left to begin his ministry as pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Oyster Bay, Long Island, N. Y. The writer, because of the very closeness of the relation, hesitates to say anything that would seem to be of a fulsome nature in reference to Nelle Rankin, who for more than forty years has shared his life and has more than borne her part of the burden and responsibility in making our married life and career what it has been. Since Nelle is the only daughter-in-law not eulogized in this narrative, the writer feels constrained to say that when he and Clayton went courting, more than forty years ago, that it was not Clayton who was the first on the scene, and had the chance to make the first choice, but his brother; and while he got the oldest and Clayton got the youngest of the Rankin sisters, it seems that they were both guided by a higher power. If Edith was to be a ble'ssing in her sphere, Nelle was to prove a double blessings in hers, as her children and the people of the churches which she helped serve, would unanimously testify. Truly, God works in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform, and the writer is grateful for having been given the life partner which he has, and the family has reason to be grateful, too. Paul is another of the children of James and Martha MacMillan, whose story must be told briefly, since his life itself was brief. At an early age Paul was fatally stricken with tuberculosis, and at the age of twenty was called to his reward, but not until he had had the opportunity to show marked traits of a most lovable character and a superior intelligence, bordering on near genius. Paul was the pride of his father, the darling of his mother’s advancing years, maintaining a standard of excellency for his older brothers and sisters, who fully realized his superior worth. Such in brief is his story. The words read from Revelations at his funeral might well be taken as the key to unlock the mystery of his brief earthly existence: “His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face.” God had a larger work for him to do, and called him home. Two of Father and Mother’s children died in infancy, one in childbirth, un-named, the other Florence, at the age of two. And here, too, there is a story to tell. Those who know the story know that little Florence’s life, brief as it was, was not to be in vain, since it was her lot to profoundly influence the lives of at least three persons—Uncle Joe Caldwell, who was her nurse, and 33
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