SAMUEL FURMAN HUNT.
CHARLES W. HOFFMAN. Under the dome of the church of St. Paul in London lies its builder, the great Christopher Wren, on his tomb is the mod- |
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search not in the quiet graveyard but inquire of the residents of this little town, those among he loved to live, those to whom he loved to speak, those to whom he loved to return fresh from his triumphs in the fields of law and of letters. He lies in yonder church-yard 'neath the earth on the site of the foundation of the first church in the Miami Valley. Down in the cemetery all is silent save the sighing of the wind through the trees that flourish near his grave. A stranger passing that way will some day read on a monument that Sam- uel Furman Hunt lies buried there, but neither the voice of the wind nor the name chiseled in stone will reveal to him that he who lies in that "narrow cell" was, in life, a man of so culti- vated, so refined and so loving a temperament that every one in the community in which he lived loved and respected him. There are some things in regard to Judge Hunt that his- tory or the written narrative will not reveal. These will be communicated only by means of the spoken word. Through the medium of his public addresses, we have learned the true life (238) |
Samuel Furman Hunt. 239
and character of the fathers in Israel
who now sleep in yonder
historic burying ground. It is fitting
that we should assemble
this evening and speak of Judge Hunt
even as he was wont to
speak of them.
The residents of Springdale and vicinity
have had, during
many years past, a privilege that rarely
happens in the lives of
the great majority of men, - that of
coming consciously into
the presence of "that extraordinary
miracle we call genius."
There are many men in the world who are
possessed of
genius of one kind or another, but they
are cold, patronizing,
and repellent when they mingle with
their fellow men; they are
never popular with the masses, and their
genius is not compre-
hended even by their immediate friends.
Judge Hunt was
affable, kind and sympathetic and his
genius was idolized by all
who knew him.
Among the many men eminent in
scholarship and moral and
spiritual attainment, who have lived
here, it may be conceded
that in the vividness of personal
impression which he produced
on all who came into his presence, -as
well as in oratory,-
Judge Hunt stands first. The citizens of
Springdale, his neigh-
bors, honored him because in his
brilliant scholarship was reflected
all that was best in their own life and
that of their ancestors.
Contrary to a familiar saying, he was a
prophet in his own land.
His genius was so pervasive that there
are but few homes in the
Miami Valley in which its refining and
ennobling influence has
not been felt and acknowledged.
It has been said that no man ever
reaches the heights of
true greatness unless he is familiarly
known by his first name.
It was therefore no evidence of a spirit
of disrespect but
rather a potential acknowledgment of his
greatness that the ac-
complished graduate of the University,
the cultured orator to
whose name were added high sounding
degrees, the presiding
officer of the senate, the general, the
judge, was known to the
people of Springdale and vicinity as Sam
Hunt. They realized
that by him their town was made noted;
they gloried in his
achievements, they placed laurels upon
his brow, idolized him
in their affections, and always
addressed him familiarly in words
of deep appreciation.
240 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
It is clearly apparent that in the
composition as well as the
delivery of his speeches Judge Hunt's
inspiration was derived
largely from local sources.
The combats of the pioneers of this
locality with the In-
dians in the early days of the last
century, the peculiar religious
and physical phenomena incident to the
Kentucky revival and
the New Light movement, the sturdy
puritanical character of
those who in early as well as later days
worshiped in this moun-
tain, the wild free life of the old town
of Springfield which
found its best expression in Turner's
and other taverns when
filled at night with drivers and drovers
and travellers journey-
ing by stage from Cincinnati to northern
points, the hills, the
meadows and the streams of the
surrounding Community usually
associated with some historic event,
undoubtedly made a deep
impression on his mind. His ardent and
warm imagination
easily and naturally furnished the
connecting links in the nar-
rative of the life of Springfield in
days long past. It was prob-
ably an inspiration to him to feel that
he too was in some meas-
ture adding to the fame of a town,
insignificant it is true in popu-
lation and territory but renowned beyond
any other of equal
proportions for the number of men it had
produced who became
eminent in the world's affairs.
It was the half-true half-legendary
episodes in the history
of New England towns that played on the
fancy of Hawthorne
and produced Twice Told Tales and The
Scarlet Letter. It
was the traditionary exploits of
Hendrick Hudson and his crew
in the Catskills that fired the
imagination of Irving and pro-
duced Rip Van Winkle. It was the stories
of the Mother
Church and the struggles of the pioneers
in this valley that stirred
the genius of Hunt in his youth and
eventually produced ora-
tions that commanded the applause of
multitudes.
The colonial writers thought that
America afforded no sub-
ject worthy of their art; they drew upon
England for subject,
style and inspiration, in consequence of
which they were narrow
and provincial and their works are now
but literary curiosities.
Judge Hunt found subjects worthy of his
art in his own
immediate locality, yet he was not
provincial nor imitative.
Through the medium of incidents in the
history of Springdale,
Samuel Furman Hunt. 241
of Springfield Township and of the Old
Church he expressed
thoughts and sentiments that were
national and universal. The
distinguishing characteristic of his
genius was that in the discus-
sion of local themes he could express
sentiments that found their
response in the hearts of all men.
When he spoke of the Mother Church or
the Campaigns of
Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne, his
listeners were interested
whether they were residents of
Springdale, of Boston or of
New York.
He loved the Springdale Church and it
was in this house
that the speeches which appealed most
strongly to his immediate
friends and neighbors were delivered.
How frequently have
we seen him stand in this place and
looking toward the village
graveyard, recount in eloquent phrase
the life work of the
fathers in Israel who are buried there.
It may be that he then
thought of that day when he, too, would
rest there, and, with the
eyes of faith peering through the dim
mist of the unknown, he
may have beheld in fancy some of the
glories of the eternal
kingdom.
He was the intimate and steadfast friend
of Dr. William
H. James, that great and good man whose
benedictions linger
over this community.
Dr. James at the celebration of the
Centennial of the Church
organization said that Judge Hunt had
always been a friend of
the pastor and the church, and,
"had been most constant in his
support and in his encouragement of the
good influences that
had gone out from this place."
Judge Hunt in responding to
the kind words of Dr. James alluded to
the historic associations
of the place and the tender memories of
home, of boyhood and
family and said that they filled him
with emotions he could
scarcely suppress. On the same occasion
Judge Hunt closed his
address summing up the work of this
church in these words:
"The Sabbath call has been ringing
out on the morning and
evening air for every ear willing to
hear the Word of Life for
one hundred years. There has never been
any recognition of
rank or title in those who loved the
prosperity of Zion. This
people indeed has loved the Gates of
Zion more than all the
Vol. XVII-16.
242
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
dwellings of Jacob. Eternity alone can
measure its influences
for good. It has exerted a lasting
power. Civil liberty is the
outgrowth of morality. Freedom of conscience comes from
education. Righteousness alone can exalt
the Nation."
If there is one lesson above all others
that the life of Judge
Hunt conveys to us, it is to be found in
his spirit of optimism
and hope and good will to all men.
He had none of the rugged sternness of Cotton
Mather or
Jonathan Edwards. Like them he believed
in God, but his was
the God of love, of mercy, and of
infinite compassion and not
the God "that abhors and is
dreadfully provoked."
The spirit of darkness, of gloom and despair found no
place in his creed, but light,
joyousness and hope were always
present. His mind dwelt in that realm
where the melodies of
the birds are always heard, and the
flowers never cease to
bloom; where the fingers of kindly
invisible spirits play on the
heart strings and lull the soul into
blissful sleep. It was his re-
fined temperament keenly sensitive to
the beautiful in nature and
art, and his sympathetic identification
with the people of the
rural hamlet of Springdale that gave him
the gift of catching
bright fragments of sentiment from
common place affairs of
men and of weaving them into a rich
tapestry of words. Along
the pathway of life that he trod flowers
of perennial beauty
grew; above him the skies were always
fair.
When the hour came for him to die, his
rapt and parting
soul familiar through life as it had
been with the beauty and
sublimity of this terrestrial world,
perceived in a measure the
glory of the celestial kingdom, and in a
spirit of exaltation and
love for those of his kindred who has
gone before and for those
who remained he said, "I am going
over the sunny hills to meet
my mother."
When we think of that region of sunshine
in which his soul
lived and of his state of mind when
passing through the sunset
gates of life we are reminded of the
words of the Apostle:
"0, death where is thy sting? 0,
grave where is thy victory?"
Glendale, O.