Faithful Unto Death

Contents

Contents Prologue 1 Death in the North Woods 3 Benzonia: A Congregationalist Utopia 6 “A Little Dolly” 8 As the Twig Is Bent 16 Sunday-School Teacher 18 The Hired Boy 18 A Student of the Fairer Sex 23 Theology 30 Brainard and “the Benzie Boys” 34 Shall We Gather at the River? 36 A Mormon Husband 39 Henry Makes Up His Mind 49 Riding One and Leading the Other 54 To Be a Missionary 57 Henry and Anna 61 Leroy Ferry Arrives 62 Leroy amongst the Angels 65 They Just Keep On Coming 67 A Full House 69 Arcadian Interlude 72 Elvira Rejoins David 73 Charlotte, the Belle of the Ball 74 Those Dreadful Sundays 78 Works and Days 80 How They Grew 82 The Massacre 85 Overwhelmed 86 Orah Bunker Comes to Stay 89 A Much-Needed Rest 90 “Girlie” 93 A Man of Your Position 98 Charlotte Changes Her Will 105 And Anna in the Middle 112 Poisonous Words 116 Prayers to No Avail 121 “He’s Trying to Poison Me as Well” 123 Exeunt Charlotte 125 “Make Mother Better if It Be Thy Will” 128 Gone Home 133 The Widower 135 Brainard Capitulates 136 Sheriff Chandler Pays a Call 138 The Children 140 Henry’s Trial 143 The Scandal, ad Nauseum 158 The Verdict 164 A Nestful of Orphans 167 The Shipwreck 171 Appealing to a Higher Court 173 A Note among the “Skellingtons” 176 More Than a Brother 184 Con›icting Depositions 187 Sheriff Judas 195 Premature Burial 197 A Stormy-Weather Friend 198 The Retrial 200 Henry Comes Home 220 Missionary to the End 223 Orphans No More 224 Another Shock for Benzonia 227 “It’s Impossible” 231 “Faithful Unto Death” 235 The Auctioneer 238 The Road South and East 246 New Neighbors 248 Death in Hadjin 249 A Humble and Christlike Life 253 Ralph’s News 254 Hattie and Ralph Get a Parcel 255 Charlotte Spencer’s Journal 259 It Is Finished 264 The Next Generation 268 Afterword 271 ...