The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1891, Page 46

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46 The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioneer.’’)

J Oscar Kuhlmeyer. t

instructing the pupils of his school. Out of] Creed, but did not finish it; having come to
school he spent his time visiting the sick, the} the second article, his voice faltered; ‘‘and in
poor,-and those weak in faith. In regard to| Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord”
To the memory of a young student of theology | his catechumens he was very conscientious; if | —he lisped, and was gone, gone to his rest.
by this name, these lines are dedicated. A little}one would not attend a meeting of the class,) We bless his memory and pray to the merci-
over a year ago he had interrupted a course of |he would at once call upon him privately to} ful and almighty Head of the Church that he
studies at our seminary at Springfield, Il., and | explain the lesson for the day to him. He was} wil] send laborers to the harvest and comfort
had come to Little Rock, Ark., temporarily to|a friend of the poor, sharing their humble lot, | his Church and all its faithful servants.
fill a vacancy in our Colored Lutheran Mission, | ever ready to divide his small earnings with 2 W. H. T Dav
caused by the removal of Rey. G. Allenbach to | them, if called upon to do so, and even depriv- ee ;
Independence, Kans. He died suddenly on the | ing himself of the comforts of life for the sake

—» -e<>> e+ <

8d of November, after a brief illness of about | of lightening the burden of others. Besides, A: Blessed Christmas Night.
ten days, with a congestive chill. Far from his/all his acts of charity were performed with a
home in Centreville, Mich., parted even before | good deal of tact. A pastor in one of the river towns relates the

the last parting, from his dearest and nearest} How deeply his loss is regretted could be : : a”
friends on earth, this youthful laborer in the] noticed at his funeral in Little Rock, white following carisimes story:
vineyard had to breathe his Jast. His remains|and colored attendants being equally moved
were returned to his beloved parents now smit-| to tears and overcome with grief. An article
ten with grief, after a funeral service had been} written by a member of the congregation and
held at Pastor Miller's church at Little Rock. | published in the papers of Little Rock shows
His unexpected demise will prove ead news| the great esteem in which Kuhlmeyer was held
to his friends, while to our Colored Lutheran | by the colored people of that city. Here it is:
Mission in Arkansas it is an exceedingly trying
visitation.

Oscar Kuhlmeyer was well qualified for the
arduous and self-denying labors of a missionary.
He combined courage with modesty and perse-
verance, cheerfulness with assiduity and punct-
uality, and, Jast not least, faith with piety; he
has been a conscientious worker throughout.
In consideration of the fact that these are vir-
tues rarely found among young men generally,
—and not less among young preachers—Kuhl-
meyer deserves to be held up to our young men
as the model of a christian young man and
student for the ministry. Life, at the highest,
is but a fleeting moment and spent in utter
vanity by most mortals; the small portion of
life allotted to him on this earth, was well spent,
according to the unanimous verdict of those
who knew him and who were in a position to
observe his qualities; he died with the undimin-
ished affections of all his friends.

A few facts concerning his work may enable
the reader to form an estimate of this young
man. Through his faithful endeavors our col-
ored mission in Arkansas has signally prospered
and is at present in a flourishing condition.
The school numbers sixty regular pupils, and
the colored people of Little Rock generally
have been aroused to a livelier interest in the
work which our Synodical Conference is doing

It was Christmas Eve. Our Christmas tree
was ready to be lighted, and the children were
waiting with eager hearts, when some one
knocked at the door. <A tall woman stepped
in and called for the pastor. She looked at me
intently and seeing my white hair she said,
“Yes, you are the gentleman whom he wishes

A Tribute of Respect to the Memory of to see.’ [still did not know what she wanted.
Oscar KuhImeyer. At last she said, ‘‘We live in a boat down on

We hope that it will not appear out of place,| the river. We have often come to this city _
when we attempt to express the emotions of | and my father has always attended your church.
our ead hearts at the loss of the beloved teacher | He now lies on his dying bed and wishes to
of the Colored Lutheran Church and School. | partake of the Lord’s Supper. Please come
Gratitude is one of those principles of our|quickly.’? I went with the woman down to the
nature which enlarges and expands our desire| river. ‘There we live,’’ she said, pointing to
to reciprocate any favor that has been con-|one of the boats. We stepped into the boat
ferred upon us by othera, although an oppor-| and in the cabin I found an old man with a
tunity may not present itself for doing so, We] kind and friendly look. He had lived a long
hope that the will will be taken for the deed. | life; he had fought in the battles of his country
We offer these expressions of our gratitude to|and:had made many a voyage. All that was.
the memory of one who, without expectation | left to him now was his widowed daughter and
of gain or profit, came a long way from home,|a grandchild. I spoke to him about sin and
kindred and friends, to labor for the upbuilding | of Him who was born in Bethlehem as the Sav-
and christian elevation of the colored people.|iour of sinners. He rejoiced in the Christmas
In him we found a pure, upright, christian} story and confessed his faith in the Saviour.
gentleman: in this we believe that we are ex-| After having partaken of the Lord’s Supper he
pressing the sentiments of every colored person|lay with folded hands—an image of perfect
in Little Rock who desires to appreciate the| peace. I left the boat and passed through the
faithful services of this young white man, who| streets tomy home. People were coming from
died in our midst without the kisses of sisters, |the market with their Christmas presents, and
brothers, and father or the tears of a beloved | in many a home the Christmas tree was lighted,
mother to moisten his dying brow. We regret | and I thought of old Simeon down on the river
that we have not time nor space to speak more| and of the beautiful Christmas present that was
explicitly on the excellent services rendered the| prepared for him. Before morning he had fallen
colored people of this community by that faith-| asleep in Jesus and had gone to be with the
ful servant of God. Saviour forever.. It was a blessed Christmas

among them for years, than has been witnessed Very respectfully night.
for a Jong time. Two young men, having been . 8. H. Pangey.
thoroughly instructed in the doctrines of our| Kuhlmeyer died an humble and penitent The Christian’s Death.

church by Mr. Kuhlmeyer, have recently been|sinner. ‘The scene at his bedside in his last
confirmed,—a rare occurrence. ‘Their cate-| moments was touchingly beautiful: after pray-| We picture death as coming to destroy us; /
chetical examination occupied three quarters} ing with his confessor he called his relatives to| let us rather picture Christ as coming to save. |
of an hour, and their answers were promptly | his bedside, mentioning each one individually, | We think of death as ending; let us rather }
and precisely rendered. The attendance at/and began to exhort them to remain in the|think of life as beginning, and that more |
services, while it yet has left much to be wished | christian faith and not to regret his parting.| abundantly. We think of losing; let us think
for, has usually been up to the standard of the} A chill coming on, his attendants were busy] of gaining. We think of parting; let us think }

be palmiest days of the mission. Out of his own| rubbing his hands, face and body, but he, point-| of meeting. We think of going away; let us

| accord, Kuhlmeyer even began a new mission |ing upward, said: Let me go! I am going to| think of arriving. And as the voice of death |

at Alexander, 20 miles south of Little Rock, |heayen! ‘Then with a clear voice and great| whispers, ‘“You must go from earth,” let us

Where he used to preach on Friday nights. emotion he began to sing “Steadfast unto death | hear the voice of Christ saying, ‘“You are but

is Five days of a week Kuhlmeyer was busy|remain;”’ this done, he began to recite the| coming to Mel’’—N. J.

an