) 
 
 \, Vv ^ ^ • • • • 
 
 
LAWRENCE J. GUTTER 
 
 Collection of Chicogoono 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 AT CHICAGO 
 
 The University Library 
 

l2/{ 'T'^^^lx vLuy^ ^A-f^ ^Jjtyi^*^^^ 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive 
 
 in 2010 witli funding from 
 
 CARLI: Consortium of Academic and Researcli Libraries in Illinois 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/matthewpetersforOOgoug 
 
lotlier, Mrs. Anise Sli.-irp Kob- 
 -ts,in;iiiitaine(l fjiifoftln.- "Stations" 
 f the Underground Kailro.-id. Utrc- 
 e lived among the pinv and lolly 
 nils, who gave liini in theii^ Iiouk' 
 ie place of a son 
 
 indtiess were healed, and tlie t'oini- 
 ation of a Iridy noI)le character 
 Lrengthened and uiaUircd l)y 
 Mother" Roberts and the heallh- 
 d surroundings ol' tlic new home. 
 he civil war began, .\pril 21st, 
 
 sireei gamni lor wnom sue nati ten- 
 derly ;ind lovingly cared nearly half 
 a eentui'v before. Maj. Peters is one 
 of the nation's true nobleman. He 
 is a man of fine literary attainments* 
 The sears ol' mi- <iiid creditably served one term in 
 the legislature of this state. He pos- 
 sesses Hne business ability and iS cs- 
 teeine<l by all wiio know him for his 
 high iiuegrily. We iiave begged ] »er- 
 mission of ihe ina'jor to publish in 
 this ])ai)er, next week? his [)oem 
 
 801, heenlistedatS])ringlield. Ohio, ' "t'"<'^''"-''' ■'"'' '•" ^vritten upon the 
 I Co. E, 10th Ohio Volunteers and i '"^■''•'-""t of his service in the I'nion 
 
 army and his brother's service in the 
 Confederate army. We cannot close 
 this brief biogra])hical sketch with- 
 out acknowledging our obligatiqrl 
 
 mm 
 
 :;rved his term in N'irginiaand Mary- 
 
 md during the summer. In the fall 
 
 e re-enlisted at Xenia, Oliio in Co.; 
 
 \ 74th Ohio Volunteers, under Capt. ' 
 
 ortk, who was a brother of General ; t^^ ^^I''^- Helen M.Goi.ger. who wrote 
 
 eorj^e Cocrk. Altogether he servecM^^f' published in book formtheslorv 
 
 ~ T fthe life of Major Peters. The 
 Suook is entitled, "A Foreign Emi- 
 s:js^rant" and is an interesting history 
 "C \nd a beautiful tribute to our worthy 
 'Uieighbor and fellow townsman. 
 
 '■-«.\o((i; .->iii ,o .\UB JO Ado.-».io.i A 
 
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 ^H '11.1.1.11;^^ -,1 ^^ :.iiis.-..\.u:i| 
 
 ^■i!(|-|[..s •^v,v\.n..{, •d.n.Mis v -l" lu, 
 
 _>ni ii.ui.'i • no i.x^u 1.1,1 'inojis||.-»v^ mi 
 
 ^^ -..u-^pwir; pi;o.i •(iii.'Nj.i,! -spj.JU till 
 
 _j (I S ^''iniU.o -pUWISI .Ml|v| M.Ml .M\ 
 
 ^••'I •\- :.i.->uii.'|d n.io.t -i.-wLMio '•'•"'1 pu 
 
 ' H r :'^S.->.ld 1U1.M>[ .I.->IU.'S ^"fuipiM.-I -xj.-i 
 
 T : "ssHpno^i V Ipui; rino I M 'm: 
 W-..,w..inj xfuiuinsu«).-» .■»>n)uis '^juijuiiy 
 lpM[suii^ -a -.VV :-'--'pni.ir; -pin-ixi .-.ii-.; 
 
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 4iii>[ >->uL[ s iir>.i|)[ii[;) 
 
NOVEMBER 15, 'Qoo. 
 
 WATSEKA, ILL., 
 
 »SS)?9*saSiSSS***S3*«SSSSSS*®SS999i**S*S*3!SgfgSgSi5SSaas 
 
 HON. AlATTHEWS HENRY PETERS. 
 
 Maj. IV-KTs «:i~ born in tlu' l.ur- wanlcil anil n.U Unvs. lUil nothing 
 ilOlicr niurti.a-li in r,crni:iny, jiinL- ilannU-d, he iirest-ntiid himself to 
 inlv, IS-i:!. In lS4i; his parents i andthcr officer, Licnt. Wni.H.\Yade, 
 came to Americil .nnl laniled at New ! who enlisted him saying however 
 Orleans. In IS,",,", ihcterrihle seonrge . that he did-not think he would pass 
 ,,l yell,)w lever e;irrie,l away the ninster. The eompany was harried 
 thriftv lailieran,] nlotlier anil also lo L'oUnnlnis, the state eapital, for 
 two ehihlren. le;,ving .M.atthew and inspeetion. I'eters passed ninster 
 hisln-olher S;,ninel. aged respectively wlnlc sever.al others older, ami lai-g- 
 1(1 an,l s vc.ars, orpli.an w,-.irs cr, were rejeclc.l. 
 
 to lie cared lor l.v the htfiddeerecs ,,f Unring the civil war, Samnel. the 
 chance an.l eh.-n-itv. The tw,, l.oys M.aior's In-,,ther, was in the Cnled- 
 f,,nnd an .-isvlnm ,at rni oriihanagei.i cr.ite service. ;m„1 was ,-, nicnd.cr of 
 .Nov (irlean- where ihev renn.i.ted the Thir,l I„ ,,nMana ca valrv .\lter 
 .nttil bound ., lit t,, those whosonght the close of the war M.ijor IVters 
 snch nnlortini.atc wails of s.ieiclv ;is bcg.an .a search lor his brother and 
 .Matthew was lifter nineli per,scveraiiee limn, I him, 
 ,lriekcn laihn-, since which time llu bn, tilers h.ave 
 
 linen t, lie bm'c ' st.,iies of their live> One of the most 
 and maltreat- lonehing illciilents ,if the li le . ,f .\l.ai. 
 iths .ami ihcn I'eters relates t,, the last ve.ars ol 
 an aw.ay from' ".Mother" R.ilicrts InlST.",, uhen 
 he w.as ,S1' veals of age, ^l,ajor 
 
 those for servants 
 where he niel will 
 
 braving .all da, 
 his ernel 
 
 While loile 
 
 alionl the levee, hungry ami ,lesolate i I'eleis and his estimable wile learned 
 
 he met Heiirv S, Koberts, one of that Mrs. Roberts was alone in the 
 
 I hose fearless' and noble sonls who j world. With lo 
 
 in those d.avK devoted their lives and 
 
 energies to the liberations of slrives 
 
 from bondage.. Mr. Koberts learned 
 
 some tilings from the boy, |irobably 
 
 was brought to Watseka, ami 
 the cosiest corner, not only ii 
 home but in 1 he hearts of the Ma,iOj 
 and Mrs. IVters. On .|ami 
 1 ,S'.).|., this venerable s.iiiil .11 the m 
 
 i 
 
ilH-iu |.,r s.inu ninmlis .-m.l tllell 
 hr.-iviiiy .-.li ,l;,,i,t;ci-s nm away from 
 Ills Liucl iiiastL-r. While loitering j 
 about tlic levee, hungry anddesolafe [ 
 lie met Henry S. Roberts, one of 
 those fearless an. 1 noble souls «-ho 
 in those .lays ilevote.l their lives and I 
 energies to the liberations of slaves 
 from bondage. Mr. K.jljcrts learned 
 s.nne things from the boy. probablv 
 -iiessed mueh more, and hna'.U 
 
 lOU 
 
 ■hing 
 
 ineid 
 
 ents .iftlK 
 
 Pet 
 
 ■rs re 
 
 ates 
 
 t.. the la 
 
 ■M 
 
 nlicr 
 
 ' Ko 
 
 lerts In 
 
 she 
 
 was 
 
 .SI' 
 
 veai-s ..r 
 
 Pet 
 
 -rs ai 
 
 .1 his 
 
 esiim.-dile 
 
 tha 
 
 Mrs 
 
 K.,1 
 
 
 wo, 
 
 Id. 
 
 Witl 
 
 L.viug ea 
 
 \va.- 
 
 hr,.i 
 
 ,t;ht t 
 
 o Watsek 
 
 the 
 
 eosfe^ 
 
 t eor 
 
 ler in>t 
 
 , and gi 
 iilv in 
 
 the h, 
 
 npany 
 
 "Stati. 
 
 per- 
 suaded M.-itthew t< 
 north. .Mr, Ko 
 
 tSpringlielil, Ohio, 
 
 j mother. .Mrs. .\i 
 ertp, maintained on 
 of thellndert;T.>nnd Kailr.iad, Here 
 
 ; he lived am.mg the ]nnv an.l lofty 
 souls, who gave him in their home 
 
 i the phiee of a son. The se.nrs .Tl'iin- 
 kindness \\'ere healed, and the foun- 
 
 I dation of a truly noble ehanieter 
 strengthened and matured b\ 
 "Mother" Roberts and the health- 
 ful surroundings of the new home. 
 The eivil war began. April 21st, 
 
 I 1861, he enlisted at Springfield, Ohio, 
 
 I in Co. E, Kith Ohio Yolttnteers and 
 
 I served his term in Virginia and Marv- 
 land during the summer. In the fall 
 
 t l)e re-enlisted at Xenia, Ohio in Co. 
 
 ! F, 7-tth Ohio Volunteers, under Capt. 
 
 i Cool;, who was a brother of General 
 George Cooi;. .\ltogether he served 
 four years and three months. He 
 wasseverely wounded at the battle 
 of Stone River, Dec. 31st, 1862, in the 
 right arm, which is still partially 
 disabled. He was severely wounded 
 again in the Atlantic campaign, on 
 May 9th, 1864, in his right leg, the 
 leg being broken and three inches of 
 bone being removed. He entered 
 the service as a private, but was pro- 
 moted from time to time, as sergeant 
 lieutenant, captain and finally ma- 
 jor. He organized the first militia 
 company in Iroquois county in 1873 
 aud was chosen captain. This cora- 
 
 1 pany \Vas assigned to the 9th regi- 
 ment Illinois National Guard and 
 Maj. Peters was appointed colonel 
 of the regiment. He held this rank 
 until he resigned it in 1883. At the 
 breaking out of the war Maj. Peters, 
 then a lad in his eighteenth year, 
 was teaching school at Clifton, 0. 
 He had two months of an unexpired 
 term to teach, but his spirit of patri- 
 otism was roused when he heard the 
 call for 75,000 soldiers to defend the 
 Union. He went to the trustees of 
 the district, secured his release from 
 his contract to teach and hastened 
 to Springfield to enhst. What was 
 his chagrin when the captain (Phillip 
 Kershncr) tol.l lii?u it was men he 
 
 fthe Mai. 11 
 and Mrs. Peters, On (anuarv ISth, 
 i lSi)4, this vener.able saint at the age 
 j of 1112 years, passed to her eterna* 
 [rest. For 21 years she was th. 
 igue.stof the beautiful home of th^ 
 i street ,sauiin for whom she had ten- 
 derly and lovingly eared nearly half 
 a century before. Maj. Peters is one 
 of the nation's true nobleman. He 
 is a man of fine literary attainments, 
 an. lere.litalfiy served one term 'in! 
 the legislature of this state. He pos-j 
 sesses fine business ability and is es^ 
 teenu-.l Ijy all who ku..w him fbr hig 
 high inte,grity. We have begged per^ 
 mission of the major to publish ilil 
 
 thi: 
 
 pap. 
 
 poeijfl 
 
 "I'.n.ther .'in.! I." written upon thJ 
 ineuleut ..riiis service in the Fnioil 
 army aud his !)r.itlicr's service in the' 
 Confederate army. We cannot close 
 this brief biographical sketch with- 
 out acknowdcdging .lur <>bligati..)n 
 to Mrs. Helen M.Goi.ger. who wrote 
 and published in book I'orm thestorv 
 of the life of Major Peters. The 
 book is entitled, "A Foreign Emi- 
 grant" and is an interesting history 
 and a beautiful tribute to our worthy 
 neighbor and fellow townsman. 
 
It- 
 
 ily 
 
 1)C 
 
 lis 
 (k1 
 on 
 go 
 
 is 
 
 !1C1 
 
 nd 
 Its 
 (li- 
 tul 
 lat 
 an 
 ct- 
 Ibs 
 
 JtS 
 
 )cr 
 
 ■(Is 
 
 ip- 
 
 is 
 
 yp- 
 nd 
 id'e 
 ter 
 'he 
 :he 
 ;h^ 
 
 of blasts that hiow; 
 111 tlu- talHiiK I'a'ns oftlu- .'lutuinn what hopes 
 
 (if till- lu-arl arc drowned, 
 W'Iktc suiniiicrs abideth eternal and •."eres is 
 
 i-o!)ed and crowned? 
 Kejoiee: for the Goddess ot'l'lenty halli smiled 
 
 on our labors di)ne! 
 Kejoiee! o'er the h irvesls that rijiened 'mid 
 
 splendor ofsnirinier snn! 
 Kejoiee! o'er c; eh ^jrarnered blessint; 'mid ilritl- 
 
 injr leaves and r;iin! 
 Rejoice! thoiijih the Frost Kinji's pennons are 
 
 fiashina: o'er hill and plain! 
 Kejoiee! that all strife is banished from the 
 
 len-ith and breath of the land! 
 Rejoice! with each alien brother, extendin.u- a 
 
 helpinf!: hand! 
 Rejoice! let our national anthem e'en echo tlu 
 
 world aroijnd ! 
 The man of our choice is honored and Ceres is 
 
 robed and cro\vned! 
 
 List of Patents. 
 
 The iohowing- is a hst ot patents 
 yrantcd to Ilhnois inventors this 
 week, reported by C. A. Sno\v& Co., 
 jiatent attorneys, Washington, D. C. 
 — E. r>anil)eriier, deviee for lianging 
 shelves, drawers, ete.; \V. P.eltield, 
 Platterville, U)ek nut for vehiele ax- 
 els; H. Bennett & j. E. Moore, New 
 Haven, elod ernsher; j. liower, To- 
 l)eka, wagon body; J. N. I'runo, East 
 St. Louis, ])ork skinning inaehine; ]. 
 \V. (ivonewold, Golden, drinking 
 trough lor hogs or eattle. W. I>. 
 Hartley, Scnithport, selfdicalingeom- 
 ])ound for tire punetures; \V. A. Hill, 
 Ursa, eoui)lling' for poles or thills; J. 
 . Hillerv, Colehester, eheek row corn 
 planter: (;. P. HTtlloway, Oak Park, 
 l)oat; O. O. Hohnan, LaGrangc, ato- 
 ' niizer; H. E. Irwin, Galesburg, dnfter 
 for cutter truards; L. D. Lawn in, hU]- 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 « 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 
 r 
 
 Mad 
 
 ai 
 
 ....Thick Sole 
 
 OUR LINE 
 
 The Best Values in 
 
 CASEY & 
 
 Sticccssors to ^ 
 
 ■\ 1 1, 
 
 This b Our 
 
 -On accoune of tin 
 overstock of \u 
 rcdtiction in price 
 
iiS UV-CLUi 
 
 By invitation Major M. H. Peters 
 
 occupied the position of orator of i 
 I the occasion at a G. A. R. campfire 
 
 at Piper City last Friday evening. 
 I The Major received a hearty welcome 
 
 and a full measuie of hospitality. 
 I Doubtless he enjoyed the visit and 
 
 the acquaintance otthe Piper "boys." 
 
MATTHEW H. PETERS. 
 
Matthew Peters 
 
 A FOREIGN IMMIGRANT 
 
 THE TT{UE STOT{Y OF ^ LIFE 
 
 BY. 
 
 HELEN M. COUGAR 
 
 PEN SKETCHES BY F. A. CARTER 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HELEN M. COUGAR 
 LAFAYETTE. INDIANA 
 
BROWNE MURPHEY &. CO. 
 LAFAYETTE, IND. 
 
 (y'yi\)ki'b 
 
/ T>EDICy4TE THIS BOOKLET 
 
 to the {Memory of nij> sainted Father, ~j:hose 
 
 djiiig message to me was : 
 
 "Daughter, be kind io ez'erj'bodf." 
 
TT{EF^CE 
 
 Matthew Peters 
 
 A FOREIGN IMAUGRAIST 
 1S46 1858 
 
 "Record dXo. i. 
 
 LaFajette Ccnrctety, 
 
 [P(eu' Orleans, La. 
 
 George Peters, aged p. 
 
 MaL'...u'hHe...njarried...cbaritj>. 
 
 Two citizens. .. yellow fever...4tb District." 
 
 Such is the simple record of the burial 
 of two foreig"ii immigrants, husband and 
 wife, around whose children cluster a 
 combination of circumstances stranger 
 than any web of fancy woven into human 
 thought, to entertain the reader or to 
 teach the variableness of human ex- 
 perience. 
 
 My story is true in the minutest detail. 
 Events have transpired during the period 
 of the life of my hero that have changed 
 the trend of human endeavor the world 
 over and lifted mankind to possibilities 
 which the ken of man cannot yet divine. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 I have given the wings of print to my 
 story without expectation of reaping 
 fame or shekels. If my readers are en- 
 tertained and led to recognize the fact 
 that goodness is greatness; that he who 
 serves his brother best serves him- 
 self, his country and his God best; if it 
 shall inspire men to love liberty and the 
 free institutions of America for the pos- 
 sible development of mankind under the 
 flag; if it shall teach devotion to duty 
 and fix the spirit of the Golden Rule in 
 all its Christian beauty in the lives of 
 those who follow my hero through his 
 struggles and triumphs, I shall be con- 
 tent that I have written. 
 
 The Author. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEK PACE 
 
 I. Leaving Fatherland, . . 9 
 
 II. The Story of a Waif. . 12 
 
 III. A Slave Auction, . . . 36 
 
 IV. The Under Ground Railroad. 39 
 
 V. Slaves Duke and Don Escape, 48 
 
 VI. The New Home— Mother 
 
 Roberts, . . . .59 
 
 VII. A War Reminiscence, 66 
 
 VIII. A Conquest of Peace — A Custom 
 
 of the Civil War, . . 78 
 
 IX. The Blue and the Gray, . 81 
 
 X. Mother Roberts — A Centenarian 87 
 
 XI. Searchinjr for a Birthplace, 93 
 
 XII. A Municipal Election, . . 109 
 
 XIII. Campaigning-, . . . 116 
 
 XIV. Henry Roberts, . . • . 127 
 XV. Samuel Peters, . . 128 
 
 XVI. The Old Tailor. . . .129 
 
 XVII. At Home, . . .131 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Matthew H. Peters, . 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 A Homeless Boy, . 
 
 . Page 13 
 
 A Runaway Slave, 
 
 49 
 
 Portrait — Henry S. Roberts, 
 
 " 58 
 
 Portrait— Clara Lyon Peters, 
 
 - 80 
 
 Symbol of Peace, 
 
 . " 86 
 
 Portrait— Mother Roberts, 
 
 " 87 
 
 Ober-Otterbach, 
 
 . " 93 
 
 Lauterbach Waltz, 
 
 " 99 
 
 Portrait — Arthur Van Lisle, 
 
 . •• 131 
 
 American Flag-. 
 
 Tailpiece 
 
Matthew Peters 
 
 A FOREIGN IA\MIGRANT. 
 
 LEAVING FATHERLAND. 
 
 KSTLED amon^^ the foothills of 
 the Vos«jes mountains of western 
 Germany is the humble, quaint 
 burgf of Ober-Otterbach. 
 
 It is romantic in its mountain 
 setting-; its inhabitants are industrious, 
 frug-al and honorable. The cultivation 
 of the vine on the terraced hillsides yields 
 scant return to the tillers of the soil who 
 live in this cloister of homes, around the 
 one church and schoolhouse, which for 
 the sake of economy are used by all creeds 
 for worship and instruction. 
 
 What one g^eneration has done other 
 g-enerations must do who remain in this 
 narrow valley retreat. The mountains 
 are no surer barriers to the sea than are 
 the scant resources of this valley to 
 
to S'AATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 "getting- on in the world" beyond the ab- 
 solute necessities of life. 
 
 Emigration is the one boon left to the 
 more ambitious and venturesome inhab- 
 itants of these mountain fastnesses. 
 
 So Georg-e and Mag"daline Peters looked 
 into the eyes of the babes that frolicked 
 about the hearth, and with parental hope 
 of better things for their children than 
 they had inherited for themselves by re- 
 maining- in the fatherland, they resolved 
 to make a home in far-off America. 
 
 The Buerg-er-meister's simple record 
 reads: "Ober-Otterbach, 1846. Georg-e 
 Peters and Mag-daline Moock Peters and 
 babies, America." 
 
 The inhabitant still lives v/ho attended 
 the wedding- of the pair, and relates how 
 the little family rode in a wagon a dis- 
 tance of two hundred miles to Havre, 
 France, from which seaport they set sail, 
 landing- at New Orleans the same year. 
 
 Public records show that a home valued 
 at SI, 100 was held in title of George Pe- 
 ters when in the summer of 1853, seven 
 years after arrival in his adopted land, 
 the terrible scourge of yellow fever car- 
 ried away the thrifty father, mother and 
 two children, leaving only Matthew and 
 Samuel, aged respectively ten and eight 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT tl 
 
 years, waifs, to be cared for by the fitful 
 decrees of chance and charity. 
 
 For many \veel<s the scourg-e huny like 
 a black pall over the city. The only 
 sounds heard nig-ht or day v/ere the ham- 
 mers of the coffin-makers and the hurry- 
 ing- clatter of horse's feet and rumbling- 
 wheels, as the dead were conveyed with- 
 out train of mourners to their last rest- 
 ing- place. 
 
 To be orphaned at any time or under 
 any circumstances is a lot to be dreaded, 
 but at such a time and under such cir- 
 cumstances, God alone can know the pity 
 of it. 
 
12 CMATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 II. 
 
 THE STORY OF A WAIF. 
 
 HOUGH Matthew was but ten 
 years old he remembered how his 
 father, mother and two sisters 
 were borne from their home, on 
 the corner of Fourth and Chip- 
 pewa streets in New Orleans, to the 
 cemetery. Himself and brother were not 
 permitted to attend the burial, as their 
 loved ones had died of the prevailing- 
 scourge, yellow fever. So, orphaned and 
 alone in a great city, Matthew took his 
 younger brother by the hand, and to- 
 gether they sought food in the alleys 
 from the refuse of barrels and buckets to 
 satisfy their hunger. Day after day they 
 wandered hand in hand, uncared for and 
 unheeded, falling asleep in any corner 
 away from the feet of passers-by. After 
 a few days had been thus spent they at- 
 tracted the attention of a policeman on 
 his beat; he took them to an orphanage 
 on Laurel and Jackson Streets, where 
 they remained until bound out to those 
 who sought such unfortunate waifs of 
 society as these for servants. It fell to 
 Matthew's lot to be taken by a poverty- 
 
A FOT^EIGN IMMIGRANT 
 
 13 
 
 stricken German tailor, doinji;- business 
 on Tchoupitoulas street, not far from 
 
 where the stricken family had formerly 
 resided. It was not lonjr before Matthew 
 
14 mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 discovered the true character of his mas- 
 ter, for he subjected him to the most in- 
 human treatment. Young- as he was he 
 was compelled to sit cross-leg-g-ed upon the 
 work-table and sew from early morning 
 until late at night, day in and day out, 
 including Sundays, with but respite for 
 the scanty meal which he grudgingly pro- 
 vided. \ This sensitive child was continu- 
 ally reminded that he did not earn his 
 salt, and for any mistake made in the 
 work given his childish hands, his master 
 would box his ears, his blows frequently 
 knocking him from the table to the floor. 
 
 Sometimes he was compelled to procure 
 fuel from the drift in the Mississippi 
 river, and this he had to do before work- 
 ing hours. If he was unsuccessful, which 
 frequently happened when the river was 
 low and the drift scarce, he would beat 
 him cruelly, so that he was driven to 
 steal wood rather than take the conse- 
 quences of returning empty-handed. 
 
 The starvation which he endured and 
 the abuse to which he was subjected 
 while in charge of this brutal tailor are 
 beyond human belief. The world little 
 knows of the privations and sufferings 
 of the orphans of our great cities who 
 are so unfortunate as to fall into the 
 
A FOREIGN IMMIGRANT 15 
 
 hands of such cruel g-uardians. So Mat- 
 thew became 
 
 A RUNAWAY DOY. 
 
 One winter evening-, after he had en- 
 dured this treatment for nearly one year, 
 he was ordered to do some marketing' on 
 the following- morning-, and was entrusted 
 ■with the sum of fifty cents with which 
 to buy bread, meat and veg-etables, and 
 after an admonition to return to assume 
 his accustomed place on the work-table, 
 he was provided with a basket, which he 
 took to his cot in an old outhouse where 
 he slept with the dog's. 
 
 That nig-ht new and strang-e ideas came 
 to his childish brain. Was it the blood 
 of his self-respecting- ancestors coursing- 
 in his veins that made him decide to 
 embrace this opportunity to make his 
 escape? Would it be right to betray his 
 trust? What would be the consequences 
 of such an act? He strug-g-led with his 
 conscience. He slept but little, for ill at 
 ease he tossed restlessly. Before day- 
 break he took the basket and money and 
 hurried away — but never to return. 
 
 The fear of recog^nition and of being- 
 returned to his master made him dis- 
 trustful of any new acquaintances and 
 
16 m^TTHEV/ TETERS 
 
 haunted him nig'ht and day. He would 
 rather have died than return to the mis- 
 erable dwelling" at the tailor's, and would 
 undoubtedly have come to a premature 
 death had he been taken back. 
 
 He had frequently seen runaway ne- 
 groes who were being- returned to their 
 masters bound with cords and shackled 
 with irons, and he imag-ined such would 
 be his fate if he were discovered; indeed 
 he felt that he was no better than a slave 
 and subject to the same treatment. 
 
 For nearly a year he lived the life of a 
 street g^amin, picking" up a precarious 
 living" by earning" a few picayunes, as 
 opportunity offered, appeasing his hun- 
 ger without begging and sleeping among 
 the bales of cotton, along the levee of the 
 Mississippi river. 
 
 In but a single instance, child as he 
 was, did he receive a kind word or friendly 
 recognition from any human being. 
 
 He dimly comprehended that there was 
 any more of this earth than the city in 
 which his unfortunate lot had been cast, 
 though he had an indefinite and very 
 vague idea that New Orleans did not em- 
 brace the whole of creation, but there 
 were lands and other cities beyond. 
 
A FOT{E!GN IMMIGRANT 17 
 
 HEARS STRANGE TALK. 
 
 It was a brig-lit moonlight nigiit in the 
 month of iNIarch when he lay curled up 
 between two bales of cotton, hidden from 
 the view of any wanderers who might 
 perchance be straying- along- the wharf 
 where he soug-ht nightly refuge, when he 
 overheard two slaves in conversation, 
 who were, like himself, curled up among 
 bales of cotton. 
 
 "Say, Sambo, do you know de Norf 
 Star, can you pick it out up dar? You 
 know, ef we eber g-o Norf, we must 
 know de Norf Star, sure! else, though 
 we hide in de swamps and cross ribbers 
 and ribbers and lose our tracks to de 
 liouns, we will lose our way and be cotched 
 and den Lor-almighty it will be worse 
 for us dan if we never tried to 'scape." 
 "De Norf Star is de poor slave's hope 
 sure," was the reply, in a half despondent 
 tone of the companion, who was dream- 
 ing- of escape to Canada and liberty, from 
 this boasted land of the free. 
 
 "No, I do not know which of dem aw- 
 ful many stars is the single Norf Star, 
 dat ebery runaway nigfgah must know 
 'fore he puts out." "I thought I knowed, 
 but Massa asked me not long- ago ef I 
 
18 ^vlATTHElV TETERS 
 
 knowed de Norf Star and I told him I did. 
 I pinted it out to him, and he laf and laf 
 and said: "You fool nig"g"ali, you all 
 "wrong", dat am Jupeter or somefing" like 
 dat name." "So I must ask some of dese 
 fellers who comes for cotton from the 
 Norf, to pint him out foh me, or I git loss 
 some dese line nights, ha! ha!" 
 
 "But Massa say dat to fool you, you 
 fool nig-gah," replied Sambo, with a low 
 chuckle. "No Massa wants his nig"g"ah 
 to know de Norf Star, indeed dey don't, 
 for dey feared you g"et de white of you 
 eye on it and never let g"o til you am free, 
 and dey g^ot one nig^gah less, ha! ha!" 
 
 "Well, I will ask one of dose fellers 
 what runs on de Under Groun Railroad 
 up Norf, when I think I am right in 
 s'lecting" him out of de crowd. But we be 
 mighty keerful, er we'll ask one of dose 
 nigg'ah 'tectives, den, Lor-almighty, there 
 will be no need of knowing de Norf Star." 
 
 As Matthew overheard this strang-e 
 conversation his heart went out to the 
 poor slaves, who like himself, soug-ht 
 liberty from cruel bondage. He learned 
 from this simple talk that there was a 
 country beyond New Orleans, a better 
 place for runaway orphan boys and black 
 slaves. 
 
A FOTiElCN IMMIGRANT 19 
 
 With this new light he fell asleep and 
 dreamed a dream born of hope in place 
 of despair. 
 
 MEETS A FRIEND. 
 
 The next morning- while loitering- about 
 the levee near the foot of Canal street, 
 watching- a chance to pick up something 
 which mig-ht bring him a picayune or 
 perhaps food for his stomach, he no- 
 ticed a passing- dra}' which was followed 
 by a man. By intuition he felt this man 
 was a stranger to that locality. He had 
 a singular manner and an odd appear- 
 ance which attracted his attention. The 
 dray stopped and its driver began to 
 unload the contents upon the levee; a few 
 peach sprouts of choice variety, some 
 young- magnolia trees, a box or two of 
 oranges and bananas and a large stuffed 
 carpet bag. This work done, the stranger 
 paid the drayman and the latter drove 
 awa}'. 
 
 Alone among- his goods the strang-er 
 gazed about him for a moment, and no- 
 ticing- Matthew asked if he would g-uard 
 the things for a little while as he wished 
 to go back into tlie city for an hour. On 
 his return he handed the boy a trifle and 
 thanked him besides. 
 
20 CMATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 Though kind words are so easily coined, 
 leaving- no one the poorer for speaking 
 them, but enriching those to whom 
 spoken, his thanks were something quite 
 new to the waif. This man was so cour- 
 teous, so gentle, so different from any 
 person Matthew had before encountered 
 that he was instantly and involuntarily 
 attracted toward him, and he cheerfully 
 assisted in carrying the goods on board 
 the boat. While he shunned and dis- 
 trusted men generally, this stranger at 
 once commanded his profound respect, 
 for he both spoke to and treated him with 
 kindness. 
 
 The goods having been stowed upon 
 the boat, the stranger followed the lad 
 to the levee and eng-aged him in conver- 
 sation. He inquired his name, where 
 and how he lived, and asked other ques- 
 tions pertaining to his welfare. 
 
 Matthew told his story frankly, but he 
 dared not tell it all. Indeed he never did 
 tell him all. He did not tell him he was 
 a runaway, but merely said his people 
 were all dead and he had no home. He 
 told the stranger that he lived upon what 
 he could find in the streets and that his 
 lodging place was among the cotton 
 bales. The stranger looked with pity 
 
A FOT{ElGN IMMIGRANT 21 
 
 upon the child and expressed his sym- 
 pathy in words of tenderness. He told 
 him his home wns up north in Ohio, 
 where apples, peaches and crapes g-rew; 
 that he liad a <;-ood old mother with whom 
 Jie lived; that his people were all kind to 
 children, and that if he would accompany 
 him he would take care of him. send him 
 to school, and when he became old enou<;ii 
 teach him a trade; that his mother had 
 already raised two orphan boys and 
 would be g-lad to furnish him a home and 
 help him to become a self-respectinj,'". 
 g'ood man. 
 
 All this sounded very pleasant and was 
 indeed clieerin<^, but althouj^ii the offer 
 was temptin<^ Matthew had suiTered too 
 much to incur any risks by surrendering" 
 his freedom; precarious as was his condi- 
 tion he was still suspicious and conse- 
 quently very cautious. Hence he would 
 not commit himself, made no promise, 
 and gave no hope of accompanying" his 
 would-be benefactor. 
 
 It so happened that the cook of the 
 steamboat "Gladenel," upon which this 
 stranger had engaged passage wanted a 
 boy helper, and Matthew ag"reed to take 
 the situation. In after years our hero 
 wondered man}' times whether this was 
 
22 aUTTHElV TETERS 
 
 not a strateg^em of the stranger in collu- 
 sion with the cook to secure his presence 
 and passay"e on that boat. Be this as it 
 may, he was induced to accept the posi- 
 tion for reasons of his own. 
 
 Matthew had heard the tailor speak of 
 an aunt living' up North, either at Louis- 
 ville or St. Louis, he could not remember 
 which, and it mattered little to him, as 
 then he supposed he could step from one 
 city into the other. 
 
 He was not certain as to her name but 
 thoug-ht it was Louise, his father's sister; 
 whether she was married or sing'le he 
 did not know; in fact that question did 
 not occur to him then. But he desired to 
 find this aunt and ask her protection, 
 feeling- that he had a claim upon her as 
 a relative; perhaps she would take pity 
 upon him for her brother's sake, his 
 father. And ag-ain, the fact that this 
 kind g-entleman, so considerate of his 
 welfare, was to be a passeng-er upon the 
 boat exerted its influence upon him, for 
 he reasoned that inasmuch as he was 
 leaving- the city, it certainly could not be 
 that he was trying- to entrap and deceive 
 him with the view of restoring- him to 
 his cruel (guardian. 
 
 The boat left New Orleans early in 
 
A FOI^EIGN IMMIGRANT 23 
 
 March and the twain reached Cincinnati 
 about the middle of the month. On the 
 way up the river INIatthew watched the 
 strang-er closely- He seemed to have no 
 special acquaintances on board; he did 
 not fraternize with the crowd, yet he 
 appeared to be g-enial and would occas- 
 sionally eng'ag"e in conversation with 
 others, but not with that freedom which 
 distinguished old friends. There was 
 sometliinji;' still more noticeable in his con- 
 duct than this apparent reticence. The 
 boy noticed that tlie steamer would stop 
 occasionally, and in such instances al- 
 ways at niylit in out-of-the-way places 
 where nothing but great forests and hug-e 
 ricks of cordwood were visible. Here the 
 neg"ro deck hands would throw out the 
 g-angf-plank and hurry ashore to bring- 
 wood aboard. He noticed two or three 
 white men at the dreary landings, but 
 what especially attracted his attention 
 was that his friend, the stranger, would 
 always go ashore and after a hasty greet- 
 ing- eng-age in animated conversation 
 with them until the whistle sounded, and 
 he would part with them as hastily as he 
 had gone. Not only did this occur at 
 every one of the wood-landings they 
 touched, but whenever the boat hauled 
 
24 i?/UTTHElV TETERS 
 
 up at a city there were always those who 
 would rush aboard to see him or else he 
 would hasten ashore to meet them. This 
 very naturally excited the waif's curiosity 
 so on one occasion he plucked up cour- 
 ag-e and ventured to ask him who were 
 those g-entlemen who appeared so g"lad 
 to see him. His answer was given with- 
 out the least hesitation and with ap- 
 parent candor. 
 
 "Why," said he, "that old g^entleman 
 with the g'ray whiskers is Mr. Paul, of 
 Cleveland, Ohio, and the young- man with 
 him is his son. They are friends of mine 
 who came South on business just as I 
 did." 
 
 Finally the boat arrived at Louisville 
 and remained some time discharging- part 
 of her carg-o and reloading-. Matthew's 
 heart was in a flutter. Here was Louis- 
 ville, where he had hoped to find his aunt. 
 What should he do? Land and hunt her 
 up, or remain on board the steamer? 
 His mind was troubled and undecided, 
 but he must decide quickly, for he had 
 hesitated too long and the pilot was 
 "ringing off." At the last moment he 
 decided to g-o ashore and take the chances 
 of finding his aunt, for why, he arg^ued, 
 should he follow the fortunes of an un- 
 
A F0%EIGN IMMIGRANT 25 
 
 known man who, if he were once in his 
 power, might prove no better than the 
 tailor? 
 
 Just as he was about to step on the 
 g'ang'-plank his friend, who happened to 
 be near, stepped up and inquired if he 
 intended to leave the boat. He told him 
 he did, for he felt that he must fortify 
 himself ag^ainst the influence the new- 
 found friend had over him. His friend 
 was not to be repulsed by any show of 
 determination, but calmly asked liim 
 what he expected to do. Matthew was 
 greatly embarrassed and hestitatingly 
 answered that he hoped to find his aunt. 
 
 "Do you know her name?" he inquired. 
 
 "Yes, sir; her name is Louise." 
 
 "But what is her other name?" 
 
 "I don't know, sir," Matthew said dep- 
 recatingly. 
 
 He then told him of the difliculties and 
 dangers he would encounter in discover- 
 ing his aunt under such circumstances, 
 and said: 
 
 "What will you do if 3'ou don't find 
 her?" 
 
 Matthew hung his head and thought- 
 fully replied tliat he could live as he had 
 done in New Orleans — sleep among boxes, 
 bales and sacks, or in some outhouse. 
 
26 (TAA TTHE W TE TERS 
 
 A look of pity overspread the strang-- 
 er's face; he seemed, and in reality 
 was, reluctant to part with the boy and 
 brought into play all his persuasive 
 power to induce him to remain with him; 
 promised that he would endeavor to find 
 his aunt after they reached his home; 
 said that he would g^ladly stay with him 
 in Louisville and assist him in his search 
 but that his business was of such a nature 
 and so important that he could not leave 
 the boat until it reached its destination. 
 Ag"ain he repeated his story about his 
 good old mother, the attractions of his 
 home in Ohio, and of the advantages he 
 would afford the boy if he would continue 
 on his journey with him. 
 
 But he fortified himself against all 
 these allurements and only became more 
 resolute under these enticing promises, 
 for his suspicions became deeper as his 
 friend manifested interest in him. Why 
 should this stranger care for him except 
 for some sinister motive? So he rea- 
 soned to himself. 
 
 Seeing Matthew's determination not to 
 be persuaded he finally asked: 
 
 "Have you any money?" 
 
 "No, sir," he replied. 
 
 The stranger nervously pushed his 
 
A FO%EIGN IMMICRANl 27 
 
 hand into his pocket, drew out his wallet 
 and took from it a five dollar bill and 
 offered it to the lad. 
 
 His action was spontaneous and so un- 
 expected, that it completely overwhelmed 
 the boy. He had never experienced any- 
 thing" like it and never before heard of 
 such disinterested generosity. Instantly, 
 as if by supernatural power, liis whole dis- 
 position and nature were changed. Here 
 was convincing proof that he had no pur- 
 pose to detain the boy against his will. 
 His resolution was broken, and his sus- 
 picions allayed by the power of love. 
 
 Matthew looked into his friend's face 
 for a moment, as if to assure himself of 
 his motives, and he felt reconciled, for the 
 time at least. He could not take the 
 money but he did resign himself into his 
 hands und promised to follow him. 
 
 The gang-plank was hauled in, the 
 boat backed out into the stream, and 
 forged her way up the river. Cincinnati 
 was reached the folknving Sunday morn- 
 ing", Matthew heard the chimes of the 
 church bells, but naught else. 
 
 No sooner had tiiey touched the land- 
 ing" than the would-be benefactor was 
 met by a gentleman: the two walked up 
 the street and were soon lost to sight. 
 
28 iMATTHElV TETERS 
 
 They were g-one several hours, during 
 which time the boy remained aboard. 
 When his friend returned he requested 
 Matthew to accompany him. He endea- 
 vored to interest him by pointing- out the 
 principal buildiug-s, explaining- their uses, 
 and among- others he drew his attention 
 to the water-works, whose g-reat eng-ines 
 were to him a source of admiration and 
 wonde^, ^ 
 
 It being- Sunday no trains left until 
 evening-, hence the opportunity afforded 
 for siglat-seeing- during- the day. But his 
 friend was exceeding-ly anxious to reach 
 his home, which locally was known as 
 The Ridg-e, and was near Spring-field. 
 He told Matthew that he would take him 
 to his mother as soon as possible, but 
 that he would be oblig-ed to leave him 
 alone with her for a few days, as he was 
 compelled to return to Cincinnati; that 
 he would be back, however, in the course 
 of a week or two to stay. 
 
 It was quite late in the day when they 
 boarded the Little Miami train, and it 
 was near nine o'clock in the evening- 
 when they reached Selma, a small sta- 
 tion about six or seven miles from their 
 destination. This distance they walked, 
 up hill and down, between fields and 
 
/I FOTiEIGN IMMlGRyINT 29 
 
 forests. The experience was one never 
 forg'otten by the waif. The nig-ht was 
 as black as pitch and quiet as tlie dead. 
 Occasionally the lij^iit from some farm 
 house shone in the distance, but it was a 
 mystery to him and seemed i^fhastly in 
 the darkness of night. Not a soul was 
 encountered on the way. Matthew had 
 never seen a hill, unless the bluffy heights 
 sometimes noticed along- the INIississippi 
 mig-ht be so called. He had never been 
 in the woods, and how he wished he was 
 out now! Everything- seemed wild and 
 weird. 
 
 His sensations were indescribable, his 
 mind was filled with fearful foreboding-s 
 and terrifying- fancies. He hud read (for 
 he could read) a German story about 
 "Schinderhannes," the notorious robber 
 chief of the Rhine, who dwelt in moun- 
 tains, from which he would make incur- 
 sions upon the wealthy, whom he plun- 
 dered for the benefit of the poor. It was 
 the only story he had ever read. Was it 
 possible that, notwithstanding- his great 
 precaution, he had been deceived and 
 lured by the seductive wiles of a robber 
 chieftain to be initiated into his baud of 
 outlaws? These were surely the secret 
 haunts of the lawless where vice and 
 
30 SVIATTHEM/ TETERS 
 
 crime revel in their solitude. If it were 
 so, so be it; he must submit, for a time 
 at least, and make the best of his help- 
 less condition, endeavoring- to escape at 
 the earliest opportunity. He followed 
 on in doubt and fear, resolved to meet 
 his fate, come what might, with forti- 
 tude. It was a trying- ordeal for a boy of 
 twelve years of ag-e, and his whole frame 
 quaked with terror! 
 
 At last the twain reached the house. 
 It was a plain two-story building", the 
 same that Schinderhanues built, set back 
 from the highway. On its eastern side 
 and near the road stood a large square 
 log house which he afterwards ascer- 
 tained to be a blacksmith shop, and be- 
 fore it, grew a majestic oak tree. 
 
 There was no light, no sound; all was 
 dark and quiet about the premises. The 
 escort, whom Matthew had first viewed 
 as a benefactor but now as a highway- 
 man, knocked at the door, which in a few 
 moments was opened by a short, stout, 
 gray-haired old lady, who had a lighted 
 tallow dip in her hand. There was an 
 affectionate greeting, but he was in no 
 condition to appreciate such demonstra- 
 tion of filial love as he then witnessed. 
 He could only see the venerable old dame, 
 
A FOliElGN IMMIGRANT 3l 
 
 who, to his inexperienced and distrustful 
 eyes, was none other than the embodi- 
 ment of the "old hag" who kept house 
 for Schinderhanucs. He was certainl}' 
 lost. In this conviction he was then fully 
 confirmed, and doubly so upon the ap- 
 pearance of another still older lady, so 
 large and clumsy that she could scarcely 
 limp across the room with the aid of two 
 rude walking- sticks. 
 
 The first old lady was "Mother," the 
 second "Aunt Mabel." As such they 
 were introduced to him. Mother offered 
 them something- to eat, but he could 
 eat nothing-, though he was ravenously 
 hung-ry after the long- journey. He was 
 shown to his bed up stairs, but he could 
 not sleep, weary though he was. He 
 wept away the remaining- hours of the 
 night. 
 
 The next morning he found his way 
 down stairs, and went out doors to get a 
 view of the country. Terror seized him. 
 Instead of the road with its zigzag- rail 
 fences on either side and the log- house 
 which he had observed the night before 
 as he entered the house he only saw a 
 barn and sheds with open fields and 
 woods beyond. He was bewildered and 
 trembled with frig-ht. His heart sank 
 
32 0\4/ITTHEiy TETERS 
 
 within him and he was in despair. He 
 was sick. By what manner of sorcery 
 had these wicked people transported him 
 during" the night to sucli a scene as this! 
 He became weak and faint, and it re- 
 quired all the courag-e and fortitude he 
 could command to restrain his pent-up 
 emotions. Surely he had not slept. 
 
 The mental strain under which he had 
 labored caused him to be "turned round." 
 He had gone out through the back door 
 instead of by the front where he had 
 entered! 
 
 It was not long before the entire neigh- 
 borhood was aware that Henry Roberts, 
 for this was the benefactor's name, had 
 returned from the South and that he had 
 brought with him a little orphan boy. 
 Many were the callers, each of whom 
 eyed' the little waif with an interest and 
 intensity which was only exceeded by his 
 own curiosity and embarrassment. On 
 that same day Henry Roberts left for 
 Cincinnati, and Matthew remained with 
 Mother and Aunt Mabel. Again he was 
 among entire strangers. How he wept 
 at his departure; his grief could have 
 been no greater had he stood beside the 
 grave of his best beloved friend. V/hat 
 mattered it even though he had gone to 
 
A FOTiEIGf^ IMMIGRAhIT 33 
 
 join his companions in crime? Be lie 
 thief or g^entleman, Matthew had con- 
 fided and trusted in him and he was his, 
 at least until he t-ould effect his escape 
 and improve his condition. To fall again 
 into stranj^'-e hands seemed to him a g'en- 
 uine calamity. "Whether his promise to 
 return soon would be realized Matthew 
 seriously questioned, for confidence in 
 mankind was almost foreign to his 
 feeling's. 
 
 Day after day passed by. What days 
 of ang-uish they were; what sleepless 
 nig-hts for Matthew, g-rieving- for his de- 
 parted friend. Be he Schinderhannes or 
 not, had he not been uniformly kind to 
 him? 
 
 By deg-rees he became acquainted with 
 the children of the vicinity and entered 
 into their sports. Nothing had harmed 
 him, and mother, for he had learned to 
 call her so, exercised peculiar tact in 
 winning- his confidence. in the mean- 
 time, too, the small bundles of mag- 
 nolia and peach trees and boxes of 
 orang-es had arrived. He had almost 
 forg-otten about these, but as once more 
 he saw them how vividly they recalled 
 the scene at the levee where he first met 
 the kind stranger. A friend transplanted 
 
34 m/lTTHElV TETERS 
 
 the trees for mother, and the contents of 
 the boxes were shared among" the 
 neig"hbors. 
 
 Gradually and unconsciously Mat- 
 thew's misgiving's faded away. He 
 neither saw nor heard anything- of rob- 
 bers; experienced only the utmost kind- 
 ness and heard nothing- but g-entle words. 
 
 At last Mr. Roberts returned, and with 
 his return, in spite of all the kindness 
 Matthew had experienced during- his 
 absence — in defiance of all the resist- 
 ance he could muster, the horrors of 
 the past were rekindled, and burned 
 within him like a consuming- fire from 
 which he could not flee. Ag-ain all his 
 terrifying- suspicions were fanned into 
 a flame. He had not yet thoroug-hly 
 overcome his gloomy impressions, formed 
 as he came through the dark and de- 
 serted country from Selma to the Ridge, 
 that his professed benefactor was a 
 veritable Schinderhannes. 
 
 What had he been doing during his 
 absence? In answer to this question 
 Matthew was informed that he had been 
 to Canada; and in answer to his further 
 inquiries was told that he must wait 
 until he was older before he could under- 
 stand the business in which his bene- 
 
A FOn{ElGN IMMIGRANT 35 
 
 factor was eng-aged. This evasive an- 
 swer did not lull his suspicions nor 
 relieve his anxiety; on the contrary it 
 only heig-htened rather than alla3^ed his 
 fears. Was he only to wait until he 
 was older that he mig-ht then be initiated 
 into their unhallowed mysteries? 
 
36 
 
 S'yJ/ITTHEV/ TETERS 
 
 III. 
 
 A SLAVE auctio:n. 
 
 ARIvY in the spring- of 1853 
 Henry Roberts stood before a 
 Kentucky slave auction block. 
 He had mingled with the throng- 
 of swag-g'ering-, tobacco-chewing-, 
 profane men, who gathered about await- 
 ing the pleasure of the auctioneer. 
 
 The hour for business had arrived 
 when a large, finely formed and muscular 
 black man walked up on the block, so 
 high as to exhibit its occupant from head 
 to foot. 
 
 The man was stripped to the waist, 
 when he fell limp before the gazing 
 crowd. 
 
 "Stand up there you black rascal and 
 show your muscle," ordered the slave 
 driver as he cracked his cat-o-nine-tails 
 and accompanied the act with an oath. 
 The slave obeyed, mechanically, and was 
 soon sold to the highest bidder. Next 
 came the little daughter, eight years of 
 age, who was soon in the possession of 
 another highest bidder. Next came the 
 mother with babe in arms. 
 
 As the auctioneer reached to take the 
 
A F0%EICN IMMIGRANT 37 
 
 babe to display it to the "trade," the 
 mother folded her arms closely around its 
 tiny body, and with tears streaming- 
 down her black cheeks, cried out in the 
 an<j-uisli of her mother-love: 
 
 "Sell the baby with me, please, sir; it 
 is too small to work; I can care for it 
 better than anybody else; sell it with 
 me; you have sold my husband; you have 
 sold my daughter, please, sir, sell my 
 my baby with me." 
 
 Untouched by this piteous appeal — for 
 men seldom rise superior to the written 
 law — the law-nerved man g^rasped the 
 helpless infant from the embrace of the 
 mother and called in stentorian voice: 
 
 "Who bids iiftv dollars for this black 
 brat?" 
 
 "Toss the pickininny here" said a man 
 of low brow and vulg-ar mien, "I'll give 
 the fifty dollars." Suiting- the action to 
 the command the babe was caught by 
 the hands of its new master from the 
 willing- hands of the auctioneer. 
 
 In a few moments the mother was sold 
 to another bidder and the sundered fam- 
 ily went each their way under the in- 
 human institution of chattel slavery. 
 
 The soul of Henry Roberts rose in 
 indig-natiou as he witnessed the helpless 
 
38 mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 victims in the grasp of the law that 
 gave protection and made such a scene 
 possible. 
 
 He turned to the slave-accustomed 
 crowd and at the peril of being mobbed 
 for his indiscretion he exclaimed: 
 
 "What right have you to sell that 
 father, mother, sister, babe, more than 
 you have to invade my home and sell my 
 loved ones, and separate my family; they 
 were born black, we were born white, 
 neither are responsible for our color, and 
 God knows that this accursed institution 
 of human slavery shall have the remainder 
 of my days for its overthrow and destruc- 
 tion." This outburst of indignation met 
 with jeers, low mutterings and profane 
 oaths. "O! maybe yer'e a niggah thief," 
 said the auctioneer, "if so, yer bettah be 
 gitten out of these parts pretty quick," 
 following his words with a sharp crack 
 of his whip. 
 
 The soul of Henry Roberts revolted 
 as he contemplated this iniquity and he 
 went from this scene an Abolitionist. 
 
/I F0T{E1GN IMMIGRANT 39 
 
 IV. 
 
 THE U. G. R. R. 
 
 N these days there existed an or- 
 g"anization within the ranks of the 
 despised Abolition party of the 
 Northern states, composed of un- 
 popular, not powerful but neverthe- 
 less resolute, conscientious and self-sac- 
 rificing' men; a clan whose history has 
 never been written, but whose labors 
 sought not self glory or the applause of 
 men, but merely the approval of con- 
 science. To this cause they pledged their 
 faith, their fortunes and their lives. 
 
 From the nature of the organization, 
 which was a profound secret, the mem- 
 bership was unknown, and remains so 
 to-day, but their acts exerted a wide in- 
 fluence and made a deep impression on 
 the public mind throughout the country 
 on behalf of the abolition of human 
 slavery. 
 
 Composed as this organization was of 
 men of recognized ability, of unquestion- 
 able nerve and courage, imbued with the 
 loftiest motives, it seems remarkable in- 
 deed that no record of their achievements 
 has ever seen the li"iit. Tradition is the 
 
40 {MA TTHEll^ TETERS 
 
 only source from which the present g"en- 
 eration can obtain any details regarding- 
 the heroic work of these men, forming a 
 body that in its day was popularly 
 termed the U. G. R. R.— The Under 
 Ground Rail Road. This organization 
 held the same relation to the Abolition 
 party that an army holds to the govern- 
 ment it represents. It was the aggres- 
 sive, indomitable and irrepressible ele- 
 ment within that party, ever ready to 
 make sacrifices — even to life — in advocat- 
 ing, promulgating, defending and en- 
 forcing its doctrines and decrees. 
 
 At the head of this peculiar railroad 
 system stood William Llovd Garrison, 
 Wendell Phillips, Elizabeth Cady Stan- 
 ten, Ivucretia Mott, Gerritt Smith and 
 others of equal distinction. 
 
 So Henry Roberts, inspired by the 
 scene of the auction block, allied himself 
 with these and many other men and wo- 
 men, who like him, were engaged in con- 
 tinual agitation and warfare against the 
 curse of human slavery, — philanthropists 
 who loved their unfortunate fellow-men, 
 colored as well as white — patriots who 
 dearly loved their country, yet dared to 
 denounce the "flaunting lie" which con- 
 tinued to wave 
 
A FOT^EIGN IMMIGRANT 41 
 
 "O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave," 
 
 until the stain upon the Nation's stand- 
 ard was cleansed by the blood of more 
 than a million of her sons, North and 
 South, who g-ave their lives on the field 
 of battle. 
 
 Thus Henry Roberts quitted the loj^ 
 blacksmith shop which stood under the 
 shadow of the g-reat oak, and fraternized 
 with leading- abolitionists; he g^ave his 
 money, his time and his talents to the 
 cause of human liberty. 
 
 The work of merely assisting- an oc- 
 casional fugitive who sought a way to 
 the door of his blacksmith shop did not 
 satisfy his conscience. He felt that he 
 must g-o among the oppressed and pro- 
 claim to them the g^ospel of freedom on 
 the plantations of the South and rescue 
 all he could. It may be truly said of him: 
 
 "The dark hued son, in ngc pursued 
 By slavery's minions lash in hand. 
 
 Who sou^'ht protection, rest ami food, 
 Within his cottajje found a friend 
 
 With moral coura^je to defend 
 
 Ajcainst the powers of the land." 
 
 He exposed himself to all the hazards 
 incurred by the fearless, indomitable 
 ag-ents of the U. G. R. R. who penetrated 
 the very homes of the slaves that they 
 mijrht hurl more effective blows at the 
 
42 m^TTHElV TETERS 
 
 barbarous institution of human slavery 
 and thus give potency to their principles. 
 
 His mysterious acquaintances whom 
 he so heartily greeted at the wood-land- 
 ings and those whom he met at the 
 levees or wharves of every town where 
 the boat stopped along the Mississippi 
 were the emissaries of the Northern ab- 
 olitionists, agents of the U. G. R. R., 
 who were co-operating in his labors. 
 
 Before the war it was the custom for 
 steamers on the lower Mississippi to use 
 cordwood for fuel. Great forests of tim- 
 ber lined the banks of the river. Wood 
 was plenty and consequently cheap. 
 Northerners would go South and take 
 contracts for supplying certain boats 
 with wood at agreed points along the 
 river. They would fell the timber, cut it 
 into proper lengths and deliver it at the 
 water's edge at some convenient landing 
 where it would be of easy access. At 
 several of these points the contractors 
 were agents of the U. G. R. R. in dis- 
 guise, and were there not so much for 
 the money to be made by cutting cord- 
 wood for the steamboats as for the more 
 important and nobler purpose of co-op- 
 erating with their friends along the line, 
 and with other agents who were engaged 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 43 
 
 in the interior in quite a different ca- 
 pacity. 
 
 These other agents were also men 
 from the North who went out on the 
 plantations to perform their part in the 
 programme; they soug'ht employment as 
 overseers, superintendents or boss me- 
 chanics to take charge of the work shops 
 on the larg-e plantations, for nearly every 
 plantation of any consequence had its 
 own blacksmith and carpenter shops and 
 repair houses. In these were employed 
 the most intelligent slaves. 
 
 Frequently there was building- to be 
 done on the premises. In such cases 
 lumber was to be prepared, and some 
 plantations had mills where the planter's 
 own timber was sawed, also lumber to 
 supply their neig-hbors; or if bricks 
 were required it was these slaves who 
 would supply the demand. But this 
 class of work was all performed under a 
 special overseer or superintendent. It 
 was in this capacity that Henry Roberts 
 was eng^ag-ed. 
 
 Among- the black mechanics were found 
 the most reliable slaves on the planta- 
 tion. It required more intellig-ence and 
 tact to perform this class of labor than 
 it did to be a common field hand or plan- 
 
44 S^ATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 tation "nig-^er," and hence the most 
 trustworthy and brightest slaves were se- 
 lected for this work. Such as these were 
 comparatively few on any plantation, for 
 their general condition of ignorance and 
 degradation did not tend to develop 
 either the mental or moral faculties with- 
 in them. Indeed such development was 
 undesirable, for intelligent men will not 
 submit to bondage. 
 
 It was with this class of more enterpris- 
 ing negroes that Mr. Roberts came into 
 contact, and among these he labored. 
 The plantation on which he sought and 
 obtained employment was always in the 
 vicinity of some wood landing, not usually 
 more than eight or ten miles distant — a 
 distance that might be doubled in one 
 night or in a few hours. 
 
 The work of building and repairing 
 was the occupation principally of the 
 winter season. Hence it was the custom 
 of these men to go South in the au- 
 tumn, secure employment and remain 
 until spring, when they would return to 
 their homes in the North to spend the sum^ 
 mer and prepare for the next campaign. 
 
 Once entered upon their duties on 
 the plantation they very soon ascertained 
 the true character of the slaves under 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 45 
 
 their charg^e — their disposition, intel- 
 lig"ence, trustworthiness and courag^e — 
 for these adventurous spirits were keen 
 observers and quick interpreters of hu- 
 man nature. 
 
 Having fi^^d upon his man, the super- 
 intendent would secure his implicit con- 
 fidence and by easy stages, but with ut- 
 most caution, impart to him his secret 
 and eventually disclose his plans. 
 
 Whether any of these ag^ents were ever 
 betrayed is not known and probably 
 never will be, for death certain and sure 
 must have been their portion. They 
 could have expected no other fate in such 
 an emerg-ency — in fact they realized all 
 this, and were prepared for the sac- 
 rifice. 
 
 The plan of escape was minutely de- 
 tailed to the slave, while the peril of the 
 undertaking-, the long- and tedious jour- 
 ney beset with privations was fully ex- 
 plained and impressed upon his mind, 
 with the view of streng-thening his pur- 
 pose to strike for liberty or die in the 
 attempt. 
 
 In the lig-ht of this fact the amount of 
 courage, shrewdness and fortitude a 
 slave would exhibit in such a crisis was 
 amazintr. But what will not a human 
 
46 3\4y4TTHElVTETERS 
 
 being undergo to obtain his freedom! If 
 life is worth living death is preferable to 
 slavery. It was not indeed the fear of 
 death that would restrain the effort for 
 freedom, should the poor victim fall in 
 his flight and be retaken by the hounds, 
 a fate worse than death awaited him — 
 the lash, the shackles, the iron collar 
 around his neck, with prongs reaching 
 up about the head. This was his doom. 
 Flight once agreed upon, the time of 
 its execution was fixed. On a particular 
 night — a dark and stormy one being pre- 
 ferred — the slave stole away and con- 
 cealed himself at a certain point. Here 
 he was met by the superintendent, his 
 friend and guide, who took him upon his 
 shoulders, carrying him zigzag back and 
 forth for some distance, then in a circle 
 crossing his own track, often walking 
 backwards with his burden upon him, 
 eventually reaching a stream or swamp, 
 which he waded, finally emerging from 
 the water, leaving no trace behind, to the 
 opposite side. These eccentric maneu- 
 vers were made for the purpose of con- 
 fusing and mystifying the hounds and 
 pursuers. Thence they proceeded di- 
 rectly to the wood-landings, where the 
 the fugitive was cared for by confeder- 
 
A F0%EIGN IMMIGRANT 47 
 
 ates, the wood choppers. Here the slave 
 waited further developments. The su- 
 perintendent hastened back to the plan- 
 tation, which he used to reach about the 
 darkest hour before dawn and no one on 
 the premises was the wnser for his 
 absence. 
 
48 {M^TTHEIV TETERS 
 
 V. 
 
 SLAVES DUKE AND DON ESCAPE. 
 
 ENRY ROBERTS had promised 
 on his last trip to New Orleans 
 to return to a certain point and 
 help the escape of the slaves 
 Duke and Don. The boat had 
 pulled up to this landing- in the middle of 
 the nig-ht. In the morning- Duke was 
 missing from his accustomed place on the 
 plantation; none of his companions knew 
 of his whereabouts; none had seen him 
 since the previous evening-. The super- 
 intendent reported the fact to the master, 
 who at once ordered out the hounds and 
 horses. Then followed an eag-er chase. 
 The master, accompanied by his trusted 
 superintendent, eng-ag-ed in the pursuit. 
 The tracks of the f ug-itive were scented by 
 the blood hounds. On they rushed until 
 they reached the trysting--place, where 
 they whirl about in a frenzy, seeking- to 
 reg-ain the trail which here abruptly 
 comes to an end; for this is the spot 
 where the superintendent met the runa- 
 way and took him upon his shoulders, 
 lifting- him free from the earth into the 
 
A FOREIGN IMMIGRANT 
 
 49 
 
 air, dissipating- in the breeze the scent 
 which guided the hounds to this point. 
 The master is surprised and puzzled 
 at this sudden 
 termination of 
 the trail; it is 
 an unaccount- 
 a b 1 e circum- 
 stance. 
 
 Confused and 
 excited he hes- 
 itates for a 
 moment. He 
 must not be 
 foiled b}' that 
 miserable 
 '•nig-ger," and 
 is therefore 
 not at all dis- 
 posed to give 
 up the chase. 
 He consults 
 I with the super- 
 intendent, who 
 is riding at his 
 side, and who 
 with a ready 
 opinion as to the best course to be fol- 
 lowed, suggests a direction varying from 
 that he had taken with the negro, or 
 
 
iO mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 perhaps he recommends going" to the 
 creek or swamp, as probably the "nigger" 
 has crossed the water. One or perhaps 
 both of these sug"gestions are acted upon, 
 but the pursuit proves a failure. After 
 the day is well spent in useless search, 
 the pursuing- party and bloodhounds re- 
 turn to the plantation worn out and dis- 
 appointed, but the slave-owner does not 
 g-ive up all hope. He advertises his loss 
 throug-hout the neighboring- country, a 
 reward is offered, and there is a hope that 
 the daring fugitive will yet be captured. 
 Two or three weeks, or perhaps a 
 month, elapses when Don, another slave, 
 is gone — he is the most valued one on 
 the plantation. Duke's success has evi- 
 dently given courage to others. Don is 
 the "handiest darkie" and best mechanic 
 on the place; he is also one of the smart- 
 est, as the superintendent was not long 
 in finding out. He must be retaken 
 regardless of cost, and no effort is 
 spared in his recapture. An unusually 
 heavy reward is offered, large posters 
 giving a description of the runaway are 
 spread broadcast and may be seen at 
 every cross-roads, hotel, post office and 
 court house; a rough picture of a running 
 negro adorns the poster; upon his right 
 
A FOTRElGh! IMMIGRANT 5 1 
 
 shoulder rests a cane, and from this is 
 suspended a small bundle carried behind 
 his back. 
 
 But the reward availed nothinj^; the 
 negro mysteriously disappeared; his es- 
 cape was utterly incomprehensible. The 
 superintendent is the only person on the 
 plantation who could clear away the mys- 
 tery were he so disposed, but he seems no 
 less chag-rined than the rest. The planter, 
 who purchased Don but a year ag'o at au 
 executor's sale in Virg'inia for an exorbi- 
 tant sum on account of his youth, never 
 sees him ag-ain. 
 
 Duke and Don are once more tog-ether, 
 nervously and anxiously awaiting- the 
 relief promised them by those into whose 
 trust they had been committed at the 
 wood-landing-. But they have yet a long-, 
 tedious and perilous journey to perform 
 before they reach the land of freedom. 
 
 And so the work of the superintendent 
 progresses until spring, the first of March, 
 when his contract expires. He bids fare- 
 well to the plantation and takes occasion 
 to visit New Orleans, where he has friends 
 who are expecting him — friends of the 
 U. G. R. R. 
 
 The calm deliberation, keen discretion, 
 sound judgment and high courage of 
 
52 aUTTHElV TETERS 
 
 these overseers from the North, parading- 
 as the friends and counselors of the 
 slave holders in the South, was some- 
 thing' extraordinary. Heroism, in the 
 common acceptation of the word, pales 
 before such devotion to a principle — the 
 principle of human liberty and human 
 rights. The influence they exerted upon 
 the master and the power they exercised 
 over the slave, at once commanding the 
 respect of the former and at the same 
 time maintaining the confidence of the 
 latter, required an adaptability to sur- 
 rounding circumstances born of the exi- 
 gencies of the times, a study in human 
 ethics! 
 
 Let us now return to the wood landings. 
 This is the rendezvous of fugitive slaves 
 from all directions, even for those from 
 the opposite banks of the river. All 
 winter the work of liberating slaves went 
 on, until a small colony was gathered to- 
 gether at this place. They are still in 
 the heart of the slave territory, a thous- 
 and miles from free soil and nearly two 
 thousand miles from their refuge in 
 Canada. 
 
 Will they ever reach their destination? 
 How? We shall see. 
 
 A steamboat runs alongside of one of 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 53 
 
 these landing's to take on a supply of 
 fuel. The boat is either owned or con- 
 trolled by the U. G. R. R. It would 
 scarcely seem credible or possible that in 
 such a public conveyance secrecy could 
 be observed, but it only illustrates how 
 thoroughly the U. G. R. R. was or- 
 fj^anized and how loyal were its operators. 
 The boat landed at nii^ht, and by the 
 fitful, dim and smoky blaze of pine 
 torches the g"ang--plank was run ashore. 
 The ebony deck hands proceeded on the 
 trot to "tote" aboard the cordwood, sing-- 
 ing- their doleful melodies to the measure 
 of their steps as they passed to and fro. 
 While this animating- scene was in prog-- 
 ress the fugitives, one by one, stealthily 
 emerg-ed from their cover, shouldered a 
 load of cordwood, ming^led with the crowd 
 of carriers, reached the deck, deposited 
 the wood on board and disappeared. 
 
 Where? Few can tell, but a secure 
 place has been provided; it may be below 
 decks in the hold of the vessel, or per- 
 haps a private cabin. It is not altog^ether 
 improbable that in a few days, if all is 
 well, some of them might be seen acting- 
 as deck hands, for their identity could 
 hardly be suspected. Who pays any at- 
 tention to deck hands; a new man among 
 
54 CMATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 their number would elicit no questions, 
 even among- the regular crew, so common 
 are the chang-es; and who would dream 
 that an ig-norant plantation "nig-g-er" 
 would undertake to make his escape by 
 such daring- means down in Louisiana? 
 No slave would be credited with such 
 boldness and much less Avith the intelli- 
 g-ence necessary to execute such a 
 project. 
 
 Cincinnati is reached, and a local ag-ent, 
 apprised of the arrival of the boat, has 
 everything- in readiness for the reception 
 of the consig-nment. Do you remember 
 the friend who met Mr. Roberts and 
 took him up into the city as soon 
 as the boat landed? It was he who 
 had the care of the refug-ees during- 
 Mr. Roberts' temporary absence while 
 taking- Matthew to his home on the 
 Ridg-e. The refug-ees in the meantime 
 remained in hiding- in Cincinnati and en- 
 joyed the hospitality of friends while 
 awaiting- Mr. Roberts' return. This was 
 the cause of his immediate departure 
 after he had taken Matthew to his 
 mother. Returning- at once to Cincinnati 
 he consulted with members of the U. G. 
 R. R. and careful preparations were 
 made for conducting the slaves to Can- 
 
 if 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 55 
 
 ada. These were confided to the care of 
 tried and trusted friends, and were se- 
 cretly escorted, singly or in couples, 
 seldom in g"roups, at stated intervals and 
 by various routes, to the next station, a 
 conductor watcliiny their prog-ress dur- 
 ing their entire overland journey. 
 
 Once safely quartered in Cincinnati, 
 after a day or two of rest, word was passed 
 to friends along- the various routes to be 
 ready for their arrival. They were con- 
 veyed from station to station, and from 
 village to farm-house and from farm- 
 house to village, generally from ten to 
 twenty miles apart, sometimes boldly 
 in broad daylight, but more often during 
 the evening or early morning. At these 
 stations, whether in city or country, in 
 the village or on the farm, the fugitives 
 were consigned to various parties who 
 were expecting them and were by them 
 concealed about their premises and cared 
 for until some favorable opportunity 
 offered, when they were transported in 
 vehicles to the next station. 
 
 When it was discovered that the sheriff 
 and slave-catcher were on the track it 
 was frequently found a necessary precau- 
 tion to remain at one station for a week 
 or ten days. In such an emergency every 
 
56 ^f^ TTHEIV TETERS 
 
 member of the family witli whom a runa- 
 way was concealed, as well as their sym- 
 pathizers throughout that region, would 
 be on guard to watch the approach of the 
 posse, ready to protect their guest, even 
 to resisting the officers of the law. When 
 such danger was imminent a farmer has 
 been known to load up his wagon with 
 wheat, oats or corn, disposing of the 
 grain in such a manner that the fugitive 
 could be secreted in the bottom of the 
 load without exciting the least suspicion, 
 and, while pretending to be going to 
 town or to mill, he would be on his way 
 to the next station where his charge 
 would be delivered into other hands to 
 be forwarded on his journey. Various 
 methods were resorted to in order to allay 
 suspicion and avoid recapture; yet in 
 spite of all precaution, these convoys 
 were sometimes overtaken and the parties 
 arrested, though not always without ser- 
 ious opposition if not actual bloodshed. 
 Sometimes the weary fugitive preferred 
 to rest a few days at some of these places 
 of refuge before proceeding on his per- 
 ilous journey, and he would make him- 
 self useful about the premises by churn- 
 ing, grooming horses, or laboring on the 
 farm. In the evening he would occupy a 
 
A FOREIGN IMMIGRANT 57 
 
 place in the family circle while all list- 
 ened with the deepest interest to the 
 story of his life as a slave and his mirac- 
 ulous escape. 
 
 The duty of the conductor was to act 
 not only as an escort and g"uide, but as an 
 advance as well as rear guard. It was his 
 business to direct all the movements and 
 to watch the prog-ress of the enemy should 
 any be following- the trail, and to keep 
 all stations apprised of dang-er throug-h 
 couriers. By this means the entire line 
 was informed as to the prog-ress of the 
 fug-itives. 
 
 Michig-an — for this was the great liig-h- 
 way to freedom — was not the least haz- 
 ardous in their perilous journey, for 
 althoug^h the people as a rule were 
 friendly there were local spies, and 
 throug'hout the country were posted the 
 minions of the slave power, ever on the 
 alert for runaway negroes in hope of a 
 reward. Many a bloody combat between 
 these and the abolitionists for the posses- 
 sion of an escaping- slave has taken place 
 on the soil of this state. A history of 
 some of these encounters between the 
 sheriff's posse and the people would be 
 no less thrilling- than a description of 
 
58 
 
 CMATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 some great battle between contending 
 armies. 
 
 It was upon a mission 
 such as I have herein 
 described that Henry 
 Roberts was engaged 
 ' when he rescued Mat- 
 thew from the life of a 
 street gamin. He not 
 only served as superin- 
 tendent of the negro 
 mechanics, but dis- 
 guised as an ordinary 
 passenger, also acted 
 as superintendent of 
 the expedition from the wood-landings 
 to the North. He often acted as con- 
 ductor of a party through Ohio, and 
 successfully accomplished his task. 
 On this trip he succeeded in liberating' 
 eighteen slaves, some of whom — Duke 
 and Don amoag them — were the same he 
 had aided to escape from the Louisiana 
 plantation. Among the group were the 
 two slaves, whose anxiety to know the 
 "Norf Star" had inspired Matthew as he 
 lay curled up among the cotton bales on 
 that starlight March night, to believe 
 that the world was larger than the boun- 
 daries of New Orleans. 
 
 HENRY S. ROBERTS. 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 59 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE NEW HOME — MOTHER ROBERTS. 
 
 AS it well with the lad? Na- 
 ture does much but environ- 
 ment does more for the human 
 being tossed upon the fitful 
 sea of life. Unguided child- 
 hood often ends in misdirected age, 
 when the misfortunes of the parents fall 
 with heaviest burden upon the unfortu- 
 nate offspring. 
 
 Waif Matthew was drifting, and his 
 chance acquaintance might be for his 
 weal or for his woe. It took weeks of 
 acquaintance in the new home to fully 
 assure him that he had fallen into the 
 care of friends instead of the haunt of 
 Schinderhannes and his hags. 
 
 By the little ministrations of love and 
 tenderness that were constant, because 
 natural on the part of "Mother" and 
 "Aunt Mabel," the frightened boy be- 
 came assured that he had found a shelter 
 with gentle people. 
 
 The scars of unkindness were soon 
 healed by these influences and the boy be- 
 came like one of the family, partaking in 
 the sacrifices, labors, comforts and rest 
 of one at home. 
 
60 (MATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 He attended tlie country school and 
 enjoyed all the privileg-es accorded in 
 those pioneer days to the early settlers. 
 If he did study by the lig'ht of the brick 
 kiln which he tended until late at night, 
 it did not matter, for his heart was 
 at rest though his body was weary when 
 the task was done. 
 
 Upon the mother of the house depends 
 most as to the influences which go out 
 through the lives of those under her min- 
 istering care. "Mother" or Mrs. Anise 
 Sharp Roberts, into whose hands the 
 little waif had fallen, came of the sturdy 
 English family, Scharpe, of Scotch-Irish 
 descent, the history of which forms an 
 important part of Rutland, England. 
 
 She was born on the banks of the 
 Housatonic river, in Fairfield county, 
 Connecticut, Aug. 10, 1791. With her 
 was born a twin brother, John W. Sharp, 
 who served in the war of 1812, and at its 
 close went to England to obtain posses- 
 sion of the family patrimony. This 
 brother died Dec. 7, 1815, and was buried 
 in St. John's churchyard, Liverpool, with- 
 out accomplishing his mission, and with 
 his death all efforts to secure the inher- 
 itance were abandoned. 
 
 Her advent upon the earth was in the 
 
A FOT{ElGN IMMIGRANT 61 
 
 infancy of the Nation. Washing-ton was 
 serving" his first term as President, and 
 she was in her ninth year when the young 
 republic was called upon to mourn the 
 death of its most illustrious citizen, 
 statesman and soldier. She well re- 
 membered the sad event and related to 
 Matthew how the bells tolled the solemn 
 knell from every church in town and 
 "meeting- house" in the country, while 
 everybody went to Bridg-eport to learn 
 the mournful news. The country west 
 of the Alleghanies was an unknown 
 wilderness and had yet to be reclaimed 
 from the savage, who held undisputed 
 sway. Louisiana territory was a de- 
 pendency of Prance; the empire states of 
 Texas and California with the southwest 
 territories were absolutely terra incog-- 
 nita. During- her life the thirteen orig-- 
 inal states bordering- the Atlantic swelled 
 to forty-four, reaching- from ocean to 
 ocean and from the lakes to the g-ulf. 
 Not only was the growth of our country 
 marvelous during- her days, but what 
 wonders her eyes witnessed in the ma- 
 terial and mechanical prog-ress of man- 
 kind — in the arts, sciences, literature and 
 invention. It is enough to dazzle one to 
 contemplate what our country was and 
 
62 (MATTHEIVTETERS 
 
 its condition at the time of her birth 
 and compare it with the radical changes 
 that were wroug-ht in the more than ten 
 decades that marked the course of her 
 life. Living- in this eventful period, hers 
 was no ordinary experience. 
 
 FOLLOWING JOSEPH SMITH. 
 
 Anise was married to John W. Roberts 
 of Vermont, June 1, 1824, at Monroe, 
 Connecticut. Three sons were born as 
 the result of this union, John, Elijah and 
 Henry. The family, consisting of father, 
 mother, and three sons, migrated to Ohio 
 and cast their fortunes with the disciples 
 of Joseph Smith, the apostle of Mormon- 
 ism, following their leader to Independ- 
 ence, Missouri, and subsequently to Nau- 
 V0O, Illinois, sharing all the vicissitudes 
 of that peculiar people. At Nauvoo the 
 second son died. When Joseph Smith 
 was murdered and the church of Latter 
 Day Saints dispersed, Mrs. Roberts, ac- 
 companied by her two sons, moved into 
 Indiana; she early repudiated the new 
 doctrine of sealed marriages, which she 
 discerned to be nothing more nor less 
 than polygamy. But she was a firm be- 
 liever in the pretensions of the Latter 
 Day prophet, whom she esteemed as a 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 63 
 
 saint no less than those recorded by Fox 
 in his Book of Martyrs. The husband and 
 father, being- a Mormon elder and a de- 
 vout adherent of Brig-ham Young-, ac- 
 companied the expedition to Deseret (as 
 the Mormons were pleased to then call 
 their objective point), there on the g-reat 
 Salt Lake to establish their city and 
 church far beyond the pale of civilization, 
 where no unbelievers could molest them 
 in their civil rights or religious cere- 
 monies. The emig-rants suffered g-reat 
 hardships and privations during- this ex- 
 odus and rested about a year at Kanes- 
 ville (now Council Bluffs) to recuperate 
 before starting- on their tedious and 
 eventful journey across the plains. Here 
 John W. Roberts, the husband, died, the 
 oldest son having- also died but a 
 few months before. 
 
 The widow afterward returned to Ohio 
 with her only remaining- son, Henry S. 
 Roberts, who became the agent of the 
 U. G. R. R. in 1855. 
 
 After the death of this, her last son, 
 Mrs. Roberts continued to live in Ohio 
 upon a two-acre homestead which he had 
 left her. With her lived her eldest sister, 
 Mabel, and the orphan boy whom her 
 son Henry had rescued from the streets 
 
64 {M/ITTHEIV TETERS 
 
 and slums of New Orleans. Mrs. Roberts 
 supported this family by spinning- with 
 an old-fashioned wheel and weaving- car- 
 pets on an ancient loom. Aunt Mabel 
 died ag-ed eig^hty-one years; the adopted 
 son had g^one to war and was at the time 
 serving- in Virg-inia as a member of Com- 
 pany B., Sixteenth Ohio, having- enlisted 
 under President Lincoln's first call for 
 seventy-five thousand men. This left 
 Mother Roberts, then more than seventy- 
 five years of ag-e, alone, and she con- 
 cluded to remove to Vienna, Indiana, 
 where another sister, Mrs. Mary Harrod, 
 resided. This sister also soon passed 
 away, when Mrs. Roberts, before the 
 close of the war, went to Rosemond, 
 Illinois, to live with a niece, who soon 
 after died. 
 
 Mother Roberts was a woman of won- 
 derful vitality and cheerful disposition. 
 In her youth she was considered a g-reat 
 beauty and had a charming- voice which 
 rang- with sweet melody when she sang- 
 the song-s of Auld Lang- Syne, even after 
 she had attained her nineties. One of 
 the rules of her life was to read two 
 chapters of the bible every day. This 
 practice she devoutly pursued until about 
 two years before her death when her 
 
A F(yi{EIGN IMMIGRANT 65 
 
 sight beg-an to fail her so that even the 
 the larg-est print became illeg^ible, and 
 she laid her treasured volume re<rretfully 
 aside, but her conduct was fashioned 
 after its sacred teaching-s, so the sunset 
 of her life was calm and peaceful. 
 
 Her life was noble and full of self-sac- 
 rifice, and her experiences most varied. 
 Besides rearing- her own family, she 
 raised one orphan girl and two orphan 
 boys, one of whom was the street gamin, 
 the hero of this sketch. 
 
 She imbued her family with lofty sen- 
 timents, inspired by these exalted virtues 
 that marked her own life and influenced 
 for good all who came in contact with her. 
 
66 U\4ATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 VII. 
 
 A WAR REMINISCENCE — ONE UNION 
 SOLDIER — BUZZARD ROOST. 
 
 N the morning- of May 9, 1864, the 
 Seventy-fourth Ohio regiment 
 was encamped upon Tunnel Hill 
 Ridge, Georgia, forming a part 
 of the Third Brigade, First Di- 
 vision, Fourteenth Army Corps. Sher- 
 man's army, of which it was the center, 
 had started upon its memorable march, 
 known in history as the Atlanta cam- 
 paign, and after a week's marching and 
 maneuvering it attained this position 
 with but slig-ht opposition, although 
 there was occasional skirmishing but no 
 hard fighting. 
 
 From its position the soldiers could 
 look down upon the valley which sloped 
 irregularly to the foot of Buzzard Roost 
 mountain which was skirted by Mill 
 Creek, a narrow but deep little stream, 
 the banks of which were lined with tim- 
 ber. Mill Creek separated Buzzard 
 Roost from Rocky Face, forming a gap 
 between them. Soldiers could look 
 through the gap, and the view of Buzzard 
 Roost and Rocky Face which frowned 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 67 
 
 before them, was quite distinct, though 
 a mile distant. 
 
 Colonel Josiah Given, afterwards one 
 of the supreme judsfes of Iowa and com- 
 mander of the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public of that department, commanded 
 this regiment and Matthew, the immi- 
 grant waif, was his adjutant. 
 
 Early in the morning a courier handed 
 Matthew an order for the Colonel which 
 was promptly delivered. Colonel Given 
 read the document and returned it to 
 Matthew with instructions to see the 
 order executed. It was that a detail of 
 twenty men and an officer should be made 
 from his regiment to be provided with 
 axes and shovels and proceed to Mill 
 Creek to construct a bridge on which the 
 troops might cross to Buzzard Roost. 
 
 Having ascertained the nature of the 
 order Matthew inquired of the Colonel if 
 it would not be better to ask for volunteers 
 for this service, two men from each com- 
 pany, rather than make a formal detail. 
 He left the matter entirely to Matthew's 
 discretion, upon which this brave young 
 soldier further ventured to suggest that 
 he would willingly take charge of the 
 party if it would meet the Colonel's ap- 
 
68 {M^TTHEJV TETERS 
 
 proval. The commander replied that he 
 would be glad to have him do so. 
 
 Thereupon Matthew made the orders 
 known to the line officers and men, and 
 had not the least difficulty in securing- 
 the required number; indeed more offered 
 their services than he called for. They 
 reported at brigade headquarters where 
 the tools were supplied and at once pro- 
 ceeded down the valley to Mill Creek. 
 They found a rail fence bordering the 
 stream; this they promptly threw down 
 and at once began their labors by fell- 
 ing trees nearest to the banks in such a 
 manner that they lodged across the 
 stream from bank to bank, thus form- 
 ing stringers, when trimmed up. They 
 crossed over on these stringers and re- 
 peated the operation from that side, thus 
 making a very strong and secure bed for 
 the rails which were then laid on close 
 together. Next they covered the rails 
 with earth to hold them firmly in position. 
 
 All this, so far as the manual labor 
 was concerned, was an easy task and 
 quickly done. Twenty men working in 
 dead earnest can accomplish a great deal 
 in a very short time. But their task was 
 not without anxiety as it was performed 
 under continuous fire from the enemy's 
 
A F0%EIGN IMMIGRANT 69 
 
 sharpshooters. But they did their work 
 all the quicker from impending danger, 
 retiring- to their regiment witli but one 
 man slightly wounded. 
 
 It was but a short time after this work 
 was completed before the troops began 
 to utilize the bridge. From the position 
 of the loyal brigade on Tunnel Hill Ridge 
 they could see their line of battle extend- 
 ing for miles along the crest of the hills 
 and down through the valley; and could 
 even see the enemy who occupied Buzzard 
 Roost and Rocky Face, or at least they 
 imagined they could, for there they were. 
 
 The purpose apparently was to dis- 
 lodge the enemy from these strongholds. 
 But subsequently it was discovered (after 
 the attack had been made) that the at- 
 tack was but a feint to occupy his atten- 
 tion and detain him while the wings of 
 Sherman's army were to close around him 
 and cut oif his retreat. But the wily 
 enemy saw through this strategy and 
 escaped before the movement could be 
 fully executed. But the Union soldiers 
 performed their part of the program and 
 a hazardous part it was. 
 
 Buzzard Roost, a rough and rugged 
 mountain, was very difficult to scale. 
 The side toward the regiment was covered 
 
70 (MATTHEW TETERS 
 
 with rocks of all sizes and shapes; it was 
 cut up with gulleys and deep ravines, 
 and withal quite steep up to a certain 
 point where it rose abruptly like a wall, 
 from fifty to one hundred feet high, form- 
 ing a regular palisade of rock. The 
 members of Matthew's brigade having 
 crossed the creek, they quickly formed in 
 line at the foot of the mountain, and then 
 began the slow and tedious ascent, the 
 enemy raining down upon them their 
 shot and shell which came crashing 
 through the trees, tearing off the limbs 
 and shivering the rocks, fragments of 
 which and exploded shell were sent flying 
 in every direction. It was under such 
 conditions that their line advanced. How 
 could they ever expect to reach the top 
 of the mountain shielded as it was by a 
 perpendicular wall and defended by a 
 resolute force. But the true soldier ex- 
 ecutes his orders: 
 
 "His not to reason why. 
 His but to do and die." 
 
 The ground so very rough and uneven, 
 made it utterly impossible to see even 
 the length of the regiment or to main- 
 tain any sort of alignment. They had 
 proceeded about half way up the side 
 when the Colonel, near whom Matthew 
 
A F<yj{ElGN IMMIGRANT 7l 
 
 stood at the right of the reg-iment, or- 
 dered him to g-o to the left flank, which 
 was down in a ravine obscured by huj^e 
 boulders, and report its progress and 
 condition. He obeyed orders promptly. 
 
 The advance was exasperating'ly slow 
 owing- to the obstructions and ditHculty 
 of ascent, and they were exceeding-ly 
 anxious to reach the cover of the wall 
 where they would be comparatively safe 
 from the fire of the artillery as the enemy 
 could not depress their cannon sufficiently 
 to reach them there. 
 
 Matthew had just returned from the 
 left of the reg^iment and was in the act of 
 saluting- the Colonel to make his report 
 when a shell exploded not more than six 
 feet from them and slijj^htly above their 
 heads. One frag-ment of the shell passed 
 throug^h the Colonel's hat and another 
 throug-h the skirt of his coat; another 
 frag-ment struck a serg-eant's arm and 
 shattered it. Matthew fell, head down, 
 among- the rocks. It was a hard fall and 
 seemed to stun him and for a moment 
 he could make no effort to arise. He was 
 not aware that he had been wounded; 
 that thought had not then occurred to 
 him. 
 
 Recovering- from the shock of the fall. 
 
72 m/iTTHElV TETERS 
 
 as he supposed, he attempted to get up 
 and succeeded partially, only to fall 
 ag-ain. Twice he tried it but failed. 
 Thinking it was weakness and de- 
 termined to keep up with his reg- 
 iment, he made one more effort when 
 for the first time he realized that his 
 right leg was shattered. There was 
 no pain until Chaplain McFarland and 
 Sergeant Carpenter picked him up, 
 when on raising him from the ground it 
 seemed as if his leg was in the fire. 
 These officers placed Matthew on a 
 stretcher and had only raised it from the 
 ground to bear him off the field when 
 another shell exploded in their midst 
 and Sergeant Carpenter fell, and with 
 him the stretcher with the wounded man 
 on it. 
 
 Another came to assist the Chaplain 
 in conveying him down to the foot of the 
 mountain where the wounded were laid 
 in winrows along the banks of the creek. 
 
 While they were going down, the reg- 
 iment continued its upward movement 
 and soon reached the shelter of the wall 
 where the enemy could no longer reach 
 them. The bearers had just arrived at 
 the second line, which was perhaps sixty 
 or eighty rods in rear of the first (now 
 
A F(yT{EIGhl IMMIGRANT 73 
 
 temporarily out of dang-er) when the 
 enemy vij^-orously opened upon it with 
 their artillery. 
 
 Four men had by this time taken hold 
 of the stretcher and were carrying' it 
 upon their shoulders. They were just 
 about to pass throug-h the second line 
 where space had been opened for that 
 purpose when a shell came whizzing- di- 
 rectly over them. The stretche'r bearers 
 involuntarily dodg^ed. The consequence 
 was that the poor wounded man dropped 
 from their shoulders upon the hard rocks. 
 The ag^ony endured by Matthew in his 
 fevered condition may be faintly iraag^- 
 ined but cannot be described. 
 
 The stretcher was broken. A Captain 
 who witnessed the act severel}' repri- 
 manded the stretcher-bearers. They 
 picked up their charge tenderly and 
 finally succeeded in placing- him among- 
 the wounded near the banks of the creek. 
 He was laid upon half of a blanket and 
 covered with the other half; his coat served 
 as a pillow on which to rest his aching- 
 head. 
 
 It was about three o'clock in the after- 
 noon when he was wounded. The frag-- 
 ment of shell had penetrated his riglit 
 leg- just below the knee, and shattered 
 
74 mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 the bones so that the p-arts protruded 
 throug-h the flesh, for such is war. 
 
 It was nearly ni<Tfht when Major J. R. 
 Brelsford, medical director of the divi- 
 sion, who was a particular friend of Mat- 
 thew, because they were boon compan- 
 ions at chess during their leisure in 
 camp, called upon the sufferer. 
 
 Having- heard that Matthew was 
 wounded he soug^ht him out to render 
 such assistance as he might. After his 
 salutation and expression of sympathy, 
 he removed the covering and with a sharp 
 surgical instrument cut off the boot, the 
 top of which reached above the knee. 
 He next ripped open the trousers leg and 
 laid the wound out bare. He carefully 
 examined the injured member and then 
 remarked: 
 
 "Well, Adjutant, in order to save your 
 life that leg must come off," and saying 
 this, he drew his forefinger across the 
 limb to designate where the amputation 
 must be performed. 
 
 "Doctor, if you cut off my leg to save 
 my life, I'll never forgive you as long as 
 I live!" exclaimed Matthew, adding, "too 
 many soldiers are maimed for life by 
 speedy amputation." 
 
 The doctor drew the flaps of the trous- 
 ers legs back gently over the ghastly 
 
A FOT{EIGhl IMMIGRANT Ti> 
 
 wound and covered him up a/^ain witli 
 the blanket, expressin«,f his ref^rct that 
 he could do nothing- further for liim, and 
 so he left him. 
 
 Matthew laid all that night — not a 
 bite to eat, but he felt no hunger; not a 
 drop of water to drink though he was 
 parched and perishing- for want of it. 
 Oh! what would he not have done or 
 promised to do for a cup of cooling; v.ater. 
 Beside him, on either side, lay other 
 wounded, moaning and groaning; some 
 praying-, some cursing-; all calling and 
 pleading- for water. Near by ran the 
 creek, and during the night it rained very 
 hard, but it was morning- before any one 
 came to quench the burning thirst which 
 was consuming- these soldier boys. It is 
 not in the power of language to describe 
 the sufferings and agony and anguish of 
 the battlefield, the barbarous relic of the 
 Dark Ages. 
 
 In the forenoon of the next da)% ^Nlat- 
 thew with a number of others was car- 
 ried to a shed which had formerly been 
 used as a shelter for tobacco while being- 
 cured. It was quite extensive and ac- 
 commodated a large number. It consisted 
 merely of a roof of boards resting on 
 posts well set in the ground; there were 
 
76 mj TTHEIV TE TERS 
 
 no ends or sides. It was situated in the 
 vicinity of the tunnel through which the 
 railroad passed. 
 
 Here the wounded were cared for as 
 best the nurses could. Supplies were 
 limited, but they were given occasional 
 sups of beef tea. There was no medical 
 attendance whatever. Here they lay for 
 two long-, long-, tedious days, after which 
 they were put aboard of freig^ht cars and 
 compelled to lie upon the hard floors — 
 two rows of boys with their heads to- 
 ward the sides of the car, their feet 
 toward the center. In this manner they 
 were jolted and jostled to Chattanoog^a 
 where they were placed in a reg-ular 
 army hospital, on Cameron Hill. Such 
 were the suffering's endured by the boys 
 of both the Blue and the Gray in the 
 strife of war for the abolition of human 
 slavery. 
 
 The surg-eons examined Matthew's 
 wound and found his leg swollen almost 
 as large as his body. They decided 
 upon an operation, to which he submitted 
 only on condition that his leg should not 
 be amputated. Seeing his earnestness 
 they solemnly pledged him their word of 
 honor that his wishes in the matter should 
 be respected and only the loose bone be re- 
 
A FOliEIGN IMMIGRANT 77 
 
 moved. He doubted but was helpless in 
 the hands of stranj^ers. He was taken 
 to the operating- table and chloroformed. 
 Happily when he regained consciousness 
 he found himself a<^ain on his cot with 
 his wounded limb done up in wooden 
 splints, within a wire frame extendin<j 
 from his body to his toes, and suspended 
 from the ceiling' by a cord. He could 
 neither move his leg" nor turn his body, 
 and in this position he lang-uished for 
 three months — three long-, weary, agon- 
 izing months. For the first few weeks 
 he ling^ered between life and death; in- 
 deed it was not expected that he would 
 survive. A friend so informed him and 
 asked to know if his body should be sent 
 back to Ohio. Matthew replied "No, 
 bur}' me among the Ohio boys in the 
 soldier's cemetery." He was ready and 
 willing- to die to be relieved of his suffer- 
 ing, but his work was not done and he 
 was restored to health to do valiant 
 service in other fields. 
 
 Promoted to the rank of Captain, then 
 Major, Matthew served the cause of his 
 country until the close of the civil war, 
 after which he pursued the arts of peace 
 with the same fortitude and faithfulness 
 that had characterized his life as a soldier. 
 
78 S'AATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 VIII. 
 
 A CONQUEST OF PEACE — A CUSTOM OF 
 THE CIVIL WAR. 
 
 "WAISTED. — Two young ladies in the North to corre- 
 spond with two soldiers, who are without relatives, and 
 are risking their lives in defense of the Nation. 
 
 Arthur Van Lisle, 
 Charles Howard. 
 Address, with Sherman's Army in its march to the sea." 
 
 UCH was the notice that appeared 
 in one of the leading" newspapers 
 of Chicago during" the civil war. 
 Such requests were not unusual 
 and thousands of patriotic women 
 responded to these advertisements, cor- 
 responding" with unknown soldiers, lend- 
 ing" cheer and comfort to the "boys who 
 were at the front," enduring long- marches 
 which were made less wearisome as they 
 thought of the friends who would scan, 
 with affectionate concern, the lists of 
 those eng"ag"ed in battle or those dropped 
 by the way in hospital or trench. 
 
 While women could not endure the 
 rig"ors of war in tent and field, they did 
 these womanly deeds that cheered the 
 soldiers to do their hig"hest duty. A let- 
 ter in camp was like the cup of water to 
 a thirsty soul. 
 
A FOTiEIGhl IMMIGRANT 79 
 
 This special advertisement was an- 
 swered by two 3'ounvi: patriotic g'irls, one 
 livin<j- at Roscoe, Illinois, and the other 
 at Madison, Wisconsin, both stranf^ers 
 to the soldiers whose weary hours their 
 letters cheered. The correspondence con- 
 tinued to the end of the war. 
 
 The war over, the young- soldiers de- 
 sired to know these maidens in person. 
 They went tog'ether to pay their respects 
 first to the young- lady of Roscoe. It 
 was a beautiful summer day. Driving- 
 along- the roadway leading- into the vil- 
 lag^e, the soldiers passed a bug-g-y, in 
 which was seated, beside a small bo}' 
 who was driving- a single horse, a beauti- 
 ful young g-irl clad in a pink calico gown 
 of simple and tasteful make. 
 
 So bewitched were they with her beauty 
 that they permitted her to pass and re- 
 pass them several times, that they 
 mig-ht look upon her blooming cheeks and 
 happy face. Judg-e the surprise of the 
 visiting- soldier boys when they found 
 this bewitching- miss to be none other 
 than "Clara," the war correspondent of 
 Matthew. 
 
 He paid no visit to Madison, but left 
 his companion to journey on alone. The 
 tales of thrilling- adventure that fell upon 
 
80 
 
 CM^TTHEIV TETERS 
 
 the ears of this Miss completely won her 
 heart, which was already enlisted throug'h 
 the brilliant 
 correspond- 
 ence that had 
 been carried 
 on for many 
 months be- 
 tween them. 
 Matthew left 
 his g-irl lover 
 only to re- 
 turn at an 
 early day to 
 claim her for-; 
 his bride, 
 who is now 
 Mrs. Clara 
 Lyon Peters, 
 so well known 
 to all philanthropists in the west, 
 especially those engaged in the work 
 for woman's emancipation; also ex-vice- 
 president of the "Woman's Press Associ- 
 ation of Illinois. 
 
 CLARA LYON PETERS. 
 
A FOTiEIGN IMMIGRANT 81 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. 
 
 N all the years between 1855 and 
 1869 the two brothers, Matthew 
 and Samuel, were unknown to each 
 other. At the time that Matthew 
 escaped his cruel taskmaster, 
 Samuel, the young brother, was the in- 
 mate of a public orphan asylum, which 
 was located at the corner of Jackson and 
 Laurel streets in New Orleans. 
 
 The war was at an end and peace ag^ain 
 hovered over a united land. Matthew's 
 love for the long lost brother was re- 
 awakened, and he dreamed and longed 
 night and day for some knowledge of the 
 whereabouts of this his onl}' known kin. 
 
 Had he too fallen into the hands of a 
 cruel taskmaster, had he endured or es- 
 caped? Was he of the North or the 
 South? Was he living or numbered 
 among the dead? Had he fought on 
 either side in the late Avar; if so, on 
 which side was he found? These and 
 many other questions came unbidden, 
 at all hours of the day and night, to the 
 mind of the elder brother. 
 
 It was on a calm summer evening in ISO') 
 
82 €^A TTHEIV TETERS 
 
 as Matthew sat on his porch reading 
 a copy of a Chicag;o daily paper, that 
 his eyes fell upon the account of the 
 visit of the "Southern Loyalists" to that 
 city. They were prominent gentlemen 
 of the south making a tour of the north; 
 their mission, to make observations for 
 the promotion of the material welfare of 
 that section of the states from which 
 slavery had been so recently abolished. 
 Among the list of names given was 
 that of "E. Heistand," lieutenant gov- 
 ernor of Louisiana. 
 
 "Ah!" exclaimed Matthew, "this was 
 the name of a German lawyer, whose 
 sign swung over the walk near the or- 
 phan asylum where Samuel had found 
 shelter. Is it not possible that this man 
 is related to the elder advocate and will 
 it not be possible for him to find the 
 records that will tell me of my long lost 
 brother?" Here was a clue at least and 
 the resourceful Matthew was not long in 
 following it up. A letter soon readied 
 the honorable gentleman, and with that 
 admirable courtesy which is charactei-- 
 istic of southern men, his prompt reply 
 brought the coveted record. E. Heistand, 
 the lieutenant governor, was a son of 
 the German advocate. The asylum had 
 long since closed its doors, but the books 
 
A FOT^EIGN IMMIGRANT 83 
 
 of record had been preserved. From 
 these he found that the young^ orphan 
 had been bound to a Louisiana planter 
 at Opelousas, soon after Matthew had 
 left New Orleans. 
 
 A letter to Samuel soon brought a re- 
 sponse, and the long" separated brothers 
 were again united, to exchange life his- 
 tories that were stranger than any 
 fiction. 
 
 The experience of Samuel as a waif 
 had been a checkered one indeed. He 
 had remained in the south where "poor 
 white trash," the indigent whites, were 
 more despised and held in far lower es- 
 teem than the black slaves, with whom 
 they were considered too low to asso- 
 ciate. He had suffered the full measure 
 of indignities heaped upon those of his 
 class added to those of an orphan. Three 
 times he had fled the persecutions of his 
 master, only to be returned as an "incor- 
 rigible" and compelled to suffer on. 
 
 Fortunately for him, war made a way 
 for his escape. He enlisted in the Con- 
 federate army, though a mere bo\', as a 
 member of the Confederate General 
 Lovell's body guard, and afterwards as- 
 signed to the Third Louisiana Cavalry, 
 where he served to the close of the war. 
 
84 mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 Environment sent one of these brothers 
 into the army of the Blue and the 
 other into that of the Gray. Who shall 
 say that one was more patriotic than 
 the other? 
 
 Strange to relate, these brothers were 
 wounded on the same battlefield, on the 
 same day and in the same way, though 
 fig-liting-, one under the stars and stripes, 
 the other under the stars and bars. 
 
 Matthew's poetical tribute to the char- 
 ity and peace that has settled over the 
 National household throug-h the union 
 of the Blue and the Gray, is well worthy 
 of reproduction at this point in our story: 
 
 BROTHER AND I. 
 I. 
 We were both in the army, brother and I, 
 
 He with Sterling Price 'neath the Stars and Bars; 
 I was with Rosecrans, bearing- on high 
 
 Tlie banner of Union, the Stripes and Stars — 
 He witla the Stars and Bars, 1 witli the Stripes and Stars. 
 
 II. 
 He marclied nortli from the Pelican state, 
 
 With the Buckeye boys 1 marched to the south; 
 We met on the field, and it was our fate 
 
 To shed our blood at the cannon's mouth — 
 1 for the North and he for the South. 
 
 III. 
 Both of us fought for what we thought right, ; 
 
 But of duty each took a different view; 
 Both of us entered the perilous fight 
 And did our duty as patriots do — 
 But he wore the Gray and I wore the Blue. 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 85 
 
 IV. 
 Thus full four years of strife, blood and tears 
 
 Passed wearily over the land of our love 
 The North filled with dread, the South full of fears. 
 
 The battle-smoke tilling the heavens above, 
 The clash of arms— in the land of our love. 
 
 V. 
 But the war came to a close at last, and 
 
 1 went home with the laurels I'd won; 
 Brother went south to the Pelican land 
 
 In the gloom of defeat, his cause undone— 
 I w ith my tattered tlajj— Hag he had none. 
 
 VI. 
 I was received by the multitude 
 
 With open arms, with shouts and hurrahs; 
 But my brother's lot was sad as he stood 
 
 Amid his friends who mourned tlic lost cause — 
 He honored in silence, 1 with applause. 
 
 VII. 
 My brother indeed, was as brave and true 
 
 To the cause he espoused as I to mine; 
 He fought as patriots alwavs do 
 
 When they feel they niust tight or else resign 
 Their claim to honor and rights divine. 
 
 Vlll. 
 He staked his life for a cause that went down 
 
 1 staked mine for the Union for aye; 
 But when he surrendered (in honor bound 
 
 to support the old tlag) he went his way 
 True to his honor and true to this day. 
 
 IX. 
 And now that the awful struggle is done. 
 
 Let the angel of peace assert her might, 
 Cementing our hearts and making us one. 
 
 Forgetting the bitterness of the tight 
 When brother slew brother and thought it right. 
 
 X. 
 
 Let the awful past be burled from sight 
 
 As our comrades so noble, brave and true 
 
 Arc buried on fields where they made the brave fight. 
 Keeping their virtues alone in view— 
 
 The chivalrous Gray and generous Blue. 
 
86 
 
 C>4ATTHEJV TETERS 
 
 ^•'■^' 
 
 "Under the laurel, the Blue, 
 Under the willow, the Gray.' 
 
A F0T{EIGN IMMIGRANT 
 
 87 
 
 MOTHER ROBERTS — A CENTENARIAN. 
 
 In 1873, when Mother Roberts was 
 eig'hty-two years of ag"e, she had out- 
 lived all of her family and relatives ex- 
 cept a grand niece, and wealth she had 
 none. 
 
 Although she 
 had fought well 
 and bravely the 
 battle of life, 
 meeting ob- 
 stacles greater 
 than those en- 
 countered on the 
 field of battle, 
 there was no Na- 
 tional Bureau 
 where she might 
 apply for a pen- 
 sion with which 
 to support her 
 tottering frame 
 
 until her spirit mother Roberts, 102 Years. 
 
 could flee its earthly bondage. She had 
 laid her wealth at the feet of noble ser- 
 vice to her kind. Her jewels were reg- 
 istered in heaven, not in government 
 bonds nor in earthly treasure. 
 
88 (MATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 It came to the knowledg^e of Matthew 
 and Clara Peters that Mother Roberts 
 was to be sent to the poor house for care 
 the rest of her already prolonged life. 
 "Bring- her here," said Clara. "Yes," 
 echoed Matthew, "we will bring- her here. 
 She shall have the cosiest corner in our 
 hearts and home, and the tender care and 
 love she meted out to the street gamin 
 shall be returned to her an hundred fold, 
 if possible." 
 
 It was a kind Providence that gave her 
 this home during the long evening of her 
 life. From this loving shelter on a clear, 
 beautiful day, at high noon, January 6th, 
 1894, this venerable saint at the age of 
 one hundred and two years and five 
 months, passed into rest eternal. 
 
 For twenty-one years she was the be- 
 loved and honored guest of the beautiful 
 home of the street gamin for whom she 
 had cared nearly half a century before. 
 No parent ever received from affectionate 
 children richer love or tenderer care and 
 ministrations than were bestowed upon 
 "Mother" Roberts by those in whose 
 home her lot was cast. 
 
 A large concourse of friends came to 
 pay honor and tribute to this noble life, 
 summoned by the follov/ing notice: 
 
A FOT^EIGN IMMIGRANT 89 
 
 MRS. ANISE SHARPE ROBERTS. 
 
 'Born 
 
 in Newtown, Conn., August 10, 17'M. 
 
 Died 
 
 in Watseka, Illinois, January (>, 1804, 
 
 at the home of Maj. M. H. Peters. 
 
 Funeral Serz'ices 
 
 at the M. E. Church, Monday, January 8, 1 8")4, 
 
 at 1 o'clock p. m., 
 
 conducted hy Rev. R. B. Williams, 
 
 assisted by Rev. Samuel Liifht. 
 
 The remains will be interred in the 
 
 G. A. R. Cemetery. 
 
 Sweet singers chanted at the gfrave the 
 poetical tribute of the g"amin-son: 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF MOTHER ROBERTS. 
 Her wasted frame will be consijjned to dust 
 
 From which it spranj;; 
 Her sainted soul ascend to God, the Just, 
 
 Of whom she sang. 
 And there, upon that bright eternal shore 
 Slie'll meet and greet her loved ones gone before 
 To dwell in love and peace forevermore. 
 
 Oh, may her holy faith and trust 
 
 Be our triumph over death; 
 
 So when the summons comes at last 
 
 We, too, may pass as she has passed 
 
 In faith and trust and triumph grand 
 
 Into the blessed spirit land, 
 
 Once more to grasp her sainted hand; 
 
 No more to grieve, no more to part. 
 
 To feel no more the anguished heart; 
 
 No more to weep, no more to sigh. 
 
 No more to suffer or to die; 
 
 But there to live in joy and peace 
 
 While God shall give our joy increase 
 
 As time rolls to eternity— 
 
 Our bliss confirmed eternally. 
 
90 CMATTHEiy TETERS 
 
 Farewell, dear Mother; few the days 
 
 Ere we shall meet to join in praise 
 
 Of Him who said "Come unto me, 
 
 A mansion is prepared for thee — 
 
 To thee a mansion shall be given 
 
 Not made of hands, high in the heaven." 
 
 There we shall meet, 
 
 There we shall greet; 
 Oh, blessed hope, oh, promise sweet— 
 Though here we part, there we shall meet. 
 
 Farewell, dear Mother, while you wait 
 Our coming at the pearly gate, 
 Oh, may in life our purpose be 
 To live beyond with God and thee. 
 
 In these days when the grace of ten- 
 der ministrations needs cultivating- and 
 multiplying", the author may be pardoned 
 for printing- the letter that announced to 
 her the death of this noble Mother, that 
 the curtain may be lifted and the world 
 see that the g-reatest thing- in the world 
 is love — and its service. 
 
 Watseka, III., Jan. 18, 1894. 
 Mrs. Helen M. Gougar, LaFayette, Ind. 
 
 Dear Friend: — You intimated in your 
 last letter that you expected to bear 
 from me in reg-ard to Mother's last days 
 and death. She passed away sweetly, 
 calmly, peacefully, as might a confiding- 
 babe in its mother's arms, her hands in 
 mine. The last breath left her lips just 
 as the clock struck two in the afternoon 
 of January 6, 1894. She had been grad- 
 
A FOT^EIGN IMMIGRANT 91 
 
 iially sinking- for several days, and as we 
 feared she niiyht die at any moment, we 
 watched her constantly; and frequently 
 our little family would surround her bed- 
 side, expecting- the end. We knew it 
 had come that morning. There were oc- 
 casional moans, as of a child in its slum- 
 bers, but for the last hour there was no 
 sound but a gradual shortening- of her 
 feeble breath until the last gasp, when 
 there was a slight quiver of the thin lips, 
 and she slipped away from this life. 
 
 I can really think of nothing which I 
 consider of special interest concerning- 
 Mother's last moments unless the above 
 be so. The story of her noble life is 
 known to you. 
 
 At the funeral hosts came to pay the 
 worthy tributes of respect and affection. 
 
 Althoug-h we had long- anticipated 
 Mother's death, yet how hard it seems for 
 us to reconcile ourselves to the new con- 
 ditions which surround us. I am often 
 aroused in my sleep thinking I heard 
 Mother call. But all these dreams will 
 pass away in time. 
 
 Isn't it sad to reflect — after all our 
 efforts, all our love, all our cherished as- 
 sociations here — how soon we shall be 
 forg-otteu by those who knew us on earth. 
 
92 OA/iTTHElV TETERS 
 
 And yet, when we reflect again, we are 
 cheered by the thoug^ht that after all we 
 are still linked throug^h this little span 
 of earth's experiences to that spiritual 
 life which knows no death in company 
 with c<mg"enial souls who kncAv and loved 
 us here. The idea of eternal death (an- 
 nihilation) is abhorrent — at least to me. 
 There is something- within us — a part of 
 us — call it soul or what you please — that 
 hopes, trusts and long-s for an undying^ 
 future; and for me, Mother Nature g^ives 
 every evidence that this hope, this long- 
 ing- shall be realized — for in nature noth- 
 ing is destroyed, however its form or 
 conditions may be chang-ed. If this is 
 true of material thing's as taught in 
 philosophy, why is it not a hig-her truth, 
 too high perhaps for our finite compre- 
 hension with regard to things spiritual, 
 intangible and inexplainable. 
 
 I need no sacred volume to assure my 
 faith in a future existence — others may — 
 yet I could not discredit nor discard the 
 holy precepts and teachings of the Bible. 
 We shall all be with Mother ere long. 
 
 But I must cease this moralizing or it 
 may lead me too far. 
 
 Excuse this long indefinite letter, and 
 believe me, very truly your friend, 
 
 M. H. Peters. 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 
 
 93 
 
 XL 
 
 SEARCHING FOR A BIRTHPLACE. 
 
 OBER-OTTF.RBACH. 
 
 ! 
 
 He 
 
 T had long- been the cherished de- 
 sire of Matthew to visit the Fath- 
 erland and if possible learn some- 
 thing of his ancestry of which he 
 had no knowledge, 
 realized the difficulties of the un- 
 
 dertaking, for he had but a faint idea 
 of the place from which his people had 
 emigrated. He thought he had heard his 
 father speak of Ober-Otterbach, Landau 
 and Strasburg, at least such was a vague- 
 memory of his childhood. 
 
 He sought diligently for Ober-Otter- 
 bach on the map, in geography and ga- 
 zetteer, and he questioned Germans and 
 French alike as to the location of his 
 
94 m/fTTHEH^ TETERS 
 
 supposed birthplace, but all in vain. No 
 one had ever heard of Ober-Otterbach, 
 country, village, city, whichever it might 
 be. 
 
 But Landau and Strasburg- were old 
 historic cities, and once there he surely 
 could find some clue to his supposed 
 birthplace. Not only had he heard his 
 father speak of these famous cities, 
 which have been made footballs between 
 France and Germany, first belonging to 
 one and then to the other, but he spoke 
 the French language, although German 
 was the household tongue. These things 
 led him to believe that Ober-Otterbach 
 must be in Elsace or in Die Pflaz (the 
 Palatinate), adjoining territory. 
 
 With these impressions well estab- 
 lished in mind, February, 1895, found our 
 indomitable hero aboard S. S. New York, 
 bound for Southampton, England. 
 
 Without unnecessary delay he made 
 his way to Paris via Havre, France. 
 
 The farther he traveled the more fre- 
 quently he asked Germans and French 
 alike of the location of Ober-Otterbach, 
 only to note the shake of the head and 
 mystified look of total ignorance of the 
 place. 
 
 So on to Strasburg he went, sure that 
 
A FOT^EIGN IMMIGRANT 95 
 
 once there he ^vould be able to find the 
 place of his seeking-. 
 
 As soon as located in the hotel St. 
 Gothard, he made the usuul inquiry of 
 the ubiquitous clerk, only to receive the 
 discouraging" statement that though born 
 and reared in Strasburg-, he had never 
 heard of Ober-Otterbach. 
 
 Landlord and guests were questioned 
 and notwithstanding all took a deep per- 
 sonal interest, which is a part of the 
 common courtesies of the old countries, 
 it was to no avail. No one knew more 
 than himself, indeed none had ever heard 
 the name spoken as in any part of 
 Deutschland. 
 
 The weariness of much travel had ag-- 
 g-ravated the malady of the army-mu- 
 tilated limb, and a stay in the public hos- 
 pital, which is one of the largest in all 
 Europe, was made necessary. Here one 
 of the white-bonnetted angels of mercy, 
 sister of charity, a member of that great 
 army of saintly women, whose g^entle 
 touch, quiet manner, soft tones and 
 sweet words of consolation have smoothed 
 the pillow, slacked the thirst and calmed 
 the troubled hearts of millions of suffer- 
 ers in tent, on field or in hospital, was 
 Matthew's constant attendant. 
 
96 (M/ITTHEiy TETERS 
 
 Far from home and friends, sick among 
 strang-ers, suffering" from pain, mental 
 as well as physical, disappointed in his 
 fondest hopes, unable to converse with 
 those about him, whose lang-uage and 
 customs were foreign to his own, he lived 
 over in his waking hours the sorrows of 
 his childhood, the experiences of the 
 tent, field and hospital, and suffered the 
 greatest affliction of all, the dreaded dis- 
 ease of homesickness, but with no 
 thought, however, of abandoning his 
 search for his birthplace. For should 
 he fail in his search, had he not been well 
 repaid for his journey in the sights that 
 he had witnessed already? 
 
 He determined, as soon as the doctors 
 would give their permit for him to leave 
 the hospital, that Landau should be vis- 
 ited, for surely he would get some desired 
 knowledge there. 
 
 About ready for his departure from the 
 St. Gothard hotel, the clerk told a com- 
 pany of traveling men the mission of der 
 Amerikaner. With thoughtful mien, one 
 man placed his hand on the shoulder of 
 the foreign guest, and said while he had 
 never heard of such a place, he would 
 soon find out if there is such an one. He 
 politely tipped his hat and hurried out of 
 
A FO%ElGhl IMMIGRANT 97 
 
 the room upon the street; soon he re- 
 turned, holding- a small piece of paper in 
 his hand, his face all ag-low. He had 
 been to the post office. 
 
 "I have found it," he said, excitedly, 
 and hastened to place the slip of paper 
 in the hand that grasped it with eag^er- 
 ness. It read: 
 
 "Ober-Otterbach, near Weissenburg- in 
 Elsace, but it is in the Palatine." 
 
 Weissenburg- was but a short distance 
 to the north of Strasburg- and on the di- 
 rect route to Landau by rail. 
 
 Ober-Otterbach was an obscure, insig-- 
 nificantdorf-villag-e, off the railroad, lying 
 in a mountain valley, and hence it was 
 unknown to the outside world. 
 
 The relief that came to the almost de- 
 spairing' traveler was akin to an escape 
 from some impending- danger. While his 
 life was not at stake, much of his worldly 
 happiness was, and none ever becomes 
 so lost to the love of kin and country as 
 to forever forget or lose their identity 
 without a pang of regret. 
 
 A ride on the railway winding in and 
 out among the romantic valleys and hills, 
 with the quaint old stone buildings, with 
 here and there a dorf, with its narrow 
 streets and small homes, gable ends to 
 
98 (M/iTTHElV TETERS 
 
 the streets, squads of neatly dressed sol- 
 diers, to be seen at all the old country 
 stations, carts drawn by mastiffs and 
 man in the same harness, and women 
 wearing short dresses and wooden shoes, 
 leading- children, old before their time as 
 indicated by their careworn faces, these 
 and many other sights provided enter- 
 tainment that made the two hours ride 
 seem short, notwithstanding the eager- 
 ness of our hero to consummate his 
 mission. 
 
 He stepped into the motley throng 
 which here, as elsewhere, in the old 
 countries, crowded the depot, and was 
 soon on his way to his hotel. 
 
 The path led through a common, then 
 a park and then over a bridge under 
 which a sparkling stream danced over 
 stones and pebbles on its way down out 
 of the mountain to pour its pearly waters 
 into the legendary Rhine where it min- 
 gles with the seductive strains of the 
 Lorelie. 
 
 "Lauterbach" said the porter, as he 
 pointed with evident local pride to the 
 purling brook below. "Lauterbach," 
 exclaimed Matthew, is this the stream 
 that has given its name to the most pop- 
 ular of all German songs, an air as fa- 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGR/INT 
 
 99 
 
 miliar to Americans and Eng-lish as it is 
 to Alascians, a melody as natural, mu- 
 sical and inspiring" as the breezes of the 
 Vosges mountains from whose sides it 
 hails, and then how often he had heard 
 his father sing it, and now — the son, 
 from the sweet memory of the father's 
 lullaby, heard the echo in the song of 
 the brook under his very feet. 
 
 For a moment he stood entranced for 
 he had never dreamed that he would find 
 his birthplace near this stream of en- 
 chanting song. So forgetting all weari- 
 ness, he inadvertantly sang, after the 
 rollicking notes: 
 
100 mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 And shuffled the waltz, that caug-ht his 
 feet with the gladness of his soul. 
 
 FINDING KIN. 
 
 Only those who have tried the experi- 
 ment can fully understand the halting 
 g-ait of the tong-ue when mingfling- with 
 those whose ancestors inherited diif erent 
 languages at the confusion of Babylon. 
 
 Withal Matthew had managed to find 
 the place of his search, now how should 
 he find kith and kin, if indeed he had any 
 to find? 
 
 He had consented to remain at the ho- 
 tel that night, for the sun was low on his 
 arrival, and in the morning he would re- 
 new his journey by post chaise. 
 
 No longer feeling anxiety about the 
 final outcome of his efforts, he was pre- 
 pared to enjoy whatever might present 
 itself as curious and entertaining. 
 
 Soon after supper the guests of the 
 evening began to arrive in the spacious 
 corridors of the hotel, which is the popu- 
 lar resort for the people, according to 
 classes, this one being a resort for the 
 upper classes. Business men and pro- 
 fessionals in full dress, army officers in 
 full uniform, sword, sash and all, came 
 in couples and groups, seated themselves 
 
A FCmElG'N IMMIGRANT 101 
 
 about the tables and ordered their schop- 
 pen of beer or liter of wine, which they 
 sipped at intervals, while they smoked 
 and talked incessantly. The Amerikaner 
 sat apart, looked and listened, noting- oc- 
 casional g-lances from the company 
 directed towards him, accompanied with 
 subdued remarks. 
 
 The utmost decorum was preserved to- 
 wards the strang-er throughout the even- 
 ing", when at ten o'clock the most cordial 
 and friendly "g^ute nacht" was spoken 
 and the guests departed. 
 
 Promptly at the hour appointed the 
 next morning" the postman called for the 
 passeng"ers, not with the mail coach, but 
 with a double sleig-h, as a furious snow 
 storm had prevailed throug^hout the 
 night. Amid the blasts of wind and 
 clang" of church bells, for it was Sunday, 
 they drove out of town, up hill, then 
 down, each succeeding" hill higher than 
 its predecessor, until finally reaching" a 
 considerable elevation the postman halted 
 and pointing" down into the valley said 
 to his companion, in German, "below lies 
 Ober-Otterbach." And there nestling" 
 among" the spur-hills of the Vosg"es moun- 
 tains lay the quaint village in its ro- 
 mantic setting. The horses were halted 
 
102 mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 to allow the stranger to gaze across the 
 valley down upon the village which for 
 generations maybe, had been the home 
 of his ancestors. The roofs were white 
 with snow so deep as to almost obliter- 
 ate the outlines of the houses, except the 
 school house with its turret and the old 
 church with its slender, towering steeple. 
 
 On the sides of the hills could be seen 
 the terraced vineyards and in the dis- 
 tance the timbered mountains, all white 
 with snow. Down the hill they went and 
 were soon safely lodged at the Gasthaus, 
 Dinner was promptly announced and 
 Matthew found himself in a small room 
 alone before an elaborate spread, while 
 all other guests were dining in the gen- 
 eral reception room. 
 
 The honor of dining alone was con- 
 ferred because the stranger was a dis- 
 tinguished guest, an American, the first 
 to ever set foot within the gates of Ober- 
 Otterbach! 
 
 At evening the clouds had lifted and 
 the snow ceased. The usual company 
 began to assemble at the hotel after sup- 
 per, and the postman companion came 
 early with two gentlemen who received 
 the American most cordially. They were 
 cousins of George Peters, who nearly 
 
A FOTiEIGN IMMIGRANT t03 
 
 half a century before had g^one from 
 them and had been almost forgotten by 
 them. 
 
 The news soon spread that the stran- 
 ger was in town and many called to see 
 der Amerikaner, and left to spread the 
 news further. Soon the information 
 Matthew sought was secured, as many 
 of the older inhabitants knew the parents 
 and g-randparents of the American. He 
 found, still standing" and serving" the 
 people, the ancient mill erected by his 
 grandfather Peters. At first view it 
 looked like an old fortified castle, so 
 large and massive, surrounded by a 
 thick high stone wall which was entered 
 through a huge gateway, hung with 
 double doors, the whole structure be- 
 speaking the sturdy, thoroughness of 
 character which had trickled through the 
 blood down to the third generation and 
 found its vent in the indomitable will 
 that had led Matthew through the mazes 
 of his checkered life. 
 
 "Your grandfather was an honorable 
 man, and rich, too," was the universal 
 verdict of the older inhabitants who still 
 remained to recount the past. Many 
 there were who remembered the depar- 
 ture of his parents to the new country, 
 
J04 CM/iTTHElV TETERS 
 
 but none could tell the year as it was so 
 long-, long- ag-o. The house in which 
 Georg-e Peters kept a bakery was pointed 
 out, and like all others in these secluded 
 valleys, so constructed as to defy the 
 ravag-es of time. The home, however 
 crude or humble to these rug-g^ed, honest, 
 hardworking- mountain dwellers, is the 
 castle and fortress, where 
 
 "At night returning- every labor sped. 
 He sits him down the monarch of a shed; 
 
 Smiles by his cheerful fire, and round surveys 
 His children's look that brightens in the blaze." 
 
 On Monday morning- in company with 
 one of the elder cousins, the office of the 
 Burgomeister was visited; with great 
 dignity of bearing-, for office holding- ex- 
 alteth to honor in these parts, where 
 modern politics have not yet invaded, 
 the Burg-omeister, or Mayor, produced 
 several ponderous leather bound volumes 
 which he placed upon the table before 
 his g-uests and assisted in finding- the 
 records of the family. It consisted of 
 the record of the births of grandparents, 
 his father, two brothers and two sisters, 
 all of whom had gone to America many 
 years before, except the grandmother 
 whose body rested in the kirk yard near 
 by. But what about his mother and 
 himself? Must he return to America 
 
A FOTiEIGN IMMIGRANT 105 
 
 without learning- whether he was native 
 or foreifjn born, for this was a part of 
 the history in vvhicli he had a deep in- 
 terest. To be sure he had served four 
 years under the stars and stripes in de- 
 fense of the Union. He had shed his 
 blood and he bore the scars of battle on 
 his body and he carried an honorable 
 discharg-e from the volunteer army of the 
 United States as passports to honorable 
 citizenship, and he almost wished he 
 mig-ht find that he was American born. 
 He did not lament the place where he 
 might have been born, but he did lament 
 the want of knowledg^e as to where that 
 place was. It was the uncertainty that 
 perplexed him most. Nig-htfall found 
 the searchers ag-ain in the midst of the 
 usual company at the villagfe hotel. 
 Among- these loung-ers he found an old 
 gentleman to whom he related his story, 
 through the assistance of his hospitable 
 cousin acting as interpreter. The old 
 man's face brightened as he listened. 
 
 Why, he was a bosom friend of George 
 Peters, attended his wedding, knew the 
 very house in which the child Matthew 
 was born. It was not in Ober-Otterbach 
 but in Neider (lower) Otterbach, six 
 miles down the valley. This was a 
 
106 (MATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 cheerful endinfj- for the day's despond- 
 ency, and Matthew grasped the hand of 
 the old man and thanked him as the 
 blood ting-led in his veins and his heart 
 throbbed as he heard the coveted news. 
 
 A sleig^h was chartered and at an early 
 hour the next morning- a double team of 
 strong- horses, driven by a dauntless 
 mountaineer, carried the cousins down 
 the valley to the quaint little old town 
 of Neider-Otterbach with its single street, 
 following- the winding-s of the valley and 
 the same brook which turned the wheel 
 of his g-randfather's ancient mill. 
 
 The first object to attract attention as 
 they entered the village from its lower 
 end was a shrine, before which Matthew 
 afterwards learned his ancestors for gen- 
 erations had bowed in adoration. It 
 represented the crucified Savior, life size, 
 with a larg-e bible open at the foot of the 
 black cross, a passag-e of scripture in 
 larg^e letters being- plainly visible to the 
 passer-by, the g-roup being- enclosed with 
 a low iron railing-. 
 
 They wound their way throug-h this nar- 
 row street, passed the single church and 
 entered the school house, where all public 
 records were kept. As they ascended the 
 broad stone steps, which led to a wide 
 
A F0%EIGN IMMIGRANT t07 
 
 hallway, extending- the whole leng-th of 
 the building-, the American's curiosity- 
 was attracted to the peculiar arrange- 
 ment of the building. On either side 
 was a rack filled with pig-eon holes, 
 something- after the style of our post 
 office boxes, only larg-er; in these the 
 children deposited their wooden shoes 
 before entering the school room, the 
 g-irls on one side, the boys on the other. 
 
 It required but a moment to open the 
 old records, and sure enoug-h there was 
 the record of the birth, which read: 
 
 "Matthew Peter, born June 6, 1843, 
 babe, America," indicating- that he was 
 this early taken to America. Tlie entry 
 was fresh in the mind of the Burg-o- 
 meister, for it was he who made it. 
 Looking- out of the office window across 
 the street, the house which was his 
 birthplace was pointed out, this having- 
 been formerly the home of the Moock 
 family to which his mother belong-ed, 
 her name being- Mag-dalena Moock. 
 
 At last our hero was happy; the object 
 of his mission was accomplished. His 
 childhood impressions had served him 
 well; he visited the house and strayed 
 through its tiny rooms; he talked with 
 many old acquaintances of his family 
 and found many kin. 
 
108 m/ITTHElV TETERS 
 
 The record of his ancestry was one of 
 frugality, honor and intelligence, and he 
 was fully satisfied. He made the return 
 trip with a light heart and in a happy 
 frame of mind. Many were the fancies 
 woven as he dashed back over the hills, 
 each hill with its legend, every valley 
 with its romance, every village with a 
 history. 
 
 Yes, he had found his birthplace but 
 by the merest accident. How was it 
 that almost in the moment of despair he 
 should chance to meet the" venerable 
 Herr Daum? How was it that he should 
 chance to meet Hugh Venender, the 
 traveling man at Strasburg? Was the 
 babe, the gamin orphan, the citizen, the 
 soldier, the patriot, under the guidance 
 of some good angel, whose unseen hand 
 had protected him through the many 
 vicissitudes that had beset him from the 
 cradle to the return and visit to his birth- 
 place? Who can tell? 
 
 The return to America included visits 
 to Landau and the leading cities of 
 Germany, Prance, Switzerland and Great 
 Britain, the trip having occupied but 
 two months, but having satisfied the de- 
 sire of a lifetime, the knowledge of his 
 ancestry and birthplace. 
 
A FOT{ElGN IMMIGRANT 109 
 
 XII. 
 A MUNICIPAL ELECTION. 
 
 <<liia»«TOilOPULAR g-overnment is still on 
 trial, and the man who will en- 
 g^ag-e in or encourage any form 
 of political dishonor is a traitor 
 both to God and man," said 
 Matthew, with his eyes flashing- indigna- 
 tion at the request of men who stood be- 
 fore him begg-ing- him to accept the nom- 
 ination for Mayor of his home municipal- 
 ity, on a platform that violated good 
 morals and patriotism. 
 
 "Sirs," continued he, with fervor of 
 speech, "municipal corruption has been 
 the bane of every g-overnment and 
 throug-h it the masses have suffered the 
 long- train of human woes that have 
 marked the decadence and final over- 
 throw of every g-overnment that has left 
 the path of rectitude for the demands of 
 temporary expediency. If I accept a 
 nomination at the hands of your party 
 for chief executive of this city, I shall do 
 it only with the understanding- that my 
 oath of office to enforce the laws as I 
 find them and administer justice to all, 
 
no iMATTHElV TETERS 
 
 promoting' rig-hteousness in this com- 
 munity, so far as my authority g"oes, be 
 held sacred before God and my con- 
 stituents!" 
 
 This declaration was made with an 
 emphasis that left no doubt as to the po- 
 litical honor and loyalty of the man 
 whose name was sought as a possible 
 winning- candidate for the mayorality of 
 the city. His interviewers were three 
 influential men, two of whom were 
 officers in the two larg^est churches in the 
 city, and native born citizens of their 
 state. 
 
 The issue in the pending- election was 
 whether or no license should be g-ranted 
 to sell intoxicating- liquors for the ensu- 
 ing- year within the precincts of the mu- 
 nicipality. 
 
 These wars were wag-ed each annual 
 election and men were nominated for and 
 ag-ainst this issue alone. 
 
 The office of mayor was of unusual im- 
 portance in this pending- contest, as the 
 incumbent would have the casting- vote 
 between the contending- members of his 
 council when the question of extending 
 license was to be decided. 
 
 "Well," said Deacon Longprayers, "I 
 believe that men should enforce the laws. 
 
A FCfHElGn IMMIGRANT 1 1 1 
 
 when practicable, but when we all know 
 that it is impossible to make no-license 
 prohibit drunkenness and so long' as in- 
 toxicating liquors are to be sold anyway 
 in spite of the law, we may as well have 
 the $10,000 revenue from the saloons with 
 which to pay the expense of local govern- 
 ment, as to have no license, no revenue 
 and as much drunkenness as we would 
 if license was granted." 
 
 Having delivered himself of these an- 
 archist sentiments with an air of political 
 and business rectitude, he glanced into 
 the face of his companions, who assented 
 to his opinions with nods of the head and 
 an air of complacency which showed that 
 they believed fully that party victory 
 was more to be regarded than party 
 morals or individual righteousness. 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Elder Cash, "senti- 
 ment will do to talk about but it is poor 
 business policy these times. Prohibition 
 don't prohibit and it never will, and we 
 may as well let the saloon-keepers pay 
 the cost of the damage they do. Yes, 
 let them undo with their money some of 
 the harm they do with their poison grog; 
 they will do the harm anyway and the 
 taxpayers will be burdened to care for 
 the paupers and criminals they make in 
 
112 mATTHEM^TETERS 
 
 the community. Yes let us have the li- 
 cense money by all means," emphasizing- 
 his argument by an impetuous stroke of 
 his cane on the floor before him. As he 
 delivered himself of these words he 
 sought endorsement from his "brother- 
 in-the-Lord," Deacon Longprayers, whose 
 ready nod of the head gave the speaker 
 keen satisfaction. 
 
 "Never, never will I lend myself to the 
 endorsement of such sentiments, either 
 in public or private life," said Matthew, 
 much to the chagrin and discomfiture of 
 the two men who professed to follow 
 Christ but served Satan whenever the 
 slightest temptation presented itself. 
 
 "I fought through the civil war to 
 abolish human slavery and promote peace, 
 prosperity and happiness for all the 
 people, and I would rather paralyze my 
 remaining good arm than to wrong my 
 fellowman and undermine free institu- 
 tions by signing the license for any man 
 to damn a community by the indiscrimi- 
 nate sale of intoxicating liquors. I will 
 never assist in perpetuating a business 
 that is a greater slavery than the one 
 abolished by force of arms. No, no, go 
 and seek some other candidate for your 
 official favors. I cannot accept office at 
 
A FOT^EIGN IMMIGRANT 113 
 
 so great a sacrifice of principle and pa- 
 triotism," said Matthew, who turned with 
 soldierly bearing and indignation away 
 from the presence of the two ' 'good citizen" 
 anarchists, who excused their immoral 
 political conduct by reg^ular attendance 
 upon the weekly prayer meeting and 
 passing- the bread and the cup at the 
 communion service in their respective 
 churches. 
 
 Matthew soon soug-ht the presence of 
 his wife and rehearsed to her his experi- 
 ence with the deacon and elder. She 
 listened with evident pride in her hus- 
 band's devotion to principle. She ex- 
 pressed g-reat contempt for the class of 
 men, all too numerous, who like the two 
 churchmen apologize for political sinning 
 in the name of expediency. 
 
 The narrative ended, she arose and 
 placed her hand gently on the shoulder 
 of her husband, planted a kiss on his 
 brow and exclaimed: "My dear, you shall 
 be nominated for Mayor on a no-license 
 ticket, and you shall be elected, too, or 
 the women and children of this commu- 
 nity will know why." 
 
 "Only that I may serve those who 
 suffer would I enter the contest, but re- 
 member that women and children cannot 
 
1 1 4 m/l TTHEIV TETERS 
 
 vote," replied Matthew. "Yes," exclaim- 
 ed Clara, "but women and children, with 
 God, make a majority even in municipal 
 elections where men alone do the voting-," 
 gently tapping- with her hand the little 
 knot of white ribbon that adorned her 
 waist as a symbol of undying hostility to 
 the licensed liquor traffic. 
 
 "I must go now, and if I am not back 
 to dinner, never mind, I will be here when 
 my work is done." 
 
 Without delay she donned her bonnet 
 and with hasty step disappeared up the 
 street. 
 
 "Well, what can she and voteless 
 women do in such contests?" murmured 
 Matthew, as he found himself alone in 
 his home, smiling with the thought, as 
 he arose to return to his place of 
 business. 
 
 The shades of evening were lengthened 
 when Clara returned to her home. Mat- 
 thew was waiting her coming with no 
 small degree of anxiety and curiosity, but 
 somewhat incredulous as to the success 
 of her mission. With a laughing twinkle 
 in her eyes, she said, without waiting for 
 questions, "It is fixed. You will be nom- 
 inated and elected, and let Deacon Long- 
 prayers and Elder Cash work against you 
 
A F0T{EIGN IMMIGRANT 115 
 
 if they dare. The women will have them 
 expelled from the church, or they will let 
 them support their churches and run their 
 prayer meetings hereafter by themselves 
 if they help to defeat no-license in this 
 election." Her manner indicated an en- 
 erg-y of purpose that in women betokens 
 success. 
 
1 1 6 m^ TTHE W TE TERS 
 
 XIII. 
 
 CAMPAIGNING. 
 
 S was the custom iu all such 
 municipal contests, numerous 
 meeting's were held in all the 
 churches and public halls of the 
 city for the education of the 
 people. The saloon Avas arraigned with 
 convincing- statistics of drunkenness, dis- 
 order, pauperism and crime by eloquent 
 men and women; little children paraded 
 the streets with banners bearing- mottoes 
 appealing- to voters to stand by the home 
 instead of the saloon; newspapers that 
 advocated license were refused admission 
 to the homes of no-license advocates, and 
 women pledg-ed themselves not to make 
 purchases of tradesmen who advertised 
 their wares in "whisky papers." The 
 saloon men plotted secretly to boycott 
 and destroy the business of all men who 
 opposed license; drinking- men were plied 
 with free liquor that they mig-ht not come 
 under the influence of the temperance 
 workers, and large sums of money were 
 contributed with which to purchase the 
 newspapers and voters in the interest of 
 license. 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT ll7 
 
 The women held prayer meetings, dis- 
 tributed literature and interviewed voters. 
 Everybody was arrayed on one side or 
 the other. Deacon Long-prayers had been 
 converted and was found laboring- for no- 
 license. He displayed conspicuously over 
 his g-ateway during- the campaig^n the 
 scriptural motto: 
 
 "Woe unto the city builded with blood." 
 
 He had met with an incident that made 
 a powerful appeal to his heart and con- 
 science and silenced all arg-uments on 
 behalf of a cash value for the sale of in- 
 dulg-ences in drunkenness and anarchy. 
 
 The campaig-n had wag^ed but a few 
 days when the deacon was compelled to 
 witness one of the many home scenes that 
 afflict the land on account of the leg^alized 
 curse of liquor selling-. He had just fin- 
 ished his morning- repast and opened his 
 bible from which to read a passag-e for 
 his usual family devotions. A gentle tap 
 at the door was answered by him in per- 
 son. There stood a boy about twelve 
 years of ag-e, poorly clad and barefooted; 
 tears had made tracks down his begrimed 
 cheeks. With g-reat embarrassment and 
 deep sorrow the little fellow asked: "Are 
 you Deacon Long-prayers?" "I am, my 
 little son; what can I do for you this 
 
118 (MATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 bright Sabbath morning?" answered the 
 deacon, tenderly. 
 
 "Please, sir, will you go to the jail and 
 read and pray with my father; he is to be 
 hung to-morrow for the murder of my 
 mother; pa is a good man, but whisky 
 did it. If you do not read and pray with 
 him, nobody will," said the child between 
 sobs, "and I want him prayed with before 
 he dies. Pa is to be hung to-morrow at 
 ten o'clock, and the governor says we may 
 have his body, and please, sir, will you 
 come and be with us children when the 
 body is brought home? We are very poor 
 and have no friends and no money, and if 
 you do not come to us nobody will; please, 
 sir, will you come?" 
 
 The boy told the deacon where he lived, 
 and with the promise to comply with his 
 requests, the child went away and the 
 deacon took up his devotions with an 
 earnestness quite unusual for him. 
 
 He went to the jail that morning in- 
 stead of attending the regular church 
 service. He found the father of the af- 
 flicted household to be a man of ordinary 
 intelligence and fully realizing the awful 
 penalty that aw^aited him the following 
 day. He said: "I suppose I murdered my 
 good wife, but I have no recollection of 
 
A FOT{EIGhl IMMIGRANT 119 
 
 the deed; I was drunk, they tell me, when 
 I committed the act, but it seems impos- 
 sible that the insanity of drink could have 
 made me murder the mother of my chil- 
 dren and the wife of my heart and young' 
 manhood" and the strong- man broke 
 down and cried as if his heart would 
 break. He did not dread so much the 
 penalty of death as he did the leaving of 
 his worse than orphaned children to the 
 cold charities of the world. He was 
 comforted only when the g-ood Deacon 
 promised to look after his bereft chil- 
 dren. The Deacon read and prayed with 
 him and left him to his fate. 
 
 Early the next morning- Deacon Long-- 
 prayers found his way to the miserable 
 hovel where the children were sheltered. 
 In one corner of a dark and ding-y room, 
 upon a bundle of straw covered with 
 rags, were two sweet faced little girls, 
 crying- and sobbing as if their hearts 
 would break. Between sobs they cried 
 out, "Papa was g-ood but whisky did it, 
 papa was g-ood but whisky did it." 
 
 In a short time came two strong- men 
 bearing- the body of the dead father in a 
 rude pine coffin which they placed upon 
 two rickety chairs, when the screams 
 and sobs of the children became so heart- 
 
1 20 CM A TTHEIV TE TERS 
 
 rending- that the officers could endure 
 it no longer and they turned their steps 
 down the rickety stairs and with moist- 
 ened eyes hastened from the terrible 
 scene. 
 
 The brave little brother lovingly drew 
 his sisters to the side of the coffin and 
 said: "Come sisters kiss papa's face 
 before it is cold," and as the three covered 
 the face of the dead father with caresses 
 and kisses, they continued the pathetic 
 apology, "Papa was good but whisky did 
 it, papa was good but whisky did it." 
 
 Deacon Longprayers stood humbled 
 and self-accursed before the awful scene. 
 With tears streaming down over his 
 cheeks, he raised his heart to God and in 
 the deep anguish of his soul exclaimed: 
 •'O, God, have I been guilty of voting to 
 license a traffic that can make such a 
 scene as this possible? Great and mer- 
 ciful Father, forgive me and I promise 
 Thee that never again will I cast a bal- 
 lot for any man nor any party that will 
 stand in defense of a business that can 
 make one such as this possible." 
 
 "Mother murdered, father hung, chil- 
 dren orphaned, homeless, penniless and 
 friendless, this is the real "revenue" that 
 the community derives from the licensed 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 121 
 
 saloon," murmured the deacon as he 
 contemplated the object lesson that had 
 effectually converted him to vote no- 
 license. 
 
 Before the day was done he had sought 
 the presence of Matthew and taken him 
 by the hand and assured him of his in- 
 fluence in securing his election for Mayor 
 and warmly congratulated him for the 
 stand he had early taken on behalf of 
 right and for refusing to be influenced 
 by the bribe of public revenue, in return 
 for municipal immorality. 
 
 The sad story of this blighted home 
 was rehearsed from every pulpit and 
 platform and wherever men and women 
 congregated to discuss the issues at stake 
 in the pending election. 
 
 Hearts were touched and consciences 
 of apologetic church members were 
 moved, and when the votes were counted 
 out Matthew was found to have been 
 elected by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 Once installed in office, the will of the 
 people was enforced and men who sold 
 intoxicants in violation of law were 
 shown no more mercy than other crimi- 
 nals, and anarchy was found to be an un- 
 profitable practice by liquor dealers. 
 
 Matthew held the office which he hon- 
 
122 (MATTHEIV TETERS 
 
 ored for two consecutive terms, promot- 
 ing- sobriety and good order in the 
 community. At the end of his second 
 term as Mayor he was elected to a seat 
 in the Senate of his state, which posi- 
 tion he filled with marked ability. 
 
 An extract from a speech made by 
 Matthew, on a bill before the Senate of 
 which he was a member, shows the keen 
 sense of justice this foreign-born citizen 
 exhibited; it is in marked contrast to the 
 sentiments expressed by the majority of 
 the native-born members with whom he 
 was associated. Whenever Matthew 
 arose from his seat to speak, his oratory 
 was of that high order that his honorable 
 associates always paid him respectful 
 and undivided attention. 
 
 He said: "Mr. President, the propo- 
 sition that is before this body at this 
 hour is to enfranchise the women of Illi- 
 nois. I am in favor of it. I fail to see 
 how any man who believes in a govern- 
 ment of the people, by the people and 
 for the people can refuse to support 
 this measure. Women are citizens and 
 'people' and to deny them the privilege 
 of suffrage is to either make the declara- 
 ations in our Bill of Rights a lie or deny 
 that women are 'people.' 
 
A FOREIGN IMMIGRANT 123 
 
 "We declare that 'taxation without 
 representation is tyranny,' and at the 
 same time deprive one-half of our citi- 
 zens of representation, thoug-h we tax 
 them many millions of dollars the same 
 as we do men. We sound aloud to the 
 world, 'that all government derives its 
 just powers from the consent of the gov- 
 erned,' and continue to deny one-half 
 our citizens the privilege of consenting. 
 
 "To do this is to practice a monstrous 
 lie before the world and a rank injustice 
 to the most enlightened, intelligent and 
 patriotic half of our citizenship. We 
 have exalted the foreigner from the slums 
 of the Old World over our mothers; we 
 have given the untutored negro from the 
 plantations of the south power over our 
 wives and daughters; we allow the stag- 
 gering, ignorant male drunkard to make 
 laws for his sober intelligent sister, and 
 so long as we deny suffrage to women we 
 commit a wrong to ourselves as men, and 
 stay the hand of a better civilization and 
 greatly endanger the life of free in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 "No man can present an argument 
 against this measure without writing 
 himself down as unworthy the rights of 
 citizenship which have made him a mem- 
 
124 m^TTHElVTETERS 
 
 ber of this legislative body and clothed 
 him with his present power. 
 
 "Foreign blood runs in my veins but I 
 am an American citizen. 
 
 ' 'On behalf of the noble woman who took 
 rae, a waif, a street gamin, and made a 
 man of me; on behalf of the sweet-faced, 
 bonnetted nurse who administered to me 
 in the army hospital with that tender- 
 ness which needs expression in the laws 
 of our land; on behalf of my wife whose 
 cool judgment, unswerving devotion to 
 good morals and patriotism has been and 
 is my guiding genius, I demand, with all 
 the sense of the responsibility I feel for 
 the present and the future welfare of my 
 adopted country, that we do this meas- 
 ure of justice, already too long delayed, 
 to the women of Illinois. I shall vote 
 'yes' on this question." 
 
 He took his seat amidst a fair demon- 
 stration of approval. 
 
 A heavy-browed and coarse-visaged 
 member turned toward Matthew and 
 asked in a half-angry tone, "Don't you 
 think, sir, that it is the duty of women 
 to rear children for citizens rather than 
 to make laws for the country?" punctuat- 
 ing his interrogation with a low chuckle. 
 "Sir," retorted Matthew, "if your mother 
 
A FGTKElGn IMMIGRANT 125 
 
 had been in better business than rearing' 
 such a citizen as you are, judging your 
 character by the votes you cast in this 
 Senate, the world would have been better 
 off for it." Shouts of laughter followed 
 this happy retort, when another member 
 called out: "If women vote will they 
 fight, will they go to war?" Matthew 
 was quickly on his feet and with that 
 readiness of speech which characterizes 
 the man honest with himself he replied: 
 "No, sir, when women have full power in 
 popular government there will be too 
 much tenderness, common sense, conser- 
 vative judgment and Godliness to permit 
 settling any question by the cruel and 
 barbaric methods now practiced by men, 
 and as one who has been maimed by shot 
 and shell and suffered ten thousand 
 deaths, because my sex still arbitrates 
 with bullet and blood instead of by the 
 more enlightened methods of brain and 
 ballot, I urge the adoption of the meas- 
 ure. Woman suffrage will speed the 
 day when the sword of war shall be 
 beaten into the pruning hook of peace." 
 Most generous applause met this effort 
 at the hands of men who later in the ses- 
 sion cast a majority vote against the 
 measure so eloquently and forcefully pre- 
 
126 mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 sented by Matthew, the foreign im- 
 migrant. 
 
 On every other question presented for 
 official sanction he took the highest 
 grounds for justice and morality, thus 
 promoting the greatest welfare of his 
 state. He served in official capacity 
 with the same wisdom and patriotism 
 that he had in tent and upon the battle- 
 fields of the civil war. 
 
A FCn{ElGN IMMIGRANT 127 
 
 XIV. 
 
 HENRY ROBERTS. 
 
 FTER several years faithful ser- 
 vice as ag'ent of the Under Ground 
 Railroad, Henry Roberts re- 
 turned to his Ohio home and 
 died. He did not live to take 
 part in the civil war, the awful strug-g-le 
 between the years 1861 and '65, which re- 
 sulted in the downfall of the institution 
 he abhorred and for which he had g"iven 
 his life as surely as had he met death on 
 the tented field. 
 
 Although this was denied him he 
 broug-ht from the South the street gamin 
 who filled his place in the ranks of Free- 
 dom's Army, and who now, after more 
 than a quarter of a century, with a right 
 arm crippled in the cause of Union and 
 Liberty, recounts with a grateful heart 
 the unselfish devotion and heroism of his 
 friend and his fellow-beine's benefactor. 
 
128 
 
 mATTHElV TETERS 
 
 XV. 
 
 SAMUEL PETERS. 
 
 IVING on and owning- the planta- 
 tion near Opelousas, Louisiana, 
 in the house occupied by General 
 Banks for headquarters while 
 engaged in the Red River cam- 
 paign during the civil war, is Sam- 
 uel Peters and his charming Acadian 
 wife. The family tongue is French. It 
 is the aim of Mr. Peters to teach all with 
 whom he comes in contact that love and 
 tenderness bestowed on the humblest 
 outcast and most unfortunate human be- 
 ing is the highest grace attainable 
 through culture and good fortune. Love 
 is the law of the family. 
 
A FOT{ElGhl IMMIGRANT 129 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE OLD TAILOR. 
 
 HE drunken tailor, for such lie 
 was, never found out what had 
 become of Matthew until the lat- 
 ter's visit to New Orleans in 1885, 
 when he found his cruel master 
 with some difiiculty in another and more 
 remote part of the city, living- in a small 
 room in abject poverty and wretchedness. 
 He was g'rey, wrinkled and bent with 
 age, but there was still visible a semb- 
 lance of his former features which no 
 one who had ever known him could fail 
 to recog^nize. He was amazed, as may 
 be well imag'ined, when the grey-haired 
 visitor disclosed his identity and he rea- 
 lized that he was indeed the long-lost 
 runaway who had so mysteriously dis- 
 appeared years before. 
 
 After he had overcome his surprise at 
 this strange development he became ex- 
 cited and infuriated, for he was an 
 exceeding-ly passionate man, and be- 
 g-an in a most shameful and profane 
 manner to heap his abuse upon Pfeifer 
 Frantz, the policeman, who had entrusted 
 
130 m^lTTHElV TETERS 
 
 the orphan to his care and keeping-, 
 charging- him with kidnapping and 
 concealing him, though Pfeifer Frantz 
 was as innocent of the boy's escape and 
 whereabouts as the tailor himself. 
 
 To appease his conscience he fumbled 
 among a lot of papers, brown with age, 
 and handing a letter to his former charge, 
 accused him of writing it, after the cus- 
 tom of German families each New Year. 
 This letter was full of expressions of 
 love and gratitude for faithful care. 
 Matthew had no recollection of having 
 penned the letter of gratitude to his old 
 tormentor. This beautiful custom of 
 filial devotion had no place in the exper- 
 ience of the little orphan. It was a for- 
 g-ery, written, doubtless, to somewhat 
 ease the conscience of the man who 
 vented his unrestrained will on a helpless 
 child; his life had been one of grasping 
 and injustice, his old age was embittered 
 and lonely. 
 
A FOTiEIGN IMMIGRANT 
 
 131 
 
 XVII. 
 
 AT HOME. 
 A. D. 1898. 
 
 T Watseka. Illinois, in a cottage, 
 tasteful in exterior, within all 
 the comforts of a model home, 
 with an only heir, Arthur Van 
 Lisle, who bears the name that 
 won the soldier's bride, with books, mu- 
 sic, works of art, (^.'jf?, 
 flowers, pets, sun- 
 shine and good 
 cheer, Matthew 
 Henry and Clara 
 Lyon Peters, sur- 
 rounded with innu- 
 merable frieuds,"are 
 growing old beau- 
 tifully together," 
 with an abiding 
 faith that it is not all 
 of life to live and serve self in this fitful 
 world. 
 
 Their hearts and hands arc ever open 
 to those in need of material, intellectual 
 or spiritual help. 
 
 Matthew's ambition is to be instru- 
 mental in establishing homes for orphan 
 
 ARTHUR VAN LISLE. 
 
132 m/ITTHElV TETERS 
 
 children, as he looks back over his own 
 pitiful childhood and out upon the 
 army of waifs in our cities cast adrift 
 upon the helpless conditions of orphan- 
 age. So do the afflictions of life prepare 
 usfor hiarher usefulness of one to another. 
 
 Such is the true tale of a foreign im- 
 migrant. It is the glory of America that 
 out of such birth, much adversity and 
 unhappy environment can come the men, 
 women and homes which represent the 
 highest and happiest development of the 
 human race. 
 
 The kind words of Henry Roberts that 
 changed the career of the street gamin 
 and made a man of him, the motherly 
 sacrifice that gave him a home, the love 
 of country that braved the terrors of war, 
 the gentle ministrations and tender care 
 of the gamin for the centenarian mother, 
 teach that the Golden Rule is the safest 
 and most righteous guiding sentiment in 
 all matters pertaining to persons or na- 
 tions, for love worketh no ill. 
 
 The story of our hero teaches us that 
 this is God's country. Matthew's sue- 
 
A FOT{EIGN IMMIGRANT 133 
 
 cess in life is a plea for worthy foreign 
 immif^ration. 
 
 The train of circnmstances attending 
 his life and his nobility of character as a 
 citizen emphasizes in the minds of all 
 true Americans the sentiment that made 
 the greatness of William Lloyd Garrison: 
 
 "Every man is my brother aiui every land my country." 
 
/t 
 
 
ciisirici. ii«B c»t>. .. .- 
 eion. 
 
 MVTTHKW H. PETKRS. 
 
 Among the leadinR and most progressive 
 citizens and business men of Watseka 
 none stands higlier than Matthew H. Peters, 
 who conducts the best-known and largest 
 book, stationery and news store In Watseka. 
 Mr. Peters Is one of the old-timers in this 
 vicinity, and enjoys the confidence and uni- 
 versal respect of the citizens of Iroquois 
 county and eastern Illinois. He carries ev- 
 erything in his establishment essential to 
 the successful conduct of a store of this 
 character. He is also agent of THK CF^I- 
 CAGO DEMOCRAT AND DISPATCH. Mr. 
 Peters located in Wat.seka thirty-three 
 years ago, and for fifteen years was the 
 editor and publisher of the Iroquois County 
 Times, one of the leading Democratic pa- 
 pers published In this vicinity. 
 
 Ml- r- (• r- • • ■' ' — ' -"-« »•"- 
 
 often been 1 
 be«>n ohalrm,! 
 
 PcTJlti.- . 
 llf W.I- . 
 
 assembly ot minois, \\a.-< mu u<;iiiuciunv_ 
 candidate for the state senate in 1884 and 
 the democratic nominee for congress In ISSrt 
 against L. E. Payson, who defeated him 
 by a reduced majority. From 1876 to 1880 
 Mr. Peters was mayor of Watseka. He Is 
 now serving as a member on the board 
 having In charge the affairs of the new pub- 
 lic library. Mr. I'etcrs served four years 
 and three montlis In the union army during 
 the war of the rebellion, serving In the Six- 
 teenth and Seventy-fourth Ohio Regiments. 
 He enlisted In the Seventy-fourth Ohio as a 
 private and came out with the rank of 
 major. Ho was colonel of the Ninth Illi- 
 nois National Ouard from 1878 until 1SS3, 
 and was formerly commander of Williams 
 Post. No. 26, n. A. R.. and Is a member of 
 the Loyal Legion. He was wounded at the 
 battle of Stone River and In the campaign 
 against Atlanfa. He Is a Mason. Knight 
 Templar and Odd ElHow and a member of 
 the Knights of P>'thlas. Mr. Peters was 
 married In 1867 to Mlsa Clara Lyon nt 
 Sycamore, III. They have one child. 
 
^\^ 
 
 /t 
 
 
 l"> 
 
dlSiricl. mo ci<. 
 
 Eion. 
 
 MATTHEW H. PETERS. 
 
 Among the leading and most progrpsslvp 
 citizens and business men of Watscka 
 none stands higher than Matthew If. Peters, 
 who conducts the Ijest-known and largest 
 book, stationery and news store in Watseka. 
 Mr. Peters is one of the old-timers in this 
 vicinity, and enjoys the confidence and uni- 
 versal respect of the citizens of Iroquois 
 county and eastern Illinois. He carries ev- 
 erything in his establishment essential to 
 the successful conduct of a store of this 
 character. He Is also agent of THE Cf^I- 
 CAGO DEMOCRAT AND DISPATCH. Mr. 
 Peters located in Watscka thirty-three 
 years ago, and for fifteen years was the i 
 editor and publl.sher of the Iroquois County 
 Times, one of tho leading Democratic pa- 
 pers published In this vicinity. 
 
 Mr. Peters Is a stanch democrat, and has 
 often been honored by his party, having 
 been chairman of the Iroquois county dem- 
 ocratic committee for a number of years. 
 He was a member of the thirty-first general 
 assembly of Illinois, was the democratic 
 candidate for the state senate in 1884 and 
 the democi-atlc nominee for congress in ISXH 
 against L. E. Payson, who defeated him 
 by a reduced majority. From 1876 to 1880 
 Mr. Peters was mayor of Watseka. He Is 
 now serving as a member on the board 
 having in charge the affairs of the new pub- 
 lic library. Mr. Peters served four years 
 and three months in the union army during 
 the war of the rebellion, serving in the Six- 
 teenth and Seventy-fourth Ohio Regiments. 
 He enlisted In the Seventy-fourth Ohio as a 
 private and came out with the rank of 
 major. Ho was colonel of the Ninth Illi- 
 nois National Guard from 1878 until 188."?, 
 and was formerly commander of Williams 
 Post. No. 25, G. A. R., and Is a member of 
 the Loyal Legion. He was wounded at the 
 battle of Stone River and In the campaign 
 against Atlanta. He is a Mason, Knight 
 Templar and Odd FlHow and a member of 
 the Knights of I*j'thias. Mr. Peters was 
 married In 1867 to Miss Clara Lyon nt 
 Sycamore, 111. They have one child.