me was
nothing. He said it was worth more to have me live with his boys
than it cost to board me.

Teachers were elected to teach by ballot. There was an election
called, and several soldiers, who were at home on furlough, were
there, also others. They got into a wrangle about soldiers voting.
They came to blows. Just then a messenger came up on horseback, at
full speed, and cried out that Lincoln was assassinated. I never saw
such a sudden and marked change come on a company of men as came
then. The whole crowd soldiers, and others, the young candidates for
the school with the rest, came close together like stricken brothers
and wept even to tears. Not a word was said for several moments
until they began to leave for home, the director said, men we have
not voted yet. So they turned in all together without a word and
voted and went home. This was early Saturday forenoon April 15th,
1865.

On another occasion I was a candidate for the teacher's place in a
district where every family, except one, were Irish Catholics. The
exception as a Methodist. The Methodist man was chairman of the
school board. The election was called for one o'clock P. M. The
leading spirit of the district was a large, old, fine looking
Irishman, who had been educated for a priest. That day (it was in
the spring), there was a log rolling on the leader's farm, and every
man in the district was a Catholic except the chairman and myself. I
was a stranger, had never been in the district before. But the
Irishmen had heard of my success as a teacher in Tophet, and on their
coming down to the school house after dinner to vote the leader shook
hands with me and turning to the men he said, "Men, let's be after
voting for the tall sapling and get back to the logs." They all
voted and I received every vote but one and that was the chairman's
vote. In this school, I would every morning as had been my custom
elsewhere, read a small portion of the Bible, without word or
comment, and offer a short prayer for God's blessing upon us through
the day. I never had better behavior or as little trouble with any
other school as I had this term with these Irish Catholic children.

The Catholics, however, generally oppose the public reading of the
Bible and prayer in the public schools. I kindly asked a good
Catholic friend one day why they opposed the reading of the Bible. I
said, "The Bible is a good book." "Just so," he replied, "too good a
bo