s parents were Benjamin Foltz, a Presbyterian
clergyman, and Jane Harwood Foltz. In 1846 the family moved to
Cuyahoga County, Ohio. In 1849 to Wisconsin, first to Rock County,
then to Walworth County, and in 1854 to Burlington, Racine County,
where he has since resided.

ON FREEDOM'S SUMMIT

On freedom's summit, Oh, how grand
Stood Lincoln ruler of our land,
As he issued the sublime command
Let the enslaved be free.
Ere long he saw the Bondmen rise;
Ere long as Freedmen seize the prize,
The precious boon of liberty.

A backward glance he cast
Into the valley of the past,
Amid the shade and gloom
Discerning slavery's tomb.
Out from the depths his upturned eyes
Beheld the fleeing clouds the brighter skies.
Upon him shone a glory like the sun,
Reflecting "peace toward all, malice toward none."

As thus he filled his high exalted place,
The brave emancipator of a race,
He thought of the fierce struggle and the victory
And humbly deemed himself to be
Only the instrument of a Divine decree.
Rejoicing in the faith of brighter coming days
His "fervent prayers" were merged in those of praise.

Like unto psalmists of the olden time
His uttered thoughts inspired the nation's song,
Throughout the land the chorus rose sublime,
The exultant triumph of the right o'er wrong.

"Behold, what God the Lord hath wrought,"
More than we asked, or hoped, or thought.
Through the "Red sea" of blood and carnage
He brought our nation free of bondage.
With Moses sing, yea shout O North;
With Miriam answer back O South:
That "He hath triumphed gloriously."

. . . . .

Oh why the sudden blotting out of light?
The cloud of sorrow, dark as Plutonian night,
That cast its lengthening shadow o'er the land;
Changing to funeral dirge the choral grand.
Swift as the typhoon's breath--
The harbinger of death--
The cruel deed of hate
Swept the grand chief away.