USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > Eliot memorial : sketches historical and biographical of the Eliot Church and Society > Part 26
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For full half a century Mrs. Franklin commanded respect as a woman of decided and consistent Christian character. The Bible was all in all to her, and prayer a delight. A large family furnished no reason in her opinion and habit for absenting herself from public wor- ship on the Lord's Day, nor from church meetings and the Ladies' Prayer Meeting on week-days. As little did she make it an apology for refraining from neighborhood ministries among the needy, the sick, and the bereaved.
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Her presence anywhere was a benediction. Her piety seemed to take an aspect and tone from the spot where she first saw the light, and where her early years were spent. It was a house on the summit of a hill command- ing a wide and animating prospect. Neither morning sun nor afternoon rays were ever darkly shaded. The five sons and eighteen grandchildren living at the time of her departure had more occasion than is often had to rise up and call her blessed, in remembrance of rare faith, fidelity, and love. At four-score she fell asleep on Christmas eve.
4. MRS. CATHARINE LOUISA STONE.
It was about the year 1800 that Elizabeth Epps, born in 1781, came to this country on a visit. Her home was in Canterbury, England, near the famous cathedral. Not long after arriving in Boston she married Mr. Tilly Whitcomb of this city. These were the parents of Mrs. Stone, and she was born here December, 1802. In early years she attended a school taught by the Misses Davis; and among the incidents that remained fresh in recollec- tion to the last was this, that when, after the war of 1812, peace was announced, she went home that day swinging her school-bag in great glee, shouting, "Peace! Peace !" She boarded for two years away from home, in order to have training under M. Lannier, a distinguished teacher of music. When past four-score years she would, if asked,
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seat herself at the piano, and with delicate touch would play, "Bluebells of Scotland," "Blue-eyed Mary," as well as other pieces which were learned full seventy years before.
In 1825 she married Gen. Ebenezer Stone of Boston. As wife, mother, and neighbor, she was peculiarly devoted, kind, sympathetic, and generous. Her attachments were strong and enduring. Not a few in the younger genera- tion lovingly called her "Grandmother Stone." Having become deeply dissatisfied with Unitarian sentiments, she united with the Eliot Church in 1838. The walk from Jamaica Plain, where the family then lived, was a long one, but she was uniformly and punctually present at Sabbath worship. Her Bible and books of devotion - such as Hannah More's Private Devotions, and Jay's Morning Exercises - gave evidence of faithful use.
November 22, 1875, General and Mrs. Stone cele- brated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. Three friends were present who were also present at the wed- ding, half a century before, one of them a bridesmaid on that occasion. Mrs. Stone had the experience of four years and more of widowhood; and her departure came suddenly, September 2, 1883.
5. MISS CAROLINE MARIA STONE.
Fourth daughter of the foregoing, and born the year (1839) after her mother became a member of the Eliot Church. Twenty years later (1859) she entered publicly
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into the same sacred fellowship. Her narrative of Chris- tian experience at the time indicates very clear appre- hension of the distinctive truths of evangelical religion, and hearty enjoyment of its every-day duties. Ill health had a good deal invaded and chastened the school-girl period. An infirmity in one arm interfered with the practice of instrumental music, a fondness for which was inherited from the mother, but she made good proficiency in the usual branches of study, and in the German language.
Amiability and gentleness were early characteristics. At eight years of age she spontaneously began her min- istry of kindness; but after conversion, Christian principle inspired and controlled her activity. Cheerfully conscien- tious and self-forgetful to a marked degree, she was a living illustration of First Corinthians, the thirteenth chapter -"Charity never faileth." Rooms of sickness and houses of bereavement were her habitual resorts, with tokens of sympathy and the cup of cold water in the name of a disciple. During the Civil War she visited encampments at Readville, then at Galloupe's Island ; and later devoted herself to teaching freedmen, and was superintendent of a school for them in the west part of our city. After that her habitual fidelity was shown in the instruction of Chinese men.
To an older sister, in her last sickness, she gave herself with an untiring devotion that led to her own decease six weeks later. A few days before departure
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(September 9, 1898) she requested a friend to sing at her funeral the words :
"Peace, peace, sweet peace, Wonderful gift from above ; Oh, wonderful, wonderful peace, Sweet peace, the gift of God's love."
6. MRS. ABIGAIL F. WARDWELL.
The circumstances of departure (January, 1883) were unusual. It was during sleep. Such quietness, such still- ness, were in beautiful accord with her life and character; and this manner of removal may well be accounted a divine favor. There are only a few to whom it is vouch- safed. Dr. Chalmers was one of the few; Bishop Hurd was another. This departed friend of ours had no ex- perience of dying; caught no glimpse of the King of terrors so called; and that is one way in which death, or rather dying, may be abolished. It was in the morn- ing amidst the delightful freshness of early day. Her last recollections of earth did not relate, as is often the case, to struggle and distress; she carried with her no remembrance of farewells and tears; she went away noise- lessly to see the King in his beauty. It was at break of day, but not alone, for ministering spirits can have no morning duties to interfere with attendance upon the heirs of salvation.
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7. MRS. MARY J. BASFORD.
At the organization of the church fifty members had reached mature years, while only one was under age. Mary J., a daughter of Mr. Melzar Waterman, was then fourteen, and with her parents brought a letter from the church in Halifax, Plymouth County. At the time of her decease, December, 1893, she had for quite a while been the only survivor of the original membership, and for three-score years had maintained a blameless Christian walk and fellowship. So long a connection with one and the same brotherhood of believers is comparatively infre- quent. Circumstances early in my pastorate gave oppor- tunity for intimate acquaintance with Mrs. Basford. A distinct impression was then received that she was a woman of rare amiability, discretion, and conscientious fidelity. Not the least trace of resentment, jealousy, un- due self-seeking, or other such low traits ever became manifest at that time. The subsequent fifty years only confirmed and strengthened impressions that were then made. Through the whole half-century one habit attracted particular notice- a sanctified control of the tongue. Ac- cording to the standard of the Apostle James, she came as near the attainment of absolute perfection as any one whom I have known so long and so well. I never heard a word from her lips which she might afterwards desire to recall. To human eyes she was an embodiment of blamelessness. In the absence of personal decoration she wore, "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price."
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8. MRS. ANNA F. WATERS.
The roll of Christian honor - what names stand high on that? The question relates to character, to the meas- ure of unselfishness, of Christ-like spirit and ways as manifested habitually by the aim and tone of life. In out- ward condition no member of the Eliot Church had less that was attractive than Mrs. Waters. To find her home one had to go down a narrow alley, climb a rickety flight of outside steps to an apartment over a workshop, and immediately under a roof the rafters of which were in- crusted with soot. The hovel-attic was innocent of plas- ter, and its chief articles of furniture were two chairs, a table, a rough wooden box, and an old stove. Dress, per- son, and features corresponded with the place of abode. She would make no apology for those surroundings, nor even allude to them. Friends would have gladly pro- vided something more comfortable, but for the incum- brance of a miserly and tyrannical husband, a wood- sawer by trade. A lisp of complaint, however, never escaped her. Speak of the Saviour or of a Bible promise, and her countenance would kindle, and you would then see the only pleasing object under that dingy roof, the radiance of indwelling holiness. Her mind was feeble, her range of knowledge extremely limited; her religion was the whole of her. Early girlhood passed in unevan- gelical environment, but when, at fifteen years of age, conversion took place, she became " a new creature," and continued to " grow in grace and in the knowledge of
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our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ," furnishing a fine illustration of eminent piety combined with stunted in- tellect.
Mrs. Waters, without suggestion from any one, en- gaged in neighborhood work, visiting the homes of Roman Catholics and others, where she read sacred Scripture and occasionally left a tract. Her benevolence was remarkable, though her only source of income, prior to becoming a widow, was the knitting-needle. The con- tribution box, when passed for various objects, generally re- ceived her two mites. Necessary absence from the monthly concert of prayer for foreign missions, formed no excuse for not giving ; she would at the next opportunity put in double her usual amount. One morning she came to me with a basket of cents, which she had for a year been saving as the fruit of self-denial over and above ordinary gifts. She had heard something from the pulpit on that subject, and something about a special appeal from Cey- lon, and the purpose was entertained to save two cents a week extra. She desired me to count the contents of the basket and see if there was enough to make good the average for all the weeks of the year - a problem too deep for her arithmetic. When told that there were three cents over, and those were handed back to her, she wished the whole to go into the treasury of the Amer- ican Board -her face beaming the while with devout joy that the coppers held out so well. Her last labor was to knit a pair of socks for a needy individual; and her last
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charity was sending a dollar by the hand of another to a city missionary in New York.
As the hour of departure drew on, her joy became unspeakable. " Triumph over death," " Triumph over death," was often on her lips. Her parting words to me were, " I expect to stay in heaven tonight." Those who watched with her said the room was "a little heaven." " Home, almost home," was her final articulation. Did ever ministering angels bear an emancipated spirit with more alacrity to the paradise of God? Mrs. Waters lived seventy-one years. At the funeral in that obscure upper room five ministers were present, not by request, but be- cause they knew the rare worth of one who had literally "done what she could." As there was no relative of hers living in Roxbury, and no one to be flattered by any- thing commendatory of her, a discourse depicting her character was preached, the first of the kind in the Eliot Church. At the request of friends the same was pub- lished under the title, The Poor Widow. This memo- rial, translated by one of our missionaries, soon appeared in the Tamil language; and thus the poor, praying, self- sacrificing, yet feeble-minded woman has now for more than two-score years been preaching to natives in North- ern Ceylon.
9. MRS. MAGDALENA KUHN.
Another of the original members. The family were in very humble circumstances; but with her husband, Christian Kuhn, she was invariably and punctually present
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at all public services on the Lord's Day, and at church meetings. Their knowledge of the English language was very imperfect, and their use of it still more imperfect. But they never seemed to be mortified by their plainness of dress and of speech. Their peculiarly modest and exemplary deportment was a silent power for good, much more effective than the talkativeness and irregular bustle of others. So uniform, yet unobtrusive was their quiet, consistent walk, as to impress one of the ablest and most prominent of our young men, and prove to be the means of his conversion. In calling at their plain dwelling, I never failed to find them seated at evening on opposite sides of a small table, a dim light between them, each intent upon an open German Bible. No habitation in the city could present a more beautiful scene.
Mrs. Kuhn had, in large measure, all the simplicity and warmth of emotion ever witnessed in a Würtem- burger. Speak of the Saviour, or the Heavenly Father, and soon the tears would begin to trickle down her ruddy cheeks, and up would come a corner of her coarse, but neat apron. It became necessary for her to take boarders, and that interfered much with Bible-reading and prayer. Longing for more quiet, she told me she had asked the Lord that he would please send, what she called, "some shly sickness," that she might have time for his Word and for fellowship. Not long after, she fell downstairs and broke a leg. Her first thought was, "Das ist das shly sickness;" and there followed several weeks of blessed
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leisure for the lively oracles, and for communion at the mercy-seat. At the age of sixty-six, on a mild, bright morning in May, 1866, the dear woman entered into the perfect rest and perfect fellowship.
IO. MRS. MARY CALLEN.
A few natives of Ireland were at different times wel- comed to the church, one of them, Mrs. Mary Callen, July, 1855. Her ancestry was Scottish. Before leaving the mother country she had been to the Lord's table. Later, however, she became convinced of her unfitness to be a communicant. Her eyes were opened as never before to view penitently her sinful and lost condition, and in faith to behold the Lamb of God her all-sufficient Saviour. Heavy bereavements came, husband and all her children -seven in number- being removed by death. Extreme poverty followed, but while her sphere was a very humble one, an irreproachable life, and a beautiful Christian spirit adorned it.
When eighty years of age Mrs. Callen, after a severe strain upon her eyes in plying her daily task, suddenly became blind one night. Dependence on others was then complete, but during the fifteen years that followed, not- withstanding loneliness and feebleness, no one heard aught of complaining or sighing from her lips. The twenty- third Psalm was a favorite. It was daily food, and a precious cordial to her soul. She never failed to repeat it when retiring for rest at night. Blindness did not pre-
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vent her living in green pastures, nor walking by the still waters. To the family, in which for twenty years she was. an inmate, her presence became a benediction, like the ark in the house of Obed-Edom. During that period one out of each of three successive generations was carried to the Field of Ephron, each of whom alike called the aged sojourner, "Grandmama." They found a model and a blessing in her example.
Her early advantages for education were meager in- deed. Robert Raikes did not open his first school till after she was born. But Mrs. Callen had committed to memory the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, and that con- densed formulary of Bible truths was a perennial source of spiritual education, strength, and comfort. I regarded her as one of the most useful members of the church. No sermon on resignation, trust in God, and devout appropriation of the Psalms, was so effective as the unob- trusive yet eloquent experience of that decrepit woman. Young men and young women of the church improved opportunities of visiting the aged saint, to whom they read or repeated portions of Holy Scripture, speaking also in psalms and hymns, and engaging in prayer with her. Probably there was not at the time a more grateful or a happier citizen in Boston. Amidst sickness and failing strength and many pains her song still was, " Surely good- ness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Between one and two thousand dollars stood to the credit of the church in her behalf, besides what had been con-
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tributed privately by individuals, but most gladly was the outlay met. When at length her decease came in May, 1875, she lacked only four years and some months of being a centenarian.
II. MRS. JUDITH NUTTING.
Instances of exceptional longevity are never numer- ous in any community, and hence attract attention. They are the living links between three or more generations. The decease of a centenarian, or of one who has reached the confines of a hundred years, draws attention. The proportion of such in the Eliot congregation is consider- ably in excess of what it is in the population at large. Mrs. Nutting died in 1883, at the age of ninety-seven. She well remembered when, sixty years before, there was announced the sudden death of Mrs. Garrick, widow of the celebrated actor, at the age of ninety-seven, accessible and attractive to the last. The same year (1822), upon the decease of Sir William Herschel, his no less remark- able sister Caroline removed to Hanover, Germany, where, with an unclouded intellect, she lived till 1848, and within three years of a century. Elizabeth, the widow of Gen. Alexander Hamilton, survived her husband more than half a century, dying (1854) at ninety-seven.
Mrs. Judith Nutting was born October 1, 1786, be- fore our Federal Constitution had been adopted; before Massachusetts had passed an act forbidding the slave- trade; before mass had ever been celebrated in Boston
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by a Roman Catholic priest; before a land office had been open for sales to settlers; and before cotton had been exported or even grown at the South. The entire population of our Commonwealth then did not exceed that of Boston today. She was the daughter of Thomas Hastings, a revolutionary soldier, the fourth bearing that name in direct descent from Deacon Thomas Hastings, an immigrant from Ipswich, England, in the year 1634. Through the Thomas last named, the family lineage runs back to a younger brother of Sir Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon. The family is one of the extremely few in England which can trace their pedigree so far even as the fourteenth century. But Hastings, one of the Cinque Portes, still shows the remains of its castle where William the Conqueror lodged before the decisive battle-that of Hastings, 1066 - which overthrew the Saxon dynasty. Already in the time of Alfred the Great (ninth century), a Danish Hastings had planted himself in Sussex.
In 1815, and on the same day with her husband, Mrs. Nutting made a public profession of faith in Christ. Under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Parsons, of Amherst, Massachusetts - who made large use of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism - the children were wont regularly to recite the answers in that compend. Nothing short of literal accuracy would satisfy the desires of the minister or the ambition of young catechumens. Questions and answers remained distinctly in Mrs. Nutting's memory to the last. As opportunity offered she would put her own
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children through the catechism, after they had themselves become parents and even grandparents. It was under the influence of that little formulary that her own character received its type. She showed Puritan loyalty to sound doctrine, law, and order-order in the family, the church, and society. She had a clear apprehension of the evan- gelical system of belief, and a hearty love of the same. Whatever was accepted as duty became a pleasure to her. In regard to secret prayer and the reading of God's Word, no thought seemed ever to enter her mind except to maintain constancy and find profitable enjoyment therein. Her memory was early stored with hymns. In later years, at the hour of evening twilight, it was still her delight to sing or repeat certain favorites, such as,
" When to the west the sun descends," etc.
For some scores of years, every night, after retiring to rest, she repeated the hymn,
" And now another day has gone, I'll sing my Maker's praise," etc.
She was always looking on the bright side of things. Grumbling is not a factor of longevity. During forty-five years of widowhood she maintained a cheerful walk with God. For children and children's children to the fifth generation, her memory is a richer legacy than any that could pass through the probate office. Her seven daughters were born under the same roof, and married in the same room; and they, as well as the two sons,
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were all living, and all had families at the time of her departure.
12. MRS. LUCY WATERMAN.
The church had been formed only fourteen months when Mrs. Waterman, coming from New York, became a member (1836). It was in 1812 that she first made public profession of faith in Christ. Her character and the esteem in which she was held are indicated by Reso- lutions which were adopted at the meeting that next pre- ceded her hundredth birthday :
" Learning that the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Mrs. Lucy Waterman, a revered and beloved mem- ber of this church, is expected to take place on the eighth instant, the brethren and sisters of the Eliot Church present at the regular meeting of this date gladly recognize the unusual event, and in token thereof heartily adopt the following minute :
" That congratulations be conveyed to our venerable sister in Christ, in view of her attaining to this extreme age, and under circumstances so favorable; that infirmities are so few, and that faculties of the mind have, in such measure, been preserved; that she has never had occa- sion to follow to the grave any one of her children; that the three sons are still living, and in their filial assidui- ties she has a gratifying share; that the Word of God and prayer to God are still her delight and solace; that faith, hope, and charity have not waned, and that she still testifies to the faithfulness and abounding goodness of our covenant-keeping God:
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" That we contemplate with gratitude the evidence of a consistent Christian life of four-score years, and of an exemplary walk and conversation for more than half a century in the membership of the Eliot Church; and that we render thanks to the God of all grace for manifest special mercies to our sister during the whole period of one hundred years :
" That we devoutly and affectionately commend her to the continued faithfulness of him who is the ancient of days, and whose word of unfailing promise is: ‘Even to your old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made and I will bear; even I will carry and will deliver you.'"
These were communicated to her on the anniversary, April 8, 1890. Two score of her friends went twenty- five miles to pay their respects to the venerable saint. It was noteworthy that all her children were also then pres- ent. Among the appropriate gifts at that time was a collection of one hundred texts of sacred Scripture, which she would prize more than so many jewels. She put on her glasses and read aloud a part of the fourteenth chap- ter of John's gospel. "Rock of Ages, cleft for me," and "Jesus, lover of my soul," two of her favorite hymns, were sung.
Over a year and a half after that occasion, in the fifty-sixth year of her fellowship with this church, and in her one hundred and second year of age, Mrs. Waterman entered into rest, Sunday, November 15, 1891. She be-
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longed to a family in which there has been a good deal of longevity. One of her grandfathers lived eighty-four years, and his wife ninety-two years; a brother attained to the age of eighty-nine; one sister to the age of ninety, and another sister, whose death was caused by accident, to the age of ninety-seven.
Mrs. Waterman's maiden name was Sturtevant, and she was of the Plymouth County stock, from which have come prominent men, and men of decided Christian char- acter. One of them was Dr. Julian M. Sturtevant, a Pro- fessor and afterwards President of Illinois College.
13. MISS SUSAN WESSON.
Miss Wesson belonged to a large family characterized by native refinement, modesty, sobriety, and conscientious- ness. The father, William Wesson, born in England, came to this country in early life and was a prosperous man. For some years he lived in Boston ; but removing to Cambridge in 1802, he made purchases of land and built a large three-story house. College students became inmates of the family. The daughter Susan was born July 23, 1797. Of the nine children in her father's family - three of whom died before reaching adult years - no one was ever married. The brother William, it is understood, became engaged; but having met with losses, which included his mother's property, he deemed it a duty to devote himself to the maintenance of her and of his surviving sisters. Honorable sentiments always con-
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