Great Grandfather, Matthias Avise Hewes gives this account, “My colleague and the local preachers had been keeping up my appointments (during Elizabeth’s illness) and holding protracted meetings with considerable success in my absence. I returned and went into a meeting at Atlas which my colleague had begun, and we had some 25 or 30 conversions and accessions to the church. Near the close of the year the Quarterly Conference asked for my return, but my name was read out for Virginia. This was the fall of 1860 and as the law then only required ten day’s residence in the county I voted for Mr. Lincoln for President and Richard Yates for Governor. I had resided in Cass County about 10 ½ days.ÂÂ
The next spring was the beginning of the Civil War which was continued for four years with varying success until it eventuated in the destruction of slavery and the restoration of the union. During this year I secured a settlement between the trustees of the church and Levi Springer who held a claim of $1200 against the church. Here I became acquainted with Thos. J. Metzler, a lifelong friend, and the young woman, Minerva Dunlap Cavender, who afterward became my wife and your mother. I had supposed Mr. Metsler and she were keeping company with serious intent, but when he enlisted and and was going away, I asked him about it and as he said I was mistaken, I began keeping company with her and during the next year at Warsaw I corresponded regularly with her and Oct. 16, 1862, we were married on the farm two miles east of Arcadia, Morgan Co. Illinois by Rev. Curtis Powell of the Illinois Conference.. The year I spent at Virginia was almost barren of results as well as the one at Warsaw. The country was all in a state of excitement and bitter animosities were raised between the Unionist and the Southern sympathizer. The latter were commonly called “Copperhead†because unlike the rattlesnake the copperhead snake would strike or bite without giving a warning.
At Virginia I had a room with bed, stove, and book shelves and boarded around a week at a place, and received $125 in money as a salary. In the fall of 1861 I was sent to Warsaw on the Mississippi some 49 miles north of Quincy, Illinois. Here I had a few men and the women and children of those in the army to look after. They arranged me a room in the basement of the church with straw carpet, bed, stove and other necessary appliances and I took my meals a month at each place. I presently became acquainted with the local preacher who had a photographic car in the city. As I was very lonesome I asked him to room with me, which he did for several months until finally he enlisted in the army. When in Decatur a few weeks since I looked and found him still running a photo gallery. He is married and has two boys, one attending Illinois College Jacksonville.
During this year Aunt Lib and Uncle Ken were married and I performed the ceremony. I started on Friday on the Warsaw ferry boat which was going to take a load of freight to St. Louis. I engaged passage to Quincy and we started early in the morning, but the hull leaked and when some 15 or 20 miles down the river sank in 10 or 12 feet of water. I got my valise and jumped on a barge in tow until the boat settled when as the upper deck was out of the water I climbed back and we remained there until five p.m. when a boat came along and took us to Warsaw. Saturday morning I started with horse and sulkey and drove to Quincy and then out to Payson Sunday morning. I married Aunt Lib and Uncle Ken Sunday afternoon. Bro. Powell was Pastor at Payson then and I did not like to do it for he and I were great friends. Aunt Lib insisted I should however, and so when your mother and I were married nearly a year after I had Brother Powell marry us.
We were married after conference October 16, 1862 and were sent to Mendon Circuit 16 miles north east of Quincy. I then had a horse and buggy, some household goods, and $50 at interest. The parsonage on the north side of the public square had been rented and we had to wait for it a week or two until the year was out. Then we had quite a time cleaning, mending plaster and papering, but finally felt we were very comfortably fixed up for young married folks. We visited the members a great deal and thus made many friends. The First Quarterly Conference fixed my salary at $350 but at the Fourth all being they increased it $50 and paid it before conference. Here at Mendon August 1, 1863 you were born, as I remember, at 12:15 AM Sunday morning. Of course we were very proud that our first baby was a boy. But a baby in a home is always of interest and so ere you though you caused us the loss of many hours of sleep at night. Many a night I have held you in my arms and jolted you to sleep in a chair without rockers. One time at Payson I was so provoked that I threatened to slap you, when Grandma Hewes in the next room said, “Avise, don’t you whip that child.†August 14th, 1865 Eva was born about midnight also, and we had our hands full with two babies, and as I was on my third year at Mendon we knew we must move that fall which made it still harder”.