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Memories Of Eighty Years

Creator: Fanny J. Crosby (author)
Date: 1906
Publisher: James H. Earle & Company, Boston
Source: Available at selected libraries
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4  Figure 5  Figure 6  Figure 7  Figure 8  Figure 9

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Once he called for some verses asking me to urge men not to drink intoxicants during business hours; and then a poem pleading with them not to drink for twenty-four hours, as an experiment to see if they could quit the habit; and finally he asked for a piece imploring them not to drink at all. The first two of my poems were condemned by some and praised by others. A few, who believed in talking a whole loaf or no bread at all said that I was openly aiding the cause of intemper-ance by advising men to do anything short of abstaining at once and forever. But I had confidence enough in Colonel Hadley to trust him not to use these poems in any way which the best citizens might disapprove. Colonel Hadley himself was by no means an abstainer then; but he was trying hard to break the fetters that bound him.

577  

He was a candid man, but, although he had original ideas concerning religion, he never tried to force his views on others. We sometimes disagreed; then he would generally say, "You are all right; perhaps I shall see it as you do some day." And that glad occasion did indeed finally come through the prayers and efforts of his brother, S. H. Hadley, who had been saved at the Cremorne Mission.

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For months prior to Colonel Hadley's conversion I did not see him; yet heard from time to time that he was not holding out as well as he wished against evil habits. Later there came a vague rumor that he had started over again. But this news seemed too good to be at once believed, so I waited until I should hear from him direct; for I knew if the report were true he would come to me, sooner or later, and relate all the circumstances that led him to become a Christian. One evening, almost three months later, I heard a ring at the door about nine o'clock, and someone asking, "Is Fanny Crosby up?" I knew his voice and was convinced that he had come to tell me the glad news of his con-version.

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"I have something to tell her," he said, "I have found the Lord." When I reached the door I exclaimed,

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"Bless you, Colonel Hadley, come right upstairs' and tell me all about it." When I asked why he had not called before he said,

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"Oh, I wanted to be sure that I would hold out." Col. Henry Hadley became a great power for God; and during the seventeen years of his Christian life he founded sixty missions, many of which became perma-nent. I was acquainted with his brother, the late Samuel H. Hadley, for twenty-five years; and it was always a rare pleasure to go down to the old Water Street Mission and see the wonderful work that was being done there for the spread of the Master's kingdom; but the two brothers have now clasped their hands in glory.

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My work among the missions of New York has been largely supplemented, during the last thirty years, by that among the Young Men's Christian Associations in various cities. Richard C. Morse, a prince among workers, was known to me as early as 1868; and one morning -- I think it was in 1871 -- he came to my home before I had eaten my breakfast, and asked,

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"What are you going to do today?"

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I replied that I had no particular plans and was entirely at his service, if I could do any good. He then told me the sad story of a poor drunkard who had at-tempted to commit suicide. Mr. Morse had taken the unfortunate man to his own room; had given him some thing to eat; and, as he appeared to be more comfortable had now come to me to see what we together could do for his conversion. The man was finally redeemed and afterwards became a minister of the gospel.

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That was really my first work among men. It ante-dates the commencement of my labors among missions by three or four years; and it was not until 1880 that I conducted frequent services for the railroad branches of the Christian Association. As I was entering a surface car one afternoon I chanced to step on the conductor's foot; and I cried,

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"O, conductor, I know that I have hurt you, but I did not intend to. Will you please forgive me?" He replied,

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"You didn't hurt me at all; and if you had you made up for it by speaking a kind word." I believe it was his remark that turned my attention toward the work among railroad men; and it was not long after this that an opportunity came for its commencement. Before the month had passed I was invited to the home of my friend William Rock, who was superintendent of a surface car line in New York. He was in the habit of gathering a few Christian men together on each Sabbath morning to hold a prayer service for the railway employees. Only a few came at first, but finally the little room in the car station was filled with railroad "boys."

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Although this was not a permanent organization, Mr. Rock's little company formed one of the first associations of railroad men in active Christian work.

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The following year I met three members of the Railroad Branch of the Y. M. C. A., which had recently been organized at Hoboken. They were Tom Keenan, Jerry George, and James Berwick and these three men, to-gether with Benjamin Locke, formed a quartet of earnest workers in whom I have since been interested. A week after our meeting -- which occurred in New York at my photographer's -- they invited me to visit the association at Hoboken. There I met Mr. J. L. B. Sunderlin, then secretary in that city; and now at Albany; and from that date at least twice each year we have held a very pleasant reunion.

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