Oct. 6, 1904. 



THfc AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



677 



PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF REV. L. L. LANQ= 



5TROTM, THE '• FATHER OF AMERICAN 



BEE=KEEPIN(j." 



My acquaintance with Mr. Langstroth began before 

 the war, as he located in Oxford in the '50's. I was 

 not interested in bee-keeping, and knew little or 

 nothing about the man: but soon after his arrival he called 

 on me at the farm. I found him to be one of the most in- 

 teresting persons I ever met — a splendid talker, one who 

 caught your attention and held your interest, not only by 

 the wonderful number of facts he presented, but more by 

 the enthusiasm he showed. It made but little difference 

 what subject was broached, Mr. Langstroth seemed to 

 have mastered it. But his specialty was his love of nature 

 and the interest he took in everything connected with 

 country life. He was one of the most companionable 

 men I ever met, and I was at once drawn to him, and an 

 intimacy began which lasted until his death. 



I recall that, during the first call he made, an older 

 brother was present who was a student at Miami Uni- 

 versity; and knowing that Mr. Langstroth was a preacher 

 he supposed he knew little or nothing about farming; and 

 so as we walked over the farm he began enlightening Mr. 

 Langstroth by displaying his own knowledge of farm life 

 and work. Mr. L. was a good listener as well as a good 

 talker, and he encouraged my brother until he had deliv- 

 ered quite a dissertation on farm life. During the talk 

 we found that Mr. L. seemed to possess knowledge of 

 everything connected with the growth of plants, insects. 

 etc.. and that his knowledge was as much greater than 

 ours as the sun is greater than a tallow candle. Later, 

 after getting acquainted with Mr. L. my brother often re- 

 ferred to the time when he undertook to instruct him on 

 points on which Mr. Langstroth knew ten times as much 

 as he did. 



I think I have never met another man whose com- 

 mon conversation was so instructive as Mr. Langstroth's, 

 or who had such vast resources. Added to this was a 

 happy and impressive way of imparting instruction, and 

 his conversation never sounded "preachy;" but by adroit 

 questions he would draw you into discussions and enable 

 you to show your very best side. 



Mr. Langstroth was a deeply religious man, and his 

 piety was of the cheerful sort. I have rarely met a man 

 who impressed me so much in the belief of the father- 

 hood of God and the brotherhood of man. We attended 

 the same church, and Mr. L. usually met me at the church 

 door at the close of the meeting for a brief conversation 

 on weather conditions and crop notes; and whenever wo 

 had suffered from drouth, and a timely rain had fallen, 

 he w^ould extend his hand to me and begin with that beau- 

 tiful quotation from the C.5th Psalm, "Thou visitest the 

 earth and waterest it;" and that psalm has been a favorite 

 of mine ever since, and I always think of Mr. Langstroth 

 when I read it; and it has been my practice for many 

 years (when a timely rain has fallen) to read it at family 

 worship. 



Mr. Langstroth was naturally of a most happy dis- 

 position, but he had an infirmity which almost amounted 

 to insanity. It was a disposition to melancholia; and 

 often for si.x months together he would shut himself in 

 his room, refuse to see callers, and seem utterly wretched 

 He told me that he spent his time playing "solitaire," ami 

 he believed that w-as all that kept him from insanity. He 

 would suddenly come out from the influence of these 

 spells as bright and happy as ever; and he said to me he 

 believed he enjoyed more happiness than the average 

 man; for when he was free from this infirmity he was 

 supremely happy. 



Mr. Langstroth was a most eloquent preacher, and .i 

 speaker who would hold his audience perfectly. He took 



an active part in the business affairs of the church; and I 

 recall once when there had been a feeling of depression 

 in our business meeting he made an address in which he 

 used the following illustration to show that our church 

 was no worse off than others, and that the churches of 

 to-day were very much freer from jealousy and troubles 

 which hinder their work than in the former days. His 

 story was as follows: 



An old farmer in Kentucky, who lived on a farm 

 where they were obliged to grub the sassafras sprouts 

 every spring from the cornfields (they called them "sassa- 

 fig" in the vernacular), finally became so discouraged he 

 determined to locate in a better country. He sent two of 

 his sons to the then new State of Missouri, of which he 

 had heard wonderful stories as to the fertility of the soil 

 and healthfulness of the climate. Their first letters were 

 optimistic, and the old man became so enthused by them 

 that he determined to emigrate to Missouri. He could 

 not sell his farm, but made stmie arrangement to have it 

 cared for by a neighbor, loaded his effects on a wagon, 

 and started on his long journey. According to the custom 

 of the locality, the neighbors gathered to the number of 

 a score or more to ride out on horseback with him as far 

 as they could and get back that day; but as they passed 

 the postoffice the postmaster handed him a letter. In 

 those days of 25-cent postage the receipt of a letter was 

 an event in the neighborhood, and he stood up in his 

 wagon to read it aloud to his neighbors. It contained 

 bad news. The frost had ruined the wheat crop; the corn 

 was nearly a failure; his sons had shaken with ague until 

 they had lost courage; and the letter closed with the fol- 

 lowing words: "And, father, sassafig grows here, too." 

 The old man turned to his neighbors and said, "I've been 

 fitin' sassafig all my life in old Kaintuck, and I'm not 

 goin' to a new country to begin the battle over again." 

 And he turned his team around and drove back home. 



Mr. Langstroth was intensely patriotic, and rendered 

 valuable service with tongue and pen. as well as sending 

 his only son to the front. In the pulpit, on the streets, 

 and through the press his influence was known and felt 

 for the encouragement of the soldiers and the help of the 

 widows and orphans. I was never more impressed by a 

 sermon and the recitation of a poem than one Sunday 

 morning when Mr. Langstroth was greatly depressed, 

 and came into the pulpit and began the service by read- 

 ing from the Psalm in which occurs the verse. "Thou ex- 

 ecutest righteousness and judgment for all that are op- 

 pressed." Without lifting his eyes from the Bible, or 

 changing his tone, he broke forth in the "Battlc-song of 

 the Republic," 



"Mine eyes have seen the glory 

 Of the coming of the Lord." 



He recited the whole poem in such an impressive 

 manner as to fix the incident indelibly in the minds of 

 his hearers. 



One Sunday morning he preached a sermon from tlie 

 text, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is 

 above rubies?" He became so interested in his subject, 

 and so enthusiastic, too, that he lost all track of time, and 

 held his audience spellbound, until finally, on looking at 

 his watch he found he had been preaching an hour and a 

 half, while those of us who had listened had not realized 

 the lapse of time. 



I knew Mr. Langstroth more as a minister and a 

 friend than as a bee-keeper; but his name will go down to 

 posterity as the inventor of the movable-frame hive 

 which revolutionized bee-keeping, and made the success 

 of later days a possibility. When I was a boy, if we' 

 wanted honey we killed the bees with brimstone and re- 

 moved the honey. By Mr. Langstroth's plan the honey 

 could be removed in the best condition, and the bees 

 saved. He was an indefatigable worker along this line, 

 and you could see him as soon as daylight broke in the 



