[Illustration: _MOTHER WHEATON_]
PRISONS AND PRAYER
OR
A LABOR OF LOVE
BY
ELIZABETH R. WHEATON
Prison Evangelist
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An account of nearly Twenty-two Years of Gospel Work, seeking
the lost, in Prisons, Reformatories, Stockades, Rescue
Homes, Saloons and Dives, and on the
Streets, Railway Trains, etc.
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"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with
him." Psa. 126:6.
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"For I was an hungered and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave
me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye
clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I
was IN PRISON, and ye came unto
me."--Matthew 25: 35, 36.
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CHAS. M. KELLEY
Tabor, Iowa.
COPYRIGHT, 1906,
BY
CHAS. M. KELLEY.
DEDICATION.
To the
RAILROAD OFFICIALS who have so generously and cheerfully provided
me transportation; their EMPLOYEES, whose kindness has so many
times lightened the weariness of my journeys; the STATE and
PRISON OFFICIALS, who have heartily welcomed me and set before
me open doors; the THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS AND
OTHERS who have shown by word and deed their appreciation
of my efforts to help them to a better life; to the
many who have in any way ministered to my necessities
or offered an encouraging word by the way,
and to my SPIRITUAL CHILDREN, these pages are
cheerfully inscribed by
THE AUTHOR.
THE HARVEST TIME.
The seed I have scattered in springtime with weeping,
And watered with tears and with dews from on high,
Another may shout while the harvester's reaping,
Shall gather my grain in the sweet by and by.
CHORUS--
Over and over, yes, deeper and deeper,
My heart is pierced through with life's sorrowing cry,
But the tears of the sower and the songs of the reaper
Shall mingle together in joy by and by;
By and by, by and by, by and by, by and by,
Yes the tears of the sower and the songs of the reaper
Shall mingle together in joy by and by.
Another may reap what in springtime I've planted,
Another rejoice in the fruit of my pain,
Not knowing my tears when in summer I fainted,
While toiling, sad-hearted, in sunshine and rain.
The thorns will have choked and the summer sun blasted
The most of the seed which in springtime I've sown,
But the Lord who has watched while my weary toil lasted
Will give me a harvest for what I have done.
--W. A. SPENCER
Words and music copyright, John J. Hood, Philadelphia.
PREFACE.
DEAR READER: Over twenty years have passed since God called and
commissioned me to go to those that were bound. Within five years from
the time I entered upon the work, I had been enabled to preach the
gospel in every state and territory and had held meetings in nearly
every state-prison in the United States and in the prisons in Canada
and Mexico. My first trip to Europe was made in 1890. I have not only
held meetings in prison, but have endeavored to "preach the gospel to
every creature"--to those in authority, governors, prison and railroad
officials, and trainmen, as well as to those in churches, missions,
prisons, hospitals, alms-houses, dives, brothels, saloons and the
slums. In all places God has fulfilled His promise to be with me and
has given me evidence that my labor was not in vain in Him.
When I was made to feel that the Lord required me to write of the
victories He had wrought and of the work yet waiting to be done I was
amazed and am still, though it is more than ten years since God first
told me to write for Him. Early left an orphan, my childhood was spent
in the country where I had to walk two miles across the fields and
through deep snows in order to get to school, and my life-work has
been crippled by my lack of education. How then can I write? Yet the
command of the Lord has been upon me and the cry of the needy has rung
in my ears. Words cannot describe the cruel wrongs, the awful
injustice, the scenes of desolation and degradation that have come to
my knowledge. Much has been done, much is being done; and yet, O how
much still needs to be done, in behalf of those in prison! Wrongs
that are indescribable still cry to God for vengeance in this our own
land. Cruelties that are beyond the power of language to describe
_still exist_, and the cry of the oppressed comes up to the ear of Him
who has declared "Vengeance is mine, I will repay."
One reason I have for writing, is to show the great need of Holy Ghost
workers--those whose hearts God has touched--to carry the gospel to
those whose lives are darkened, blighted and blasted, and tell them of
a mighty deliverance from the bondage of sin, and of freedom in
Christ.
Reader, if you could see the many inside prison walls going insane,
you would not wonder that, by the grace of God, I am determined to
prosecute my work as I have never done before, to save these poor
prisoners from despair, and to do with my might what my hands find to
do.
I have kept no diary or journal and nearly all of ten years'
correspondence was destroyed at one time by fire. Hence I have written
largely from memory, and without any attempt to give an orderly and
connected account of my work. I have endeavored to put before you,
dear reader, such glimpses of the work and the field as would fairly
illustrate that which has been done and that which needs to be done.
I ask for my imperfect work your kind consideration, and trust that
you will overlook my many mistakes and pray God's blessing to rest
upon the effort; and if I can only awaken in your hearts a deeper
compassion for lost girls and fallen men and the heart-broken friends
who mourn the loss of loved ones, I shall not have written in vain.
In the selection, arrangement and preparation of manuscript, I have
been assisted by several friends who have been much interested in the
work, whose labor and patience can only be rewarded by Him whom we
serve. Among these are Brother and Sister Shaw, of Chicago, who have
so kindly given the introduction to the work, having full knowledge of
its contents and ability to judge of its merits. I will also mention
Brother and Sister Kelley, of Tabor, Iowa, who have rendered valuable
assistance.
With many prayers and tears I send this work forth, hoping it may find
a place on your book-shelf and a corner in your heart, and that you
and I, dear reader, may meet where there are no prison walls, iron
bars, nor breaking hearts. And may there be gathered there with us at
Jesus' feet many of those whom we are striving to comfort and save,
while together we crown our Savior Lord of all, and through an endless
eternity worship Him who gave His life a ransom for the lost--"because
He loved them so."
"MOTHER WHEATON."
INTRODUCTION.
This world is, to a large extent, a great prison house. Nearly all of
its inhabitants are prisoners surrounded by walls of sin and darkness.
Many are bound down by the curse of rum, others by the besetting sins
of lust, unholy temper, envy, revenge, malice, hatred, jealousy,
prejudice, pride, covetousness, or selfishness resulting from a carnal
mind. Out of the vast multitudes that are led captive by the devil at
his will, a few that have violated human law have been sentenced to
various prisons and reformatories. This book has much to say about the
men and women behind prison walls. It records the sad story of many
prisoners in a way that very few can read without being moved to tears
and that will awaken sympathy in the hardest hearts. It also tells of
the work of God among prisoners both in this and other countries. It
records some of the brightest of Christian experiences on record,
showing how many prisoners that have been slaves to worse than human
law and have lived in greater darkness than in the prison dungeon,
have been made free by being translated into the light that outshines
the noonday sun, and how they have been enabled to live noble,
Christian lives behind the bars.
We are well acquainted with the author, having known her for several
years and having had the privilege of entertaining her in our home
more or less during that time. This acquaintance has enabled us to
know something of the burden that rests upon her soul for prisoners.
She has doubtless spent more time in the work, visited more prisons
and traveled farther than any other living prison worker. She has
visited practically all of the prisons of the United States and
Canada and most of them many times, and twice she has crossed the sea.
Her mission has been a mission of loving service, with but little
financial reward. But the Master who laid this work upon her heart has
given her rich reward for all her toil and privation and suffering,
for many have been converted through her instrumentality. Some have
gone to their reward. Many others, both in and out of prison, are
living honest, useful lives.
Had this work been written only for the hasty reader who has but a few
hours at the most to give, much that it contains might better have
been omitted; but such as these can easily select from its pages that
which is most to their liking, while those who are deeply interested
in the work of soul-saving, as well as the prisoner whose spare hours
drag heavily and slowly, will here find food for study and
encouragement that will repay for many days of careful reading.
In many respects, such a work as is here represented has never been
done by any other person. For these hundreds of pages give but a few
glimpses, as it were, of the work "Mother Wheaton" has done. We have
assisted her in gleaning from the many hundreds of letters still in
her possession (though much of her correspondence was destroyed by
fire) and in arranging and preparing matter for publication. We have
listened as with eyes filled with tears she has told us of the needs
of the work, and with every day thus spent we have become more deeply
interested in the work to which her life has been given. In a memorial
service it was said of the late Bishop William Taylor: "He was not an
organizer nor an administrator; not a statesman, in the ordinary use
of those terms. He was rather a great religious pioneer. He blazed
pathways through unknown moral wilds, and left the work of
organization mainly to those who might follow after." Such, in her
field of labor, has largely been the work of Mother Wheaton.
No place has been far enough away, no stockade hard enough to reach,
no day warm enough or cold enough or stormy enough, no prison official
or stockade captain sufficiently abusive, to discourage her when she
felt that the Master bade her go forward.
With a burning love for all the sinful and all the needy, she has gone
from north to south and from east to west, seeking the lost as one
seeks for hidden treasure. Through nights of weariness and days of
toil she has sought them and loved them and wept over them, man or
woman or child, as a mother weeps over and loves her own. She has
borne their burdens and shared their sorrows--ever bringing to them
the cheering word, the testimony or inspiring song, the faithful
warning, the earnest prayer, the plain gospel message, the hearty
hand-clasp, the loving "God bless you."
We believe and pray that these pages may be greatly used of God to
reach thousands of hearts and stir up many to carry forward the work
so dear to her, when "Mother Wheaton" has crossed over to meet those
that are waiting to welcome her on the other side.
Yours, in Jesus' love,
ETTA E. SHAW.
S. B. SHAW.
Chicago, Ill., 1906.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
BIOGRAPHY AND CALL TO THE WORK.
Birth--Left an Orphan--Conversion--Marriage--Sorrow--
Sanctification--Call to Prison Work--Family Reunion--Sketch
of My Life by My Brother 23
CHAPTER II.
LETTER TO MY PRISON CHILDREN.
My Limited Education--Disappointments--A Friend in Jesus 38
CHAPTER III.
A PLEA FOR THE PRISONER.
In the Shadow of the Wall (poem)--Letters to Prison Officers--
Worth While (poem)--Prejudice--A Look into the Cell--Insane
Prisoners--All Prisoners Not Criminal--Prepared to Die 43
CHAPTER IV.
A BRIEF PEN PICTURE OF PRISON LIFE.
The Buildings--Entrance--Chapel and Dining-room--Chapel
Service--The Cell-house--Workshops--Hospital 59
CHAPTER V.
LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION AND KIND WORDS FROM GOVERNORS, PRISON
OFFICIALS, ETC.
From Governors--Prison Wardens--Chaplains 67
CHAPTER VI.
SOME OF MY PRISON BOYS.
A Prisoner's Conversion as Shown by His Letters--A Talented
Young Man--Under Death Sentence--Commuted--Finally Pardoned--
Letters--Sentenced for Life--His Letters--Faithful Inside and
Outside of Prison Walls 87
CHAPTER VII.
LETTERS FROM CO-WORKERS AND MY PRISON GIRLS.
Letters from Sister Co-workers--From My Prison-bound Girls 117
CHAPTER VIII.
INCIDENTS IN MY PRISON WORK.
Letter from the Prisoners at Chester, Ill.--Extract of Chaplain's
Report--Suicide of a Prisoner--"I Have no Friends"--Letters
from Chaplain Starr--A Way Opened in Answer to Prayer--A Letter
from a Governor--A Woman Converted and Healed--A Change
Wrought--A Chaplain in My Audience--Impressed to Tarry--
Encouragement by the Way--Cruel Neglect--Another Suicide--Just
Out of Prison--Dying in Prison--Does It Pay?--Saved and Preaching
the Gospel--In Solitary Confinement--Crape on the Door--In a
Police Station--Burned in His Cell--The Innocent in Bonds--
Confessed Her Guilt--Under Sentence of Death--"The Religion
Mother Had" 135
CHAPTER IX.
CONVERSION OF DESPERATE PRISONERS PREVENTS A TERRIBLE MUTINY.
Welcomed in Prison--An After-Service--Plan of the Mutiny--Havoc
of Sin--Letters 161
CHAPTER X.
REMARKABLE CONVERSION AND EXPERIENCE OF GEO. H. COLGROVE.
His Own Story--Infidel Literature--Burglary and Murder--Life
Sentence--Conversion--Study of the Scriptures--Bible Class
Teacher--An Enemy Kindly Treated--A Pardon Refused--Second
Effort to Secure a Pardon--Letters--Final Illness and Triumphant
Death 169
CHAPTER XI.
WORK IN STOCKADES AND PRISON CAMPS IN SOUTHERN STATES.
Race Question--Letters of Introduction and Recommendation--A
Stockade--Letter to a Governor--Reply of Prison Manager--Plea
for Women Convicts--Bloodhounds--Coal Mines--A Touching
Incident--First Meeting in a Prison Camp--Ride on Engine of
a Coal Train--First Railroad Pass--Ride on a Mule 187
CHAPTER XII.
STOCKADES AND PRISON CAMPS CONTINUED.
Novel Conveyances--Assisting a Colored Minister--Through
Danger Alone--Prostrate Among Prisoners--A Meeting at Day
Dawn--Helping to Bury a Prisoner--Wreck of a Coal Train--Sugar
Camps--Ride in a Cart--In a Gambling Saloon--Condition of
Convicts--Unjustly Condemned--Need of Reform 212
CHAPTER XIII.
WORK IN FT. MADISON, IOWA, AND SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO.
My First Effort for Service in a Prison--Kindness of Officers
and Men--Letters from Officials--Work in Santa Fe, N. Mex.--
Three Christian Men Pardoned--A Forty Years' Sentence--Kind
Words from Governor and Superintendent 241
CHAPTER XIV.
GONE HOME FROM THE SCAFFOLD.
Special Mission to Doomed Men--Indifferent but Finally
Converted--Letters--Mother's Prayers--Claimed to Be Innocent--
Hardened in Crime--Ten Men under Death Sentence--Conversion
of a Jewish Boy--Mysteriously Guided--In Long Expectation--
Sentence Commuted--A Man Deceived--Interceded for a Boy--Went to
the Scaffold Singing--A Prominent Official--Recent Cases 254
CHAPTER XV.
WORK IN CHURCHES AND MISSIONS.
Provided with Food in Answer to Prayer--A Great Revival--A
Man Saved from Suicide--Letters from Pastors and Others--Church
of the Redeemer in Baltimore--Successful Meetings--Young
Man Called to the Ministry--A Colored Woman Saved and
Preaching-- Incidents--Saved by a Hymn 294
CHAPTER XVI.
PREACHING THE GOSPEL ON RAILWAY TRAINS.
Accidental Death of My Nephew--My First Trip by Rail--Experience
of a Railroad Man--Transportation--A Kind Conductor--Interesting
Services--Train Saved from Wreck--A Train in Danger--Impressed
to Leave the Train--Helped to Care for a Wounded
Man--Conductor's "God Bless You"--A Woman's Faith Encouraged--
Riding in a Parlor Car--Favor to the Railroad Company 313
CHAPTER XVII.
STREET AND OPEN AIR.
Poem--Permits to Hold Street Meetings--From a Missionary--My
First Street Meeting--A Wonderful Conversion--Became a
Preacher--The Blind Encouraged--Forbidden to Preach on the
Street--Thought They Saw a Ghost--Hurt by a Saloonkeeper--Warned
to Leave the City--In Jail 328
RESCUE WORK.
"A Mother's Plea" (poem)--A Plea for our Sisters--Drunken
Women and Men--Assaulted in a Dive--Attempts Suicide--A Girl
Saved--A Girl Rejected at a Rescue Home--Neglected by the
Churches--Visits to Hospitals--Kind Tributes--The Prodigal
Daughter (poem) 349
CHAPTER XIX.
WORK IN CANADA AND MEXICO.
Street Meetings in Hamilton--In London, Ontario--A Girl
Rescued--In Kingston--Stoned in Quebec--Victory in Toronto--
In Victoria, B. C.--Work in Mexico--A Bull Fight--Wept with
Condemned Men--Attacked by a Fierce Dog--Ministered to a
Sufferer 365
CHAPTER XX.
ACROSS THE SEA.
On the Ocean--In a Foreign Land--Preaching in Glasgow--My
Life in Danger--A Song Stops a Row--Arrested for Singing--
Tumult in a Dive--Mob of Drunken Women--Letter from
America--In Paisley--Return to America--Second Visit to
Europe--Experiences in London--Safe Return to America--
Letter from Scotland 372
CHAPTER XXI.
TRAVEL AND TOIL.
Two Nights' Service--One Weeks' Work--A Profitable Trip--Six
Weeks' Service--Recent Work--Another Trip 395
CHAPTER XXII.
LETTERS FROM PRISONERS. 431
CHAPTER XXIII.
KIND WORDS FROM FRIENDS.
From H. L. Hastings--Mrs. H. L. Hastings--E. E. Byrum,
Author and Editor--Mother of a Prisoner--Prisoner's
Daughter--An Editor--Ex-Prisoner--Miscellaneous 477
CHAPTER XXIV.
SKETCHES FROM PRESS REPORTS. 491
CHAPTER XXV.
FURNISHED UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK.
"Who Will Man the Life Boat?" (poem)--Adaptation Needed--The
Masses Not Reached--My Boy in India--Preaching the Gospel
in the Pesthouse--How the Lord Provides--Miscellaneous
Incidents 530
CHAPTER XXVI.
SELECTIONS FROM MY SCRAPBOOK.
Author of Flower Mission Day--Flower Day at the Prison--Lines
by a Prisoner--Take This Message to My Mother--Not Lonely
Now--Jesus Is Looking On--How God Calls Missionaries Out of
Prison Cells--Outside the Prison Walls--If We Knew--Little
Graves--The Mother's Warning--Harry's Remorse--
Twenty-Thirty-Four--His Mother's Song--Perfect Peace--Sweet
Revenge--No Telephone in Heaven--A True Hero--Perfect Through
Faith--The Kid--Charged with Murder--Mother's Face--Only
Sixteen--The Dress Question 547
SONGS.
1. "Life's Railway to Heaven."
2. "Meet Me There."
3. "God Bless My Boy."
4. "The Great Judgment Morning."
5. "My Name in Mother's Prayer."
6. "Over There."
7. "This Way."
8. "She's More to Be Pitied."
9. "Some Mother's Child."
10. "Tell My Dear Old Mother."
11. "When the Death-bell Shall Toll."
12. "The End of the Way."
APPENDIX. 596
The Personnel of Prison Management. By Warden C. E. Haddox.
Meditations of a Prisoner.
Discourse on "The Agony in the Garden." By a Prisoner.
Directory of Prisons and Reformatories.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Frontispiece
Ohio State Prison 27
Family Group 34
John Ryder 34
Giving the Boys Counsel 42
With Insane Prisoners 52
Prisoners Marching 58
Prison Chapel and Dining Room 60
Corridor in Cell House 62
New Federal Prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. 66
The Old Tombs, New Tombs, New York 80
Personal Work 86
Administration Building, Mitchelville, Iowa 115
Campus and Play-ground, Girls' Industrial School, Mitchelville,
Ia. 116
A Chaplain's Residence 118
Women's Prison, Allegheny, Pa. 121
Group of Girls in an Industrial School 132
Southern Illinois State Prison at Chester 134
Interior of Chapel, Dining Apartment, and Row of Cells,
Chester, Ill. 160
Geo. H. Colgrove 169
Smelter and Work Shops, Chester, Ill. 186
Woman Convict at Work in the Field 195
Convicts Getting Out Coal 198
Prison at Santa Fe, N. Mex. 240
Church of the Redeemer, Baltimore, Md. 303
A Railroad Engine 312
Miss Josephine Cowgill 329
Mother Prindle 361
State Prison, Joliet, Ill. 394
Prison at Deer Lodge, Mont. 397
Criminal Insane Hospital, Chester, Ill. 408
Prison at Huntsville, Tex. 410
Group of Delegates at Prison Congress, 1904 414
Industrial Reform School, Hutchinson, Kan. 416
Industrial School, Whittier, Cal. 418
Prisons at Jackson, Mich., Deer Lodge, Mont., and Folsom, Cal. 430
A Ward in Prison Hospital 445
Kitchen and Dining Room 455
Drug Department in Prison Hospital 475
Mother Wheaton 490
Ruthena, India Famine Boy 535
State Prison, Anamosa, Iowa 546
"Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not the hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God."
--_Tennyson._
PRISONS AND PRAYER
OR
A LABOR OF LOVE.
CHAPTER I.
Biography and Call to the Work.
I was born May 10, 1844, in Wayne County, Ohio. My parents, John and
Mary Van Nest Ryder, were honest, hard working people, and were
earnest Christians. One year after my birth, my father died, leaving
my mother with five little children--three boys and two girls. Mother
married again and had two children. The little girl was buried the day
before mother died. My half-brother, J. P. Thompson, still lives in
Ohio. Five years after my father's death my mother followed him to the
better land, and I, with the rest, was left an orphan. Well do I
remember the night my mother died. She was so troubled about leaving
her children alone in the world, but continued long in earnest prayer
until she had the assurance that God would care for them, and then she
sang the old-time hymn,
"There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,"
and went shouting home to glory. What a lasting impression is made on
a child's heart by the life or death of a godly father or mother!
By mother's death I was almost crazed with grief and could not be
comforted. At her grave I was separated from my brothers and sister,
and went to live with a family to whom mother had given me before her
death. Some time after this, the family moving away, I went to live
with my grandparents, under whose careful religious training I
remained until married. I received little education, as my
opportunities were very limited.
From my earliest recollection I was deeply convicted of sin. This
conviction followed me until at the age of twelve years I gave my
heart to God and received the witness that I was His child. I united
with the people called Methodists and tried to walk in the light I
had, until God called me into His vineyard.
MARRIAGE.
At the age of eighteen I was married to Mr. J. A. Wheaton. We lived
happily together, but in two years I was called to give up not only my
dear husband, but also our little baby boy. They were buried in one
grave, and I was again left alone in the world. O my breaking heart! I
was in despair! I did not know then God's wonderful comforting power
as I now do. I was scarcely more than a nominal Christian, a
fashionable proud woman, moving in high society, left to face the
battle of life alone. To try to drown my sorrow I rushed deeper into
society and fashion--only to be plunged into deeper despair. What I
suffered during those years is beyond the power of tongue or pen to
describe. My anguish of heart and mind were so great that at times
reason almost tottered on its throne. And had it not been for the
goodness and mercy of God in sending me timely aid through true
Christian friends, I should never have been able to have triumphed
over it all.
Soon after I was converted, I felt the call of God to His service. I
longed to be a missionary. My heart especially went out to the
colored people and the Indians, and to the poor unfortunate ones of my
own sex. Their sufferings touched my heart, and it was this class with
which I did some of my first prison and missionary work in after
years. But in those days there was very little encouragement to a
woman to do such work. O how those who are called of God now should
appreciate their privileges!
Though hindered and discouraged, this call did not leave me. I lived
in the church for years, always doing my part in church work. I was
proud and vain, but knew no better; yet I longed to be all the Lord's.
SANCTIFICATION.
Several years after my conversion I heard of holiness or entire
consecration to God, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit for service.
After this, for about ten years, I was under conviction for a clean
heart, seeking for a while and then growing careless, receiving little
help from the formal professors around me. As I counted the cost, at
times it seemed too great. I knew it meant to give up fashionable
society, home, friends, reputation and all: and to take the way of the
lowly Nazarene. I heard at this time of a holiness meeting about forty
miles from home, which I attended. Here I heard the pure gospel
preached, and light shone upon my soul. I saw that none but the pure
in heart could see God in peace. After wrestling in prayer until about
three o'clock in the morning, I seemed held by an invisible power,
pure and holy, and was so filled with awe that I feared to speak or
move. Soon I heard a wonderful sound, soft, sweet and soothing, like
the rustle of angels' wings. Its holy influence pervaded my whole
being; a sound not of earth, but distinctly audible to both myself and
the sister who was in the same room! I listened enraptured. I feared
it was death, and my breath grew shorter and shorter. I did not move
nor open my eyes. Presently Jesus stood before me, and O the wonderful
look of love--so far above the love of mortals, so humble, meek and
pleading! In the tender voice of the Holy Spirit came these words:
"Can you give up all and follow me? Lay your weary, aching head upon
my breast. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Lo, I am with you
alway even unto the end of the world." I was enabled by the Holy
Spirit to say, "Yes, Lord Jesus." I knew it was Jesus. When I said
"Yes, Lord," the power of God fell upon me, soul and body, and I was
bathed in a sea of glory. When I had recovered from my rapture, Jesus
had vanished as silently as He came; but the blessing and power
remained. The sister whispered and asked, "Did you hear that sound?"
And then she told me that this was for my benefit. This occurred
November 11, 1883. That day the people looked at me and wondered,
seeing the great change God had wrought in me by His power. The night
following we had an all-night meeting. Again God spoke to me by His
Holy Spirit, saying, "Go and honor my Son's name, and I will go with
you." I prayed, "O Lord, if this is Thy voice, speak once more." The
same words came again. I obeyed and God did most wonderfully reveal
Himself to me. I knew I was called to His service and to work for lost
souls.
[Illustration: STATE PRISON, COLUMBUS, OHIO.]
MY CALL TO PRISON WORK.
The question is often asked me, "How did you become interested in this
work, and learn to understand the needs of the prisoner?" It was
through this call from God. None of my relatives or friends were ever
convicted of crime. When I was a young woman I attended the state fair
at Columbus, Ohio, and with a delegation visited the state-prison at
that place. While waiting for a guide to show us through the prison a
young man was brought in by an officer. I saw him searched, and later
as the heavy iron doors closed behind him with a clang, my sympathies
were aroused. While being shown through the prison I saw this young
man with his hair close cut, dressed in prisoners' garb, placed by the
side of hardened criminals. There my first interest was awakened to
try to make the burdens lighter for the prison-bound. As we were
leaving the prison I noticed some small articles which had been made
by the inmates in their spare moments. Among these I saw and was
especially impressed with a miniature statue of a prisoner dressed in
stripes, holding in one hand a ball and chain, the other hand shading
the eyes. Upon the pedestal of the statue were these words, "What
shall the harvest be?" I shall never forget the impression then made
upon my mind. It is still fresh in my memory.
Years after this, shortly after my commission to preach the gospel, as
I was traveling one night to reach an appointment, stopping at a
station in Iowa to change cars, three prisoners in handcuffs, who were
being taken to the state-prison, were brought in. My heart was moved
with deep compassion for them. Many were curiously inspecting them, as
if they thought they had no tender feelings. Approaching these men, I
gave them my hand, saying, "I am sorry for you, but God can help you
in this hour of trial," and I tried to cheer them, and told them I
would sometime visit them in the prison if I could. I did not then
know I was so soon to enter upon my mission. But the burden of those
in prison kept coming heavier upon me. I told my friends I must go and
PREACH THE GOSPEL TO PRISONERS
but they for a time thought me almost crazy. But as one of old, I
felt that "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." So I gladly obeyed
the divine call and went forward.
But I was not led into this work by any morbid sentimentalism or
enthusiasm. These would have worn off when the novelty was gone. No,
this work was given me of God, who Himself laid the burden of the
convict world upon my heart. Day and night there came up before me the
cry of despair from inside prison walls--the wail of woe from those in
dungeons whose hearts were breaking and whose minds were shattered and
whose souls were lost in despair, and the call came direct from the
mouth of the Lord, "Go and stand in the breach! Tell them of a
Savior's love--of a way of escape through the blood of Jesus Christ,
who is mighty to save and strong to deliver them from the snares of
the enemy that has sought to destroy them soul and body. Tell them
there is deliverance for the captive. Tell them there is consolation
in the gospel of Christ for those who are heart-broken and forsaken
and forgotten by all but an omnipotent God. Tell them that God lives
and rules and reigns in heaven and is able to save to the uttermost
and to comfort in their dying hours with the hope of eternal life
beyond this vale of tears."
But how could I go? The Lord Himself showed me how to go and where to
go and that I was to leave results to Him and He would give the
increase--that He would multiply the bread and fish for the hungry
multitudes--He would feed the famished souls to whom He sent me, just
as when He walked this sin-cursed earth--that He was the same
yesterday, today and forever. I saw that my life must be entirely and
forever surrendered to the Lord for His service, and that my future
was to be left entirely in the hands of the Master whose I am and
whom I serve.
Thus the call came day after day and night after night until I believe
I should have gone insane had I not then and there yielded my time and
talent, all I had or ever would have, to the service of Christ to go
just when and where He would have me go, do as He would have me do,
and trust Him for my support. I was shown that I would never come to
want. I was made to understand that these poor unfortunates in prison
were just as dear to God's heart as I was and that souls would be
required at my hands were I to fail to comply with the commission to
go and lift up the fallen and comfort the dying and relieve those
distressed in body and mind. I was made to know that there was power
in prayer and that God could save the very lowest criminal or the
worst woman on earth and by the transforming influence of the Holy
Spirit and the cleansing blood of Jesus, save, purify and sanctify and
lift them up even within the pearly gates of heaven; and that instead
of devils in human form, they could be made saints that could take up
the glad refrain unto Him that had redeemed them and washed them in
his own blood and made them kings and priests unto God.
Yes, God called me. And His name shall be exalted through all eternity
for what He has done for me and through me during all these years. His
has been the hand that fed, clothed and supported me. Never has God
failed me in this pilgrim journey and He has supplied all my needs. My
heart goes out in gratitude and thanksgiving while I write, for all He
has done for me. O, the heights and depths, lengths and breadths of
His boundless love for lost humanity! How wonderfully has He led me!
How His guiding hand, His protecting care have been over me! Amid
discouragements, disappointments and misunderstandings God has given
me victory through the blood of our precious, loving Savior; and I
know that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask
or think.
When I saw the criminal at the bar of justice, I was reminded that we
must all soon appear at the judgment bar of God. Then I saw that the
Lord wanted me to tell of a Mighty Deliverer from the sins of
intemperance, unbelief, skepticism, infidelity, covetousness,
licentiousness and hypocrisy. My eyes were opened to see that
thousands of poor helpless souls were drifting to their eternal doom
without God and without hope, and that ofttimes in their hours of most
desperate need there was no one to help, no one to point them to the
blessed Savior and to really snatch them as "brands from the burning."
Then I took courage and said, "Yes, Lord, I will go and do my best to
help save them from destruction and an eternity in hell." Since then I
have spent more than twenty years of constant toil among the masses
and have reason to declare that God has given me success beyond what I
could have thought possible.
Multitudes have been saved, representing all ranks and stations of
life. Many are today singing the songs of the redeemed with the
glorified hosts in the other world, who were counted by many to be
beyond redemption, already doomed and lost forever.
For such I have taken courage and have pleaded before the Lord His
written Word, asking for their soul's salvation; and now they are
forever with the Lord. O faithless one, is there anything too hard for
the Lord? And has He not told us "All things are possible to him that
believeth" and "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out"
and that "if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"? During these
years that I have stepped out on His promises I have proved that His
word never fails. It is faith in the living God which brings results
in the salvation of immortal souls. Never have I doubted God's power
to save the vilest person, and now I want to tell, for His glory, just
a little of what God has wrought as well as show something of what
needs to be done. Bless the Lord, O my soul, for a faith prompted of
the Spirit that will not waver--a confidence in God which takes no
denial but cries "It must be done." In answer to such a faith,
criminals of the deepest dye have been awakened and saved and women of
the worst possible character have been converted and reformed and
purified, and some have been set apart for the service of God and have
done a mighty work. Others, as we have said, have gone to swell the
grand, triumphant strain around the throne of God, where angels and
archangels unite to make all heaven resound with the praises of our
King--among those of whom it is said, "These are they which came up
through great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb." After I see the King in His beauty,
clothed in majesty and glory and power, I want to look in the faces of
those whom God has used me to help, who have come up from inside
prison walls and from haunts of sin--yea, from the scaffold
itself--those who have died in the triumphs of a living faith,
victorious over death, hell and the grave.
Since my call to the work of the Lord He has caused many homes to be
opened to me and has given me many very dear friends. Among those of
earlier years were dear Brother and Sister H. L. Hastings, of Boston,
who kindly gave me a home and cared for me in sickness and special
time of need. And in later years are those at the Missionary Training
Home at Tabor, Iowa, with whom I have made my headquarters since 1895.
I would specially mention Mrs. Hattie Worcester Kelley, who had a call
from God to assist me in prison work and traveled some with me until
her health failed; also Mrs. Georgia Worcester and her husband, and
her father, Elder Weavers, who is president of the Home; with their
faithful helpers in charge and assisting in the work, who have given
me a hearty welcome among them.
It was here I became more directly interested in foreign missionary
work. I have at different times taken with me in my prison and slum
mission work several of the missionaries now in foreign lands. Among
these are Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Worcester, now in Africa, whom I
accompanied on their way as far as London; Grace Yarrett, recently
sailed for India, and a number of others.
FAMILY REUNION AFTER A SEPARATION OF FIFTY-TWO YEARS.
The following from a paper published in Elkhart, Ind., December, 1902,
under the above heading, will explain itself:
J. M. Ryder of Indianapolis, Ind.; Emanuel Ryder of Bryan, O.;
Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton, prison evangelist, and Lida Ryder
Hoffman of this city met in a family reunion Dec. 8, after a
separation of fifty-two years, this being the first time in all
these years that the brothers and sisters, who were left orphans
in early childhood, have been together. * * * The brothers and
sisters sat for a group picture as a memento of the day, and left
for their different missions and homes, not likely to all meet
again this side of the great River.
[Illustration: J. M. RYDER, MRS. E. RYDER WHEATON, EMANUEL RYDER, MRS.
LIDA RYDER HOFFMAN.]
[Illustration: JOHN RYDER, DECEASED.]
I also give the reader a sketch written by my brother and published
in his home paper at Bryan, O., some years since.
Like Moses and the prophets of old; like Jesus and his disciples;
like Martin Luther and John Wesley, and a host of other great
lights who have been chosen at different times to be teachers and
leaders of the children of earth, so in like manner and like
purpose was Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton chosen.
Her chief mission has been to the inmates of jails and
penitentiaries, reformatories and the lowly outcasts in the
houses of perdition, among people who never find room in the
pews.
Unconnected with church or other organization, but aided by an
angel band, a Christ love, great charity, force of character that
knew not fear where duty called, she has worked for the uplifting
of the fallen.
For twenty years she has toiled and struggled in her great life
work, giving her teachings, her songs and her prayers, shedding
tears of love and sympathy for the poor souls in the bondage of
sin.
For twenty years she has traveled up and down her home land and
several foreign countries.
The world her country, to do good her religion, giving her light,
her life, wherever the most needed; never stopping, except from
sickness or exhaustion from overwork; often meeting friends on
the long and rugged road who gave her sympathy, shelter and food;
at other times the floor her couch and but little to eat--but
whether good or bad conditions, always thankful.
In her chosen work, in the past twenty years, no person has done
more good or has had so much influence in causing people to lead
better lives, to quit sinning, to get out of hell and enjoy the
happiness that follows from leading conscientious, truer lives.
Her good intentions, her words of warning and sympathy, her sweet
soul songs of love, her prayers in angelic power, have moved the
people outside of the churches in the different avocations and
walks of life as they had never been moved before, the masses
perceiving by subtle agency that here was a person deserving
love, respect and honor.
She had great influence with the employees of the different
railway companies, the good-will of the superintendents of many
of the great railway lines of the country, frequently getting
passes from New York City to San Francisco and return, a
distance of seven thousand miles, for herself and companion.
She has spoken in more reformatories, jails and penitentiaries,
and, I believe, done more good, unconnected with any
organization, than any other in the twenty years.
HER LIFE HISTORY.
It is too long a story to attempt to go into details--to tell of
her trials, hardships and sickness; to tell of her individual
successes, as well as her successes when she has swayed great
bodies of people, moving the half of them to tears, causing them
to have higher thoughts, better motives, and to bless the hour
she was among them; or of how she entered the southern stockades
alone, even when warned by the Warden that her life might be
taken, and in ten minutes had the inmates as tractable as little
children, where the officials would not enter, except in a body
and thoroughly armed; how she stood her ground when menaced by
drunken western desperadoes; or of the times she divided her
raiment and her scant purse with the destitute, and the many
times she escaped great danger by being forewarned, etc.
Bereft of both parents at the age of five years, and cared for by
cold and indifferent strangers, she misses the mother's love,
guidance, sympathy and protection.
When she started out on her mission she left a good home with all
the substantials and many of the luxuries of life, with but
little education, without money or friends, alone to travel
unbeaten paths, to do a work that no one had ever tried before;
untrained in the great work she was to follow, but impelled by a
higher Spirit force she could not resist. "Do this work. I will
be with you to the end. When great troubles come, I will be your
shield and your helper. I will warn you of great danger. I will
protect your life. You will gather many sheaves, and, when you
are through with earth, have a high place in the heavenly abode."
Whenever needed, the angel band assists her to say the right
words for the time and occasion, according to perceptions and
conceptions of the people addressed.
She is gifted with a voice that is always musical, clear and
distinct, and of such compass that it can be heard a mile, or
down to the minor notes, but always with the pathos that touches
the tender chords of the soul.
Now she is old, broken in health and strength. Soon she must lay
her weary body down, a willing sacrifice for the lowest children
of earth.
And now with this brief outline of the work, the life and the
powerful soul magic of Elizabeth Ryder Wheaton, I close.
Respectfully,
EMANUEL RYDER,
Brother of Mrs. E. R. Wheaton.