Oberlin College - Hi-O-Hi Yearbook (Oberlin, OH)

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Reminiscences of Charles Henry Churchill By His Son Alfred HE modern educator dreams of a life which shall bring the body, the intellect, the emotions and the will into harmonious action. Such was my father's boyhood. His home was an ample farm with a pebbly brook, where the boy built a dam and a water-mill twith a trip- hammer attachment and came within a hair of being apprenticed to a mill- wright in consequencej. In the village was a long hill with a full half mile of straight coasting in winter. tDoes not that make an 1 Jberlin boy's mouth wateril Near by was the Connecticut Rivergfhe built his own sail boat and could sail back and forth from his home to Meriden Academy or to Dartmouth: and there were endless woods and trapping and hunting and swimming. horses, cows, sheep, dogs, squirrels, birds and snakes. llut the social aspects of life were not less favorable. The little New Hampshire town was a microcosm containing souls of every degree of magni- tude and meanness. There is a story of epic breadth about the boy's father. A heavy boat was to be raised. There were four strong men In do the work, and they placed their shoulders to the hulk. At the critical instant they were seized with panic, feeling the boat about to fall on them. Three gave back to escape black death, but one stayed to the task. Cowie un. he groaned and bore the weight alone. Tlack. from pure shame, rushed the three, and the boat was heaved into place: but grandfather's arm was broken. If that story had been told by Plutarch it might have been a favorite with boys in every land. Sunday was a great day on the farm. The neighbors came for miles around to the village church and heard good sermons of a length that no modern congregation could tolerate. The close of the morning service saw a gathering of leading spirits at grandfathers house to dinner, and theology and slavery were leading courses. Thus the children got to know the bright- est men and women in that part of the world. Un winter nights while the boy whittled. or drew, or modeled heads rin spruce gumj in front of the big Hre place, his mother used to stretch his imagination by telling him stories or reading grand passages of poetry- Homer or Byron. Think of those long winter nights with the roaring tire and poetry and pleasant converse, and with nuts and cider and roasted apples to fill the pauses and the healthy young stomachs! The teacher of the village school was a remarkable woman. Vtfe have 25

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RIQY. CHARLICS HENRY CHURCHILL

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other testimony than the affectionately prejudiced verdict of Charles Henry. She it was who taught the boy to read music and started him in mathe- matics twhich he dislikedll in reading and writing and drawingg and he helped her to whip a big lout who questioned her authority in the school- room. To be specific, he held while she whaled. Before Henry was ten years old he was singing soprano in the village choir. At twelve he played the violoncello in the little church orchestra. He was always familiar with all the common scales and keys. XYhen his voice began to get lower he sang alto and then tenor. but he played bass. llye and bye his increasing skill enabled him to play two parts lpart of the timel and sing another. Of course the musical art of the time was simple. It was not quite like trying this feat with Bach or Brahms Lnor even lluek ll. It probably seemed a pity to the boy that the human larynx was not so arranged as to enable him to get in the fourth part. On week days he had to get up before daylight and milk. drive plough, plant and reap. He was compactly knit, and at an early age was strong as a man grown. He had to take his place and swing his scythe in the lines of mowers, or bear a part in work on the public road. He has said that some of this was unwise and that his strength was presumed on. But he was not too tired at close of day to play football. and then to swim, row, jump or wrestle until bedtime. XYith his splendid physical strength Henry Churchill combined a deep- rooted contempt of cruelty, injustice and meanness. The lad was a bonnie lighter. particularly when the cause of war was some case of boy's in- humanity to boy. After a while Henry grew up and went to Dartmouth. He played foot- ball and broadened the old straight classical curriculum for himself by tak- ing French from a native refugee. He was full of humor and merry pranks. The fellows sometimes went to sleep in Latin Hive o'clock of a winter morning-no wonderl and one lazy giant depended on his companions to wake him and point him the pas- sage in Yirgil. in case he was called on. After Charles Henry had been used for this service until he reflected that in youth much dependence on others might result in harm to the character, he bided his time. There was a very slow fellow in the class. who construed with long. awkward pauses between the lines. Waiting for a favorable instant, Henry suddenly waked the giant and pointed the passage. His success was perfect. The big man got to his feet and began to construe. to the astonishment and delight of the boys. The year '49 found. studying Theology in I Jberlin. a very serious young man indeed who had many communions with himself and his Maker. whether or not it might be his privilege and duty to preach the Gospel. ln early manhood father lost his beloved wife, Mary .lane Turner, who left him three children. XVhen later on he married Henrietta Yance. she took the family to her heart like her own and became a loving mother to all alike fthe children always had to think twice before they could tell to which family they belongedl. A remarkable story of her early married life was told me by my mother. They had been married a little over a year when my father took the young bride for a little journey back to his own home to show her to his 26