'The world wailsFor help, beloved. Let us love so well,Our work shall be the better for our love.And still our love be sweeter for our work.'
"Daily, we pass into the likeness of that which we believe. Very soon, Faith hangs out a label, and the whole woman becomes a confession of its truth. If you have faith in God to save souls, you will certainly be transformed into the perfect likeness of the missionary woman. You may have much to discourage you; it may be better for you, if you do. Those from whom you have the best right to expect sympathy, may be those who will misinterpretthe truest purposes of your heart. He who engages in any work worth the doing, must antagonize somebody. But what of that? Is not woman the best burden-bearer? Can you not weep tears of bitterness,—yet press on, in the midst of all discouragements, to the beautiful likeness of the Great Missionary, who left the solemn injunction, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature?'
"We scatter the seed. But when we are old and feeble, who will gather in the golden sheaves? Where are the future reapers and sowers? They are in the Children's Bands. In them you will find the sure prophecy of the future of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions. Whether that prophesy be radiant with promise, depends upon how we are educating the girls of to-day, to be the women of tomorrow. Some time, our brains will grow dull, our hands helpless. Shall not the daughters receive the torch of truth from the hands of the mothers?
"In conclusion, let it be felt as inevitable that we should often feel tired by the way; that we should hunger for human sympathy; that our best efforts at times prove barren of results,through the indifference of God's children; that the purest purposes of our hearts be impugned by those we love best; for a public work, however unobtrusively performed, and painful criticism, cannot be divorced. It is said that there is a grape which, transplanted from its native soil, loses its taste; but possesses the flavor of the soil, when grown upon the banks of the Rhine. It is only when our lives are planted in the aromatic soil of the love of humanity, that our lives shall be identified by the richness of Christianity; and no human hand, however unkindly strong, shall be able to transplant our affections into an alien soil, or take from our lives their flavor of piety and devotion."
Having now placed before the reader the object and accomplishments of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, in Mrs. Carr's own words, thus showing her attitude toward it, we come to speak of the third great purpose that influenced her life during the ten years' work at the University.
It was none other than the same central idea of her life which we found developed in the Daughters College days of her girlhood. She realized that in her present position at Columbia, she had reached the highest step in hereducational career; the highest, because she was thrown into touch with the greatest number of young lives which it became her privilege to shape toward lofty aims.
Indeed, her entire history shows advance steps. The tentative experiment of her first school at Lancaster was fortunately relinquished for her work among the girls of Australia, with its broadening experiences. Having acquired that broader view of life that comes with the extended horizon of foreign lands, it would have been unfortunate, had she not returned to America to communicate the fruits of her observations. Hocker College was, accordingly, an advance upon the Melbourne work, just as Floral Hill, where she was sole authority, hence better able to carry out her original ideas,—was an advance upon Hocker. Her keen foresight, and unalterable determination to sacrifice personal feelings for the development of wider aims, led her to merge Floral Hill into Christian College, thus losing her identity in swelling the general good. As we have seen, the promotion from the Christian College to the State University was one of far-reaching importance.
And yet, Mrs. Carr was not content. Shehad not reached that ideal toward which she had directed her gaze when a mere girl; and, in the elements of her nature, there were traits that refused to be satisfied by anything but the great object in view. Success did not for an hour swerve her aside from her fundamental purpose; to establish a college for girls in which she might develop her original ideas of government and tuition.
Hence, all during the Columbia days, we find her seeking a promising opening. Her eyes were turned toward many fields. Her caution and prudence prevented her from relinquishing a great responsibility for an uncertain experiment; but her indefatigable mind, while rejecting one expedient after another, never wearied in the quest. Hence it is that during those years, we find her absorbed not only in University work, not only in missionary interests, but always, as well, in the great object of her life.
It was particularly in the latter that her husband proved of invaluable assistance. Called to preach in many diverse scenes, it was his pleasure, and his care, to look about for a suitable opening where a college for girls might be established; a college whose foundation stoneshould be the Word of God, and whose every day's instruction should be permeated with the love and power of its truth.
The letters presented in the present chapter are not only interesting in themselves, but are valuable as illustrating the threefold bent of Mrs. Carr's mind, as outlined in the preceding pages. They cover her University experiences. Here is a manuscript revealing Mrs. Carr's struggles with the Greek language. She has evidently just taken up this study; her exercises show the same thoroughness she exhibited in her German commonplace-book.
Here is a receipt from the Christian Woman's Board of Missions for $50 which Mrs. Carr has sent on subscriptions to theTidings. And Mrs. S. F. D. Eastin writes from St. Joseph, 1880, requesting Mrs. Carr to read her essay before the Moberly convention. "I know it will be worthy the attention of that erudite body," says Mrs. Eastin. Worthyanyerudite body it should have been; the subject is "John Stuart Mill and C. W. B. M."
Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, October 23, 1880, from the Louisville convention: "Your letter was handed me in church just before BrotherMcGarvey's excellent address. Your words rang through my soul all the time he was preaching. The devotion to the Cause expressed in your letter is an echo of my heart, and I second your motion to go to Paris next summer, but I fear you will exhaust yourself in such abundant labors. Your spirit is too strong, and too active, for your body. I gave Sister Eastin your message and she says it is the very thing. This has been a glorious convention, most orderly and deeply pious. I delivered to the convention the messages of Brother and Sister Rogers and Brother and Sister Wilkes. To-day the convention closed in tears and in high hopes, for the future. Brother Magarey" (our "Alex." of Melbourne association) "went to Bethany yesterday. He looks a little older, but is the same blessed man. I love him. We had long talks. Brother Gore will visit home before long. All well at Brother Santo's. I got this sheet of paper from Jimmie Fox's desk. He is doing well—Adjunct Professor in the Male High School. I am writing at the office of theOld Path Guide. Brothers Hardin, Allen, Cline, et al., are talking all around me. Hardin goes to St. Louis tonight; I send this by him, that you may get itsoon. Collis and Thurgood asked of you especially. I told Brother McGarvey of your work, of Brother Wilkes' estimation of you, of your position in the University, of the high praise President Laws gives you, etc., and Brother McGarvey says he wishes you could have a work directly in the interests of Christianity; but all he can advise is, to stay in the University until such a position opens up."
W. W. Dowling to Mr. and Mrs. Carr: "I am publishing in theSunday School Teacher, biographical sketches of some of our prominent Sunday-school workers. I want a sketch of both of you—a synopsis of your lives and labors."
J. W. McGarvey to Mr. Carr, June 30, 1883: "I am glad you have the heart and ability to care for your aged parents as you do. In regard to educational affairs, I doubt the possibility of legally removing the Canton Institution. If you need an institution for the education of preachers, you cannot do better than to build a house, and endow two chairs in connection with the University. But I do not see that you need it for many years to come. Our College at Lexington can receive all your young men, and do a better part by them, at less expense.An attempt to have a Bible College in every State where we have a strong membership, will result in a large number of weaklings. The Baptists in all the South aim at but one; the Presbyterians, the same. We are now aiming at six or seven, and ours, the largest, has only 94. Since Geo. Bryant has gone home, I hear they are expecting 250 guests at Independence. I am surprised so many are expected. I have not heard whether Brother Oldham made a good reputation at first, or not. I am sure, however, that he will establish a reputation and secure success. I hope the preachers will help him." (Oldham was Bryant's successor at Christian College, Columbia. The institution referred to, at Independence, was Woodland College.)
November 4, 1883, O. A. Carr issued a circular addressed to the Alumnæ of Christian College, urging them to send matter for the forthcoming book, "Biography of President J. K. Rogers, and History of Christian College." This was a book Mr. Carr had undertaken at the request of President Rogers's widow. The work was attended with much difficulty and many delays, on account of the alumnæ pursuing the usual course of alumnæ,by refusing, as a whole, to answer request or entreaty.
Mrs. S. E. Shortridge, from Indianapolis, to Mrs. Carr, February 20: "I have been working all day steadily on theTidings, and tonight, being too nervous to sleep, I take advantage of this halt to write to you, though the midnight hour is not far away." (Mrs. Shortridge was the Cor. Sec. of the C. W. B. M.) "Accept my thanks for the kindness and patience with which you have gone over the whole ground. I quite agree with you in the main; the only difference between us is, I believe, in the exceptions to the rule. I must assure you that we are of one mind here at Indianapolis. Perfect harmony and confidence prevail. This is particularly true of Sister Jameson and myself." (Mrs. Jameson was the president of the C. W. B. M.)
"From her I have no secret. We are very near neighbors; I see her almost daily; yet I am continually finding new beauties of character to love and admire. I find theTidingscannot be enlarged this year: I wish it could." (At this time theTidingswas a small four-page sheet, four columns to the page.) "We are not able to rent a room, or office, and we work atgreat disadvantage. I never look at the paper that my conscience does not stir uneasily, it reminds me so much of a motherless child. And yet—I am doing the best I can. I have no journalistic genius, Mrs. Goodwin always insisted that I had, but she was blinded by love. If I have talent, it is still dormant. I do believe in you, and trust you fully, my dear Sister Carr. I think of you as a lovely Christian woman, incapable of consciously doing an unjust thing."
L. B. Wilkes, from Stockton, Cal., to Mrs. Carr: "I am better—nearly well. Still, if you were here to rub my head, I believe it would hurt me pretty often yet. You are in earnest—you would like to come to California—and will, if I can find a place for you and the doctor" (meaning Mr. Carr, of course.) "The school business is overdone among our folks. We have three colleges, all mixed schools, and pretty badly mixed. Just come to our house and stay till you find a place, let that be long or short. I don't know how to write a letter, so leave the gossipy part to my wife, she is good at it. I will start the doctor a paper in which I have a small piece on the organ." (For inthose days one could write about the organ, when all other subjects failed.)
To which letter, Mrs. Wilkes adds a postscript—"He says I am good at gossip; I deny the charge. He would have you both come on here; but selfish as I am, I cannot insist on your coming, for fear you might not like the place."
In 1884 O. A. Carr was appointed State Evangelist for Missouri, and the following notes are taken from his letters to Mrs. Carr. The names of places are generally omitted:
"March 3. We are poorly represented here. The people don't seem to believe the Bible. A woman, though, has been taking the rag off the bush. It is said she can out preach a man—goodness! my wife could beat nine-tenths of the preachers, but I'm glad she's a woman who wouldn't preach publicly before a promiscuous audience. There is a gloomy prospect here. Ignorance—you never saw the like. At Trenton I tried to raise money to seat the meeting house at ——, but they said, 'That is in the midst of a good agricultural district—why don't they build their own church?' They don't know that infidelity stalks abroad in daylight there, and that infidelitydoes not build meeting houses or anything else that is good. I have been talking to an old brother with his wife—mine host—on missionary work, trying to show that I am in as legitimate a business as the editor of theReviewwhen he publishes a paper. The woman yielded at last—said at least there is no harm in it. Good! My desire is to meet some more of such people, and convert them. I believe I can do it! I will have a heft at it here, I think. Some good old men have tried to preach and farm, and have not done either very well, I presume. It will be difficult to persuade these people to give $200 for once-a-month preaching, when they have been giving about five dollars. I have not done a thing on the Biography of President Rogers, nor do I see how I can at this rate. I have a bad cold. The door is warped and won't close, and last night the wind whipped around into the bed, and everywhere. I've got the stove between me and that crack in the door now, and some of the atmosphere will have to get warmed, before it reaches me. Brother A. B. Jones says I'd better stay at —— and work it up; but there's nothing to work up, and the only chance I see is to getthat place joined on to the congregation here.
"March 6. I've tried to introduce the envelope system of contribution in the church here (Gallatin) and have run myself down today; from house to house. I am in a cold room, writing after speaking tonight at the Christian convention. I enclose $25 for you to forward to father, Wm. Carr, Maysville, Ky. Brother S. P. Richardson says, 'Give my love to Mrs. Carr.' He says he was in your class at the University, and thinks a great deal of you. He says he had a good time in your class. He was a law student. Will Sister Rogers be satisfied with delay of the Biography till fall? How I do wish I had the material for a complete biography. I don't like to blame anybody, but I have tried faithfully to collect it. I do not like to think of anything incomplete in connection with that grand, good man.
"March 9. Thank you for that nice letter; there was great encouragement in it. A vision of you comes before me—it is a charming picture. You say you are anxious that I should succeed. But in my case, what is success? If adding members to the churches is a success, I have failed already. I have been setting churches in order, and teaching the brethren.Here at Gallatin, we meet in a hall. There is no house, and the members are poor. From Trenton I go to Breckenridge, or Grant City. Brother Floyd of theChristian Herald, of Oregon asks me for a Missouri sub-editor. I have recommended you to him. I have written my notes for theChristian StandardandChristian-Evangelist. I will watch for your article and see if it sounds like I wrote it. That was a big joke! DidIknow what you could say about John Stuart Mill and the C. W. B. M.? I don't suppose Mill ever heard of such a thing as the C. W. B. M., and I don't know how you thought of both names at once. I wish you would write a dozen articles for our church papers—divide them around. Write on Women's Work, for theQuarterly.
"April 15. I rode twelve miles horseback for your letter, which heightened the joy of receiving it. I am utterly discouraged about that Biography of Brother Rogers. I cannot find time and quiet to write. For instance, I walked nearly two miles to church, then two more to reach a place to stay all night—where I had to sit up, and be sociable till I was worn out. The people are generous here, and I think, religious. The church is ajar, and I amexpected to set it in order. It is rather discouraging for me to have to do the hard work, then leave to set another church in order, while some one else follows me up, and holds the meetings and gets the additions. I am here, trying to get the members to act decently toward one another. It will take a week to warm them up, and then I will have to leave.
"April 19. It rained so much last night, I could not get to meeting, and I am compelled to stay in doors. Mine host is a good man. He and wife and six children are all crowded together in two rooms, and we have confusion worse confounded. I have to cross a swampy valley to and from church (distance two miles) and a muddy, snaky river that is to be despised. Our toilette arrangements consists of a washpan outside the house. It will take a week to get the Christians to be friends with each other. I heat up in church and cool off walking home, and cough at night. Between coughs, I think of you, wondering if you are wearing yourself out with toil and anxiety. Learn to take life more leisurely! My idea is for you to become author—write a book or two, if you please, and contribute to the journals.Our papers need your talent. Please forward the enclosed $25 to mother."
From J. W. McGarvey, Lexington, Kentucky, to Mrs. Carr, April 29, '84: "Brother Patterson is to continue at Hamilton College at least one more year. He is making money out of the school at a very handsome rate; but the fact that he is building a fine dwelling on the place he bought from Brother Lard's estate, indicates that he will not remain much longer than a year. When the time comes, you may rest assured that I will present your claims and merits before the Board, in all their attractiveness. I have no doubt you could make a success of it. I am sorry I cannot accept Brother J. A. Lord's invitation to lecture on 'Bible Colleges' at Columbia."
The following of July 15th, shows Mrs. Carr working in a fresh field—the Women's Christian Temperance Union: "As Corresponding Secretary of the Columbia Union, I send you the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted at the last session of the Union: * * * Be it resolved that we as an individual Union protest against the resolution passed at the Sedalia Convention, namely, 'That the White Ribbon hosts of Missouriwork for woman suffrage.' The woman suffrage attachment will necessarily complicate the nature of our plea. An organization already exists entitled, 'The Woman Suffrage Association', whose exclusive purpose is woman's suffrage. Many of our friends, and many in our own ranks, oppose the plea of woman's suffrage, as a part of our plea for temperance."
Mrs. Carr writes to Mr. Carr concerning a church quarrel which he is striving to quell—judging from her letter his efforts at warming up the members has taken an unfortunate direction. The letter is interesting as showing Mrs. Carr's wisdom in such delicate affairs: "I cannot tell you how deeply I deplore this church difficulty. Deal with the matter very gently. Don't write sharply to any one, for if you do, you will be misrepresenting yourself, and injure the work. Let the matter readjust itself. I advise you to so arrange your work as not to be present at the county meeting. Your presence at this juncture might do harm to you and to the Cause. Stay away, and write them a good, fatherly letter, to be read before the convention. I'm sure, intuitively, that this will be best. Your success is the burden of my prayers. After a few more years I hope weshall be more together; we shall see each other every day."
Robt. Graham to Mrs. Carr, from Lexington, July 9: "Your letter was duly received, and I immediately set to work to see what could be done to get you into the Midway Orphan School. I handed your letter to Brother McGarvey, and he agreed with me that there is little likelihood of the trustees placing the management under the control of a lady. I consulted members of the executive committee, and find they are resolved upon a man. It is very difficult to find the right one. Keith of California refused at once; Bartholomew of Louisville has a better position, etc. It is suggested that you buy the now vacant school at North Middleton, Bourbon County, and while I could not advise you to such a step, I mention it, that you may know of that opening. I see that Corinth Academy is for sale, but I don't suppose you would want to put your means there. Brother Patterson holds on for another year at Hamilton College. I can easily understand why you seek to be engaged in a school where you could work for the Cause we love; were it in my power, I would soon have you in a position more congenial to your tastes. Asit is, you must be content to labor and to wait, till God opens up the way. I write this, knowing you have a position of great honor and emolument, one that many would gladly obtain; but I know your desire, and sympathize with it."
More notes from Mr. Carr, as State Evangelist, to Mrs. Carr—July 18: "Letters forwarded. You don't miss me any more than I do you. I am going to hold some meetings during pleasant weather. I have very few additions to report. I have spent most of my time trying to set up torn-down churches. As to Vice President of the C. W. B. M., I don't object for that honor to be thrust upon my wife. I think it very complimentary; get up the program, and preside at Kansas City. How about that Biography? Ifyoucould work on that, we would get it out. You ought to write much for the Brotherhood. Women can do that work, and not trespass on I Cor. 14:34-35. Drive out to church and hear Brother Powell, Sunday. Don't forget to fix up the genealogy of the Rogers family. Don't try to drive that horse by yourself. While you are resting, select the essays to be added to the second part of the Biography. Don't workhard, just lounge around, for this is your vacation, you know.
"August 6. While at Savannah I received some letters forwarded by you to 'Sullivan.' How they came to Savannah, marked thus, I don't know, I suppose there is no such postoffice as Sullivan, and they might as well come here as anywhere. Halt!—I had to go out to preach my ten o'clock sermon. I am preaching day and night. It's a hard row to hoe. The church is in a deplorable condition, and of course nobody will 'join.' But I am expected to stay up here, and keep digging. Brother J. H. Duncan asked me to help make out the C. W. B. M. program for the State meeting. Isn't he impudent? I told him you are president, and will manage it; but I helped him on themalepart.
"November 27. This is Thanksgiving Day, and I am to eat at a hall—a dinner by the Methodists. I'm a good hand to eat for the benefit of a church. I hear they're going to have ice cream. Well, I can't help it. I must go. You will have to be thankful without me; I'll be as thankful as I can. We are to have a Thanksgiving sermon by a North Methodist preacher, and coming so soon after Cleveland'selection, it is anticipated he will give us a gloomy kind of thanks. He will doubtless feel somewhat as Dr. Pinkerton did, when he told his wife he had nothing to be thankful for because there was no butter. Our meeting drags. I had to get this part of the county fixed up and friendly. There is a good prospect now. Received account from Brother D. O. Smart. Sorry I could not be with you and the young ladies and gentlemen at 'Narrow Gauge' today."
From the MissionaryTidings, September, 1884: "Mrs. O. A. Carr of Columbia has been appointed vice-president of the C. W. B. M. of Missouri, to succeed Mrs. J. W. Morris, who was compelled to resign on account of ill health." The reader is referred to past files of theTidingsfor a full account of Mrs. Carr's labors as organizer, platform manager, speaker, and her committee work in the C. W. B. M. She was vice president in 1884, 1885, 1886, after which she became a State manager. During her first vice-presidency, the managers were Mmes. Hedges, A. B. Jones, J. H. Garrison, J. W. Monser, Dr. Petitt, T. E. Baskett, T. D. Strong, E. C. Browning, Kirk Baxter, Wm. Pruitt; during each of her terms, the secretarywas Miss M. Lou Payne. In 1887 she was succeeded by Mrs. J. K. Rogers.
On the 20th of March, 1885, the St. Louis publisher, John Burns, writes to O. A. Carr: "Last Friday I went to Columbia and had a pleasant interview with Sister Rogers about publishing her book. We agreed that the matter should be delayed no longer. The MS. should be in my hands with the least possible delay. It should be in type by the first of May, and the books ready by June 1st. As you are so constantly engaged away from home as our State Evangelist, it is thought best for Brother Mountjoy to read the proof. As to compensation for labors, Sister Rogers stated that she is anxious for you to be satisfied. I have agreed to bring out the work in first-class style. There is to be a steel engraving of Brother Rogers, and a wood cut of Christian College. The work will be in two bindings, one to be full Turkey Morocco, gilt. The John Burns Publishing Company will have entire control of the work, and have agreed to push the sale to the best of their ability. I expected to meet Mrs. Carr, to discuss the matter with her, but could not delay my stay in Columbia."
At the foot of the foregoing, Mr. Carr writesa hurried note to his wife, on enclosing her the letter: "I wrote Brother Burns that I would rather trust you to read the proof than anybody. I am afraid I cannot get the work done, even next month. I have to settle a church here."
While churches are thus wrangling among themselves, and sinners are standing aloof, taking notes on the War of the Christians, and the Biography is apparently fated never to get itself into type, Mrs. Maria Jameson, national president of the C. W. B. M., writes to Mrs. Carr: "I read your letter to the Board, and there was a unanimous expression of gratification at its contents. You are one of the women among us who can make public addresses. Now, if you are willing, we will utilize this talent. Public lectures, properly advertised, designed to attract attention to missionary work, particularly to the work of our women, might do great good. Of course, you will have to use judgment in selecting the places for the addresses. No provision has been made for an outlay of money in this matter, as we can ill afford to divert a dollar from regular work. I believe, as a public speaker, you will spread thename, and strengthen the influence, of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions."
W. B. Johnson of the Christian Publishing Company, St. Louis, to Mrs. Carr: "Your C. W. B. M. notes will appear in next week's paper; and I will also speak of the University, and of your work there."
M. B. Mason, Principal Meadville Public Schools, to Mrs. Carr: "We intend to celebrate Whittier's birthday with suitable entertainment. Will you please send some suggestions regarding arrangements, program, etc?"
Mrs. Maria Jameson to Mrs. Carr, November 1: "Ever since our parting, I have purposed writing to express the pleasure given me by an increased acquaintance with you. During our recent convention, I learned to feel constantly that I had an able ally, quick to see what was needed in an emergency, and able to act intelligently and promptly. I wish you would write occasionally to me during the year; so many new sides of things are evolved by talking them over. My daughter and son-in-law are back from their trip abroad, and, of course, I have not had time for much, besides talking to them; but in a short time my thoughts will be turned to our work. Withthe help and blessing of God, I will do everything in my power this year for its development. Let 'For Christ's sake' be our motto, and in his blessed name we shall do many wonderful things. Pray always with me, and for me, my dear sister, that we may prove faithful until the end."
Enough has been said about Mr. Carr's work as State Evangelist—his work of several years,—to suggest the arduous nature of that labor. Passing by any further details, we turn for a moment to the Biography, which did, after all, find its way into cloth and Morocco, in 1885, under the title, "Memorial of J. K. Rogers and History of Christian College."
The book is divided into three parts: the first, of about 200 pages, is devoted to the Life, Letters and Addresses of J. K. Rogers; the second, of some 30 pages, is called "History of Christian College"; while the third of about 100 pages, bears the title—"Some Essays and Poems of Pupils of Christian College, Edited by Mrs. O. A. Carr, Principal of the Ladies Department of the University of the State of Missouri."
This Part Third of the Memorial, is the only work left by Mrs. Carr, in book form. As wehave seen, she undertook the editorship of the collection of essays and poems of the Alumnae, at the request of her husband, in order to hasten the publication of the book.
Joseph Kirtley Rogers was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1828. When he was two years of age, his parents left Lexington on a thirty days' journey to the wild and Indian-infested West, pitching their tent finally about twelve miles west of Palmyra, Missouri. Here they lived in their log cabin. "Game was abundant," says the Memorial; "panthers screamed, wolves howled; bears roamed the thick woods; deer were a common sight, and wild turkeys hovered in the tree tops." It was near the birthplace and boyhood scenes of Mark Twain, and the author of "Tom Sawyer" had no need to go outside of Marion County to find the original of his "Colonel Mulberry Sellers."
When William Muldrow with others, borrowed $20,000 to establish "a great college"—Marion College—on the western prairie, purchasing therewith 4,969 acres, and confidently expecting a future hay crop to reimburse the teachers, he fathered a scheme that the "colonel" might have joyfully laid out with his toothpick upon his tablecloth. To this collegeRogers went,—until it died; then he attended the University at Columbia.
Christian College was the first institution for the collegiate education of Protestant women to receive a charter from the Legislature of Missouri. The enterprise was largely due to the work of D. P. Henderson, minister of the Christian Church at Columbia, and Dr. Samuel Hatch and Prof. Henry H. White of Bacon College, Harrodsburg, Ky. When Jas. Shannon of Bacon College, was elected to the presidency of Missouri University, he recommended a former pupil for the presidency of the contemplated college. This pupil, John Augustus Williams, held the position from the opening of Christian College until 1856, when he resigned to establish Daughters College at Harrodsburg. It is an odd coincidence that Williams should have gone from Columbia to Harrodsburg in time to shape the educational life and ideals of Mrs. Carr, and that Mrs. Carr should, in the course of years, have come from Harrodsburg to Columbia, to act as associate principal in the college inaugurated by her favorite teacher.
John Augustus Williams was succeeded at Christian College by L. B. Wilkes. Duringthe latter's administration, J. K. Rogers from Marion County, Mo., acted as instructor; at the close of President Wilkes' second year, Rogers became the third president of the institution; a position which he occupied for nearly twenty years, and which only a fatal disease compelled him to relinquish. During his administration there were 174 graduates, and it was the difficulty of hearing from so many, that delayed the Memorial.
George S. Bryant was the fourth president,—from 1877 to 1884. His successor, W. A. Oldham, had scarcely finished his first year, when the Memorial was published. The book is true to its title; it is rather a Memorial than a biography, the work of a friend, who prefers to quote such men as G. W. Longan, J. W. McGarvey, etc., rather than to substitute words of his own.
And if the life of a minister who, for twenty years, occupies the same chair in a school of learning, lacks the variety which gives to biography an interest to the general reader, still less can the history of that school be offered as a work of entertainment. Something more may be said for the part edited by Mrs. Carr. Whatever lack of merit her collection of essaysand poems reveals, may be charged to the paucity and immaturity of the material in her hands. It is fair to conclude that she gave us the best that the alumnae gave her; and the impression that most of it might just as well not have been preserved, is dissipated when we are told that President Rogers was anxious to have the writings of his girls published as his memorial, even if no word be said about himself. Viewed, then, not as literature, but as the fruits of his instruction, these writings, breathing the deepest piety, and revealing both learning and grace, hold their fitting place in the memorial to the Christian teacher.
But it is because this Part Third reveals the mind of her who edits it, that it is of moment to our biography. In the first chapter she gives us an indication of what she regards as of the utmost value in a woman's life:
"In looking over the scores of letters I have received from the Alumnae of Christian College, I find that I have written on the envelopes of about nine out of ten, the word,Christian; on two out of ten, the word,teacher; and on each without exception, the golden word,home-worker. In this statistical catalogue of three words, is found the grandest record ofChristian College. That the life-work of its Alumnae has been chiefly confined to the church, and the school-room, and the home, is its honor and renown."
Mrs. Carr thus sues for toleration of "a wrong spirit" manifested in an essay on the "South." "Though the author evinces a little bitterness, we should forgive her. She wrote at the close of our sad civil war. When she writes vigorously and touchingly of 'A Washington, a Jefferson, a Calhoun, a Clay, a Breckenridge, a Benton,' when she proudly says, 'Behold on Virginia's consecrated ground, noble Bethany College, and Virginia's magnificent University,' when she turns lovingly to 'Kentucky University, one of the proudest in the Union,' and when, in the full bound of her loyalty she clasps to her heart her 'own Missouri University,'—then indeed we forgive, and our heart rejoices with hers in a common love."
Mrs. Carr thus introduces her third chapter: "If no George Eliot was found in the previous chapter, so no Elizabeth Barrett Browning will be found in this. If the reader be generous, he will find some very sweet poetic thought expressed in verse; but he will feel no deep stirrings of an angelic genius, that looks throughCasa Guida window up to the very gates of heaven. He will find only the rhythmical outpourings of ambitious girlish hearts; and if he laugh at their imperfections, he will only prove that his heart is old—" Reader, let us not delve into these ambitious poems, lest we laugh and prove ourselves no longer young. Let us come away, after noting this comment on a poem entitled 'Longfellow.'
"Having once met him in his poet-home," says Mrs. Carr, "having felt the warm pressure of his hand, heard the low music of his voice, looked into the clear depth of his poetic eye—having felt, in short, the benediction of his presence, I find in the following simple dirge, a peculiar charm. That the modest author so tenderly loved her nation's poet, whose song like his own flower-de-luce, shall 'make forever the world more fair and sweet,' evinces both a refined taste, and a cultured heart."
Gone, now, that good white poet, to mingle in the poesy of the past; and vanished is she who felt the warm pressure of his hand, and looked into the clear depth of his poetic eye. But the world is here as when they trod it beneath its daily sun; and here are you and I. Happy are we, if we find the world more fairand sweet because of those who have breathed their influence upon it.
So we lay aside this Memorial, the joint work of Mr. and Mrs. Carr, the only book they ever produced, and go on with the story of their lives—a story full of incessant work, its routine broken by some such adventures as is suggested by the following from Anthony Haynes to Mrs. Carr: "You are invited to read a paper before the State Teachers' Association which meets at Sweet Springs, March 22-24, 1886. Your cabinet is just the thing we wish to see at the Display—bring it."
From Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, June 6th—showing that Mrs. Carr has her eyes unalterably set upon the future: "There is no advertisement of phonography in theCincinnati Enquireror theCourier-Journal. So you have learned the shorthand alphabet! Well, I am sure it will require a great deal of practice to report verbatim. I do want you to take a rest this summer, whether you learn phonography or not. The truth is, you ought to be resting now."
But the report of the Fourth Annual Convention of the Women's Christian Temperance Union shows that Mrs. Carr was doing anythingbut resting. The "Irrepressible Conflict" of this year, shows her laboring sturdily for temperance. Further letters show her struggling at spare moments with shorthand. What will she do withthat? This from Mrs. S. E. Shortridge of the C. W. B. M., suggests a new activity:
"Sister Jameson was very much pleased with the card of flowers you sent her. She is very greatly improved—able to see and enjoy her friends. We had a most delightful conference with her last Sunday afternoon. Brother Azbill, Dr. and Mrs. Pearre, A. M. Atkinson and wife were there, besides the member of the board, and others. Mrs. Jameson is still confined to her bed. She sends her love and says she will write very soon. Perhaps you can get your leaflet printed at Kansas City. The C. W. B. M. will highly appreciate your kindness in the preparation of a leaflet, in the midst of your various duties and obligations. There is a growing demand for such information. I am anxiously awaiting its appearance."
In the same year, O. A. Carr attended a meeting of the Alumni of Kentucky University, and in a public address, thus referred to his own graduating class: "The class of 1867has never appeared on this rostrum since commencement day nineteen years ago. We were three then; we are two now. We were called the Trio. For nigh six years of student life we were boon companions. We shared our mutual joys, our mutual burdens bore, in a most intimate friendship. We planned our future so that our paths might often cross each other, but duty called us to labor in fields as far apart as Colorado, California, Australia. When James C. Keith, President of Pierce Christian College, California, and I were corresponding, concerning this meeting of today, our hearts cried out for the absent one—the noble, generous, gifted, brilliant valedictorian of our class. In the hearts of those who knew him, there arises, as a sweet fragrance, the memory of Albert Myles."
Not long after the delivery of this tribute, Mrs. O. A. Burgess wrote to Mrs. Carr: "I was in Indianapolis a few weeks ago, and found our dear Sister Jameson better than I hoped. I had a delightful visit with her. She realizes that she is soon to leave us, but is as bright and cheerful as she ever was in her life, and her interest in the C. W. B. M. is unabated. Allow me to congratulate you on the rapid growth ofthe C. W. B. M. in Missouri. You certainly must have efficient workers. Your article on 'How to Organize an Auxiliary' will meet a long felt need."
November 27, 1886, Mrs. Shortridge wrote: "Am sending you our amended Constitution and the DecemberTidings. In the list of Missouri officers you will notice your name as a manager. I hope you will approve. The relation between yourself as Vice President, and the Executive Committee, has been so pleasant and congenial, that we are unwilling to sever it altogether. We need your help, and will be grateful at any time for suggestions. Your leaflet, you so kindly prepared, has been most useful to me in answering the question, How to Organize; and it has been a means of encouragement to a great many timid sisters. Indeed, my dear sister, when I think how promptly you have responded to my requests for help, how your loving words of appreciation have lifted me up when almost discouraged and ready to give up the struggle,—the tears come to my eyes, and I ask God to bless you abundantly."
The leaflet referred to, is by Mrs. Carr, as President of the Missouri State Board, and isaddressed to "The 39,000 Missouri Sisters who wear the badge of the C. W. B. M." It is an eloquent and logical presentation of the value of organization.
From Mrs. Maria Jameson, came the following, October 4, 1886: "Your loving message with the pretty card was received with heartfelt thanks to God, who has given me the love of so many warm hearts. Surely in this regard, never was woman more blessed. With humble heart I accept it as one of the ways the kind Father 'is making his grace sufficient for me.' Of course, I am thinking much of the Kansas City convention. You and I have begun an acquaintance so pleasant—you enter so readily and heartily into my views and plans—so ready to render me judicious and active assistance, that I looked forward with increased pleasure to the labor of coming years. But 'man proposes and God disposes.' I almost dare think that He wished to give me a special lesson of the absolute dependence of all my plans upon His sovereign will. When I knew beyond a doubt that I could not be present, the question rose, Who will occupy the vacant chair? One day it flashed across my mind that now we had the opportunity of making a graceful publictestimonial of our respect to the woman whom the C. W. B. M. delights to honor—Mrs. Pearre, who is this year, for almost the first time, free from school duties. You, as Vice President, will open the convention's sessions with the usual exercises. Mrs. Pearre's name will be received by acclamation, and you will conduct her to the chair, and give her all the help and encouragement you would have given me, staying beside her, informing her and supporting her according to requirement. What shall I say of myself? I have through all my life received wondrous good from God; shall I not patiently receive evil, also? Pray earnestly for me, that I may cheerfully yes, joyfully, submit to His will."
In 1887, O. A. Carr went to Arkansas to look about for a promising field, where he might labor in the ministry, and his wife, in her own chosen profession. He writes from Fort Smith: "I lectured last night to a moderate audience. We have a neat little frame church here. The preacher has been re-elected; 22 for, 12 against. I am sorry for him; but he is going to stick to them. He is a pleasant man, and very kind. They are remarkably hospitable here. I send you a little bouquetfrom the front yard. Think of violets and roses, a month ahead of the Missouri bloom! You will recognize the two large leaves; they are maple! It is now about as warm as a June day at home. I don't believe you could have any success here during the summer, in teaching elocution and phonography; for I am told that the people take holiday during the summer months, and take it very extensively—even the laboring men, because they are afraid to work much. People are dropping in here quietly, buying, and slipping out. There will probably be a rise in property after the bridge is built into the Indian Territory. Work is begun on a U. S. court room and new post office. There is tied up in this nosegay a great deal of love for my wife. I go to Alma tomorrow." (Sonowwe begin to understand what that short hand meant! There are to be no more vacations, it seems.)
April 13th, Mr. Carr wrote from Fayetteville, Arkansas: "Brother Ragland tries to convince me that we ought to come here, and establish a Young Ladies' College, in connection with the University—but young ladies attend the University. He says our church has no school in Arkansas, and Fayetteville is theeducational center, etc. Brother Robt. Graham started a college here in 1858 and continued it successfully until the war broke it up in 1862. His college building was burned. He had five acres, most beautiful site. His residence is standing yet. I attended the opening exercises at the University. Some of the professors remembered you; they heard your lecture at Sweet Springs. The University is upon a hill and is imposing. I could not make an arrangement for a meeting at Fort Smith, because it is cotton-planting time, and the people are very busy. After preaching at Alma two days (and receiving $6) I came here. I will stop at Springfield, Mo., tonight, and may remain over Sunday, as I am told they have no preacher. I have seen several young ladies and talked up Christian College, distributed catalogues, etc., but they object that Columbia is too far away."
Mr. Carr, from Springfield, Mo., May 13th, showing that Springfield is beginning to enter largely into his life; "I preached last night on 'Quench not the Spirit,' and ended the Ash Grove meeting. The sale of the college is postponed sixty days. Sister Bander said my sermon was much needed. There now! she is a judge. They want you to send some of yourtracts on 'How to Organize an Auxiliary' here, to Springfield."
Mr. Carr from Paris, Ky., June 9th: "I received your good letter, and was reading it in Morrison Chapel, as I sat beside Alex. Milligan. He saw the flowers enclosed, and said, 'I thought you were over that!' I told him that was an old bachelor's idea of the matter—just as though true love would ever get over it! I told Brother McGarvey what was in your letter. It is all right; but Brother Graham asked at first, if it was wise for you to give up your work at the University. When I see you, I'll tell you about Hamilton College. I am here over night with Minnie Fox. John is home from New York on a visit. We talked so late last night that I could scarcely get up this morning! Saw Brother Grubbs at Lexington. Monday I take the boat for Cincinnati, and expect to be in St. Louis at the Union Depot, Tuesday morning next. I had a fine sleep on theSt. Lawrence, and didn't wake up till the boat whistled for Maysville. I hurried up and found mother busy skimming milk. She can not walk far; her ankle seems to be ossifying. She is all the while anxious about the children for whom she has worn out her strength. If Ihad not engaged at Springfield, I might have gone to Mt. Sterling or Louisville. I don't know but what Springfield is as good a place for regular employment as the other places. The idea is to be content, and do the work well. I want you to have a year's good rest. Now is your time to rest. Get the good out of old Jeff. Make him flutter around. I think he had better be sold to some one in Columbia where he is known. Minnie Fox is a fine girl. She says she would love to be with you in Springfield. John is home now for vacation, but is going to the coal mines in Southern Kentucky" (where his fancy is one day to follow the trail of the Lonesome Pine, and discover a little shepherd herding the sheep in "Kingdom Come.") "He says he would like to be one of the Assistants at the University. I told him you are going to rest, and he wants to know whether there would be a chance for him to get in. He could bring testimonials—his Harvard diploma would be something. If you think well of it, you could present his name. He took the honors at Harvard, and has been tutoring in New York ever since. He is a teacher by education and by nature. Do as you think best about it."
From the foregoing it is clear that Mrs. Carr has definitely decided to relinquish her post of service at the University of Missouri. That she needed rest, there can be no doubt. That she needed undivided time in which to mature plans for her future college, against the day of opportunity, is equally certain. At Springfield, Missouri, Mr. Carr entered upon a three year's service. As soon as Mrs. Carr could sever her connections with the University, she joined him.
Her work for the C. W. B. M. still continued. We find her delivering addresses, arranging programs, and lecturing. Mrs. Jameson, Mrs. Pearre, Mrs. Shortridge, etc., continue to write her for wise counsel, in grave times of anxious consideration—for instance, when the Constitution was altered, when plans were on foot to make theTidingsa stronger magazine, etc. When Mrs. Carr ceased to hold an official position under the C. W. B. M. the appeals to her for advice and help came just as frequently as when she was President of the State Board.
Her work in the W. C. T. U. was also unabated, and during 1888, she took an active part in the prohibition candidacy of John A. Brooks for the governorship. A letter fromE. C. Browning requests Mrs. Carr to do the C. W. B. M. work of Mrs. Browning, whom ill-health prevents from performing her duties as manager in Southern Missouri. She is also engaged in lecturing on her tour of the world, taking opportunity as she goes from city to city, to investigate the prospects for a new college.
In theNevada Daily Democratof October 11th, we find this estimate of Mrs. Carr as a public lecturer: "The lady reads her lecture from manuscript, and has a very plain, clear voice which can be distinctly heard all over the room. Her diction is fine. She is, indeed, a pleasant reader, almost perfect in her pronunciation and emphasis."
The six years following Mrs. Carr's connection with the University of the State of Missouri, might be characterized as the time of preparation, struggle and victory; preparation in the definite formulation of plans for her last educational experience; struggle to find the suitable place and the requisite means for the establishment of her college, and the victory of final achievement. This period extends from 1888 to 1894.
As we have seen, it was Mr. Carr's earnest desire for his wife to take a long rest, on his acceptance of the church at Springfield; and no attentive reader of Mrs. Carr's life can doubt the need of rest at this time—a rest which, in her case, meant keeping house—the every-day work of many women.
While she rests, this biography may also rest, in the respect of dealing with events, since the occurrences in the simple life are most enjoyed in proportion as they make dull reading, and the days at Springfield were happy days.
To illustrate Mrs. Carr's force of characterit may be related that one day when her finger was cut off, she found the dismembered part in the folding door, quickly fastened the end back in place, and held it there till help could be summoned.
A brief note from the Ladies Aid Society of Sheldon, Missouri, asking if Mrs. Carr can come to deliver a lecture in their interests, must be taken as an example of countless others of a similar nature. The following statement from the President of the Missouri University, fitly serves as a transition from former experiences, to the new phase of Mrs. Carr's career. It is addressed to her:
"During my administration of the Missouri University for thirteen years, you occupied faithfully and efficiently and acceptably the position of Lady Principal, for eight or ten years. This position you resigned of your own choice. It was not done at the advice, or the instance, of either the Board or the President of the institution. You had always done considerable teaching, as well as serving as Principal, and it was always my understanding that it was not your pleasure to hold the position apart from teaching; and as the care had so grown as to make that overburdensome, whenyou withdrew, a successor was appointed who has never done any teaching. As a matter of fact, when you resigned, I did not fully understand your reason for doing so. Allow me to express my appreciation for your great worth as an educator, and to assure you of my earnest hope that your enterprise at Sherman will more than realize your purposes and expectations."
This letter from Dr. S. S. Laws was written in 1891, which brings us rather prematurely to the subject of "Sherman." The reader will find that in the course of events, all interests will presently center in that Texas city; but, as we have said, Mrs. Carr is now resting (1888-9) and the biography, as a chronicle of events, rests with her.
But while household cares engage her time, her mind is ever active with that great idea of her life which has attended her since childhood days, and which we are, in the course of time, to find bringing her to the highest fulfillment of her powers. We have seen how that tireless nature has fought its way from battlefield to battlefield, ever progressing in its educational career. It is not clearly defined to her judgment how, or where, she is to take the final stand in her work of improving the greatestnumber of girls in the most effective way, yet, by following the clews given in the following letters, we may trace out her course to its final destination.
But if Mrs. Carr has temporarily entered into what we may call—as distinguished from other years—her period of rest, the following clipping from a newspaper dated, May, 1889, will indicate that Mr. Carr has been far otherwise engaged:
"Sunday night, O. A. Carr stated to his congregation that he had a secret of several months' standing which he was agonizing to disclose. The long cherished hope of his congregation, and indeed of the North Town disciples was about to be realized—the erection of a church building in North Springfield. He said the money is already raised and the building will begin as soon as specifications are determined upon. He stated that the disciples of Christ with whom he had been meeting in the Good Templars' Hall, for nearly two years, would begin, next Sunday, regular church work preparatory to entering their new church home in the near future. With the dawning light of the permanent prosperity of the church of North Springfield filling their hearts, thecongregation was dismissed, and the scene of rejoicing that followed cannot be described."
Mrs. Carr in commenting upon this news, adds, "North Springfield has a population of about 10,000, and a struggling little band of Christians have been praying and working for the above happy consummation, for years."
This brief news-item reveals, to those who have built churches, years of labor, anxiety, and suffering. In the meantime, the quest for a suitable college opening is never relinquished. Now that the church is built, one is freer to look about. Mr. Carr, having served three years at Springfield, Mo., is invited to come to Arkansas and examine the field.
"The brethren will help support and establish a college here," writes G. W. Hudspeth. "I would like to have it at Little Rock, but do not know that she would offer as much encouragement as a smaller town with no college. I have about 400 lots in a railroad town of which I will give sufficient grounds for a college building; and allow the other lots sold, and donate one-third of the proceeds to the support of the college."
In December of the same year—1890—Mr. Carr writes from Bates City to Mrs. Carr: "Itseems to me that the Sherman proposition is the best that has been made you, and I want you to see your way clear, and at the same time I want you to act on your own judgment. You say you will accept the terms, if they suit. I hope you will have some word of cheer to send before long. Do not be gloomy and downcast."
A few days after, the following from J. W. McGarvey is written to Mr. Carr, showing that the terms of Sherman were far from persuasive: "Your letter surprises me, for I thought that you and Sister Carr had already moved to Sherman, Texas, and were at work there. The Broadway Church has engaged Brother Bartholomew to preach one year, and superintend the erection of a new house of worship, after which he returns to St. Louis to build a new house there. I hope the school at Sherman has not gone amiss, and that it will not be affected by the college boom at Dallas."
Mrs. Carr, in explaining why Sherman was chosen as the site for her important venture, wrote: "After a long and arduous term of labor as Adjunct Professor and Principal of the Ladies Department in Missouri State University my nervous system broke down, and I amcompelled to suspend my work. Mr. Carr accepted a call to preach at Springfield, Mo., believing the altitude would conduce to the restoration of my health. Breathing the ozone of the Ozarks, I was soon a new creature, and I determined to resume my professional labors. The thought, like an inspiration, came to me, 'Build a college for girls, consecrate your life to it, andleave it as a bequest to the Church.' I told Mr. Carr of my heart's desire, and after prayerful consideration, we resolved to devote our united lives to the work. I visited a number of towns and cities in Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky, seeking a suitable location. After I had spent a year thus, Mr. Carr went to Sherman, Texas, to conduct a series of meetings, and some of the prominent citizens, having learned what we purposed, expressed a desire to have the college located at Sherman. A proposition was submitted, which Mr. Carr forwarded me at Springfield, advising me to come and look into the matter. I came, amused at the idea of locating our life-work in Texas; but I was then ignorant of her marvelous developments, and of her still more marvelous undeveloped resources. I visited a number of her splendid towns, and ascertained that inthe wide territory of the State, the Church of Christ owned no college exclusively for girls."
It would be a brief story to say that Sherman was finally selected and the college built there; but how, in that case, could the reader gain a knowledge of the almost insuperable difficulties overcome? It is by such a knowledge that we gain the clearest view of Mrs. Carr's character. She was, no doubt, often despondent, but she never relinquished her determination; nor did her zeal cause her to act too hastily. Although Sherman now appeared desirable, no stone must be left unturned to discover if there were towns more promising.
January 18, 1891, we find President J. W. Ellis writing from Plattsburg College, Missouri, to Mr. Carr: "I wrote you a hasty note on receipt of your last. If you had carried the letter a little longer in your pocket, you might have weakened it so it might not have got here! In regard to Sister Carr's quest—Plattsburg College is now prosperous and has been for eleven years. I would be willing to sell it at a nominal price, to get rest from the long-continued service of a teacher and his wife. I see no reason why Sister Carr could not continue theflourishing condition of the school. Campus, four acres, unencumbered, non-taxable."
February 12, 1891, Wm. Frazier wrote Mr. Carr from Calusa, California: "At the suggestion of Brethren J. C. Keith and W. P. Dorsey, I address you this note to say: For some 14 years, Brother Keith has been President of Pierce Christian College; lately he sent in his resignation; we will have to supply his place. I feel at liberty to ask if you will be open for engagement next session, beginning September 1st. I am President of the Board of Trustees, and the Board looks to me to attend to these matters. The church at College City will be without a preacher in June; so the President of the college will most likely be called to preach for the church. I ought to have said that Brother Keith's health has been poor for three years, and his physicians advise a change and rest."
O. A. Carr, in forwarding this letter to his wife, adds, "The above received to-day. I answered by saying, 'Send on your proposition, I will consider it.' Why not get an appointment to lecture at Galveston? You could easily run down there from Sherman, and see the place."
Mr. Carr to Mrs. Carr, March 2nd: "I have just written to Brother Keith in full asking all the questions you suggested, and several besides. I told him we would come, and I could begin preaching for the church right away. I asked him to send you a catalogue at Sherman. It may be that the California plan is better than the Texas one. I have but one objection, which I waive for your sake—I will be so far away from my kin, and the friends of early days. Besides, you know I prefer preaching to teaching; but I suppose I could do both at College City, after a fashion. So Brother Capp is to be at Springfield! Well, I would rather have him succeed me than any one else, for the good of the church. Address me at Omaha."
L. B. Wilkes, at Stockton, California, to O. A. Carr: "I wrote to Brother Frazier. The place at College City is yours, it seems, if you want it. You had better have them as aBoard, send an official letter, saying just what terms they mean to propose. If there's anything I can do, I am ready."
Wm. Frazier to L. B. Wilkes, March 16th: "I have written to Sister Carr, making Brother Carr an offer to take our college, and am nowanxiously awaiting an answer. What a grand service you could be to us, Brother Wilkes, if you could write to Brother Carr and induce him to come and see our college."
Instead of quoting further, the Pierce College incident may be summed up as follows: The Executive Board called Mr. and Mrs. Carr to Pierce Christian College of California. The call was accepted. Mrs. Carr gave up the Sherman idea; all property at their death was to go to Pierce Christian College; an accident policy in favor of the college was arranged. She accordingly wired to College City that she would be there by the 30th; sold the ponies and carriage and the household goods at a sacrifice of about $1,000 (Mr. Carr was then in Nebraska), and was in due time joined by her husband.
The ticket agent secured their tickets. They were on the eve of departure when a message from the President of the Board called off the agreement. Opposition had arisen on the grounds that Mr. Carr did not, in some of his opinions, accord with all of those on the Board.
Mr. Carr, under the blow of this disappointment, wrote to Mr. Frazier as follows: "Your reasons for withdrawing your offer are as greata surprise to me as was the telegram announcing the fact. I stand where Brothers Wilkes, Keith, Graham, McGarvey and Grubbs stand. I emphatically encourage and practice progression heavenward. I will not desert the cause of Christ for the fashion of the giddy world. Having no children, Mrs. Carr has been planning for several years to locate in a college which, at my death, would receive our money. We had decided upon Pierce Christian College. I tell you this that you may know how completely you have upset our plans."
The foregoing is introduced into this biography merely by way of illustrating the difficulties with which the Carrs were forced to contend, before the final victory.
Thus is the California incident closed. The Carrs once more find themselves beset by uncertainties. Mr. Carr writes to their Springfield friend, Mrs. Weaver, showing how one pauses irresolutely before various openings:
"I have been preaching at Council Bluffs, of late. I haven't yet decided where I shall labor. I am waiting to hear from different points, and then we'll go somewhere. President J. W. Ellis of Plattsburg, Mo., offers us his college. I don't know about it. There is no offer sogood as Sherman, I think. Tell Miss Kate to write to me in shorthand if she likes. I leave the other side of this sheet for Mattie to say her say."
Mrs. Carr adds: "It is good of you to say my room is waiting for me. I shall never forget your kindness, coming just when it was most needed. I do try to be cheerful and hopeful. We have the comfort that we have tried all along to do our duty, to the best of our ability. I believe the Lord has a bright day in store for us, by and by, if we will only be patient and stand for the right."
June 23rd, F. W. Smith wrote to Mrs. Carr answering her questions regarding the Tennessee Female College at Franklin. He hesitates to advise her to accept it, but believes she could make of it a success, and assures her of his hearty support should she undertake the work there.
About the same time, W. J. Loos writes to Mr. Carr from Louisville: "We have your article from theGuide; had just received a note from Mrs. Carr covering the same ground. I will keep an eye on the field, and if I see any favorable opening, will let you know. I thinkyou ought to appear more frequently in theGuide."
In 1891, the Carrs are thinking of going to Kentucky with their enterprise. In September, Mr. Carr writes to Mrs. Carr from "Brother McGarvey's study": "Brother Bartholomew says he will prepare you a prospective so that a cut can be made from it, of the college building, if you will give him the idea as to size, etc., and that it can be done in three or four days. For his work, he will charge nothing, but he will have to pay the man who does the drawing for the cut, and the cut will cost about $15." Tentative diagrams at this time, show that Mrs. Carr was making her own designs, arranging the rooms of her college—wherever it was to be—to suit her own ideas. It is no easy matter to make the cut of our college before there is any college. Still it must be done, to bring the scheme tangibly before the public, and one's imagination must become fixed in steel.
September 9th, Mrs. Carr writes Mrs. Weaver from Omaha: "I hope to be with you next week. I shall be in Springfield only a few days, I presume. Then I shall go on to Sherman, to begin the College enterprise. My loveto Tillie." (Tillie was Mrs. Weaver's little daughter.) "Tell the dear child to have a dozen kisses ready for me."
Affairs seem to be crystalizing in and about Sherman, Texas. A site is provisionally chosen for the proposed college, "on a beautiful elevation," says Mrs. Carr, "in her eastern suburb, overlooking an immense circuit of country, as charming as the bluegrass region of our native State."
A mass meeting of the citizens of Sherman was called, which Mrs. Carr addresses in the interests of the enterprise. The arguments she produces appear to cover all the ground in sight, and all probable contingencies of the future. She says:
"If another girls college be established in Sherman, it will bring among you many more girls. They, in boarding-school vocabulary, will 'get awful hungry,' and must be fed. Our grocers will have to order a large supply of boarding-school staples, and our meat markets will have to multiply their sirloin roasts and porterhouse steaks. These girls will have boxes of roast turkey and French candies smuggled to them by sympathetic mamas, and nature in her mercy, will send a wave of nausea, and a crywill go up for our Homeopathic M. D. with his pleasant little pills, or for our old school dignified Regular with his calomel and quinine, or for our cautious Eclectic with his 'best' from all schools, and each will add to his list of patients, and our druggists will multiply their prescriptions, and their profits. These girls will delight in pretty dresses and becoming hats—." And so the dry goods stores will have their innings, and the milliners. Hope is next held out to the bookstores, the music supply companies, the opera house, the street car lines, etc.
Perhaps it is not so apparent what advantage the new college may be to those institutions already established in the city. But Mrs. Carr promptly takes up this point, and elucidates it with faultless logic:
"For example, Miss Smith, who is a member of the Christian Church, comes from Galveston, and attends the Christian College of Sherman. She is pleased with the school and delighted with our town. When she returns home, at the close of her session she tells her intimate Baptist friend, Miss Jones, and her intimate Methodist friend, Miss Brown, what a delightful place Sherman is, and how 'jolly' it wouldbe for all to go to school in the same town, etc. What is the result? The following September Sherman Institute opens its doors to Miss Jones, and North Texas Female College welcomes Miss Brown. But that is not all. Miss Jones of Galveston has a brother who must be sent to college, and, with the true impulse of an affectionate sister, she says, 'Oh, brother Jimmie, get papa to send you to Austin College, or Mahan's Commercial College; and you can come to see me every Saturday.' Therefore, all the Baptists and Methodists of Sherman ought to encourage our enterprise to the extent of their financial ability."