THE LIFE OF JOEL HEACOCK

Pages 157-160

The parents of Charles Clement Heacock lived recently enough that it is possible to obtain intimate glimpses into their lives and characters from extant records and from the memories of their descendants. A brief sketch of the life of Joel was given in his obituary notice, written by his son, Charles Clement Heacock, and published in the Brighton Enterprise in March 1910:

OBITUARY

Joel Heacock was born in Stark Co. Ohio on November 12, 1823 and died on March 24, 1910, aged 86 years 4 months and 12 days. Except for a few years in Iowa he lived all his long eventful life in the county in which he was born.

On March 7, 1845 he was married to Huldah Gaskill who died September 3, 1904. To them were born ten children only four of whom survive him. They are C. C. Heacock of Brighton, Leona S. and William P. of near Portland, Oregon and Nathan A., of Burlington, Iowa.

Deceased began life as a farmer, then became a manufacturer, an inventor, a preacher and a writer. As a manufacturer, over half a century ago his mills worked up the native timber into staves and barrels, shingles, and lumber; the latter being hauled by ox team to Canton where it was sold to the big agricultural machine shops. He also made wood saws, washing machines and beehives which were shipped all over the country. As an inventor he received perhaps a dozen patents on various mechanical contrivances.

His religion was of the original Geo. Fox - William Penn Quakers and his preaching was always along that line, severly criticising those modern Quakers who, as he believed, departed from the original faith. He wrote and published several books along that line.

Twelve years ago as a result of incessant study and reading his eyes gave out and he went blind. In spite of this affliction he still continued to write and leaves several manuscripts written years after he became blind. A remarkable memory enabled him to retain the letter shapes in mind as well as the muscular movements necessary to form the letters and an invention of his own served to govern the lines. In this way he kept up a large correspondence. His mind was always active and analytical so that with the papers read to him every day he found constant and agreeable employment.

His death, as a result of old age came unexpectedly to his friends, and was the quiet painless ebbing of a peaceful life from the worn out body. A short time before he had written us that he was enjoying the best of health, never felt better in his life, so that the telegram announcing his death came as an unexpected shock. A few days previous he said he felt his end was near and said that he was ready and willing to go, but as he was in his usual good health the matter was not taken seriously. But on Thursday morning without a struggle or sign of pain he quietly went to sleep and his spirit took its flight into the unknown world. Thus ended the unslefish life of one whose energies were always devoted to the uplift of mankind.

The writer accompanied by his brother, N. A. Heacock of Burlington, went to the funeral which was held Saturday afternoon with burial in the Westlawn cemetery, in Canton, Ohio, only a few rods from the McKinley monument.

JOEL HEACOCK'S BOOK

"The word of a man is really the man: the literal voice is but the sign of the word, and by that men may deceive each other. The only way to know certainly what is a man's real word, is to become acquainted with his work: so also with the true God, that Spirit, soul, or mind which governs the universe of matter. It is as possible for a man to become acquainted with this Spirit, soul, or mind, that is called God, as it is to become acquainted with his fellow-man."

                                     --Joel Heacock. 

It is difficult to evaluate the writings of a man who lived in a previous century, without being acquainted with the work of his contemporaries. Joel Heacock's book, "Ancient Quakerism True Christianity, and the Founder of the Government of the United States" is a peculiar mixture of abstract philosophy with practical critique, and the latter, in its application to the then current religious practices of the Quakers may have elements of originality, or may be copied in its essence from the current thought of other men. But it is fearless and outspoken in its denunciation of the evils which threatened the faith of the original Quakers. The fundamental error against which Joel protested was the formalism by which the elders arrogated to themselves the right to govern through church law, even to the extent of suppressing the free speech of those whose message appeared unorthodox. The criticism is so sharp that one wonders whether Joel had not felt the oppression on his own person, and had perhaps serious difficulties with the leaders of his faith. In any event, he could not have retained the good graces of those in authority after writing passages such as this: "It is the prerogative of God to give forth law, and to determine unto whom He will give it. Any man who presumes to dictate law without first receiving it from God, shall be held as a blasphemer; . ."

For a writer whose educational opportunities were limited by frontier conditions, the clarity of Joel's English style is remarkable. His biblical allusions appear strange to the modern reader, and the trouble he takes to interpret the meaning of bible passages now seems naive, but was probably revolutionary to the ordinary man a generation ago.

Joel had read widely and pondered deeply on the meaning of God and the universe. A passing reference, rather inappropriate in the context in which he placed it, indicates that he had heard of the Pythagorean doctrine of the harmony of the spheres. His theological speculations are not very systematic. In one sentence he speaks in abstractions, and in the next he applies the same terms to concrete every day subjects. He makes the rather awkward mistake of deducing the solution to certain social problems from the Eternal Law of God; there is no longer enough land for each laboring man to claim a God-given right to a quarter section, nor would many agree that all trade unions are unmistakable evidence of wrong in the body politic. His remarks on these subjects are therefore no longer pertinent. Either Joel erred or the Eternal Law changed. On the other hand the following warning has now acquired increased meaning: "Unless those who would save themselves and the government purify and present themselves before God, and ask: What shall we do? this government will never celebrate another centennial,^(*) but in its stead there will come a revolution that will surpass in horror any recorded in the world's history, for then will the animosity long engendered between nationalities ripen into a degree of distrust, that few will look upon anything but carnal weapons for their defence. Then again shall be fulfilled the prophecy, They that take the sword, shall perish by the sword; after this, nothing but a despotism of the severest kind can restrain the people, in which the righteous will suffer with the trangressor. Let no one think that the superior intelligence of this age will avert such a calamity, for all intelligence not based upon the philosophy of a true religion only lays a more fatal hold on the destroyer's sword."

Joel distinguishes in the mind two separate and basic faculties: "The creation of man really begins with the development of judgment, which enables him to compare the good with the evil, and choose between them. Without this faculty he would be nothing more than a mere animal: with it, he is man. Sympathy is that faculty which gives fellow-feeling, and is developed after judgment, and receives Truth intuitively, by inspiration or impression." Judgment is the power to discriminate between right and wrong, good and evil, true and false, and is a power which cannot conceivably be possessed by any animal, which on the other hand must be possessed in some degree by every human being. It is therefore fundamental to the human mind. Sympathy is the power by which the mind receives impressions, and intuits the existence of things beyond it. Through this faculty do impressions of God and the world enter the mind. Judgment, working on the impressions received through the intuition, creates thoughts or conceptions. These creations are what Joel means by the man's word in the quotation at the beginning of this section.