All grown to maturity, and four are now here,
But Mary, our oldest one sickened and fell,
She's gone to her SAVIOUR, she loves Him so well.
of Mr. and Mrs. Henry D. Rumsey, Homer, N. Y., November 23, 1898
My dear
wife and I, once on a time;
Still another great blessing in these later years,
In the morning
of life, while yet in our prime
Is the advent of twenty-two little dears;
Thought
'twould be very nice to go hand in hand,
Twenty Grand-children, and two are Great-Grand,
As our forefathers
went, with a home in the land.
And all just the nicest there is in the land.
We talked long
and often of ways that were best,
Of all the dear friends that wished us GOD-SPEED,
In the circumstances,
to make our lives blest.
Whose memory is fresh, both by works and by deed;
We neither were
born to be petted or caressed,
All gone before us, leaving friends that were dear,
And neither was
every exquisitely dressed.
Four only are left, and two are now here.
We were not well
content with life such as this,
Our lives, at times with hardships were fraught,
And determined
to share an unvarying bliss
That would claw the bare elbow of troublesom tho't
That our efforts
should make and command,
If dirth in my business inclined to o'erwhelm,
With all things
about us, the good of the land.
Good wife would stepforward and man'ge the helm.
So, we tho't to
get married, some sunshiney day,
We have never had servants to scold or command,
And that, too,
without any royal display;
Yet have always enjoyed the good of the land.
But a quaint little
wedding in a quaint little way,
We have never been idle, like drones or like snails,
In the quaint
little home where my Lady did stay.
But have solved the great problem with our own
finger nails.
The wedding was
fine, the house filled with guest,
The tables were
loaded with all things the best.
Our cup of joy is full to-day, will share that cup
Our old friends
and new, and children were there,
with others,
And all were delighted
from the priest to the squire.
As Nature has spread her beautiful flowers in the
path we have trode together.
When it was all
over we both were content,
The watchful care of Almighty God has been with
We saw nought
in the future o'er which to lament,
us all the way.
All Nature seemed
dressed in a mantle to please,
And for His Blessings, great or small, we thank
And birds warbled
welcome among the green trees.
HIM every day.
Our family of five
children are all very dear;
All grown to maturity,
and four are now here,
But Mary, our
oldest one sickened and fell,
She's gone to
her SAVIOUR, she loves Him so well.
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