A Woman's Life-Work-Labors and Experiences of Laura S. Haviland Part 43

Mrs. Catherine Rice corresponded with friends of the work in Grand Rapids, asking them to unite with us in a pet.i.tion to the State Legislature to establish a State manual labor school in Grand Rapids, as the friends in that city were arranging for a local orphan asylum.

The subject was discussed in the board, but a small majority voted against uniting their local interests with the State work. During this time, all new material sent in for clothing was exchanged for food, and Jane A. Smith and our faithful teacher applied to a few friends and received temporary aid. On December 15, 1870, we found the provisions too short to last for two weeks. The question came up, What shall be done for the twenty children for whom no homes are provided? Under the circ.u.mstances, there seemed no alternative but to return the children to their respective county infirmaries. When this decision was reached by the board of managers, and made known to the matron and teacher, on the evening of their week-day prayer-meeting, the matron informed the children of it. Eleven of them had made a profession of religion, and had given evidence of having found Him who said, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not" Each of these offered earnest prayer for G.o.d to help them live so faithfully that he would make friends for them, to bring them something to eat, "so we won't have to go back to the county poor-house."

All this time my children and friends had not allowed me to know the condition of the asylum. Our firm friend, Rebecca Bennett, and our president called on my physician to ask permission to see me for advice as to whom they could write for aid. He replied, "With your calm and judicious manner, I can risk you." But they came far short of making a full revelation of the true state of things. I advised them to write the superintendent of the Congregationalist Sabbath-school at, Franklin Center, and to the pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Tec.u.mseh. They proposed that I should dictate to my daughter what to write. This was done, and my appeal was read in their respective congregations. Within a week two sleigh-loads, containing grain, flour, meal, and beef, and a whole dressed sheep, came from those places. The drivers rolled in barrel after barrel from each of the sleighs, and said they would bring more before this was gone. One little boy of eleven years said:

"Mrs. Smith, don't you think G.o.d sent all this 'cause we prayed so hard the other night?"

"My child," she answered, "the Lord has heard our prayers, and has answered; and, although it is snowing hard, yet you must hurry, and hitch Jack to the buggy as quick as possible, so that we can let Mrs.

Haviland know this; for I have been afraid she has been worse since she learned we were so nearly out."

Soon she came into my room with the glad tidings: "Do not take another anxious thought over our asylum. We had more supplies come to us to-day than we have had for two months--two heavy sleigh-loads." We clasped each others' hands and wept for joy, and praised G.o.d, from whom all blessings flow.

This news revived the spirits of those whose hands were hanging down, and gave them courage to reappoint officers. Rev. Dr. Asa Mahan's wife served as president, with other officers, duly elected. A pet.i.tion to the Legislature was drafted and industriously circulated, and printed copies were sent to a number of the superintendents of counties who had favored our project. Though the Legislature was in session, and there was not time to circulate it as extensively as desirable, yet Dr. Mahan and others thought it might succeed, although there were heavy drafts upon our Legislature of 1870-71. The State Prison was to be enlarged, the Insane Asylum to be improved, and additions to Ann Arbor University made, while there were still other calls for appropriations. All these made the success of our scheme look doubtful to many. All I could do was to continue in prayer that senators and representatives might feel the importance of looking after the pressing wants of our future men and women, soon to fill our vacated places. I found many children in the county poor-house through the debauchery of their fathers, and occasionally mothers.

The improvement, both in conduct and in morals, of the neglected little waifs whom we had gathered into our asylum, urged us on in our work; for we realized that our experiment was a success. Our friends were thus encouraged to press forward with the pet.i.tion.

Dr. Mahan and his wife, our president, went before the Legislature with the view of pressing our claims. Members of the Senate and House proposed to grant Dr. Mahan one evening in representing the project, and left it in the hands of the Committee on Pet.i.tions. Senator Randall, of Coldwater, put it in the form of a bill that covered the spirit and requests of the pet.i.tion. Being chairman of the Committee on Bills, he presented it in the Senate. It was pa.s.sed in that body, to our great joy, and soon after was pa.s.sed in the House, and received the governor's signature, making it a law.

Though only thirty thousand dollars were appropriated by the Legislature with which to commence operations, yet I knew the State would carry on the work hereafter. The site for the new asylum was to be selected at whatever desirable locality offered the most liberal donations. As Coldwater offered thirty thousand dollars toward the new enterprise, it was located in that city. While the buildings for the State school were being erected, our asylum was moved into the city of Adrian, as at that point it was more convenient for the sisters composing the board of managers to care for it. When the "State Public School" should be opened, all in our asylum not provided with homes were to be transferred to it.

My health improved sufficiently to enable me to make a few appeals to bring up arrears in our work. The matron and myself had received but very little, as all went to the support of the children. I cared but little for myself; but for sister Smith, who had been such a faithful, mother to these poor children, I was more anxious. At length I secured permission of my tender care-takers--my two daughters--to go among my friends in Detroit. To most of them I appealed by letter, and made but one personal call. That was more particularly in the interest of a prisoner for whom I solicited a pardon. This was at length granted.

Governor Baldwin had known of my asylum work, and inquired after its interests. He gave me twenty dollars towards it. Mr. c.r.a.po's son gave me twenty-five dollars, and Captain E. B. Ward fifty dollars. Others responded to my letters, and I obtained over two hundred dollars.

The great fires in Chicago and Northern Michigan stopped farther work of this character; but we did what we could toward canceling arrearages, being confident that were it not for the continued and faithful toiling of Jane A. Smith the asylum would have died during my long and serious illness. It must have died, even after its removal to Adrian, had it not been for a faithful few.

A few months after the State Public School was opened at Coldwater, in charge of Professor Truesdell, superintendent, and Miss Emma A. Hall, matron. I went into the school as seamstress and nurse, and remained there nearly two years. Instead of overhauling, cutting, and making over second-hand clothes for the three hundred little homeless waifs we had cared for in our orphans' home, we were now well supplied with bolts of substantial new material, out of which we made comfortable bedding and clothing. Here we had no care about furnis.h.i.+ng, and no anxious fear for their support. With pleasure we saw the vast contrast in conveniences and supplies compared with our little rill in which we so long paddled our own canoe, and in which faithful laborers were still at work. It matters not by whom this great work was accomplished; it matters not by what agencies our prayer of more than four years long, previous to the adopting of this work by the State, was answered.

Through an overruling power clouds and icebergs vanished, and in lieu thereof the ma.s.sive brick buildings of the State Public School in Coldwater were raised, instead of the old Raisin Inst.i.tute, where it drew its first breath.

CHAPTER XVII.

CHRISTIAN LABOR AND RESULTS.

It seemed refres.h.i.+ng to meet with sympathizing friends after toiling for months among false brethren. It was a relief to enjoy a few days of freedom from care. After asking a few friends to sign an article of agreement to pay one dollar a year during five years for the orphan asylum, and mailing a couple of letters to Levi Coffin and Rev. E. M.

Cravath, of Cincinnati, I took from the office a drop-letter from Mr.

Burton Kent, County Superintendent of the Poor, containing the following notice:

"MRS. LAURA S. HAVILAND,--Many persons transported by you last year have become a county charge, and it has become an intolerable burden to the tax-payers. Any person bringing a child or indigent person into this county without being legally indentured, shall be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Within five minutes after reading the above notice I was on my way to our County Poor-house, three miles from town. To my surprise I found that no colored child had been there, and of the fifty-one inmates but three were colored, and only one man (Mr. Morris Brown) who came with me the previous Summer had been received. He was discharged in a short time. A stay at the infirmary for two months and a half was a _burden_, but was it "intolerable to the tax-payers" of our county?

I felt that I must search diligently to discover all the facts. I called on Mr. Helms, who said there was widow with four or five children that was sick a couple of weeks, and he had supplied her with a load of wood and groceries. I asked for the cost, but as it was not convenient for him to give the figures then, he said he would furnish them the following Tuesday. Mr. Young had told him that he had buried a family. I called to learn what family it was in his ward. He gave the name of the man who died after a short illness, and to whom he had taken a load of wood, a small sack of flour, and some other groceries.

I inquired if he had taken these things to them more than once. He said he had not, as his wife was all there was to look after, and she took care of herself after her husband's death. He gave me the expenses--eight dollars and ninety-six cents. I called on Mr. Helms at three appointed times, and failed to get his precise figures, but, placing them at highest rates, from all I could gather it could not have been more than thirty-five dollars. I wrote an article for the Adrian _Times_, in which I stated the figures, and informed the citizens and tax-payers of Lenawee County that this orphan asylum was under the auspices of the American Missionary a.s.sociation, which was responsible for its support. I solicited some mathematician to give us the fraction of a mill to each taxpayer as his share of this "intolerable burden upon the tax-payers."

Our county superintendents of the poor, Burton Kent and Alice Warren, the officials from whom I received the notice, were surprised to learn that the American Missionary a.s.sociation was the responsible party. But all these threats sprang from prejudiced parties, and clearly indicated the necessity of a few strokes of the reconstruction brush north of Mason and Dixon's line, as well as south of it, to obliterate the color-line. Friends here and there paid me a dollar on their pledge of a dollar a year, and our colored friends in the city of Adrian--Sarah Lewis, with her brothers and Mr. Wilson, managers of a festival--realized thirty-two dollars and sixty-one cents, cash, and fifty pounds of meat, beans, fruit and clothing, valued at fifty dollars.

July the Fourth was a merry day for the forty little folks at the asylum. At dark fire-crackers, torpedoes and sky-rockets flew in every direction for an hour, when all were arranged in a semicircle and sang "John Brown," "Red White and Blue," "Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys," and a few temperance songs, in great glee. It was a happy group. We had a few visitors, who left us the happier for seeing the children and listening to their sweet voices in song.

I was often engaged in procuring good homes for these orphans. A few homes were found that were not suitable, and the children were withdrawn and placed in other homes.

On September 19th I met Mrs. Edgerton, the matron of our asylum, with T. D. Allen, of Kalamazoo, agent under J. R. s.h.i.+pherd, secretary of the American Missionary a.s.sociation, who were authorized to build a school-room for the asylum. Heretofore the children's play-room had been used for the school during the warm season. As the American Missionary a.s.sociation was doing a great work in the late slave States in maintaining freedmen's schools, the officers concluded to solicit aid, in the State of Michigan for the building of the much needed school-room. They urged me to engage in this work, but I thought that I had done my share, in giving the time I had to soliciting money for the purchase of supplies. Besides Elizabeth L. Comstock had given one thousand dollars in money, with which to enlarge the little farm to thirty-five acres, buy a horse, and furnish the little folks with hats, etc. Then I wanted to look for a home, as I was becoming rather weary of singing the old song,

"No foot of land do I possess, No cottage in this wilderness."

This had been my condition for nearly three years; but with all my pleading, I failed to be released. As it was already cooler weather, and Winter would soon overtake us, T. D. Allen said I had worked long enough without reward, save that of blessing these little homeless waifs, and now, if I would take hold of this enterprise, I should be paid the same amount he was receiving.

At length I agreed to spend a week or two at least, and took from him the bill of all the kinds of lumber needed, and left for Detroit. Judge F. C. Beaman furnished me with a letter of introduction, indorsed by Rev. Dr. George Duffield, of Detroit. I called, as he advised, on Samuel Pitts, who subscribed one hundred dollars in lumber. I selected out of my bill what was first called for to enable the carpenters already engaged to commence their work. I then called on Mr. Cooper, freight agent, to secure, if possible, free transportation to Adrian; to him I gave my introductory letter. When he glanced at the heading, without reading it, he gave it a toss on his table toward me, with a look of disgust, saying, "I've seen that thing before, and I've nothing to do with it."

"That is a mistake," said I; "that paper is from F. C. Beaman, and not a week old."

"If I'm not _very much_ mistaken I've seen it before."

"Well, you are very much mistaken, for I brought it to this city with me yesterday, and I have not been in your office until this minute. But I am not soliciting money. I only called to see if I can secure free transportation for one hundred dollars' worth of lumber to Adrian for an orphan school-room, as forty little homeless waifs, under our care, have no school-room, except a wood-house and play-room. The cold weather will soon overtake us."

He listened patiently to my short speech, and said he had no authority to grant such a favor; that I would have to write to C. H. Hatch, then in Chicago.

"I know he would grant it," I said, "for he granted this quarter pa.s.s on his road for my mission work," showing the pa.s.s.

He turned it over and spent double the time in examining it that he did on my introductory letter, and said, slowly, "I think I will risk sending this car-load," and wrote an order to his a.s.sistant to send it forthwith to Adrian.

I thankfully returned to my duty of calling on the list of the benevolently inclined wealthy persons whose names Dr. Duffield and J.

F. Conover had furnished. Rev. Dr. Hogarth, Mr. Raymond, the book-merchant, and Rev. Dr. Duffield gave sufficient to pay the cartage of the lumber to the depot. Soon it was on its way. I dined at Moses Sutton's, who gave $5, and his sister Annie $1. Mr. Brooks gave me $25 in lumber. Mr. Bronson gave five thousand s.h.i.+ngles; another gave $2.50 in s.h.i.+ngles.

After a few days at home I returned, October 25th, to Detroit, and toiled, like the fishermen, nearly all day, and caught nothing. Weary, and almost discouraged, I was about to retire to my resting-place at Augustus Leggett's, when one gave $5, another $2. The following day I called on C. Merrill, who gave $5; another gave $5; Mr. R. C. Renuick gave $10; Mr. Whitney gave $5. Weariness coaxed me to another sweet resting-place, the home of my dear friends J. F. and Hannah Conover. I called on a few persons whose names had been given me by Mr. Palmer, from whom I received $17; and from a few others I received $15. John Bagley gave $10; another gave $5; Rev. J. A. Baughman, $5; and Mr.

King, his son-in-law, $5. I also called on Governor c.r.a.po, who gave $5.

Others gave $5, $2, and $1, until I had forty dollars more to aid in constructing our school-room.

We secured sufficient means to build our school-room. In all, with the favors granted by the Michigan Southern and Lake Sh.o.r.e Railroad, we received about four hundred dollars.

Through the kindness of my friend, L. Tabor, Esq., who purchased a house and small lot for me, I again had a place for my children to occupy, which I could call my home; for which I praised the Lord, from whom all blessings flow.

As our orphan asylum was now in a good condition, Mrs. Edgerton, the matron, said the secretaries of the three divisions of the Missionary a.s.sociation, Chicago, Cincinnati, and New York, met and voted her one hundred dollars a month, with which to carry forward this asylum. She deemed this an ample supply, with what had been raised on the place.

She said it was then on a more substantial basis than it had been during the year she had had it in charge.

Through General O. O. Howard I learned that mission work was much needed in Charleston, South Carolina, and received from him transportation to that city by way of Was.h.i.+ngton, District of Columbia.

My health being now restored, on January 29, 1869, I left my sweet home and loved ones at three o'clock P. M., and spent the night in Toledo, with my old friends, William Merritt and wife. I attended with them the prayer-meeting in the new colored church. I arrived at Pittsburg with but little detention. Pa.s.sing through the mountains, we found the snow deeper than when I left Michigan. At seven A. M. we pa.s.sed the wreck of three cars which had run off the embankment and were still burning.

Among the killed taken from the wreck was a woman partially burnt. I did not learn the number of killed and injured. Among these dead and dying I should probably have been had I not spent the night in Toledo, as this was the train, I would have been on had I remained on the one I left. O, how sad to look upon this smoldering wreck, from which I had so narrowly escaped! This was the third accident of this kind which I had thus providentially missed in my travels by river and rail of three thousand miles. Many are the dangers, seen and unseen, through which I have pa.s.sed, and the remembrance of this disaster calls forth a renewed song of deliverance and praise for the Guiding Hand that preserves through the vicissitudes of this ever-changing life.

I arrived in Was.h.i.+ngton early in the morning, and took breakfast with my friend Dr. Glenan. Here I found my brother, Harvey Smith, and his son, who were teaching freedmen's schools, and with them I spent the Sabbath, In the evening I attended the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, and was invited to address the large meeting. I spoke half an hour, and told the history of Uncle Philip, and how, amidst the persecutions and sorrows to which his slave-life subjected him, he had kept his hand in the hand of his Savior all these ninety-seven years.

While speaking of his being whipped until he fainted, a few wept aloud, and after meeting a number came to tell me of their being whipped for praying. One woman was whipped until she fainted, and one man was kept in the stocks all night after being whipped, and came near dying. His master told him he "would whip the praying devil out of him," using the same words that Uncle Philip's master used to him.

The surgeon-in-chief, Dr. Reynolds, wished me to remain in Was.h.i.+ngton another day, and thought General Howard would permit me to stay there for a time, to engage in sanitary work. I had an interview with the general, who thought I was most needed in Was.h.i.+ngton, during the Winter season at least. He gave me authority to visit the free soup-houses, and investigate the sanitary work generally. After reading my commission, I told him I had a request to make, and that was that the authority with which I was vested, might be kept secret. To investigate to the best advantage was my object. I was also appointed to examine, as far as practicable, the condition of applicants for charity, and the manner in which the charity was applied. My office was furnished, and board was allowed me at the head-quarters of the freedmen's hospital in Campbell Camp.

On February eth I called at Josephine Griffin's relief office before 10 o'clock A. M. Between sixty and seventy persons called on her, mostly for work. I followed a number of the applicants for soup-tickets to their homes. In visiting twenty families during the day, I found a number of persona in squalid wretchedness. One man was very sick with a high fever, and unconscious. He had received no help, because unable to make personal application, and he had no family to intercede for him.

His bed was a pile of rags in the corner on the floor. I called for the Bureau physician and saw that he had suitable bed-clothing and food.