Edna Louisa, born Feb. 14, 1898.

Janesville, Wis., October, 1899.

ADDENDA
REV. E. H. PENCE

The above was written a year ago, and knowing that important events in the ministry of Mr. Pence had occurred in the meantime, I applied for additional notes. But his modesty suggested: "There is little more of special interest to write. But I may say that my pastorale in Janesville was of peculiar sweetness to me. At the very close six children were baptized and at the last communion, March 1, we received twenty members. The last year we were especially blessed. More were received on profession than in any other church in Madison Presbytery."

In February, 1900, unknown to Mr. Pence, a committee of two from Fort Street Presbyterian Church of Detroit, Mich., heard him preach, morning and evening. On returning home, the church, on March 6, issued a unanimous call for his services as pastor. He and his wife visited the Fort Street Church spent two Sabbaths, when he resigned his pastorale at Janesville and accepted the call to Fort Street Church and entered this new field of labor April 1, and a few weeks later was installed as pastor. Fort Street is a down-town church, with all the possibilities of contact with a large constituency. The total accessions to the church during the first four or five months were about sixty In a note he says: "For no assignable or obvious reason known to me, Beloit College, Wisconsin, in June, 1900, conferred on me the degree of Doctor of Divinity."

Wishing to obtain further information, I wrote to the Sessions of Mr. Pence's previous pastorates. The following is from Georgetown, Col.: "In answer to your inquiry, I can say Mr. Pence displayed from the start great fitness for his work and ability to care for a much larger church and field than ours. The call that came to another field was, therefore, not a surprise but was a cause of sincere regret to all Georgetown people. There is perhaps only one secret of success in the Christian ministry—the possession of the companionship and aid of the Holy Spirit, together with natural qualities, scholarly attainments, industry, devotion and Christian spirit, with all of which Mr. Pence seemed to be thoroughly possessed. His people saw in him a high purpose. Himself convinced of the worth and power of the gospel, he determined that others should know and believe it. The message that he had to deliver was always logical, illuminated with happy illustrations and sometimes with a sparkle of humor, and carrying with it his own definition of eloquence, "that which makes people do something." This church has probably not had a more successful minister than Mr. Pence, nor one who so fully captured the hearts of the people. It is due to add that if there was any lack in his completeness, it was fully supplied in his lovely companion, who, by her amiable qualities, endeared herself to us all.

The writer feels that Mr. Pence has a real history in making, and that he will prove himself worthy of any honors that the church may confer upon him.

MARCUS WHEELER, "Clerk of Session."

The following is from Janesville, Wis.:

"Rev. C. C. Hart: In answer to your inquiries: Mr. Pence is an able, consecrated preacher, a faithful pastor, kind and genial in his intercourse with men, broad and charitable in his thoughts and deeds. Original, versatile and pertinent in his preaching and conversation, rich in thought and diction, always challenging attention by the matter and manner of his message. His mind is rarely constituted; poetical and imaginative, in its gift of adornment, penetrating to the core of a subject, clear in its analysis and felicitous in its sympathetic touch. He did good work in our church and in our city at large. His love and solicitude went out in all helpful ways to the poor, unfortunate or sorrowing. Very truly yours,

"EDWARD RUGER. Elder."

The following is from the Clerk of Session:

"Rev. C. C. Hart: Yours of September 10 received. Concerning the ministry of Rev. E. H. Pence in our church, the records show that during his pastorale here there were added on profession 155, and by letter 104. M. H. LOVERHILL,

"Clerk of Session."

NOTE—For the above addenda Dr. Pence is in no wise responsible. A few sentences marked " " were garbled from a note marked "not for print." My apology for writing to the sessions of his former pastorates is this: I believed all our friends would wish to know more of the early ministry of Mr. Pence than he had given in his sketch. If I have violated good taste I take the blame wholly on myself.—C. C. Hart.