Ancestry!
Patrimony!
Family!
Heredity! Posterity! What wonderful words,
laden with such wonderful meaning!
They unite the whole world into one
family. One thinks of looking back
to the beginning of time and counting his forefathers, then examining
himself, and glancing down through futurity. He
a lot of turkey gobblers he would
have to butcher, if he were to prepare themall a regular modern-styled,
fashionable Thanksgiving dinner!
And one naturally thinks, too, of
his own race of people, and compares
their number and peculiarities with
others. It has been commonly reckoned
and conceded that the Smith family
is second to the entire race of Adam, and
Yet, how insignificant in number
when compared, and how fortunate when
getting ready for Thanksgiving!
The family is a grand divine
institution. It is the center, the foundation, the
mainspring of all human
institutions,—a God-conferred boon among civilized
converge in the home, as the spokes
of a wheel converge in the hub. Oh, that
its regulations and practices could
always be right, sacred and pure, and its individual members, and all
collectively, always noble and happy.
To come of a good family is
something to be grateful for, if not to be proud
of. Yet, of course, there may be
differences of opinion as to what constitutes a
good family. Some pride on their
ancestors for the intellectual smartness they
possessed, or the philanthropy
evidenced, or the wealth accumulated. Others
regard strict integrity, or
persistent labor, or a ripe old age as a mark of nobility. Still others
prize their
parentage for church affiliations and faithfulness in a
religious way. While not a few
think they are of a good family because their
parents and grandparents were noted
for sociability, for making researches, or
because some of them held an office
of some kind. Perhaps the reader can decipher which of these reasons
are
found in the following history, decide
others.
Who would not love to have his
family name and an account of his good
deeds carried down the stream of
time?-from generation to generation,
forever more? Men talk of leaving
things for their children to have after they
are gone, but what better things
can they leave them than a good character,
physically and mentally, coupled
with a good name; and who will not rejoice
to think that his grand-children
away down in coming ages have something as
a keepsake to remember him by. An
appropriate memento is a Life History,
such as the writer has here begun,
and which he respectfully recommends to be
continued through succeeding
generations.
p. 8