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

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people. They were riding in the day-car with three, or possibly four, children tthere were three of the older family, at the time, besides a new lit- tle onej, when they noticed a small red spot on fathers sleeve, a stain from the chemical laboratory. He was accustomed to carry a little phial of strong ammonia in his vest pocket for the purpose of removing such spots. So taking out the phial, with some difficulty, having a child on either knee, he asked the young mother to remove the stopper. She had no sooner done so than the whole contents of the phial heated by his body shot up directly into his eyes. In awful agony, he groped his way back to the water fountain. washed his eyes out as best he could, and kept 'on bathing them without ceasing until the next station was reached. Then the pathetic little family diseinbarked onto the platform of a strange station to search for a physician, the man completely blind, in intense pain, with his head bound up in wet cloths, carrying a child and led by his wife with the other children. A good doctor was at length found. who did whatever he could for the patient, and told him that he had his presence of mind and his prompt and free use of water to thank if he ever recovered the use of his eyes, which was indeed doubtful. QAS a matter of fact, he was blind for some weeks but at length recovered completelyj. There was one incident coiniected with this painful experience which transfigured it, and which the young wife treasured in her heart as afford- ing a glimpse into her husbands inner life. lt was something that he said to her on that endless walk trying to find help in an unknown place. The words which came out of that black night and pain were these: Perhaps this is Gods hand, and now T shall preach the 114 ispelf' Mother wept as she told it. The years Hew by. There was a quiver full of children. The only way to bring them up on the modest income available was to get a big lot and let them run. The home acre was like a small farm. Wie all had to work. We tlidn't like it, but we had great fun just the same. The principal family gathering was Sunday afternoons. and music was its chief inspiration. Most every one played something. and every mouth sang texcept those which happened to be full of wind instrumentst. Father presided at the organ. At one time there were quite a nuinher of inst1'u- ments and voices in the family proper, to say nothing of a conservatory girl or two, or other students, of whom generally there were several under the home roof. Father and mother could not give money to help poor girls, but such as they had they gave to them. lioth were full of chivalrous love. They would have risked their own reputation or welfare at any time to shield or help the weak, of any age or race. At different times they made a home for two women of the negro race ttwo of the best scholars my father ever had, by the wayl. liloth went out to do noble work for their people, and one anticipated the motive and method of some of Booker T. XYashington's work by .nearly a quarter of a century. I do not desire to leave the impression that there was nothing remark- able about this home music except the remarkable lot of pleasure it gave us, the sense of fellowship, and the spiritual uplift. Tncidentally, the prac- ti of Slllfflllff-SO rano at First, and later. alto. tenor and bass. was a ffood Ce 6 bi p V L -5 preparation for learning to hear all the parts at once in polyphonic music, and subsequent appreciation of masterpieces. 27

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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

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This was a full rich life. There was really no end to the n1an's cease- less activities. llefore the telephone was generally known he got permis- sion to construct specimens for educational purposes and had a practical line running between his laboratory and the house. Similarly he made a phonograph. He lectured on art, especially architecture, and as slides were not available he made India ink drawings, hundreds of them, large enough to show in a large class-room. He gave his art courses in Philadelphia and elsewhere. Earlier, when good music was too expensive, he had made a font of wooden type and printed his own music for the choir. That he made the first pipe organ in Qberlin is a matter of history, but that he and an older sou planned and built a beautiful baby carriage, big enough for two babies at once, was a matter of much more consequence to the grow- ing family, where money was scarce. He wrote a text book and made the drawings and cut the wood blocks for the plates. He co-nducted teach- ers' institutes without number, and college summer schools twhich were held in winterl, and filled pulpits in distant towns years on end, and began a translation of the New Testament, which, greatly as he admired the match- less King James, he felt should be familiar to us in the simplest and most dignified of modern English. And these things after all are sporadic instances. That such extended activities took place at the expense of extraordinary achievement in any single line of effort was a matter of course. But he re- garded this as Liod's purpose. The Oberlin of his day had need of every one of his gifts, and he gave freely. The days of specialization had not ar- rived. lt has been said that the exuberant vitality of this life was akin to the Greek. lt does undoubtedly recall the antique energy, or perhaps the Renaissance with some of the darker notes left out. Other traits, character- istically Christian rather than Greek, have been suggested sufficiently for the purpose of this brief sketch. lt would not be pleasing to my father, who never loved tiattery, that l should leave the impression that he was a man of perfect character. It would only be discouraging, and it would be untrue. His intellect and even his vitality had their limitations. And he was a very human man, with human failings. But he had a wonderful, loving heart. I fl W WW WW 28