The MacMillan Homestead

working in the life of this unusual character, not only in calming his restless spirit, but in awakening spiritual aspirations, which for years had lain dormant. He not only became faithful in his church attendance but at the family altar, where the dominant religious atmosphere of the home worked wonders in his life. As one looks back on it now, one can see more clearly that Fred and Mother knew what they were doing when they invited 0. N. Potter to be a sojourner with us. Life was to be richer intellectually, and more interesting in other ways than it otherwise would have been, 'and his reward was that when he came to depart this life, which he did when he was over eighty, he was better prepared to meet his Maker. Undoubtedly the one whose coming to the farm was to be the most significant in every way, was a fiery young Southerner from South Carolina, Charles L. Baskin. He came to the farm at the suggestion of Homer, who knew his parents in South Carolina, to attend Cedarville College. His coming was at a most opportune moment to strongly identify himself with the life of the family. When Charlie Baskin came to the farm, Paul, the youngest of the family, was the only one ait home. The other brothers were either permanently away or in college, and therefore, in his coming, Charlie filled a void in the family circle. For this reason both Father and Mother loved him, not only for his own sake, but for what he meant to Paul during those closing years of hrs life. The marvel of this story is that a high spirited boy, brought up in another part of the country, whose traditions were radically different from those found in Greene County, Ohio, was able to adjust to this new and strange social environment and take advantage of the opportunities it offered. He did take advantage of these opportunities, and after years of struggle, he not only became a highly successful specialist in the medical profession, but an elder in the First Presbyterian Church in Akron, Ohio. At the same time he became a benefactor to his own family, helping in turn his brothers and sisters to get an education and become established in life. With the help of Fern, his attractive wife, he established a fine Christian home of his own, which reflects the same kind of hospitality as that home in which he had the opportunity at one period of his life, to become a “so-journer.” Certainly Father and Mother both would be proud to know how 39

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