| 188 causes known only to God; for though his faith was well known, he was not disturbed; he was found at his post when the church reached him, on its return.
We reached Bro. Kinneman's place early on the 25th, and found an appointment for the evening waiting for us in the brick church, in the village. This appointment we filled to be best of our ability, being thankful that we were permitted to "answer for ourselves."
On Thursday morning, after spending the night the guest of Bro. T. W. Smith and his wife, we once more started out for our wagon trip back to Lamoni. . . . We traveled directly north through Dekalb, Gentry, and Worth Counties, passing west of Maysville, between Fairport and King City, through Gentryville and Albany to Allendale. The north part of Dekalb County is quite fair, much the same in appearance as the southwest of Decatur, Iowa; but Gentry and Worth Counties, like Harrison, are rolling, broken and timbered, at least such was the appearance to us. Bro. T. W. Smith came with us from his home to Lamoni, and though the way was long, the hills steep and rugged, we managed to cheer the way by conversation about the country and its possibilities for the Saints, about doctrine and its effect; and with argument about things that we did not see alike. We spent Friday night with Bro. Joseph Hammer, of Allendale, and reached Lamoni on Saturday evening; found Bro. M. A. Meder at Bro. George Adams' and were glad to be at home again.
On Sunday, the 29th, we spoke in the Saints' meeting place, on the gathering; and in the evening Bro. T. W. Smith spoke to the people, ably, from the text, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith."
Our conclusions from the trip, so far, may be summed up thus: The better portions of the land passed over by us are those most frequently named, Dekalb County, in Missouri, and the southwest of Decatur, in Iowa. In both of these places there have gathered numbers of the Saints. They are both farming countries; wood and water are reasonably plenty in both. Stewartsville is a railway station of about twelve hundred inhabitants, some twenty miles from St. Joseph, the western terminus of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. The Saints are located from five to fifteen miles from the station; the lands are pretty well taken up, though further away there are still quite large tracts unsettled. Clinton County adjoins Dekalb on the south, and is a fair county of land. Prices for farms range from five to thirty dollars per acre; now and then improved farms being offered for twelve dollars and fifty cents. Bro. J. T. Kinneman paid nineteen hundred dollars for one hundred and fifteen acres, including some twenty of timber land. Bro. McKee, of California, paid twenty-three dollars per acre for his farm. These were both improved farms, though the improvements were not of the best. The water is usually good; some of the wells being soft water, though not all. Markets are usually good for all that is raised. The air
(page 188) |
