Bird, Levi
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Autobiography of
Rev. Levi .l:::lird, Ph. D.
1
"6 ~
~~~ ~;(1/u~ /p ·
/\
I was born in Walsall,
1
England ~ A p~ril
of a family of nine children.
l.L,
,
-r J ./ 1tJ e;
1 ~5'1 .,
My father, George W .
.l: :l ird , wa s a local preacher in t he Primitive Methodi st
Church.
My
>mother, Elizabeth Burton Bird, was a very
reli gious woman.
Sund~y
We children were early bro ught to
school and church .
I well remem ber standing
on t he steps of the p a rish church, when a bout ei ght
Years of a ge, my childish mind intent
up ~n
the f a ct
that it wa s down these steps t hat John Wesley was d
dra gged and b eaten by the people op posed to Methodism.
I remember promising God while standing t h e re that I
wo uld re quite that wrong by preaching the same gospel
when I grew up.
In ltl69 my father c ame t o Americ a wi th his family
of motherless child ren,
sylvania.
bre~kers
~ocating
in Ha zelton, Penn-
When twelve years old I worked on the coa l
picking sl a te.
mules under ground.
At fourteen
0 wa s
drlv~mg
At fifteen I was a mine laborer.
And by the time I was sixteen, I was a
f'ull-:t'le~ged
miner, the only support of an invalid fath er, three
sisters and an e i ght year ol d brothe r.
Up to this
ti me I had had only t wo years schooling in
taat wa s in
•
~n gl and.
mJ~ l1f.e ~ ~nd
Nevertheless I had spen t con-
siderable time re ad ing and s tudy ing , especially t he
Bible.
I was converted when sixteen y ears old.
Soon arter
my pastor laid his hand on my shoulder and said, '1Levi,
if' you are ever going to preach , it' s about time yo u
commenced".
I continued my study and reading alone, t h en,
preaching every
in the school houses of' nearby
~unday
mining towns, having been given an exhorter's license
which was soon followed by a local preacher's licenseo
During these years
reali zed the need of education,
~
·but not until I was twenty-two
I leave home.
cou~d
One afrair needs to be mentioned in connection with
my experiences in the mines at this time.
It concerns
the G. B. Markle Uompa ny of Hazelton, Pennsylvania, :for
which 1 worked nine years.
'l'his company wished to use
me as a tool to reduce t he wages of the miners by getting
me to do a certain piece ot work at a reduced rigure.
It· I would keep silent, t hey agreed to pay me more than
the
ful~
men.
price, but not on the books.
It caused a strike.
old basis.
1 informed the
'l'he company settled on the
Later they discharged me fand sent my na me
blacklisted to all the coa l comp anies in t hat section ot
the sta te.
name.
istry.
I could get no work anywhere wh en I told my
That was God's way of preparing me tor the min~eventeen
years later I was selected by that
same company along with
•
A~ch- B is h op
Hyan of Philadel-
phia to arbitrate their trouble with the same miners.
When this occurred,
I
excla i med,
11
'l'hank God! I have
lived it down.
11
At the ti me of my discharge from the mine I answered
a calL rrom a Presiding
need of young p reachers.
~lder
t o come to Kansas.
He had
On arriving, instead o!· a
churc h, he showe d me a wood pi le and invi ted me to shop
it for my supper a nd breakfast.
~ae re
being no o p ening
for me, I herde~ cattl e during the summer.and t'al.J. :for
ten dollars a month add board.
'l'hat fall I entered Park Uollege, P a rkv i ll e , Missouri,
working my
w ~y
laid l ow the
LOr one year.
student~
&nd I was the only one who remained
well enough to chop wood
In the fall of
uazenovia Seminary,
A severe epidemic of typ h o id
H±eo
an~
do the chores .
I r e turned to New Yorl{ and entered
wo rki~g
my wa y through by d oing odd
jobs.and living on an average of rorty-f1ve ce n ts a week
t or rood the first two years.
'l'he t hird year
1
was
p g_s tor of a small town church, 0loc Kville, N. Y.
'l'he
~
fourth year I served t he church at South Otselic, N. Y ..
Upon g raduation, the prize tor orat:Jry was given me .
rhe
year 1~ 84-5 I wa s pastor or the M. E . Chu rch in Gato, ~. Y.
I saved money enough to enter Allegheny Uol1ege in the
fall of
1885 .
Although I acted as janitor and handy-man, helped
pastor~ G ln
af~ai rs,
•
revival servic es and
par ~i~ipat ed
in other
I was able to c omp lete the four year cour&e in
three years.
I was poet laureate or tae class of
·~b.
In 1~~7 I was ordained Deacon by Bisho p Andrews •
at a session or the Erie Uonference in Hrookville, P e nns ylvania.
In the year of my gr aduation from college I had the. good
fortune to be married to Ma r y M. Orouch, daughter ot· H.ev.
nonn M. Crouch, membe r of t he
~rie
Conference and at that
t i me pastor of t he M. E. Church at Uonneaut Lak e, Pennsylvania •
.fanill89<Dv anl a ~adnalready
j oined the
Ne~
York Central <.;·on-
f'erence in the year o!' my marriage, and subsequentlly
served as pas tor in venice Center, Canoga and Trinity
Church, Auburn, N.Y.
While at Auburn, I completed t he three year c ourse
of study leading tb
t~e
following ei ght yea rs
~
de grees or M. A. and Ph.D.
'l'he
spent as a lecturer in New York
~ ~t:A-....
....
State under t he dir ection o:t' State Buperintendent vurke~
~~ · ~r'r-4 tf~ ,
:t'or the Prohibition p art y. During this period li ~ s my
privilege to be associated on the lecture platt·orm with
such men a s ex-governor
~t.
John, Bohn G. Woolley,
SmalL and oth ers of national prohibition fame.
~arn e
I was
c hairman of the vonvention that nominated Dr. Swallow
for governor of Pennsy lvania .
I also spent some mime
l ecturing in that state under t h e direction
~f
Sta t e
Superintendent J one s, and in addition I was occupi ed
with evangelistic work.
the next five y ears we re s p ent in the serv1ees of
the
~rie
Jonterence.
ln
l~Ob
I was transferred by
Hamilton to the Detroit vonre rence.
~ishop
In my n ew p as torate
a t N·e wberry 1 was chaplain a:t t he state hospital for two
•
years.
.!from this tim e on I was continually busy in t h e
prohibiti on wo r k and was t wi c e a ppointed dele gate to the
Anti- Saloon Lea gue Natio nal Gonv ent i on a t Washi n gton, D.C.
1 was
aot~v el~
engaged in both the Ohio and Michigan snace
campaigns for national p·rohibi tion.
After fifty-four years o f continu al service in
Methodist c hurch a nd for t he
~rohi b ition
my great pl easure t o r eturn t o
a lso Scotland, Ireland and
cause, it was
~ngland,#j#IM#I
~·r an ee.
~he
viaittng
I stood a gain on t h e
steps of the parish church wher e I made my vow to follow
in the fo otstep s of J ohn We sley, and
M~IM I
s poke to an
audience gat hered there. I knelt also at the grave of
to
my mother whose early instructions and firm faith I
owe my lif'e-long adherence t o t h e principleS! o:r righteo usness, truth and jus tice.
This is a.., resume of the lif e s tory o f a
b~y
who
rose from s l a te pic ker t o coal ope r a tor, from cow- boy
to preacher, and from poverty a nd ignorance t o
and a p lace in the Detroit Gonfe r ence.
d o ing , and to Him be all the
comf or~
It was Uod 1 s
pr a ise~
-----Hev. Levi Bird,
P~.D.
I
To Dr. and Mrs . ~i rd were bo rn thre e son s.
Cla renc e
Le vi, t he eld e st, was b orn in Genoa, N. Y., and d i ed i n
P e ~n.,
i n fan cy.
J ohn Wend e ll was bo r n in Scran ton,
3, 18Y8.
He g rad uat ed r rom Norway high school, Norway ,
~ ich.
in 1915.
Ma rch
'l' he sa·me y e a r he en t e r ed Alb i o n coll ege,
Al bio n, Mich., and graduat ed fro m t hat i ns tituti on i n 1919 .
At the close of his junio r year at coll ege he e nli.ste d in
the army as a private .
L a t e r he was sent to the offic e rs
training camp at Rock ford, Ill .
· when peace wa s declar ed,
h e returned to Albion and finished hie colleg e work.
He accep ted a position as teacher o f-'bietory
hi g h school at
in the
Saulte Ste Marie, Mich . under his old high
school superintende nt.
L ater John Wendell en tered the
university of Mi c hi gan, Ann Arb or, Mi ch., and g rad uated from
the law school in lY23.
n e was o ne of a sel e ct
n ~mbe r
to
be e l e cte d to th e order of coif.
He immediat e ly 0e gan the pra ctioe of law in L 1nsing,
Mich.
~n
the f a ll or
1Y2~
h e was elected pros e cuting attor-
ney by the large st majority ev e r receiv e d in
In gha~
county.
He marri e d Dorothy May wood, el d est daug hter of He v.
Ame s and Susie Pearl b'leld Ma ywood, in Detroit, Mich 9
13, 11)24.
,
Jure
I
- ;l- -
Charles Wesley , y ) unge s t son , was b orn in Lander, Penn.,
September lY, 190b.
He graduat ed from Lansing
high ac.1ool,
,
Lansing , Mich. j#l,jl in 1Y24.
Lansing conservatory or
m~ai c.
He was a la J a student in t h e
He entered the Oberlin college
and conservatory, Oberlin, Ohio, in t he f'all of 1924.
Arter
two years of study he decided to s p ecialize in Engl i sh literature.
He gr a duated with honors in that department in
1Y2~ .
'l'o perf ec t hims e lf in lllhe use of 14·r ench, he spent t h e summer of t hat year traveling in .!france.
He returned to Oberlin
and the M. A. degre e was conferred up on him afte r one year
spent in the study of the nomance l angua ge s.
In the apringl of lY2Y, Charles Wesley was awarde~~ a V~llow
-shi p t,P.rough
t he Institute of Inte rnational ~duca ti on , New York, N. Y.,
at t he University of Grenoble, !4rance, f'or a year's ' study.
In a dd ition to wha t has been written there are several
items of impartance and perhaps int e r e st that shoui d be
added.
While pastor ot Trinity M. E. church, Auburn, N. Y., ·
in the year lY03, a
volume entitled,
publis h ing firm brought out a
~oston
"A .tjiography of t he Leading .'li en and Women
o1' t.:ayuga. t.:ounty', New York 11 •
Quite an exhaustive history ot"
the lire, struggle, inrluence, work a na achievement or Dr •
.tlird is found in the work, with ad ded words t hat his life
is a commendable example to other aspiring youn g men t o get
an education under adverse circumstances a nd make a s great
use of it.
'p
In t he autumn or 1;121, !Jr . .illra made a trip to l!.ingland,
his nat.i ve home, an_,d to Ireland, ;:)cotland, Whales and f4'rance.
He preac hed on, a nd wrote a poem concerning, each or t he
vessels he s a iled on, the Uedric a nd t.he Alaertic.
His poem
was printed for advertising purposes by t he White Star Line.
Hls trave ls took him to London, where he visit ed among other
things, St. Paul's cathed r al, Westminster Abbey, the Parliament buildings
whi~e
that body was in session, and the won-
derful museums and other
attrac~ione
including service at
Whitefield's tabe rnacle.
He was twic·e the special gue st or· Lord Mayor Leckie,
Wal8all, England.
M•. Leckie took Dr • .tllird to tiirmingham
to a banquet o1:' a hundred business men
where Dr. Bird delivered a n address be!'ore them on "~rohibiti:)n in America".
He was also a special guest o:r the mayor's
at a gr eat temperance meeting in the tiirmingham city ha ll
and eat on the p latf or m where <..Had etone, Lloyd t7eorge, John
Br i ght and many of the illustrious men of l!.:ngland had given
,
'- -
r
their great speeches a nd pronouncements to t h e na tion and
t h e world .
Dr .. Bird then visited Live rpool, Ox1'ord, t he home o r
Shakespeare at Stratford on the Avon, and t he home or J::Hshop
~ich
he found in a
delapidate~
condition with a
saloon or public hous e and a brewery occupying part o r the
premises.
A unique sight was t hat of a fig tree at
Wa~~
near London, and close to a cathedral, that was growing
ou~
...
o1' a grave near t he wall of the edifice and had broken the
masoneyy of t he tomb into ' ra gments.
The one buried t h ere
L
had said t h at t hi s
there we re a
~od,
ex~raordinary
event would take place 11'
and i1' t h ere were nat a God, there would
be no fig tre e.
/
He visited £dinburgh, Scotl and, and many castles n earby, incl uding the Abbey wher e t he heart of rtobert Bruce is
s aid to be interred .
Scot~
He also visited t he home or
and the royal palace.
~l r
Walter
He s a t in John Knox's c hai r at
his home and stood in the church wh ere h e had p reached.
Here
it came to Dr. tiird's mind that the Queen of England had said
she was more
afra~d
of John Knox's pray ers t han she was of a
regiilent o1· soldiers.
Dr • . t:H rd was at LHasgow and w1 tness ed
t he launching or the Duchess of Bedford and was nearly washed
into the Clyde h iver my t he overfolw of t he wave s on the
pie~.
He stood on the battlefieill.d or tiannockburn and recalled the
event t hat gave Scotland to
~ngl and.
which King James was assassinated.
He saw the cottage near
He stood beside the grave
of' John Knox and tienry Drummond and prayed at the tomb ot·
Mi ss Mar garet Wi lson and her sister who were martyred in t he
Clpde H1ver about 1744 by being fas t ened to a stake until the
'
tide t'lowed
over t hem.
He pas s ed on to Ireland, wpent a
week at Bel fas t, caught some of the spirit and courage of
t h e heroes or oth er days.
f hen h e went on hown to Dublin, and over t o Paris,
w~ ere
he stood at Napoleon•s gr ave, visit ed t he cathedral of Notre
Dame where they ceowned a woman uoddes s of Heason, th e Louvre
whe re the awrul tiartho lomew•s massacre took plac e , t he art
gallery and the cemetery of t h e celebrated dead.
A!·ter seeing so muc h in Europe, he · returned to America,
thankful to God for the l and of his choice and zitn a profound
impression that other
~oices,
n a tions and peoples also had
struggled for thousands of years
~o
find uod and give con-
crete expressi on to t h eir discovery and faith in Him •
•
.11<JrcA 1 , /q 3.9
0 b1tuary, ReV'. Levi Bird
•
•
•
Ames .Maywood
EV. LEV I B IRD, r etired member of
the Detro it Conference, di ed at his
hom e in Be llevue, O hio, after a brie f illn ess, Sunday, F ebrua ry 11th .
Funeral services we re held Monday in
the fa mily hom e, a nd were conducted by
Rev. C. R. McMeeken, pas to r o f the
Me thodis t church of Be!Jevue, and Rev.
C. H . R undt, of the E vangelical church.
The final service was held in the First
:Me thodist church of R ipley, N. Y., where
t he inte rment took place. R ev. Am es
lVfaywood, pas to r o f the First Met hodist
church of J amestown, N. Y., pa id hig h
tribute to t he indom itable spirit of t his
veteran preach e r of the gospel, speaking
from th e W o rd found in II Sa mu el 3 :38,
"And t he king s:tid unto hi s servants,
Know ye not tha t t here is a Prince and
a G reat lVI a n fallen this day in I srael."
B o rn in W a lsoll, E ng lan d, in 1857, Dr_
Bird had nearly completed his 77th year.
W hen he was eig ht yea rs of age, his
fa t he r, a pioneer M ethodist m inister,
brought his fam ily to the United States
and settled in F reela nd, Pa.
R
Choosin g in early li fe t o enter the Chri stian m ini st ry, he set about securing an
ed ucation in Park College, l?arksville, Pa ..
Cazenovia Semi nary, a nd finally in A ll eg he n y Coll ege, fr o m which he r ec e ived
the deg ree o f D oc to r o f Philosoph y. U po n
g radua ting from Cazenovia, he was presen ted as o ne who had enrolled in the
seminary with ten cen ts as hi s en ti re
financial resources, a nd who had " wo rked
ha rder and ma de g rea ter sac rifices " in a ttaining hi s education th an a ny oth er g rad uate of t he ins t itution.
In t he fa ll of 1883, he entered th e minis try of t he Met hodist E piscopal Ch urch,
serving his initial pas to rate in A uburn ,
N. Y. H e la ter t ra nsfe rred to th e E ric
Con fe rence, an d, a bout twenty-five years
ago, to t he Det roit Con fe rence, in wh ich
he remain ed active until hi s reti r ement in
the fa ll o f 1923.
Always an a rdent fig hter in the cause of
pro hibition, he played an active part, as
o ffic ial r epresentat ive o f the Ant i-Saloon
L eag ue, in th e campa ig n which r esult ed in
th e ado ption of the P rohibition Am endment in to the O hio Constitution.
In hi s fid elity t o duty, in his uncom promisin g passion for r ig hteousness, he
was like a prophet of the Old T estament.
And t he li fe of a prophet is n ever a n easy
o ne . It m eans deprivations. It means
sacrific e. I t means m isunderstandings. It
wa s characteristic of the rigoro us dema nds
he m ade upon him self that having, at t he
age o f s eventeen, pledged himself to be
p resent a t the v.:eekly praye r m ee tings, he
kept t h e vo:v, wtthout the la pse of a sing le
service, durmg th e sixty remaining years
of h is life.
O n Sept. 13t h, 1888, he was uni ted in
ma r riage a t Conneaut L a ke, P a ., to Miss
Mary Crouch, da ug hte r o f t he R ev. an rJ
Mrs. J. W. Crouch, of th e Eric Con ference. H e is survived by his wido w an d
t wo sons, J ohn W endell, an a t to rney in
Lansing, Mich ., and Charles Wesley, a ssocia te professor of languages and literature in the Ca li fo rnia State T eache rs' College in Fresno, Ca lifornia.
Charles tre~<l ey YI·cl. son of Re~.-.'
L e,•l Bird of Bellente. Ohi o. w ill
sh ortl y r eturn from F rance, where
he spen t a year in t he stttcly or
French li tera t ure a n d t he French
language. He has been engaged n>1
jnstructo:· i n Frenc!l at Princeton
Un iversity and w ill deli \'er ti1ree
lectures
a week
to two classes at
till' in stl tu tion. 1\lr. Bi rrl won ;,
scholorship at Oberlin College. entitling him to 'a year in Grenoble
Uni,·ersltr. Ft·an o!·. where Iw rllstin~uishecl
hlmH!'If
as a Pren ,•h
sr.holar. At tlw conclnE<ion o[ hi::
year's "·ork he stooo sixth in a <·lass
or 108 who took examinations. Ripley friencls congratu late the youn~
man on his success. He is only 23
years ol d.
Jl4/y
31,1f13 0
./1arc/, J, /q3.9
Ob1tuary, Rev. Levi Bird
•
Ames .Maywood
EV. LEVI BIRD, retired member of
th e D etroit Conference, died at his
home in Bellevue, O hio, after a brief illness, Sunday, February 11th.
R
p,,nor"T
r o.-.. : ,..,..,..
....... _ _
L .. 1...t
~r
. ..
..J .
The Church of the Clinging Vine
\ \'illfnmston, l\Ikh., S e p t. 1 s t, 1020.
ll~·
•
Rev. Dt•. L e ,·i B h·d, n Forme t• Pastor .
The re is a churc h at vVilliamston,
That has so me loca l fame.
It a lways has been true to Christ
In spirit and in name.
The passers-by did h eave a sig h ,
And prayed un to their God,
To embrace t he church with His s trong arms,
And bl ess it fr om the so d.
The peo pl e m any years ago,
As people u sed to do ;
Began to build a churc h fo r God,
And to H is So·n we re true.
An ivy vine t hat trailed th e ground,
Had hea rd the s trange r e quest,
Turne d to the s tone and their It clings
To an s wer their behest.
The year s s pe d on in t he ir s wift fli ght,
And left decay be hind,
So th en a meet in g it was call ed,
And all were of one mind.
Oth e•·s prayed for power divine
To fall upon the place.
And ca ll e d to Heaven for God to send
Hi s sweet converting grace.
Tha t Williamston s hould have a church
The pee r of any fo und.
So it wa s build of famo us stones
From tu rre t to the ground.
Preac he rs have cc-me and saints have gon e,
But he re the r e s ti ll remains·
Th e memories of blessings ri ch ,
And g lory to God's ·name.
The members were of humbl e means,
Of grace th er e was no lac k,
So up to Heaven the buildil1 g to wered,
Devc-i d of flaw or crack.
Again we mee t to celebra te,
A nother touch of love,
That mak es us t h ink of Christ and Heave n,
Our home with him above.
Our noted fr ie nd of '8 9
Who preac hed to us so g rand,
Endorsed th e proj ect ri ght away,
And for it took hi s sta nd.
\ Ve lin ger he r e to s ing t he pmise,
Of our Redeemer s weet,
'Vh o lives in glory a ll divine,
Whe•·e a ll expect to mee t.
Th e peo pl e wo rl<ed and praye d and s ave d
The edifi ce to rai se,
While a nge ls cha nted hymns in H eave n ,
And sang to God t he ir pra ise.
So le t us lift ou r banne r hi gh
And keep our armor br ig ht,
'rhat wh en we Jay ea rth 's bu r de ns dO\\"n ,
Our crown will be in sight.
It sta·nds a dream of art co mplete,
Dep(lfted frie nds a r e prayin g th at
With Christ we'll JRrve a seat,
F or without us their heave nly joys
Will neve•· be co mpl e te.
A monume nt of s tone;
To all who h e lp ed to put it ther e,
The glory is t he irs a lon e .
..&.11
•
Ut.3
UU C IIL Y
LU
UULy ,
111
JU!)
lltH.:U itl -
promis ing passion for righteousness, he
was like a prophe t of the Old T estament.
A nd the life of a prophet is never an easy
one. I t means deprivations. It means
sacrifice. I t means mi sunderstandings. It
was cha racteristic of the rigorous dcma 11ds
he made upon himself that having, at th e
age of seventeen, pledged himse lf to be
present a t the \~eekly prayer meetings, he
kept. the vo"!, w1 thou~ the lapse of a single
serv•cc, dunng the s•x ty remaining years
o f his life.
On Sept. 13th, 1888, he was un ited in
marriage at Conneaut Lake, P a., to :rviiss
Mary Crouch, daughter of the Rev. a nd
J\Irs . J . W. Crouch, of th e Eric Conference. He is survived by his widow and
two son s, J ohn Wendell, an attorn ey in
Lansing, 1viich., and Cha rles Wesley, associa te professor of languages and lite<ature in the California State Teachers' College in Fresno, Californ ia.
Charles ""eslcy "'Mi·d, son or Re~·.
Led Bl rcl or Bellenw, Ohio. will
short ly return from France, wi1e1·e
11e spent a y ear In the stf\cly or
French literature anrl the French
language . He bas b een enga~rerl as
tn st ructo: in French at Princeton
1:ni\ ersity and will ciel h·er
t~11·ee
lectures a week to two classes at
th e institution. 1\lr. Birr! won a
!IChOIIlrship a l Oberlin College, entitling him to 'a year In Grenoble
Uni\·erslty. l•'ran ct'. whCH'C ht• olstin~uishNI
lilmself as a F'ren.:h
s~hol a r. At the concln!<lon or hi!<
~rear's work he stood sixt h in a class
or lO R wJ,o took examinations. Ripley friends congrat ulate the youn:;
man on his success. He is only 23
years old.
Jl4 1y 3 1,1tt3 0
l
•
Dr. Levi Bird Writes an Ode to Satan
Bath, Michig;m, May 18, 1927
o n1 e say th e re is no de1·ii
\Vho to rm e nt s the se>ns of m e n.
That all arc ircc to ply 1·ocati on s
. \ny p:ace they c hoo;;c to dwell.
Tints his manhood s hrunk to no thing.
.\ s o ld Satan plied his wiles,
l' sin g him to work d estru c tio n.
~I id hi s uusinc ss an d hi s smiles .
But I s tood amid th e ruin s
Of a farm and hi:::h schoo l ncar.
\\-hich th e fo lb o f Bath erected,
.\nd to them it was m ost dear.
T he ta sk com plete a nd a ll th ings ready
l· o r the De1·il's fina l play.
That would b reak the h ea rts o i p arents,
Se nding- child ren 1-l eal'c n-wa rd' s way.
E1·c•·~· day th e h ell ke pt cal ling
T o t he c hildren far <~ tHI ncar,
H mry to th e cla ss roont s ,;wiftly.
. \nd of danger ha1·e no fear.
•
But .be nea th th e fl oor s and rafters,
Lay concealed hy Satan's hand
S tun· infernal a nd qui£e sullicie nt
T o d e m o lis h school and land,
A fe w wires wa s all that's needed.
.\nd a spark to qui ck ly g-o.
Suddenly th e sch ool was s itattc rccl
:\nd that t o wn wa s ftllcd with woe .
Child r e n m ade in God' s o wn like ness.
S at in scat s fr o nt hook s to lc-al'lt.
. \II th e kno wled ge cat th could g l\'i.:
th e m
For th e which th ey all did yca ~ n.
Little titinkin ~ o f the d em o n.
\ Vho possesse d the farmer ni ~.; h,
Ha vin:4 fill ed his mind with nturd c r
O n acco unt o f ta xes hig h.
So he hroocled o1·er m o ney .
. \ nd the way to al'c ngc the wrong\ Vh ic h ha d made him full di stra c ted
. \ n d to w ho m he t houg ht belon ged .
•
O h! th e horror s
\\'hic h in clo uds
O n a place that
Sa dder now than
o f that m o;nen t.
o f an ~ u i s h fell
o nce was lovel y .
tong ue ca n te ll.
:\eig h hors tell u s he was c ra :>:y .
Othe rs say h e los t hi s h ead
Carrying h nrdc ns mea nt for other,;
\\'hic h ha d fi lled h is soul with dread .
:\l e n appoi n :cd to inform us
\Vh y two score of li ves were los t
In that hn laca us t o f s ~ a u g ht e r.
.\nd a t s uc h a n a ll'ful cost.
Tol d us th ;~ t h i~ 111ind ll'a S nor mal
Like u n to hi s fcl lo ll'- lli Cn .
\' (' t h e pl o:tcd s ac:, des tru c tion .
.Jn,;t lik<' dc.: nt o ns bor n in H ell .
There's j us t o n e answ er to be g il'en .
.\ncl yo u'll find in the 13 ook,
That m e n al ll'ays act lik e Sata n
\ Vht'n th eir Cod they ha ve for sook .
illay God c m h th e power o f Sa t an .
C hain him ti g-ht within hi s pe n .
:\e1·er to repeat this ha1·oc
\Vhil e th e re li1·es the ra ce o f men .
Rev. Dr. Levi Bird
•
OEAlH CLAIMS l
REV. lEVI BIRO;
fUNERAL TODAY
RETIRED
i\ffil'IiOD!ST
AND STUDENT DIED
NOON AT 1101\lE IIERE.
•
PASTOIV
SUNDAY
Culminating an illness which
had
orig!,na.ted Tl1u1 sclay morning, Lhe Rev.
Levi Bird. rctir::d pastor of the Michigan confe1·ence, biblical student and
ardent prohibition worker. answer':)d
d -ath's .summons at noon en Sunday
when he passed Jnto eternal s leep nl
the fami!y home on York street-closing a. career which hacl been remarkable and outstanding in many res)X::ts.
Funera l services, attended by members cf the family, local clergy and •
number of intimate friends of the deceased, were conducted this morning
at 11 o'clock in the family home, and
on Tuesday the remains will be transported to R;pley, N. Y., where Rev.
Ames A. Maywood, pas<.or of the p;rst
Methodist church at Jamestown, a
former Michigan conference
friend,
will conduct funcnt l services.
Durmg .six years' r::sldence ln BelIt'·
vue, Rev. Mr. Bird had become a familiar 11gure In ecclesiastical and other
circles, and had formed a legion
of
friends who join with members of his
faimly and former pnrishoners
ln
New York and Michigan courcrcnc;:
pasl.orutes In the grief which Is occasioned by his passing.
Born in Walsoll, Eng. , In 1858, Rev.
Bird would have completed his 7'/th
year in April. At t.ho ag" of eight years
h e immigrated to the United Slat2s
with his parent-s, his father being a.
1· :onee1· Methodist minister, and took
up his residence in Freeland, Pa.
Cllcosing In catly life io make th"
mi11l s~ry h is career, he secured
hi ~
cariy educa!Jon in Park colkge at
Park.svllle,l\4 ..,and studied thcoio;;y at
cazouovia semi nary, Cazenovia. N. Y.,
and r~ci ved his Ph. D. dccrree at Allegheny college, McadvJllc, Pa.
On S<:ptcmber 13. 1888, he was unltccl
lll m~iage
t Conneaut Lake, Pa., to
Miss
roueh, daugnter of the
Rev. and Ml . J. M. Urouch,
whose
rat11 ~ r then was paslo!· of t.hc Ml:t.hodist parish ot Conneaut Lake.
In Lhe fall C'f 1888 Dr. Bird entered upcn his actin~ car;cr in the minl~try wnen he affiliated with tne New
york central Conference of the Methodis t. Episcopal enured, scrvmg Ids in1t.ial pa~torate at t.h" Aulmm, N. Y.,
•rrinity Met.hodis~ lhttrch, and ~UIXl"ucntly a. number <·f other pastorates
in the New York conJcrencc, prior to
his transfer about !.!5 years ago to Detroit. c onf'-l'Cltcc of I\i•chl;;t:tn, in wlllcll
llc continurcl nctirc unL!J his r lirtmrnt
ln Lhc !all o! 1923.
I
Dr. Blrd's life was one of outsLand;ng accomplls hmcnts and deep study
bct!1 in the c:::cll :uslical Held and ill
Wlsrld afiairs and in l ~cLh spheres he
was cxception;;Jly v:-r:; l• iJolh in currc.nt and hlslorlcal matl ... rs.
Dm·in~
his ent.irc life he was an at•dcnt. dis~
ciple of prohibition and played an ac ti•·c part in the C:l •• tpaign wllich preCl dcd a dopt.ion
of tile prohibition,
am:·adment to the Oh:o constiLution,
having conducted a ~p-aldng
campaign in a number of Ohic cities immediately t;:·icr to the eleclicn, as an
official reprw·ntativc of the
Ohio
AnL!-Satoon Lcagu:).
He was of Lhc ·•otd-fashincd sch::lOl"
of the ministry, slnccr~ In ht: belief'>
and intensely devoted !0 t.hc p!·lnciplcs
which he espoused.
unable because oi famil y econcmie::;
Lo begin his preparation for the min,s~ry until he had r •achtd the a;;e of
22 years, Rev. Bini cnrollt.d in Cml(;llOvia <N. x.J ~cmnmty witit Leu
[l#>tlli as his cnutc fmnnc1ni r';;cur::-:.:;,
[~crkcd his way through" the seminary Lo his chosen goal and
years
latc.t· had the disLinction of b~ ing [~re
sen ted before a graduating assentbly at
the seminary as one who had "work~d
t hurclcr and made great"r sacrifices·· in
allainin6 hi:; tducallon than any other
s raduat: cf the institution.
At. the age o! 17 years Rev. Bird
pledged himself to attend prayer m ,•tcing each wc.ck-a pledge which he had
cb.scrved faithfully for man.: that! 70
y<:ur.'. Duri11g his residence in Bellevue he had altcndctl J>rnctlcally
all
prayer liCrvice::, cunctuctctl in
local
c.hurcho:.., utLimcs uLL!: Iltllng two ::;uch
~:;n ices in a ;,lll~lc C\' ntng, and Ukew;.;,;c had a l tcndcu :..ct \'lct:. m one 01
the other of the cl:y ~ churchc:, each
sunday wtthout interruption.
A dcvot.ee of the bible, h~ was comrltLillg hU; :;;,rd :;tudy of tlus boolt aL
the tunc ho wa;, :otriol:cn wlth his !atal illuc::..s.
DUI'illS the lute!' ,>'L .. I'., c.i his I'E'Sld' nee ill Mlch.bUil. Hcv. Bln..l accul11llshcd an objcct1·;c which brought hm1
•.ld•· rccogllil!on when, camp:ugll.JJO: on
ptlw If ol the CUlltllllacy of Ills :;on, Attorney Wcnddl Bird, for counly prosecutor of Ingham county, lhc dccca~d
bravficd aioot over 600 miles during
Uucc \licei'~>' period, distributing camJalgn literattu·c and presenting
hL<>
on't. quahtteat.ions lo the vol.CJ:>-'.IIith
the result that. Al,torncy Bil·d was succcs.,ful in wuuunrr the election by a
Jh't·gm ot "L-1 'ole.. 1u a hotly contccf/."ct election agniii"L I he c!·ganizawH-i.Jaekcd illl'Uillb!'nt.. tua..,much a,
~tty. Bird trailed the oppositwu cantlidatc by a small margin in a 8,();JQ
u within Lansing proper, political
olJsen•rrs crcctit~ d his success in
the
campaign to tile fathu··s campa1gn.
Subsequently Atty. Bird was r e- elected
hy o hnnctsome plura lity.
Dur:ng h ~ rc~idcncc in Bellevue, DI'
Bird h ad evinced a fatherly interest i11
children at th-::- Flat Rock O:-phan
Home. whom he frequen tly visited and
pro\oided with treats. and one such visit
was planned for l!~xt, we~k. on
ti!c
occasion of Washin gton's Bi.rthdaypiRllS which will be c:1n·icd out by mcmI:CIS of the fcmlly ln the absence
of
the jnt~ndc d host.
Dr. Bird is survived by his widow.
:mct two sons, Attorney John Wendell
Bird. of Lan~in~. Mich., and Charles
Wesley Bird, associate professor· o!
languages and literature in tl1::: California State Teachers' college, al
Fresno, Calif. He was the last of
a
family cf nine children.
Rev. c. R. McMecken, pastor o! the
ethodist church, and Rev. G ~ H.
undt, pastor of the Evange)ical
1urch , conducted runt:'ral services· at
!.he home h.erc !.his morning.
Funeral arrangements are. in charge
of the Harris Funeral Heme.
E