to my brother about those old times, and when I came to the water that we had I wrote a few lines in poetry. I described the springs in the deep forests. I will quote one verse: Our springs were made by turned up trees, The water thick with falling leaves, And wigglers bright and gay. Twelve of the best. As George was wont to say. I say then, I don't care to go back there; I can live without that sort of life; I don't care to go back into the woods. No, my friends, I had a good time then, and I have a good time to-day. I rode on horseback thousands of miles in my early life; I ride on the cars to-day. It is a better day to live in. Twenty-five cents I had to pay for postage on a letter then; I can pay two cents and get it now anywheres, from any place, and send it to almost any place. Twenty-five cents; my uncle Timothy Cooley, worked a whole day for Joseph Atwater in Mantua, brother of Judge Atwater, and Judge Atwater was one of Cleveland's parties who came here 100 years or more ago, I knew them very well; he worked for Joseph Atwater in Mantua a whole day to pay postage on a letter that came from Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts. Now I don't care to go back there. No, my friends, we live in a good time, a glorious time; don't let us forget the blessings of to-day. It is only one day at a time with us, anyhow. Here and now let us make the best of this. "The waters of the river never lave the same shore twice." We never live over life again. But I must close. I thank you, Mr. President, for the invitation to speak to you, I thank the audience for listening to what I have to say; I shall always love this Society, and I hope, whether I am a member or not, that I may look in your faces again before the shadows close over me and the night comes on that has no morning here. The quartette then sang "America," and then, being joined by the audience, "Doxology." The meeting then closed with an appropriate benediction. SKETCHES OF DECEASED MEMBERS. HIRAM M. ADDISON. A life that has exerted a powerful and long-continued influence in Cleveland ended when Mr. H. M. Addison, known through the length and breadth of the city as "Father" Addison, peacefully breathed his last at 1:20 o'clock a. m., January 14, 1898. As one of the founders of the Early Settlers' Association, as the founder and chief support of the Children's Fresh Air Camp, which has given health and happiness to hundreds of sickly chi'dren and worn out mothers, and as the energetic, never-tiring aid of long list of benevolent and philanthropic enterprises, "Father" Addison had won for himself the respect and affection. of citizens in every walk in life, and his death will occasion the keenest regret. "FATHER" ADDISON'S LIFE. Few faces were more familiar in Cleveland than that of Mr. Addison. He was a citizen of whom it may be truly said that if all mankind were governed by as pure motives as those which prompted his actions, this world would be considerably nearer the millennium than it is. The name The name of H. M. Addison, widely known as "Father" Addison, had become almost a synonym in this part of the State for disinterested efforts in behalf of suffering humanity. "Father" Addison was born in Cuyahoga county when Cleveland was a mere hamlet. He first saw the light of day in Euclid township, about four miles east of Lake View Cemetery, on November 21, 1818. All of his boyhood days were passed in the township of Warrensville, where he obtained his education in a log school house. He worked at farming until 1835, when he moved to that part of Cleveland known as the West Side. From 1836 to 1844 he was engaged in traveling and teaching school. In 1844 he was united in marriage with Miss Ann McCaslin. The wedding took place in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where "Father" Addison successfully taught school four winters and two summers. In 1845 the young couple began life in earnest on their farm in Warrensville. In 1849 "Father" Addison forsook the pursuits of agriculture for those of journalism, establishing the first penny paper in Northern Ohio, if not in the State. In 1852 he purchased the Cleveland Commercial, which, under his editorship, became an excellent weekly newspaper, though not successful financia ly. Later he was connected with the Plain Dealer as agent and correspondent, and still later he served the Review and the Ohio Farmer in the same capacities. He was always a staunch antislavery man. Early in the rebellion "Father" Addison presented himself for enlistment in the "Bloody Seventh" Regiment, but was rejected on account of his tendency to rheumatism. When the United States Sanitary Commission called for citizen nurses to go to the front, he was one of the first to respond, serving faithfully till the places of such nurses were filled by soldiers unable to do active service. At the close of the war "Father" Addison moved his family to Jeffersonville, Ind., where he resided ten years, but he found that he could not be contented away from the scenes of his youth and early manhood, and gladly returned to his old home. In 1879 he was the prime mover in organizing "The Early Settlers' Association of Cuyahoga County." In 1889 he began the establishment of "The Fresh Air Camp"-a summer home on Woodland Hills for sickly children and their mothers. Under his management, the camp became a well nigh indispensible institution. To sustain it and improve its condition, "Father" Addison worked with a vigor worthy of a man of forty years his junior. He said that he hoped before incapacitated by old age, to make the "Fresh Air Camp" as permanent an institution as the Industrial Home, on Detroit street. "Father" Addison, although he had passed the allotted span of life by nearly ten years, was practically in full possession of his physical and mental faculties up to within a short time of his death. People who knew "Father" Addison intimately have thought within the last few months that he would not live many more years. Recently his step has not been so firm as it was a few years ago, and there were other indications of failing health. Still it is doubtful if "Father" Addison thought that he had but a short time to live. He tried to be as aggressive as he was years ago, and manifested the greatest of interest in the Fresh Air Camp, which is now an incorporated institution. He sug "Father" Addison had ideas on every subject. gested the old log cabin which was a feature of the Cleveland centennial celebration. "Father" Addison's communications to the daily newspapers on nearly every subject imaginable made him known to every reader. He wrote slowly and spent a great deal of time in the newspaper offices. An umbrella and a small valise of uncertain age were almost always carried by him, and he frequently lost them. His searches for misplaced and forgotten articles were frequently long and tenacious. "Father" Addison did not display as much interest in current events as he did in the happenings of fifty and sixty years ago, and his stories of pioneer life were very interesting. "Father" Addison had been ill but a few days. He had a severe attack of la grippe, and last night was the first time he went to bed on account of his illness. MRS. WM. BINGHAM. At the residence of Mr. James King in Glenville, August 28, 1898, at 1:30 o'clock, Mrs. Elizabeth Beardsley Bingham, wife of Mr. William Bingham of this city, passed quietly away. Later in the afternoon the remains were removed to the family residence, at No. 789 Euclid avenue. Mrs. Bingham had been ailing for two years and the doctors attributed her death to heart failure. The deceased left two daughters, Mrs. C. A. Brayton and Miss Cassandra H. Bingham, and one son, Mr. Charles W. Bingham. Mrs. Bingham was born near Sandusky Oct. 3, 1822, and was the daughter of David H. Beardsley, who for a long time. was a collector on the Ohio State canal. For over sixty years she resided in this city, being connected with the First Presbyterian church ever since its first organization. She was a Christian woman in the truest sense of the word, and was ever willing and eager to lend an ear to charity. ZENAS BENNETT. Zenas Bennett, probably the oldest man in the Western Reserve, died shortly after noon on the 17th of April, 1898, the cause of death being exhaustion. He was nearly 102 years of age, and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. A. J. Conkey, in Warrensville, where he was visiting. Mr. Bennett was in many respects a remarkable man. Although having lived to such an advanced age, his senses had not been impaired, and he could read newspapers as readily as a person fifty years younger. In person he was of patriarchal appearance, having pure white hair and a long, flowing white beard. As a rule he walked without the use of a cane or other artificial means, and, barring a decided stoop, appeared to be much younger than he really was. Mr. Bennett was born at about the time Moses Cleaveland was selecting a landing place at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, and had he lived a few years longer would have had the distinction of having seen the light of three centuries. He was born |