On September 15, 1858 Great Grandfather, M.A. Hewes, married Elizabeth Jane Wright. It was at the close of his first year on the Plymouth Circuit ( he was a Junior Itinerant minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was how the Methodist Church was designated at that time.)
In his account of that time M.A. Hewes writes, “On July 5, 1859 a little girl was born to us but she seemed to partake of the mother’s consumptive tendencies and died November 14, 1859 at New Hartford, IL. I think this was the hardest year of my ministerial life with sickness and poverty. We had a comfortable little house with five rooms and had just gotten fixed up when friends came with a good supply of eatables which, of course, was very acceptable.
I had quite a large circuit, one of the points, Bowen, being 12 miles from home. There had been poor crops the year before and I paid as much as 80 cents per bushel of corn to feed my horse and considered it a favor to get it at all. I closed up the year having received $200 salary. The conference that year was held at Danville, IL, and I borrowed $6. from Grandpa Hewes, lest I had to pay full fare to and from conference, as I only had enough to take me there. The Wabash, however, gave us half fare, so I returned it when I came back.
We only kept house here a month when little Anna died. One of the members went to Rockport, seven miles and bought a coffin on credit for me. We then started for Payson and buried her in the old cemetery and taking the mother to her father’s 3 miles south of Payson, and waited on her until January 12, 1860, when she passed away in the triumphs of faith, and we buried her beside her little one. She was 20 years old. I felt as I left the cemetery that I was broken up for all time and could never be happy again. I seemed to be completely crushed, but learned afterwards that time can wear away the effects of the severest trials.”