BRIEF MEMOIR OF MATILDA KNOWLES.
They walk with God whom none can shame
From trusting in His holy name;
Who looking for a glorious morn,
Shrink not before the lip of scorn.
The subject of this memoir was born in Tichon, near Ballymena, County
Antrim, in the north of Ireland, March 22, 1811. Her ancestors fled
from Scotland during the dark days of persecution, "when the minister's
home was the mountain and flood." Little can be gleaned of her early
history. Her mother died when she was six years old, leaving a sister
older than herself, and a brother, a baby eight months old. Her father
died shortly after her mother. When she was only eight years old, she
went to the corner of the house, and asked the Lord to be a father and
a mother to her. She was ultimately taken to her uncle's, at which
place she resided until she came to America.
During her stay with him, she became acquainted with a young girl, who
told her of the love of Jesus, and shortly before her death, she would
frequently say how good God was to her, in bringing her in contact with
her friend, who early told her of the life of the Saviour, and His
never-dying love. At the same place, being filled with those desires,
and having those Christian principles instilled into her heart, and not
having conveniences to study and pray in the house, she would repair to
the barn, to attend to her devotional duties, experiencing the
truthfulness of God's Word, "They that seek me early shall find me." At
this time she committed to memory the Psalms, and the Book of Proverbs,
and several passages of the New Testament.
It seems that certain influences were brought to bear upon her, for the
purpose of getting her settled in life, contrary to her own wishes; but
the party so chosen was without Christian character, and although every
inducement was offered, so far as wealth was concerned, she remembered
the injunction of the Scriptures, "Be ye not unequally yoked to
unbelievers," and like Moses, who refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter, but chose rather to suffer affliction, penury, and
loss with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a
season, she declined to enter into the proposed matrimonial connection.
And then she decided to emigrate to the United States, friendless and
alone.
In 1833--the time of the great cholera epidemic in this country--she
was left by herself, in a house where all its occupants had fled
through fear. Trusting in the God of Israel for protection, she
experienced the full force of those sublime words of King David: "He
that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under
the shadow of the Almighty. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and
under His wings shalt thou trust. Thou shalt not be afraid for the
terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the
pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that
wasteth at noon-day." On arriving in New York, she immediately
connected herself in church fellowship with the Canal Street
Presbyterian Church, under the ministry of the Rev. Dr. McCarthy, and
became a Sabbath-school teacher. Some of the first impressions made on
her mind by her pastor were continually repeated, even up to the hour
of her death.
In one address, delivered to young people, he begged them not to allow
Satan to get even his little finger in, for he generally commenced with
little sins, and by and by he would get his two fingers in, and then
his whole hand, and twist you around as he chose, instead of allowing
you to obey the commands of God.
Shortly after she landed in this country she was invited by an
acquaintance to go to Brooklyn, to church. She consented, and attended
the service; but, on her return, while stepping off the ferry-boat, she
slipped, and fell into the river, and narrowly escaped drowning. She
resolved, by God's grace, that she would never put her foot on a
ferry-boat on the Sabbath again, while she lived, which vow she kept to
the close of her life.
It was her usual custom on the street, if she heard any person using
profane language, to reprove them, by saying, "Don't dare take the name
of my Saviour in vain."
In the year 1839 she was married to Elder James Knowles, by the Rev.
Dr. McLeod, of the First Reformed Presbyterian Church, Prince's Street.
At this time she joined the above church, that she might be in full
fellowship at the same communion-table with her husband.
In her earnest endeavors to faithfully serve her Lord and Master, she
was sorely tried by a woman who lived in the same house with her. And
herein do we see the goodness of God, in imparting grace to her to
strenuously resist temptation. This woman did all in her power to lead
her astray by offering her strong drink. She would visit her frequently
after her husband had gone to his business, and bring the bottle and
glass. She determined to change her place of residence, and before her
husband returned home, she had engaged new apartments, and had her
furniture all removed. Even after her removal, the woman followed her
up, and became a tenant in the same house, and the same temptations
were renewed. She once more got up and moved out of the house, never
once yielding to the woman's persistent temptation.
In the summer of 1848 she met with a narrow escape in a burning
building. In trying to extinguish the flames, she was badly burned from
the points of her fingers up to her shoulders. In this house she
succeeded in getting some people to attend church; and at this time,
seeing some women ordained to go to India, she earnestly desired to be
in their place.
In 1860, when in her fiftieth year, she removed to the Tenth Ward, the
scene of her future labors. When her son William went to the war, she
was recommended by Mrs. Warren to Rev. Mr. Finney, who engaged her as a
Bible Reader and Visitor in the district.
In the spring of 1862, during the great fratricidal war, she started a
sewing-school in Rivington Street, which eventually merged into the
Harper and Fiske Industrial School in Ludlow Street, which met every
Saturday. Gathering together from seventy-five to one hundred children,
she taught them to sew, and endeavored to lead them to Him who said,
"Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for
of such is the kingdom of heaven."