AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 39
my boots until my socks were wringing wet at night, and of course, hard and stiff in the morning when I was fortunate enough to get them dry. It was a hard pull, but I accomplished the feat, and worn out by fatigue and exposure, I arrived among my friends in Ohio.
The first place I reached was a Brother Smith's, where one year before I had performed missionary labors—preached and baptized, and, at his house, made my home. Fatigue and its consequences had so changed my appearance, that at first Brother Smith and family did not recognize me. As soon as recognized, and my condition known, every attention was extended that kindness could suggest, and everything done for my comfort that warm hearts and willing hands could bestow. Then came a reaction of the overstraining of my physical powers, and with a burning fever, I was confined to my bed, and for days remained in a prostrate condition, when, through the kind ministrations of my friends and the blessing of God in the manifestations of His power, I soon recovered, and resumed my missionary labors.
The summer and fall I spent principally traveling and preaching in the northern part of Ohio. In the winter of 1839 and 1840, I was employed in teaching a district school in the township of Shalersville, Portage County, Ohio. The school was large, and its patrons all Gentiles with the exception of one family. Previous to this time, the directors had been very unfortunate in the selection of teachers; consequently the scholars were, in their studies, far behind adjacent schools. Here an opportunity presented for me to make a mark, and I determined to do it, and set myself to the arduous task of arousing and instilling intellectual life into the mentally dormant brain. I labored day and night to accomplish my purpose, i.e., to elevate my students to a higher standard of intellectual improvement. I succeeded, and before its close, my school had attained to such celebrity, that it was everywhere spoken of for its wonderful pro-
