AUNT SUSANS

O W NS
TO RY O F H E
R LI F E
.

W ITH

ADDI T I O NAL I NCI DENT S H ER

S A
FA
VO R I T E H Y MN
ND
S
A
G
A
I
S
Y
I
N
N
T
U
Q
,

CO

BI P I L

B Y

U CAKE

M
W IL L IA

PH I L

ED

AD EL P H I AI

NJ H O O
T
R CH S
I Q Z4 A

OH

U
M!

CO NT ENT S

C HA P T ER I
e r C hi l d h ood S
tr u ggl e s w ith a Ca th ol i c
h er Co nv e rs i o n
.

CHA P T ER I I
Se n t fro m Ho m e
M arr i e d Do m est i c
c u lt i e s i n Pr a e r O v e rco m e
y

AG E

o th er

an

CH AP T ER I I I
Th e

Co nv e rs i o n o f

er

eo ple

T ro u b

Di f
16

24

CHA P T ER I V
Sh e M ee t s H e r Se co n d H u sba n d Eva n g e l i s ti c
De a th o f H er H u sba n d
.

CHA P T ER

R e t r n t o Ph i l ad e l p hi a Du r in g
Ha p p e nin g s
u

th e

ork
29

P a ni c Pro i d e nti a l
v

42

CHA P T ER V I

u
s
Au nt S a n H e r
.

I n c i d e nts R e l a t e d

by

CHA P T ER
So m e o f Au n t Su s a n

by

So m e

47

a v or it e Hy m n s

CHA P T ER
I n c i d e nt s R e l a t e d

VI I

Q u a in t Say in g s

I II

51

A u n t Su s a n

ri e n d s

58

AUNT SUSANS

N ST O

O W

RY O F H

CHAPT ER I
H

ER CH

ER

LIFE
.

R UGG L ES W I T H A CAT H O L I C
M O T H ER AND H ER CO N V ER SI O N

L DH

ST

O O D,

M Y fath er, D aniel M cDo n o u gh , was born in Ireland ;

his mother and h e came to this country when h e was

eighteen years O ld ; h e r esi d ed in New York unt i l h e
marr i ed my mother when h e was twenty two He
was a lad i es shoemakerkep t sho e store there until
o n e year af t er h i s marr i a g e
He met my mother out
at an evening company and came home w i th h er
Abou t si x months after that they were married
They were both Cathol i cs My mother Susanna
J aco b y was her name was brought up i n New York
One year after they were m ar
o f German parents
ried they came to Philadelph i a and settled th ere
down o n Front street j ust below Brown and kept a
shoe store for many years
Here i n Philadelph i a were b orn to them seven
children ! Ja m es Willia m D aniel Si m on Ma r y Ann
Susan and Henry I was born on th e sixteenth d ay
1 8 1 6 in Northern Liberties Ph i lad el
o f February
phia My father d ied when I was six yea r s O ld and
was buried i n Philadelphia T wo yea r s after his
'

ST R UG GLES W I

A CAT H

TH

OLI

CM

O T H ER

death we moved to the forks of Fourth and Ger m an

town roa d and live d there for seven years Our
house was a fram e o n e and had si x rooms My
moth er supported the fam ily by sewing and goi n g
o u t to work
As the boys grew up th ey helped her
and we were always comfortable
T wo years before my father died he lost all he had

thro u gh the B enet of the Act o r going secu r ity

for o n e O f h i s f r iends After that we were left in a
d estitute condition because h e was two years sick
an d nine months stone blind and d ied of a nervous
fever
When my brothe r William was twenty v e h e took
a sh e p ; an d wh en I was nine years O ld I began to wo r k
for him wo u n d yarn
And there a m ong th ese

u
Iris h men c r si n and swear i n set m e t o t h i n k i n ;
for th ey were all Catholics you k n ow ; well then I
began to think th ere was a better way to live even

at that ea r ly age and I used to cry from morning

till night and my mother used to say What i n the

world i s the matter with you ! an I would say I

don t know I don t know and she d say W hat

in the wo r ld c an I get for you that ll make you stop

I don t want anything ; I don t

an d I say

k n ow wh at s the m att er with m e !

Well she said

Now
i f I didn t stop cr yi n she d have to whip m e
I began to go out in the back lane and sit down o n a

stone a place t o get up in the wagon w i th and I

used to set th ere to see people go by that I thought
were so be autif u l These were the Methodist people
,

g o in over t o the O ld brick ch u r ch ; and I guess I must

h ave went there every Sunday morning for over three

months for th ese people didn t go by there any

other t i me SO then I b egan to fret more than ever
beca u se these p eop l e looked so good and it was all

brother and sister

brother and sister and I used
to wonder wh o i n th e world their fat h er was I
thought he must have a lot O f children And it wor
ried m e a great deal to nd o u t wh o their father and
m other was that h ad so many child r en f o r th ey
ta lked so beautiful o n e to anoth er And o n e Sun
day morni n g when I set there a sister fro m Co h o c

sink Methodist Church ca m e to m e and said D ar

lin will you tie aunt i e s sho e ! and I said Yes

ma a m ; I will do it
And I neve r felt so highly
h onored in m y life as I did wh en sh e asked me
And I told her to put her foot up o n my knee but

she said N 0 ; not at all t h at wouldn t do

Mv
idea was to get h er j ust as close to me as I could you
know Sh e j ust lifted it o n th e corner o f th e stone

and I tied it After I tied i t she said D arlin where

do you go to Sabbath school !

I says I go do wn

Fourt h st r eet to St Augustine s Church

She says

DO you go often ! and I said N o m a am ; I can t

it s to o far
She says to i n c j u st this way
Petty
we have a Sunday
sch ool up at Co h o ck si n k village ;

will you c o me ! she says And th en I bursted out a

!
Wh at is the matter dear
and I
cr yi n ; she says

says Oh I can t tell ye I know m o th er ll not let

me come
She put her h and o n my sh oulder and

UG G L ES W1 1 71 A CA1 71 0c

ST R

O TH ER

said so ki n dly D on t cry the L o r d ll help you

I
thought the m was the loveliest words I ever heard tell
of And I looked at her so innoc ently and sa i d

!
Will He and she says Yes He will
And th en
and t h e r e m ade up m y m ind that so m ebody would
have trouble i f I couldn t go to th at Sunday school
I couldn t have been much more than nine years O ld
then ; and it wor r ied me for weeks
One day my mother was in a pretty go o d mood

and pleasant ; and I risked to say to he r I would

love to go to that Sunday school up at Co h o ek si n k

Then is when my trouble co m m enced She says

Well you can t do that you can go to yer o wn

That was the rst salutation I had to be very cau
tious what I said to h er Then I began to fret and
wor r y again because I didn t git to go y o u know
But o u t onto the stone 1 went again o n Sunday

mo r n i ng to see these beautiful creatu r es I thought

they was so nice you know
I am now getting desperate to go t o this Sabbath
school h ad n t a bit O f peace day nor night ; couldn t
sleep at all and I knowe d nothing abo u t p r ayi n t o
help m yself I m ade up m y m ind that I would go at
her agin t O let m e go to that Sunday school and this
must have been t h e middle o f th e week and I beg u n

at her I says Mother if I ll be a right goo d girl

and work real ha r d will you let me g O to that Sun

day school !
And all the satisfaction I got was

Well w e ll see about it

Well I settled o n that
with great j oy that it would co m e to pass And I

AND

ER CO NVER SI O ZV

says to her W h o are they wh o are these people

that goes across the back lan ewho i s the i r father !

They are all brothers and s i sters

And she says

Why the y j ust call themselves brothers and s i sters

they are Method i sts up h ere Well I must know

wh o th ey are I must see them they look so sweet

T hen my worry came o n a g in fer to g o to the Su n
day school and I began to worry more and more
and became very unh appy ; c ould neither eat n o r
sleep An d i f I had a knowe d how to pray I sup
posed that would have rel i eved me but I didn t yo u
know Then I began to cry aga i n now t h i s was the
se cond h eat I had at it I was setting i n th e dining

room and mother came i n says

Are you cryi n

again !
I says Yes ma am ; sh e says If you
don t stop cr yi n I shall n o t g i ve yo u that new dress
I pro m i sed yo u and I shall wh i p you and maybe that

will put an end to it

NO i t wont ; no it won t !

Well th en what will sh e says I says I can tell

t
u
what
w
i
ll
stop
it
i
f
o
u
w
i
ll
let
me
go
o
that
o
;
y
y

Sunday
scho ol up i n Co h o ek si n k
Well she says

stop your cryi n and I will let yo u go o n ne x t Sun

day but you ough t to go to yer o wn

Oh it s so

fer I says I can t go there

Very well I ll let
you g o i f you ll get up real early and get th e break

fast ready
I was so h appy I hardly knowed what to
do w i th myself ; I stoppe d cryi n ; I had to do that
O n Sunday morn i ng I got up at ve O clock n o

one ever got up with as light a heart as I had and I

was young t o o you see I g o t th e breakfast ready

STR

10

UG GL ES W I

TH

A CATH

OLI

O TH

CM

E! !

then I called h er and she comes down and she then

began to try to persuade me not t o g o until she got

me a new dress ; and I says N 0 ! O h no ! please don t

disappoint me ; you told m e I should go

My poor

heart was al m ost broke

Well sh e says git ready

and go
I says Yes ma am
Oh I was very p o
lite ; I didn t dare to be anything else f o r that m atter
And I did go and that dav I heard the rst Gospel
sermon I had ever h eer d preached in m y life ; and I

still re m ember th e text ! You shall hear the sound

thereof through the tops o f th e m u lberries

No w
this was in Apr i l and I didn t get religion until t h e
f o llo r i n Chr i st m as
I was all that ti m e a seeki n

from April to Christ m as and the tops o f the m u l

berries nev er got out o f m y brain And we had a

mulbe r ry tree in the back o f o u r ya r d and the
preacher preached about the m ulbe r ry t r ees that we
should hear the sound in th e tops o f the m ul berry
trees and I would g o and p r ay un d er that m ulberry
t r ee a t h i n ki n an d li st en i n for t h e so u nd to come
down I didn t know any better you know but the
so u nd never ca m e Then I begin to run o ff to go to
m eet i n ; and I shall never f er g i t the r st ti m e that I

run awav I went and took a grand good li cki n

when I come home and a hard o n e I did git that
time I knew this m eet i n was up to Co h o ck si n k and
I wanted to go there and I pretty soon xed a p lan to

run away and I j ust slipped O ff and run away

No w this power that was to c o m e through th e
tops o f the m ulberries worried m e so and I says to
,

AND

m eself ,

ER ! CO N VERSI O N

I m

boun d to h ave it if I die in the at

I f sh e k i lls me I m b ound to have it

tempt
T hen from t h at th ey begin t o hide me shoes and
st o ck i n s to keep m e ho m e
And the fall of the year
come i n but it didn t make any diff erence I kept o n
ru n in
away and went no matter what th e circu m
stances was I went And o n e n i ght I run away to
meet i ng an d she waited as long as she could and got
tire d and we n t to bed an d wh en m eeting was o u t I
came ho m e and i t was middling late like pretty near
ten O clock an d she was a little boisterous but I
to ok no notic e o f it I thought now I would say m y
prayers f o r I thought sh e would whip me anyhow ;

and she s ays You are determined to go and I am

determined t o beat it o u t o f you

And I kept

asayi n
to m yself N 0 you can t ! No yo u can t
But I d idn t d are let her hear m e And now she

took the tinder b o x i nt and steel to make a light

f o r at th at time th ere was no luc i fer ma t ch es that s

th e only way we got o u r light them days I says to

her I ll say my prayers and she said D on t you

pray o u t loud roun d h ere ; but I prayed just the

same ! all this time she was try i ng to st r ike a light
but she couldn t get i t to light She str u ck and
st ruck but it wo u ldn t ketch and wh en sh e couldn t

sh e s aid It beats all I burnt fresh tinder and don t

see what i n t h e wo r ld is th e matter with it I can t

get i t lit and down she laid i t and began t o hunt me

in the dark Now in th e ro om there w ere two beds
and I crept fro m o n e be d t o th e oth er underneath

ST R UG G L ES W I

12

TH

A CATH

OL I C M O TH ER

and she after me but you see she couldn t get m e

It was a bitter cold night and I had run away bare
footed in the snow to m eet i n because they had my
shoes b i d and while I was cr eep i n under the m b eds
I was nearly perished fro m cold and when she

couldn t nd me she said Well never mind I ll

whip you in the morning and then w ent to bed I

had to sleep with her and my fears ca m e as I beg i n
to feel afeared sh e would whip me after I elum in
bed and I stood in the cold until I thought she was
asleep b u t she wasn t asleep at all and m i nd ye
she never asked me to co m e t o bed ; I didn t have
en yt h i n
on
but
m
little
nightgown
and
I
nea
r
ly
y
g
perished We ll after while I mustered up all th e
faith an d grace I had and got i nto bed to her but I
was so f r aid to tetch her and o h the steam cam e so
nice and warm o u t from under th e bed
clothes ; it
f elt so good ye know how that i s when your right
c old I laid so still and went to sleep and slept till
in the morning No w at ve O clock she had to git
up and git t h e b o ys th eir b r eakfast and she had to
have a light now she took the tinde r box agin t o t r y
to git it to light and the very rst st r oke it went

Oh dear ; oh dear isn t that funny

o ff and she said
I tri ed with all my m ight to git it to light last night

and couldn t git it to l i ght at all

Now I think t h is
incident was part o f he r convi ctio n for it burnt up
bright and I think the Lord didn t want it to light
befo r e wh en I g o t up She never said a wo r d to m e till

we g o t d o wnstairs and sh e said Y o u have been a

ST R UG GL ES W I

14

A CATI I

TH

OLI

CM

O TH ER

got it for in them days they held the Christ m as and

New Year m eet i n s all night My spiritual mother
stuck with me till four o r ve o clock i n the morn

!
i n and she aske d m e
D on t the Lord bless yo u

and I sai d
Yes ; O h yes and she said Well

praise H i m and said I Ch I don t know what t o

say she says S ay Glory and I said Glory t o

Go d ! Glo r y to God ! He saves m e

And I kept o n
sh o u t i n
and p r ai si n Him fer about an hou r till it
between si x
c o m e ti m e to go home in the m o rn i n
and seven O clock s o m ewhere alo n g the re Then I
went home t o g e t t h at li ck i n My mothe r met me at

the d o o r and says Oh ye are a b ad disobedient

gi r l and ye ll be co m in ho m e t o me with t r ouble

yet
I can see that st i r u p yet it was m y father s
shoe st i r u p he was a shoe m aker and then sh e co m
I am willin to say I was so
m en ced t o beat me
happy I hardly felt a blow she struck m e a n d when

she had nished she said I ll never be able to do

anythi n g with you and I said t o m yself Yes ye

will Oh yes ye will

Now I knowed I had relig
ion and the next Sunday was New Yea r s and
I wanted to j oin church That week was a so r ry
we ek t o m e I was g r ieved an d worried to kn o w
h o w I would git to j oin church still the Lo r d kept
the light bu r nin in m y heart The week rolled
a r ound slowly I was glad wh en it was up for I was
so anxious to j oin the chu r c h and o n Satur day I
had t r ouble all the day for I had t o ld mother
I wanted to go to church o n Sunday and sh e
,

AND
w as

TI

ER CON VERSI O N

15

e r y c r oss about it an d said I f you w ill go

an d g o to destr u ction
go an I ca n t help it You

are an awful bad girl

In the m o r n i n it was
clo u d v and dull lookin
I was afraid I wouldn t
i
t
m
u l th en I slipped
to
go
and
it
worrie
d
d
r
ead
e
f
g
away an d p r ay ed and asked the L or d to clear the
day up and He answered m y p r aye r s and the
sun ca m e o u t and th e New Year s D ay was beau

tiful and I sa v s to m o th er Can I go to m eeti n to

d ay !
and sh e said Oh go an clear o u t if y o u

want to for you re goin to dest r uction anyway

Ye
kno w I w ent a t r i p p i n over th e elds to Co h o ck si n k
Church I think her heart was softened a little fro m
the ti m e she couldn t get the tinder t o burn
Th e se r m on that m orning was wonde r ful and we
had a powe r ful ti m e ; the m inister i n vited people that
SO anxious
w anted to j oin the ch u r ch to c o m e up
w as I to j oin that I we n t clear up i nto the pulpit to

th e p r eacher and he said My littl e daugh ter what

!
and I said I want to j o in chu r ch and
d o ye want

h e put his hand o n m y h ead and sai d My child I ll

wait o n you i n a little bit and t h en after awhile

he asked m e what class I wanted t o j oin I said

B r oth er Wrang s he put my na m e do w n and gave

m e a little ticket and told me to give that to Broth er
Wrang Th e next night I went to class and handed
I was then about eleven y ears o ld
i n m y ticket
v

CHAPT ER II
SEN T

RO M

M EST I C T R O UB L E
DI F F I CUL T I ES I N P R AY ER O V ER CO M E

H O

M E; M ARR I ED ;

DO

Now after this I still kept ru n i n away to m eet i n

till they made up their m inds to put m e away fro m
ho m e for fear the rest o f the fa m ily would get con
No w co m es the d ay o f trial Mother said
t am i n at ed
I was big enough to work so she got me a place in
a Fre n ch R oman Catholic family I wi ll t ell ye o f a
circumstance that to o k place while I was there
There was a screen of tins b aingin on the wall I was
gratin cocoanut and I got happy and throwed the
g r ater i n a m ongst th e tins and with the no i se O f
the tins I j u m p t and shouted and praised God at the
top O f my voice the cat ran aw ay f r om under the
stove an d never ca m e back for three days sh e was so
Now o u t co m e th e O ld French woman to see
scar ed
what was th e matter with me and the cat I was
lau ghi n and h o ller i n with all m y m igh t ; but she
did n t know what was th e m atter with me and she

said Oh tee foo l tee fool your j u m p i n and yelli n

because the cat r u ns but I wasn t t h i n ki n about the

Go d
cat I was p r ai si n
Well I stayed there till my m other found o u t they
d i dn t give me eno u gh to eat then she took me away
from there and I stayed at ho m e about three months
I had to go to w o rk
an d a pretty sorry ti m e that was

16

SE NT

OM E

17

in the shop with all the m Catholic weav er sf an d they

were very cruel t o m e and ugly because I was a
Metho dist ; and said th e devil was sure to git m e
And th ev slurred m e with every nasty dirty th i ng
th ey could say and I was so innocent and p u re ; I
d i dn t d are say a word it nearly killed m e Then
my broth ers got t o t r eat i n me very bad and mean
but m other found out h ow my brothe r s were
t r eat i n me ; and would not allow that ; if she said bad
things herself she would not allow th em t o talk so ;

she would say to the m If she do n t do right that s

no reason ye should treat her mean ; let her alone

I ll tend to her case and she surely did I was very

g li b with my tongue I d sa v ed myself many a whip
i
n i f I had kept m y tongue I c ouldn t help i t I was
p
so trie d I had no m i nd t o be ugly but I was some
times Now th ey met together to put me away fro m
h ome agin for fear o f the Protestant religion By
t hi s t i me I had lear n d to call upon the Lord f o r help
I had much worry and fret about my condition and
life and what they would do w i th me but th e Holy
Spirit comforted and instruc t ed me
One m o rn i n I was dreadful tro u bled about them
go i n t o send me away I stole awav up in the garret
t o pray and the Spirit come t o me and said !

Pe ac e t ro u bl e d s o u l
T ho u n ee d s t n o t f e a r
T hy g r e at p ro vi d er
Sti l l i s n e a r
W h o f e d th e e l a s t
Can f ee d th e e sti ll
B e cal m an d s i nk

I nt o H i s w i ll
,

SENT

18

RO M

II

O VE
.

m
e
h
to
this
ti
I
ad neve r had an
i
n
se
h
o
o
l
p
y
at all onl y what I had learnt at t h e S u nday s c ho o l
And wh er e t h o se words co m e fro m I neve r could tell
But I believed eve ry wo r d and wasn t a bit af r aid I d
w ant afte r t h at
SO I made up m y m ind to cl ear out
an d
I w r apped up o n e o f m y d r esses th en d r essed
m ys elf as nic e as I co u ld and went o ut on th e st r eet
I w alke d al o ng cryi n and I m et a lady who asked

me
What is t h e m atter dea r ! and I said I am

hunting fe r a place t o liv e o u t

And she says

!
Whe r e are you g o ing
and I s ai d I don t know
where I m go i n but I m goin to hunt a place to

w ork
She said Co m e with m e I want a little

girl
SO she took m e ho m e with her and she lik ed
m y appea r a n ce because I was nice and clean she
like d th at She gave m e some dinner and I asked
her if I c ould go to church and S u nday school some

times and she said O h yes ; you can go

Her
name was Mr s Moss Th ey w er e n o t a wealthy fam
ily but were go o d live r s and we r e P r esbyt erians
That aftern oo n I went h o m e and told m y m other I
had g o t a place and she was satis e d at that
N o w this lady want e d m e to g o t o the P r esby
t er ian S u nday school an d that g r ieved me dread
fully I tho u ght I never could be anything but a
Methodist and o n e morni n g I sat in th e kitchen

and the lady ca m e i n and said to me Susan

cr yi n

what s the matter are yo u not satised ! and I said

Yes m a am but I want to go to m y o wn Sunday

h urc h
S h e says Wel l d o n t cry any
sch o o l a n d C

Now

IV

AR R I ED

19

mo r e child you shall go to your o wn S u n day scho o l

and chu r ch
And O h I thought I had g o t a n ew
pair o f wings I san g all the afte r noon and praised
God f o r d eliverance
N o w I was with these p eople about four m onths
when they m oved to B oston and wanted m e to go
with the m but m y mother would n o t allow me and
o h ! I thought I was ruined because they went away
but th e Lord provided ano th er home fer me
No w for three years after this I worked o u t in pri
v ate fam i l i es unt i l I was si x teen the n I went t o
work f o r a fam i ly by t h e n ame o f Shr o d er s wh o were
rope makers I worked among the twine and helped
A t t h i s place I me t my rs t husband John Hunt
h e worked in making rope t o o He was about t h i rty
years O ld H e came t o Sh r o d ers t o see me I think
he co m e about a year and o n e Sunday evenin h e
aske d me i f I wouldn t marry h i m and get away from
my people And I th ough t that would be wonderful
All that I m arried h i m fer
t o g i t away from t hem
was t o git away fro m the m He told me about his
mo t her be i ng such a dear good o ld Metho dist and
sh e was a dear O ld saint
I thought it would be so
n i ce to see her and have h er company bein she was
su ch a good Christian
Wh en h e asked me t o m arry
h i m I put him o ff fer I was kinder fra i d o f h i m
after wh i le h e told me so much abou t h i s mother I
co n sen t ed t o marry h i m A n d we were marr i ed W e
st aye d in Ph i lade l p h i a a b ou t a v e ar
T he n h e b e
came g rea t f o r ro s m i n abou t f r om o n e p l ace t o the
-

ESTI C T R O UB L ES

D O I

20

other He took me t o Baltimore where we went to

housekeeping He went to work at his trade but I
was very miserable f o r he beca m e loose i n his m orals
and ran about and g o t o u t O f work and took my
good clothes and sold them and spent the money in
w i cked loose doings In a way h e was kind bu t yet
he was i ndifferent and would curse and ordered me
not t o go t o church o r m eeti n fer he j ust wanted to
be ugly I was miserable
We stayed there t wo years and the whole ti m e was
trouble and sorrow and ve x ation o f Spir i t and gr i ef
and pa i n One t i me he went a way and stayed t wo
days and t wo n i ghts and that was the time I g i ve
h im such an overhauling that he prom i sed t o take me
b ack t o Philadelph i a and d o better wh i ch he di d
v ery soon bu t he didn t live any better He was
kind a devilish you know ; when I would kneel down
t o pray he would bea t the drum wh i stle yell dance
sing po u nd the s t ov e or make some k i nd o f no i se
Oh i t used t o t ry me so and worry me that I d i dn t
know whether I could live t hrough it o r not I
thought I d overhau l h i m and let h i m know wha t I
i ntended t o d o T h i s i s h o w I f elt and I wen t bef o re

the Lord i n prayer and sa i d Oh Lord w i ll yo u ke ep

me through this awful terror t ha t I have O f my hus

T hen I remembered i n t he S cr i p t ure t ha t he

b and

Ask what ye w i ll an d it sha ll be g ran t ed and

sa i d
I bel i eved He wou l d do i t an d the Lord powerfully
blessed by soul an d when my h usba n d came home at
nd
ni ght I was a ll aglo w wit h th e p ow er o f Go d A
.

DI

22

FFI

CU
L T I ES I N PR

AY ER

ER CO M E

O V

g o ing t h r o u g h t h e r e
I m g o ing th ro u gh t h e e
L ord I m g o ing th ro u gh t h e r e
T o do m y M a st e r s w i l l
I m

t h at co m e in
W i ll m a k e t h e ba n ! u et s w e e t e r sti ll
I m g o ing th ro u gh t h e r e
L ord I m g o ing th ro u g h t h e r e
T o do m y M a st er s w i ll
T h e m or e

One evening when I ca m e ho m e fr o m leadin m y

class he sai d with an oath that he wasn t ag o i n to
have any p r ayi n done t hat night he was so mad b e
cause I stayed after nine O clo ck He swore and said

h e wasn t ag o i n to sleep with me

Well I says

it s all r i gh t I shall p r ay anyh ow

Then he flew
u pstairs and dragged th e feather bed down
so he

wouldn t have to sleep with m e and he says I m

not goin to sleep with ve and I said Y o u don t

k n ow whether ye will o r not ; ye ll see and then I

started to sing !

A char g e t o k e e p I h a v e
A God t o g l or i fy
A n e v er d y i n s o u l t o s a v e
A n d t it for t h e sk y
,

H e l p m e t o w at ch an d p ra y
A n d o n th y s e l f r e l y
A s su r e d if I m y t ru s t b et ra y
I s h a l l for e v e r d i e
,

After singing this I said Let us have prayer

then I set to pr ayin and a passage of Ser i pt u r co m e

to me that says something like this Kill and make

,

UL T I ES I N PR AY ER

DI F F I C

O VER

CO

/II

23

alive unto sin

SO I prayed r st fer Go d to kill h i m
an d
sure enough so m ethi n g c am e and st r etched him
o ut sti ff an d h e lay t h ere on the bed f o r t w o ho u rs
and never moved a li m b the girls t hought he was
dea d and w anted to fetch water to bathe h i m in

but I said Leave him with th e Lord if the Lo r d has

killed h i m I will say a m en because He will have an
m y p r ayer
I cont i nue d to p r ay and th e
sw er ed
neighbo r s flocked around the house b u t they couldn t
interfere because we were i n o u r o w n house In
about an h o u r and a half m y husband m oved his ar m
and then h i s foot and h e soon opened his eyes and

lookin at m e h e said S u san never pray that way

agin for me
I told him I wo u ld f o r the Lord
unde r stood m e t h en h e got up an d took th e bed
upstairs and w ent to sleep
Lat er h e to ok t o drink agi n this ti m e h e was ve r y
wicked an d ve r y u n faithf u l at last h e w ent O ff and
I neve r saw h i m any m ore About eight years afte r
this he took a feve r an d di ed

CHAP TER II I
TH

E CO

N V ER SI O N

O F

ER

P EO P

LE
.

W el l, I must tell ye about the conversion of my

p eople I then we n t to live with them and while

at ho m e yo u k n ow my mother opposed me goin to
m eet i n s but o n e night I went down to o ld St John s
Churc h My m o ther was a seam stress ; after I d gone
the c andle went o u t she went o u t and bought a
pound O f can d les and returned to work ; the next night
I we n t to m eet i n h er ca n dle went o u t ag i n and this
ti m e she co u ld not g i t it to b u rn so she left i t and
w ent to m eet i n and stayed until the Bible was read
then went ho m e ; and to her am a z e m ent the candle
bur n t all right The next night sh e couldn t get th e
ca n d le to bu r n until she went to m eet i n ; this candle
kept o n actin th at way until Friday night
She
couldn t get the candle to burn ; she left it an d wen t to
m eet i n an d stayed all through the services ; by this
t i m e sh e was wonderful ly convicted but did not let
The next Su n day morning while I was in bed
on
she yelle d o u t so loud to m e to get up I al m ost fell

I went downstairs and sa i d Why mother

o u t of bed

!
wh at is the matte r
ye are such
W h y says she

an u n gr atef u l gi r l ye are so unkind
Why says I

m other what do you m en wh y am I unkind ! for I

thought I was as near to God as I c ould be !

Why ye
get up o n S u nday m o r n i n and go to ch u r ch and ye
.

24

TH

E CONVERSI O N

ER

OF H

PE OPL E

25

ever ask Curly to g o w i th yo u

This was a nick
nam e h er mother was k n own by !

Why I looked at h er astonished I said Why

m other will yo u go with m e !

n ever asked h er to
I
!
go beca u se she was such a str on g Catholic ! She

said Yes ; but not this

I says W h y

not!
Because we can t get r i d y in time t o
sh e said

go
Why says I
Because th ere is breakfast to
git ; a pai r o f ch i cke n s t o x ; a pu d d i n to m ake ; a
D utch c ake to bake ; h ow do ye think we can get all
this done in time to go to
Sh e said this in
tears fer she was all broke up with conviction Sh e

said I can t h elp you I am to o bad

I ll get it

redy without your help I said an d I went at it

aski n g God to h elp me If there ever was a pair of
c h ickens d r awed and lled and g et redy i n quicker
ti m e then I don t know anything I got the break
fast re d y ; th e d ish es washed ; th e p u d d i n made all
done in ti m e f o r church but th e D utch cake when I
saw it i t frightened th e life near out of me fer I
thought it might hin d er me from goin to church I
put it in the stove thinking i t would get redy while
we dressed but wh en we were dressed we went o ff to
church and I f er g o t all about the cake in the oven
until we got half way ho m e from church when i t
co m e to m y m ind that I had left that great big cake
in the oven it made me feel sick and I was fright
ene d so I alm ost fainted I had to hold onto the la m p

post and I told mother right away She said Never

mind i f it is spoiled we can make another t o m o r
n

26

TH

E CONVERSI ON

OF

ER

PEOPLE
.

DO y o u see the diff erence in the spi r it ! A

row
week bef o r t h at sh e w o u ld h ave m ade a b i g fuss I

says Moth e r hu rr y up we m ight git ho m e bef o r it

is sp o iled
And s o we went o n and when we got
t h ere the r st t h i n g I did bef o r I t o ok off m y clothes
was t o open the st o ve and take out the cake and it
was bak ed so nice I always said t h e L or d baked that
cake
I n the afte r noon I went t o anothe r m eet i n
and
wh en I was r et u r n i n ho m e I saw so m e one c o m i n
d own the st r eet and I saw it was m y m o th er
I said

t o m yself What s the m atte r !

and wh en sh e co m e
to m e sh e put he r arm s around m e and sta r ted to c r y

an d I sai d
What i s t h e m atte r w i th ye ! and she

I v e be en lookin for ye all the afte r noon I

sai d
w ant to see ye
She was u n der deep convicti o n and
I could not h elp cr yi n so I w ent ho m e and got the
supp er r edy and t h at night we went to chu r ch Th e
p r each e r s n am e w as B r other Gr eenbanks and h e
spoke on how pa r ents ought to t r a i n th eir child r en ;
the powe r c am e u pon m y m other an d t h at night she
g o t c o nve r ted as she sat in h er s eat ; t h e powe r cam e
o n me I went abo u t the ch u r ch sh o u t i n and
singin
I m er ely sung what I m ade u p as I went
i t was s o m et h ing like this !
al o n g
.

g o t r e l igi o n b y c o m in t o m e et i
A n d s h e w i ll p ra i se God b for e a l l t h p o p l e
A n d H ll ow n h e r aro u n d t h e th ro n e
H a ll l u j a h H a ll l u j a h H a ll e l u j a h
M y m o th e r

S eve n teen or eighteen pe r s o ns went to th e altar

TH

E CO NVERSI O N

OF

ER

PE OPLE

27

that night an d every o n e I touch ed on t h e head g o t

soundly c o nv ert e d I w ent to m other and sh o uted

Glory Glo r y as loud as I c o uld holle r ; and I sai d

to her A r e you so r ry you co m e t o chu r ch ! she said

N 0 Susan I ll never be so rr y f o r this act as long

An d I w ent o n sh o u ti n Glory and Pr aise

as I live
the Lord
She then co m m enced to live like a good o ld fash
i o n ed Ch r istian ought to live ; gave up the Cath o lic
belief and set wi th m e in church tw elve years b efor
sh e d i ed
Then m y better days co mm enced ; i n less than two
years I got m y sister m y two brothers my siste r s
son an d all th e family but one ; th e child r en and th e
children s child r en converted The one brother that

w as left said
NO never ; I ll die the religion m y

father died but through m y faithfulness to God an d

m y earnest prayer I f elt that I could clai m h i m
For
Go d had given me the evidence that I should h ave
h i m and fro m t h at m o m ent h e beca m e restless and
con victe d
At one ti m e we tho u ght he would h ave
to be put in the lu n i t i c asylu m because he wo u l d
not give i n
O ne day wh i le I was at work in the sh op ! a carpet
factory ! i n th e afternoon th e boss ca m e to m e an d

s aid Susan there s a m an wants you downstairs

I

said W h o i s it ! he said I don t know

I was
fri ghtened because I thought th e Catholics we r e

after m e so I said GO an d see wh o it i s and h e

ca m e back and sa i d It i s your brother

S o I went
,

E CO NVERSI O N O F

TH

28

ER

PE O PL E

down and found m y brother who said as he lif ted

up his hands I am ruine d I am lost and i f ye don t

co m e ho m e and pray for m e I ll be damned

SO I
w e n t ho m e another way and got there befor e my

brother and I said to my mother Where i s Harry !

Have y o u seen him ! someth i ng i s the matter with

h im
She sai d I don t know
But soon he came

in and exclai m ed If yo u don t pray f o r me I ll be

lost ; I ll be damned
I saw that h e was convicte d

for h i s sins so says I Y o u better co m e with me t o

class
and away we we n t When we go t there
the class leader asked m e t o pray Soon my brother
got on hi s knees and cried for m e r cy He was power
fully conv er ted t o God He was a good singer and
v e yea r s
has been a m e m ber o f the chu r ch for forty
After all m y fam ily was conve r ted the Lord took me
and I en
o u t t o Bucks C o unty ; here I h ad a class
t er ed into the w ork f o r Jes u s and He made m e ve r y

successful Praise His na m e

I did evangelistic
work ! E xhorti n g pr ayi n s i ngin and nothing could

stop m e It rolled in and th en it rolled out Glory

to Go d Glory to Go d
I began to travel from o n e
church to another and the Lord blessed m e to hun

dreds Praise His nam e

,

SH E M

30

EE T S TI ER SE COND

USB AND

weren t yo u in secret p r ayer

Yes says I and

says h e I was and while I p r ayed I s ee m ed to be

car r ied to wh ere ye were and we seemed to be
brought together and I saw ye i n the a t titude O f

prayer
No w when he told me th at i t fri ghtened me for I
re m embered what I h ad seen then h e sa i d t h e Lord
had told him that he must take Aunt Susan When

h e told m e so I said No ; that comes from the arch

en d o f hell
N 0 n o says h e I know the Lor d

wa n ts ye to be m y wife
I had arr an g ed t o run away the f o llo wi n morn
i ng but the deter m ination o f th i s m an and th i s
won d erful light we both saw m ade m e frightened
and I began to see that th e Lord s hand was in i t
and I d ec i d ed not t o leave
O ur courtship was a very stra n ge o n e ; however
we were mar ri e d and I g o t a g em While we were
i n Bucks County the Lord gave me four boys a n d
t wo girls ; the two g i rls and o n e b o y died befor we
l eft Bucks County t o go to B ap t i stt o wn New Jersey
where we lived several years ; fro m the r e we went to
B r i m eld Peoria County I l l i no i s where Mr Cake
bought a small farm
Wh i le here the Lord opene d many doors for me t o
I would somet i mes be away for ve o r
w ork f o r Him
s ix weeks preaching and hav i ng powerful t i me s I
wen t an d labored at Orange Pra i r i e twenty m i l es from
wher e I l i ved where we had a wonderfu l m eet i n ;
F r o m t her e I wen t to Gle n
ft y we r e co n ver t ed
,

E VAI VGEL I ST I C LV O R I I

31

I l abo r ed ve ry successfully at this place Du r

i h m y stay fr o m forty to fty s o uls we r e converted
After co m in a w ay the young people conve r ted at m y
pray e r m eeti n g got together and a rr anged t o h ave a
s u pper to raise m oney to g et books f or t h e Sabbath
sch oo l they th o ught I co u ld help th e m by giv i n an
a d dr ess so f er th e rst ti m e in my life I prepared a
Spee ch
I got it all ready and g o t it O ff in my m in d
j ust like r eadin a hy m n and I t h ou g ht that Susan
would d o so m et h i n big The m an co m e for me and
drove me twe n ty miles When the ti m e came to
spe ak instead o f opening m y m o uth and letting God
ll i t as He al w ays had afore I thought that Susan
c ould d o
i t as well E very w ord left me ; I was
stripped o f e verything ; I was s p eechless I couldn t
open my mouth at all there never was a m outh m ore
co m pletely cl o sed but in th e suspense o f my dumb
ness I pro m i se d the Lord i f He wou l d open my mouth
and forgive m e I would never do such a th i ng again
T h e preacher turned pal e a n d a n O l d German wh o

could scarce speak E nglish cr i ed o u t Glory glory

Lord alive her ; Lord alive her

SO I says Let us pray and I dropped down o n

my knees ; th e preacher and p eople all says Lord

help her ! Lord help h er and I went aprayi n

I
e x p o sed the d ev i l and confessed h o w I wanted Susan
to co m e t o the front and be seen and h eard instead
and as s o on as I told O f the dev i l an d
o f my Lord
confessed my fault the po wer come up o n me I g o t
up an d sang !
da l e

E VANGELI STI C W O R K

32

A char g e t o k eep I ha v e
A Go d t o g l or ify ;
A n ev er d y ing s o u l t o s av e
A n d t it for t h e s k y
,

Th en I spoke and I never was freer in my life I

believe it was a t ri ck o f an ene m y who wanted to
defeat m e I had labored very successfully and the
devi l wanted to puff me up but when I got sick
I went to Jesus my doctor and he put me right
After I h ad nish ed sp eaki n t wo souls were c on

verted
Glory t o God !
For t wo years I went from place to place rangin g
fro m fty to o n e hund r ed m i les round m y home

D ur i n g th i s time God honored my poor labo r s Glory

I thank
t o H i s name f o r His goodness and Mercy !
Him every day for every soul saved
O ne day Brother L o vei t ca m e for me to g o w i th
h i m ten miles and I thought h e was at aki n me t o a
l o v ef east but when I g o t there I found t h ey ex
h
me
to
preach
Well
I
didn
t
know
w
at
to
ec
t
e
d
p
t h i nk it took all the starch o u t of m e I depended o n
the Lord and I knowed h e would help me and I
spoke f o r half an hour as hard as I could lather i t o n
whe n I g o t up I started O ff singin
A char g e t o k e e p I h av e
A God t o g l or ify ;
A n ev er d y ing s o u l t o s av e
A n d t it for t h e sk y
We h ad such a time that the bend i n g heavens g av e
way and t here came do wn such a oo d o f l i gh t th at

I shou t ed Glory glory

T here was su ch po werfu l
,

E VANGEL I STI C W O RK

33

light that we see m ed t o be al m ost blinded until it

died away a little and we continued shouting

Glory
All the sinners that were here got con
verted ; I couldn t tell how many ; there were m any

c ame to church at B ri m eld after I j oined Glory

t o God
Another place I was asked to g o to was a
place wh ere t hey had no m eeti n for eight years

One o f th e brethren came f o r m e But said he

I am afra i d to take ye th e Catholics are comin in

a gang wi t h their shillalahs to ght

I said I ll

Well
says
he
there
w
i
ll
be
trouble
o
g

N o w says I if ye do as I want ye all will be

r i ght
N o w a way we went and when the m eet i n
co mmenced t hey came and t old me t hat th e men

were c om i n g
Let th em come says I and so on
twelve o r th i r t een came w i th black faces and their
shillalahs o n the i r shoulders Wh en th ey came i n I

says Make way for these men g i ve them goo d seats

th ey have been workin and are t i red that i s sit

down and be comfortable One o f t hem wh o seemed
t o be the r i ngleader a big black fellow w i th h i s sh i l

lalah hangin by his s i de I sa i d to him Co m e u p

here and s i t down h ere i s a nice seat f o r ye and up

he comes and sits down as qu i et as a mouse ; then I
starts O ff s i n g i n !
,

Co m e

fo u nt o f ev ery bl ess ing

T u n e m y h e ar t t o s ing T h y p ra i se
St r e a m s o f m erc y n e v er c e a s ing
Call for s o ng s o f l o u d es t p rai se
H a l l e l u j a h H a ll e l u j ah
W e a r e o n o u r j o u r n ey ho m e
,

T ho u

E VANGELI STI C W O RK

34

I t h en preache d and never sa i d a word abo u t

Catholics and when it was over and those fellows

went away they says Sh e had not said a wo r d about

th e Cath o li cs
th ey w ere so i nnocent th ey would
not h u rt me ; the next night they co m e again but
with clean faces and without the i r sh i llalahs and the y
looke d like gentlemen and they a ttended the m eeti n
all the week and they couldn t be quieter and Go d
blessed me to th e salvation o f four o f them Well
I st ayed until the m eeti n was over about seven weeks
altogether
From there I aga i n went to Glendale and held
m eet i n t here too and had a wonderf u l time ; f r o m
Glendale I went home and stayed a few weeks D ur
ing th i s t i me E lias m y husband becam e i ll and was

growi n g worse all the t ime and I sa i d to him E l i as

this is the last m eeti n I am ag o i n t o and I want ye
to say when the people comes for me that I can t go

no m ore
T o wh i ch he replied
N 0 Susan I can t
say i t ; I feel the Lord call ed ye into the work and

ye ll h ave to go
Well I says I really don t b e

l i eve I w i ll and says he Susan be very careful to

not insult the Lord fer I know it s right and I m
w i llin t o be without ye fer the sake o f doing the w i ll
He s a wonderful Saviour ; He never doeth
o f Go d

anything wrong
And he cried and I cr i ed ; o h we
had a solemn time together because he wanted me
to go o n and I d i dn t want to go Well we left it
there f o r a day until somebody came after me let
me see it was Brother Sherman tha t came after me
,

LL NESS O F

ER

USB AND

35

to go down t o Kickapoo to labor f o r a week o r t wo

and I sai d N o I would not g o because Mr Cake s

very poorly and I don t think i t s r i gh t f o r me t o

leave h i m
Well Br o th er Sh erman says
I ll
w ait a week o r two and see i f he s be t ter and I ll

co m e u p and see and maybe you ll g o then

I sa i d

Very well ye k i n come but I don t believe I ll g o

No ; nor I di d n t neith er Why I couldn t I couldn t
go and leave him i n the co n d i t i o n h e was i n Why
he was so nervous and felt so bad about me ag o i n
that he j ust shook when he stood beside me and yet
h e d idn t want to preven t me from goin
I did
o to E
l
m
w
n e n i gh t o r so but I didn t sta y
for
e
o
o
d
o
g

When I came home I says t o E l i as A i n t ye glad

that I ve come home but ye don t look v ery glad

h e says Susa n I am glad but I m afraid

o f doin so m e h indrance to the work and I don t want

No w he commenced ag i tt i n worse all

t o d o that
th e ti me bu t he was happy i n the Lord Po or soul
I remember o n e t i m e I co m e h ome fro m a m eeti n
and h e t r i ed t o help me o u t o f the wagon bu t he was
t o o weak t o do i t and I coaxed him t o let me be t ill
I g i t o u t m eself and I got o u t m eself an d the man
h eld the horse and I t ook his arm and walke d slowly
i nto the house po or soul ! he asked me i f I was t o o

ti red to pray w i th h i m and I said N o I am not

to o tired t o pray with ye and everybody i n the

house kne l t down and we all p rayed and the Lord
wonderfully blessed h i m No w right then and there

I sa i d t o h i m I ll g o n o more away from home f o r

,

'

E VANGELI ST I C W O RK

36

it nearly kills me
He says Oh ! o h ! m y Susan

don t say that

I says E l i as isn t it awful and he

says What fer !

Why to t h i nk I ve g o t to be so

much away from yo u

T h en he says Susan leave

i t all with t he Lord

He s ti ll g rowed weaker all th e ti m e and knowing

his end was nearing he sa i d Oh Susan h o w can I

!
leave ye w i th t hese t hree boys
I says D on t ye
think th e Lord will take care o f me and the ch i l
dren ! Di dn t he say i n His Word He will be a hus

ban d t o the w i dow and a father t o the orphans !

Yes He did ; praise His na m e says he I says

C an t ye t rust Him w i th me and th e boys ! and h e

says
Oh yes
I says Hasn t He always been

faithf u l to His pro m ises

Oh yes Susan He has
and then he bursted i nto a flood o f tears He had a
very hard struggle to g i ve us up t o th e Lord
Then he went o n still ag r o wi n weaker and lost
h i s m i nd and h e would say to them i n the house

Wh e n is Susan a comin ho m e and th ey d say I

th i n k she ll be home i n a l i ttle wh i le and then wh en

he asked f o r me aga i n they said t o h i m Why Mr

Cake she s h ome and they called me although

I h ad been awai ti n o n h i m fer weeks but he d i dn t
know me I came i n the room and he looked at me

and la u ghed and I went to the bed and sa i d Papa

what d o ye want ! and he says I wan t Susan i f

she s here
Why I says I m Susan and he

looked stra i ght at me and says My o h my d o you

think I don t know my Susan ! and I put myself

.

38

LLNESS O F

H ER I I I/ SB AN13

somewh ere !
Yer see h e didn t know me y i t ; h e
didn t know me until ne x t morning Grandpap says

Shall I go fer her ! and E l i as says N o no ; she ll

No w i t become ti me f o r the o ld gentle

be around
men t o g o home and t h e youn g g entleme n t o take
the i r place and t h ey come after tea an d w en t up t o

the bed and asked h i m h o w he was he says I m

f eeli n a l i ttle better

and Brother B elcher says

Pra i se the Lord ! I am so glad

Then E lias says

to him says he Susan s goin to be home to mor

row and Brother B elcher says Yes sh e i s

He
seemed m id d li n rat i onal all night till t wo o clock
when he sang th ese words !

i f e i s t h e ti m e t o s erv e t h e L ord
T ha t w e m ay r e c e iv e t h e g r e at r e ward
O h ! p r e p ar e p r e pa r e t o m eet th y Go d
L

About seven O clock o n Saturday m o rn i n as near

as I k i n tell o n e o f the sisters Sister Col m an says

Susan has co m e and he says Call her

t o hi m
and I come into the room and h e knew me when I
come that s the rst he had knew me He pulled me

down t o h i m and embraced me and h e says Oh !

Susan ye look very care worn and I says Oh ! n o

E lias the room s a little dark and ye can t see me

and h e looked at me fer a few minutes very s t eady
then h e took my hand and la i d i t o n his breast and

he says Susan are ye prep ared fer this ordeal !

By
t h i s ti m e I broke down and cr i ed bitterly I couldn t
He
stand i t any longer but h e wouldn t let me cry

39

says Hush Susan d on t cry ; I ve got so m eth i n t o

ask ye
Well I says E lias what i s it ! and he

says Susan are ye prepared to say a m en to this

trouble that yo u ve g o t to go through !

Oh E lias

I says
let m e go away an d pray a half an hour !

Yes Susan you g o

Brother James F i sher was

asi t t i n
by his s i de and h e said
That s right

B r other Cake let her go

And I started into th e
oth er part o f the h ouse and Broth er F i sher says

E lias eyes f o llo r ed me till I got o u t the do or

Brot h er Fish er pulled his watch o u t to see h o w long
he d g i ve me fer h e didn t think he d let me stay
that long
I h ad j u st been gone four minutes when E lias says

agin W h ere i s Susan ! and h e looke d at Brother

Fish er and says Brother Fisher sh e s over astayi n

her time
Yer see the time got so long to him

And Brother Fisher says Oh ! no Brother Cake

she s on ly been gone a little while

And he ra i sed
his own voice and trie d to call m e as much as h e
could but h e was to o weak and Brother F i sh er says

I ll call her and Broth er Fisher co m e r u n n i n t o

Sister
m e with hi s eyes lled full of tears and says

Cake ye wi ll have to come to him and I says All

right
And when 1 co m e in E lias took a hold o f me

hand and says Ye must pray w i th m e oncet more

afore I leave
Th i s was th e greatest tr i al I ever had
in my life to get d own before my d yi n h u sband and
pray I kneeled down and prayed without weepi n
I smoth ered it all down i nsi d e And O h I had great

4O

LLNESS O F

ER

USB AND

power i n prayer and h e answered me

Amen !

Amen ! every ti m e
T he house was full O f people that had come i n
after church fer i t was Sunday afternoon and e v ery
body was bathe d i n tears And the Lord was there
and now i t was ag i tti n n i gh onto ve O clock and he
called fer the boys and o n e o f the brethren went and
brought the three boys i n He looked at them a few

minutes and he says W i ll i am you have always been

a good boy I g i ve your mo ther yo u t o see t o sh e s

been a good mother and a goo d w i fe may Go d bless

you ! and he put his hand o n W i ll i am s he ad and

sa i d Go d bless ye ! My so n don t ne glect her ; try

to me et us i n heaven
Then he called Mathias and

says Well boy I want ye to be goo d and kind to yer

mother and give yer hear t to Jesus

No w he b e
comes very weak and after he got a little more
s t rength h e calls for Wesley he put h i s hand o n his

head and says Go d bless ye boy m i nd what yer

mother says and Wesley answered I w i ll

Then he turned to me alo o ki n sym p athi z i n

Susan ye ll have a hard ti m e a rais i n these boys

but Go d ll help ye to do i t and I says aweepi n

I

know He w i ll
The boys was acryi n so they had t o lead them
th e room No w h e d i dn t say any more fer
out o
several h ours he became weaker and weaker And
abou t twelve o r o n e o c lock E l i as opened h i s eyes
and lo oked to ward h eaven w i th a br i gh t smile and

says Oh ! Susan what a beautiful light ! No w th i s

,

DEAT H

OF H

ER

USB AND

41

brought to m i nd that h e used to say thet he d i dn t

t
o
ever wan t
die in th e d ark h e hoped his v i sion
would be bright ; yer know chile so m e people s
vision i s dark ; when they die every thing see m s s o
dark I used to say t o h i m that he was always a
livin so go od that it would be b r ight when he died

And wh en he was ad yi n he says Oh ! what a beauti

ful light and I re m embered i t r i ght away Then

he sunk r i ght away and was v ery quiet
N o w i n the room were many people and a m ong
th em t wo i n d els thet had said before to me that

rel i g i on was a humbug and had de n ied God and

they sto od th ere at his bed awat ch i n h i m d yi n

And I lent o ver the bed and sa i d Oh ! pap will ye

tell me if th i s rel i gion we ve been pr o f essi n and

ta lk i n about so many years i s a humbug !

And he

begin t o ra i se h i s hand and said very weak N 0

Susan not a bit o f it not a bit o f it

And I leaned

down closer and says Oh ! pap when ye git so weak

yer can t talk and ye feel ye re ag o i n will ye g i ve us

a s i gn if i t s all r i ght !
And after t hat he la i d sev
eral m i nutes and his breath kept ag i t ti n shorter and
shorter and all o f a sudden h e opened h i s eyes wide
and looked up and raised h i s hand slowly h i gh up

It s th e power o f Go d unto
an d sa i d
and his hand dropped down and h e was dead

T hen we all shouted and cr i ed and I says Glory

t o Go d ! Oh glory to Go d i n the highest !

And those i n d els was always very mute after that

CH A
PT ER V

RE T UR N

ADE L P H I A DUR I N G T H E P AN I C
P R O V I DE N T I A
L H AP P E N I N G S

TO

PH I L

After my h u sband s death I stayed i n Ill i no i s two

o r thre e y ears afore I came E ast durin g th i s t i me my
boys worked o n farms but some people almost
chea t ed the eye s o u t 0 me I can t tell ye what I
went throu gh There never was a more terrible time
u t i n by a mortal than was put in by me
My son
p
Charles Wesley was taken s i ck at the camp m eet i n
at Oak Hill and we come home and it turned o u t to
be typhoid fever
I thought we would lose him ; for
eleven weeks he was bad but he got better ; altho
fer twe l v e mon t hs he was i n a weak way
All th i s was terr i ble enough t o set my bra i n upside
down and every dollar seemed to be sli ppi n away
and want seemed to be astar i n me i n the face It
was my d yi n h u sband s request thet I should c o m e
E ast so I sold what l i ttle property we had and w i th
m y b o vs I came E ast
When we got to Ph i lade l phia
it was i n t he t i me o f the panic and there was n o
work ad o i n
I had just $ 4 00 I saved that f o r rent
I went awo r k i n myself fer the boys couldn t get i t ;
fer two ye ars t h i s lasted we had ten dollars a month
house rent to pay and we had to l i ve ; the $ 4 00
couldn t last long at that way ag o i n
I had to sell
some 0 the furn i ture I got so stra i ghtened that I

42

RET U
RN T O

PH I L ADE LPH I A D URI NG

h ad

TH

E PANI C

43

to sell one o the feather beds with b o lste r s and

pillows fer ve dollars
D ur i ng these two years o f str u g gli n my su ff er i n
could n o t be descr i bed I kept a ho m e for my boys
d yei n t ai lo r i n d r essm ak i n and other sew i n but I
ken say that durin this ti m e my boys never give m e
one moment 0 trouble At the end O f the panic Will
t
o
work at an Oi l cloth factory and h e did very w ell ;
g
then Mathias g o t work and I b egan to look up a bit
but twelve months after this Will g et marr i ed to an
E nglish girl and I left the ho m e to them and
Mathias an d Wesley and I went to another house
Wesley got work at a bolt factory and I wanted t o do
so m et h i n
So I thought that there was lots of poor
people that had ch i ldren and could not afford to pay
much so I thought I could do wo r k at sowing f o r the
Lord by go i n and workin with those families for
twe n ty five cen t s per d ay and m y meals and I did
so fer ve o r si x years
D u r in this ti m e an epide m i c broke o u t it was
s m all po x and Wesley caught i t It was terrible he
c o m e i n o n e Saturday night w i th some money fer
me and he h u gged me and made a lot o f me h e says

Mother ye want so m et hi n and ye won t say so

savs I I don t want

Well h e threw so m e

money o n the tab le and says h e I will co m e next

week but I never saw h i m after ; h e went to work
was str i cken w it h sm all p o x and was taken to the
h osp i tal and d i ed i n eleven days ; they wouldn t even
l i ft the l i d o f t he c ofn to let me look but took him
-

44

ET UR N T O

PH I L / 1 DELPH I A D URI NG

TH E PANI C
.

ri ght O ff and bur i e d h i m It was an awful t i me I

thought that the l oss o f that boy wou l d kill me but
the Lord upheld me through i t all and to H i m be all
glory f o r i t
Through all th i s great sorrow I never stopped I
m eet i n ; l ed
went r i ght stra i ght o n go i n to prayer
class ; si n gin sh o u ti n and prai si n God for His g ood

ness He s a never f aili n fr i end Glory to God !

Oftent i me I s i ng with a heart full of the Holy Ghost !
G u i d e m e O t ho u Gr e at J e ho va h
.

i l g r i m t hro u g h t h i s barre n l an d
I a m w e a k b u t T ho u a rt m ight y
H ol d m e by T hy p ow erfu l ha n d ;
B r e a d of H e av e n f e e d m e ti ll I w a n t
P

m or e

no

I had spent almost all the money I had It was

I to ok the last piece of bread
o n e Sunday m e rnin
and burned it t o make co ffe e o u t O f i t because we
O ften had to do that then I thought I would use up
the l i ttle bit o f flour and make a short cake but soon
a m an came to the do or and knocked and when I

opened says he I bo u ght a large ham l ast night

and I felt th i s m ernin I must bring you some so I
cu t this O ff
an d my w i fe had baked some rolls an d
while she was o u t I s t o le th em and brought them to

so
help
yourselves
And
we
did
we
had
u
o
;
y
enough meat to last four weeks
That afternoon a man who always gave ten cents
o u t o f every dollar for the church and h e had saved
ve dollars and felt h e must bring i t to me and so

I could not give this to t h e

h e cam e and says he
.

PR O VI D ENT I

46

AL

APPENI NGS
.

went to bed I got up the next m o rn i n and says my

son It is too late 11 0 w and we must give it all over

Says I It is all right

I did n o t murm ur While
m y s o n was wash i ng himself ca m e a knock at the

!
door and a boy says Is Mrs Cake in
Which

Mrs Cake says m y son The O ld o n e says the

boy Yes she i s in

Then give her this le t ter

!
s ays the boy
Should I call her to see yo u
No

no s ays the boy ; i f you give her this that will do

SO he come and says Here i s a letter f o r ye and

when I O p ened i t I found ten dollars i n it w i th a
note that read like th i s !

This money i s for Aunt Susan and t o be used

f o r n o other purpose but for ca m p
and I

shouted Glory to Go d ; that i s j ust like my heavenly

Father
My son looked aston i shed and turned pale

He says It is too l ate to go th i s m o rn i n

N

sa y s I it i sn t
SO h e t ook me to the station and
we g o t there ten minutes before the t rain started so
I kissed h i m good bye an d a way I went to the camp
m eet i n
at P it m an Grove At that camp m eeti n
Go d blessed m e wonderf u l and helped me to lead

many souls to Jesus

Glory t o Go d fer H i s love and
mercies towards me f o r I know He does help me

every hour

CHAPT ER VI
I

NCI D E NT S R EL AT ED

BY

AUNT SUSAN H ER

T
A
I
N
U
Q

SAV I NG S
.

Thr e e i n d els came to me and wanted to argue on

th e Bible but says I I don t know en ythi n g about

the Bible I can t read it ; I can t read anything

Well they said there is no Go d only nature

O t h at s what y o u w ant is i t ! Now I can talk to

vou D o you think it was nature that made me re
pent ! Was i t nature that made me turn from my
!
sins Was it nature that m ade me begin to love God

!
an d do right
This got the m f o r th ey knowed that
this ki n d O f feelings d i d no t grow i n nature s garden
If nature i s the only God n ature must have created
everything and everything must have a creator ;
!
m
e when i t was created Wh o created nature
an d a ti
when was i t create d !
This stuck to the m
T hey ca m e to Swedesboro ca m p meeting and the
Ho ly Ghost g e t after them and they all got con
vert ed ; th e tallest o f the thre e j um ped o n a bench
and t ook h i s coat o ff and swung it over his head and

shouted H u rrah hurr ah ! we have got someth i ng

w e never had ; we know something we never knowed ;

!
Aunt Susan yo u knowed it long ago didn t you

Yes i n deed halleluj ah

,

Aunt Susan was generous and would give her last

cent away t o help the poor and needy Sh e tells o f
,

47

48

NCI DENT S REL AT ED

B Y

AUNT

SUSAN

going t o Illinois and said th is while we were holding

a meet i ng ! I heard o f a very poor family who were
so poor that they h ad en d scarce any clothes to the i r
backs an d no foo d in the house ; they asked me t o
make a collection f o r them but I knew the people
t h at ma d e my congregat i on were as poor as t he fam
ily I had four dollars i n my pocket all I had i n the
world an d I wanted i t but the Lord told me t o give
it t o the m SO I did and through that act every o n e
I told my husband that
o f the fa m ily was converted

I had given this money away an d said h e DO ye

know what that money was for

Yes sa i d I ; but

the Lo rd told me to d o it
I did all right f o r soon

after that a man ca m e up t o me and said Do yo u

about
N
said
r each i n f o r what ye can get !
o
g
p

I;
I am n o t af ter the eece but after souls

Then here i s ten dollars for ye

Bless the Lord ;
He m ore t h an doubled upon the four dollars Glory
How backward
t o Go d ; He pays back your gold
people are i n do i n these turns t o Go d ; we don t
trust Him enough Glory ! glory ! I never knowed
Him to fail In all my Chr i stian work I never was
afraid t o trust the Lord I always nd Him to be as
goo d as His Word Bless H i s name
,

I was a t Peor i a holding a meet i ng we had a great

rev i val There was a young wo m an i n the front I
spoke t o her and asked h er to come to Jesus but sh e
d i d not move I couldn t ge t her to say a word ; I g o t
up and felt i mpressed t o cry th at before next Sunday
,

UA! NT SAY I NGS

49

there i s so m e o n e here who will be i n ete r nity I fe lt

I m ust say this at the close O f the se r vice I went t o
this ve ry woman and called he r to get saved but

she did not heed and my parting w ords were Mak e

up yo u r mind ; g i ve Go d your heart ; and now fo r

!
!
glory make a start Will you g o w i ll you go b u t
she never made a reply Poor girl ! poor girl ! she went
h o m e unsaved and o n the following Wednesday sh e
was a corpse
.

Q UAI N T

SAY

N GS

O F

AUN T

SUSAN

A man asked her if she believe d there is a he ll

Why yes ; what does the Bible say ! That the smoke
o f t he torment shall ascend up f o r ever and ever
.

I have more trouble w i th Aunt Susan t hen eny

ot h er person i n t h e world
.

A true Christian i s the pret ti est thing

arth

on e

There i s no use o f b eati n ourself with m en v

str i pes because we w i ll ge t the m en yh o w f o r we de

serve them an d God always g i ves us all we deserve

I t i s o n e O f the blessedest things to feel o u r little

ness bu t I never could s i n g that hy m n O to be

noth i ng noth in g
I a l ways wan t ed t o b e some

t h ing
,

50

UAI NT SAY I NGS

I don t speak n i ce b i g smo oth words l ike some

o f you folks but I sp i t i t o u t eny way i t comes
and
the people has a great deal o f charity for me because

they know I am not learned

,

I am alw ays Aunt Susan every day in the week

and Sun d ay for a rarity

.

Wh en Go d sanctied m y soul He took all the

growl o u t of m e ; and He took all t he pr i de o u t o f me

and set me free from all the m th i ngs

,

When people talks bad abou t me and t rys t o hurt

my f eeli n s it don t faz e me I know they are not
talki n g about some poor soul that can t stand i t as

good as I can

E ver s i nce I was a child I always found th at I

could cet ch more ies with molasses then I could
with vinegar ; swee t ness always does more then sour

ness
.

I often carried a pleasant face whin I was pretty

well ru m pled up i ns i de
.

Sh e o f t en ed answered persons tha t she did not

recogni z e If Go d don t know yo u eny better than I

do yo u better get t o pray i ng

CHAPT ER VII
SO

ME O

AUN T

SUSAN S F AV O

RI T E H Y M NS
.

I am happy ! I am happy !
O wondrous account
My j oys are i mmor t al
I stand o n the mount

h
a
r
m
Halleluj ah halleluj ah halleluj ah to the
s
C
Lamb !
.

II

I ga z e o n my treasure
I lon g t o be there
W ith angels my k i ndred
W it h Jesus my dear
,

III

There all things are plenteous

And t he leaves grow i n g green ;
The part i n g O f Chr i s ti ans
NO more shal l be seen
.

IV

May heaven pro t ect you ;

B e Jesus your guide ;
O n the walls o f o u r Z i on
May you ever ab i de
.

51

52

SOM E O F

AUNT

SUSAN S F

AVO R I T E H

YM

V
Tho u gh we li ve at a distance
And your face never see
On the banks o f sweet Canaan
Acquainted we will be
.

VI

I nd H i m in Si ng i ng ;
I nd Him i n prayer ;
In sweet m editation
He always is there
.

VII

constant co m panion ;
0 may we ne er part ;
O Glory to Jesus
He dwells in my heart

He i s

my

VIII

ye o ld soldiers
Y o u w i ll soon be discharged ;
Th e war w i ll be ended
And your treasures enla r ged

Fight

o n,

Say young soldier are you wea r y

Of the rough n ess o f the way!
D oes your heart begin to fail you
!
An d your vig o r t o decay
,

NS
.

SO M E

54

OF

AUNT

SU
SAN S F AVO R

I TE H Y M

NS
.

fam i l y s i t ti ng o n the porch three m i le s away heard

it ; th e ne x t day they came to the camp and i nformed
Aun t Susan o f the t i me she sang and what sh e san g

She made the answer I w i sh I could sing th e pra i ses

o f Go d so loud that the whole world could hear me

,

AUNT

R I T E H Y M N SUN G
F UN ER AL

SUSAN S F AV O

I
O thou Go d o f my salvat i on
My redeemer from all Si n ;
Moved by thy d i vine c ompassion
W h o hast died my heart to win ;
I w i ll pra i se thee
Where shall I thy praise begin !
.

II
T h o u gh unseen I love the Sav i our
He hath bro u ght sa l vat i on n ear ;
Manifests H i s p ar d n i n g favor
And when Jesus doth appear
Soul and body
Shall H i s gl or i ous i ma g e bear
.

III
Wh i le the angel cho i rs are crying
Glory to the great I Am
I w i th t hem w i ll st i ll be v y i n g
Glory glory t o the Lamb
0 how precious
I S the sound o f Jesus name
.

AT

ER

SOM EO F AUNT SUSAN S F AVO R I TE H

YM

NS

55

IV

h o v ri n g
.

Angels n o w are
round us
Unperceived am i d th e thron g ;
Wonder i ng at th e love that cr o wn d us ;
Glad t o j o i n th e holy son g ;
Halle l uj ah !
Lo v e and pra i se t o Chr i st belon g

I
A few h o u r s o f peace I enj oy
An d thes e are succeeded by pa i n ;
If a moment o f pra i sing my God I employ
I have hours and da v s t o compla i n
Ch0m s ! Halleluj ah ! Halleluj ah ! we re o n
ney h ome
.

our

j our

II
0 wh en Shall t h ose sorrows subs i de ;
0 when Shall my suffer i ng cease
Or when t o t h e bosom o f Chr i st be conveyed
T o rest i n the mans i ons o f peace
.

III
T he Sp i r i t o f glory con v ey
My body laid lo w i n the ground ;
I w i sh n o t a t ear o er my g rave to be shed
But let all j oin i n pra i ses around
.

IV
Then i mmersed i n the ocean o f love
I th en like an angel shall s i ng ;
T i l l Chr i st shal l descend w i th a shout from abo ve
T o make all creat i on to r i ng
.

SO M E

OF

AUNT SUSAAI S F AV O R I T E H

I
How l ost was my cond i t i on
Wh en Jesus m ade me whole
There is but o n e physician
Can cure a sin Sick soul

YM

NS

Ch0m s ! Glory to God for free grace !

II
Next door to death he found me
And snatched me f r om the g r a ve
To tell to all around me
Th i s won d rous power to sav e
.

III
The worst o f all diseases
Is l i ght compared t o sin ;
On every part it se i z es
But rages most w i thin
.

IV
It s palsy plague and fever
And madness all combined
And n one but a believer
Th e least relief can nd
.

Man s great ski ll profess i ng

I sought a cure to gain
Bu t this proved more distressing
And added to my pain
,

SO

MEOF

AUNT SUSAN S F AVO RI

VI

H YM

S o m e sa i d that nothing a i led me ;

Some gave me up f o r lost ;
Thus e v ery refuge failed me
And all my hopes were crossed
VI I

AS

At len g th t h i s great Phys i c i a n

H o w matchless i s H i s grace
Accepted by petit i o n
And undertook my case

VIII

First he gave me Sig ht to v i ew H i m

F o r s i n m i ne eyes had sealed ;
He bid me look unto H i m
I looked and I was healed
,

I!

Then come t o th i s Phys i cian ;

H i s help h e ll freely g i ve ;
He makes n o hard cond i t i ons ;
It s only look and live
Glory to God for free grace !

O7

CHAPT ER VIII
I

NCI D ENT S R EL AT ED
F

BY

SO

ME O

AUNT

SUSAN S

R I EN DS
.

Brother Stephen Lamber t i s st i ll l i v i ng He goes

to al l the camp meet i ngs it i s possib l e for h i m t o get
to Aun t Susan has known him Si nce his conversion
and has been assoc i ated w i th h i m i n many blessed
meet i ngs I n his day h e has been a wonderful s i ng er
and s i ngs now the O ld hymns an d tunes that Aunt

Susan and he used to sing togeth er

People would

come for miles to hear u s said Aunt Susan ; and with

upturne d eyes and clasped hands she sa i d But now

h i s v o i ce i s cracked and m i ne i s broken

Bro ther Lambert tells o f a meeting held i n Father
Taylor Bethel i n which Aunt Susan took part and
during o n e day and night hundreds were converte d
to God ; among these were two sailors ; on the follow
i ng Su n day morn i ng they came forward t o j o i n the
church After the preacher rece i ved them and read

to them o u t o f the d i sc i pline he says Now you have

j o i ned o n probat i on f o r si x m onths

One o f the

sailors spoke up and said What do mean by proba

tion ! It was e x plained to be a s ix months test an d

at the end o f th at si x months if the church was not
sat i s ed w i th them or i f they were not satised with
the ch u rch they need not j o i n in full membership

Sa i d the ou t spoken sa i lor I do n t j o i n o n them co n

.

58

I NCI

DENTS R E L AT ED

B Y

AUNT SUSAN S F RI ENDS

59

wh en I wen t o n board o f my Sh i p I enl i s t ed

f o r t hree y ears a n d I n e v er l eft my sh i p un ti l my
ti me was o u t ; t he Lord has conver t e d my sou l a n d I
ha v e enl i s t e d for l i fe and I wan t t o j o i n churc h for
l i fe and i f yo u w i l l no t take me o n them cond i t i ons

I w i l l no t j o i n
T he p reacher be i n g a w i se m an
took h i m i n ful l membersh i p
B rother Lamber t t e ll s h o w another sa i lor came to
o n e o f Au n t Susa n s meet i n g s and h e was converted
wh i le sh e was s i n gi n g the hymn !

d i ti o n s,

o n s of t h e m ain wh o s ai l o er t h e flo o d
b ig l i k e m o u ntain s h av e r ea ch e d u p t o God
s in s
T hrow a w a y yo u r o l d co m pa s s it w i ll d o y o u n o g o o d
I t w i ll n o t p o int y o u t o h eav en or l e a d y o u t o Go d
M in d yo u r h e l m bro t h e r s a i l o r y o u a r e su r e t o s t r i k e a
O ye
Y our

s h o aL

h ann el y o u are in w i ll b e a wr eck t o yo u r s o u l

R e co ll e c t yo u r s hor t v o y a g e o f l i f e w i l l s o o n e n d
Co m e c o m e b r o t h er sai lor m a k e J esu s yo u r fr i e n d
Th e sa i lor o n return i ng from a v oya g e some time
after th i s went t o Bro t her Lambert and be g ged h i m
t o take him t o Aun t Susa n s house ; h e d i d so a n d
foun d h er very i ll T he s ai l or w it h much c oa xi n g
succee d ed in g e tti n g her t o s i ng the hymn under
which he was saved then they ha d prayer and the
power come upon her in such a degree that Aunt
Susan b ecame perfectly well and s t ron g
Brother Lambert tells how another sa i lor came to
wagon to Bucks C ounty to see Aunt Susan and stay
over Sunday to ass i st i n her meet i ngs D urin g these
meet i n g s t he p ower came down and a do z en were
T he

60

NCI DENT S REL AT ED

B Y

converted ; after hav i ng a glor i ous ti me and see i ng

marvelous work done we start ed home i n the hay
wagon One woman was so happy she j u m ped and
fell o u t o f th e wagon When we got her in again we
had to hold her down for some time
,

N CI DEN T AT

PI T

M AN

AUGUST

R O V E CAM P
M EET I N G
1 8 90

At a meet i ng held at
A M Aunt Susan was
powerfully blessed and by the Spi r i t was led to sing !
I
I am fre e ! I a m fr e e !
I ll n ev er giv e u p m y s hi e l d ;
I a m ghting in t h e e ld
.

II
I do b el i ev e w it h o u t a do u b t
T h a t Ch r i sti a n s hav e a r ig h t t o s ho u t !
I am fr ee ! I am fr e e !
.

I
Y o u m ay b u ry m y body u n d er t h e g r o u n d
B u t I s hall h ea r t h e t r u m p et s o u n d !
I a m w a sh e d in t h e blo od o f t h e L a m b
.

II
L oo k y o u y o n d e r w h a t I s e e
An g e l s co m in g a ft er m e
I am wa sh e d in t h e blo o d of
.

th e L

am b

W hi le singin g, th e Holy Ghost i n m i ghty p ower

came upon h er sh e stretched o u t her hands

the m i nisters came down from the platform

an d

62

NCI DE NT S RE L AT ED

B Y

would fall prostrate o n t he groun d and be power

f u ll y con verted Hundreds have been saved through

her I nstrumentality ; sh e was a re m arkable woman

,

Her son William t e ll s O f an i nc i dent that took place

in B r i m eld Illinois Aunt Susan went to see an
o ld co l ored l ady sa i d t o be o n e hundred and fteen
years O ld ; Sh e had been sick and seemingly u n co n
scio u s for some t ime ; Sh e did n o t know any o n e

!
Aunt Susan asked her DO yo u know Jesus
to

wh i ch Sh e aroused and replied Yes h o ney ; do as

Jesus wants yo u and He w i ll lead yo f r o o de woods

t h e only words she had Spoken intelligently f o r some
m o n th s an d the last for she died in a few m i nutes
,

Fro m t here Aunt Susan went to Brother W i lson

Barnes a me mber of the M E Church in that v i l
lage ; he had t w o children sick w i th a disease known
as the bloody u x She nursed those t wo ch i ldren
and t wo others that took the same disease every
night for two weeks through the day going home
and seeing t o her household dut i es In that Short
ti m e all four were bur i ed She was ever ready to
l end a willing hand
,

Mrs S C Barrett NO 1 51 7 Montgomery avenue

Ph i ladelph i a relates th i s s tr i king inc i dent ! In 1 8 9 2

my husband was run over by the cars and crushed ; he
was taken t o the German Hospital where he lingered
in p ain f o r nine day s I sa t b y h i s bedside da y an d
.

SO M E

OF

AUNT

SUSAN S F

RI ENDS

63

night and prayed that I m i ght know o f his r ed em p

tion I praye d the Lord to let me have th e witness
The night o f the ninth day h e was very low and I
was Sitting by his Side praying but feeling as dry and
parched in m y soul as a barren desert About two
o clock a t night while s i t ti ng by h i m I felt a strange
rapturous j o y i n m y s oul It s eem ed I h eard a vo i ce

s i ng i ng Halleluj ah h allelu j ah halleluj ah to the

Lamb
T ears o f j oy streame d down my face and I
looked on my dear husband and h e seemed trans

formed ; his face was lit up w i th a bright glow Oh

I said th i s i s i n answer to my prayer ; I am satised

he i s redeemed and I sang Halleluj ah ! halleluj ah !

halleluj ah to t h e Lamb
My soul was l i fted above
th i s earth and the glory was all throu gh and around

m e ; then I said Oh Lord if there i s any o n e on this

earth t hat s i ngs that song do let me hear i t About
two h ours after th i s my precious husband d i ed His

last words to me were GO w i th me ; go with me

He d i ed i n peace Jus t three weeks after his death
in great sadness I wen t to the Fr i day meeting i n
Philadelph i a and dur i ng th e meeting the leader said

No w Aunt Susan will Si ng h er exper i ence Just

as soon as I heard her voice I was thr i lled and I
burst o u t er v ing an d i n my heart I knew t hat was
the v o i ce and words I heard t ha t n i ght by my dy i ng
husband ; I shouted and pra i sed God f o r permitting
me t o h ear the so n g for I then knew it was t he Holy
Sp i r i t that had brough t i t to me o n tha t night Oh
I j us t drank i n the words t ha t she san g l i ke a
,

64

NCI DENT S RE L AT ED

B Y

parched desert and I was wonderfully blessed by her

Si ng i ng
I believe Aunt Susan l i ved so near th e
Lord that He in some way permitted her song to waft

my husband s sp i rit home to heaven

,

O ne

night Mr Wallace o f Baltimore was stand

ing under a la m p post in Ph i ladelphia ; he had no
thought o f go i ng t o church when Aunt Susan walked
up t o h i m and asked i f he was a C h r i st i an He made
some i nd iff eren t a n swer but Sh e held onto him until
he was persuaded t o en t er the c h urch Th i s ulti
mately led t o h i s convers i on Tha t man was very
fa i thful an d devout The inuence o f his l i fe led a
grea t many to Chr i st ; his death was very t r i u m phant ;
he spoke o f Aunt Susan and asked h i s w i fe t o keep
in t ouch with her as long as she l i ved
.

EST I M O

N I AL S
.

When pastor o f Twelfth Street M E Church

abou t thirt een years ag o I became acquainted w i th
Mrs Susan Cake fa m il i arly known as Aunt Susan
She i m pressed me from th e rs t I saw her as a woman
Her de
o f mo re than us u al s t reng t h O f charac t er
cided stand f o r Go d and H i s Church was man i fest i n
her den i te testimony Her l i fe was o n e o f j o y and
triumph Sh e was powerful i n prayer often lead i ng
the wh ole co n grega ti on o u t o n the prom i ses o f Go d
Someti m es the seasons O f power were overwhelm i ng
She was a great hel p t o me i n p reach i n g the W ord
.

SO M E

OF

AUNT

SUSAN S F

RI ENDS

65

for

her hold o n Go d was wonderful Her faithful

a t te n danc e upon t he serv i ces o f God s house was an
i nsp i rat i on I O ften thanked Go d f o r t h e helpful i n
u en ces tha t have come to me t hrough a class o f per
sons wh o have i m presse d me w it h t h e fac t t ha t t he
supreme j oy o f t he i r l i ves has been and i s the suc cess
o f t he ca u se o f Chr i s t
Th i s I be l i eve t o be the case
w i th Aun t Susan Sh e was a goo d woman full o f
fa i th an d t h e Holy Ghos t and th e i nuenc e o f her
l i fe h as bee n grac i ously blessed i n l ead i ng many t o
Jesus May Go d gran t t o her a glor i ous sunset and
m ay she h ave ! as I bel i eve sh e w i ll ! abundant en
tranc e i n t o H i s g lory
E
U
R
V
J
F
C
R
O
CH
!
!
.

A t t h e sugges ti on o f Aunt Susan I was appo i n t ed

at t he ag e o f e i gh t ee n l eader o f t h e cl ass tha t she
belonged t o Amo n g t he prac ti cal and h elpfu l ad
v i ce sh e gave was t ha t I should speak l oud and s i ng
d i st i nc t ly She counseled t he members o f the class
t o d el it y and un it y and her i ns t ruct i ons have re
su lt ed i n b i nd i ng us i n the closes t Chr i s ti an fellow
sh i p T h e bene t Aun t Susan has been t o all t hose
th at come i n con t act w it h her can never b e known
un ti l we mee t o n t he other sh ore
CAL E B G O R MAN
Leader o f S
abbath morning class
Twelfth S t M E Chur ch
,

I was A u n t Susan s class leader about t en years ; al

though a dvanced i h y e ar s sh e was a l ways earnest

66

NCI DENT S REL AT ED

B Y

ac ti ve an d fa i thful t o t he Go d and R ock o f her salva

Although tempes t t osse d an d mos t severely
tio n
tri ed all through her l i fe ye t her faith and co n
dence i n th e prov i d i ng and pro t ect i ng care o f her
Heavenly Fa t her always s t ood o u t d i s ti nct and prom
i n en t as a br i gh t st ar d i rec ti ng t hose whose pr i v i lege
it was t o become acqua i n t ed w i th h er to t he ligh t o f
the world her blessed Lor d an d Sav i our Jesus Chr i s t
She ever had a l i v i n g w it n ess i n her soul o f the
blesse d tru t h expressed by th e Psalm i st i n t hese

words Go d i s o u r refuge an d s t rength and a very

present help i n trouble therefore w i ll n o t we fear
though the ear t h be removed and t he moun t a i ns be

carr i ed i n t o the m i ds t o f t he sea No matter wh o was

absen t from t he class o r t h e church serv i ces i f Aunt
Susan was presen t it seemed tha t the power o f Go d
was presen t and t he mee ti ng was a success it seeme d
that her presence in sp i red the res t and her m i ghty
fa i th and t he sp i r it ua l wa iti ng upon Go d was ao
and we a l l w i th her
cept ed at t he court o f heaven
rece i ved t h e be n e t
Hers was a swee t p eace wh i c h the world cou l d
ne it her g i ve n o r t ake away She t ru l y enj oyed the
earnes t o f the i nher it ance and even l ooked forward
w i th blessed an ti c i pa ti on t o th e gl or i ous ti m e when
it would please t he Lord t o call her t o g l ory and Sh e
would range the blessed e l ds o n th e bank s O f the
r i ver and s i ng halleluj ah f o r ever and ever
G E O R G E M R IGHT ER
ean s t ree t Ph i l ade l ph i a
53 9 M cK
-

AU
NT SUSAN S F R I ENDS

SO M E O F
T

EST I M O

NY

87

MR

O F

S
.

LI Z Z I E R

SM I T H

I h ad seen Aun t Susan at several o f th e camp

m eetings f o r a few years preceding m y meet i ng her,
at Pitman Grove camp about 1 8 7 8
I was hol d i n g mee ti ng there at the t i me but o u r
friendsh i p began i n the follow i ng way ! I was i nv i ted
by Broth er I D Ware to conduct a hol i ness meet
ing in his co t tage o n o n e afternoo n and Aunt Susan
was also inv i te d t o th i s mee ting and when she heard
t h at I was go i ng t o lead th e meet i n g sh e determined
.

t o go

She has told me s i nce that o n all other o ccasions

when I had charge o f the mee ti ng sh e would stay
away thinking that I would not care t o h ave her
prese n t and as Sh e said t o me she n o w knew that it
was all her o wn feel i ngs
O n th i s afternoon after I had nish ed read i ng the
S cr i pture and speak i ng sh e arose and sang o n e verse
o f h er famil i ar hymn !
M ay h e av e n p ro t e c t y o u
M ay Go d b e yo u r g u i d e ;
O n t h e w a ll s of o u r Z i o n
M ay y o u e v e r a b i d e
,

I approached the dear o ld lady placed my arms

about her neck and both o f us were bathed i n t ea rs
From that hour has formed a fr i endship which h as
co n t i nued these years grow i ng warmer and stronger
d aily
Aunt Susan i s a bened i ct i on t o me whenever sh e
appears in a m ee ting This summer at Oc ean Grove
,

68

NCI DENT S RE L AT ED

B Y

sh e was a n i nsp i rat i on n o t only t o me bu t t o all

that at te n ded the
meet i n g I thank Go d f o r a
plac e in her heart and an i nterest i n her prayers
Sh e m ay ent er b e for e m e t h e b ea u ti f u l gat e
I f s o I w i ll l abor o n an d pati e nt ly w ait
Unti l J e su s c a ll s me h o m e
,

'

ER SO N W I L L I AM U CAKE
Th i nkin g a few l i nes from m e would be appro
r i at e I would say that my mother was a v er
r
e
p
y
markable woman She could n o t read her o wn n am e
ye t sh e could quo t e Scr i pture equa l t o
o r spell i t
some Bible studen t s an d at o n e t i m e could s i n g all
t h e hymns i n the Method i s t hymn book used i n the
year 1 8 65 At tha t time we l i ved i n B apt i stt o wn
New Jersey She and father were members o f the
Ki ngwood M E Church She was presente d w i th a
l arg e B ible an d h ymn bo ok wh en they sev ered the i r
connect i on from that church t o g o t o Ill i no i s Wh i le
in that Sta t e Sh e travele d very much ass i st i n g at re
She h as traveled through blind i ng
vi val meetings
snow storms and all k i nds o f weath er work i ng f o r
her Master She always sa i d t he distance is n ever
t o o great o r th e weather t o o severe
On o n e o ccas i on a man wh o was once a Method i st
but h ad become a conver t to the R obert In g erso l
doctrine asked f o r her o n h i s d eath bed at t welve
o clock midnight I did all I could t o persuade h er
not to g o ; there was about thre e feet o f snow o n th e
ground and still snowing and about ve squares t o
A F EW

LI

RO M

NES F

70

NCI DENT S R EL AT ED

B Y

AUNT SUSAN S F R I ENDS

Th e i m m ediate cause o f her death was paralysis o f

the brain which dep r ived her o f her speech A few
ho u rs previo u s to her death wh i le i n this cond i tion
R ev C Lee Gaul pastor o f Twelfth Stree t M E
Church o f wh i ch she was a member said t o her

Au n t Susan i f it i s al l r ight w i th yo u and yo u are

go i ng t o dwell w i th Jesus the o n e you have loved
and talked about so much ra i se your hand i f possi
ble
Sh e ra i sed both ha n ds as h i gh as she cou l d
Then I asked her i f she knew me her so n Will i am
she ra i sed h er r ight hand i n answer t o that and i n a
few m i nutes sh e fell asleep i n Jesus
Her funera l servi ces were held i n th e T welfth
Street M E Church A very appropr i ate sermon
was preach ed by the pas t or R ev C Lee Gaul She
was interred at Greenmount Cemetery Philadelphia
,