SAMUEL M. STIMSON, D. D.
This eminent divine, one of the most active workers in the Baptist denomination, and well known throughout New York, Massachusetts, Indiana and many other states, passed to his rest, November 23, 1894, his death coming as a personal loss to his associates in the ministry, as well as to hundreds who knew him through his private work.
Rev. Samuel McElwain Stimson was born February 6, 1815, in Winchendon, Massachusetts, but during his boyhood accompanied his parents on their removal to Lockport, New York. He pursued his studies in an academy and afterward engaged in teaching for a number of years. He united with the Baptist church in 1835, was licensed to preach in 1840, and was ordained to the full work of the ministry by the Shelby church, in New York, in 1843. For nalf a century he was a preacher of the gospel and in 1890 celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth, the fiftieth of his entrance into the ministry and the twenty-fifth of his residence in Indiana. During the twenty-five years of his ministry in the state of New York, he filled only
three pastorates, those being at Binghamton, Batavia and Brighton. He was twice appointed pastor to the church at Batavia, being there eleven years in all, and severing his connection therewith in 1865 in order to accept the pastorate of the First Baptist church in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he remained for eight years.
In 1873 Dr. Stimson became district secretary of the Baptist Missionary Union, which position he continued to fill until 1893,—twenty years of active and earnest labor, in which his efforts resulted in great benefit to the society. In addition to his duties as secretary, Dr. Stimson made strenuous efforts to secure the million dollars needed for foreign missionary work, and this he considered the crowning effort of his life. He was remarkably successful in collecting money for this purpose, and it remains for the written history of the church to tell how his labors and the influences he set in motion have benefited and advanced the cause to which he so cheerfully gave his time and talents. He was an ardent advocate of evangelistic work and took especial pains to seek out and assist needy and discouraged churches. He was a man of strong faith, of a hopeful disposition and an untiring devotion to the cause of his Master, to whose service he consecrated the best of his life. At the time of his death he was pastor of the church at Downeyville and was busily at work until a few days before the final summons came; then he peacefully fell asleep, happy in the consciousness of an earthly life well spent, and in the hope of life eternal.
For many years Dr. Stimson was a prominent Mason, having attained the Royal Arch and Knight Templar degrees. In his early life he belonged to the state militia and was commissioned captain by Governor Clinton. His company was called out during the border wars with Canada and he rendered effective service to the country he loved.
Dr. Stimson was three times married, his first wife being Miss Louise Richardson, of New York. By this union three children were born, only one of whom is living. His second wife was Mrs. Jane Davis, of Terre Haute. In 1890 he was again married, Miss Eusebia Craven becoming his wife. She was born near Greensburg, Indiana, and was educated in the Baptist Institute of Indianapolis, being graduated in that institution in the class of 1866, at the completion of a four-years literary course. Subsequently she engaged in teaching for a short time. She has always been a prominent and active worker in the church, and has been secretary of the Woman's Baptist Missionary Society ' for the past twenty- three years. She is a lady of culture and refinement, has traveled extensively and devotes much of her time to doing good. Her husband found in her an able and willing helpmeet, and no one in the community is more esteemed or respected. She occupies a pleasant, old-fashioned home near Greensburg, surrounded by tall and stately trees, which Dr. Stimson named Cravinia Lodge, and in which his last years were passed in happy domestic relations.
The parents of Mrs. Stimson were prominent citizens of Greensburg, and a brief sketch of their lives will be of interest to the readers of this volume. Herman James Craven was born in Oxford, Ohio, December 10, 1815, his family being of English and Irish descent. Thomas Craven, the paternal grandfather, lived near Philadelphia in colonial days, and with his two sons took an active part in the Revolutionary war. Thomas Craven, one of his sons, was born near Philadelphia, found his way west and from Pittsburg floated down the Ohio river on a flatboat, landing at Cincinnati, then a small village. From there he went to Franklin county, Indiana, where he remained a short time, after which he entered and settled upon a farm near Oxford, Ohio. He had been for many years a teacher and preacher, and when forty-five years of age entered Miami University, completing the course of study five years later. Dr. Scott, the father-in-law of ex-President Benjamin Harrison, was at that time a professor in the university. In his early life Mr. Craven adhered to the faith of the Presbyterian church, but afterward united with the Baptist denomination, and to that church he devoted his earnest efforts for many years. He led a busy, useful life, being constantly engaged in doing good. He was an old- line Whig, with strong anti-slavery convictions, and the crowning act of his life was the founding of the Eleutherian College, in Jefferson county, Indiana, where students, without regard to race or color, could be educated together. He died at that place in 1860, when sixty-eight years of age. His wife was Rebecca Selfridge, and they had ten children.
Herman J. Craven, father of Mrs. Stimson, was reared upon his father's farm, near Oxford, Ohio, and when thirty years of age removed to Decatur county, Indiana, and purchased a farm of more than two hundred acres, one mile southeast of Greensburg, on the old historic pike. This land had few or no improvements, but with the thrift and industry which characterized his entire life Mr. Craven began the task of clearing and cultivating the place and continued his efforts until it became a productive and valuable farm. He began life without capital, but acquired a handsome fortune and became an influential and honored citizen. In those days the labor that devolved upon the farmer was much greater than it is at present, from the fact that there were no railroads and all products of the soil had to be hauled by teams to market; and the nearest market to Mr. Craven was Cincinnati.
Mr. Craven was very active in church work, both at Sand Creek and in Greensburg, where he served for many years as deacon and in other official positions. He was a leader in and liberal supporter of all religious and philanthropic movements in the neighborhood. Like his father, and indeed all the members of his family, he was a pronounced anti-slavery man and was one of the most willing workers on the "underground railroad," a term scarcely understood by the present generation. By this arrangement slaves who escaped from their masters and were successful in reaching a free state were passed along at night from the home of one anti-slavery man to another until they could enter Canada, after which they were safe. It required a bold and courageous spirit to thus defy the law of the land and render oneself liable to its penalties by aiding the poor blacks; but Mr. Craven was fearless where right and duty to his fellow men were concerned, and many a poor, trembling fugitive had cause to bless him for his chance to become a free man. He did not live to see the downfall of slavery, his death occurring in 1856; but it was the never ceasing protest of such men as he that bore fruit in the Emancipation Proclamation.
Mr. Craven was married to Nancy Martin, who was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, near Cincinnati, and they became the parents of five children, but all died before reaching maturity with the exception of Mrs. Stimson.
