" Death is but

A kind and gentle servant who unlocks
With noiseless hand, life's flower encircled door
To show us those we love."

When relations or other friends from a distance
visited him, he would go with them to the Cemetery,
and view the resting place of his heart-treasures,
and how often have I seen him with his cane point
out the place which he had selected for his own
burial. He was married twice, first in 1808, to Mary
Sheldon, who died in November, 1809, and who left
an infant child ; and second, in 1810, to Lucinda
Sheldon, who died in May, 1847. They were sisters
of Col. Joseph Sheldon, one of the early settlers of
Watertown. By his direction, a space was left
between these two graves for his " narrow house."
After he was " three score and ten" years of age, he
spent a winter near St. Louis, with one of his sons.
When he left home for this long journey, he gave
directions to have his body returned to this place, in
the event of his being taken away in a strange land.
His heart-yearnings corresponded with those of the
Patriarch Jacob, when he said : " Bury me not, I



AND RECOLLECTIONS. 41

pray thee, in Egypt ; but I will be buried with my
fathers. And thou shalt carry me out of Egypt
and bury me in their burying place." " There they
buried Abraham and Sarah his wife ; there they
buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife ; and there I
buried Leah."

A good providence permitted him to return in his
usual health, to his old home, which he enjoyed
several years, and I need not tell you, Dear F. that
his body rests in the place he selected. It is a com
fort to dwell upon his cheerful views of death, and
I cannot give you a better idea of it, than in his own
illustration of his feelings in a letter to me, relative
to the death of my sister, the eldest in the family,
by the second marriage. This death occurred while
he was away from home, at St. Louis, the time I
have just spoken of. He wrote : December 21st,
1854, " It really seems like a dream, that Susan
is dead, and I can say nothing so appropriate as to
quote the words of Dr. Franklin, on a somewhat
similar occasion. ' I condole with you, we have
lost a most dear and valuable relation for which
nothing earthly can make any amends, but it is the
will of Heaven that these bodies should be laid
aside; when we enter into real life we are spirits.
That bodies should be lent us, while they can con
tribute to our happiness, and assist us in doing good
to our fellow creatures, is a kind and benevolent act
4*



42 PERSONAL SKETCHES

of God, and when they become unfit for these pur
poses, it is equally kind, that a way is provided, by
which we may get rid of them. Death is that way
a man is not truly born until he be dead and
why should you and I grieve that a new child is
born among the immortals ; we are all invited home
to a grand party of pleasure, which is to last for
ever ; her chair was ready first, and she has
gone before us, but we shall soon follow and know
where to find her.' '

I will not close this brief and hurried sketch, with
out mentioning some of the eccentricities of the
subject of it. He was particularly fond of joking
and mirth at times, and his own children were as
apt to be the victims as any body else. His fund
of humorous anecdotes and tales from real life ?
seemed almost inexhaustible, and his gift of lan
guage was such that his communications never
lacked interest to the hearers. As a specimen
of his manner of jesting, I will quote from a letter
written in 1849, when we lived in Erie County :

* * * " There is a very malignant disease
raging in this part of the country, and a consider
able number in "VYatertown village have fallen
victims to it ; the papers don't state whether they
died or not. The disease is called the ' California
gold fever,' and its attacks have hitherto been upon
such as the inhabitants are willing to spare. When



AND RECOLLECTIONS. 43

or where it will cease is not known, but it is hoped
it will not continue lone:."



6*



On one occasion in my peregrinations, selling
books, with a horse and cutter, he went with me to
the south part of Rodman the distance of ten
miles from his home to visit an old friend, and
expected to return when I did. I left him at the
residence of his friend, and went on my business
with the intention of returning in a day or two to
take him back. But before I had half accomplished
the object of my journey, the weather changed
rapidly, and the snow melted so fast, fanned by the
warm breezes from the South, that I was compelled
to leave by the shortest route for my own home, dis
tant nearly one hundred miles, which I reached in
safety in a little over two days. In about two weeks
I received the following from him, written on a very
small piece of paper, in one of his characteristic
humorous veins :

" Watertown, January 30^, 1859.

' I never expected to live to see ' you carry me off
to John Richardson's, and leave me there, but my
kind heart must render good for evil, so I have col
lected all your debts in that vicinity, and herewith I
enclose the whole amount ; but at your own risk for
the trick you served me. You see I will not waste
much paper in writing to you, but you may bore me
with as long a letter as you please, if you will write
some time in February, if not by that time, I don't



44 PERSONAL SKETCHES

know that I shall take it out of the post office. I
have just room to tell you that we are all well, and
that snow is as scarce as white crows. I enjoyed
my visit well, and John would not bring me home
until I had staid ten days. He took the book you
left here, at one dollar is that right? if not, tell
me in your next, and when you come again bring
me another.

Yours, affectionately,

J. E. MILES.

The above was written one year before his death,
at the age of seventy-seven years. The letter
which follows was written in r(^)ly to one with re
gard to pecuniary losses, which he thought would
not prove in the end as bad as I imagined.

July 23<Z, 1856.

DEAR DAUGHTER : I have been thinking for a
long time that I would write to you, but have kept
neglecting it until now ; and perhaps should have
put it off, still longer, had I not something special to
communicate. Our home is burned, cellar and all,
with their contents, and no insurance. Hold ! I
mistake, there was an ample insurance ; and I mis
take again, for the cellar was not burnt ; and again
I mistake, for the house stands just as it was when
you saw it last. You must not put a wrong con
struction upon my fable, for I acknowledge you are
put to some temporary inconvenience ; and my
advice is : not to think of keeping all your land, but
to divide your two lots, so as to have a portion of it
improved, and woodland, and water on each, and
reserve thirty or forty acres and build upon it ; or,



"

AND RECOLLECTIONS. 45

if that is not practicable, sell the whole and buy a
small place ; and in either case, if we can arrange
the matter as we have always talked, I will give you
one hundred and fifty or two hundred dollars, if it
is in St. Lawrence County ; and if the writings can
be made out satisfactorily this fall, or winter, I can
pay it then as well as ever ; my expenses at Albany,
for L's. two years at the Normal school have been
about four hundred dollars ; this, with my little
Rail Road investment, my telescope, and travelling
expenses for three years past, have prevented me
from laying up much for myself, and I am holden
for over one thousand dollars for F. & J. ; conse
quently, I am not in independent circumstances, and
you may as well fix your mind on the lowest sum
mentioned above. I will leave the news for R.

Yours, etc.

As your home is in the West, dear F., I will make
a few extracts from letters my father sent me rela
tive to his travels in that direction :

St. Louis, Dec., 1854.

DEAR DAUGHTER : As I am in this far off
country, it will be doubly interesting to me to have
frequent letters from my children, and you must not
neglect to write to me forthwith. I presume
you are apprised of my being in this country. I
left Watertown in the cars, on the morning
of the 10th of October, and in about forty hours
I found myself at a place in Michigan where
they Paw twice, (Paw Paw). Having travelled
night and day, I was quite fatigued; and, after
taking a nap, I hired a conveyance to F.'s, and they
pretended to be very glad to see me. I turned F.



46 PERSONAL SKETCHES

and his wife out of bed and made them sleep on
the floor for three weeks ; (for you must know that
the y have not all of the conveniences of a Water-
town home, in this new country), and I occupied
a good bed near the stove.

From there I went to Aurora, 111., and staid three
weeks. I left Aurora the last day of November,
for St. Louis. The cars left me at Alton, and the
remainder of the way I went by steamer on the
majestic Mississippi. B. met me at Franklin Sta
tion, about five miles from his house, whither he con
veyed me ; I found him in as good circumstances as
any one could wish.

In travelling about thirteen hundred miles, I
saw very different countries in their general aspect.
Michigan consists of sandy oak openings, and other
parts of very dense forests of heavy timber, the
whole of a light, warm soil well adapted to the cul
tivation of wheat and fruit. Illinois consists of a
very fertile soil, but a great destitution of wood,
water and stone. In passing through the State, you
see thousands on thousands of acres, and not a
shrub or stone, or drop of water, but a soil that is
fertile to the highest degree. I think, all things
taken into consideration, that the difference in coun
tries is mostly imaginary, making it evident to me
that " whatever is, is right." This part of Missouri
is covered with a light growth of timber, mostly
oak and hickory ; in other parts of the State there
are large prairies. The Pacific Railroad, as it is
called, progresses rather slowly ; there is a great
lack of Yankee " go-ahead-ativeness," here ; but
the cars are expected to run past here by the first of
January. The road is partially worked to Jefferson
city, ninety miles west of here. A depot is in
building on B.'s land, eighty yards from his house ;



AND KECOLLECTIONS. 47

and then he expects to get rid of the bog-trotters,
who are stealing everything they c^n lay hands on ;
they have stolen at least eight or ten hogs.

" May 13A, 1855. 1

Did you knuow the old cripple had got home
again ? Such is the fact. I left Missouri on the
12th of March, and arrived at Aurora, 111., in two
days, and staid with Mary until the 20th. Staid
awhile in Michigan and on arriving at Detroit,
learned that no steamers were there from Buffalo,
that harbor, then being closed by ice. Opposite
Detroit I took the cars on the Grand Trunk Rail
way, and proceeded fifty miles to Chatham, where I
made a digression of thirty miles by stage, and vis
ited John and William Sheldon, and their sister
Maria Keyes. I then took the cars again, and
while proceeding towards the Falls, I anticipated
taking short breaths in crossing the Niagara liiver
in a kind of mammoth bird-cage, two hundred and
thirty feet above the boiling river ; but those panics
were all in advance. Trains cross, many times
every day with perfect safety ; the track across the
bridge is the truest and smoothest of any track this
side of sundown, but the cars proceed at the rapid
speed of an old woman on foot, and run as smooth
as oil, and were your eyes shut, you would think
you were stationary."

June 22d, 1855.

" I have just received your letter of the 17th
inst., and I assure you I appreciate your kind invi
tation to visit you, and I shall probably do so, but
not at present. I am laboring under four incurable
disorders, two of them are hip-ail and old age ; all



48 PERSONAL SKETCHES.

these things make travelling rather fatiguing, ex
cept in the cars. The weather here is tolerable
warm, for the first time this season. We have seen
accounts of the cold weather all over our country,
but nothing from " swate Ireland," except what you
write."



These few extracts, will suffice, and I have intro
duced them that you may see with what an unusual
degree of bodily and mental activity he was blessed
after he passed the common age allotted to man.

I close this sketch, which I regret not having
done better justice to, with an obituary notice, writ
ten by the clergyman who officiated at his funeral.

DIED. In Watertown, N. Y., Feb. 1st., 1860,
Jonathan E. Miles, aged nearly 78 years. He was
a man of a superior order of mind and of charac
ter, one of the earliest settlers of the town, and one
of its most veuerated citizens. Although most of
his life was devoted to severe manual labor, he found
time to improve his mind by an extensive range of
reading, and became especially interested in astro
nomical science. Becoming familiar with the writ
ings of the late Dr. Dick, of Scotland, he was de
sirous of ascertaining the religious opinions of that
philosopher ; and it was in reply to a letter of in
quiry from him, that Dr. Dick acknowledged his
sympathy with the doctrine of Universalism. This
correspondence was published in the Ambassador
about the time of Dr. Dick's death. Having been
himself probably through the whole period of his
thoughtful life a believer in Universalism, Mr.



AND RECOLLECTIONS. 49

Miles desired that some testimony to the worth of
his faith might be borne at his funeral. He had se
lected the words of Paul found in Rom. xiv. 7, 8
and 9th as a basis of a discourse on the occasion,
which was preached accordingly in the Union
Church at Burville, on the 3d of Feb.
5



LETTER V.

My mother The Sheldon family Rev. Henry Olcott Sheldon Si
las Wright Life pn the farm.

MY DEAR Er
in one respect my mother was just what you will
hear every body else say of their mother ; that is,
that she was one of the best women in the \vorld.
"Whose mother is not a good woman to them ? and
they cannot see her from any other stand-point.
Who that has felt the beatings of a mother's heart
of love for her children, cannot see why this is ?
There is a sympathy there, which is lacking in ev
ery other relation of life. Hence, the love of God
in Scripture, is compared to that of a mother, for
this is the nearest type of the heavenly ever at
tained on earth. " A mother may forget a child,
yet will I not forget thee." As I draw the picture
before me of my mother, she appears the very
angel of goodness, and the deity of the household
over which she presided. HM- economy was pro-



PERSONAL SKETCHES. 51

verbial, and she had a large share of what Harriet
Beecher Stpwe would denominate " faculty " in
housekeeping. That is, the art of making a little
appear to the best advantage, always conforming to
the circumstances in which she was called to act.
Her devotion to her family was paramount to ev
ery other earthly duty ; and her disposition was
cheerful and happy nearly always. Her children
all outlived her ; some of them, however, left home
to wander in foreign lands, and never returned dur
ing her life. The thought of this was her greatest
sorrow, and the unerring conviction that with sev
eral of her family she had enjoyed her last inter
view on earth, was a bitter grief. Her endless
round of household duties contained nearly all the
variety she experienced in life. She occasionally
visited friends ; but they were " like angel visits,
few and far between." She was born in Connecti
cut in 1791, and removed to Watertown with her
father's family, early in the present century. The
Sheldon family is very numerous and scattered all
over New England and New York. Many of them
are in Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties. Like
all other families of numerous progeny, there is a
variety of tastes, intellect, and pursuit. Some of
them have distinguished themselves intellectully,
and have gained a brilliant education, which they
have turned to good practical account, thus earning



52 PERSONAL SKETCHES

for themselves a well-deserved popularity. "While
others, belonging to the same circle of- family rela
tives, I am sorry to say, have not common sense ;
and what they do know, they use to poor advan
tage. Rev. Henry Olcott Sheldon, corresponding
member of the New England Historic Genealogical
Society, has been engaged for several years, picking
up and classifying the names of the Sheldon race,
and the branches of ^t, who have married into other
families. The number has already swelled to four
teen thousand. No wonder that there are all sorts,
among so many. Silas Wright belonged to the
family, and by a reference to Rev. Mr. Sheldon's
Genealogical list, I have learned that he was the
seventh cousin of our family. Surely here is a blood
alliance worthy being proud of and so near, too ! !
Since becoming more acquainted with the various
phases of life, I have thanked God, and my parents
for the homely country life in which I was bred.
Our daily food was of the plainest kind, and par
taken of at regular intervals. To this, together
with abundant exercise in the open air, we are
probably indebted in a great degree for our health.
Comparatively few families were blessed, in that
respect, as ours was. It is somewhat remarkable
that so large a family all arrived at mature age ;
and, without an exception, with a vigorous physical
constitution, capable of enduring an astonishing



AND RECOLLECTIONS. 53

amount of labor. On the farm, the boys applied
their strength to good advantage, while the girls
were " brought up " to assist their mother in the
arduous duties of the household, and taking care of
the younger children ; for you must be aware, dear
F., that in those days it was no stain on a lady's
gentility to be well versed in the culinary art. Be
sides the example of our parents, they labored hard
to instil into our youthful minds the importance of
industrious habits ; and they thought farming the *
most ennobling of all occupations, besides the most
sure of success. Had it been consistent with their
own feelings, they would have been glad to make
farmers of all their boys ; but fate ordered every
one of them into a different sphere, thus verifying
the truth of Shakspeare's well worn sentiment :
" Rough hew them as we will, there is a destiny
that shapes our ends." Though they have all
chosen a different way of obtaining a livelihood,
their farmer life and education have not been lost.
5*



LETTER VI.

Chilhood and youth Remembrance of Associates Schools and
school books Miss Henderson Ignorannce of teachers of phy
sical labor Reform in these respects Organic laws.

MY DEAR F:

I have now given you a somewhat disconnected
outline of my family lineage. I will L invite you to
go with me in imagination through the fleeting
years, of what is considered by most people the
happiest peried of my life childhood and youth.
Not that my young experience had anything start
ling or thrilling in it, or that any useful or impor
tant lesson can be drawn from it, any more than
from any other common-place, obscure individual ;
but on the principle, that there are incidents in ev
erybody's history, which may be turned to profita
ble account, if for no other reason than that their
mistakes and follies mey be avoided.

" AM Happy he, who wise before too late,
Can dra,w a lesson from another's fate."

These very incidents were great to me, in the



AND RECOLLECTIONS. 55

narrow compass of my little world in which I lived
and moved. I carry with me to the present day, a
distinct remembrance of all the action of the play
in this great drama, and probably shall to the close
. of my life. Up to the age of seven or eight years,
this tragic comedy, in all its variations, was enacted
with the boys and girls who went to the same
school, and the " school ma'am," who taught me to
read. One of my teachers at this tender age,
whose name was Marcia Henderson, appeared to
me an angel of gentleness and patience. Although
over thirty years have elapsed, and I have not seen
her since, her form, size and features, are as vividly
present in my memory, as they were, when, with
untiring patience, she gave me my first lessons in
marking on canvas with various colored silk. My
" sampler " was the most splendid thing I had ever
seen, and the long rows of letters and figures, and
flowers, wrought in beautiful colors, to me had a
charming interest ; and when the last line was com
pleted, which read as follows : " Wrought by Eloise
Miles, aged eight years," with what a conscious
ness of pride and self-importance I made an exhibi
tion of my handiwork to every stranger who en
tered the house. Of course they all praised it, and
my happiness was complete. I have often wished
that such trifles had the power to make older people
happy ; then we should not be the uneasy, discon-



56 PERSONAL SKETCHES

tented, and never-satisfied race that we are. True,
our whole lives, from the cradle to the grave, are

7 O >

made up of the merest trifles, and sometimes it
seems that the most simple act of our own, or
another's, will change the whole current of our fu
ture fortunes. Verily, " it is not in man that walk-
eth to direct his steps."

My lessons in these days were easily got along
with, for Cobb's Spelling Book, and Juvenile Read
er No 2, by the same author, were my only school
books, and one column of words of two syllables,
and one reading lesson, made up the list of my
studies for half a day. I am sorry to say, that
these were not very faithfully studied. The quiet
and oft-repeated command of the gentle Miss Hen
derson to "sit still," lost its meaning with me. In
deed it was impossible for me to obey, and since I
have arrived at mature age I look back with aston
ishment and regret at the ignorance of the teachers
of those days of Physiology and all physical laws ;
for what but ignorance could have found in their
hearts a necessity to imprison little folks, in a small
close room, sitting in one position on a hard narrow
board called a seat, for six long hours each day, and
that for weeks and months together. No wonder
that half the children born, die before reaching the
age of ten years ; and half of the other half, are
cut down with consumption or spinal complaint, be-



AND RECOLLECTIONS. 57

fore they arrive at middle age. Even at the pres
ent enlightened .day and age of the world, when
there is far less excuse for ignorance, than when our
first teacher, yours and mine, dear F., were try
ing to do their duty by us, there is a lamentable
and criminal ignorance of the laws of health and
life. We have some very efficient teachers of math
ematics, history, and the languages ; they can solve
the most difficult problems in Euclid, and demon
strate with clearness and ability Algebra and the
higher mathematics ; but the more useful problem
of "How to live," they are as ignorant of as they are
of the cause of the Aurora Borealis, or of the mag
netic needle always pointing north. They have a
perfect knowledge of geography ; of the location of
all the cities and smaller.towns, and which is the cap
ital of each state ; but of the location of the internal
organs of their own bodies, the heart, liver and lungs,
and all that contributes to make up the complicated
machinery that moves and acts in obedience to the
will, they have never thought fit to inform them
selves. Of the ebb and flow, of the tide in Boston
harbor, they are well posted, and know precisely
how many hours and minutes it takes to advance
and recede ; but that crimson tide the life's blood,
which is constantly flowing through their veins
some of them, I fear, do not even know it circulates
at all. I once heard an anecdote of a young lady



58 PERSONAL SKETCHES

who, on reading an advertisement of a lecture on
the circulation of the blood, said she " must go and
hear it, for sometimes she really believed she was
troubled with that disease herself/'

Let us be thankful that a reform has commenced,
with both parents and teachers, in these important
matters ; and that the time has come, when a know
ledge of the Organic Laws has become an imper
ative duty ; and that no parent or teacher can be
said, in truth, to be qualified for their responsible
positions who are ignorant of them. Albeit the
most wise and learned of them have but just entered
the vestibule of the great temple of knowledge on
these subjects, it is truly gratifying to the lovers of
truth and human progress, that they have at last
come to know, that every individual of every dis
tinct species of animated nature, have their birth,