to me, while he was a resident of our town.

Dr. Lewis, because of his failure in the chicken business and other discouraging matters, soon moved from our town to Yonkers, N. Y., and his farm was disposed of. I spent some days later with the doctor and did some work for him, in his new home at Yonkers. He paid me liberally for such work. Dr. Dio Lewis, well known in those days, and whose memory is still fresh in my mind, had finished his work, and in a very short time met with an accident which cost him his life. His wife, Mrs. Lewis, soon passed on too.

We return again to matters connected with my own home, and other matters to do with Smithtown. Of course Dr. Dio Lewis was greatly missed from our town, as he showed considerable interest in the welfare of the place, and was ready to push matters of interest that appealed to him. No one, even to the present time has just filled his place, and perhaps never will. A peculiar man, an eccentric man, but a man highly educated, and one of unusual ability, a man whose friendship was of great value.

T

Chapter XV.

NEW FRIENDS, ETC.

"A man that hath friends,
must show himself friendly:
and there is a friend

that sticketh closer than a
brother." Proverbs 18, 24.

HERE was a change in our immediate home.

I have spoken many times of my friends,

the Platt's, but now I speak of one perhaps not mentioned before, Walter R. Platt, a young lad about six or eight years of age and a cousin to Fred and Armour Platt. He had lost his father and his mother was left with quite a family of children. Aunt Susie knew of this, and it was soon arranged that Walter would come and live with us and in a way at least, take my place. So Walter was brought to Smithtown by his uncle, Fred's father, and was left with us. At first he wanted to return to his mother and brothers and sisters, however, he soon learned to love his new home and appeared contented. We will hear more about him later, of course.

Let me speak of another person that I have not spoken of before. I have mentioned the Rev. Robert Codling who was the Pastor on the Smithtown charge before the Civil War, and who, many years after was a visitor in our town and at that time preached a sermon in the Landing Church. He

had a son just about my age, who came to our town in 1879 and secured a position as teacher in the little school at St. Johnland. His salary was only $9.00 or perhaps $10.00 per week. His name was Wm. B. Codling, and though not a member of the church at this time, he attended services at the Landing church and there is where I first met him, and we would, on certain occasions, walk from the church to my home together, as the road passing my home was the one that also led to St. Johnland, where he taught. We became very well acquainted, and at times he would stop at my home and perhaps remain for a little talk. Our friendship grew, and I became much interested in him and was anxious that he might become a Christian and join the church. After teaching school at St. Johnland for a term or so, he accepted a position as teacher at the Smithtown Branch school. This was in 1881. The school at the Branch was a much larger one than at St. Johnland, and his salary was much larger too. It was, while teaching at the Branch, that he attended services in the old Methodist church, in which his father had preached so many years before, and it was in that old church he decided to become a Christian, and of that old church he became a member later. After school hours, he studied law with Mr. John Lawrence Smith, a prominent lawyer of our town. Mr. Codling had decided to practice law as a profession, and in due time, after his necessary studies were completed, he opened a Law Office at the Branch,

and here we will leave him for the present. ....During the year of 1884, I had received 1 or more letters from Lorimer Raynor, who was living at Riverhead at the time, and was teaching School.

I became acquainted with Geo. R. Scott, foreman on the, New York Weekly Witness. A splendid family paper, strong for Prohibition and a thorough Christian Newspaper. Mr. Scott gave many lectures on Prohibition in those days, and drew crowds to hear, him. It was my good fortune later to have him lecture at Smithtown Branch, and I kept in touch with him until he passed over the River. He wrote many splendid articles for the Witness while living. Some of the subjects I gave him myself. His writings would fill many books. Before me is a letter from the Witness office dated March 12th., 1884. On the envelope, are printed these words, "A School house on every Hill-top and no Saloon in the Valley." "We Demand the Prohibition of the Liquor Traffic." Sorry Mr. Scott did not live to see this day. In an old autograph album of mine, may be seen the autograph of Mr. Scott, and also Mr. John Dougall, the editor of the New York Weekly Witness.

During the conference year, the Branch M. E. church was moved from the old site near the home of Hon. J. Lawrence Smith, to the present site on Main Street, near the Smithtown Railroad depot. This was a more central location and I think was generally approved by the members of the church. The year of 1884 had come to an end, and April

1st., 1885 was reached and I was now 30 years old. From my old diary I copy the following: "The winter of 1884-5 has been a long and cold one, March being very severe. The middle of the month the mercury went as low as six degrees above zero. On the 22nd., they crossed the Nissequogue River on the ice. Last of the month about 4 inches of snow fell and on the 1st of April, frost was more than three feet deep in the ground, in some places. 11th. of April snowing. During the winter I walked to the beach a number of times on the ice. This was a walk of about two miles on the frozen Nissequogue."

At the close of the April Annual Conference 1885, our dear friend and pastor, Mr. Churchill was sent to Whitestone, L. I. This was about 40 miles from Smithtown, and after his departure I saw very little of him. I visited him once at Whitestone, and remained over night with him. Mr. Churchill visited Smithtown in June of 1887, and on the 14th., of the month was married to Miss Jennie Edwards, whom he had been very intimate with during his stay at Smithtown. Miss Edwards was a splendid young lady and well qualified for a minister's wife. After leaving our town she was much missed, as she was connected with the church and Sunday School at the Branch and was quite a favorite.

Mr. Churchill went from Whitestone to Durham, Conn., and after serving a number of other charges while at Middletown, Conn., on March