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Yours truly, 
 THOMAS W. BURTON, M. D. 
 
What Experience Has 
 Taught Me 
 
 An AitiflbuinraiJljg 
 
 OF 
 
 THOMAS WILLIAM BURTON 
 
 Doctor of Medicine, Springfield, Ohio 
 
 Cincinnati 
 
 Press of Jennings and Graham 
 
 H 
 

 ©CI.A365627 
 
Co the Memory of My Mother 
 
 Though thirty-eight years have come 
 and gone 
 Since I have seen her face, 
 And still that love I have for her, 
 There is none can fill her place. 
 
 Her prayers to God for me she sent 
 
 When I was but a youth, 
 That I may be a man of worth, 
 
 Love God, and speak the truth. 
 
 Her spirit whispers to me still 
 
 From that eternal bliss, 
 Do right, my boy, while there on earth, 
 
 So you may come to this. 
 
 —Thomas W. Burton, M. D. 
 
P r e f a c e 
 
 My knowledge of the literary world being 
 very limited, and knowing the numberless valu- 
 able productions which have been and are being 
 sent broadcast throughout the world from the 
 greatest minds, touching every phase of human 
 existence, of every clime, and on every subject 
 imaginable, make me feel abashed to offer to the 
 public this book, 
 
 "What Experience Has Taught Me;" 
 
 but as God gave me this inspiration to make an 
 effort to do something for the purpose of en- 
 couraging those who may be less fortunate than 
 myself, I shall tell my own story, and in my 
 own way, as I saw and experienced it. It shall 
 be the aim and object of this book to point out 
 things which are beneficial and practicable. 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Thomas W. Burton, M. D. 
 
 5 
 
Introduction 
 
 By way of introduction to the reading public 
 of Dr. Thomas W. Burton, the author of this 
 book, I desire to say that the effort that is made 
 a success, though it may be opposed by diffi- 
 culties, encourages many a hitherto despondent 
 one. 
 
 Encouragement is what humanity stands in 
 need of, and especially those who have not been 
 in the midst of the most favorable surroundings 
 for mental and moral development. I am sure 
 that any one reading this volume will find much 
 to inspire him to earnest and continued effort. 
 
 We have here the history of a man who, like 
 Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washing- 
 ton, has come up from obscurity and by dint of 
 hard study and honesty, and above all by being 
 a man of God, has come to honorable distinc- 
 tion. 
 
 7 
 
8 Introduction 
 
 I cheerfully present Dr. Thomas W. Bur- 
 ton for the emulation of our young men. Go 
 thou and do likewise. 
 
 John Wesley Gazaway. 
 
 August 26, 1907, 
 
 St. Paul A. M. E. Church, 
 
 Zanesville, Ohio. 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Birth and Parents, - - - 15 
 II. Boyhood at the Old Homestead, 25 
 
 III. My First Experience in Working 
 
 for Wages, - - - - -37 
 
 IV. Off for Berea College, Ky., - 47 
 
 V. Back to Refinement Again, - - 57 
 
 VI. First Negro Medical Society in 
 
 Ohio, - - 67 
 
 VII. Member of Faculty, Curry In- 
 stitute, - - - - - 83 
 
 VIII. Sent as a Delegate to National 
 
 Negro Business League, - 95 
 
 IX. As a Christian Worker, - - 111 
 
 X. People Should Think For 
 
 Themselves, - - - - 121 
 
 9 
 
Illustrations 
 
 Thomas W. Burton, M. D., - - Frontispiece ^ 
 
 The Old Log Cabin in Which Thomas was Born, - 16 
 
 The Big House Where Thomas's Owners Lived, - 20 
 
 Thomas Hauling Hay from the Meadow to the Barn, 26 
 
 Rev. John G. Fee, Founder of Berea College, Ken- 
 tucky, 1858, ----- 30 
 
 Mrs. Matilda H. Fee, - - - - 31 
 
 Thomas Off for Berea College, Ky., January 1, 1881, 48 
 
 Waco, Ky., School, Taught by Thomas, 1885-1886, 58 
 Thomas Receiving the Degree of M. D., March 24, 
 
 1892, - 60 
 
 Range of Mounds Near Newark, Ohio, - 62 
 
 Professor E. W. B. Curry, the Negro Orator and 
 
 Educator, --.---.54 
 
 Thomas Presiding Over the Ohio State Association, 68 
 
 Dr. Horace R. Hawkins, Xenia, O., Post-Graduate, 76 
 
 Thomas Reducing a Dislocated Arm, - - - 81 
 
 Thomas Removing a Fibro-Cystic Tumor, 84 
 
 Thomas Reading a Paper at Put-in-Bay, Ohio, - 86 
 
 Dr. William Chavis, - 90 
 
 Dr. Thomas W. Burton and Family, - - - 112 
 
 11 
 
12 Illustrations 
 
 Facing 
 Page 
 
 Dr. Thomas W. Burton's Residence, Springfield, O., 114 
 Dr. Thomas W. Burton Having the Connubial Knot 
 
 Tied, -------- 118 
 
 A Group of Members of the Ohio State Medical 
 
 Association, - - - - - 122 
 
 Dr. Burton Performing an Autopsy on the Largest 
 
 Woman in Springfield, - - 124 
 
Birth and Parents 
 
CHAPTER I 
 BIRTH AND PARENTS 
 
 I have been often asked by my friends why 
 I did not write a book. I felt as though I had 
 not accomplished anything for which to write 
 a book. Then I thought perhaps I might drop 
 a word of inspiration to those who may be less 
 fortunate than myself, as it is my aim always to 
 help, and not to hinder. 
 
 I was born May 4, 1860, in Madison County, 
 Kentucky, a little way from Richmond (its 
 county seat) and near the banks of Tates Creek 
 and Shallow Ford. My father and mother were 
 slaves at the time of my birth. My father's 
 name was Edward, and the name of my mother 
 was Eliza. I do n't remember very much about 
 my father, because he died when I was only five 
 years of age. I remember more about my 
 mother, because I was nine years of age when 
 she died. My father and mother were blessed 
 
 15 
 
16 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 with fifteen children, of which I was the 
 youngest. 
 
 There were other slaves on the place besides 
 our family. My mother could weave, and did 
 the weaving for those who were on the place. 
 I can remember seeing mother sitting at her 
 loom, day after day, weaving the blue and brown 
 jeans for the men folks, and the linsey and tow- 
 linen for the women and children. In summer 
 time I wore only one garment, and that was a 
 tow-linen shirt. It was made something on the 
 order of the Mother Hubbard, and was very cool 
 and nice, too. 
 
 My father and mother were not educated. 
 They knew nothing about books, only my mother 
 knew her alphabet; and that she taught me, and 
 is about all I knew concerning an education un- 
 til I became twenty-one years of age. Mother 
 was a good woman; she was a member of the 
 white Christian Church, as there was not a col- 
 ored Church in that neighborhood. So every 
 Sunday mother would take us children to Shal- 
 low Ford meeting-house, known as Mt. Gilead, 
 until I was a big boy. The first two or three 
 

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Birth and Parents 17 
 
 rows of seats from the door, or rear of the 
 church, were the places where the colored people 
 had to sit; but they seemed to enjoy the services 
 equally as well as the whites, and I am sure of 
 one thing, aside from the line that was already 
 drawn, I was made to feel more welcome there 
 than I have been made to feel in some of my 
 own Churches since I became a freeman. I have 
 gone into Churches where the people stood so 
 very far apart spiritually that it would make 
 cold chills glide stealthily through my whole 
 body. 
 
 In those days people were delighted to wel- 
 come strangers as well as those of their acquaint- 
 ance in the church. As young as I was, I re- 
 alized that I was a slave by often seeing the 
 older folks sitting with their heads close to- 
 gether, and could hear them whisper, "Some day 
 I believe we will be free." We children, of 
 course, had to go to bed with the chickens. We 
 were put in a trundle-bed, and then pushed un- 
 der the big bed, there to remain until next morn- 
 ing. Very often after we were put to bed we 
 could hear the older folks having such a good 
 
18 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 feast, and it would smell — O, my ! — so delicious ; 
 but we had to stay under there just the same. 
 There was a counterpane made for the big bed 
 so as to reach the floor, and when it was pulled 
 down we little ones could not see out. 
 
 The old log-cabin in which I was born con- 
 sisted of two rooms; one down, and the other up. 
 We had to go up in the loft by means of a 
 wooden ladder. In the lower room was a large 
 fireplace which would easily heat the two rooms. 
 One large rock, three by six feet, was placed in 
 front of the fire for a hearth. On this big rock 
 mother would do a great deal of the cooking by 
 pulling the big coals out of the fireplace and 
 placing them under the skillets, and the embers 
 on the lids. The boils and stews would be cooked 
 in pots and kettles, which hung over the fire on 
 racks and tripods. Two windows were in this 
 cabin ; one in the lower room, and the other above. 
 There were two doors, both below; one on each 
 side of the house. 
 
 About one hundred feet north of the cabin 
 stood, and still stands, the big house in which 
 lived our owners. Around this house was a beau- 
 
Birth and Parents 19 
 
 tiful lawn. The building was in a commodious 
 place and could be seen from afar off. How 
 well I enjoyed to play about that lawn and prem- 
 ises! When I became big enough to do chores 
 I was kept somewhat busy at times. 
 
 People took great pride in training children 
 those days, as they best could and knew how. 
 They had instilled in them the moral virtues 
 which Solomon so beautifully pointed out: 
 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and 
 when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov. 
 22 : 6) . Some people of to-day think if they are 
 a little strict on their children they will either 
 offend the child or discourage it. And the child, 
 of course, will soon learn to take advantage of 
 its parents' leniency and, as it grows older and 
 wiser, it will and does in reality offend and dis- 
 courage its parents. "Chasten thy son while 
 there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his 
 crying." (Prov. 19: 8.) God corrects His chil- 
 dren because He loves them, and not because He 
 has the power to treat them cruelly. There is 
 only one being who really does meanness for the 
 fun there is in it, and that is the devil. "With- 
 
20 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 hold not correction from the child, for if thou 
 beatest him with a rod, he shall not die." (Prov. 
 23:13.) If a child is brought up carelessly, 
 evidently he will transact business carelessly 
 through life and become a dwarf in the commer- 
 cial world. If a mother is telling her neighbor 
 something which took place the day before, per- 
 haps, one of her children is apt to take the words 
 from her mouth and say, "That is not the way, 
 mother; it was such and such a way." The 
 mother, of course, thinking it cute in the child, 
 will give way and let the child have the floor. 
 Then the mother begins to tell the cute and great 
 things the child has done, in the presence of the 
 child. In my childhood days, when the old folks 
 had company one would not know that there was 
 a child on the place unless they saw us. Espe- 
 cially when they were talking, there was no dan- 
 ger of the children chipping in. If we were too 
 loud or boisterous, just a look or pointing of the 
 finger was enough. A child is often spoiled now- 
 adays by the parents threatening it so very much, 
 but never putting those threats into execution. 
 Knowing the fact that it has been getting out 
 
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Birth and Parents 21 
 
 of mischief so easily, it grows up caring but lit- 
 tle for obligations. "Correct thy son, and he 
 shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight 
 unto thy soul." (Prov. 29:17.) 
 
 Parents, be positive, but not cruel; for these 
 are God's jewels. They are the future genera- 
 tion, and are at your mercy to mold or shape in 
 any fashion you desire. 
 
Boyhood at the Old Homestead 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 BOYHOOD AT THE OLD HOME- 
 STEAD 
 
 After the death of my mother, in 1869, I 
 still remained at the old homstead until I was 
 sixteen years of age, working for what I could 
 eat and wear. I did not know what it was to 
 work for wages until I left the place to stay. 
 While on the place I learned to do all kinds of 
 house and farm work. I certainly appreciate the 
 fact that I can do all of these things even to-day. 
 The man who can do these things is somewhat 
 independent, even though he may not have a dol- 
 lar. There were no schools in that neighborhood 
 for colored children, and of course I had no 
 chance to get an education at that time. But 
 there was a college twenty miles south from 
 where I lived, known as Berea, organized in 1855 
 by that fearless and devout Christian gentleman,* 
 Rev. J. G. Fee, for men, regardless of color or 
 
 25 
 
26 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 nationality. Its name is borrowed from that 
 place mentioned in the New Testament, whose 
 inhabitants were "more noble than those of Thes- 
 salonica, because they searched the Scriptures 
 daily." It had the words on the college seal as 
 a motto: "God hath made of one blood all na- 
 tions of men." I could hear the older ones about 
 the place talking about that school so very much 
 that it would make the fire of inspiration burn 
 within me. Then, on the other hand, I would 
 become discouraged when the sad news came that 
 the Rev. John G. Fee was being mobbed on all 
 sides because he took the stand he did, of an abo- 
 litionist, and established a mixed school, espe- 
 cially in a slave State. Upon one occasion, when 
 Mr. Fee was preaching in Madison County, near 
 by, on the subject of "Christian Union," and was 
 accompanied by Robert Jones, a native of the 
 county, and Messrs. Field and Marsh, residents 
 in that vicinity, there was apprehension of dan- 
 ger, and Mr. Fee had been consulted as to the 
 propriety of carrying guns. He said, "No; if 
 I am disturbed I will appeal to the courts." He 
 believed in the right of self-defense, but was op- 
 
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Boyhood at the Old Homestead 27 
 
 posed to the practice of carrying arms, and be- 
 lieved they were more often a source of danger 
 than a means of safety. 
 
 The sermon had commenced when a mob of 
 sixty men with pistols and guns surrounded the 
 house. One came in and said to Mr. Fee, "There 
 are men here who wish you to stop and come out." 
 He replied, "I am engaged in the exercise of a 
 Constitutional right and a religious duty; please 
 do not interrupt me," and preached on. The 
 man went out, and soon two others returned and 
 demanded that he come out. He preached on. 
 They seized him and dragged him out, no resist- 
 ance being made. Men with a rope swore they 
 would hang him to the first tree unless he would 
 promise to leave the county and never return 
 He replied, "I am in your hands; I would not 
 harm you if you harm me; the responsibility is 
 with you; I can make no pledge; duty to God 
 and my country forbid." They swore they 
 would duck him in the Kentucky River as long 
 as life was in him unless he would promise to 
 leave the county. He said: "I am a native 
 of the State. I believe slavery is wrong. I am 
 
28 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 acting for the good of my country and all her 
 people. You will know my motives at the judg- 
 ment." He had proceeded but a few moments 
 when one exclaimed, "We didn't come here to . 
 hear a sermon; let us do our work." They 
 stripped Robert Jones naked, bent him down, 
 and gave him thirty-three lashes with three syca- 
 more rods. He was so injured that he could not 
 walk the next day; but he made no pledges and 
 did not leave. They said to Mr. Fee, "We will 
 give you five hundred lashes if you do not leave 
 the county and promise never to return." He 
 knelt down and said, "I will take my suffering; 
 I can make no pledge." Later two lawyers were 
 engaged to prosecute in behalf of him and Jones. 
 The mob met in Richmond and swore they would 
 give five hundred lashes to any lawyer who would 
 prosecute the cases. The grand jury never in- 
 quired into it. This is one of many such mobs 
 through which Rev. John G. Fee went in those 
 days. 
 
 The nearest I got to go to school was when 
 I would take my young master to his school, a 
 distance of about two miles, on horseback; so as 
 
• Boyhood at the Old Homestead 29 
 
 to bring the horse back, that he might be used for 
 other purposes, such as going to the grist mill, 
 plowing the corn, and going errands. Wherever 
 I went I had to get back before night came on 
 me too far, as the Kuklux were quite thick in 
 that vicinity and did a great deal of harm to the 
 colored people. Kuklux is tlie fantastic name of 
 a secret society which was organized among many 
 Southern secessionists after the Civil War for 
 the purpose of overawing Negroes and new- 
 comers from the North by all manner of violence, 
 and they did some daring and hideous things to 
 the colored people. Sometimes I would visit my 
 cousin to spend the night, who lived not far away 
 on Shallow Ford; and there being a public road 
 alongside the creek, about nine or ten o'clock we 
 would hear the roaring, thundering sounds from 
 the horses' feet, seemingly about two thousand 
 in number. When they came near some people's 
 houses whose lamps and candles were burning, 
 they would shout, "Lights out!" If the occu- 
 pants of the house did not extinguish those lights 
 at the command immediately, a bullet from with- 
 out would. Of course, orders were usually 
 
30 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 obeyed. It was the usual custom to go to peo- 
 ple's houses at night, and see them greet one an- 
 other in the dark, as there were no lights in the 
 house except that which came from the fireplace, 
 or grease lamps which gave a very poor light at 
 the very best; and by the use of the latter the 
 house was so impregnated with amorphous car- 
 bon that it would make it a little unpleasant for 
 the people of this day and date. And yet, by 
 such lights they would enjoy themselves at 
 dances, parties quilting and apple-peeling in the 
 fall of the year, in order that they might have 
 dried apples for the winter. Later on, after the 
 fear of the Kuklux had somewhat subsided, there 
 was great enjoyment at corn-shucking in the fall 
 of the year by the light of the moon. From 
 twenty-five to thirty neighbormen would enter a 
 corn field and husk it out in a single night. 
 After the task was done a big feast would fol- 
 low. People took such pride in those days in 
 helping one another, and in return their efforts 
 were appreciated. 
 
 When I was about the age of sixteen years I 
 felt as though I ought to be earning some pocket 
 
REV. JOHN G. FEE, 
 Founder of Berea College, Ky., 1858. 
 
MRS. MATILDA H FEE. 
 
Boyhood at the Old Homestead 31 
 
 change, so as to be like some of the rest of the 
 boys with whom I was associating. And, too, 
 like most boys at that age who are inexperienced, 
 I wanted to leave the plantation so as to see more 
 of the world and its doings, but did n't know ex- 
 actly how to go about it to get away. So one 
 day I made the old boss mad, and instead of him 
 telling me to leave, he simply gave me a good 
 thrashing and told me to go to work. Delighted 
 I was to obey. I shall never forget my early 
 training on the farm. Farming in those days 
 was somewhat rude, and seemed to those who 
 took a part that they were making a great head- 
 way. 
 
 During the time of hay harvest several men 
 were put in the field with a scythe each, who 
 would cut the hay. Another crew of men would 
 follow these with two-tine wooden pitchforks, 
 the timber of which was either dogwood, beech, 
 or black hickory. These pitchforks were prized 
 very highly and could stand the test of strain 
 really better than our most modern ones. The 
 men would take these forks and windrow the hay. 
 After this was done they would put it into 
 
32 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 shocks, and then, by means of an ox-cart, would 
 haul it near the edge of the meadow, and there 
 put it into stacks. 
 
 When it came to the cutting of wheat, rye, 
 oats, and barley, it was done by means of cradles. 
 The man who could carry the cradle day after 
 day, all through harvest, was serviceable to the 
 community in which he lived, as also were those 
 who could handle the scythe skillfully. Few 
 men can handle a scythe successfully so as to 
 make each stroke count while cutting hay or 
 grass. When the rye, oats, barley, and wheat 
 crops were not so very large, and the men pretty 
 well up with their work, they would thrash out 
 the grain by means of hickory sapplings. These 
 sapplings were cut in lengths from six to eight 
 feet ; the small branches, of course, were trimmed 
 off so as to be easily manipulated, and about 
 eighteen inches from the larger end the sapplings 
 were made flexible by pounding on them with a 
 heavy hammer or something of the kind. A por- 
 tion of the soil was scraped away so as to re- 
 semble a cock-pit. On the floor of this was 
 spread a large sheet or canvas. The sheaves of 
 
Boyhood at the Old Homestead 33 
 
 the grain were carefully placed one by the other, 
 the heads of which were pointing toward the cen- 
 ter of the pit. The men would pound on the 
 heads of the sheaves with these sapplings until 
 the grain was thoroughly threshed out. At the 
 same time the straw was being put into a rick. 
 To separate the grain from the chaff, the grain 
 was scooped up and poured into the hopper of a 
 large instrument known as a fan, with a man at 
 the crank. Those who had large crops, in order 
 to thrash the grain, would make a ring resem- 
 bling a circus ring; it was prepared just as the 
 above; but in this ring horses were placed, with 
 boys on their backs. I had to ride in one of those 
 rings till I was sick of it. It seemed as though 
 it was such a pleasure to work on the farm at 
 that time, and should be so to-day. After the 
 ground was broken up we only had in way of 
 small plows the shovel, double-shovel, and bull- 
 tongue. Whole fields of corn had to be hoed in 
 those days. I really believe that the corn does 
 better, if no more than to keep it clean of weeds. 
 
My First Experience in Working 
 for Wages 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 MY FIRST EXPERIENCE IN WORK- 
 ING FOR WAGES 
 
 After leaving my old homestead I hired to 
 a man to work on a farm for four dollars per 
 month. I held that job for twelve months. For 
 a short time thereafter I fell into the hands of 
 evil associates, and, of course, inexperienced and 
 lacking the proper training early in life, I was 
 led off, as is natural for man to love darkness 
 rather than light, because of his evil deeds (John 
 3: 19), I got out of work, and that led to idle- 
 ness; from idleness to drunkenness. I used to 
 think that man should always be able to meet 
 conditions of environment; but I have learned 
 from experience that environment has a great 
 deal to do in making the man, especially so if 
 the man is ignorant and inexperienced. There 
 are thousands of men and women to-day in 
 
 prisons who would not be there if at certain 
 
 37 
 
38 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 times in their lives they could have gotten a few 
 words of encouragement from those who were 
 more fortunate than themselves. Not every man 
 or woman you see in low places or in bad com- 
 pany has an evil heart in them. Certainly not. 
 A great many are forced into these places on ac- 
 count of their environments, and while they be- 
 come discouraged and remain there, a good many 
 other people who are not there with these un- 
 fortunates but who are just as bad point the 
 finger of scorn at those in the gutter instead of 
 helping them out. There was that sinner who 
 went of her own accord to the feast which Simon 
 had prepared for Jesus Christ, and received a 
 blessing because she had the right kind of mo- 
 tives and heart within her. (Luke 7:36-50.) 
 Simon himself murmured because of the wom- 
 an's former character and reputation. Man's 
 mind is never still; it is always busily engaged. 
 If it is not engaged in something edifying, it is 
 engaged in something degrading. 
 
 After a man or woman has a certain amount 
 of experience, he or she can set into operation vi- 
 bratory forces which go out and which make their 
 
First Experience Working for Wages 39 
 
 impress felt somewhere, and which, arising into 
 activity or uniting with other forces, set about to 
 actualize their desires. Our thoughts make us 
 what we are here and hereafter. Some people 
 plod along daily without thought, care, ambition, 
 or anxiety. Of course, it is a waste of time to 
 try to reform such people as those. But do not 
 judge all alike because they are all in the same 
 crowd; but rather look after the ones who are 
 willing to listen and follow a good advice when 
 given at the right time and in the right way. 
 I say at the right time and in the right way be- 
 cause those people can not be won at all times. 
 "To every thing there is a season." (Eccl. 3.) 
 If this class of people is approached in the right 
 way, then, through the law that "like builds like," 
 they will be able to come a little closer to it the 
 next day, and still closer the next, and the next, 
 until sooner or later comes the time when it will 
 become natural for them to fall into the right 
 channel. And once there, they very often be- 
 come beacon lights, living only in the thought 
 of love for all. And while they live in the 
 thought of love for all, they will draw love to 
 
40 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 them in return. But the one who lives in the 
 thought of malice or hatred, malice and hatred 
 will come back to them. 
 
 In order to be successful in life one should 
 always look on the bright side of life. If we 
 dwell upon the negative side it will prove to be 
 destructive. If you let your daily talk be about 
 sickness and disease, you will do yourself harm 
 and those also who listen to you. This has ref- 
 erence to chronic complainers. But the young 
 man whose mind is completely unhinged from 
 the effects of strong drink is to be pitied. 
 "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, 
 but the end thereof are the ways of death." 
 (Prov. 14:12.) This opinion was one under 
 which I was laboring when my brain was in a 
 morbid condition, and my nervous system, owing 
 to the absorption of alcohol or to sympathy with 
 the stomach, was stealing my intellectual and 
 moral faculties because I was straying from that 
 path in which my mother started me in youth. 
 Strong drink was eating up my substances; it 
 was devouring my health ; it was gnawing off the 
 fine edges of my sense of honor ; in short, it was 
 
First Experience Working for Wages 41 
 
 ultimately swallowing me down body and soul. 
 One need not expect an inebriate to reform by 
 giving him punches, knocks, and blows, such as 
 I received when in that predicament; but it re- 
 quires time and patience and, above all, self -will. 
 We are morally bound by our profession as 
 Christians to throw all of our influence against 
 intemperance in every form. Evidently we 
 will find our labors ridiculed and our efforts 
 thwarted by those whom we intend to benefit, 
 like Isaiah, the prophet of old; but we should 
 let nothing daunt us for the good of the cause 
 and for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 The world is certainly full of temptations of 
 the flesh, and we are certainly our brother's 
 keeper ; we must put aside strong drink in every 
 form : it is an enemy to mankind, dragging down 
 the weak to eternal ruin. No one can live to 
 himself alone. Every one should help the other. 
 This tests one's Christianity, which is not true 
 and sincere if it does not mean Christian brother- 
 hood. 
 
 After being led by those who were equally 
 
42 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 unfortunate as myself, for a number of months, 
 I thought that I would get me another job. So 
 another man hired me for the sum of eight dol- 
 lars per month, and I worked for him for that 
 price three consecutive years as a farm hand, and 
 thought at the time that I was getting pretty fair 
 wages ; I am sure that I was doing a man's work, 
 and felt myself much of a man physically. 
 
 At the close of each year I worked for that 
 man I saved the better part of my earnings, as 
 I did not need many clothes while I was working 
 on a farm. My every-day apparel had so many 
 patches about them that one could not tell the 
 original pattern, especially in the fall of the year, 
 during corn-cutting season. Then there seemed 
 to have come over me another state of mind: to 
 use up my money as fast as I earned it ; it did n't 
 matter at what I was working, for I would take 
 my little drink occasionally when I was not on 
 duty, until I began to move in a better circle of 
 society, when I became spiritually-minded and 
 recognized the fact, if I lived in that thought, it 
 was to be in harmony and peace. I began to 
 realize that God stood ready always to receive 
 
First Experience Working for Wages 43 
 
 those who were willing to come to Him and be 
 accepted as His children. And that man for- 
 gets, but God never does. 
 
 So early in the spring of 1880 I was con- 
 verted to God, and was baptized in Burnum's 
 Pond, Richmond, Ky., the third Sunday in June 
 of that year, by the Rev. Madison Campbell. 
 After that I started out with a higher realization 
 and to open myself more fully to the divine in- 
 flow, so much so that I could clearly see my in- 
 significance as a man. The young lady with 
 whom I was keeping company was a graduate 
 from the high school, and I could not read nor 
 write. I began to think that was an awful thing, 
 and so it was. So I said to the people with whom 
 I was living that I was going to quit drinking, 
 and save up my money and go to school and get 
 an education, so as to be like other young men 
 with whom I was then associating. Quite a few 
 of those who were not educated themselves would 
 say to me, "Tom, I hear you are going to school!" 
 And when I would answer in the affirmative they 
 would say: "You had better go to work and pay 
 your debts, and get yourself some clothes, be- 
 
44 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 cause you are too old a man to be going to school. 
 You 11 never learn nothing." But I had my 
 mind made up to go to school and let drink alone, 
 and nothing was going to stop me but sickness 
 or death. So I started out to fulfill part of 
 my advice in the way of paying my debts, but 
 had no time to save money sufficient to buy 
 clothes before winter term opened at Berea Col- 
 lege, Kentucky, for that was a place I had been 
 anxious to go to for many years, and now was 
 my real opportunity. 
 
Off for Berea College, Kentucky 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 OFF FOR BEREA COLLEGE, KY. 
 
 It was during the month of January, 1881, 
 I started for Berea, a distance of fifteen miles 
 from Richmond, Ky., which I was then claim- 
 ing as my home. No railroad connected the two 
 places at that time, nothing but a hack line, which 
 was run by Mr. Van Winkle, who lived in Berea. 
 The fare was only seventy-five cents one way, 
 but I thought I could not afford to pay that ; so 
 I started out the Big Hill Pike, walking, wear- 
 ing a blue jeans suit, slouch hat, and stocky 
 boots. The legs of my pantaloons were so small 
 that I could not wear them on the outside of my 
 big boots, therefore I just simply stuffed them 
 within and went on. A carpet bag on my back, 
 containing a few articles, and nine dollars and 
 seventy-five cents in my pocket, I reached Berea 
 College at nightfall the same day I started. 
 After resting over night, I went along the next 
 
 47 
 
48 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 morning with a lot of other boys to the treas- 
 urer's office to matriculate for the winter term. 
 
 At that time a student could work at the col- 
 lege, so as to pay a part of his schooling. At 
 Howard Hall, a dormitory for the boys, was a 
 mess club run by those who were not able to 
 board at the Ladies' Hall, the regular boarding 
 place. There were twenty-five students at this 
 mess club waiting for a cook. After I matricu- 
 lated in part, and returned to the hall, some one 
 asked me if I could cook. "Why, sure thing," 
 I remarked. I took the job and cooked for the 
 boys that whole term, went to school, and did 
 my own laundrying on Saturdays. I entered the 
 primary department and learned to write a let- 
 ter, and received an answer to it that winter for 
 the first time in my life. May 4th of that year 
 (1881) I was twenty-one years of age, and felt 
 myself very important because I could read and 
 write and was of age. 
 
 After Commencement of that year I went 
 into the harvest field and did anything my hands 
 could find to do ; so when fall term opened I was 
 there to hear the first stroke of the old college 
 

 Thomas off for Berea College, Ky., January 1, 1881. 
 
Off for Berea College, Ky. 49 
 
 bell. I then entered the intermediate depart- 
 ment and remained in school the fall and winter 
 terms, but had to go to work the spring term. 
 I left with the determination to make money 
 enough so as to return in the fall and remain in 
 school the whole nine months. I found my way 
 to Maysville, Ky., and there I worked for a 
 contractor by the name of Mr. Tom Curr. He 
 put me to digging sewers with a lot of other men, 
 and from that to shoveling coal from the barges 
 on the Ohio River. Thinking, perhaps, that I 
 could make more clear money as a roustabout on 
 the river, I got me a job as roustabout on the 
 Morning Mail, a boat then running between 
 Maysville and Cincinnati. That job reminded me 
 more of slavery than any I had met since the 
 real days of slavery, but I thought I could stand 
 anything physically that any other man could. 
 I worked with a new determination and returned 
 to Berea that fall and entered the normal prepar- 
 atory department, but had to leave again the fol- 
 lowing spring term because my money ran short. 
 I found by this time that the farther advanced I 
 got the more money it took to keep me in school. 
 
 4 
 
50 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 That year there was a railroad to be built from 
 Winchester, Ky., down to and across the Ken- 
 tucky River; up through Shear's Bottom, past 
 the Red House to Richmond; then to Berea, 
 where there never was a railroad before; and 
 from there to Round Stone, in the mountains. 
 I got me a job on this road as steel driver and 
 helped put through three tunnels, including that 
 one in Berea. I worked at this job six months 
 without stopping for school this time. And 
 right here, again, is another proof that environ- 
 ment has a great deal to do in shaping the man. 
 While all of our advantages are to be im- 
 proved, our opportunities to be enjoyed, and our 
 responsibilities to be met and discharged, if we 
 are negligent of our Christian duty we are sure 
 to become pessimists, and pessimism leads to 
 weakness. If we fail in caring for the interest 
 of ourselves, as well as for the interest of our 
 Maker, we must receive punishment. It is not 
 the mere possession of a thing that works for 
 good, but it is the use to which we put it. Ad- 
 vantages, money, and health amount to nothing 
 unless rightly managed. So while on the rail- 
 
Off for Berea College, Ky. 51 
 
 road, driving steel, associated with rough fellows 
 from all parts of the country, I became rough 
 too, to a certain extent, in order to hold my own. 
 Some may say that you do n't have to be rough 
 because you are thrown in rough society. I 
 learned from experience that you do have to be- 
 come rough, and very rough, too, sometimes. 
 Nearly every man, and boy, too, you saw would 
 either have an ugly-looking knife or a revolver, 
 and they did not carry them for fun. After 
 working there a while, and after seeing and ex- 
 periencing a few things, I started out with one 
 revolver; but as time went on and I became a 
 little more experienced in that business I carried 
 a pistol on each hip, and a free-for-all fight was 
 no more than a game of baseball would be to a 
 civilized crowd. An officer was in very poor 
 business to interfere with us unless he caught us 
 unawares. So when I returned to school the fol- 
 lowing winter I took my pistols along, of course, 
 with my reputation as a "scrapper." 
 
 There was a white man who lived in the vil- 
 lage near the school, and who, too, was a former 
 classmate of mine. He turned out to be a des- 
 
52 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 perado, and at times he was a terror to the town 
 and school. His brother and another student 
 had a misunderstanding one day. The brother 
 of the desperado told his side of the affair to 
 suit himself, and without investigating the mat- 
 ter the desperado said he was going to kill the 
 student at first sight ; and he meant it. The stu- 
 dent did not know the desperado, nor did the 
 desperado know the student. And, too, the stu- 
 dent was studying for the ministry. There were 
 three white merchants who heard of the affair 
 and offered the student revolvers ; but he refused 
 them, saying, "I will trust in the Lord." With 
 an oath they said, "You had better trust in these 
 pistols, because that man means to kill when he 
 says he is going to kill." Some one told the stu- 
 dent to ask counsel of me concerning the matter. 
 By that time the student was getting somewhat 
 worked up over the matter. So on Saturday 
 afternoon the student came to see me. After he 
 had related the affair, I did not say a word, but, 
 knowing the desperado as I did, turned to my 
 trunk, took out one of my best pistols (for I 
 had three), well loaded, handed it to him, and 
 
Off for Berea College, Ky. 53 
 
 went on, and would not listen to any argument. 
 With reluctance he took the pistol home. Just 
 hefore Sunday-school time the next morning 
 (for we all had to go to Sunday-school) the 
 student said there came a peculiar feeling over 
 him, such as he had never felt before; and that 
 something seemed to say to him, "You had bet- 
 ter put that pistol up your coat sleeve when you 
 start for Sunday-school this morning, because 
 you are going to meet your antagonist." The 
 college bell began to peal for Sunday-school ; the 
 student could no longer remain in the house, and 
 without realizing what he was doing he shoved 
 the handle of the pistol up his sleeve, manipulat- 
 ing the muzzle with the fingers, and started off 
 for Sunday-school. About one hundred yards 
 away from the house he noticed two persons com- 
 ing towards him riding double on horseback, and 
 when they came near him he recognized the des- 
 perado's brother. As soon as the boy saw him 
 he shouted, "There he is !" The desperado then, 
 with an oath, began to make his usual hip move- 
 ment; but it was too late, the student was too 
 quick for him. When the student saw the han- 
 
54 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 die of the desperado's pistol he pointed my pistol 
 in the desperado's face and said: "I dare you to 
 move a muscle. If you do, I will shoot the top 
 of your head off." And he meant what he said. 
 
Back to Refinement Again 
 
CHAPTER V 
 BACK TO REFINEMENT AGAIN 
 
 After I had entered the college preparatory 
 department I began to think seriously as to what 
 my future mission should be, and in order to 
 be successful in life I must have God's help. So 
 I asked God to reveal to me what He would like 
 to have me do. There was a day set apart by 
 the county superintendent of schools for all 
 those who wished to teach school to go to Rich- 
 mond, Ivy., and take the examination. I availed 
 myself of the opportunity and took the exami- 
 nation, and received a certificate. I taught the 
 school at Waco, Ky., in 1885 and 1886, but 
 powders, pills, and the sciences of medicine and 
 surgery kept haunting me. 
 
 I went to the city of Indianapolis, Ind., in 
 1889 and went under the instructions of Dr. 
 William Chavis, as my preceptor. The winter 
 of 1890-91 was spent in the Medical College of 
 Indiana. The term of 1892 being spent in the 
 
 57 
 
58 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 Eclectic College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
 from which I graduated on March 24, 1892. I 
 had to partly work my way through the Indian- 
 apolis schools by waiting table, working in lum- 
 ber yard and in private families. Some of these 
 families certainly made me toe the mark; so 
 much so that at one place were two girls also 
 working : one did the cooking and the other was 
 the nurse; and, of course, I was second help. 
 The landlady's mother lived with her, and she too 
 kept things moving along with such rapidity that 
 the following verses came to me: 
 
 SERVANTS. 
 
 I am the second help, 
 
 While Annie is the cook; 
 Emma sees after the children, 
 
 Then the old woman takes a look. 
 
 She looks to keep us busy — 
 Good deal of that is done — , 
 
 Then goes back in a pace 
 
 As though she 3 s having fun. 
 
 She then reports to the young one, 
 
 To see what she will say; 
 Then it comes for my time 
 
 To drive them both away. 
 
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 56 
 
 
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Back to Refinement Again 59 
 
 Down in town we will go, 
 
 To see the styles that come, 
 Stop an hour a place, 
 
 Come out, and yet buy none. 
 
 Patience and spunk a man requires 
 To be in a coachman's place; 
 
 But, if liberty he expects, 
 Must fight to win the race. 
 
 Physically, or mentally, if required, — 
 
 If there J s no other way, — 
 Let them know that you are a man, 
 
 And that you 're there to stay. 
 
 We get very mad and vexed sometimes, 
 And declare, by the way, we will go; 
 
 But toil on another day, 
 And not a word of it so. 
 
 The work, the work, I have to do, 
 
 Both out of doors and in; 
 Go to the barn, hook up old Kate, 
 
 To drive away 'gain. 
 
 I feel as though a slave sometimes, 
 
 But little joy I see; 
 Just toil on from sun to sun, 
 
 As busy as a bee. 
 
60 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 And so it goes every day, 
 
 Going on our feet; 
 But when it comes to the table, 
 
 We have but little to eat. 
 
 Such as apples, oranges, and bananas, 
 
 Those we never see, 
 Only with her in passing 
 
 Behind the loch and key. 
 
 It seems as though I am getting fat; 
 
 It 's not from what I eat, — 
 I wash a rig once a day, 
 
 Maybe from my wet feet. 
 
 My rubber soles are full of holes, 
 He knows about the leaks; 
 
 Yet I wash away once a day, 
 Clear on for several weeks. 
 
 The young one is the meaner, 
 To speak the truth outright, 
 
 In stinginess and closeness; 
 She J s seldom out of sight. 
 
 I shall go in a little while, 
 
 The girls may do as they please; 
 
 I am going to study the science, 
 And then I shall be at ease. 
 
THOMAS RECEIVING THE DEGREE AS M. D.. 
 
 From the Eclectic College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
 Indianapolis, Ind., March 24, 1892. 
 
Back to Refinement Again 61 
 
 After I became a full-fledged "M. D." I 
 left Indianapolis for Springfield, Ohio, April 5, 
 
 1892, and started in the practice of medicine and 
 surgery for the first time on my own responsi- 
 bility, full of theory and vigor. On August 3, 
 
 1893, I was married to Miss Hattie B. Taylor, 
 of Cynthiana, Ky., one of the best women that 
 ever lived. Nine times out of ten if I follow 
 her advice I will come out all right; and when 
 I do n't I always come out all wrong. 
 
 The same year of my marriage I was com- 
 missioned by ex-President William McKinley, 
 Jr., who was then Ohio's honored Governor, As- 
 sistant Surgeon of the Ninth Battalion Infan- 
 try, Ohio National Guard. This position car- 
 ried with it the rank of Captain. That year we 
 camped at Newark, Ohio, and on our return I 
 made the following report: 
 
 Springfield, Ohio, Sept. 8, 1893. 
 
 Major Scott Martin, Commanding Ninth Bat- 
 talion Infantry, O. N. G., Springfield, Ohio. 
 Sir: I have the honor and pleasure to make 
 the following report of the sanitary condition 
 and surroundings of the Ninth Battalion Inf an- 
 
62 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 try, O. N. G., during its encampment at New- 
 ark, the State of Ohio, County of Licking, from 
 August 24th to 29th, inclusive. The camp was 
 situated in and behind a beautiful range of 
 mounds, which were prepared by the Mound 
 Builders, thus making a substantial fortification. 
 The health of the Battalion was very good, with 
 exception of a few cases of cholera morbus. The 
 provisions made for the medical department 
 were very good, and special commendation is due 
 to the Quartermaster for his efficient work. We 
 lack a hospital corps. Some of the best, purest, 
 and coolest water in the country is found on 
 these camp grounds. The camp grounds are 
 somewhat elevated, thus affording a very good 
 opportunity for drainage. The camp was illu- 
 minated by electric lights, thus reminding one 
 of being in a city. In closing, I desire to say 
 that I feel greatly under obligations to Major 
 Scott Martin, Commander of the Battalion, for 
 the kindness and interest shown by him to the 
 Battalion in general. 
 
 Thomas Wm. Burton, 
 Surgeon Ninth Battalion Infantry, O. N. G. 
 
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Back to Refinement Again 63 
 
 the last time with her iron and blood-stained 
 hand, and after she had declared war with the 
 United States, filled me greatly with the war 
 spirit. A little while after the landing of Gen- 
 eral Antonio Maceo from Costa Rica, where he 
 was then living, and against the wishes of the 
 Spaniards, a fierce fight followed, in which sev- 
 eral Cubans were killed. For some time after- 
 wards the Cubans could not get any surgeons, 
 nothing but nurses, especially for General An- 
 tonio Maceo. They advertised for physicians 
 and surgeons. I fancied that I would appreci- 
 ate being General Antonio Maceo's surgeon, but 
 another was the successful one. About the mid- 
 dle of June, 1896, when the Spanish- American 
 War was at its hottest, about fifty fearless 
 young men came to me to be examined for the 
 purpose of mustering into a company which I 
 had already organized in part, for it was our 
 intention to make up a regiment, and we suc- 
 ceeded by the last of the month and sent the fol- 
 lowing letter to the Adjutant General for ad- 
 mittance : 
 
64 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 Springfield, Ohio, July 1, 1896. 
 
 Adjutant General of Ohio Aocline, 
 
 Columbus,, Ohio. 
 
 Honoeable Sir: We the citizens of Spring- 
 field, County of Clarke, State of Ohio, do re- 
 spectfully petition to you, as a body of organized 
 men, full of enthusiasm and patriotism, that we 
 may be admitted in the service of the State of 
 Ohio as the State Militia for the term of five 
 years, unless sooner discharged in accordance 
 with the Militia laws; that we may defend her 
 borders and repel or prevent invasion ; to prevent 
 and suppress riots and insurrections ; to maintain 
 the honor and integrity of our State; and that 
 we will diligently strive to attain the greatest 
 practical correctness and efficiency in drill and 
 discipline, and that we will perform our duties 
 faithfully. 
 
 Respectfully yours, submitted, 
 
 Thomas W. Burton, M. D., 
 
 Captain Commanding. 
 
PROFESSOR E. W. CURRY, 
 
 The Negro Orator and Educator, Founder and President 
 
 of the Curry School, Urbana, Ohio. 
 
First Negro Medical Society in Ohio 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FIRST NEGRO MEDICAL SOCIETY 
 
 IN OHIO 
 
 In the year 1897, seeing the need of a State 
 medical society composed of Negro physicians, 
 my friend and colleague, Dr. H. R. Hawkins, of 
 Xenia, Ohio, and I discussed the idea of such 
 an organization and issued a call to all Negro 
 physicians and surgeons in the State to meet in 
 Xenia, Ohio, August 27, 1897. After the or- 
 ganization was perfected we named it the "Ohio 
 Mutual Medical Association." I was chosen as 
 its chairman for the ensuing year, and after I 
 had been fully installed into office I delivered the 
 following address in response to the address of 
 welcome, to-wit: 
 
 "The Light is Just Ahead of Us." 
 
 In behalf of the medical profession of Ohio 
 and these gentlemen here assembled on this 
 unique occasion, I will make an attempt to re- 
 
 67 
 
68 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 spond to the address of welcome. This assem- 
 blage is certainly unique because here are gen- 
 tlemen of the medical profession who belong to 
 the different schools, have left their respective 
 fields of labor from east, west, north, and south 
 throughout the State of Ohio, and have come to- 
 gether in one combined force for the betterment 
 of their work, morally, socially, and intellec- 
 tually. While it is a fact that the enactment 
 of the State laws and the establishment of the 
 State Board of Health and the Board of Med- 
 ical Registration and Examination tends to in- 
 duce higher medical education generally, yet it 
 is necessary for the Negro doctor to organize, 
 meet often, and learn, to control himself in this 
 direction. 
 
 Some may tell you that an organization of 
 colored men in Ohio is not the proper thing, that 
 the different medical societies in the counties and 
 the State Medical Society will admit colored 
 gentlemen of good standing in medicine, and 
 that we are drawing the line on ourselves; but 
 I fail to see it in that light, and will say to you 
 that that is one of the reasons why the Negro 
 is so far behind to-day, and because he is too 
 dei)endent and not enough independent. 
 
 Inasmuch as other medical societies of Ohio 
 
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First Negro Medical Society in Ohio 69 
 
 will admit gentlemen of the profession in good 
 standing among them, so will we; and there will 
 be no line drawn unless an individual draws it 
 on himself, and that we can not help. 
 
 Negro physicians have organized State Med- 
 ical Associations in six States of the South, as 
 follows: the two Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, 
 Texas, and Florida. What have we Northern 
 brethren done along this line? It might have 
 been bigotry and prejudice that kept the schools 
 apart until now; but I venture to say, in behalf 
 of the gentlemen present, that there is neither 
 bigotry nor prejudice among them, and that they 
 have come together for one common cause, and 
 that is, to exchange their ideas in the advance- 
 ment in science. 
 
 The question arises, Will it ever be that med- 
 icine will be one? So long as medicine exists, 
 physicians will differ; but while that is true, it 
 is not impossible for medicine to be one. The 
 more I practice medicine the more I believe that 
 the day is fast approaching; that is to say, it 
 is possible for medical men to be united, with 
 the privilege of according to every one liberty 
 of opinion. 
 
 As far as science is concerned, there is little 
 opportunity to differ. The brighter the true 
 
70 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 light of science shines, the further will bigotry 
 and prejudice roll into oblivion. The walls of 
 paper that stand between parties in medicine are 
 being perforated and torn to pieces; yea, the 
 debris will be blown away to the four winds of 
 the earth. 
 
 You will not give up your principles; you 
 have a right to hold fast to them. Some men 
 have suffered greatly for the faith that was in 
 them. 
 
 Rev. John G. Fee has been mobbed and tor- 
 tured a score of times for the faith that is in 
 him, yet he has liberty of conscience. He was 
 driven from place to place, but there was an in- 
 dwelling conviction and a satisfaction of right 
 that could not be taken from him. 
 
 The day is coming when we can join on the 
 sciences, and when the differences of opinion on 
 materia medica and therapeutics will be ac- 
 counted for only as common differences amongst 
 men, and when prejudice and intolerance will 
 melt before the shining rays of science like snow- 
 flakes before the scorching sun. 
 
 Our practical progress must hinge upon a 
 thorough knowledge of drugs, so as to raise the 
 sinking constitution from the mire of disease, to 
 give the slowing pendulum of life a little push, 
 
First Negro Medical Society in Ohio 71 
 
 to spur the natural recuperative forces on to 
 victory. 
 
 We should not confine ourselves to text- 
 book indication: we must use our own powers 
 of reasoning and observation to give us the 
 proper indications. The successful physician 
 must be a free thinker and an earnest investi- 
 gator. 
 
 The facts explain the power of habit. The 
 man who cultivates the best side of his nature 
 finds it easy to do good, and hard to do evil; 
 while he who cultivates his worst qualities finds 
 it easy to do wrong, and hard to do right. 
 
 The surgeon of the coming half century will 
 apply his rays and take a photograph of the 
 bones, and by the aid of the coming electric ap- 
 paratus will examine the condition of the inter- 
 nal organs and view the condition of the stomach 
 and bowels as readily as he now views the pa- 
 tient's tongue, throat, larynx, and the eyes. The 
 deformities, position of fragments of bone in 
 fractures, and dislocations, and all foreign 
 bodies will be brought plainly to view. 
 
 Missiles in gunshot wounds will be revealed 
 to the eye, and the cruel, death-dealing probe will 
 be relegated to the instrument case, and called 
 forth only in minor cases or in the absence of 
 the better apparatus. 
 
72 What 'Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 The physician of to-day is not the physician 
 of seventy-five years ago ; neither is he the physi- 
 cian of seventy-five years hence. Some of you, 
 perhaps, call to memory some of the modes of 
 practice and customs of the first-named period of 
 seventy-five years ago and have some knowledge 
 of the previous seventy-five years. 
 
 A large per cent of the physicians had com- 
 paratively little more training than could be 
 gathered from a few medical books written by 
 the physicians of foreign lands, or perhaps a 
 few months' reading in the office of some doctor 
 who had obtained his education in the same way, 
 or perhaps one term of lectures of sixteen weeks 
 in a medical school. 
 
 The higher medical education now required 
 of physicians is working wonderful results, and 
 we welcome any means that will help it along. 
 It is a felicity we enjoy in common to be citi- 
 zens of a country without a peer, under a polit- 
 ical order whose unrivaled excellence excites the 
 admiration and envy of the world. But no 
 man should be placed in position to prescribe 
 for the venerated patient whose education, ex- 
 perience, and training have not in some degree 
 qualified him to comprehend the nature of the 
 maladies he is to treat, to distinguish the chronic 
 
First Negro Medical Society in Ohio 73 
 
 diseases of the body politic from its passing in- 
 flammation, the growing pains of a vigorous and 
 lusty life from the violent distempers of an in- 
 fected and decaying body. He should have that 
 all-roundness of observation which comes from 
 a knowledge of affairs and a touch of elbows 
 with the people. He should not be content with 
 holding right opinions, but should exert himself 
 to make them prevalent. 
 
 Your success in the practice of medicine must 
 depend upon practical intellect, inexhaustible en- 
 ergy, and invincible determination. Your labor 
 must continue to be prodigious, your wisdom 
 and tact equal to your industry. 
 
 Successful men do not owe their elevation to 
 accidents or tricks, but rather to their patience 
 and persistent energy. The field of medicine 
 grows prodigiously every year, so that to-day the 
 strongest minds are unable to grasp the innu- 
 merable scientific questions in medicine. 
 
 Now, gentlemen, let us do all we can to pro- 
 mote the method of curing disease and to in- 
 struct those less consistent in practice than our- 
 selves. We should be thoroughly honest in our 
 convictions, making no effort to appear what 
 we are not. Never be influenced by any but the 
 most upright and conscientious motives. 
 
74 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 Let us do the best we can on all occasions, 
 conscientiously discharge our duties, and be ever 
 in search of new facts that may benefit our pa- 
 tients. Much of our success will depend on our 
 personal qualities ; and intelligent brain, kind na- 
 ture, sympathetic heart, and skilled hand must 
 be united. A man who can enter a sickroom and 
 diffuse about him a sense of repose and confi- 
 dence is certain of increasing his practice rap- 
 idly. 
 
 Association Re-established. 
 
 After existing about two years the Associa- 
 tion became defunct, for the lack of interest 
 taken by its members. Negro physicians and 
 surgeons at that time in the State of Ohio were 
 scarce, and the most of them belonged to white 
 associations and thought it useless to belong to 
 two societies of the same kind ; hence it was hard 
 to get them to see the need of their own. 
 
 In the meantime I connected myself with the 
 National Medical Association and was made 
 Vice-President of Ohio from that grand body 
 which met in Lexington, Ky., in 1904. It was 
 the duty of the Vice-President from each State 
 to organize his or her State in which they lived, 
 and center them into the National. 
 
First Negro Medical Society in Ohio 75 
 
 The National Medical Association is com- 
 posed of all physicians, dentists, and pharmacists 
 who are graduates of reputable schools, who have 
 met the requirements of their State Boards, and 
 are in good standing in their local organizations. 
 
 The winter of 1905 I issued another call to 
 all Negro physicians, dentists, and pharmacists 
 in Ohio (finding sixty-five) to assemble in Sprin- 
 field the second Tuesday in May for the purpose 
 of organizing a medical society composed of the 
 above-named branches. Six doctors, together 
 with one dentist, came. We organized. I was 
 elected its President, and we held sessions for 
 two days, which were very interesting, I assure. 
 During our session I made the following ad- 
 dress : 
 
 "SCIENCE DIFFERS BUT LITTLE." 
 
 Doctors, Ladies, and Gentlemen: I con- 
 gratulate you on coming here. Your leaving 
 your fields of labor and gathering here upon this 
 occasion at this hour means a step forward in 
 the advancement of medical science in this our 
 beloved State. 
 
 If we form only a nucleus in the way of a 
 
76 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 State Association, and keep it nurtured for one 
 year, we shall have a foundation on which to 
 build one of the best organizations of its kind. 
 
 You need not fear nor be dismayed, for you 
 have among you the material with which to work. 
 In ability you are second to none. In experi- 
 ence you have shown yourselves equal to every 
 emergency, and in integrity you have proved 
 yourselves a credit to the community in which 
 you live. 
 
 To be a successful practitioner one must at- 
 tend State and National Associations, as well as 
 peruse his journals. If any one fails to do this, 
 it will be but a question of time till he is rele- 
 gated to the rear, to a place where he is best 
 fitted. 
 
 People of to-day do not dwell upon the 
 school so much as they do upon the individual. 
 I do not agree with Dr. Vale Osier, who is a Ca- 
 nadian by birth and an American only by adop- 
 tion, when he says that "nothing in the world is 
 accomplished by a man more than forty years 
 old," and that "men of sixty should be retired or 
 chloroformed," and that "American medical col- 
 leges are teaching hybrid systems of medicine 
 and producing ignorant practitioners," and that 
 "Europe is far ahead of the United States in 
 
DR. H. R. HAWKINS, 
 
 Xenia, Ohio. 
 
 Post Graduate, Hahneman College, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
First Negro Medical Society in Ohio 77 
 
 medical universities." Evidently greater strides 
 in medicine and surgery have been made in 
 America in the last forty years than in Europe, 
 and by this we mean American medicine in gen- 
 eral. 
 
 In my opinion a man is at his best at forty; 
 but we, as Negro physicians, dentists, and drug- 
 gists, will have to outlive a mountain of obstacles 
 and impediments. A third of the patients we 
 chance to get employ us on probation or for con- 
 venience, and we are not kept very long before 
 we are discharged and one of the opposite race 
 takes our place and holds the patients, though 
 the time may be long or short. Therefore he 
 gets both money and credit. It has been my ex- 
 perience, whenever these changes take place I am 
 not aware of it until the thing has been done. 
 How shall our patients be taught to place con- 
 fidence in us as practitioners? How shall they 
 be taught to realize that you are a master of 
 your situation? I find that human nature is the 
 same all along the line of time. As far back as 
 29 A. D., when Christ was performing so many 
 miracles before the eyes of the people, and even 
 while He was passing along in one of His walks, 
 perhaps on His way to Mount Olivet, where He 
 frequently went for a time of quiet meditation, 
 
78 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 He saw a blind man sitting by the roadside and 
 had compassion on him, touched his eyes, and 
 thus restored his sight. And yet, on account of 
 this antipathy they had for Him, they had no 
 confidence in Christ; but He left this great les- 
 son for us, "I must work the works of Him that 
 sent Me, while it is day: the night cometh, when 
 no man can work." So, whatever may be said 
 and done about us, we should strive to do our 
 duty along the line of our profession. 
 
 It is not at all times we treat a patient the 
 way the patient or his friends think we ought to 
 treat them; but if the doctor knows that he is 
 right in his diagnosis and treatment, he should 
 stick to his tactics or quit the case. It will be bet- 
 ter to stop in time than to be sued for malprac- 
 tice. 
 
 There was a time before we could stand 
 alone, when it was necessary to have some out- 
 sider see to it that we did our work well. 
 
 The physician of to-day is not the physician 
 of forty years ago, neither is he the physician of 
 forty years hence. As far as science is con- 
 cerned, there is little opportunity to differ. The 
 brighter the true light of science shines, the far- 
 ther will bigotry and prejudice roll into oblivion. 
 The walls of paper that stand between parties 
 
First Negro Medical Society in Ohio 79 
 
 in medicine are being perforated and torn to 
 pieces ; yea, the debris will be blown away to the 
 four winds of the earth. 
 
 The day is coming when we can join on the 
 sciences, and when the differences of opinion on 
 materia medica and therapeutics will be ac- 
 counted only as common differences amongst 
 men, and when prejudice and intolerance will 
 melt before the shining rays of science like snow- 
 flakes before the scorching sun. Our practical 
 progress must hinge upon a thorough knowledge 
 of drugs, so as to raise the sinking constitution 
 from the mire of disease to give the slowing pen- 
 dulum of life a little push, to spur the natural 
 recuperative forces on to victory. 
 
 At the second meeting, in May, 1906, which" 
 was held in Columbus, we were very much en- 
 couraged on account of the increased member- 
 ship and the interest shown in our Association. 
 At the close of the second day's session I was 
 again elected the President for the ensuing year. 
 
 May, 1907, we met in Cincinnati. At this 
 meeting some of the best representatives in the 
 professions of medicine, dentistry, and phar- 
 macy were present, became members, and took 
 
80 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 active part in discussing the problems of their 
 peculiar work, which were of great interest to 
 all present. At the close of the last day's session 
 the physicians of Cincinnati banqueted us at the 
 Douglass Hotel. We sat down at the table at 
 ten P. M., and got up at three next morning. 
 We had a delightful time, I assure you. At 
 the session Dr. Frank W. Johnson, of Cincin- 
 nati, was elected President for the ensuing year. 
 
 The fourth session was held in Dayton, Ohio, 
 May, 1908, which was the best one of them all. 
 There they elected Dr. William J. Woodlin, of 
 Columbus, to the chair of President. 
 
 The Association will hold its next session in 
 Xenia and Wilberf orce the second week in June, 
 1909. 
 
 I am thankful to see that my work has not 
 been spent in vain along this line, and I feel 
 sure that the interest and confidence will become 
 more established at each session. 
 
Thomas reducing a dislocated arm by making an extension 
 and counter-extension movements. 
 
Member of Faculty, Curry Institute 
 
 6 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 MEMBER OF FACULTY, CURRY 
 INSTITUTE 
 
 It was during the year 1896 that I was 
 elected as a member of the Faculty of the Curry 
 Institute, which was then located in Mechanics- 
 burg, Ohio, but is now in Urbana, Ohio. I have 
 been connected with the institute in some way 
 ever since. 
 
 Professor E. W. B. Curry, its founder, de- 
 serves great credit for his energetic manner and 
 courage. I took great delight in helping Pro- 
 fessor Curry because he was a young man and 
 had the courage to manipulate such an undertak- 
 ing, and has fostered his plans to the credit of 
 himself and all those who have seen fit to aid 
 him; and to-day he is doing a great work in Ur- 
 bana along educational lines. 
 
 When I was first connected with that insti- 
 tution I was elected to the chair of Physiology. 
 
 83 
 
84 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 A great many people, of course, criticised the 
 school because its President was so young and 
 because there were so few students, and many 
 other things were said then that would not be 
 said now. One person criticised the professor 
 and his school to me to such an extent that these 
 verses came to me: 
 
 CEASE NOT. 
 
 Cease not to strive because you are poor, 
 
 Cease not to do the right; 
 Press bravely to the upward mark 
 
 With vigor, main, and might. 
 
 Antagonized you will be on every hand 
 On account of your wit and zeal; 
 
 The influence of your mighty power 
 Forever make them feel. 
 
 The work, the work, we ought to do 
 
 In this our native land, 
 Where intelligence seems most bright 
 
 Of all the place for man. 
 
 Each one of us must play our part, 
 
 In spite of what they say; 
 Play it in the way we think it best, 
 
 Play it in our own way. 
 
H 
 
 X 
 
 o 
 3 
 > 
 c/i 
 
 S3 
 M 
 
 s 
 
 O 
 
 < 
 
 2 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 o 
 •< 
 
 (A 
 
 H 
 
 2 
 o 
 
 S3 
 
Member of Faculty, Curry Institute 85 
 
 The young ambitious Negro boy 
 
 Is held as though by a rope; 
 He struggles hard to reach the goal 
 
 Built upon nothing but hope. 
 
 The work you do may seem very small 
 To those who are not of a part; 
 
 But you are molding character, 
 
 Considering from whence you start. 
 
 Before entering upon my work there I gave 
 the students a talk in a general way, of which 
 the following is a part: 
 
 "Young Men, Be Strong." 
 Our life is a warfare; our days are but few; 
 our pathway is so obstructed by prejudice and 
 ocstracism that it will take none but the strong 
 to safely reach the goal. It is true that young 
 men must have encouragement in order to aid 
 them in the great life-struggle. 
 
 They must be taught by kind influence and 
 deeds, and not governed so much by the rod of 
 iron. They must be coaxed, and not driven. 
 
 Young men are like children, in that they are 
 great imitators. If the majority of old men 
 
86 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 who are refined and cultured would set better ex- 
 amples and lead better lives themselves, I am 
 sure the majority of young men would imitate 
 them. How encouraging are those words from 
 the First Epistle of John, "I have written unto 
 you, young men, because ye are strong!" They 
 were strong because they had kept the faith and 
 overcome the wicked ones. 
 
 If those who are so wrapped up in faith and 
 righteousness are to have such encouraging 
 words, how much more ought those who are so 
 unfortunate as to be deprived of those golden 
 opportunities ! 
 
 Now, young men, be strong! even if the 
 world hate you, for God is no respecter of per- 
 sons. Paul, in his letter to First Timothy, says, 
 "For the love of money is the root of all evil." 
 That does not mean because you are young you 
 are to throw away your money or spend it fool- 
 ishly, but to be very greedy in self -gain, that 
 "he troubleth his own house." Prov. 15 : 27. 
 
 You will find, too, that it takes money to 
 help make you strong in the great warfare of 
 life as well as in good behavior and education. 
 
IM^g^l:,^ !il;f 
 
 WZ&>^. 
 
 Thomas reading a paper before the Ohio State Eclectic 
 
 Medical Association, Put-in-Bay, Ohio, July, _9C2. 
 
 Thomas the only colored member. 
 
Member of Faculty, Curry Institute 87 
 
 How well one is recognized when he has money ! 
 and how much despised when he has none! "A 
 good man leaveth an inheritance to his children." 
 Prov. 13: 22. "But he that loveth pleasure shall 
 be a poor man; he that loveth wine and oil shall 
 not be rich." Prov. 21 : 17. 
 
 As you grow older and venture into business 
 for yourselves, you will find to your surprise that 
 your troubles have just begun. Those whom you 
 took to be your friends will also treat you coolly 
 and say discouraging things concerning your en- 
 terprise, and your qualifications and fitness for 
 running such a business. 
 
 As a matter of course they will stand you off 
 for some of your goods and go elsewhere and 
 pay cash, at the same time expecting just as 
 much from you as from the man who received 
 the cash. I think we ought to study the young 
 men more. No one can be a successful teacher 
 until he first learns his pupils, for no two have 
 the same disposition. After we have learned 
 them as we should, then put each one upon his 
 merit and worth, and push him from one good 
 thing to another. 
 
88 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 During the year 1897 I had the pleasure of 
 writing a few articles for the Eclectic Medical 
 Journal, printed monthly at Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 I received a very complimentary letter from the 
 editor concerning one of them, which was writ- 
 ten about an "Anencephalous Monster," as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, April 26, 1897. 
 
 T. W. Burton, M. D. 
 
 Dear Doctor: The Academy of Medicine, 
 Paris, France, has noticed your article in our 
 Journal, which is a very high honor, indeed, to 
 you, and also to our Journal. They beg of us 
 that we send them three photographs of the spec- 
 imen, from which they can make suitable cuts 
 or possibly plaster casts for their museum. 
 
 I think it would be greatly to your interest 
 if you would mail me the three photos which 
 were especially made for the Helleburgh Com- 
 pany, who make the cuts for us. 
 
 In regard to the third little electro, we were 
 under the impression that you would have no 
 use for it, and we kept it, as it would probably 
 do for publication for some book in the future. 
 
 Please let us hear from you. 
 Respect fully, 
 
 J. K. Scudder, M. D. 
 
Member of Faculty, Curry Institute 89 
 
 Since I have been in the practice of medicine 
 and surgery I have had the pleasure of perform- 
 ing both minor and major operations. While I 
 like to operate, I am not an alarmist. I find 
 it is good surgery to save all you can. A piece 
 of a finger is better than an artificial one. The 
 surgeon should give the fullest amount of en- 
 couragement to his nervous and timid patients. 
 The surgeon must be master of his situation, not 
 excitable, and go about his several duties in a 
 quiet and dignified manner. 
 
 Sometimes developments of unexpected com- 
 plications arise during the time of the operation. 
 If these occur, the surgeon should not lose his 
 head. 
 
 The practice of medicine is a peculiar thing. 
 A patient will get well quicker if he has the 
 physician he desires to treat him. I believe every 
 one ought to have whom he wants to treat him; 
 but very often the friends of the patient or an 
 enemy of the attending physician will, during 
 the absence of the doctor in charge, call in an- 
 other physician, and the change perhaps will do 
 that patient harm. And the nerson who will 
 
90 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 do that should not be trusted any more than a 
 thief in the night. Such a change often gives 
 the attending physician a bad name. The dura- 
 tion of certain diseases is regulated by fixed 
 laws. They will not end until after the lapse 
 of a certain number of days, and hardly ever ex- 
 ceed this period. 
 
 Some people will get well simply by sugges- 
 tion ; that is, by telling them to do certain things ; 
 and the patient believing what you say is true, 
 will get well. It seems strange, but it is never- 
 theless a fact, the American people like to be 
 humbugged. 
 
 If you tell some people the truth, and tell 
 them for their own good, they will not believe 
 you, simply because you do n't look to suit their 
 fancy. 
 
 I have often thought, and think now, that 
 the devil will get more people on account of 
 prejudice and ostracism which they carry with 
 them daily than any or all the sins they commit. 
 
 Irreverence can show itself in many ways. 
 Pride and self-interest must give way to great 
 principles. Inasmuch as each one has his or her 
 
DR. WILLIAM CHAVIS, 
 Dr. Thomas W. Burton's preceptor. 
 
M ember of Faculty, Curry Institute 91 
 
 work h\the world, they should be encouraged to 
 do it. It is not always easy to do right, I admit; 
 but to whom much is entrusted, from him much 
 is expected. But man lights up the night, that 
 he may lengthen day in his effort to secure that 
 which he does not need, and murders to gain it. 
 He slays reg-ardless of his demands, and con- 
 sumes regardless of his needs. All for money 
 and self. 
 
Sent as a Delegate to National Negro 
 Business League 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 SENT AS A DELEGATE TO NA- 
 TIONAL NEGRO BUSINESS LEAGUE 
 
 The local Business League in Springfield 
 felt it their duty to send a delegate to the Na- 
 tional Negro Business League, which met in the 
 city of Chicago, 111., in 1901, and the honor fell 
 upon me to represent them and to bring back a 
 true report of the proceedings of that session, 
 which I did as follows: 
 
 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL NEGRO 
 
 BUSINESS LEAGUE IN HANDEL HALL, 
 
 46-48 RANDOLPH STREET. 
 
 Chicago, III., August 21-23, 1901. 
 At ten o'clock, A. M., August 21st, the meet- 
 ing was called to order by A. W. F. Taylor, 
 President of a local League in Chicago. Invo- 
 cation by Rev. Dr. J. W. E. Bowen, of Ala- 
 bama. After which an address of welcome on 
 behalf of the State by a member of the Gover- 
 nor's staff was delivered; this address was short, 
 
 but interesting. 
 
 95 
 
96 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 The Governor, Richard Yates, was not in the 
 State. 
 
 An address of welcome on behalf of the city 
 of Chicago was to have been delivered by the 
 Mayor of this city, Hon. Carter H. Harrison, 
 and he, too, was out of the city, and a member 
 of his staff kindly consented to address us. His 
 talk was interesting in regard to the progress 
 the Negro is making. He said that it took the 
 Anglo-Saxon race four hundred years to ac- 
 complish what the Negro has in the short period 
 of time he has been free. He said that he was 
 a Democrat, but not one of those Benjamin Till- 
 man kind. He scored Mr. Tillman for his recent 
 action, and remarks on lynching. 
 
 Booker T. Washington was next introduced, 
 but could not be heard for a long time on account 
 of the prolonged applause. After a time he 
 said: "Ladies and Gentlemen, — This is not a 
 meeting of oratory and speech-making, but a 
 meeting of workers. Our watchword and motto 
 should be, 'Forward, March!' " He pointed to 
 the place of the first meeting, in Boston, last 
 year, with pride, because it was the place where 
 the Negro first shed his blood for freedom. 
 Then he spoke in the highest terms of Illinois, 
 the place of the second meeting, the home of the 
 
Delegate to National Business League 97 
 
 great emancipator. "Again, all through the last 
 year's session order was so harmonious that not 
 a man raised to the point of order. It is what 
 we do that makes us men and women, and what 
 we do n't do. There is no place like the South, 
 with all its ups and downs, which affords the 
 Negro such excellent opportunities. The Negro 
 should begin at the bottom and go up." 
 
 It was said by one during the session that 
 Washington had the same control over those men 
 and women that brain had over matter. He 
 could handle them so very easily. 
 
 Giles B. Jackson, Esq., of Richmond, Va., 
 gave an account of the Business League in Vir- 
 ginia with the remarks, "We may be held back, 
 but not kept back." He said that the organiza- 
 tion had such an influence in Virginia that it 
 caused business men to respect them perhaps 
 where they would not otherwise. 
 
 Rev. W. L. Taylor, Richmond, Va., had a 
 very interesting paper on "Business Features of 
 the Order of True Reformers," an organization 
 that takes in children from three to fourteen 
 years old. This organization was started in 1885 
 and has since banked seven million dollars. Dur- 
 ing Cleveland's last administration the white 
 banks failed to cash an order for fifty dollars. 
 
98 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 The School Board was in need of seventeen thou- 
 sand dollars. They telephoned to the Negro 
 bank to see if they could get the required 
 amount. The answer was that "y ou can get one 
 hundred thousand dollars." They telephoned 
 again, thinking that maybe the black boys were 
 mistaken. They got the same answer; so they 
 came to the Negro bank and found it so busy 
 that they had to wait some time before they 
 could wait on them. The Board presented their 
 check, and was waited upon so quickly they 
 were so struck that they could not leave for some 
 time, watching the black boys do business. 
 
 This bank or company has a number of build- 
 ings and newspaper plants, a mercantile depart- 
 ment which brings in nineteen thousand dollars 
 per year, and an old folks' department worth 
 fourteen thousand dollars (a farm). In each 
 department of this bank their books must show 
 that he or she is all right, and not his or her ap- 
 pearance. They have a chief over all, and a 
 man who is called "accountant." These two 
 men must agree, or else something is wrong. 
 This bank does nineteen thousand dollars' worth 
 of business per week. The Board of Directors 
 of the bank is not satisfied with this; they make 
 the cashier get all the money to correspond with 
 
Delegate to National Business League 99 
 
 all of these books and lay it on the table every 
 Saturday and show to those present. 
 
 Mr. Taylor says that we are too ready to 
 criticise one another in business. He then called 
 his private secretary to stand up, who is just a 
 boy of nineteen years and as black as the derby 
 hat he wore. Mr. Taylor says, "Do you think 
 that there is any white blood in that boy?" 
 
 Mr. J. A. Wilson, of Kansas City, Mo., 
 spoke of what the Twin City Business Associa- 
 tion is accomplishing; he spoke of the progress 
 and various kinds of businesses the Negro is do- 
 ing in that city. 
 
 Theodore W. Jones, of Chicago, 111., had a 
 paper entitled "Can the Negro Succeed as a 
 Business Man?" In every vocation of life the 
 Negro needs more grit and backbone, although 
 he has come from the slave cabin to the profes- 
 sor's chair. The Negro must quit stumbling 
 over impediments of his own and go forward. 
 
 Evening Session, 8 P. M. 
 " The Negro Woman's Business Club of Chi- 
 cago, and its achievements, was spoken of by 
 Mrs. Alberta M. Smith, of Chicago, 111. The 
 club was organized in 1892 for social, political, 
 and industrial purposes. Membership at pres- 
 ent numbering 14,015; worth, $3,000. 
 
100 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 They have an Old Folks' Home connected 
 with it. The typewriting alone cost one hundred 
 dollars per month. She insisted on us all to be 
 natural and not put on so as to pretend we are 
 more than we really are. 
 
 Mr. Corbin, of Arkansas, spoke of the 
 wealth of the Negro there and in the South. He 
 said that one Mr. Wiley Jones was the richest 
 man there, his wealth being estimated at one 
 hundred million dollars. About the time Mr. 
 Corbin finished reading his paper Mr. Washing- 
 ton received a telegram from President McKin- 
 ley, congratulating him and the League. It was 
 stated by Mr. Washington that those who wish 
 to become lifelong members of the League could 
 do so by paying twenty-five dollars. There 
 were several who did so. Also several of the 
 white people joined as lifelong members. 
 
 Judge Gibbs, of Little Rock, Ark., who is 
 an ex- judge of Madagascar, spoke of his start 
 in life and travels, to the present. He spoke of 
 going on the postmaster's bond in Little Rock, 
 who is a white man, for forty thousand dollars. 
 He said, "When you are going into business and 
 fail, again try; if you fail again, try, try; if you 
 fail again, try, try, try!" 
 
 Mr. Charles Banks, of Clarksdale, Miss., 
 
Delegate to National Business League 101 
 
 gave us a talk on the merchandising. He dwelt 
 to a great extent as to how goods should be 
 bought and sold, and our places of business 
 properly kept. He has increased in wealth 
 enough from his trade as a merchant for his 
 taxes to amount to three hundred dollars per 
 year. 
 
 William Oscar Murphy, of Atlanta, Ga., 
 had a paper on "The Grocery Business." He 
 said that he was born a grocer because his father 
 was keeping a grocery when he was born, and 
 to-day he has property worth thirty-five thou- 
 sand dollars, all unincumbered. 
 
 A. N. Johnson, of Mobile, Ala., who is a 
 druggist, editor of a weekly newspaper, and an 
 undertaker, gave us an interesting talk on Ne- 
 gro business enterprises of Mobile. Out of 
 thirty-six clerks in the postofnce in Mobile, 
 twenty-eight of them are Negroes. One Negro 
 named Mr. Peters, by the way, who was present 
 at the meeting, owns forty-eight houses and lots 
 in Mobile, Ala. The rating of business done by 
 Negroes in Mobile in the various businesses 
 ranges from eight dollars to seventy-five dollars 
 per day. One Negro in the furniture business 
 has an income of one hundred dollars per day. 
 
102 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 Thursday Morning, 10 O'Clock. 
 
 Prayer by Rev. Dr. Morse, of Arkansas. 
 The doctor is also a business man, and has been 
 for twenty-five years. He is in the dry goods 
 business. In a town of three thousand inhabit- 
 ants the Negroes are in forty-three different 
 kinds of business, and ask for a reasonable por- 
 tion of business, not all. Reverses, he said, come 
 to all races. So when they fail, they should try 
 again. 
 
 Dr. Willis S. Stems gave us a talk on the 
 drug business. The doctor is located in Decatur, 
 Ala. He said that there is in the State of Ala- 
 bama an association composed of doctors of 
 medicine, doctors of dental surgery, and doctors 
 of pharmacy, of which he is President. The 
 members of this association all own their homes 
 except three. 
 
 Mr. Russell, of St. Louis, Mo., gave us an 
 interesting talk on the undertaking business. 
 He started in business in 1894 in the rear of an 
 old stable, with one horse and a spring wagon. 
 Not one of the other undertakers nor stables 
 would hire to him at twenty-five dollars per day, 
 and to-day his income annually, from funerals 
 alone, amounts to over twenty-five thousand dol- 
 lars. Since he became an undertaker he has ed- 
 
Delegate to National Business League 103 
 
 ucated two of his sisters ; one of them clerks for 
 him in the undertaking establishment, and the 
 other clerks in a grocery, also owned by him. 
 
 Mr. G. E. Jones, of Little Rock, Ark., who 
 owns and conducts an undertaking establish- 
 ment, a livery stable, tailor shop, and a drug- 
 store, and also a business block known as the 
 Jones Block, all of which are paid for, said it 
 really seemed for a while that no race had any 
 money and carried on any business but the 
 Negro. 
 
 The colored business women of the East were 
 well represented by Mrs. Dora A. Miller, Brook- 
 lyn, N. Y. Mrs. Miller stated that they have 
 a club, the membership of which numbers sev- 
 enty-five women. Every member of this club 
 was in business for herself ; such as regalia-mak- 
 ing, grocery-keeping, bakeries, hand-painting, 
 dye houses, ladies' exchange, chiropodist, and so 
 on. The ladies' exchange, she said, found many 
 a home for girls who could not find work them- 
 selves. 
 
 A Mrs. Lewis, of Springfield, 111., told of 
 her start in the hair-dressing business twenty-six 
 years ago on fifty dollars, and has saved thirty- 
 six thousand dollars and taught others the trade. 
 
 Mr. Gilbert C. Harris, of Boston, Mass., also 
 
104 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 a wigmaker and hair-dresser, carried a capital 
 stock of ten thousand dollars in the hair business, 
 all of which is his. 
 
 Walter P. Hall, of Philadelphia, Pa., had a 
 paper on the "Game and Poultry Business." 
 This business brought him a yearly income of 
 fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars. 
 
 Mrs. Emma L. Pitts, of Macon, Ga., told 
 us the way she started in the millinery and dress- 
 making business. She said that her husband 
 died, leaving her without money, and her health 
 would not allow her to take in washing; so, in 
 order to help several girls who were idle, she 
 started in the business on nothing, and to-day 
 she employs one hundred girls. She spoke of 
 wanting to raise money enough to put into her 
 place of business more machinery. So very ex- 
 cellent was her paper, as soon as she had taken 
 her seat, one Mr. Martin Ferguson, of Jackson- 
 ville, Fla., arose with a fiery speech and, holding 
 up a five-dollar bill, said that there ought to be 
 thirty men in the house who would give five dol- 
 lars to a woman who had the courage to come 
 all the way from Georgia to tell us what she 
 was doing there. Mr. Booker T. Washington 
 and two other men gave five dollars for said 
 purpose. 
 
Delegate to National Business League 105 
 
 There was no night session Thursday even- 
 ing, but instead there was a banquet tendered 
 the officers and delegates at First Regiment Ar- 
 mory, at Sixteenth and Michigan Boulevard. 
 Mr. Washington was the center of attraction. 
 Twenty-five thousand people were present. 
 After the speaking the platform was removed 
 and one thousand took part in dancing at one 
 time. It was one of the prettiest sights I wit- 
 nessed while in Chicago. It impressed Mr. 
 Washington so much that he spoke of it at the 
 next day's session. 
 
 We were also highly entertained by another 
 club, known as the Appomattox, at its parlors, 
 No. 3144 Wabash Avenue. 
 
 Friday Morning, 10 O'Clock. 
 
 Fred D. Patterson, Greenfield, Ohio, gave 
 an interesting talk on the carriage manufactur- 
 ing. He said that a college education had noth- 
 ing to do with making a successful business man. 
 Often he thought his father was wrong, but 
 every time it was he who was wrong, and his 
 father was right. He finds, in carriage making, 
 it takes a man of common sense, push, and 
 hustle. 
 
 Mr. Martin Ferguson, of Jacksonville, Fla., 
 
106 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 told of his experience as an ice dealer and in the 
 livery stable business. He started on nothing, 
 but now owns both of these places of business. 
 
 A. M. Boyd, of Nashville, Tenn., told how 
 he started about fifteen years ago with two pen- 
 cils and paper, and to-day he has one of the 
 largest printing establishments in the South. 
 He employs 125 men and women. 
 
 The election of officers then followed. 
 
 Mr. Fairweather, of Newport, R. I., a black- 
 smith; forty years' experience. Out of sixty- 
 five horses shod by him, about fifteen belong to 
 Negroes. He said that the Negro North has 
 not been educated up to patronize one another 
 as yet. He said that most any blacksmith can 
 put a shoe on a horse; but when it comes to the 
 scientific part of shoeing, very few can do that. 
 When it comes to fast trotting horses, to keep 
 them from forging and interfering, it is more 
 than a notion to stop them. 
 
 Mr. J. C. Napier, of Nashville, Tenn., gave 
 an interesting talk on real estate. He said that 
 prejudice in the South proved an advantage to 
 the Negro rather than a hindrance. 
 
 C. H. Smiley, of Chicago, 111., gave us an 
 interesting talk on catering. He said that he 
 started waiting table in 1890, with fifty cents. 
 
Delegate to National Business League 107 
 
 He waited on a lady who soon took a trip East, 
 and when she came back she made the assertion 
 that there was only one man in Chicago who 
 could serve a party, and that was a black man 
 by the name of C. H. Smiley. From that his 
 fame started. He spoke of his linen, among 
 other things. He has napkins from two dollars 
 per dozen to fifteen dollars a piece; tablecloths 
 from five dollars a piece to eight hundred dollars 
 a piece. His wealth is now estimated at two 
 hundred thousand dollars. I had the pleasure of 
 visiting his place of business. 
 
 Mr. John S. Trainer, of Philadelphia, Pa., 
 said that he would rather his son be in business 
 for himself than to hold a government position. 
 
 Friday afternoon Mr. Armour chartered a 
 train pulling coaches and took all of us dele- 
 gates, even women and children, free of charge, 
 to his slaughterhouses and stockyards. It was 
 the most interesting sight of anything I saw 
 while in Chicago. They kill ten thousand hogs 
 a day in that one plant alone; 2,044 head of cat- 
 tle a day. The stockyards of Chicago are as 
 large as Springfield. 
 
 At last we came to the evening session. 
 
 One Mr. Clifford, of West Virginia, told the 
 League that where he lived land can be bought 
 
108 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 for fifty to seventy-five cents per acre, and that 
 there is enough timber on top, and coal in the 
 ground, to last seventy-five years. He urged the 
 League to buy it. 
 
 Mr. T. Thomas Fortune, editor of the New 
 York Age, of New York, gave us an interesting 
 talk on "The Logic of Business Development." 
 
 Isaiah T. Montgomery, of Mound Bayou, 
 Miss., gave an account of a Negro city there, 
 owned and controlled by Negroes. 
 
 Rev. S. L. Davis, of Hobson City, Ala., who 
 is also the Mayor of that city, told us about the 
 founding of the Negro city. 
 
 The Rev. J. W. E. Bowen, of Alabama, 
 closed with a stirring and forcible address. The 
 session closed to meet in Richmond, Va., next 
 year. 
 
 Yours, respectfully submitted, 
 
 Thomas W. Burton, M. D. 
 
 Springfield, Ohio. 
 
As a Christian Worker 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 AS A CHRISTIAN WORKER 
 
 Certainly we are to profit by reading the 
 acts of others, whether they are right or wrong, 
 good or bad. History may be defined as a divine 
 institution which was intended by our Maker to 
 assist in the progress of developing man. 
 
 Very often by reading the acts of others has 
 come a warning to me; their footprints seen in 
 the history which indicate their fate tell me that 
 a like fate may befall me should the precedents 
 be disregarded; and as near as I can I try to 
 follow that infallible rule, that is: Do unto 
 others as I would have them do unto me. 
 
 One of the greatest pleasures of my life is 
 Sunday-school work. Although a busy medical 
 practitioner, unless there is something very urg- 
 ent, I must spend the Sunday-school hour with 
 the children and young folks. It is the duty 
 
 of every Christian to study the Book of books, 
 
 m 
 
112 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 which is the Holy Bible. By familiarizing our- 
 selves with this book, by studying it daily — 
 which one will have to do in order to become fa- 
 miliar with it — then we will depend more upon 
 God when there comes a succession of falls, 
 fountain of tears, upward struggles and debased 
 and bleeding heart, and not tell our troubles to 
 man. Man may mean all right, but he has an- 
 other friend, to whom he will divulge your se- 
 crets, and yet at the same time he is supposed 
 to be in sympathy with you. When you find 
 yourself deceived you will think of the words 
 of the Psalmist David when he complaineth of 
 his enemies' treachery: "Yea, mine own familiar 
 friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my 
 bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. But 
 then, O Lord, be merciful unto me and raise 
 me up, that I may requite them." (Psalm 41: 
 9, 10.) 
 
 I find, if we live as God would like to have 
 us live, when the storms of vexations, disap- 
 pointments, and besetments overtake us, if we 
 turn to this blessed Book we will find consola- 
 tion, as did the children of Israel when assured 
 
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As a Christian Worker 113 
 
 by Moses, while being pursued by the Egyp- 
 tians, if they stand still they will see the salva- 
 tion of the Lord manifested. (Ex. 14:13.) 
 And while we thus divest ourselves of all intel- 
 lectual pride and enter into the realm of wisdom 
 we can truly say, with assurance, "Her ways are 
 ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 peace." (Prov. 3: 17.) 
 
 It takes men and women of moral courage 
 to accomplish these things. All honor to our 
 great and good women, who are doing so very 
 much for our young people as well as our older 
 ones. We have so many good women who are 
 well informed and could do a great deal for the 
 uplifting of our young people, but they are too 
 timid to launch out. We must first have con- 
 fidence in ourselves, then by our works and deeds 
 others will be helped. 
 
 I admire a woman who delights in working 
 with the hand as well as the head; who, when she 
 works, has something to show for her labor; and 
 wherever she may chance to be, can adapt her- 
 self to the surroundings, and there remain with- 
 out assumption. These qualities we can find in 
 
 8 
 
114 What Experience Has Taught 31 e 
 
 the person of Mrs. Henry Linden, of Spring- 
 field, Ohio, who is the author of "Scraps of 
 Time, Etc.," and who deserves great commenda- 
 tion for what she has accomplished by her own 
 efforts and energy. 
 
 It was during the time I was acting super- 
 intendent of North Street African Methodist 
 Episcopal Sunday-school, when there was a 
 Sinking Fund Society organized in the Sunday- 
 school for the purpose of helping children who 
 could not come to the Sunday-school for the lack 
 of proper clothing and encouragement. After 
 our usual collection for the Sunday-school there 
 was a basket passed, marked "Sinking Fund," 
 and in it was placed one cent from each one 
 present (if they had it), and this money was 
 turned over to the treasurer of that society, 
 whose officers consisted of a president, secretary, 
 and treasurer. 
 
 There was a standing lookout committee, 
 whose duty it was to look after those children 
 who were so unfortunate as not to have suitable 
 clothes for church and Sunday-school. And to 
 my surprise we found dozens of children who 
 
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As a Christian Worker 115 
 
 did not and do not go to any Sunday-school nor 
 church. Some of these children live in alleys, 
 and streets, too, a distance of one square from 
 the church. I find it so in every city. In the 
 first place, the parents of these children will have 
 to become interested in sending the child or chil- 
 dren to the Sunday-school, and have them to un- 
 derstand that, in case the child or children fail 
 to attend Sunday-school after they have been 
 clothed by the Sinking Fund Committee, the 
 said clothes are confiscated. 
 
 We find a great many children, though com- 
 paratively naked, yet they refused to be clothed 
 by that committee on account of their peculiar 
 pride or feeling of independence. I have seen 
 ~ome of those children who came to Sunday- 
 school by the aid of this committee contribute 
 one cent to the Sinking Fund within one month 
 after they were in attendance in the Sunday- 
 school themselves. These children should be im- 
 pressed that they are the future Church and that 
 all the cares and responsibilities of the Church 
 will some day fall upon them. 
 
 I assure you that this organization was a 
 great success and is to-day. 
 
116 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 I find the reason why so many Sunday- 
 schools stay on the drag is, because they lack the 
 proper interest on the part of the superintend- 
 ents and teachers in the Sunday-school work. 
 The superintendent should be one among the 
 first at Sunday-school, and always on time; and 
 when the time comes to open he should do so if 
 there are only three present besides himself or 
 herself, as the case may be. 
 
 There should be a great deal of singing in 
 the Sunday-school; such songs as children can 
 sing, and fancy. If you want to suit the child 
 along this line, sing something quick and lively. 
 Poor singing in Sunday-school sounds very dis- 
 couraging to me. Good singing will keep the 
 Sunday-school together a great deal better than 
 a set of poor teachers. I mean by that, teachers 
 who will not study the Sunday-school lesson, 
 only on Saturday night or Sunday morning just 
 before going to Sunday-school. 
 
 The teachers who look over their lessons in 
 that manner can not interest a class an hour con- 
 cerning that lesson. But the teacher who reads 
 the connection between the lessons, and reads the 
 lessons as well once a day the week through, can 
 
As a Christian Worker 117 
 
 interest any class an hour or two hours; this is 
 what experience has taught me. Teachers 
 should attend weekly teachers' meetings and fa- 
 miliarize themselves with "Moninger," or some 
 training for service course. Each class should 
 he numbered and designated by a beautiful card 
 suspended over each class by a nice and neat 
 little chain, and these fastened to a rod, mov- 
 able, so that they can all be gathered up after 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 There should be two banners in the Sunday- 
 school room: one for the primary and interme- 
 diate classes, and the other for the Bible or ad- 
 vanced classes. 
 
 No one should be elected as superintendent 
 of a Sunday-school who is not competent to 
 demonstrate or will not demonstrate the Sunday- 
 school lesson or lessons. 
 
 The superintendent should see to it that 
 strangers are cared for, make them feel wel- 
 come, and place them in suitable classes. 
 
 I find that the Sinking Fund Society con- 
 nected with the Sunday-school does a great deal 
 of good to those schools where there is a general 
 impression among the children who do not at- 
 
118 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 tend any Sunday-school, and to a great many of 
 those who do, that if I put on the very best I 
 have or am able to get and go down to or up to, 
 as the case may be, to that Sunday-school, they 
 always make fun of me. I do n't believe that 
 I will go about them. 
 
 I have seen some Sunday-schools where the 
 child really had a right to think so. I have 
 known parents to fix up their child or children 
 to send them off to one of the Sunday-schools 
 on time, and the child or children would only 
 go as far as the church door, and pass on and 
 play until about the time Sunday-school is out, 
 then go home and tell their parents that they 
 had been to Sunday-school. 
 
 Well, they had been to the door. 
 
 I find that some Sunday-schools and 
 churches are like individuals in this, that they 
 reach the place where they become selfish. We 
 should ever keep before us the exhortation of 
 the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians, "Be ye kind 
 one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one to 
 another, even as God for Christ's sake hath for- 
 given you." (Eph. 4: 32.) 
 
Dr. Thomas William Burton having the connubial knot tied, 
 August 3, 1893, to Miss Hattie B. Taylor. 
 
People Should Think for Themselves 
 
CHAPTER 
 
 PEOPLE SHOULD THINK FOR 
 THEMSELVES 
 
 It really amuses me sometimes to see how 
 little some people think for themselves, espe- 
 cially when they have been advised by one who 
 has always proved to be a friend to them. Still 
 they put their business in the hands of those who 
 deprive them of their substance. At the same 
 time they try to impress one that they are very 
 wise and honest with it. 
 
 The old folks as well as the young ones will 
 do likewise. While talking with one of these 
 peculiar people on one occasion, the following 
 verses came to me: 
 
 I AM NOT 31 AD. 
 
 I am not mad,, but very sad, 
 
 To think how they retreat; 
 The stylish young as well as old 
 
 Are always on the beat. 
 
 121 
 
122 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 They beat the rich, they beat the poor, 
 They beat their supposed friend; 
 
 They clamor after nonsense things, 
 And get beat themselves in the end. 
 
 Their debts and deeds they will not pay 
 Unless by force they 're made; 
 
 Hard times, they say, and wages low; 
 Are always ashing aid. 
 
 It *s not the amount which makes us rich, 
 But it is what we save, instead; 
 
 Economy is a noble thing, 
 Look not upon it with a dread. 
 
 There is another class of people who are easily 
 influenced and led by those whose very inten- 
 tions are to tear down. Yet, while those who 
 are being led are innocent in a sense, they for- 
 get to use their own common sense in regard to 
 what the future may bring to them. For it is 
 certain that they will be scattered one from the 
 other by their own doings if let alone. 
 
 God deals with individuals just as He deals 
 with nations, and He deals with nations just as 
 He deals with individuals. 
 
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People Should Think for Themselves 123 
 
 There was a time, before the flood, when 
 God saw that the wickedness of man was great 
 in the earth, and that every imagination of the 
 thoughts of his heart was only evil; this pro- 
 voked God's wrath and caused the flood. ( Gen. 
 6:5.) 
 
 After the flood, and that the earth had been 
 replenished, the people had become prolific as 
 the sand of the sea, generation after generation 
 had come upon the scene of action, the whole 
 earth was of one language and of one speech. 
 They became so prosperous in the land of 
 Shinar, luxury and earthly pleasure at their 
 command, they fancied within themselves that 
 they would go to heaven in their own way; but 
 God said to the Trinity, "Go to, let us go down, 
 and there confound their language, that they 
 may not understand one another's speech." 
 (Gen. 11:7.) 
 
 After this was done the people were scat- 
 tered abroad from thence upon the face of all 
 the earth, speaking different tongues, pursuing 
 different vocations for a livelihood, and they be- 
 gan to mold customs peculiar to each language. 
 
124 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 Thus God showed them that the building of 
 Babel must cease. 
 
 So many people to-day are clamoring after 
 new-fangled teachings, running pellmell to Sun- 
 day baseball, Sunday park amusements, Sunday 
 excursions, and many other unnecessary things, 
 — all for the love of money. 
 
 "For the love of money is the root of all 
 evil; which, while some coveted after, they have 
 erred from the faith, and pierced themselves 
 through with many sorrows." (1 Tim. 6: 3-10.) 
 
 If individuals cultivate this love for money 
 to the extent that they forget the Sabbath, and 
 do not hold it as a day devoted to pious medita- 
 tion, a day intended as a principal testimony of 
 faith in the Creator of the universe, they too 
 forget the brotherhood of man and the Father- 
 hood of God. If they persist in going this way 
 they shall be punished according to the fruit of 
 their doings. (Jer. 21:14.) 
 
 If one has a great deal of business relations 
 with different kinds of people, that person is 
 no longer disappointed in them and can always 
 read them aright. Of course, we have no power 
 
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People Should Think for Themselves 125 
 
 of penetrating into their very souls and seeing 
 the underlying motives which are at work there, 
 but we can see and read enough so as to be 
 warned of them while dealing with them or 
 while being in their presence. 
 
 I find it good policy to always speak well of 
 a person unless you are talking to that person; 
 if so, then you can tell him or her just what 
 you please. When Christ was here upon earth 
 in the form of man, mingling and dealing with 
 men, He always spoke of the highest, the best, 
 and the truest in men. We should always hold 
 up and keep before us the honor of our great 
 men and women ; we must make our own worthy 
 history. 
 
 A few months after the death of Paul Lau- 
 rence Dunbar there was a day set apart in 
 Springfield, Ohio, for his memorial, and of 
 which I wrote the following verses: 
 
 ALL HONOR TO THE DAY. 
 
 All honor to the day we celebrate,, 
 
 Bedecked as it is in flowers 
 In memory of him who won his fame 
 
 Through sunshine, clouds, and showers. 
 
126 What Experience Has Taught Me 
 
 In a perpetual tone this day should be kept, 
 
 Each year as the days go by,, 
 Fresh in the minds of the American youth. 
 
 And its purpose should never die. 
 
 Teach them it J s the day that we have set apart 
 
 To show our esteeming love 
 For the one who shoved his poetic pen 
 
 With a gift from Him who is above. 
 
 Teach them that a mighty man has fallen, 
 Though young when he left the stage; 
 
 That he was a genius among his fellows, 
 He was a monument of his age. 
 
 He was one who stood erect and stalwart, 
 Who could be seen near and far; 
 
 He was master of his situation, — 
 All honor to Paul Laurence Dunbar! 
 
 May this memorial be an incentive 
 
 For the young and for the old; 
 May it be kept alive for generations, 
 
 And its interest be forever told. 
 
 May it be told with growing interest, 
 
 Each year as we chance to meet, 
 That a man is measured by his worth and fitness, 
 
 In honor of such is a day we keep. 
 
 H 178 81 
 

 
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