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Excerpts of Biography of Former Traer Pastor GivenWe arc- indebted to Mrs. Elizabeth P. Roy of 3242 Wood lawn St., Ames, la., for an opportunity to include in this Star-Uippor historical edition an excerpt from an unpublished autobiography of the Rev, Joel S. Bingham, who served as pastor of Ripley Congregational church of Traer for eight years from 1882 lo 1890. It was his last pastorate, as Ik* retired in Dubuque, la., at the age of 7, after finishing his work here, and presumably later died there.Born at Cornwall, Vt., in 1815, he grew up on a farm but resolved to become a minister after suffering a foot injury at the age of 17. He attended Marietta college in Ohio for two years, thtju returned to Vermont because of ill health, arul took employment as a teacher, In 1839 he helped to found a boarding school at Ferrisburg, Vt., and taught there several years. In 1846 he was invited to become the lay -preacher of a church in Charlotte, Vt.; he accepted,- began to read for the ministry, and eventually was ordained in October of that year, Later he served churches in Leominster, Westfield and Boston, Mass., and worked actively as a rcdigous advisor to soldiers In the Civil war.In 1S70 he came to Iowa after accepting a call to the Congregational church in Dubuque, and transferred to Traer twelve years later for his final charge.The closing chapter of his autobiography, written for and addressed to his children, is reprinted below (the explanatory notes in parentheses were inserted by Mrs. Roy):“In' December, 1881, I resigned my pastorate at Dubuque to take effect the following first of April In January, 1SS2, I spent by invitation a Sabbath in Traer and preached for the church and the people. They called me to -be their pastor and I accepted it.“In March I was dismissed by council, and in the last week of that month our goods were loaded and we departed for Traer. Christie and Anna (members of his extended family-E.P.R.) went with us but our children were not with us. Just -before leaving, Mrs. Deacon Chamberlin called and put into my hands a check of bank deposit for $200, also $100 in cash, the parting gift of the dear people. I was richer than ever before in my life. Money to live on in advance! That was something new to us. But we knew we must live economically as my salary was to be but $1,000 and house-rent; we resolved to live within it and save something every month besides,-and this .we did.The people were more than kind to • us in every way. They •helped usin putting down our carpets and ; Stowing. ; -away our crowded car of goods in that littlehouse —- a house of which Jane (his vvife-E.P.Fij said as she took a look into it, Joel, we can never live in that house.'' But we did. Anna found an unusual attic over the dining room and kitchen, and she had a door cut into it and a lJoor laid and it made a good storage room for our trunks and other things. The girls worked like beavers and the house was soon in order, comfortable and cozy, anil Jane was happy once more*“We soon commenced our ner-sonal_ religious work. The prayer' meetings soon filled up. The church raised $150(1 to pay for the parsonage. Afterwards It raised 8700 to repair the church and carpet it. Soon a goodly number came into the church—Galen Canfield, his wife and daughter, Mr. Baker and wife, T. II. Best and wife, John P. Aver ill, Mrs. Mary McBride and some others. It was a quiet but deep religious work of Bivine Grace, and our hearts were cheered and quickened. Some months afterward, Airs. Johnson and Christie brought into the church almost their entire Sunday school classes of young Sadies. Subsequently, Christie brought in some ten or more of her class ofto raise a S. S. library, which she accomplished. Jane organized the ladies for missionary work. So it will be seen that I had three very efficient co-workers in our own family besides many others. - On the whole I regard my pastorate in Traer as among the most pleasant for us, and I hope profitable for the people.“In 1SS7, having had no vacation for five years although generously proffered, Jane and I took an extended visit East. (An account of •visits with relatives and friends follows-E.P.R.)“On Aug. 22, 18S8, occurred our golden wedding, and our many friends made it a joyful time to us. All our own children (6 were living of the 8 they had-E.P.R.) were, present, and David and Ada of the children-in-law, and Anna. The church and people of Dubuque were represented by Mr.'and Mrs.: Walker and Air. and Mrs. H.. B. Baker. We were presented with $270 cash and a gold watch for myself from Dubuque, a gold-headed cane from Major Day and a Stetson hat from James R. Day. ■Mrs. T. F. Clark made the presentation speech in behalf of Traer, Mr. Walker anil Mrs. Baker in behalf of Dubuque. I married myself to Jane and gave her the marriage ring. We were congratulated by host? of friends and started out on another half-century of happy married life. (My mother remembered attending this at the age of 4. ■ Her chief memory was • of' the; long 'train 'trip from' New .rX°rk . City and. of a very sore jthroati - B.P.R) Christie hadmoved to Dubuque in 1887, and stayed with Mary's children.“In the spring of 1890, Jane went to New York, hoping that the change of air and surroundings might give her relief from the; malarial troubles under which she 1 was suffering. In June she went ■ i with Clark ami Nellie (his daUgh-! j ter and my grand motber-E. p. RJ j ! and Inc-ir children and Sue (his •youngest daughter - E.P.R.) to Bethel.Me., to spend the summer. Learning that Bethel was on the Grand Trunk road over which excursion tickets to the G.A.R. assembly in Boston wore being sold at greatly reduced rates, I availed myself of the opportunity and joined a large party from Traer and departed. Christie joined us at Dubuque. Rut there was a crushing crowd on our whole route and we were packed in like sardines. However, we lived through it, and reached Bethel at j o'clock on the Monday morning after our departure, Christie and I, of course, stopped off there . . . .(We) could stop only a week for- our tickets were limited.“I preached Sabbath evening and we left next morning for Boston .... I had intended to remain over the Sabbath and preach to my old church, but I found almost all absent at summer resorts, and so I left for Chicago. At Buffalo I fell into the very choicest portion of our Traer party — Mr. and Mrs. Beiiiiis, Mrs. 5esc, Mrs. Howard Daniel, Mrs. McBride and Clara Fetter. Mr. and Mrs. Dennis •left us after crossing the river into Detroit, and the rest of us went on to Chicago. (Here he describes visits with two of his children and their families, and with friends in Chicago, and he says “My tongue was loose and i talked them ail half blind'’-E.P.R.) I stopped over a few days in Dubuque and had just as lovely a time there. In fact perhaps I was somewhat nervously excitable on this trip owing to some extra strain upon ■ my nerves, in -the crush in Chicago on the- way out. But I returned .to Traer, and’ Anna and I resumed our lonesome housekeeping, and of course I sobered down to my usual silence— and deep study upon the many problems of human interest which are not yet satisfactorily solved.“Jane returned from the East in the early autumn, somewhat improved in health but still far from well. It thus became manifest that we must move out of the malarial atmosphere of Traer, for the soil _of northern Tama county is so rich in alluvial deposits that in spite of the rolling character of its prairies the atmosphere all along Wolf creek is heavily charged with malaria. (To put your mind at rest, a doctor friend of mine here in Ames questions this diagnosis !-E.P.R.) And then too, I had reached the age of 75 years, an age which I had fixed years before as the proper one for a minister to retire from active duty if he could, and the demand, for ministers did not exceed the supply. But'I knewttiere would be a rusH for tfie Traer pulpit as soon as I left it. So I resigned my last pastorate for earth and time, August or September, 1890. The people remonstrated earnestly, pleading and weeping, and I could not keep back the tears as I replied, “My dear people, I must go. You are my most loved flock on earth. God bless you evermore.”“They gave us generous parting gifts, with many tender farewell words. We had distributed our household goods and forwarded them to their destinations, some of them to our children and some of them for our own use in the dear home which Will (a son-E..F.R and Ada so cheerfully proffered us. Anna remained at Traer a few days to finish up things and then came on lo Dubuque and helped us get into order. But in the midst of this, Clark and Nellie sent an urgent request for. her immediate assistance in their work. So on. she rushed and we did the best we could without her.In our removal from Traer we left behind us a very esteemed member of the family — our old splendid horse, Charley, He had been such a favorite in every regard within his range of duty, had so often laughed in his stall at the sound of approaching footsteps, whether Die design was to give him his rations or harness him for his spin over the prairies. He had so often Impatiently waited for the coming to his sensitive tongue of the well-known signal which permitted him to pass all rivals on the road, or graded track. He -had so often whirled us along with the fleetness of a bird over those long ranges of beautiful roads, or at a point of danger had instantly checked himself at the single word, “Steady.” and stepped as careful as a mother would with her infant in her arms. So for 16 years not a single accident had occurred to any of us: It is no wonder that witha choking voice we said, ‘Farewell, Charley l' But he too had reached the proper age of retirement from active duty. So I gave him to a dear friend at Traer, Wm. Worden, who will care for him as tenderly as for a child until ItLs days are finished. May he then take his place as a ‘Gospel Horse' in that troop which John saw in Heaven.“But -here we are, Jane and Joel, the’ happiest old people in the wide world. We are furnished with every comfort which love and means can provide. We love and are loved.“Thus, my dear children, I close my brief narrative. May it be as great a pleasure to read as it has been to me to write it; I have lived it all over again s»s I have passed along from place to place and event to event.“God bless you, my darlings. You will not forget the heart which dictated the words, or the hands, tremulous with age, which wrote them. Dubuque, la., Nov. 26, lS9i.“
Newspaper Details
Traer Star Clipper
Traer, Iowa, US
Tue, Jul 10, 1973
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Tina W.
NA, NA 02 Jun 2024
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