Missionary Work Among the Ojebway IndiansWilson, Edward Francis
History
Missionary Work Among the Ojebway Indians
Wilson, Edward Francis
Indians of North America -- Missions; Ojibwa Indians
I had been away on a tour through the other dioceses, and William, as
captain of the school, had additional duties devolving upon him during
the principal's absence. He had charge of the clothing store and had to
give out clothing each week to the boys, and perform other duties
requiring care and attention. The bodies of the late Bishop Fauquier
and Mrs. Fauquier were expected shortly to arrive for interment in the
Shingwauk cemetery, and preparations had to be made for this; the road
to the cemetery, which was blocked in places by large boulders and old
pine stumps, had to be cleared and levelled. William, of course, was
called into service for this--no one could clear a road through a rough
tract of land better than he. He was busy preparing for the spring
examinations, and very anxious to be victor; but books were laid aside
without a murmur, and he shouldered his pickaxe and shovel, and in
company with two or three other big boys set cheerfully and heartily to
work. It seemed strange that his last work on earth should be preparing
this road to the cemetery along which his own body would be carried
before those of the Bishop and Mrs. Fauquier arrived. That hard work,
with taking a chill, was probably in some measure the cause of his
death. He seemed very well on the Friday, the day on which I returned
home, and joined the boys in offering a hearty welcome, but the
following Sunday he seemed to be ailing, and on Monday, although he had
come down to lessons, and was setting to work, he was trembling and
scarcely able to stand. I recommended him to return to his room to bed,
which he at once did, but it was very soon evident that a serious
illness was setting in. An Indian woman was engaged to nurse him, and
the doctor from the Sault attended him. For the first few days no great
alarm was felt, and the pain seemed to in some measure subdued. No one
would allow himself to imagine that death was so near. It was not until
Friday evening, the 12th, that a decided change for the worse set in.
He became very low and weak, with a slight tendency to delirium. We
were all very anxious, and the Indian boys took turns watching at his
bedside. On Sunday afternoon ten or twelve of the boys came up to his
room for prayer. William, though very weak, and only able to say a few
words at a time, asked permission to speak to them, and he spoke very
earnestly for six or seven minutes in his own language; then we knelt
and prayed--prayed with great earnestness that God, if it were His holy
will, would permit our dear boy to recover. All Monday he was very ill.
Our hopes were sinking. It scarcely seemed possible that the dear boy
could live more than another day or two. We had much earnest prayer at
his bedside, and the faintest signs of improvement were eagerly looked
for. He was quite resigned to God's will, wishing to recover if it were
his Father's will, or ready to die if the call had come. In the
afternoon he seemed to realize that his end was drawing near.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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