Charles Benjamin McDaniel (1853 - 1908)

Born 14 Apr 1853 in Symmes Township, Lawrence County, Ohio

Ancestors

Husband of Florence Josephine (Carr) McDaniel — married 19 Oct 1879 in Licking County, Ohio

Husband of Mary Jane (Gearhart) McDaniel — married 24 Feb 1901 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 4 May 1908 at age 55 in Waynesboro, Franklin County, Pennsylvania

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Biography

Rev. Charles Benjamin McDaniel was the only son of Rev. William Kent McDaniel and Sarah (Rife) McDaniel. Born in Lawrence County, Ohio, Charles spent part of his childhood and youth there, part in Cynthiana, Pike County and part in Pataskala, Licking County. He received a good public school education and attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. As a young man, he was active as a layman in the United Brethren Church.^[1][2] On 19 October 1879, he married Florence Josephine Carr,^[3] affectionately called Joie.

Charles began his adult life as a harness maker and a clerk in a dry goods store.^[4][5] He also worked with wood and fashioned a handsome cherry desk that remained in his home for three generations. At some point, he taught school for a period of time before going on to become a preacher of the gospel. He was a great reader and a lover of books, above all the Bible.^[6] We cannot help but think of his cousin, a rail splitter and lover of books who also spent time clerking before going on to become a lawyer and finally President of the United States. Charles McDaniel, like him, was a man of intellect and faith who labored hard with body, mind and spirit.

While laboring so and raising a family of one son and four daughters, Charles held fast to the principles by which he had been raised and stood against the intrusion of secret societies into the church. Those who sought them withheld support for his entrance into the ministry, but he would not betray his beliefs for the sake of opportunity. Upon his father's death, a close family friend wrote to the church newsletter commending Rev. William McDaniel and then counseling Charles ...

Now, Brother Charles, prepare yourself to take your sainted Father's place in the Church. When he was dying he requested you to go to his circuit and commence where he stopped and travel the year out. You was not permitted. But the brethren preferred you to any other. But you could not be bought. You was too much like your dear father. But be faithful, dear brother, the Church has a place for you. You will not be hindered long. May your father's mantle fall on you.^[7]

Charles was licensed to preach at long last on 6 July 1889. Eventually, members who clung to their societies and other liberal inclinations left the denomination while Charles enjoyed a ministry that took him to several points in Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Wherever he went, his wife and children accompanied him, unlike those of the early circuit preachers.

Sadly, one tiny daughter left the family early in life. The cause of her death is not known. Later, in Germantown, Ohio, the family was besieged by typhoid fever. In 1896, Charles lost another daughter. In 1899, then, his beloved Joie also passed away.

In 1900, Charles and his remaining children - Lottie Faye, Winifred, and William - moved to Pennsylvania to serve the church in Greencastle, Franklin County, where he met and married Mary Jane Gearhart. She was described by Charles's daughter Winifred thus: "A mother could not have done more in the home for the comfort and well-being of the children than did she." Tragically, death tarried on the doorsteps of this household. In 1905, a third daughter died when Lottie Faye succumbed to tuberculosis, an incurable disease in those days. In 1908, the beloved stepmother, Mary, died suddenly of an attack of peritonitis. Two months later, on 4 May 1908, Charles himself died of tuberculosis.^[8][9] An excerpt of a memorial published in the United Brethren Church's 1908 Journal of the Pennsylvania Conference says of him:

... he loved the Bible, and was an ardent student of the same. His sermons were full of gospel truth, and blessed of God in the salvation of sinners and edification of believers. A deep spirituality was characteristic of his life and preaching.

He was a successful evangelist, and especially enjoyed this feature of his work. In the last revival that he conducted, at Duncannon, nearly two hundred souls were led to a saving acquaintance with Christ.

He was a good pastor and a zealous worker in all departments of the church. On many of the charges he served, old debts were lifted and improvements were made to churches and parsonages. He was a wise leader in all forms of aggressive Christian work.

He loved his home and family, and always manifested a deep concern for the highest welfare of his children.

Throughout his lingering illness, he never uttered a word of complaint, but, instead, exhibited a sublime resignation to the Father's will. He was a man of faith and love and courage, a conqueror in life and a victor in death. He laid down the cross and took up the crown.

The only immediate survivors are the son, William, who is with the United States fleet on the Pacific, and his daughter, Mrs. Ringer, with whom he made his home after the death of his wife, and who was the only relative present when the end came. Other survivors are his feeble mother, eighty-six years of age, and his sisters, Mrs. Quincy Fravel and Mrs. John Goss, Pataskala, Ohio, and Mrs. Lydia Coons, Newark, Ohio. In reply to a note of comfort to these sorrowing ones, Mrs. Goss said, "It was a great trial to the family that none of us could be with Charlie in his last hours, but we believe that some day we shall meet him and never part again." They sorrow, but not as those who have no hope.^[10]

Charles Benjamin McDaniel was laid to rest in the Burns Hills Cemetery in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. An image of his very legible gravestone appears on his Findagrave memorial.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ "US Census, 1850", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXQV-MZF : 12 Apr 2016); citing family 49, p. 425, NARA microfilm publication M432
2. ↑ "US Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCLR-19X : 13 Dec 2017); p. 8
3. ↑ Probate Court Register of Marriages for Licking Co., OH, vol. 2, p. 66
4. ↑ "Christian Conservator", vol. 4, no. 25, United Brethren Church, 31 January 1889: Memoriam of Rev. William Kent McDaniel
5. ↑ "US Census, 1880", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M89N-ZK2 : 27 Aug 2017); citing ED 165, sheet 27B, NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 1040; FHL microfilm 1,255,040
6. ↑ "Journal of the Pennsylvania Conference of the United Brethren Church" (aka "Conference Proceedings"), 1908, pp. 118-121 : Memoriam of Rev. Charles Benjamin McDaniel
7. ↑ "Christian Conservator", vol. 4, no. 32, p. 2, 21 Mar 1889 : Letter to the Church by B. W. Mason
8. ↑ Pennsylvania Death Certificate #51112
9. ↑ Waynesboro, PA : "The Herald", 4 May 1908 Obituary of Rev. C. B. McDaniel
10. ↑ "Journal", Ibid.
11. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16161242/charles-benjamin-mcdaniel : Findagrave Memorial for Rev. Charles Benjamin McDaniel