USA > Indiana > Memorials of deceased friends who were members of Indiana Yearly Meeting : published by direction of the Yearly Meeting > Part 5
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And even after she become far advanced in years and feeble in body, she yielded to apprehended duty, and performed several religious visits, some of which were of considerable extent, the retrospect of which afforded her much peace.
IIer zeal for the maintainance of our various Chris- tian testimonies, did not abate with her declining years and strength, and she felt especially concerned that Friends might not neglect the attendance of our religious meetings, frequently remarking that when she was well enough to sit up comfortably, she could go to meeting; and, in this respect, her example was very striking, and she frequently persevered through much bodily infirmity and other obstacles in her at- tendance. She continued to manifest a lively and tender regard for the whole human family, and an ardent desire for the salvation and happiness of her
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fellow-beings, rarely surpassed by those in the prime of life.
During her last illness she did not incline to much conversation, and evidently had her affections placed upon things above. She was frequently engaged in supplication for herself, and for her children and grand- children. She peacefully departed this life on the 21st of Second month, 1843, aged seventy-six years and four days -- a minister about thirty years.
PHEBE D. BENEDICT.
The Testimony of Alum Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends, Ohio, concerning PHEBE D. BENEDICT, de- ceused.
" Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labor ; and their works do follow them."-Rev. xiv, 13.
THAT the " works " and example of such as these may not be lost to their successors, the following ac- count has been compiled from memorials, preserved at the time, of some of the last expressions of our de- parted friend.
She was the daughter of William and Phebe Gid- ley, and born at Saratoga, in the State of New York, the 20th of the Ninth month, 1809.
القائد
.
الـ
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PHEBE D. BENEDICT.
During the early part of her life, being of a viva- cious disposition of mind, she evinced no very serious impressions until about the age of seventeen, when she became more thoughtful, and it was evident that a change had taken place in her affections-that she had exchanged the follies of a vain world, for the dis- cipline and yoke of Christ.
At the age of twenty years she was united in mar- riage with our friend, Daniel Benedict, to whom she proved an affectionate companion during the short period of their union.
In the Second month of the year 1832, symptoms of a decidedly pulmonary character were developed; and from that time she was mostly confined to her room. During this interval, and especially near the final close, she uttered many weighty and instructive remarks. Some of which are as follows :
About the first of Eighth month, 1832, after various medical means had been resorted to without yielding her any permanent relief, being asked if she thought she should recover, she replied, " No! It has been a great trial to me to give up my husband and my little son ; but I have been favored to do it. If I am not very much deceived there is a place in heaven pre- pared for me ;" and added-" I want my little son to be brought up in the fear of the Lord, and to go to meetings."
During an interval of several weeks, while she and her husband were mostly alone, sho expressod on
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divers occasions many weighty remarks, which have not been preserved; chiefly concerning the merits of our blessed Redeemer, and the awful consequences attend- ing those who cast him off, and thereby reject the only appointed means for the salvation of their souls.
For about three weeks before her decease she was subject to very distressing fainting fits. In some of them her attendants apprehended that the last conflict was near at hand. On the 20th of Twelfth month, reviving from one of these paroxyms, she said : " I am willing to suffer. It is good for me to suffer. We must all be willing to suffer. We are poor sinful creatures. Christ suffered for us. Oh ! how he suf- fered when he went into the garden to pray, and the drops of sweat were as drops of blood ! IIe suffered for us all, and why can't we be willing to suffer our portion ? O, what a comfort and peace do those find who draw nigh to their Saviour ! He will be near them and will support them. O! how he has suffered for us poor sinful creatures ! Let us draw nigh unto Ilim and he will draw nigh unto us. But O! I fear too many have cast him off. O! call upon Him while he is to be found. My natural inclination would cause mne to be still, but I must praise his great and adora- ble name. I feel that I am a poor creature, but he is mighty, and can do all things. I want my dear brothers to walk in the fear of the Lord. I crave it for them. Our Saviour is a great and mighty tower to flee to. O, how can any one cast him off'?"
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On another occasion she said, "I long to be gone, but I crave patience to wait the Lord's time."
Again she broke forth with the following ejacula- tions : "O, how can my soul praise thy great and mighty name enough, thou Saviour, to save ? O, holy Father, if it be thy blessed will, I pray thee ease this great burden ; but if it be thy blessed will lay more on me, if thou wilt only be pleased to give me strength and patience to bear it."
At another time she said, "Why am I continued here so long ?" After a little pause, added, "It is not on my own account. It is on some other. I am ready to go. My peace is made, and what a favor it is !"
She frequently exhorted her brothers and sisters in an earnest manner, to be more circumspect ; to read good books, and attend religious meetings, "I have taken great satisfaction therein," said she, " and I be- lieve if we are faithful in the discharge of these duties, we shall be strengthened by them. I have many times retired into the woods, and there poured out my prayers to the Most High ; and now I believe there is a place prepared for me in heaven. And, dear sisters, you who have the care of children, I desire that you may bring them up in the fear of the Lord, for I am sure there can be no greater joy than to see them walking in the truth. And, dear brothers, I desire that you may be faithful in the discharge of your du- ties, and not to put off your day's work until you are
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brought to a bed of sickness, and a dying hour ! Though I am in great pain, yet the Lord hath laid it upon me, and he will enable me to bear all."
Afterward, when in extreme pain, she supplicated thus : "O, dearest Father, be pleased to lay no more upon me than thou wilt enable me to bear! O, be pleased to take me to thyself ? Thy will, nevertheless, not mine be done !"
On reviving from one of the fainting fits, to which she was subject, she said : "I am again permitted to breathe a few times more, for what cause I know not, that I leave to the great Judge. O, it is good to suffer here below."
One of her sisters coming in after she had revived from a similar fit, she said to her in a low voice, “ I have been almost gone since thou wast here. I thought I should have breathed but a few times more, but for some cause or other, I was not permitted to enter into the arms of my Saviour."
The 23d of Twelfth month, she was much engaged in thanksgiving, dwelling mostly on the love and con- descension of her blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, manifested to her in the time of her sickness, saying, " If it were possible I would publish to all the world what IIe has done for my soul."
For several days before her death, being very weak and for the most part unable to speak audibly, yet she would at times break forth in a strong and melodious voice, to the surprise of those attending her; the en-
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ergies of her mind seeming to triumph over the weak- ness of her body. On one of these occasions she ex- horted those around her to seek the Lord while he might be found. "O," said she, " how necessary it is that we should labor for that peace which the world cannot give. I have found it needful for me to strive for it, both since I have been brought to this bed of sickness, and before; and I have been favored to en- joy it in so great a measure, that I think I cannot be deceived. Weep not for me but weep for yourselves. It is good for us sometimes to mourn." Speaking at the same time largely on the sufferings of her cruci- fied Lord, and his goodness to her, saying, "Behold how he strengthens my voice, and enables me to praise his great name !"
Subsequently to this she frequently spoke of her departure, and seemed anxious for the period to ar- rive ; several times saying that her greatest concern was for fear she should not be patient enough to wait for the time to come.
A little previous to the final close, she said that she wished all to be still and quiet, and not call in any one when the time of her departure came, saying, " Although it may not be so agreeable to you, yet I want all to be still; for it is a great thing to die, but a greater not to be prepared."
Soon after this symptoms of dissolution appeared, and being sensible that her end was near, she re- quested a sister called, who had just retired, to whom
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she expressed her apprehension of a speedy change, and desired her friends to be composed when the aw- ful crisis should arrive ; saying, " I am sure you must be willing to give me up," which were nearly the last words she uttered.
As the final conflict approached, a peaceful serenity prevailed over her composed features, which seemed an earnest of the blessedness of the departing spirit.
Thus died one, who, during a painful and protracted illness, evinced an entire confidence in Almighty power, and a patient acquiescence in the various dis- pensations meted out to her; and at last, at the wind- ing up of time, through faith in God, and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, has obtained, we doubt not, an "inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away."
She died the 31st of Twelfth month, 1832, and was interred the day following in Friends' burying- ground, at Alum Creek, Ohio, aged twenty-three years, three months, and eleven days.
سعاد الحواتك
السلط
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JAMES HADLEY.
JAMES HADLEY.
(OF WHITE LICK, INDIANA.)
Memorial of White Lick Monthly Meeting, concerning JAMES HADLEY, deceased.
HIE was born on the 26th day of the Fifth month, 1794, in Chatham county, North Carolina, and lived with his parents, Thomas and Mary Hadley, until his marriage with Mary, daughter of Jeremiah and Ruth Hadley, which occurred on the 23d day of the Elev- enth month, 1815. They resided within the limits of Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, North Carolina, for a few years after marriage, and then removed and settled on the White Lick, in the State of Indiana, then a wilderness country, and nearly sixty miles from any meeting of Friends. Hitherto this our dear friend had not submitted to the cross of Christ ; and during the formation of new settlements, inviting prospects of worldly gain were presented, and he was solicited to fill offices of honor and profit in civil government, which subjected him to many temptations to become worldly-minded and more forgetful of God.
But through adorable mercy he was preserved from entirely losing his love for the truth and for Friends ; and becoming more concerned, he took active part in promoting the settling of Friends, and the establishing
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of meetings near him. In a short time, the settle- ment so increased, that a meeting for Worship, Pre- parative, and Monthly Meeting were established, of which he was a member during the rest of his life. These meetings were set up in 1823 ; and his concern for the advancement of truth having increased, he be- came a diligent attender of them, and frequently en- couraged others in the same religious duty.
IIe was often made instrumental in the divine band in settling difficulties among Friends and others; and continuing to submit, more and more, to the effectual workings of the Spirit of divine grace upon his heart, he became prepared for usefulness in the church, and received a gift in the ministry, which he occupied to the satisfaction of Friends, and was acknowledged in the station of a minister in 1826.
About this time the promulgation of the anti-Chris- tian doctrines of Elias Hicks, among Friends, caused deep concern in many rightly exercised minds; and this our beloved friend was favored, by the openings of best wisdom, clearly to see the unsoundness and danger thereof, and to stand as a faithful watchman, sounding the alarm, and exhorting others to vigilance against them.
He was frequently engaged in encouraging Friends in the practice of retiring daily, with their families, into stillness, and reading a portion of the Holy Scrip- tures, with minds turned to their heavenly Author, the blessed source of all good, seeking for a measure
شقادة إذ الحلقة
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JAMES HADLEY.
of living faith rightly to open them, and in which in- struction and edification might be experienced.
Ile manifested much concern for the present and eternal well-being of the whole human family ; and his mind was turned to the rising generation in particular, with deep interest, and he was frequently enabled to entreat them, in a tender and affectionate manner, to seek to know Christ for themselves, through his reno- vating influence upon their souls, to be their only Sa- viour and deliverer, and the only door to eternal rest and peace.
When other engagements admitted of it, he was frequently engaged in First-day schools, for Scripture instruction, as a teacher, in which he was favored to make occasional remarks on what had been read, tend- ing to instruct the youth under his charge, and to im- press their minds with the value of the sacred writings, and the importance of becoming well acquainted with them.
He was frequently engaged in religious visits, and traveled much from home in the service of the gospel, to the satisfaction of Friends where he went, to which the copies of minutes furnished him by meetings where he attended, bore sufficient testimony.
In the year 1827, he visited most of the meetings belonging to Miami, Fairfield and Center Quarterly Meetings, and from some short notes which he kept during this journey, we find that his mind was deeply tried during his progress therein. In one case he
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says: " This afternoon I had some refreshing medita- tion on the road, which afforded strength to my exer- cised mind. I saw that it was necessary to guard against the enemy in all his encroachments, who had of late been trying to overwhelm me with discourage- ments."
In the forepart of the year 1828, a committee, of which he was one, was appointed by our Quarterly Meeting, to visit the Monthly Meetings belonging thereto, on account of the separation of the followers of Elias Hicks from our religious The sor- rowful effects of this rending spirit bore weightily upon his mind. He gives expression to some of his exercises in writing, addressed to his friends who were in like manner affected with himself, on account of the jars and commotions which were spreading far and wide in that day to lay waste the goodly heritage, some extracts from which here follow :
" Dear friends ***** , arm yourselves with the in- vincible armor of love, whereby you may have confi- dence to call on the Captain of our soul's salvation, that he may be pleased to equip and qualify you as valiant soldiers in his holy warfare. Let none con- sider themselves of so little note in the world that they can be of no use in maintaining and in defending the glorious cause of truth and righteousness. Re- member that the first instruments in the divine hand to promulgate the Christian religion were called into his service from the ordinary ranks of life; yet by
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leaving all and following the immaculate Lamb, they became as stars of the first magnitude. This remains to be an essential duty of all Ilis followers at the pre- sent day ; they must, for his sake, give up all other beloved objects to which their hearts have been at- tached, as the fishermen did their nets, and follow him in the regeneration. When the mind becomes so far divested of self, as to resign all to the disposal of the Divine IIcad, there will be a leaving of the things that are behind, and a pressing forward through difficulties and sore trials toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
" O, dear friends, time loudly calls for diligence in every age and condition, that we may become more and more engaged in the good cause, even the cause of truth and righteousness ; and if we are devoted to serve the Lord with an upright heart and a willing mind, we need not fear the malice of men, nor the wiles of Satan, for the Lord will preserve us.
"O Lord Omnipotent ! make bare thy holy arm, and interpose for the delivery of thy heritage. Cause thy invincible power to come over the rending spirits, that all discord and strife may be done away, and the holy oil flow from vessel to vessel, and that there be a gathering more and more unto Shiloh : cause thy watchmen to be valiant for the truth ; be thou their guide, and direct their steps; cause that their trum- pet may give a certain sound, and enable them to hold
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٦ الد ولى فى الوزن
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on their way through every difficulty and trial toward the port of eternal rest. Amen."
In the year 1830, he performed a religious visit in North Carolina. Among many other subjects which occupied and exercised his mind, the failure of many who professed with Friends to live up to their testi- mony in that plainness of speech, behavior, and appa- rel, which becomes our religious profession, called forth the exercise of his gift for a reformation in these re- spects. His heart also sympathized deeply with faith- ful Friends on account of their testimony against slavery, in the midst of a slaveholding community, with desires for their encouragement in rightly mani- festing a Christian example to those around them, and for the preservation of themselves and their children from the contamination of the evils looked upon with allowance by others.
He frequently held meetings, during his travels in the service of the gospel, among those not in religious profession with us, in which he evinced a lively con- cern that none might be professors in form merely, but that all should witness the one living saving baptism, that of the Holy Spirit, a faithful abiding under the influence of which would enable them to bring forth fruits meet for repentance.
Ile was often fervently engaged to admonish parents and heads of families to a more faithful discharge of duty toward their beloved offspring, encouraging them to labor for ability to bring them up in the nurture and
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JAMES HADLEY.
admonition of the Lord, so that when parents are called upon to give an account of their stewardship, it might appear that they had been good examples in all things. The youth were also exhorted to pay due regard to the counsel and example of godly parents, by which they might be greatly instructed in the way of the Lord, and become suitably prepared to fill their ranks in righteousness.
Our dear friend was much impressed with the neces- sity of faithfully maintaining the various Christian tes- timonies, that we, as a people, are called upon to bear to the world. He was frequently engaged affection- ately to advise against reading pernicious books, and against suffering the mind to be too much engrossed with the current news of the day; believing that where such reading was indulged in by any, they would be drawn off from the love of the truth, and weakened in their regard for the sacred writings, which are able to make wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus.
Ile was often heard, both in public and private, to bear testimony against the commotion and high excite- ment so common in contentions and struggles about political affairs, which have so much prevailed ; run- ning, as they have done in many cases, into much ex- travagance and folly, and to warn Friends against par- ticipating in them.
Ile bore a firm and unwavering testimony against slavery; and was frequently heard in vocal supplica-
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tion to intercede for those in bondage, and also for their oppressors, that the day might be hastened when the heavy burdens should be undone and the oppressed go frec. While his desire was ardent for the imme- diate and unconditional emancipation of the slaves, he did not think it best for Friends to join in with the popular associations of the day in endeavoring to promote that cause; but advised that Friends remain together and act on their own Christian ground ; seeking for divine counsel, and waiting for the mani- festations of duty in the life, to order and direct their movements in this as well as other important concerns.
A committee was appointed in the Yearly Meeting of 1842, to visit Quarterly, Monthly and Preparative Meetings, on account of a spirit of insubordination then existing in some of the meetings of Friends within the limits of the Yearly Meeting. Being one of this committee, he was engaged much of the time during the preceding winter, spring and summer, in attending meetings, and laboring for the preservation of Friends, on that foundation which standeth sure through all the storms and tempests incident to our present state ; admonishing them, that while engaged in the support of one of our testimonies, as that against slavery, they should not neglect or disregard others which we are called upon to bear. During the exercises of this visit, his trials and sorrow were in- creased by the contention and opposition of some who
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had once been united to him in Christian fellowship, but who had now joined in another separation; but having his mind staid on the Lord, and depending on his divine protection and assistance, he was enabled to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and to labor (with much effect on many) in the restoring love of his gospel.
In a public testimony which he bore a short time before his decease, he observed that his feelings were of a very awful kind, believing that death was near to some of our houses; at the same time bringing to view the great need for all to be prepared, not know- ing the hour when that messenger may call on any of us.
At another time, in his own Preparative Meeting, in the last public testimony that he bore, he remarked, that it appeared to him, from the exercise of his mind, that there were those in high standing in society, who had great need to enter into close examination, to see whether they had fully discharged their duty in bring- ing up their children in a way that would preserve them in our Christian order; and that parents were awfully responsible if they had not. Nearly two weeks afterward, in the time of his last illness, he informed a friend that this exercise remained with him.
On Seventh-day, the 9th of Twelfth month, 1843, he was taken with a chill and fever; but appearing to be better next morning, he attended meeting. He
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JAMES HADLEY.
was more unwell again that evening, and on Second- day, symptoms of an inflammatory character began to appear, which did not afterward give way to medi- cine. He observed to a friend who called in to see him, that he might be mistaken, but it was his impression that this would be his last sickness, which was to him a very solemn consideration; but he continued, "there appears to be nothing in my way; yet it would be agreeable to me, if it were the Lord's will, to stay some longer with my beloved friends, if I could be an instrument of encouraging them to faithfulness, for trials await you."
Being very sick, he did not express more at that time; yet his countenance appeared serene and pleasant, which continued to be the case during his illness. IIe did not incline to talk much at any time after he was taken unwell, though at intervals he expressed a few words to the satisfaction of those who attended on him. Hle bore with patience his affliction of body, which was very great.
On the 18th, the symptoms of his disorder became more unfavorable, and he observed to the friend who attended him, that he could not continue long. IIe requested that his will should be brought and read to him; which being done, and some alterations made in it on account of some late changes in his affairs, he expressed satisfaction therewith, and made some impressive remarks on the necessity of Friends at- tending timely to such duties.
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JAMES HADLEY.
On the 23d, a friend came in, being a minister, with whom he had long been nearly united in religious fel- lowship, and notwithstanding he was somewhat flighty in his mind, he seemed glad to see him. After some conversation the friend took his seat near, and in a short time he appeared to be restored to his right mind, and requested that all should be gathered into stillness. He was evidently favored to be sensible that his beloved friend was under spiritual exercise, and he spoke, encouraging him to attend to his feel- ings, which he did in the way of supplication. Our afflicted friend remained very still, and his spirit undoubtedly united with what was said vocally-he joining with audible voice in the utterance of the last words.
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