rev. e. a. watkins, a.b., a.m., d.d. president palmer college
i have been asked to tell the young people of to-day how i planned to meet college expenses without money with which to start. in the hope that some young man may be encouraged to undertake the task of securing a good preparation for life, whether he has any money or not, i am giving a brief outline of the struggle i had to secure what little training i happen to have for life’s responsible duties.
i was born and reared on the farm. from my childhood, i had impressions that god wanted me to be a minister of the gospel, and had always expected to make the necessary preparation, and give my life to the task of this kind of special christian work. i had finished the graded school of my neighborhood, and had done one year’s work in high school, when, in the following summer, i injured my spine permanently by riding on a harvesting machine over some very rough ground. this occurred when i was seventeen years of age, and for nearly ten years i suffered intensely from this misfortune; the 172 greater part of the time unable to earn a dollar. during this period, i became discouraged and decided to give up the idea of ever being able to secure the training that would fit me for my chosen work, and finally decided to turn my attention to some other pursuit. at this time i married the woman who must be given the credit for the greater part of what little success i may have had.
after i had spent nearly ten years casting about to adjust myself to my surroundings, i somewhat recovered from my injury and again turned my thoughts to the ministry. “there is a divinity that shapes our ends,” after all; a siamese missionary came to old charity chapel, in shelby county, ohio, my home church, and told the story of the cross. i do not remember a word he said, but i do know that he inspired me with a new vision and a new determination to undertake the task for which i felt that god had endowed me; and out in the barn, on the old home farm, i settled the question and decided that god would have to lead the way. i had spent practically all the money that had come into my hands, seeking to recover from the harvester accident. that summer i earned a little money and on the first of september i had just $33 saved up, with which to start to college. i lived 125 miles from merom, ind., but i had decided the matter, and the limited amount of money could play no important part in my purposes. i had entered a little partnership with god, as the senior member of the 173 firm, and i was only to furnish the effort, consecration, application, toil and faith, and he was to furnish the balance. how well he played his part, subsequent events have told. on the fourth of september, 1898, with this small sum of money, $33, in my pocket, my wife and i went to merom, ind., where i entered union christian college. tuition must be paid, room rent must be provided for, and we must both be provided with board. dr. l. j. aldrich, the president of the college, assisted us in finding suitable quarters, and also assisted us in finding some suitable employment for the wife. she secured employment at the harper house, where several of the students boarded, i boarding at the college club, which was much cheaper. she earned enough to pay her own board and mine. thus we were able to live very comfortably for a while. but after a little, several of the boarders left the harper house, and she lost her place. nothing opened for us then, and it seemed for a time that we would have to return home. these were dark days and our faith was tried. at last i went to president aldrich and laid the matter before him. after going into the details of the situation, he thrust his hand in his pocket and gave me a $20 bill. i never saw $20 look as big as it did that night. he told me to take it and make it go as far as possible, and pay it back when i was able. arrangements were made by which we could pay tuition and room rent the next summer and the good wife secured a place where we 174 roomed, earning her board by assisting the family with household duties. i earned a little supplying for some of the ministers then at merom and by holding a revival during the vacation. but this was not sufficient to pay necessary expenses. i borrowed $20 of my brother, and then, to make ends meet, i reduced the number of meals at the club and ate only breakfast and dinner, in order to reduce the cost of board to $1.10 per week. during the remainder of the year, i did not eat supper, and because i was denied this luxury, the wife also refused to eat supper, and thus we passed away the evening hours, just over the kitchen, where the tempting flavors from the supper table below came up through our room, to add to our hunger.
the following summer i canvassed for a magazine in piqua, ohio, and sold nearly 500 subscriptions, and earned enough to pay all the debts i had contracted during my year at union christian college.
during this summer vacation i was called to preach at houston, ohio, where my father had preached forty years before. this was within 100 miles of antioch college, and in the fall we went to antioch, yellow springs, took up our abode in two of the old south dormitory rooms, and i entered the academy for a course of study. our income was small and a large part of that must be spent for car-fare. again the good wife proved a helpmeet indeed, by very materially assisting in taking care 175 of the expenses. however, we had to live without meat and other luxuries. i continued at antioch three years, at which time i went to muncie, ind., and entered the new palmer university, and remained there until mr. palmer’s death, two years later, which made necessary the closing of the school. during this time i went out and preached on sunday and returned to my work on monday. we then went to defiance, ohio, and entered defiance college and continued there two years and graduated in the class of ’07, after which we went to cincinnati university, where i entered the graduate school and in the spring of 1908 received the master of arts degree, receiving the honor of being one out of four who carried an average grade of “a” in five courses out of six.
during my course of study in these institutions i received in gifts from friends not more than $25. i suppose that during this period we spent not less than $300 for doctor bills. but through it all god has opened the way. there were times when it seemed that we would have to give up the quest, times when we did not know whether we could make ends meet longer or not. it was not smooth sailing nor was it an open sea. but it has been worth while. as i see it now, it developed those elements of character that serve one best when obstacles mountain-high appear before him. those years are the best investment of my life. if i had it to do over again, i would be willing to sail the same choppy sea, rather 176 than face life without that little i succeeded in gathering up during those years of struggle. humbly submitted for the good of “somebody’s boy.”
albany, mo.
