PURSUING ONE'S IDEAL.
The letters presented in the present chapter are not only interesting in
themselves, but are valuable as illustrating the threefold bent of Mrs.
Carr's mind, as outlined in the preceding pages. They cover her
University experiences. Here is a manuscript revealing Mrs. Carr's
struggles with the Greek language. She has evidently just taken up this
study; her exercises show the same thoroughness she exhibited in her
German commonplace-book.
Here is a receipt from the Christian Woman's Board of Missions for $50
which Mrs. Carr has sent on subscriptions to the _Tidings_. And Mrs. S.
F. D. Eastin writes from St. Joseph, 1880, requesting Mrs. Carr to read
her essay before the Moberly convention. "I know it will be worthy the
attention of that erudite body," says Mrs. Eastin. Worthy _any_ erudite
body it should have been; the subject is "John Stuart Mill and C. W. B.
M."
Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, October 23, 1880, from the Louisville convention:
"Your letter was handed me in church just before Brother McGarvey's
excellent address. Your words rang through my soul all the time he was
preaching. The devotion to the Cause expressed in your letter is an echo
of my heart, and I second your motion to go to Paris next summer, but I
fear you will exhaust yourself in such abundant labors. Your spirit is
too strong, and too active, for your body. I gave Sister Eastin your
message and she says it is the very thing. This has been a glorious
convention, most orderly and deeply pious. I delivered to the convention
the messages of Brother and Sister Rogers and Brother and Sister Wilkes.
To-day the convention closed in tears and in high hopes, for the future.
Brother Magarey" (our "Alex." of Melbourne association) "went to Bethany
yesterday. He looks a little older, but is the same blessed man. I love
him. We had long talks. Brother Gore will visit home before long. All
well at Brother Santo's. I got this sheet of paper from Jimmie Fox's
desk. He is doing well--Adjunct Professor in the Male High School. I am
writing at the office of the _Old Path Guide_. Brothers Hardin, Allen,
Cline, et al., are talking all around me. Hardin goes to St. Louis
tonight; I send this by him, that you may get it soon. Collis and
Thurgood asked of you especially. I told Brother McGarvey of your work,
of Brother Wilkes' estimation of you, of your position in the
University, of the high praise President Laws gives you, etc., and
Brother McGarvey says he wishes you could have a work directly in the
interests of Christianity; but all he can advise is, to stay in the
University until such a position opens up."
W. W. Dowling to Mr. and Mrs. Carr: "I am publishing in the _Sunday
School Teacher_, biographical sketches of some of our prominent
Sunday-school workers. I want a sketch of both of you--a synopsis of
your lives and labors."
J. W. McGarvey to Mr. Carr, June 30, 1883: "I am glad you have the heart
and ability to care for your aged parents as you do. In regard to
educational affairs, I doubt the possibility of legally removing the
Canton Institution. If you need an institution for the education of
preachers, you cannot do better than to build a house, and endow two
chairs in connection with the University. But I do not see that you need
it for many years to come. Our College at Lexington can receive all your
young men, and do a better part by them, at less expense. An attempt to
have a Bible College in every State where we have a strong membership,
will result in a large number of weaklings. The Baptists in all the
South aim at but one; the Presbyterians, the same. We are now aiming at
six or seven, and ours, the largest, has only 94. Since Geo. Bryant has
gone home, I hear they are expecting 250 guests at Independence. I am
surprised so many are expected. I have not heard whether Brother Oldham
made a good reputation at first, or not. I am sure, however, that he
will establish a reputation and secure success. I hope the preachers
will help him." (Oldham was Bryant's successor at Christian College,
Columbia. The institution referred to, at Independence, was Woodland
College.)
November 4, 1883, O. A. Carr issued a circular addressed to the Alumnae
of Christian College, urging them to send matter for the forthcoming
book, "Biography of President J. K. Rogers, and History of Christian
College." This was a book Mr. Carr had undertaken at the request of
President Rogers's widow. The work was attended with much difficulty and
many delays, on account of the alumnae pursuing the usual course of
alumnae, by refusing, as a whole, to answer request or entreaty.
Mrs. S. E. Shortridge, from Indianapolis, to Mrs. Carr, February 20: "I
have been working all day steadily on the _Tidings_, and tonight, being
too nervous to sleep, I take advantage of this halt to write to you,
though the midnight hour is not far away." (Mrs. Shortridge was the Cor.
Sec. of the C. W. B. M.) "Accept my thanks for the kindness and patience
with which you have gone over the whole ground. I quite agree with you
in the main; the only difference between us is, I believe, in the
exceptions to the rule. I must assure you that we are of one mind here
at Indianapolis. Perfect harmony and confidence prevail. This is
particularly true of Sister Jameson and myself." (Mrs. Jameson was the
president of the C. W. B. M.)
"From her I have no secret. We are very near neighbors; I see her almost
daily; yet I am continually finding new beauties of character to love
and admire. I find the _Tidings_ cannot be enlarged this year: I wish it
could." (At this time the _Tidings_ was a small four-page sheet, four
columns to the page.) "We are not able to rent a room, or office, and we
work at great disadvantage. I never look at the paper that my
conscience does not stir uneasily, it reminds me so much of a motherless
child. And yet--I am doing the best I can. I have no journalistic
genius, Mrs. Goodwin always insisted that I had, but she was blinded by
love. If I have talent, it is still dormant. I do believe in you, and
trust you fully, my dear Sister Carr. I think of you as a lovely
Christian woman, incapable of consciously doing an unjust thing."
L. B. Wilkes, from Stockton, Cal., to Mrs. Carr: "I am better--nearly
well. Still, if you were here to rub my head, I believe it would hurt me
pretty often yet. You are in earnest--you would like to come to
California--and will, if I can find a place for you and the doctor"
(meaning Mr. Carr, of course.) "The school business is overdone among
our folks. We have three colleges, all mixed schools, and pretty badly
mixed. Just come to our house and stay till you find a place, let that
be long or short. I don't know how to write a letter, so leave the
gossipy part to my wife, she is good at it. I will start the doctor a
paper in which I have a small piece on the organ." (For in those days
one could write about the organ, when all other subjects failed.)
To which letter, Mrs. Wilkes adds a postscript--"He says I am good at
gossip; I deny the charge. He would have you both come on here; but
selfish as I am, I cannot insist on your coming, for fear you might not
like the place."
In 1884 O. A. Carr was appointed State Evangelist for Missouri, and the
following notes are taken from his letters to Mrs. Carr. The names of
places are generally omitted:
"March 3. We are poorly represented here. The people don't seem to
believe the Bible. A woman, though, has been taking the rag off the
bush. It is said she can out preach a man--goodness! my wife could beat
nine-tenths of the preachers, but I'm glad she's a woman who wouldn't
preach publicly before a promiscuous audience. There is a gloomy
prospect here. Ignorance--you never saw the like. At Trenton I tried to
raise money to seat the meeting house at ----, but they said, 'That is in
the midst of a good agricultural district--why don't they build their
own church?' They don't know that infidelity stalks abroad in daylight
there, and that infidelity does not build meeting houses or anything
else that is good. I have been talking to an old brother with his
wife--mine host--on missionary work, trying to show that I am in as
legitimate a business as the editor of the _Review_ when he publishes a
paper. The woman yielded at last--said at least there is no harm in it.
Good! My desire is to meet some more of such people, and convert them. I
believe I can do it! I will have a heft at it here, I think. Some good
old men have tried to preach and farm, and have not done either very
well, I presume. It will be difficult to persuade these people to give
$200 for once-a-month preaching, when they have been giving about five
dollars. I have not done a thing on the Biography of President Rogers,
nor do I see how I can at this rate. I have a bad cold. The door is
warped and won't close, and last night the wind whipped around into the
bed, and everywhere. I've got the stove between me and that crack in the
door now, and some of the atmosphere will have to get warmed, before it
reaches me. Brother A. B. Jones says I'd better stay at ---- and work it
up; but there's nothing to work up, and the only chance I see is to get
that place joined on to the congregation here.
"March 6. I've tried to introduce the envelope system of contribution in
the church here (Gallatin) and have run myself down today; from house to
house. I am in a cold room, writing after speaking tonight at the
Christian convention. I enclose $25 for you to forward to father, Wm.
Carr, Maysville, Ky. Brother S. P. Richardson says, 'Give my love to
Mrs. Carr.' He says he was in your class at the University, and thinks a
great deal of you. He says he had a good time in your class. He was a
law student. Will Sister Rogers be satisfied with delay of the Biography
till fall? How I do wish I had the material for a complete biography. I
don't like to blame anybody, but I have tried faithfully to collect it.
I do not like to think of anything incomplete in connection with that
grand, good man.
"March 9. Thank you for that nice letter; there was great encouragement
in it. A vision of you comes before me--it is a charming picture. You
say you are anxious that I should succeed. But in my case, what is
success? If adding members to the churches is a success, I have failed
already. I have been setting churches in order, and teaching the
brethren. Here at Gallatin, we meet in a hall. There is no house, and
the members are poor. From Trenton I go to Breckenridge, or Grant City.
Brother Floyd of the _Christian Herald_, of Oregon asks me for a
Missouri sub-editor. I have recommended you to him. I have written my
notes for the _Christian Standard_ and _Christian-Evangelist_. I will
watch for your article and see if it sounds like I wrote it. That was a
big joke! Did _I_ know what you could say about John Stuart Mill and the
C. W. B. M.? I don't suppose Mill ever heard of such a thing as the C.
W. B. M., and I don't know how you thought of both names at once. I wish
you would write a dozen articles for our church papers--divide them
around. Write on Women's Work, for the _Quarterly_.
"April 15. I rode twelve miles horseback for your letter, which
heightened the joy of receiving it. I am utterly discouraged about that
Biography of Brother Rogers. I cannot find time and quiet to write. For
instance, I walked nearly two miles to church, then two more to reach a
place to stay all night--where I had to sit up, and be sociable till I
was worn out. The people are generous here, and I think, religious. The
church is ajar, and I am expected to set it in order. It is rather
discouraging for me to have to do the hard work, then leave to set
another church in order, while some one else follows me up, and holds
the meetings and gets the additions. I am here, trying to get the
members to act decently toward one another. It will take a week to warm
them up, and then I will have to leave.
"April 19. It rained so much last night, I could not get to meeting, and
I am compelled to stay in doors. Mine host is a good man. He and wife
and six children are all crowded together in two rooms, and we have
confusion worse confounded. I have to cross a swampy valley to and from
church (distance two miles) and a muddy, snaky river that is to be
despised. Our toilette arrangements consists of a washpan outside the
house. It will take a week to get the Christians to be friends with each
other. I heat up in church and cool off walking home, and cough at
night. Between coughs, I think of you, wondering if you are wearing
yourself out with toil and anxiety. Learn to take life more leisurely!
My idea is for you to become author--write a book or two, if you please,
and contribute to the journals. Our papers need your talent. Please
forward the enclosed $25 to mother."
From J. W. McGarvey, Lexington, Kentucky, to Mrs. Carr, April 29, '84:
"Brother Patterson is to continue at Hamilton College at least one more
year. He is making money out of the school at a very handsome rate; but
the fact that he is building a fine dwelling on the place he bought from
Brother Lard's estate, indicates that he will not remain much longer
than a year. When the time comes, you may rest assured that I will
present your claims and merits before the Board, in all their
attractiveness. I have no doubt you could make a success of it. I am
sorry I cannot accept Brother J. A. Lord's invitation to lecture on
'Bible Colleges' at Columbia."
The following of July 15th, shows Mrs. Carr working in a fresh
field--the Women's Christian Temperance Union: "As Corresponding
Secretary of the Columbia Union, I send you the following resolutions,
which were unanimously adopted at the last session of the Union: * * *
Be it resolved that we as an individual Union protest against the
resolution passed at the Sedalia Convention, namely, 'That the White
Ribbon hosts of Missouri work for woman suffrage.' The woman suffrage
attachment will necessarily complicate the nature of our plea. An
organization already exists entitled, 'The Woman Suffrage Association',
whose exclusive purpose is woman's suffrage. Many of our friends, and
many in our own ranks, oppose the plea of woman's suffrage, as a part of
our plea for temperance."
Mrs. Carr writes to Mr. Carr concerning a church quarrel which he is
striving to quell--judging from her letter his efforts at warming up the
members has taken an unfortunate direction. The letter is interesting as
showing Mrs. Carr's wisdom in such delicate affairs: "I cannot tell you
how deeply I deplore this church difficulty. Deal with the matter very
gently. Don't write sharply to any one, for if you do, you will be
misrepresenting yourself, and injure the work. Let the matter readjust
itself. I advise you to so arrange your work as not to be present at the
county meeting. Your presence at this juncture might do harm to you and
to the Cause. Stay away, and write them a good, fatherly letter, to be
read before the convention. I'm sure, intuitively, that this will be
best. Your success is the burden of my prayers. After a few more years I
hope we shall be more together; we shall see each other every day."
Robt. Graham to Mrs. Carr, from Lexington, July 9: "Your letter was duly
received, and I immediately set to work to see what could be done to get
you into the Midway Orphan School. I handed your letter to Brother
McGarvey, and he agreed with me that there is little likelihood of the
trustees placing the management under the control of a lady. I consulted
members of the executive committee, and find they are resolved upon a
man. It is very difficult to find the right one. Keith of California
refused at once; Bartholomew of Louisville has a better position, etc.
It is suggested that you buy the now vacant school at North Middleton,
Bourbon County, and while I could not advise you to such a step, I
mention it, that you may know of that opening. I see that Corinth
Academy is for sale, but I don't suppose you would want to put your
means there. Brother Patterson holds on for another year at Hamilton
College. I can easily understand why you seek to be engaged in a school
where you could work for the Cause we love; were it in my power, I would
soon have you in a position more congenial to your tastes. As it is,
you must be content to labor and to wait, till God opens up the way. I
write this, knowing you have a position of great honor and emolument,
one that many would gladly obtain; but I know your desire, and
sympathize with it."
More notes from Mr. Carr, as State Evangelist, to Mrs. Carr--July 18:
"Letters forwarded. You don't miss me any more than I do you. I am going
to hold some meetings during pleasant weather. I have very few additions
to report. I have spent most of my time trying to set up torn-down
churches. As to Vice President of the C. W. B. M., I don't object for
that honor to be thrust upon my wife. I think it very complimentary; get
up the program, and preside at Kansas City. How about that Biography? If
_you_ could work on that, we would get it out. You ought to write much
for the Brotherhood. Women can do that work, and not trespass on I Cor.
14:34-35. Drive out to church and hear Brother Powell, Sunday. Don't
forget to fix up the genealogy of the Rogers family. Don't try to drive
that horse by yourself. While you are resting, select the essays to be
added to the second part of the Biography. Don't work hard, just lounge
around, for this is your vacation, you know.
"August 6. While at Savannah I received some letters forwarded by you to
'_Sullivan_.' How they came to Savannah, marked thus, I don't know, I
suppose there is no such postoffice as Sullivan, and they might as well
come here as anywhere. Halt!--I had to go out to preach my ten o'clock
sermon. I am preaching day and night. It's a hard row to hoe. The church
is in a deplorable condition, and of course nobody will 'join.' But I am
expected to stay up here, and keep digging. Brother J. H. Duncan asked
me to help make out the C. W. B. M. program for the State meeting. Isn't
he impudent? I told him you are president, and will manage it; but I
helped him on the _male_ part.
"November 27. This is Thanksgiving Day, and I am to eat at a hall--a
dinner by the Methodists. I'm a good hand to eat for the benefit of a
church. I hear they're going to have ice cream. Well, I can't help it. I
must go. You will have to be thankful without me; I'll be as thankful as
I can. We are to have a Thanksgiving sermon by a North Methodist
preacher, and coming so soon after Cleveland's election, it is
anticipated he will give us a gloomy kind of thanks. He will doubtless
feel somewhat as Dr. Pinkerton did, when he told his wife he had nothing
to be thankful for because there was no butter. Our meeting drags. I had
to get this part of the county fixed up and friendly. There is a good
prospect now. Received account from Brother D. O. Smart. Sorry I could
not be with you and the young ladies and gentlemen at 'Narrow Gauge'
today."
From the Missionary _Tidings_, September, 1884: "Mrs. O. A. Carr of
Columbia has been appointed vice-president of the C. W. B. M. of
Missouri, to succeed Mrs. J. W. Morris, who was compelled to resign on
account of ill health." The reader is referred to past files of the
_Tidings_ for a full account of Mrs. Carr's labors as organizer,
platform manager, speaker, and her committee work in the C. W. B. M. She
was vice president in 1884, 1885, 1886, after which she became a State
manager. During her first vice-presidency, the managers were Mmes.
Hedges, A. B. Jones, J. H. Garrison, J. W. Monser, Dr. Petitt, T. E.
Baskett, T. D. Strong, E. C. Browning, Kirk Baxter, Wm. Pruitt; during
each of her terms, the secretary was Miss M. Lou Payne. In 1887 she was
succeeded by Mrs. J. K. Rogers.
On the 20th of March, 1885, the St. Louis publisher, John Burns, writes
to O. A. Carr: "Last Friday I went to Columbia and had a pleasant
interview with Sister Rogers about publishing her book. We agreed that
the matter should be delayed no longer. The MS. should be in my hands
with the least possible delay. It should be in type by the first of May,
and the books ready by June 1st. As you are so constantly engaged away
from home as our State Evangelist, it is thought best for Brother
Mountjoy to read the proof. As to compensation for labors, Sister Rogers
stated that she is anxious for you to be satisfied. I have agreed to
bring out the work in first-class style. There is to be a steel
engraving of Brother Rogers, and a wood cut of Christian College. The
work will be in two bindings, one to be full Turkey Morocco, gilt. The
John Burns Publishing Company will have entire control of the work, and
have agreed to push the sale to the best of their ability. I expected to
meet Mrs. Carr, to discuss the matter with her, but could not delay my
stay in Columbia."
At the foot of the foregoing, Mr. Carr writes a hurried note to his
wife, on enclosing her the letter: "I wrote Brother Burns that I would
rather trust you to read the proof than anybody. I am afraid I cannot
get the work done, even next month. I have to settle a church here."
While churches are thus wrangling among themselves, and sinners are
standing aloof, taking notes on the War of the Christians, and the
Biography is apparently fated never to get itself into type, Mrs. Maria
Jameson, national president of the C. W. B. M., writes to Mrs. Carr: "I
read your letter to the Board, and there was a unanimous expression of
gratification at its contents. You are one of the women among us who can
make public addresses. Now, if you are willing, we will utilize this
talent. Public lectures, properly advertised, designed to attract
attention to missionary work, particularly to the work of our women,
might do great good. Of course, you will have to use judgment in
selecting the places for the addresses. No provision has been made for
an outlay of money in this matter, as we can ill afford to divert a
dollar from regular work. I believe, as a public speaker, you will
spread the name, and strengthen the influence, of the Christian Woman's
Board of Missions."
W. B. Johnson of the Christian Publishing Company, St. Louis, to Mrs.
Carr: "Your C. W. B. M. notes will appear in next week's paper; and I
will also speak of the University, and of your work there."
M. B. Mason, Principal Meadville Public Schools, to Mrs. Carr: "We
intend to celebrate Whittier's birthday with suitable entertainment.
Will you please send some suggestions regarding arrangements, program,
etc?"
Mrs. Maria Jameson to Mrs. Carr, November 1: "Ever since our parting, I
have purposed writing to express the pleasure given me by an increased
acquaintance with you. During our recent convention, I learned to feel
constantly that I had an able ally, quick to see what was needed in an
emergency, and able to act intelligently and promptly. I wish you would
write occasionally to me during the year; so many new sides of things
are evolved by talking them over. My daughter and son-in-law are back
from their trip abroad, and, of course, I have not had time for much,
besides talking to them; but in a short time my thoughts will be turned
to our work. With the help and blessing of God, I will do everything in
my power this year for its development. Let 'For Christ's sake' be our
motto, and in his blessed name we shall do many wonderful things. Pray
always with me, and for me, my dear sister, that we may prove faithful
until the end."
Enough has been said about Mr. Carr's work as State Evangelist--his work
of several years,--to suggest the arduous nature of that labor. Passing
by any further details, we turn for a moment to the Biography, which
did, after all, find its way into cloth and Morocco, in 1885, under the
title, "Memorial of J. K. Rogers and History of Christian College."
The book is divided into three parts: the first, of about 200 pages, is
devoted to the Life, Letters and Addresses of J. K. Rogers; the second,
of some 30 pages, is called "History of Christian College"; while the
third of about 100 pages, bears the title--"Some Essays and Poems of
Pupils of Christian College, Edited by Mrs. O. A. Carr, Principal of the
Ladies Department of the University of the State of Missouri."
This Part Third of the Memorial, is the only work left by Mrs. Carr, in
book form. As we have seen, she undertook the editorship of the
collection of essays and poems of the Alumnae, at the request of her
husband, in order to hasten the publication of the book.
Joseph Kirtley Rogers was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1828.
When he was two years of age, his parents left Lexington on a thirty
days' journey to the wild and Indian-infested West, pitching their tent
finally about twelve miles west of Palmyra, Missouri. Here they lived in
their log cabin. "Game was abundant," says the Memorial; "panthers
screamed, wolves howled; bears roamed the thick woods; deer were a
common sight, and wild turkeys hovered in the tree tops." It was near
the birthplace and boyhood scenes of Mark Twain, and the author of "Tom
Sawyer" had no need to go outside of Marion County to find the original
of his "Colonel Mulberry Sellers."
When William Muldrow with others, borrowed $20,000 to establish "a great
college"--Marion College--on the western prairie, purchasing therewith
4,969 acres, and confidently expecting a future hay crop to reimburse
the teachers, he fathered a scheme that the "colonel" might have
joyfully laid out with his toothpick upon his tablecloth. To this
college Rogers went,--until it died; then he attended the University at
Columbia.
Christian College was the first institution for the collegiate education
of Protestant women to receive a charter from the Legislature of
Missouri. The enterprise was largely due to the work of D. P. Henderson,
minister of the Christian Church at Columbia, and Dr. Samuel Hatch and
Prof. Henry H. White of Bacon College, Harrodsburg, Ky. When Jas.
Shannon of Bacon College, was elected to the presidency of Missouri
University, he recommended a former pupil for the presidency of the
contemplated college. This pupil, John Augustus Williams, held the
position from the opening of Christian College until 1856, when he
resigned to establish Daughters College at Harrodsburg. It is an odd
coincidence that Williams should have gone from Columbia to Harrodsburg
in time to shape the educational life and ideals of Mrs. Carr, and that
Mrs. Carr should, in the course of years, have come from Harrodsburg to
Columbia, to act as associate principal in the college inaugurated by
her favorite teacher.
John Augustus Williams was succeeded at Christian College by L. B.
Wilkes. During the latter's administration, J. K. Rogers from Marion
County, Mo., acted as instructor; at the close of President Wilkes'
second year, Rogers became the third president of the institution; a
position which he occupied for nearly twenty years, and which only a
fatal disease compelled him to relinquish. During his administration
there were 174 graduates, and it was the difficulty of hearing from so
many, that delayed the Memorial.
George S. Bryant was the fourth president,--from 1877 to 1884. His
successor, W. A. Oldham, had scarcely finished his first year, when the
Memorial was published. The book is true to its title; it is rather a
Memorial than a biography, the work of a friend, who prefers to quote
such men as G. W. Longan, J. W. McGarvey, etc., rather than to
substitute words of his own.
And if the life of a minister who, for twenty years, occupies the same
chair in a school of learning, lacks the variety which gives to
biography an interest to the general reader, still less can the history
of that school be offered as a work of entertainment. Something more may
be said for the part edited by Mrs. Carr. Whatever lack of merit her
collection of essays and poems reveals, may be charged to the paucity
and immaturity of the material in her hands. It is fair to conclude that
she gave us the best that the alumnae gave her; and the impression that
most of it might just as well not have been preserved, is dissipated
when we are told that President Rogers was anxious to have the writings
of his girls published as his memorial, even if no word be said about
himself. Viewed, then, not as literature, but as the fruits of his
instruction, these writings, breathing the deepest piety, and revealing
both learning and grace, hold their fitting place in the memorial to the
Christian teacher.
But it is because this Part Third reveals the mind of her who edits it,
that it is of moment to our biography. In the first chapter she gives us
an indication of what she regards as of the utmost value in a woman's
life:
"In looking over the scores of letters I have received from the Alumnae
of Christian College, I find that I have written on the envelopes of
about nine out of ten, the word, _Christian_; on two out of ten, the
word, _teacher_; and on each without exception, the golden word,
_home-worker_. In this statistical catalogue of three words, is found
the grandest record of Christian College. That the life-work of its
Alumnae has been chiefly confined to the church, and the school-room,
and the home, is its honor and renown."
Mrs. Carr thus sues for toleration of "a wrong spirit" manifested in an
essay on the "South." "Though the author evinces a little bitterness, we
should forgive her. She wrote at the close of our sad civil war. When
she writes vigorously and touchingly of 'A Washington, a Jefferson, a
Calhoun, a Clay, a Breckenridge, a Benton,' when she proudly says,
'Behold on Virginia's consecrated ground, noble Bethany College, and
Virginia's magnificent University,' when she turns lovingly to 'Kentucky
University, one of the proudest in the Union,' and when, in the full
bound of her loyalty she clasps to her heart her 'own Missouri
University,'--then indeed we forgive, and our heart rejoices with hers
in a common love."
Mrs. Carr thus introduces her third chapter: "If no George Eliot was
found in the previous chapter, so no Elizabeth Barrett Browning will be
found in this. If the reader be generous, he will find some very sweet
poetic thought expressed in verse; but he will feel no deep stirrings of
an angelic genius, that looks through Casa Guida window up to the very
gates of heaven. He will find only the rhythmical outpourings of
ambitious girlish hearts; and if he laugh at their imperfections, he
will only prove that his heart is old--" Reader, let us not delve into
these ambitious poems, lest we laugh and prove ourselves no longer
young. Let us come away, after noting this comment on a poem entitled
'Longfellow.'
"Having once met him in his poet-home," says Mrs. Carr, "having felt the
warm pressure of his hand, heard the low music of his voice, looked into
the clear depth of his poetic eye--having felt, in short, the
benediction of his presence, I find in the following simple dirge, a
peculiar charm. That the modest author so tenderly loved her nation's
poet, whose song like his own flower-de-luce, shall 'make forever the
world more fair and sweet,' evinces both a refined taste, and a cultured
heart."
Gone, now, that good white poet, to mingle in the poesy of the past; and
vanished is she who felt the warm pressure of his hand, and looked into
the clear depth of his poetic eye. But the world is here as when they
trod it beneath its daily sun; and here are you and I. Happy are we, if
we find the world more fair and sweet because of those who have
breathed their influence upon it.
So we lay aside this Memorial, the joint work of Mr. and Mrs. Carr, the
only book they ever produced, and go on with the story of their lives--a
story full of incessant work, its routine broken by some such adventures
as is suggested by the following from Anthony Haynes to Mrs. Carr: "You
are invited to read a paper before the State Teachers' Association which
meets at Sweet Springs, March 22-24, 1886. Your cabinet is just the
thing we wish to see at the Display--bring it."
From Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, June 6th--showing that Mrs. Carr has her
eyes unalterably set upon the future: "There is no advertisement of
phonography in the _Cincinnati Enquirer_ or the _Courier-Journal_. So
you have learned the shorthand alphabet! Well, I am sure it will require
a great deal of practice to report verbatim. I do want you to take a
rest this summer, whether you learn phonography or not. The truth is,
you ought to be resting now."
But the report of the Fourth Annual Convention of the Women's Christian
Temperance Union shows that Mrs. Carr was doing anything but resting.
The "Irrepressible Conflict" of this year, shows her laboring sturdily
for temperance. Further letters show her struggling at spare moments
with shorthand. What will she do with _that_? This from Mrs. S. E.
Shortridge of the C. W. B. M., suggests a new activity:
"Sister Jameson was very much pleased with the card of flowers you sent
her. She is very greatly improved--able to see and enjoy her friends. We
had a most delightful conference with her last Sunday afternoon. Brother
Azbill, Dr. and Mrs. Pearre, A. M. Atkinson and wife were there, besides
the member of the board, and others. Mrs. Jameson is still confined to
her bed. She sends her love and says she will write very soon. Perhaps
you can get your leaflet printed at Kansas City. The C. W. B. M. will
highly appreciate your kindness in the preparation of a leaflet, in the
midst of your various duties and obligations. There is a growing demand
for such information. I am anxiously awaiting its appearance."
In the same year, O. A. Carr attended a meeting of the Alumni of
Kentucky University, and in a public address, thus referred to his own
graduating class: "The class of 1867 has never appeared on this rostrum
since commencement day nineteen years ago. We were three then; we are
two now. We were called the Trio. For nigh six years of student life we
were boon companions. We shared our mutual joys, our mutual burdens
bore, in a most intimate friendship. We planned our future so that our
paths might often cross each other, but duty called us to labor in
fields as far apart as Colorado, California, Australia. When James C.
Keith, President of Pierce Christian College, California, and I were
corresponding, concerning this meeting of today, our hearts cried out
for the absent one--the noble, generous, gifted, brilliant valedictorian
of our class. In the hearts of those who knew him, there arises, as a
sweet fragrance, the memory of Albert Myles."
Not long after the delivery of this tribute, Mrs. O. A. Burgess wrote to
Mrs. Carr: "I was in Indianapolis a few weeks ago, and found our dear
Sister Jameson better than I hoped. I had a delightful visit with her.
She realizes that she is soon to leave us, but is as bright and cheerful
as she ever was in her life, and her interest in the C. W. B. M. is
unabated. Allow me to congratulate you on the rapid growth of the C. W.
B. M. in Missouri. You certainly must have efficient workers. Your
article on 'How to Organize an Auxiliary' will meet a long felt need."
November 27, 1886, Mrs. Shortridge wrote: "Am sending you our amended
Constitution and the December _Tidings_. In the list of Missouri
officers you will notice your name as a manager. I hope you will
approve. The relation between yourself as Vice President, and the
Executive Committee, has been so pleasant and congenial, that we are
unwilling to sever it altogether. We need your help, and will be
grateful at any time for suggestions. Your leaflet, you so kindly
prepared, has been most useful to me in answering the question, How to
Organize; and it has been a means of encouragement to a great many timid
sisters. Indeed, my dear sister, when I think how promptly you have
responded to my requests for help, how your loving words of appreciation
have lifted me up when almost discouraged and ready to give up the
struggle,--the tears come to my eyes, and I ask God to bless you
abundantly."
The leaflet referred to, is by Mrs. Carr, as President of the Missouri
State Board, and is addressed to "The 39,000 Missouri Sisters who wear
the badge of the C. W. B. M." It is an eloquent and logical presentation
of the value of organization.
From Mrs. Maria Jameson, came the following, October 4, 1886: "Your
loving message with the pretty card was received with heartfelt thanks
to God, who has given me the love of so many warm hearts. Surely in this
regard, never was woman more blessed. With humble heart I accept it as
one of the ways the kind Father 'is making his grace sufficient for me.'
Of course, I am thinking much of the Kansas City convention. You and I
have begun an acquaintance so pleasant--you enter so readily and
heartily into my views and plans--so ready to render me judicious and
active assistance, that I looked forward with increased pleasure to the
labor of coming years. But 'man proposes and God disposes.' I almost
dare think that He wished to give me a special lesson of the absolute
dependence of all my plans upon His sovereign will. When I knew beyond a
doubt that I could not be present, the question rose, Who will occupy
the vacant chair? One day it flashed across my mind that now we had the
opportunity of making a graceful public testimonial of our respect to
the woman whom the C. W. B. M. delights to honor--Mrs. Pearre, who is
this year, for almost the first time, free from school duties. You, as
Vice President, will open the convention's sessions with the usual
exercises. Mrs. Pearre's name will be received by acclamation, and you
will conduct her to the chair, and give her all the help and
encouragement you would have given me, staying beside her, informing her
and supporting her according to requirement. What shall I say of myself?
I have through all my life received wondrous good from God; shall I not
patiently receive evil, also? Pray earnestly for me, that I may
cheerfully yes, joyfully, submit to His will."
In 1887, O. A. Carr went to Arkansas to look about for a promising
field, where he might labor in the ministry, and his wife, in her own
chosen profession. He writes from Fort Smith: "I lectured last night to
a moderate audience. We have a neat little frame church here. The
preacher has been re-elected; 22 for, 12 against. I am sorry for him;
but he is going to stick to them. He is a pleasant man, and very kind.
They are remarkably hospitable here. I send you a little bouquet from
the front yard. Think of violets and roses, a month ahead of the
Missouri bloom! You will recognize the two large leaves; they are maple!
It is now about as warm as a June day at home. I don't believe you could
have any success here during the summer, in teaching elocution and
phonography; for I am told that the people take holiday during the
summer months, and take it very extensively--even the laboring men,
because they are afraid to work much. People are dropping in here
quietly, buying, and slipping out. There will probably be a rise in
property after the bridge is built into the Indian Territory. Work is
begun on a U. S. court room and new post office. There is tied up in
this nosegay a great deal of love for my wife. I go to Alma tomorrow."
(So _now_ we begin to understand what that short hand meant! There are
to be no more vacations, it seems.)
April 13th, Mr. Carr wrote from Fayetteville, Arkansas: "Brother Ragland
tries to convince me that we ought to come here, and establish a Young
Ladies' College, in connection with the University--but young ladies
attend the University. He says our church has no school in Arkansas, and
Fayetteville is the educational center, etc. Brother Robt. Graham
started a college here in 1858 and continued it successfully until the
war broke it up in 1862. His college building was burned. He had five
acres, most beautiful site. His residence is standing yet. I attended
the opening exercises at the University. Some of the professors
remembered you; they heard your lecture at Sweet Springs. The University
is upon a hill and is imposing. I could not make an arrangement for a
meeting at Fort Smith, because it is cotton-planting time, and the
people are very busy. After preaching at Alma two days (and receiving
$6) I came here. I will stop at Springfield, Mo., tonight, and may
remain over Sunday, as I am told they have no preacher. I have seen
several young ladies and talked up Christian College, distributed
catalogues, etc., but they object that Columbia is too far away."
Mr. Carr, from Springfield, Mo., May 13th, showing that Springfield is
beginning to enter largely into his life; "I preached last night on
'Quench not the Spirit,' and ended the Ash Grove meeting. The sale of
the college is postponed sixty days. Sister Bander said my sermon was
much needed. There now! she is a judge. They want you to send some of
your tracts on 'How to Organize an Auxiliary' here, to Springfield."
Mr. Carr from Paris, Ky., June 9th: "I received your good letter, and
was reading it in Morrison Chapel, as I sat beside Alex. Milligan. He
saw the flowers enclosed, and said, 'I thought you were over that!' I
told him that was an old bachelor's idea of the matter--just as though
true love would ever get over it! I told Brother McGarvey what was in
your letter. It is all right; but Brother Graham asked at first, if it
was wise for you to give up your work at the University. When I see you,
I'll tell you about Hamilton College. I am here over night with Minnie
Fox. John is home from New York on a visit. We talked so late last night
that I could scarcely get up this morning! Saw Brother Grubbs at
Lexington. Monday I take the boat for Cincinnati, and expect to be in
St. Louis at the Union Depot, Tuesday morning next. I had a fine sleep
on the _St. Lawrence_, and didn't wake up till the boat whistled for
Maysville. I hurried up and found mother busy skimming milk. She can not
walk far; her ankle seems to be ossifying. She is all the while anxious
about the children for whom she has worn out her strength. If I had not
engaged at Springfield, I might have gone to Mt. Sterling or Louisville.
I don't know but what Springfield is as good a place for regular
employment as the other places. The idea is to be content, and do the
work well. I want you to have a year's good rest. Now is your time to
rest. Get the good out of old Jeff. Make him flutter around. I think he
had better be sold to some one in Columbia where he is known. Minnie Fox
is a fine girl. She says she would love to be with you in Springfield.
John is home now for vacation, but is going to the coal mines in
Southern Kentucky" (where his fancy is one day to follow the trail of
the Lonesome Pine, and discover a little shepherd herding the sheep in
"Kingdom Come.") "He says he would like to be one of the Assistants at
the University. I told him you are going to rest, and he wants to know
whether there would be a chance for him to get in. He could bring
testimonials--his Harvard diploma would be something. If you think well
of it, you could present his name. He took the honors at Harvard, and
has been tutoring in New York ever since. He is a teacher by education
and by nature. Do as you think best about it."
From the foregoing it is clear that Mrs. Carr has definitely decided to
relinquish her post of service at the University of Missouri. That she
needed rest, there can be no doubt. That she needed undivided time in
which to mature plans for her future college, against the day of
opportunity, is equally certain. At Springfield, Missouri, Mr. Carr
entered upon a three year's service. As soon as Mrs. Carr could sever
her connections with the University, she joined him.
Her work for the C. W. B. M. still continued. We find her delivering
addresses, arranging programs, and lecturing. Mrs. Jameson, Mrs. Pearre,
Mrs. Shortridge, etc., continue to write her for wise counsel, in grave
times of anxious consideration--for instance, when the Constitution was
altered, when plans were on foot to make the _Tidings_ a stronger
magazine, etc. When Mrs. Carr ceased to hold an official position under
the C. W. B. M. the appeals to her for advice and help came just as
frequently as when she was President of the State Board.
Her work in the W. C. T. U. was also unabated, and during 1888, she took
an active part in the prohibition candidacy of John A. Brooks for the
governorship. A letter from E. C. Browning requests Mrs. Carr to do the
C. W. B. M. work of Mrs. Browning, whom ill-health prevents from
performing her duties as manager in Southern Missouri. She is also
engaged in lecturing on her tour of the world, taking opportunity as she
goes from city to city, to investigate the prospects for a new college.
In the _Nevada Daily Democrat_ of October 11th, we find this estimate of
Mrs. Carr as a public lecturer: "The lady reads her lecture from
manuscript, and has a very plain, clear voice which can be distinctly
heard all over the room. Her diction is fine. She is, indeed, a pleasant
reader, almost perfect in her pronunciation and emphasis."