Frederick Francis

As printed in 1910

FREDERICK FRANCIS.

Frederick Francis, with highly developed artistic perception, takes genuine pleasure in having everything about him as perfect as his own good taste and skillful fingers can make it and therefore his is an attractive home amid beautiful surroundings. The material things, however, are not given undue prominence with him but are only a feature in that existence which should present the best that can be attained along material, intellectual, artistic and moral lines. He was born in Kewanee township, January 21, 1856, and was reared upon the home farm of his parents, Sullivan R. and Mary (Gardner) Francis. During his youthful days he attended district schools and at the age of eighteen entered the State University, from which he was graduated in 1878, being the first student that Kewanee sent to that institution. When he left he had placed his mark upon the seven foot dial clock in the west tower of what is now the oldest of the university buildings, for he made the drawings for that time piece, built the escapement and assisted in setting it up and it is still keeping excellent time. The clock was donated as a memorial by the class of 1878.

Having completed his scholastic course, Mr. Francis entered the employ of the Elgin Watch Company and after eleven years spent in its factory returned to Kewanee. The love of the beautiful and the artistic has ever been a dominant quality in his life and with a desire to establish a beautiful home he secured one of the best sites in Henry county, four and a half miles east of Kewanee. Thereon he erected a residence of stone and brick after designs and plans made entirely by himself, doing every detail of the building alone, not paying out one cent for help, and the place is appropriately named Woodland Palace. It is one of the most artistic homes in the county and is supplied with many conveniences of his own design, including a filter for rain water, by means of which he secures a water supply system that provides the family with absolutely pure water. Mrs. Francis, who presides with gracious hospitality over this attractive residence, was Jeanette E. Rice and afterward Jeanette E. Crowfoot. She was formerly a resident of Elgin, Illinois, and on the loth of August, 1890, gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Francis.

Having a great love for the sixty acres of forest trees that was left him by his father, Mr. Francis has not cleared his land or done any farming but lets it only for pasture. He has been an interested student of mathematics, having among the wall decorations of his home a frame containing about a square yard of drawing paper, on which is the abbreviated form of a difficult problem of circles that was solved after eight years of seeking and then only by an original method not found in the text-books. The work required the finding of an unknown quantity, which if put in the form of an equation, would be of about the twentieth degree and contain about one thousand terms. Not content with development alone along the line of the practical, however, Mr. Francis has studied oil painting and some of his works display a high order of talent. He has also devoted considerable time to literary work and has contributed a number of articles to various magazines on the subject of physical culture.

A man of wide reading and deep thought, those questions of vital national interest have always elicited his attention and that he thinks out along original lines is indicated in an article from his pen which appeared in the Physical Culture Magazine, entitled Our Idea of Arbitration. In this he said: "I have read what you have to say about Arbitration and Japan, and it makes me wish to express an idea that I have in regard to the disarmament of nations. To illustrate, let me suppose a country of individuals without law, each carrying a gun for defense. Now somebody suggests that these individuals arbitrate instead of using guns. The difficulty is that it takes two to arbitrate and this they will do or not as they feel like. The individuals could not be expected to discard their guns unless they had something more certain than this to take their place. When law is established this supplies the need and the gims are useless. This is the principle that should be applied to the nations of the world. They should be controlled by an international law which should be as supreme over nations as the laws of a country are over its individuals. This international law should be backed by an army and navy, if necessary, which should be the only ones on earth. Any other military force would be as much out of place as an individual or set of individuals taking up arms against their government or against each other. Any nation not wishing to be controlled and protected thus would be dealt with the same as an individual who does not respect the laws of his country. He must yield for the best good of the majority. I believe this is the way and the only way that nations ever will or can be expected to disarm. The individual would be a fool to lay down his gim in a country without the law to protect him. So a nation would be foolish to disarm without a supreme international law to protect it."

That Mr. Francis possesses considerable ability as a writer of poetry as well as prose is indicated in one of his poems which he styles Early Recollections:

"No carpet of tapestry, Brussels or ingrain, In palace of millionaire, lord or of king. Can ever compare with that velvety blue grass That grew 'death my feet in life's beautiful spring.

The parlor and bedroom we had in our playhouse, In corner of that old Virginia fence, In front of the yard of our earliest homestead, Has never been equalled at any expense.

The old log stable with corn crib attachment.

That sheltered the horses so noble and grand.

That pulled the great loads with their smooth wooden collars,

Or broke up the sod of that primitive land.

And then the great hogs that were out in the hogyard, They had a log shed with the roof made of hay. And even the mud-holes where they used to allow Had wonderful charms on the long summer day.

The old stone up well that was close to the doorstep, Where water was hoisted with windlass and chain; No fear was there then of the terrible microbe, That water was cold and as pure as the rain.

And there was the attic up under the rafters.

Such a wonderful place to romp and to run;

When the raindrops came down on the roof with a matter

And added sweet music to noise and to fun.

Now with hair turning gray and with step growing sewer, We are looking again for the picture so fair; Seeking the viewpoint of life's early morning; Father Time only answers with echo of — where?

Last even while out for a short recreation, With fancies turned backward again o'er the ground, I wandered down by the home of my childhood; But alas ! what a change in the scene there I found.

A father, a mother, a brother, a sister;

I look for in vain to meet at the door;

A few decayed logs mark the site of the cabin.

They are fast disappearing and the dream will be o'er.

And so Father Time beckons onward, still onward,

Returning no moments to be lived anew;

'Tis well for us then to have this recollection,

They may come to the light when stern judgment is due.

And so to all friends and all brothers and sisters. Who still may unite on a reunion day; I would send kindest thoughts and congratulations; For soon from this earth we must all pass away."

While all this indicates much of the ability of Mr. Francis, there is perhaps nothing that so clearly indicates his position in life as the little poem clipped from one of the current magazines, entitled The Gates of Gold. Kindly and considerate, always mindful of the feelings of others, anything bordering on gossip is utterly distasteful to Mr. Francis, and the little poem given below indicates the guiding spirit of his life.

"If you are tempted to reveal

A tale some one to you has told

About another, make it pass.

Before you speak, three Gates of Gold.

Three narrow gates — first, 'Is it true?' Then, *Is it needful?' In your mind Give truthful answer. And the next Is last and narrowest, Ts it kind ?'

And if, to reach your lips at last, It passes through these gateways three, Then you may tell the tale, nor fear What the result of speech may be."

As printed in History of Henry County, Illinois (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.