Benson, William W.
Item
-
Title
-
Benson, William W.
-
extracted text
-
REV.
The Rev.
I
\v.
\'! .
H. BENSON
1tJ. Benson v1as born in Daylington,
Onta ria , Na rch 26 , 1836. His parents
a nd moved r emoved t o
quite a young boy.
~·lhitby ,
~'le re
farmers,
Canad, vlhe n he vvas
He received his educa tion in t he
Canadian country schools and upon this f oundat ion
built his l ater study after entering t he ministry.
The university of experience on the Canadia n frontier was his alma !'-later.
He bega n prea chi ng early, but after one yea r
his voice gave out f or a short time, a nd he wa s
obl~ged
to give up the ministry. Upon recove ry he
again took up his life vmrk a nd for fourty- e i ght : ·
years fa ithfully ca r r i ed the banner of the Cross.
He
~ra s
admitted to t he ministry and ordai ned
by the Iifethodist Ep iscopal Chur ch of Canada and re-
•
ma ined with this branch f or t wenty-fi ve ye ars - Upon
the ennsuma tion of union of Ca nadia n I\'Iethodism he
ca me in 1882 and united with t he Detr oit Conference.
rilany ministers nm•T promine nt in the Methodist
I
Church of Canada began their ministry under his direction.
His first appointme nt in
the Detroit Conferenc
was Ca ro, with the l ate Dr . Smart a s his presiding
el de r .
He remained one year a nd t he n s erved the
t
2
I
follovdng charges: Utica ,
t \·lO
years: Corunna, t vm
years : Che s aning, t \1To yea rs, f.iiorrice, f i ve years;
Byron, three years; Owoss o (Asbury Park). three
yea rs: Mapoleo n, one year: a nd Bennington, four
years.
He then retired and made his home in
Iviorrice in 1905 .
On February 23, 1911. he suffered a stoke of
paralysis, but r ecove red suff iciently t o enable him
t o ge t a round t he house by using a ca ne.
He had
~
t her slight stroke December 3, 1914, and i n f a l ling
broke his hip.
After suffering somewha t s ever e l y,
he passed peace f ully a-vvay to rest De cemb er 12, 1914.
He was marri ed in Canada on April 13, 1860 to
Miss .Ma ria Arnot, who has
a l~Tays
been his loving
helpmeet and cons tant insp irat i on. They celebr ated
the ir f i fieth annive rsary i n Mor r i ce April 13, 1910.
He leaves to mourn hi m, bes i de s his ""i dow, t't'\TO
daught ers r!Trs. B. E •. Pr a t t, and Ivlrs. C. C. Love of
Morr ice; one son A. F. Benson of Mi nneapolis, l'vlinn:
I
one mister Mrs. R. Hutchi nson of List'tve ll, Canada :
t wo brothers , Rev . M. Benson of Eau Cl a ire of Wiscons in., a nd Rev. C. E. Benson of Davi s o n, Hich. ,
and tvm r;r andaughters Miss Fern Love and It1iss Ione
Pratt of Morrice ••
I·J,
3
He vras an earnest, fait hfu l p re a cher of the
I
g ospel a nd a staunch believer i n the JYie t hod ist doctrine
of repe ntence, conve rsion a nd t he \'v"i t ness of the
s p irit. He v.ras a conscri:entious stud ent of hi s Bi b le
'
a n d t he Tt>mes
in "~:Jhi ch he lived.
Grea tly b e loved
by the people among vlhom he l a bored, he was , he was
used by God f or the salvation of ma ny souls, a nd the
building u p of many othe rs i nt o a higher Christia n
expe rience.
In disp osit i on he v.ra s kindly and g entle,
a nd will long be remembered for h is patience and
tend erness.
During the thre e y e ars p receeding his death,
v1hile he avily affilicted a nd at ·. time sufferi ng
k eenl y , he v e ry sel dom c ompl a i ned a nd his f a i th i~
his Lord remained undimed to t he end . He was re ady
f or the ca ll to his Father and has now p oased on
to rec e ive t he ful l revmr d s of his f a ithful ministry.
The funera l s e r v ice s were held i n t h e home a t
Iviorr ic e and \'v"ere in cha r g e of the pastor ass ist ed by
Re v s . A. B . Le ona rd , C. W. Tompso n, K. Dickey, J. D.
I
Young of Dansville.
Revs.
Thomp son a nd Dickey \llfere
associa t ed with brot her Benso n i n h is ear lier
Ca nadi a n minis try a nd spoke very earnestly and touching l y mf t h e he l p the i r ass ocia ti on with h i m h a d bee n
The f ollwowing v1e r e pallbearers. Re v. St eve ns, Tripp,
Barnum, Coope r , Doty , Kilpatr i ck, Cans f i eld , C. i-J . Hr i ght,
a nd H. Moody, I nternme nt v.ras in Corunna •.
Benson, William W.