Aged Preacher, Dying in Poorhouse, Is Happy

1920

Aged Preacher, Dying in Poorhouse, Is Happy While Waiting His Death

INDIANOLA, Iowa — After half a century of service as a preacher of the gospel, Rev. James W. Prince is dying in the poorhouse near here.

From pulpit to poorhouse is a long road; the saintly old man is reaching the end of it.

After a remarkable lifetime spent in ministering wherever there were sick and needy, from the Chicago slums to our own State institutions, he has been tireless in good deeds.

Today, worn out by his long life of service to humanity, he lies in a bare upstairs room of the poorhouse, ready to die.

Appears as Ancient Prophet

The pallor of his face, his long white beard, the emaciated hand that lies upon the coverlet and is raised now and again to emphasize some noble sentiment of the Psalmist that he quotes — make the old man seem like a prophet of ancient times.

The visitor forgets the bare floor and staring walls and the poorhouse when the old preacher, asked how he is feeling, answers:

"Oh, I am happy! Gloriously and transcendently happy! Praise the Lord!"

To while away the long hours he recites, in what was once a powerful voice, long passages of scripture, ending on a high quavering note from sheer exhaustion.

Predicts Day of His Death

Lying there alone, he has come to believe that he is going to be translated — that he will not die, but will be like Enoch, who "walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." He is convinced that on the twelfth of May, that event will take place. The twelfth of May will be his 86th birthday.

The poorhouse is a bitter enough end to such a life, but it has been made bearable through a singular circumstance.

Forty-six years ago when he lived at Red Oak, the Rev. Mr. Prince held a great revival at which nearly 100 men and women were converted.

During those meetings he met a young man named Will Hewitt and a young woman who later became Mr. Hewitt's wife. Later he lost track of them, but when, old and friendless, he went "over the hill to the poorhouse," he found Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt in charge of the institution, and they have cared for him the best they could.