MENDENHALL, Erastus W - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Erastus W. Mendenhall was born Dec. 18 1835, in Guilford county, North Carolina, died Sept. 21, 1907 in Kingman, Fountain county, Ind., aged 71 years, 9months and 3 days.  He grew to manhood in the county in which he was born.   Of quaker parentage he naturally imbibed an antagonism of the Institution of African Slavery, and on reaching his majority, left his native heath and came to Morgan county this state, where he married Miriam H. Hadley, Nov 24 1859, to which union five children were born, only two of whom are now living, afterward on Sept. 18 1872, he was married to Ella Day, to which union were born six children, two of whom have died, leaving six children and a faithful wife to mourn the great loss of a true and indulgent husband and father.

Holding a birth right membership in the society of friends, he passed to his majority surrounded by and acquiescing to the form of worship then prevailing among them, which is the great majority of cases, consisted of an hour of as near as possible perfect silence,  in which no vocal sound was heard, and the evidences by which its members spiritual life was gauged, was by the society appointing them on business committees and those so used accepted it as sanction of religious life, and those not used either assumed a Pharisee life or drifted into strail infidelity.   It was in this latter class he found himself, when the great trial of his life, that of the loss of his wife came upon him, while it fell to him to break to her the sad news that Death was near, she earnestly appealed to him to pray for her, when an awful sense of his inability and unbelief over whelmed him, he walked the floor in agony, and finally fell prostrate on his face and cried to God for deliverance, which came like the effulgent rays of a summers morning, and he could then pray and did pray for his dying wife, and saw her pass joyously and victoriously into the future life, leaving a halo of benedictions behind that was an inspiration to him in after life.   Naturally of a timid disposition he felt often it was his duty to own in public what the Lord had done for him, but time after time would fail, and as a result mourning after his condition and humiliated his failures was his lot, till one night, while alone upon the highway, while following his chosen profession of medicine—being overcome by a sense of failures, he alighted from his horse and bowed in the fence corner and pleaded for and received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and ever after the theme that inspired him most was the Power of Grace that was alive to give to every believing soul complete over coming.

The Doctor was, and had a keen analytical mind and sound judgement, which was amply manifested in a long and remarkable successful practice, had a clear and unusual knowledge of the Doctrine of Grace that often assisted and cheered many that were ready to stumble at those things hard to understand  and will by this reason and also his profession be greatly missed.   In his last hours was manifested what he had taught through life, a complete overcoming to those who had washed their robes in the blood of the lamb. Although his suffering was intense it was borne with Christian patience and at times almost forgotten when enthused by the Holy Spirit he beseeched his friends and children to meet him in the Glory World.   Many times when his mind was dwelling on things celestial his weak stammering tongue shouted praises to his God, and he longed for the time when he might bask in the sunlight, on the shores of sweet deliverance as he held the hand of his devoted wife he uttered his last words, almost home.  Then as he pillowed his head on the breast of his savior, life’s sun set forever.  Funeral services were conducted at the Friends church here Sunday morning at 10 o’clock a.m. by Rev. Levi Woody.   Interment was made in the Rushcreek cemetery. – thanks muches to “S”