“Father's action against slavery seemed to have two roots—one, that slaveholding was a sin and should be immediately abandoned; the other, that the slave was a man for whom Christ, our Lord, died. I remember when I was a boy, a poor negro, illy clad, came to our house in Winfield. I was deeply struck with the respect, even tenderness, with which father treated him; as if he looked on him as the representative of the down-trodden race."
Brother Lewis was not old enough then to be allowed to attend the evening meetings, especially when a disturbance was feared, but he remembers hearing father say, on returning from an anti-slavery lecture, that hymn-books were hurled at the speaker from the gallery. The next day he shared the persecution, in a small way, in common with older Abolitionists. He was mobbed by the schoolboys and pelted with snowballs.
Father was very happy in his charge in Winfield. His third service there on the Sabbath was a Bible class, which he conducted himself. This he often referred to in after years with a good deal of interest. That the attachment was mutual and strong, we have many pleasant proofs. As stated elsewhere in this work, by Rev. Erasmus W. Jones, the beautiful memorial window, bearing father's name, in their new church, attests the constancy of their love. So also in Westernville, our parents had many warm friends, whom they always regarded with peculiar affection Nothing could have exceeded their kindness, especially at the time of the burning of our house, when, in so many ways, they showed their sympathy and readiness to help repair the loss.
