I Wish I'd Been There:

Joseph Summers' Travel Stories
by Levi Miller

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This wish, as you will soon see, dear reader, has parts of myself written all over it. My only defense against over-indulgent self-love, and gross narcissism is that my subject was humble. Joseph Summers (1823-1892) stayed solely in the nineteenth century and has no entry in the Mennonite Encyclopedia. I can think of few better grounds for proper humility, and I think Theron Schlabach would say so too.

Yet I wish I could have heard Joseph Summer's travel stories. The only story I have comes from his obituary written by John F. Funk, the Mennonite publisher, which a nice story of his life as a teacher, farmer, 49er, mission board treasurer, editor, and "faithful and devoted Christian." The obituary appeared in the September 15 1892, Herald of Truth, (I was also born on September 15, 1944), and was reprinted in the April 1951 issue of the Mennonite Historical Bulletin.
Joseph Summers was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, married Barbara Souders when he was age 24 (and I married Gloria Miller at age 24). He moved to Holmes County, Ohio, (that's where I was born), where he took up farming and teaching near Millersburg (that was my goal too).

However, such a life was not to be for either Joseph (nor for me). Not long after marriage, he formed the Zanesville Mining Company, and in 1850, he joined the 49ers in the California Gold Rush. The Holmes County miners left home in teams and wagons, but as Funk said, much of the journey was "performed on foot and through country inhabited by the Indian and the buffalo." (Soon after marriage, Gloria and I left for Puerto Rico. . .all right, I'll stop this, gentle reader, but you do catch the connections.)

It took the Holmes County 49ers about 10 months to arrive at Dry Town, California. After two months and finding no gold, Summers was on his way back to Ohio-- this time by boat from San Francisco. He spent several months in Trinidad and stopped in Panama, San Juan (I'll resist making any personal references here.), Havana, and New Orleans. Finally, after about a year en route and "many privations and hardships," he reached home in Holmes County in December of 1851.

Two years later, Joseph Summers was on his way back to California. This time he stayed six years. Whether he found gold or not, we do not know. Nor do we know what Barbara made of all these trips. What we do know is that he had many anecdotes and "valuable lessons" from these journeys, and Funk said that his observations "afforded many an hour's profitable entertainment."

In 1870, Summers joined Funk's Mennonite Publishing Company in Elkhart. (In 1970, I headed for Mennonite Publishing House at Scottdale.) Joseph spent the rest of his life as a proofreader and editor of Words of Cheer, the paper for youth.
Funk said that Joseph was punctual--actually clock-like--in his reliability. His fellow-workers liked him, and toward the end of his life they gave him a fine office chair. He was also popular with his readers. The young people who read his magazine called him "Uncle Joseph."

Joseph Summers was a minor player on the Mennonite stage, taking his exit as a "faithful helper in every work to promote the cause of Christ and his church." I could wish such a line for myself when my final bows come. Still, I wish I could have heard his travel stories of "profitable entertainment." I might also benefit from hearing Barbara's edition of those stories.


--Levi Miller is past editor of the Mennonite Historical Bulletin, and is currently director of the Congregational Literature Division, Mennonite Publishing House, Scottdale, Pa.

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Mennonite Historical Bulletin, July, 1996