AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



523 



for his brother, two sisters and young 

 Abbott, and made arrangements for 

 them to attend school. Emerson was 

 not very studious, and only learned 

 what he was compelled to by force of 

 circumstances. He was very fond of 

 training animals, such as horses and 

 dogs, to perform various tricks, and 

 sometimes had quite a "circus " in their 

 back yard. 



Five years after his mother's death, 



his father married again, and a few 



year after they moved into Clermont 



county about 25 miles from Cincinnati 



Here he continued to attend school in 



EMERSON T. ABBOTT. 



about the same careless way as when 

 younger. He also began to think of 

 earning some money for himself. He 

 kept poultry, had candy stands at 

 county fairs, and finally took his father's 

 spring wagon and went around the 

 country buying up poultry, eggs, butter, 

 etc., taking them to Cincinnati to sell. 

 During his stay in Clermont county he 

 joined the Christian church — that branch 

 of it which is sometimes wrongly called 

 " New Lights " in Ohio. 



Finally Mr. Abbott concluded that 

 Ohio did not furnish opportunities 

 enough for an ambitious young man, 

 and, taking what money he could raise, 

 went to Fountain county, Ind., and be- 

 gan work on a farm near Attica. He 



had just $1.50 left after reaching his 

 destination. 



About this time he saw how careless 

 he had been about his early education, 

 and felt keenly how much he had lost by 

 not improving his opportunities. He 

 began to read and study in good earnest, 

 and soon felt that he knew enough to 

 teach school. It did not require much 

 knowledge to create such a feeling in 

 those days. Owing to the fact that the 

 County Examiner was a good-natured 

 fellow, and that Abbott happened to get 

 his good-will by answering his first 

 question to suit him, he gave him a cer- 

 tificate. He secured a school and began 

 to teach. This compelled him to study 

 very hard, for he was bound to make a 

 success of teaching, as he had grown 

 tired of working on a farm by the month. 



During all this time he had been an 

 active member of the church of his 

 choice, and an enthusiastic worker in 

 the cause of temperance. He joined the 

 Good Templars at Attica, on Nov. 20, 

 1868, and did his first public speaking 

 in the cause of temperance. 



Having made up his mind to devote 

 his time entirely to the Christian min- 

 istery, in 1869 he attended the Western 

 Indiana Christian Conference of the 

 Christian church, and became a member 

 of the same. Here he met Rev. Thomas 

 Holmes, D.D., who was at that time 

 President of the Conference, and also 

 President of Union Christian College, a 

 school belonging to the Christian people 

 at Merom, Ind. He urged Mr. Abbott 

 to come to Merom and further prepare 

 himself for the work he had undertaken. 

 He made arrangements to attend school 

 the next year. He had but little means, 

 but made up his mind to trust to Provi- 

 dence and hard work to sustain him 



He began the college course, but found 

 it very hard, as he had neglected to 

 properly prepare himself for such studies. 

 However, he succeeded in passing every 

 examination creditably while he re- 

 mained in school. He immediately be- 

 gan to preach twice every Sunday, as he 

 needed all he could earn to pay his way 

 in school. With preaching, bringing up 

 his English, in which he was deficient, 

 and his regular studies, he had enough 

 to do. But his health was good, and he 

 was happy and contented in his work, 

 so got along all right. 



Before he had finished his college 

 course, he received a (mil from the 

 Christian church at Enon; Ohio, which 

 was accepted with the view of returning 

 after he had earned some money to de- 

 fray expenses, but he never went back. 



His older brother. Rev. A. F. Abbott, 



