Description
“A Merited Tribute.” - - The following is a brief synopsis of (Kansas U. S.) Senator (John J.) Ingalls’ remarks at the grave of his faithful servant Tarleton Pendleton, published at the request of many who desire to give it wider publicity: ‘‘Tarleton Pendleton was born on the 18th of July, 1822, near Charleston, in the Shenandoah Valley, West Virginia. He was a slave, and removed with his owners to Kentucky, and from thence to St. Joseph, Missouri. He emancipated himself early in the war and escaped to Atchison, where he has since resided. For more than 20 years Tarleton Pendleton has been in the service of my family. During this long period he has always manifested the same interest in my affairs as if they had been his own. I never knew him to do a dishonest act nor to speak an untruthful word. He was faithful, upright, and loyal in all the relations of life. “At the open grave all men are equal. In the democracy of death, the rich man is as rich as the richest. Here the wealthy man leaves his possessions, the proud man surrenders his honors and dignities - the worldly man relinquishes his pleasures, and nothing remains but those moral qualities which define our relation to our fellow creatures and to God. Pendleton could neither read nor write. His long life of humble toil is ended - his name will be heard no more among men. But he leaves the memory of virtues which the highest may imitate with advantage and an example which all may follow with profit and safety. It was such as he that were in the mind of the Divine Teacher on the mountain of Judea when He declared that the lowly of spirit should possess the Kingdom of Heaven, that the meek should inherit the earth, and that the pure in heart should see God. Here we leave him. He is at rest. May his soul abide in peace and felicity until the great day when the Lord shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”Date(s) of Creation
3/26/1887
