EARLY SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION.

JULY 22, 1898.

The annual meeting of the Early Settlers' Association of Cuyahoga County was held at Army and Navy Hall July 22nd, 1898. At the opening of the session the commodious and beautifully decorated hall was well filled with the pioneers, and all were cheerful and extended to each other hearty greetings. The presence of the venerable and beloved vice-president, Mrs. J. A. Harris, added cheer to all. But it was sad to note the absence of the late marshal of the association, H. M. Addison.

The meeting was called to order by Hon. Edwin T. Hamilton.

The chaplain, Rev. J. D. Jones, offered the following prayer:

OPENING PRAYER BY CHAPLAIN JONES.

Our Heavenly Father, we come to thee in the name of thy dear Son, the blessed Christ. We thank thee for thy many blessings that thou art bestowing upon us as a nation, as a state, as a city, and as an organization. We thank thee, O God, for thy wondrous love to us, the children of men, and we pray thee at this time that thou wilt incline our hearts unto thee so that in spirit and in truth we may honor thee with our supplications.

We thank thee, O God, for thy blessings upon us in time of peace and for thy favor shown to us in this the time of war. We thank thee for the great victories that have come to our and our navy, and we pray thee that thou wilt grant us still thy divine favor. We pray thee, Lord, that thou wilt be with us.

army

and see by thy presence and power that the right shall prevail, that the cause of righteousness may be advanced.

We ask thy blessing upon those who are in the front today, and especially, our God, remember the sick and the wounded and the dying. Be thou with them. Reveal to them thy love and thy mercy. Cause thy spirit to rest upon them, opening their blind eyes that they may see the truth as it is in Jesus Christ.

We thank thee for those that love thee among the leaders of our nation. We thank thee for the President of the United States and his cabinet, and we pray thee that they may be led of thy spirit, and in these trying hours and time of war that they may rest mightily upon the eternal arm of God.

We thank thee, Lord, when the battle is thine, the victory is thy people's, and we pray thee that thy people may so trust thee that victory shall always come to them.

We ask thee that thou wilt remember this organization; bless its officers and every member; and especially, our Father, remember those who have lately been bereaved of their companions. Remember those, Father, today, who are so near advanced to the River of Death. O, be thou with them for many years, though there is but a step between them and death. Grant; our Father, that they may take that step in the love and fear of Jesus Christ.

We pray that thou wilt be with us in all the exercises and services of this day, and we ask thee that we may be made better because of our association and of our meeting here at this time.

Our Father, we pray thee that thou wilt grant to bless all of our rulers, and grant that we may have rulers over us that shall honor and fear and serve thee, the God of peace and the God of

war.

We ask thee in a special manner to comfort the aged here today by thy spirit; grant that benedictions of love may be showered down upon them and that they may so walk that their last walk shall be the walk of the righteous, and their path be the path of peace. Grant that they may learn to know more and more of thy love so that their last days may be their best.

We ask thy blessings and thy benediction, thy mercy and thy pardon, in the name of the crucified and risen Son of God. Amen.

"Auld Lang Syne" was then beautifully rendered by the male quartet, selected for the occasion.

President Hamilton then delivered his annual address, as

follows:

ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT HAMILTON.

My Friends-Once again we meet to honor the day on which Moses Cleaveland and his companion voyagers first landed at the mouth of the Cuyahoga and the incipient foundations of our city and county were laid; and I greet you on the auspicious return of the anniversary of that eventful day and bid you all a cordial welcome.

I also congratulate you that this Society has reached the 19th year of its successful life.

During the past year we have again been reminded of the ever present fact that the young may die, but the old must do so. Those of us who were present at our last annual meeting will not soon forget the patriarchal appearance on this platform of our then eldest member, the venerable Zenas L. Bennett, of this County, who was born in New York in 1796, the same year of the first settlement here, and came to the Reserve in 1818.

You will also remember that on that occasion we had with us, and you were permitted to see upon this stage and look into the kind and cheerful face of another aged member of the Association, Mrs. Jane Cannell, of this city. She was born in the Isle of Man in the year 1800 and came to the Reserve in 1827, where she since resided. It was my privilege to have known her well for many years, and well I know that she merited the universal esteem in which she was held as wife, mother, friend and neighbor.

Each of these aged members were presented to you last year by the ever active Father Addison, who never lost an opportunity to faithfully serve the Old Settlers' Association. But all these

three have, since our last annual meeting, passed from earth; Bennett at the great age of 102 years, Mrs. Cannell at 98, and our Acting Marshal, H. M. Addison, at the age of 80 years.

The roll of our membership has also been depleted during the last year by the death of our esteemed members, Truman P. Handy at the age of 91, and Moses Warren at the age of 95. Our Executive Committee also reports for the year the deaths of 36 other regular members of this Society, and one honorary member, making a total of 37 deaths for the year out of a living membership of 740, as reported at our last annual meeting; and in this day's report of that committee will be found the names of all our individual and lamented dead for the year.

During the past year the ever recurring seasons have brought to this people the appropriate seed-time and an abundant harvest; pestilence and famine have not been known in the land; but while agricultural and a fair degree of commercial prosperity has been ours, yet in the early spring of the present year peace between this and a sister nation has taken its flight, and the grim visaged and awful front of war has arrayed the United States and Spain in the deadly conflict of arms. In the common cause with others from the North, South, East and West, many of our immediate neighbors and friends have promptly and patriotically responded to the call of the government at Washington and are now upon the battlefields and seas of the Eastern Hemisphere and in and about the gem of the Antilles doing grand deeds of heroism. and working out, as we trust, a glorious future for humanity and for Cuban liberty, disenthralled and forever free from that cruel system of tyranny and barbarity which has outraged justice and humanity for the last four hundred years.

Many philanthropists for many years have vainly hoped that the civilization of the age might abolish war as the final arbiter of disputes, at least among Christian nations, by the arbitration of an International Court of the Powers of Christendom, through which perpetual peace should bless all nations. But the trend of history and the stubborn facts of current events do not warrant