m .y,Y. v<^^ / Poems and Sketches CONSISTING OF POEMS AXD LOCAL HISTORY; BIOGRAPHY; NOTES OF TRAVEL; LONG LIST OF WAYNE COUNTY'S PIONEER DEAD, ALSO MANY NAMES OF THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN DEFENSE OF THEIR COUNTRY, DURING THE LATE REBELLION, AND WHOSE HONORED REMAINS ARE IN- TERRED IN THIS VICINITY; WITH MUCH INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE MISCELLANEOUS MATTER; George P. Emswiler, Carefully Collated and Arranged by the Author. Richmond, Indiana: t % Nicholson Printing & Mfg. Co., C -^ ^" 1897. \\vVO^ i Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, by GEORGE P. EMSWILER, In the Office of the Librarian of Oongress, at Washington. :^ 'Dedication, o/" //tree noA/e sou/s, T^artAa >P^^ncs ^I'niej/, J^tti'h'a ^. Soodr/c/i, ane^ m^ dear-j c^evofee/ TnofAer-j S/i^ade^A 97/ttcAcN, a// /on^ st'nce e^e/^arfed /'rom f/ie con/'e'nes o/" f/it's sac/ tvor/cf, I'n/o f/ie cc&or/es o^ joecice cinct rest eferna/. PREFACE. riAHE contents of this volume consist of an hundred \_ and fifty, or more, poems, on a multitude of sub- jects; also, several interesting papers on local histor}^ ; sundry biographical sketches of former citizens of note ; several old and interesting letters written in days of " auld lang-syne ; " some miscellaneous matter, pertinent and impertinent ; some brief sketches of travel ; and a long list of pioneer names, with age, and date of death, directly from the records, whose bearers have passed, in the fullness of time, to the ever-silent shores beyond ; also, a partial list of Wayne county's soldier dead : forming, in the aggregate, an exceed- ingly interesting collection, rare and valuable, to be found nowhere else in print. The material has been collected and wrought out, at various times and inter- vals, to beguile the tedium of an idle hour, and was begun in the author's boyhood days and continued on down to the present time, with ?io thought, whatever, until recently, of putting the matter into its present form. None of the ' contents have, therefore, been worked up, mechanically, with the purpose of making vi PREFACE. a book. He has no apology to offer for an}- defects of composition or arrangement, as we are all human and liable to err, and, besides, in his case, circumstances compelled him to be his own tutor and the architect of his own fortune. He does sincerel}' wish the offering were more worthy, but, such as it is, he has determined to submit it to an ever-tolerant public, hoping it may at least amuse, should it fail to edify or instruct, the reader. The Author. CONTENTS. MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. The World's Columbian Fair 1 The Great Pullman Strike 4 The Stars , 8 Musings 9 Garfield School House 11 Life 12 Time 13 His Loving Spirit Fills All Space 15 " If a Man Die, Shall He Live Again ? " . 17 Contemplation 19 " Be Not Like Dumb-Driven Cattle " 20 The Bell at Saint Paul's 22 Niagara 24 Lines to a Late November Butterfly 26 Thoughts Suggested by the Closing Year 29 Robert Burns 31 The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet 33 To a Departed Sister 34 Abandon 35 Indolence 36 Departing Summer 38 The Snow, Dec. 2d, 1893 39 Some Cool Reflections on a Gas Fire 40 Thoughts Suggested at "Fountain Square," Cincinnati, 0. 41 Thanksgiving of the Poor 43 Aimless Thoughts 44 Scenes and Reflections at "Yearly Meeting" 45 Musings ( written while the snow was falling ) 49 Pictures of AVinter 51 viii CONTENTS. Some Characteristics of Our City's Servants 53 Lines Suggested by the Recent Death of a Friend ... 55 The Toiler's Lament 57 March 13th and 14th, 1893 58 Master Wilhe May 59 Early Spring 60 Creation's Heirs 61 A Public Wedding at Old Pearl Street Church 62 When Life is Young 63 A Wail at the Weather. 64 Enigma 65 To One Departed 67 Pandom Thoughts 68 Lines to a Belated Grasshopper 69 The World a Theatre 70 To Evan Wright 71 Lines Suggested by a Visit to Benj. and Emily Strattan . 72 Toil On 73 A Doggerel on a Departed Canine 74 Impromptu Lines Suggested by an Old Bonnet .... 75 To an Absent Brother 76 The Chase 77 A Sabbath Afternoon in Summer 78 A Fragment 78 Musings 79 Impromptu Lines to March 80 To One at Rest 81 Early Autumn 82 Could Prayers Avail 83 The Day We Celebrate 84 March 11th, 1896 85 Passing Away 86 I Know No Misanthropic Hours 87 Old Letters 89 Early Spring 91 My Love and 1 92 Lines to a Butterfly 94 When First We Met 96 Retrospection 97 CONTENTS. ix Just as Thy Nature Urges 99 Crinoline 100 Memento Mori 101 Autumnal Musings 102 The Robin 103 Two Translations 104 In the Days When I Went Tipsying 105 Some Reflections in a Country Churchyard 107 The Rose 108 Artlessness in Art 109 Lines to a Late Rosebud 110 Sleeves, and Hoops, and Bustles Ill Passing Away 112 Mary Had a Little Dog 113 Lines Suggested by the Tolling of Pearl Street M. E. Church Bell / 115 The Rain — A Protest 116 A Boyish Dream 118 May 19th, 1894 119 To E. J. S 121 To Miss Sarah F y 122 An Humble Tribute to Nelson Stanley 123 To Rachel M. Atherton 124 To Miss ]Mary Rambo 125 Impromptu Lines to Nellie Smurr 126 To One Who Loved, Not Wisely, but Too Well .... 127 Lines on the Death of a Favorite Cat 128 Apostrophe 128 Seeking Gold 129 Stanzas on the Early "Gold Fever" 131 To Christian Rathfon 132 To Isaac Kline 133 Impromptu Nonsense 133 A New Year's Greeting to William L, John 134 Avoid Extremes 134 To William L. John, on His Eighty-eighth Birthday . . 135 These Are Weary Days of Waiting 137 To William Parry / 138 To William L. John, Aged Ninety-one Years 140 X COXTENTS. To Dr. T. H. Davis Ul Thoughts of Autumn 142 December 8th, 1894 143 The Curfew Bell Will Rmg To-Night 144 I Hate That Drum's Discordant Sound 146 Charles H. Burchenal 147 Henry R. Downing 148 Never Do Thou Stoop to Conquer 149 POETICAL LETTERS. To Claudius Byles 152 To S. F. Smurr 153 To My Sister 156 THE SEASONS. New Year's Morning, 1893 158 A Day of Gloom — February, 1894 159 Winds of March " 161 An April Morn 162 A Morning in May 163 Reflections on a Morning in ]May 164 In the Sunny Days of June 165 July ^ 167 In August — The Harvest is Over • 169 August 170 September — Summer Wanes 172 Autumn ^ — October 174 November 175 Farewell to December 176 Let Every Tongue Rejoice 178 Summer Salad 180 A Summer's Day 182 Autumnal Leaves 184 To Winter 185 RELIGIOUS POEMS AND SENTIMENTS. 0, Why Should We Mourn ? 186 In Lent 187 At the Last 188 CONTENTS. xi Christmas 190 Thanksgiving Day 191 Random Thoughts 193 And This Is True 194 "Be Just, and Fear Not" 195 Some Reflections 195 As I See It 196 Jewels Are Jehovah's Trust 197 Jesus — A Triple Acrostic 198 " Just as I Am, Without One Plea " 199 ALBUM PIECES. To Beauty, for Miss Biles 202 To Miss Mary Mason 203 To Gabriella Newton 204 To Miss Mary Finley 205 To Mary E. H— t 206 To Mary Ellen Ward 207 To Elmira Basset 208 To Rebecca D. Strattan 209 To Sarah F 210 To Miss Rebecca Meek 211 To Julia A. Brady . 211 VALENTINES. To Miss Margaret McCoy 213 To Miss Phoebe C—f—d"! 214 To Miss Rebecca D. Strattan 215 To Miss Rebecca Meek 216 To Miss Mary Rambo 216 LOCAL HISTORICAL SKETCHES. My Recollections of Richmond — Paper No. 1 221 My Recollections of Richmond — Paper No. 2 234 My Recollections of Richmond — Paper No. 3 250 xii CONTENTS. BIOGRAPHICAL. General Sol Meredith 258 Alfred Kayiie 259 Judge James Perry 263 Irvin Reed 267 Senator John Yaryan 270 William Parry 274 William L. John 276 OLD LETTERS OF PIONEER TIMES. Andrew Finley, Jr. (Xo. 1) 282 Andrew Finley, Jr. (No. 2) 285 Rebecca Bradbury 287 Susan Finley 288 MISCELLANEOUS SKETCHES. Court House Remov^al 290 How Richmond Met a Crisis 291 Richmond's Postmasters 292 David Hoover's Memoir 295 A Relic of War Times 311 Some County History 821 HISTORICAL. Recollections, Etc 325 A Trip to California 328 AVESTERN SKETCHES. An Old Time Elopement 333 Early Railroad History at Richmond, Ind 337 Early Railroading Between Richmond and Anderson . . 344 MISCELLANEOUS SELECTIONS. Canal-Boat Trains 351 Our Navy During the War 353 War Prices in the North 355 War Prices in the South 359 Cotton Mather and the Friends 361 CONTENTS. xiii The Optimist 363 The Children of the Desert 365 Chronology of Plants 369 Shells, Fossils and Flowers 372 Travel— Notes by the Way 373 PIONEER DEAD. First Settlers — Place of interment unknown 400 Earlham Cemetery 401 Maple Grove Cemetery 412 Friends' Old North Side Cemetery 412 German Lutheran Cemetery 413 German Catholic Cemetery 414 Irish Catholic Cemetery 416 Hoover Burying Grounds 417 McClure Family Cemetery 418 Friends' Ridge Cemetery 419 King's Cemetery 420 Goshen Cemetery 421 Elkhorn Cemetery 423 Chester Cemetery 424 Centerville Cemetery 426 Boston Cemetery 427 Recent Deaths 429 THE SOLDIER DEAD. Maple Grove Cemetery 431 Earlham Cemetery 432 Elkhorn Cemetery 432 Boston Cemetery 432 Lutheran Cemetery 439 German Catholic Cemetery 433 Irish Catholic Cemetery 433 Public Cemetery 433 Old Catholic Cemetery 433 Kennedy's Chapel 433 God Bless Abraham Lincoln 434 Farewell Poem 435 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. THE WORI^D'S COLUMBIAN FAIR. Thou great White City by the lake, Thou rare conception of the mind ; A dreamy fancy crystalUzed, The proudest work of humankind. The world thy equal ne'er has seen, Nor will it soon compete with thee ; In grandeur thou wilt stand alone For ages that are yet to be. Here all the universal world Has stored the choicest things it holds Of skill, or wealth, or pomp, or power, That we may see what life unfolds. Here mines reveal their richest ores. And forestry displays its woods. The watery world its wondrous stores, And cultured fields their fruits and foods. POEMS AXD SKETCHES. Here we behold rich gems of art, And treasures fair as ever sought, To please the mind, or touch the heart — From earth's remotest regions brought. From Europe and from Afric's soil, From Asia and its vast domain, From East and West, come works of toil, And lessons for the busy brain. Here science and mechanic art Declare the progress of the world, And merchandise from every mart Where'er a flag has been unfurled. Swart natives from the torrid zone. With such as dwell in regions drear. And ocean's distant islands lone, And ever3^ continent, are here. Behold w^hat energy has wrought ! What grand results of brain and skill ! The climax of creative thought, A w^onder to amaze and thrill. In gratitude for priceless dower. We celebrate a countr^^'s birth — The grandest, freest, best : the flower And fruitage of the smiling earth. POEMS AXD SKETCHES. All Hail, Columbia ! May thy years Exceed the years of Greece and Rome, And ma3^ a happ}^ people's cheers Forever greet thee : ' ' Home, sweet home. ' ' And thou, Chicago — Freedom's pride, A ver3^ queen b}" Nature blest, Whose feet are laved b}^ wind and tide : The crown and glory of the West — To thee belongs a meed of praise For what thou hast conceived and wrought The grandest work of latter days By which the nations have been taught. Here thronging millions come to see, From every foreign clime and zone. Admire and praise thy works and thee - Supremest effort man has known. October 12, 1893. "^^^&^ POEMS AND SKETCHES. THE GREAT PULLMAN STRIKE. [ Engineered by Eugene V. Debs, President of the American Railway Union, culminating in riot and bloodshed, on Saturday and Sunday, July 7th and Sth, '9i, at Chicago, Illinois, when Federal and State troops wei'e called out to quell the disturbance, after hundreds of cars had been burned, with much other railroad property, amounting, it is claimed, to over two million dollars.] The times are all in a turmoil ; There is striking on all the roads — Determined to boycott Pullman, Regardless of means or modes. A spirit of evil possesses These toilers, against the rich, Who vent their spleen with torch and force And the aid of the railroad switch. They complain of a serious grievance, Which, granting it ma}^ be just, Can never excuse their dreadful work, Which tramples all rights in the dust. Destruction of cars by hundreds. With marvelous wealth of freight : Live cattle and hogs and horses. And products from far-off States. POEMS AXD SKETCHES. Switches and towers and tracks Are broken and burned and wrecked : In their devihsh round of destruction They never a moment reflect. They side-track Pullman sleepers, And hinder the Government trains, And tie up travel and traffic, Both eastward and over the plains. All properties owned b}" the roads. Wherever they chance to be found. Are wrecked by these anarchist hordes, Or burned, in their hate, to the o:round. &' And still these elements flourish ; The unions of all the trades Are being called off from labor, In sj'mpathy's various shades. They are bound upon conquest, they sa}^, Determined to rule or to ruin ; And, worse than the beasts of the forests, They haven't the sense of a " Bruin." The spirit of evil is rampant ; The country is wild with commotion ; And, like a contagion, is spreading. And widens from ocean to ocean. a POEMS AND SKETCHES. Having quitted their places of labor, To join with the vagabond host, They are out on a raid of destruction ; And to ruin the rich, is their boast : Forgetting that money is needful To furnivSh employments for all, And that bread, and a home, and apparel, Are wants of the great and the small ; That idleness ends in distress, Demoralization and crime ; That labor alone tends to bless, Ennoble, and make us sublime. Then why should such envy exist As capital seems to create ? Without it no labor could live. Nor happiness come to the State. Then cease all this turbulent fury ; Go, each to his engine or brake ; You cannot afford to be idle : Your course is an aw^ful mistake. Be just to the laws of the land. By being good citizens, all ; Avoid being tools of a leader, To serve his behests or his call. POEMS AND SKETCHES. Be honest, and faithful, and prudent ; Provide for the comforts of age ; And should disaffection surround you. Keep aloof from its frenzy and rage ; For those who command you seek glory. And are drunk with the power they hold. And simply repeat the old story A thousand times acted and told. Their reign will be brief, we may trust, For the State and the Nation, at hand With their forces and loyalty, must Compel the vile mob to disband ; And as the promoters of crime May speedily hang for their sport, Or serve a life sentence of time From whence they may never report. July 9, 1894. POEMS AND SKETCHES. THE STARS. From childhood's earhest hours till now, My thoughts have vainly striven To comprehend those orbs of light, Those star-lit lamps of heaven. And, oftentimes, my soul hath dwelt In rapture, wild and free, As contemplating them I knelt To ask from whence they be — To know that high Almighty hand, Whose boundless power and love Created, and sustained, and planned. Such countless worlds above ; Whose sweet, mild radiance comes to earth Like gem-drops, through the air. And shining on, through endless years, God's providence declare. May my freed spirit take its flight Some calm, bright, holy even'. Drink in one draught of their pure light, And sweetly pass to heaven. December 17, 1890. POEMS AND SKETCHES. MUSINGS. "The remembrance of youth is a sigh.-' Once fondest illusions of promise and hope Shed a halo of gladness around, And the sigh, and the tear, and the cares of to-day, Could not in my presence be found. But change is inherent in all that has life, And constancy never was known ; The castles we builded, in battle and strife, Like leaves have been scattered and strown. For a shadow like that of the passage of clouds O'er the glow of the Mid-Summer sun, Will shade, in its turn, ev'ry brow with a care Kre the goal of ambition is won ; And the maid on whose cheek blend the lily and rose, And the youth who, so happy and fair. In his ardor aspires to be wealthy or great. Will each be the victims of care. I, too, had bright hopes of the future in view, And an aim that was noble and high, But, alas ! for my dreams, for they vanished in air, Like the vapory mists of the sky. ,10 POEMS AND SKETCHES. I feel no such buo3''ancy boyhood displayed, Which, in fullness of soul, effervesced ; But instead, with a soberness suited to age. For many a long year have been blessed. Thus many a fond hope has been blighted in blooming, And many a fond heart has been crushed ; Its sorrows within its own bosom concealing ; Its mirth and its gleefulness hushed. Still, I love to go back to the shadowy past, • And muse o'er the pleasures it brought us ; The many fair visions, too fleeting to last. And the frostwork of bliss that was wrought us. For the Spring-time of life, tho' a glorious cheat, . Has food for reflection and ruth, And its joys — evanescent, entrancingly sweet — Seemed real and lasting as truth. Note.— Written in 1854; revised in May, 1891. ®^^8|^ POEMS AXD SKETCHES. 11 GARFIELD SCHOOL HOUSE. [ Erected by Dr. Joel Vaile, in 185i ; removed by Ebon Louck, in June, 189i, to whom has been given the contract for a new building.] I saw thee builded, and have seen thee fall, Dismantled and demolished, to thy basement's wall ; A once proud structure of a former day, Like all things earthly, thou hast passed away. A temple, trul}^, where the j^outhful mind Was fed and fostered and to good inclined. For two-score years thy purpose served us well, But in mem'ry onl}- wilt thou henceforth dwell. Some statelier structure will supply thy place, Combining elegance, as well as grace ; For pride and riches, with their siren song. Have won the worship of the thoughtless throng. Uncultured minds no higher joys can know Than vain display, or garish, tawdr}^ show ; While modest worth has vanished far away, Or sought the precincts of some by-gone day. The old simplicity, that once prevailed. Is jeered and hooted, and by gibes assailed ; ► Our robes are scarlet : that the}^ catch the eye. And flash and flourish, common sense def}-. .12 POEMS AXD SKETCHES. The world at large is out on dress parade, For even learning apes the showy maid ; With surface gilding, on a mental ground, It seeks to dazzle and appear profound. Delusive shams, instead of wholesome truths. Are doled, " ad libitum," to ardent youths ; While things essential to our weal or w^oe. Must find solution as through life we go. Let common sense be your unfailing guide ; Be self-reliant, shunning shams and pride ; Take naught for granted — follow wisdom's plan Think for yourself, and prove yourself a man. June i8, 1894. LIFE. Life is a mysterious mystery, Which none may solve, of all humanit}^ ; Supreme reflection of a Great First Cause, Controlling being, under Nature's laws. Akin to light, which doth illume the day, It shines, in splendor, but to pass away ; No seeking will the story ever tell — It may be soul or spirit, energy or spell. POEMS AND SKETCHES. 13 It seemeth like a breath, a shadow fleeting, Which stirs the vital currents, and the pulses beating-, And may evanish, like the misty air, Or linger strangely, after we despair. A real something, yet we see it not ; An unseen force — alas ! we know not what ; We call it life, but can explain no more. Though w^e all learning and all thought explore. To that High Power which no eye beholds. We leave the problem, till His w411 unfolds ; We only know vitality and being Bring power of action, loving, hating, seeing. June, 1893. TIME. Time is the measure of the ages past ; A miracle of power, invincible, sublime ; An ever- active force, an ocean vast ; The grand inheritance of every clime. The instrument and glory of the Great I Am ; The day of Deity, which doth not pause. But worketh and evolveth, in a peaceful psalm, Eternal duty, through eternal laws. 14 POEMS AND SKETCHES. At His behest, unnumbered distant spheres, Through time and space, revolve their devious rounds. And so continue, in the countless years, Through regions knowing neither metes nor bounds. A vasty deep, an endless, measureless degree. Is Time — the might} arbiter of all ; • Nations and empires yield themselves to thee : They rise, in splendor, and in time they fall. Thou art a conqueror without a peer ; Thou comest and thou goest like the viewless wind ; Thou fleest swiftly as the charioteer. And dire destruction in thy path we find. June 28, 1893. r7^^5^-D POEMS AXB SKETCHES. 15 HIS LOVING SPIRIT FILLS ALL SPACE. In temples of the glorious woods, Where God's first altars rose sublime, There men, of various climes and moods, Erst knelt to Him, in ancient time. The mighty oak, the towering pine, Which sheltered, and ascended high. Were fane and spire, the most divine That ever pointed to the sky. Man here communed with Nature's God, In silence and in solitude. And saw, without the chastening rod, That all His ways and works were good. No glittering show, no vain display, Which man alone regards as great. Distracted thought from Heaven away To empty forms and pomp of state. The sun by day, the moon by night. And all the countless orbs that shine, Were proof to them of power and might, Forever loving and divine. 10 POEMS AND SKETCHES. Go forth, my brother ; seek the hills, The sparkling streams, the vales of green, The boundless plains, whose grandeur fills The soul with awe : there God hath been. Behold the glorious earth and sk}^ ; Breathe in the ambient air of heaven ; Expand thy soul ; prepare to fly From narrow creeds that men have given. His loving spirit fills all space : Not only temples built by hands. But everywhere He sheds His grace — From mountain peaks to ocean strands. Sunday, August 2, 1891. ^ POEMS AXD SKETCHES. 17 "IF A MAX DIE. SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?" " Ah, whither strays the immortal mind When coldness wraps this suffering clay ? ' ' When this fair world we leave behind, And death and darkness veil the day ? Will it go hence to distant worlds, Beyond the ken of mortals given, To live again, where life unfurls Existence in a joyous Heaven? Eh'sian fields where happy souls. Beloved and loving, ever dwell? Where bliss eternally unrolls Some new delight no tongue can tell ? Shall we rejoin our loved ones there, And know them as we knew them here. Exempt from toil, and pain, and care — Inflictions of this mundane sphere ? Will naught but happiness and bliss Fill up the hours of endless years. And everlasting praise dismiss The fleeting ages, free from tears? 18 POEMS AXD SKETCHES. Or shall we be condemned and doomed To endless 3'ears of woe, instead, Or in forgetfulness, entombed, Remain till age on age is sped ? Alas ! for us — we do not know What is our destined end or aim ; Wh}^ we have lived, nor where we go, Xor e'en from whence, at first, we came. O I Thou Supreme, Almight}' Power, Reveal to us these hidden things. That we ma^' know Th}' will, each hour, Freed from the doubt and fear it brings. These secrets. Lord, on us bestow, AVho see Thy works and still are blind ; Whose e3'es behold, where'er we go, Some unsolved m^^st'ry of the mind. September 30, 1892. ^