Father and mother, now farewell; And husband, partner of my life, Go to my father's children, tell That lives no more on earth thy wife, That while she dwelt in cumbrous clay, For them she prayed both night and day. My friends, I bid you all adieu; The Lord hath called, and I must go-- And all the joys of this vain earth, Are now to me of little worth: 'Twill be the same with you as me, When brought as near eternity. Thus closes this mournful recital, and when I pass with my readers into the next chapter, with them probably may end the sympathy aroused by this rehearsal, but with me it must last while life endures. CHAPTER IV. LIFE OF STEPHEN MACK. My brother Stephen, who was next in age to Jason, was born in the town of Marlow, June 15, 1766. I shall pass his childhood in silence, and say nothing about him until he attained the age of fourteen, at which time he enlisted in the army, the circumstances of which were as follows: A recruiting officer came into the neighborhood to draft soldiers for the Revolutionary war, and he called out a company of militia to which my brother belonged, in order to take therefrom such as were best qualified to do military duty. My brother, being very anxious to go into the army at this time, was so fearful that he would be passed by on account of his age, that the sweat stood in large drops on his face, and he shook like an aspen leaf. Fortunately the officer made choice of him among others, and he entered the army and continued in the service of his country until he was seventeen. During this time he was in many battles, both on land and sea, and several times narrowly escaped death by famine; but, according to his own account, whenever he was brought into a situation to fully realize his entire dependence upon God, the hand of Providence was always manifested in his deliverance. Not long since I met with an intimate acquaintance of my brother Stephen, and requested him to furnish me such facts as were in his possession in relation to him; and he wrote the following brief, yet comprehensive account, for the gratification of my readers: I, Horace Stanly, was born in Tunbridge, Orange county, Vermont, August 21, 1798. I have been personally acquainted with Major Mack and his family ever since I can remember, as I lived in the same township, within one mile and a half of the Major's farm, and two miles from his store, and eight miles from Chelsea, the county seat of Orange county, where he conducted the mercantile and tinning business. My eldest brother went to learn the tinning business of the Major's workmen. The Major being a man of great enterprise, energetic in business, and possessed of a high degree of patriotism, launched forth on the frontiers of Detroit, in the year 1800 (if I recollect rightly), where he immediately commenced trading with the Indians.