Ohio History Journal

  • 1
  •  
  • 2
  •  
  • 3
  •  
  • 4
  •  
  • 5
  •  
  • 6
  •  
  • 7
  •  
  • 8
  •  
  • 9
  •  
  • 10
  •  
  • 11
  •  
  • 12
  •  
  • 13
  •  
  • 14
  •  
  • 15
  •  
  • 16
  •  
  • 17
  •  
  • 18
  •  
  • 19
  •  

292 Ohio Arch

292        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.    [VoL. 4

 

 

FRANCIS CHARLES SESSIONS.*

 

BY WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D. D., LL. D.

 

Blessed are they that dwell in thy house;

They will be still praising thee.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;

In whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Passing through the Valley of Weeping they make

it a place of springs;

Yea the early rain covereth it with blessings;

They go from strength to strength;

Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.

- Ps. lxxxiv, 4 -7.

 

This poet has found a happy man. Such men are not rare;

even in these unquiet times it is not needful to search for them

by day with lanterns. Yet it may well be questioned whether in

the days when cares were fewer and life was simpler, there were

not more who took time to be happy--more who found out,

before it was too late, that it was worth while to be happy.

This poet's happy man was one who spent his life in the

Lord's house. Possibly the poet was some dweller on the slopes

of distant Hermon, or among the vales of rugged Gilead, who

only two or three times a year was permitted to stand in the

portals of the Lord's house. From the time of the establish-

ment of the one central sanctuary at Jerusalem, the hearts of the

people turned with increasing attachment to its stately courts

 

* Mr. Sessions was elected First Vice President of Ohio Archaeological

and Historical Society at its annual meeting February 18, 1886. At its

annual meeting February 24, 1887, he was chosen President, succeeding

the Hon. Allen G. Thurman, the society's distinguished first president.

Mr. Sessions held the office of president continuously till his death March

25, 1892. He discharged the duties of his position with great zeal and

ability. He was ever ready, by his counsel, his means and his influence,

to advance the interests of the society and to his generous and enthusiastic

efforts are largely due the growth and prosperity of the organization. The

memorial address herewith published was delivered by Dr. Gladden in the

First Congregational Church of which Mr. Sessions was a most active

member.                                              E. 0. R.