1907 Reunion Proceedings

Shawnee, Oklahoma, August 24, 1907

Elwood Haworth, of Galena, Kansas, conducted the devotional exercises of the second days session. He read from a Bible owned by Mrs. Surface, of Toledo, Iowa, which had belonged to her father Levi Haworth, and to his father James Haworth who was the son of James the son of George, the Emigrant. It contained the old family records and although showing its age, it was well preserved. It was an object of much interest to all present, especially the descendants of its first owner.

Thos. Pennington, of Indianola, Iowa, was directed to take charge of the register of the Association and secure the signatures of all present.

The Secretary was directed to prepare the minutes of the meeting in proper shape to be printed and arrange for such printing with Chas. B. Davis, of High Point, N.C. A list of all attending, the papers read and all obituaries read and handed in later are to be published in this report.

At this time Dr. 0. J. Pennington, of Earlham, Iowa, spoke in the interest of the HAWORTH RECORD. The organization expressed its appreciation of the efforts of Mr. Davis in behalf of the family. Forty-eight subscriptions were taken for the RECORD. All were urged to help in the matter of collecting data for it.

The plan set forth in the paper of Prof. Erasmus Haworth, of Laurence, Kansas, which was read were referred to the following committee:

Erasmus Haworth, Laurence, Kansas.

Chas. B. Davis, High Point, N. C. -

Dr. 0. J. Pennington, Earlham, Iowa.

The Committee on Resolutions made the following report which was accepted:

The representatives of the Haworth Family of the United States in the Fourth Triennial Convention of the National Haworth Association recognize the value of the family history of more than 200 years since the coming of George Haworth, known among us as George the Emigrant. That such history can only be had by organizations and unity of purpose and work. That the time honored and present belief of all our people is frugality, industry and economy in our affairs -- a loyalty to the government and obedience to its laws the promotion of temperance and of public and private morality, -- good citizenship and a belief in God and earnest hope and desire that all may live the life that when summoned be ready and worthy to receive the rewards and enter into the house of rest covenanted to all who love and serve Him who ruleth over all.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED,

FIRST: -- That this Association again renew our faith and belief in all that is good, and that we will emulate the Christian and benevolent character of the founder of our family, George Haworth, the Emigrant, and the many good, wise and Christian men and women of all the years to this time in our widely extended and separated family--that we will support the cause of humanity, foster, practice and teach temperance and good citizenship, encourage and uphold morality and as never before with faith accept and teach the Gospel of Peace.

SECOND: -- That we recommend the continuance of the present State organizations and encourage the organization in every state when practicable, and that the National Organization be strengthened and continued, and to that end we invite more interest in its work and meetings, that the history now prepared be preserved and that continued effort be had to complete it, and that each member of the family, wherever living, be asked and urged to contribute such family history as is known, and that the Association adopt such method of compiling and publishing such history as may secure the desired result -a complete and accurate history of the Haworth Family from the time of the landing of George the Emigrant, on this continent.

THIRD: -- That we express our appreciation to our President, Rev. W. P. Haworth, for his untiring efforts in advancing the interest of the Haworth Association, and to our honored Secretary, Esther Haworth, to whose arduous labor we are so much indebted for the success of this present meeting.

FOURTH: -- That we express our thanks to Miss Grace Hanson and Dr. 0. J. Pennington for the efficient manner in which they have brought the genealogical chart of the Haworth family up to its present degree of completeness.

The Committee on Finance reported that the expenses of the Reunion were fourteen dollars ($14). While there was more than this amount in the treasury, they advised that a collection be taken to defray expenses. This was done, and by an order from the organization the money collected from the sale of copies of the minutes of former meetings was placed with it. The exact- amount was raised and payed, by order of the Association to J. A. Cottingham, with instructions to pay all expenses to this meeting.

The older-members were at this time given an opportunity to make short talks. Many stories of pioneer days were told which touched the hearts of all.

Reese Haworth, of Richland, Iowa, and Mrs. Sarah E. Surface, of Toledo, Iowa, were the only representatives of the fourth generation from George, the Emigrant, who were present.

In discussing again the question of printing the minutes of this meeting of the Association, it was decided that all present should be furnished with a copy, that five hundred copies be ordered and that the Secretary be instructed to draw on the Treasury for the amount necessary to pay for them.

The roll of states showed that seven were represented as follow: Oregon, two representatives; Kansas, four; Missouri two; Indiana, four; Illinois, one; Oklahoma, two; and Iowa a great number. The register shows the signatures of one hundred and twelve.

After joining hands and singing, "Blest Be The Tie That Binds," and prayer by the President, the Association adjourned.

Wm. P. Haworth, President.

Esther Haworth, Secretary.

Grace Hanson, Assistant Secretary.

-0-

In other countries the custom of inherited titles is an incentive to the preservation of family history. There, the social fabric is builded upon family prestige. Educational, and in some cases, financial conditions, together with environment, select for Americans their social position. Family independence, inherited moral and intellectual tendencies in America, contrast favorably with those of noble lineage. While our social life does not depend upon a legal recognition of different stratas of society, observation leads me to believe that there are dominant characteristics in certain carefully selected families. Traits of character and ability to do certain things are an inheritance of one generation from another. For this reason carefully prepared and preserved family histories become as milestones to succeeding generations.

It seems reasonable to suppose that a nation that holds nothing sacred, that keeps no record of its famous men, of its triumphs, in war and successes in peace, would fall of its own weight. A family only one generation removed from a people of different thought and custom surely cannot possess that degree of innate worth and ambition possible in a family who has many resident generations among its own kind. Family tendencies manifest themselves. The Lees are soldiers; the Edwards are educators; others families are statesmen. You and I inherit in a way our place in life. It has been demonstrated beyond controversy that the criminal begets his kind, that the weaknesses of the invalid is transmitted to his descendants. The family with a history knows its tendencies.

We are a pioneer people, a strong and sturdy race, inured to the soil and to to a rigorous climate. For five or six generations our mission has been the settlement the Great West. Those words have a peculiar significance when thought of in the light of family history. The Great West! Those magic words proven a veritable "Cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night" since their first appearance above the mental horizon of those English. tradesmen at the close of the seventeenth century. It is a peculiar thing, this wander-lust. This innate craving in the Haworth breast. It has lead the vanguard of civilization into the impenetrable wilderness, and beyond the trackless plain. It has established local governments, surveyed farms and town sites, established schools and churches. Again and again a single generation has formed a settlement in three or four new countries. Think of George, of Quaker Point - in North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio and Illinois. A creditable settlement in so many states. Each without established roads; a veritable forest overrun with wild animals and Indians. Think you that we have one among us who possesses such a degree of energy and ambition?

Legislator after legislator arose in his seat in Congress and declared that the country now comprising the Middle States would never be settled. This vast area given to the haunts of the red man and wild animals was to him another world untamable and uninhabitable. Surely he did not consider the indomitable courage, the perseverance and pluck of these Anglo-Americans. Since the landing of that strange people on Plymouth Rock, an undying spirit of zeal and ambition has taken possession of each succeeding emigrant. This willingness of a people to deprive themselves of the benefit and luxuries of civilization that they might establish homes in accordance with their own ideas, is the marvel of that day. The debt of gratitude we owe to proceeding generations is certainly great. The healthy, whole souled pioneer has bequeathed to us a wonderful heritage. A great fertile land in the very infancy of cultivation, a well established government, with schools and churches that possess an equipment and devotion never before equalled. Opportunities for success, along intellectual and material lines, are such as never before came within the grasp of the human race. It seems that the spirit of good will and righteousness thoroughly pervades this land of ours and conspires with the elements and the soil to exchange and produce the necessities and luxuries needful to the life and enjoyment of our people.

As a family occupation pioneer life must cease. The west and south are well under the influence of civilization. The virgin forest has fallen before the woodman's ax. The tractless prairies abound in the pursuit of the agriculturist. No longer can the dream of the huntsman and trapper lure our children from the strenuous paths of civilization. No longer do the forests and streams yield their perennial harvest of game and fish. The fastness of the wilderness with its seclusion and solace calls no more.

Nature, in wild and plentiful profusion, has given place to an artificial growth; a man made nature. Civilization, ever harsh and sometimes cruel, offers in exchange for nature's freedom, culture, intelligence, wealth and ambition.

I believe that these first years of a new century are the beginning years of a family epoch. Years that out of necessity must be devoted to higher education, better morals, and the pursuit of things material. The "survival of the fittest" is a world condition. Discuss it pro and con, observe and meditate.

In ancient times the dissolute people of southern Europe were overrun by the hardy hordes of the north. The Indians of America have succombed to the influence of the Caucasian race. In our own southland there is today a boiling, seething, social cauldron. In the light of history who can for a moment doubt the final and permanent supremacy of the white man. With a race, a nation, so it is with a family.

The old farm with it's rail fences, ill kept fields, brier grown lanes and carelessly arranged buildings must give place to the well kept and carefully managed farm with every acre productive. Scientific farming is fast supplanting primitive methods. The farmer of tomorrow must possess a technical education. In a few years the possessor of land will be a man of special regard.

The learned professions claim not a single Haworth of prominence. The ministry has been blest with natural Haworth talent and equally too, I am afraid, handicapped by lack of learning. In. the profession of teaching we have made a better showing. Before us is a vast field unsurveyed and unclaimed. Who of us is ready to contest the claims of the learned and the famous?

The perfection of the civilization begun by our grandparents is a family duty. Inherited health, a vigorous manhood and womanhood stands us in good stead. Our grandchildren will inherit a different history and different tendencies. The thoroughness and carefullness of your life's work and mine, should place our descendants in a position to command the material and educational positions of their age and gain the respect Of' their associates.

PAPER ON GEORGE HAWORTH.

By Grace Hanson, Westfield, Indiana.

Among modern day fads that of holding family reunions seems to me, among, the most profitable. The constant whirl of society and business crowds out the memory of the past. Gatherings such as this show us the heritage that is ours from our pioneer ancestry. A wonderful legacy it is - physical strength, moral courage, and a pure religion. These are more to be desired than gold. Their value is beyond conception. The hardy pioneer spirit is no longer needed to clear Indiana's forests or break Iowa's prairies, but the same spirit is needed to carry forward the worlds great movements. Both church and state need men of courage. Where should we seek them if not among the children of the stouthearted pioneer? Let us hold reunions, discuss family traits, and tell stories of courage and heroism, that we may have the admirable characteristics of our fore-fathers firmly planted in us.

The compiling of family history, with no, source of information save the memory and traditions of a scattered family is no easy task. Chas. B. Davis, of High Point, N. C. has worked industriously for seven years to complete his tables of the Haworth genealogy and his work is not yet complete. The chart before you, which contains all of his and as much more as we could gather, cost ten days of constant work besides that occupied in correspondence. It is no light task that Mr. Davis has set for himself. Few of us have time for such an undertaking even if we were so inclined. We can aid in this undertaking, however, with slight inconvenience to ourselves. Mr. Davis needs assistance in his task and we as an Association should make some provision to render the needed aid. If we do this, and his health permits, some of these times we shall have a chart of which we shall be justly proud. Is it just that one should carry the entire burden of work and expense that we may enjoy the result? That scarcely comes up to our old time Haworth spirit of fairness and strict honesty.

In compiling this table of genealogy we find few, if any, whom the world has called great. We have no famous warriors, no leading statesmen, no great divines, no widely known educators; but we have a host of true and honorable men who have always been ready to stand in the ranks of the true-hearted, firm in their convictions of right and wrong. We are of the "plain people," earth's true nobility.

One of these stout-hearted pioneers was my great-grandfather, George Haworth, the son of James, who was the son of James, the son of George, the Emigrant. He was born in Tennessee in 1790 but moved with his parents to Highland county, Ohio, when eleven years old. There he married Jane Thornburg, who was born in North Carolina in 1795. They remained in Ohio until after the birth of their first four children, Phoebe, (my grandmother) John, Edward, and James, when they moved to Randolph Co., Indiana. They and their goods were hauled through by a man who deposited them in the midst of the forest, which was to be their home, four o'clock in' the evening and turned back to spend the night at a house they had passed. Miles from any house, with night coming quickly, as it does in the forest, the prospect was far from encouraging. Fortunately, greatgrandfather had employed a neighbor, who had moved out from Ohio sometime before, to cut some boards and rails. Of these he built a three-sided rail pen which he covered loosely with the boards. In front of the open side he cut trees which he burned as a protection from wild animals and the cold of the early autumn. This rude hut sheltered them until they could build a better. Four more children, Ann, Sarah, David and Joseph were born there.

The Haworth spirit of unrest again sent them into the forest, this time to Marion Co., Indiana. The rest of their children, Ruth, Isaac, Margaret, Reese, and Mary were born there. Again they broke up their home, settling this time near Hinkle Creek, in Hamilton County, where they remained until their children were grown and Mary, the youngest, married Joel Mendenhall and moved to West Newton, in Marion County, where they soon followed her. They spent the rest of their lives there. He died in 1871, she in 1867.

Their long residence in Hamilton County gave them the opportunity of becoming more prosperous than the hardships of the frontier and frequent moving had made possible before. They were members and faithful attenders of the Friend's Church. Sabbath morning found them on their way through the forest to meeting, grandfather always walking and grandmother riding horseback. He was very, conscientious, always striving to carry out to the smallest detail the teachings of the church. Temperate in all things, he refused always the jug of whiskey which cheered the harvest field, hating tobacco so much that he refused to enter stores where men were smoking. Politically he was a Whig, later a Republican, an ardent advocate of abolition, although anxious to see the question settled peaceably. So strong was his anti-slavery sentiment that he was never known to buy or use any except "Free-Labor Goods".

This sketch, which can show little of the courage and nobility of its subject, might apply equally well to many of our family. He was a type of the race, a plain farmer, unknown beyond the bounds of his own community; but famous there for his honesty and courage. Today, in place of his physical strength and endurance, we need brain power and moral courage. This is an age when education counts. Skilled and intelligent workmen are everywhere in demand. An education of some kind is now a necessity to success. Let us take the same place in the world our forefathers took, standing for the right always, zealous in every good work, ambitious to be pioneers in the worlds progress.

PAPER BY PROF. HAWORTH

Dear Cousins and Members of the Haworth

Family in America:

I wish to bring before the Haworth Association of America two points for our consideration, each of which is of some importance it seems to me and which I hope may work for the betterment of the family. I beseech your earnest consideration of each. I am prompted to these suggestions because I long for something to be accomplished that will be of lasting good. Conventions as such are necessarily short-lived. Re-unions as such are short-lived. When one is adjourned it is past and is only possibly connected with something else in the future. We need a sure element of permanency in our organization, something that will hold us to-ether for centuries. Here are my two suggestions.

FIRST

Let us open up at once a registration book. Then let every one of us register our entire family and such of our ancestors as may be necessary to make sure our lineage is given correctly. For example, my name is Erasmus Haworth, born in Warren county, Iowa, April 17, 1855, father Elwood Haworth, mother Matilda Folger: grandfather Richard Haworth, great great Grandfather George Haworth, g. g. g. father James Haworth, g. g. g. g. father George Haworth the Emigrant. If necessary I will pay the cost of registering this entire number to get myself registered. But each of these ancestors need be registered only once, and in a short time we will have all, or nearly all the older ones registered, so it will greatly simplify the registration of others.

If favor appointing a commission whose duty it shall be to devise the best possible method of keeping such registration books. We have a number of genealogical societies in America which probably have gone all over the ground and have devised the best method. But as to this I am not certain. Then I am in favor of charging a small registration fee for each name registered, say ten cents, or any sum the commission may think best after they have looked into the matter. Books may be purchased and some other little expense to begin with, which will be met in the future by fees collected. Some form of certificate should be given, also, to be kept and held as a proper guarantee of parental lineage.

I have never been accused of being especially flush with funds, but if it is necessary I will loan the Association enough funds to get the proper registration books and blank certificates to begin with, for I do think this is the most important subject now before us. Let the commission be chosen with care, so it will be able to make the necessary research to establish the correct lineage of every one who applies. This in some cases, I am guessing, will be no small task. It should be chosen, too, with an idea of permanency, and not for a year or two at a time. It should report to and be under the control of the Association which gave it life. In my enthusiasm on the subject I can see within a few years a record which will include the names of thousands, and which will be a genuine roster of the entire family of Haworths descended from George the Emigrant.

In a tentative way I would suggest that cousin Charles B. Davis, of High Point, North Carolina be one of this commission. I make this suggestion because he has voluntarily done so much to establish and put in a permanent form the parentage of the family already. He probably has more accurate knowledge on the subject now than any one else.

SECOND

I want a Scholarship Endowment Fund started and brought to a speedy completion; making it large enough to guarantee an annual income of $275.00. I am fully convinced that nothing can be done which will be more potent in making great and good men and women of our children and our children's children than to encourage and foster education. I do not have in mind any special kind of education but rather all kinds that are good and wholesome and which work for good. Education is carried to a much higher degree in the world in general now than ever before, and every year more and more the educated person has decidedly the advantage over the uneducated. This is no theory, no dream, but a plain statement of a well-known fact.

Now, anything that will make our children long for an education will be of untold good to the family. Let them set their hearts on it and they will have it. As general education advances we will have springing from our midst more doctors, more lawyers, more jurists, more ministers of the gospel, more teachers, more college professors, more well educated, broad guaged business men, in short, more good and influential citizens who will become men and women of influence in the world and who will have more and more of a hand in shaping the destinies of the world.

No my plan is to establish a scholarship of $250 annually to be given year by year to the applicant considered most likely to use it for the good of humanity in every way, but to be used immediately to help defray his expenses in attending some good and reputable college or university. I would like to have the Scholarship given entirely as an honor, and never allow the financial condition of the applicant to be considered. I would not have it offered as a reward for poverty or for riches but for the probable standing of the holder as an influential citizen in after life, influential for good in the highest and broadest sense of the term, and this too without any reference as to what particular line of business or professional life he or she was contemplating.

Here again a commission should be appointed to hold and bestow the funds. I would make registration in the Haworth Register a pre-requisite, and also a certificate or diploma showing that the holder was eligible at least to the Freshman class in the college or university chosen to attend. I would let each applicant choose his college, and state his choice in his application. The commission should list all American institutions considered worthy, and should then let each applicant choose his college. In this way one year the holder would go to one college, the following year a new holder to some other college, etc.

We cannot count on more than 4 per cent income from money safely invested, therefore, we should have about $7,000 in the endowment fund, so as to leave a small margin for expenses outside the net $250 for the scholarship.

Now, my dear Cousins, I am greatly in earnest on this subject, and the more I think of it the more important it becomes. Were it started now I believe almost every bright boy and girl in the entire family in America would have an ambition to gain the honor of holding the scholarship one year. In my fancy I see fond mothers with children at their knees telling them about it and instilling into their young hearts an ambition to be counted worthy. I can see the proud father saying to his son that this would bring lasting honor to his particular household. I can think of nothing that would so premate all parts of our country and work so much good in holding the family together and in inspiring every boy and girl for hundreds of years to strive to become worthy. The sum required is a mere pittance. It can be raised in a month if only the appeal touches the hearts of our family.

What do You say? I will start it by subscribing $250.00. Twenty-seven more, or an equivalent, will make the amount needed.

What do you say?

Very sincerely,

Erasmus HAWORTH.

------------

Elizabeth Hanson

Elizabeth, wife of Milton Hanson, and daughter of Jesse and Phoebe Mendenhall, was born near Hinkle Creek Friends church in Hamilton county, Indiana, May 1, 1854; died November 29, 1904, age 50 years, 6 months and 20 days.

She was bereft of a mother when only two years old. A short time before the death of her mother the family moved to near West Newton, in Marion county, where she resided until her marriage. About her twentieth year she was converted to Christ, in a revival meeting held at West Newton, under the preaching of Hugh Woody, and ever afterward maintained a faithful testimony to the saving power of Christ.

During a series of meetings held in Westfield in the winter of 1893-4, under the preaching of Seth C. and Huldah Rees, she experienced the definite blessing of sanctification.

On February 2, 1876 she was married to Milton Hanson, who, with four daughters by this union, survive to share their great loss and to honor the memory of wife and mother.

After residing in Kokomo for four years the family removed to Hamilton county in the spring of 1880 which has been their home since that time.

What a large volume of human history closed when our beloved friend and fellow worker, Lizzie Hanson, passed from earth to her eternal reward! How much she will be missed by us all! With a deep sense of personal loss and a feeling of loneliness we take up our work inspired by her pure example, and encouraged by her wise and helpful council, which always had in it the element of hope and enthusiasm.

Her life had been beautifully chastened and developed, for she had known of the sorrows, as well as the joy s of life.

She longed to live for the sake of those she loved, and would gladly have tarried here had it been the Master’s will.

Conscious as she was of the approach of death she faced the inevitable hour without a fear, being fully ready to depart and be with Christ.

With characteristic calmness she gave full directions in regard to her funeral, and set her house fully in order for the change awaiting her.

After her suffering had been severe she was favored to pass away with remarkable tranquility, while a peaceful serenity settled upon her brow, as the calm of an evening sun without the shadow of a cloud.

--------------

Amos Sanders

Amos Sanders was born May 30, 1845, at Valley Mills, Indiana. He attended Friends' meeting during boyhood in the old Lick Branch Meeting House, a log structure in what was then known as "the big woods", this meeting house being the first built by the Friends in Marion county. He began his school days at the Union School and later attended similar institutions under the control of the Society of Friends, receiving at Beech Grove School the greater part of his academic training. As a boy he is said to have been jolly and bright, entering enthusiastically into all the sports, while as a student he stood at the head of his classes and took a prominent part in the literary societies of the community. During 1864-5 he attended Earlham College as a student, returning to his home school as teacher in 1866. In the fall of 1867 he responded to the call of Western Yearly Meeting for volunteers to go into the South and organize mission schools among the Freedmen. Soon after going South he took charge of the organization of this work, making his headquarters at Macon, Miss. It was there he passed through the terrible and eventful days of the "Ku Klux Klan." One of his pupils, during the twelve years spent in this noble service, was Margaret Murray, who later became wife of Booker T. Washington. Returning North in the fall of 1878 he was united in marriage to Ruth Armstrong, who spent the first year of their married life with him in Mississippi, the two returning North in the fall Of 1879. Their life together was beautiful in its devotion and simplicity, being blessed with one son, Harold A. Sanders, in whom, they delighted, and whom they were permitted to see entering upon his career as a practicing physician.

Upon his return to the North, Amos Sanders entered upon a successful career as an educator in the public schools, being successively Superintendent of Schools at Butlerville and North Vernon, Ind., Principal of Blue River Academy, near Salem, Ind., and Union High School, Westfield, Ind., and later Superintendent of the city schools at Westfield. He was one of the first persons in Indiana to receive a state license for life.

In the fall of 1890 he felt called to go to Noblesville, Ind., to begin the organization of a Friends’ Meeting. In this he was successful. It was during the eight years of his life there as pastor that the writer came to know him as a remarkable shepherd of souls and a him as a better personal friend than words can describe. Perhaps no greater tribute could be paid to him as a pastor than to state the simple fact

that his life entered so completely into that of others that his work could be depicted only by transcribing whole chapters from lives other than his own, which, of course renders the task here impossible.

When Amos Sanders and his devoted companion who had a large part in all his labors, came to Noblesville, Friends were few in number and entirely without men of wealth. Consequently his life there is a story of unselfish and cheerful self-sacrifice for which the word heroic is none too strong a term. This served to throw into strong relief his unusual gifts of provident forethought and resourcefulness, not only in his own affairs but in advising others, particularly young people. It was in this particular that he was most richly endowed, and it is probable that in such instances his greatest work was done. He possessed the faculty of arousing young persons to their possibilities even in the face of apparently unsurmountable obstacles.

Part of his work in Noblesville was to instruct privately in Algebra, Latin and other branches, a group of young people who were endeavoring to obtain an education under difficulties. During his pastorate there his residence became almost a city of refuge for those oppressed by sorrow or sin, people coming for council and help from all parts of the town, without regard to denominational lines.

He was a man who valued in highest degree the joys of culture and refinement, being devoted to the practice of taxidermy and the study of natural history, as well as crayon painting and poetic composition.

In 1900 he left Noblesville, and became pastor of Friends' Meeting at Brooklyn. During his five years stay there he was bereaved of his beloved wife. His own health broken he sought recovery in California, where he died.