The West Shoee.
VOL. 7 No. 2.
IL. Rftinuftl, PublUher,
WashlngUM 81,
Portland, Oregon, February, 1881.
ft Annna, I Ulafla Mats
tat, I s,U.
WILLIAM STEEL.
We give on this page the picture of one of na
ture's noblemen, William Stkkl, who waslxirn
ontheClyde, at Higgar, Scotland, in 1809. Hit.
mother was a cousin of Rt. Hon. W. E, Gladstone,
the present Premier of England. When but nine
years of age Mr. Steel came with his parents to
America. His first home on this side the Atlantic
was at Winchester, Va. The family removed in
a few years to Ross county, Ohio. When Mr.
Steel was about 14 years of age, he went to live
with his uncle, John Gibson, at Ilarnesville in S.
E. Ohio, where he remained until t8jj, In which
year he was married. In the same year he set
tled In Woodsfield, Ohio, where he engaged in
the mercantile business. In
a short time he secured, and held
for years, a leading position In
trade, and became, for that day,
a man of large means, which,
added to his sterling qualities of
character, gave him great influ
ence and power throughout the
entire south-eastern part of Ohio.
In 1844 he removed to Stafford,
In the same state. With the years
came financial disaster. Ily the
failure of friends for whom he
had endorsed, Mr. Steel saw the
fortune which he had spent a life
time In accumulating, swept
away as In a night. After his
failure, he again spent a short
time in Woodsfield, Ohio, in
Pittsburg, and then a few years
. in Kansas, and finally removed
to Oregon in 187, where he
spent the sunset days of his earn
est, honest life with his sons.
' Wednesday, Jan. 5th, at 6:30
o'clock P. M., at the ripe age of
three score and eleven years,
he exchanged this earth for
heaven.
It is written of one of old
time that he so lived that, " be
ing dead he yet siwakelh." So
lived William Steel. We do
well to listen to such " voices
from the grave."
What were the characteristics
of his life? He put
raijtcirn murr.
With a keen sense of justice, and a burning in
dignation against wrong, however popular that
wrong might be, his whole life was given to moral
reforms. Benjamin West said that his mother's
kiss made him a painter. The tears of William
Steei'i ami her mad him a reformer. There lie
before the writer a little pencil sketch, from his
owa hand, in which be says 1 "I became an Ab
olitionist when I was only nine years of age.
One beautiful Sabbath morning. Urge coffle-
gang of slaves, chained hand to hand, pasted our
boas in Virginia j the front ones were forced to
carry an American lug,
them, like so many lieasts, through the street with
heavy whips. When my mother saw it she wept
very much, and those tears made me hale slavery
intensely from that moment."
When the years of manhood came, this hatred
of slavery took a very practical form. Ho was
one of the pioneers of the anii-slavery agitation,
entering UMin this his great life-work wilh intense
earnestness, and wilh undaunted courage, periling
111s 1 iic, anil pniierty, ami good name, licnring
the trials, anil cares, and anxieties of tlmt unequal
contest, when with Lundy, Cntrison, Phillips,
l.nvejoy, and a few other brave souls the old
" Ijlwrty Guard," fought the slave Kwcr single
handed. William Steel soon became the recog
nized leader and master spirit ol the Almliilon
isls in south-eastern Ohio. In 1K41, Ohio passed
a law making,!! a enal offense to aid or iurlmr
fugitive slaves, Ihiisantc-daling the Fugitive Slave
Ijiw. To disolicy the law was to fate the peni-
v I J
while two men drove
WILLIAM STEEL.
tertiary t tut William Steel openly defied the
law, clinging to principle even though h imper
illed hit dlrity. lie organised the famous "lln
dergrnund Railway," became its "Susrrintendenl"
and "Oneral Passenger Agrnt," ami aided hun
dreds of fugitive to gain their lilierty. Some
lave-owners in Virginia offered a reward of
$5,000 for the arrest of William Steel on slave
soiL William Steel boldly answered "that if
they would dcimit half that sum in an Ohio hank
to his credit he would meet them at any place
named in Virginia." Tha deposit never was
mule.
In the darkest hour he never doubted the tri
umph of right. Yean before it cam h predicted
war, and the oufswpKnt downfall by (not of
arms of the great slave power. When war came,
though his heart bled for desolate homes and for
his country, still he rejoiced. He felt, wilh the
poet
" Mow v hsve imh tha (lory of tha mating of tha Ixmli
Ha iraiunlinf out iht viutae whwe Uu iaa of wrath
ar storatl 1
Ha hslh lonaej lha fatsful lighlaiaa of hat lenlkl awifl
sword,
Hit truth Is Marching on,"
And he never diHibtctl the result of the war. He
knew that principle must prevail, because Hod
reigned,
llul not to the negro alone, but to all the op.
pressed, his heart was ovn and Ills hand ready to
work. He was foremost in all moral reforms.
Temperance found in him an early, earnest, consis.
tent advocate and worker. He was the friend of
education, and gave to It thought, time and
money. The Chuich found in him a strong sup
Mirt and steady worker. Hut everwhere, in all
fields of active reform-work, prln
clple guided his action. " Policy"
was an unknown word to William
Steel. His was also, a
l icit or itmlt in tkumtv.
No man living ever questioned
William Sleel's honesty. For years
an active politician, at one lime a
candidate for Congress, he was that
rarest of all men, aiat K'Mii fvlilt'
tun. He told no lies, stuffed no
ballot-boxes, ckeil no caucuses,
bought no votes, and never used
the gnv-shi. Ami yet he lived
to see the party he hrld organ
ic, sweep the country and holiilhe
reins of Hier for twenty wars. In
lb very hottest lit of lh old
slavery contest, thutigh he was al
ways at I he front, and was hated
nunl bitieily for his energy, activity,
and boldness, still, even his poliii.
cal enemies honored him as a man,
never questioned his Integrity, and
were quick to tlo him a favor.
As in politics, so la business H'i
The leading business man of his
county, and llie wealthiest, by Hi
failure ol others n k-ll lh ground
glv way, ami himself swept down
to financial bankruptcy. The law
gave him hisoimfurlabl homestead.
Tlul William Steel counted honor of
more worth than money or home.
Taking his brave wife try the kind,
he went out from hi home, In his
old an, to begin lb ball I of lift
anew, ennikna, but rich 111 the
sight of God.
William Steel was
TftUI CIIKIBTIAN.
So far a others were concerned,
his Christianity was summed up in
tlx (Mid Kul. Ho far as bis
own heart was concerned he rested firmly in
two thoughts 1 1. Himself a sinner a. Christ a
Kavkir. Two of David's Psalms lb 51st, thai
wunilerful penitential heart-throb, and the toy,
that sung of IriumphaM assurance were written
on hi memoir. Men saw hi Christianity In an
earnestness that look lb form of deeds and nut
words 1 la an vnns and elisenceof sisunsi
in a cheerfulness, born of a living faith.
The rich, full sheaf was at last ripe. God bar.
The world will always be Utter becaes Wi.
lUns Stosl lived in H. J-A.C,