262 An American Fruit-Farm 



the closing years of his life would he consent to 

 become trustee of an estate, or executor of a will. 

 Yet his hand was felt throughout the Valley. 

 Many a barrel of flotir, ton of coal, yard of cloth, 

 and comforts miscellaneous which the poor en- 

 joyed, could be traced to his hand. He stanchly 

 supported school and chiu-ch, but his idea of the 

 press was summed in his devotion to the New York 

 Tribune, in which he learned to read and which he 

 subscribed to and read all his life. He believed 

 that Lincoln was a saint and that Andrew Johnson 

 was very much of a sinner. He voted for Horace 

 Greeley for President and for a time wore a Greeley 

 hat. He was never in New York, Boston, or 

 Chicago, and only once could be persuaded to go to 

 Chautauqua, and then to hear Bishop Simpson 

 preach. He owned a pew in the First Church and 

 was as regular as the minister in attending service. 

 He never got quite accustomed to the responsive 

 readings, or the paid quartette, nor did he believe 

 — as once he confided to me — ^in free pews. In 

 her way Mrs. Neville was an edition de luxe of 

 Mr. Neville, but as she did not nm the farm, hers 

 is another story. 



As I have recorded, he had no children, which he 

 took as a dispensation of Providence that he and 

 Mrs. Neville were not suitable persons to be in- 

 trusted with children, and he persistently and 

 successfully resisted the efforts of the Lake Shore 

 Society for the Care of Orphan Children to have 

 him adopt specimens of the generations within 



