70 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1917 



He was advised by doctors to get out into the open 

 air, so he left school work for good, and went into 

 the butter and cheese business with S. Straight & 

 Co., in which he was able to get plenty of outdoor 

 exercise. 



March 1, 1865, he was married to Eleanor M. 

 Tillotson, of Thompson, O. In 1869 he suffered 

 a heavy financial loss, due to the rascality of a 

 Chicago real-estate man, of good reputation until 

 then. Because of this he traded his town property 

 in on a run-down farm at Hudson, O. Here he 

 lived for the remainder of his life. 



THE LATE T. B. TERRY 



His last picture and an excellent likeness 



He was in debt at the beginning about $4000, 

 for equipment and purchase. But at the end of a 

 few years he had cleared the debt, built some, and 

 saved money besides. Farm work was difficult 

 and new to him at first, being a village boy. Not 

 being a woodsman, and not looking overhead, one 

 day his ax caught on a limb, and, glancing, made 

 a fearful diagonal cut across the cords and bones 

 of one foot. The doctor stood over him all one 

 night fighting off lockjaw, giving him, as he said 

 afterward, " enough laudanum to kill six well 

 men." This cut laid him up about six months. 

 At a farmers' institute he made the remark that that 

 cut was the best thing that ever happened to him, 

 for it taught him to farm more with his head and 

 less with his hands and back. He spent this time 

 planning out systematic ways of farming, that is, 

 ways in which he could grow the best kinds of 

 crops. He began specializing in, potatoes andi 

 strawberries. In 1882 his potato crop of 7000 

 bushels brought him about $2800, and for two or 

 three years after that the same amount annually. 

 In 1882 he took the first prize of $50, offered by 



the Ohio State Department c" Agriculture for the 

 best detailed report of actual profitable farm man- 

 agement and practice. This report was published in 

 the Annual Agricultural Report for that year. 



In 1880 he was one of the first three farmers 

 ever regularly employed by any state to lecture at 

 county farmers' institutes, then first established 

 in Ohio, and proving so successful that they were 

 soon adopted in all other states. The other two 

 lecturers were John Gould, of Aurora, Ohio, and 

 Waldo P. Brown, of Oxford, Ohio. Later on he 

 lectured in many states. 



About this time he and his great friend A. I. 

 Root, of Medina, wrote three books, " The ABC 

 of Strawberry Culture," "The A B C of Potato 

 Culture," and "The Winter Care of Horses and 

 Cattle." He wrote " Our Farming " in 1892, 

 this being the story of how he made his run-down 

 farm produce both profit and pleasure, with the 

 help of his wife and children. 



About eighteen years ago he developed certain 

 kidney troubles with a tendency to Bright's disease. 

 The doctors told him plainly that he probably had 

 not more than a year or two to live. He then 

 began a careful study and care of himself, as he re- 

 solved that he would get well. He began taking 

 the proper foods and exercise, taking cold baths, 

 ventilating his house more healthfully, etc. — in. 

 short, doing everything in his power to get well ; 

 and he succeeded. He gave up his institute work 

 at this time, but continued to write for The Practi- 

 cal Farmer. A short time before his illness he 

 was offered the position of professor of agriculture 

 at Ohio State University, but he preferred to re- 

 main on the farm and continue his writing. 



After his breakdown he turned to the study of 

 hygiene and health, in the same thoro manner in 

 which he did everything, resolving " to do everything 

 the best he could do or learn how to do." He 

 knew that " where there's a will there's a way," 

 and never recognized the word " fail." He spent 

 the remaining years of his life improving his own 

 health and helping every one else to improve theirs. 

 He wrote " Health Hints " for The Practical Farmer, 

 and also the book, " How to Keep Well and Live 

 Long," telling his own experiences and difficulties 

 and how he remedied his weakened condition. He 

 lectured very little after this except on the subject 

 of health. 



Until about two months before his death he 

 felt pretty well. Then we began to notice that he 

 did not look so well. We feel that he probably 

 would have lived many years yet, as he had expect- 

 ed, but for the fact that he did a terribly hard and 

 trying job of painting on the fiat roof of a large 

 covered cowyard. He was forced to take an un- 

 natural position, holding the brush out in front of 

 him at arm's length. The reaching, twisting, and 

 continuance of this threw a strain on his back 

 and bladder that caused an inflammation. They 

 were susceptible on account of having been weak- 

 ened many years before, and were unable to resist 

 the terrible inflammation resulting from overstrain. 

 His habits of life would have preserved his health 

 had he not mistakenly severely overtaxed his en- 

 durance. He realized for about two weeks before 

 his death that he could not recover, and dictated 

 the disposition of all his affairs. 



He passed away New Year's morning, 1916. 

 just the day before he would have been 73 years 

 of age. Left to mourn the loss of a loving and 

 wise counselor are his wife, a daughter, Mrs. Grace 

 T. Ritchie, of Columbus, O., and myself. There 

 are five grandchildren, Robert and Theodore Ritchie, 

 Carroll and Lynne Thompson, and Eleanor L. 

 Terry. Two children preceded him to the great 

 beyond, a son dying in infancy, an/d a daughter, 

 Mrs. Lilian M. Thompson, who died April 28, 1898. 



