The Life Of Isaiah V. Williamson

But it has a greatness all its own that will abide and enlarge as time goes on, because of a lad born in old Bensalem more than a hundred years ago. Men are living who knew him when he was little and who proudly saw him grow to an honored manhood. They had been unwilling to leave to old scrapbooks of desultory and disconnected newspaper clippings the telling of the story of his life. Therefore, it has been possible to go among them and to jot down what they have said of Isaiah Williamson. It is well worth while to collect the notes, and put them in authentic permanent form for the sake of the thousand and sixteen boys who at this writing have already felt his influence in their lives. We are moved to do this also for the sake of the tens of thousands more, just beginning to live, who cannot but be influenced for good when they read of this poor country boy. There is inspiration in the story of the Bensalem lad who, in a simple way, amassed a great fortune and used it wisely during his life by sinking wells and safeguarding them, that their life-giving streams might flow on through the ages to come.