AUTOGRAPH BOOK OF ISSAC J. OWEN. Onarga, Illinois  May 20th 1877

The following was trancscribed from the autograph book of my
grandfather, Isaac J. Owen. He married Matilda Veach "Tillie" Wheeler,
born in Onarga Nov.27,1864. She is the daughter of Edwin L. Wheeler,
farmer and at one time clerk and head bookkeeper at the Onarga Bank of
Durham Brothers.  Her mother was Martha Jane Donoho of Madison County,
Kentucky.

First Entry:  Nichols Ranche  June 19th 1880.  "Lookout for No.1.  It is
often better to make a good run than a bad stand.  Yours, in hopes that
you may never be compelled to do either."
       J A Owen, Armo, Ind.

2.   "May blessings attend you both early and late.  And Providence
guide you in choosing a mate.  May your life have great hovering shadows
to temper the glare of the sun."
      Sarah Underwood
      Georgetown     Sep. 6  1878

3.  "We can not all be heroes and fill a hemisphere, With some great
daring venture, some deed that mocks at fear;  But we can fill a
lifetime, with kindly deeds and true, there's always noble service, for
noble souls to do."
    Your earnest friend,  Mrs. F.P. Beach,
                                    Del Rey, Illinois
                                    January 27, 1878

4.  "The great secret of success in life is to fill well the position in
society that we occupy this with a strict attention to business and a
dew reverance to our Creator must and will intitle us to manhoods honors
in the appraisal of Him hough (who?) Rules all things.
Feb 25th 1878          F. P. Beach

5.  "How happy is the blameless vestals lot.  The world forgetting - by
the world forgot.  Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.  Each prayer
accepted and each wish resigned. Labor and rest that equal periods
keep."
                      Wife Mattie Graves
                      Westville, Ill.

6.  "Yours Truly ---- Clifford E. Beach --- August 26th  1877

7.  "For Ike:  Though the plains may far between us lie, and distance be
our lot, please cast one thought on me.  Thy well wishing Cousin."
Charlie E. Lindley
  Ash Grove, Ill.  March 10th  1878

8.  "How dear the ties of friendship are, How oft those ties are broken,
That thine and mine shall sever ne'er.  May this be as a token."  June
13th 1877
   George M. Richardson   Afton  Neb.

9.  "Ever your friend, Jay U Goff
     Onarga, Ill.  Mar 9th 1878

10.  "The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence
and apart.  The Secret anniversaries of the heart when the full river of
feelings overflows  The happy days unclouded to their close,  White as
the gleam of a receding sail, White as a cloud that floats and furls in
air, white as the whitest lay on a stream, these tender memories are a
fairy tale of some enchanted land we know not where, but lovely as a
landscape in a dream."
                 Wife M.A. Chandler

11.  "Yours Respectfully"  J.W.Hazzard  Nov. 4th, 1879    New Castle,
Henry County, Henry Twp.  Indiana

12.  "Success in most things, depends on knowing how long it takes to
succeed."
   Yours sincerely,    Mattie J.Beach
   Del Rey, Ill. September 24, 1877

13. "Compliments of Mifs Mary Thornflesh Deer Creek  Feb 24 1877  (has a
beautiful rose stamp)

14.  "Cousin Ike ---- On this page I find a spot, to write cousin Ike
forget me not."
      Edgar T. White    Buckley, Ills.
      Batchelors Hall   March 10th  1878

15.  "Trust no future howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act - act in the living Present!  Heart within, and God o'erhead!"
Truly your friend, Ella Wallace      Forest Ill.  Feb 10th  1877

16.  "Remember me as your friend."                  Duvann L. Beach
Del Rey - Ills.              September 23rd  1877

17.  C. W. Young,    Norton, Kansas                     March 6th  1877

18.  "It is not just as we TAKE it, This mystical life of ours;  Life's
harvest will yield as we MAKE IT - a harvest of thorns or flowers."
Carcie D. Beach
     Spring Creek, Ills.   11-11-77

19.  "Always remember that Lawyer  Your friend and Schoolmate  E.B.
Lindsey"
        Del Rey  Feb 23  1878
(written in two corners is "Hand" and "Frill"

20. "We that would have the fruit must first climb the tree."  Respect.
   Correy E. White       Onarga, Ills.               March 9th  1978

21  "The preasant is the time for ages, For ages young and old. So let
us not decline until another does enfold.  The time is near at hand, and
another year comes on, if we are still on land, let's have our work
begun."       Mary Sanders

22.  "Muscatine Iowa December 20 1878
I stop to think - it seems so strange.  Another year has paste away.
For oh, it seems not long ago, I hailed its first glad rising day."
Joel Sanders

23.  "Loved Brother,  When in a distant land, thou mayst dwell with
other friends so dear, Pause, and think of those thee tarried with
Almost one year.  May thy life be happy as a bright summer day, may
prosperity, attend thee in every way."          Thy Sincere Sister,
Minna V. Neugent
                         Danville, Ill.

24.  "Books like friends should be few and well chosen."  Yours
Atheneunity,
    Ida J. Packer   February 21st  1879

25.  "Ever your true friend."  S.C.Smiley,            Lincoln  Neb
(upper right corner: "June 6" --  lower left corner: "Ranch  June 20
1880)

26.  "I.J. Owens   Remember me whin far away frome the K.C. Ranch."
                 Yours truly     Coachy

27.  "I.J. Owens   When this you see, please remember me, for I know I
shall never for get Thee.    G.P. Frame

28.  "Remember me as thy Cousin"
       Ida Lindley   Ash Grove  Ill
       March 2nd 1879

29.  "Ike.  May life in fairest coloure drest, Thy happy portion be, And
every hope so dearly prized, be more than fully realized, Is my best
wish for thee."
     Your friend  A.H.T.  Deer Creek - Neb
      2.20./ 84  (there is a pretty little stamp that says "friendships
offering")

30.  "Success is a plant which indicates a Soil of many virtues."  Your
Friend
    Flora C. Packer   Onarga  Feb 27  1879

31.  "When this you see - remember me."               Newell Burritt

32.  "When you are sitting all alone, Reflecting on the past, Remember
that you have a friend that will forever last."              Fred M.
Baker
        Cottonwood Springs  June 20. 1880

33.  "Powder River - Mar 27  1883
Mr Ike.  As this world you go traveling through, Never sit down with a
tear or a frown, But paddle your own canoe."
  Respectfully Yours  W.E. Freeman

34.  "Errors, like straw upon the surface flow; He who would seek for
Pearls must dive below."  Your Atheneum sister,
          Ella Rayarmond       Onarga
          March 2nd  /79

35. "Brother Ike, alias "Gen. Grant"  When far toward the setting sun
thou art roaming, where friends are few and far between' when tired,
lonely, and forlorn, then think of me."
          Sister Mary,  alias "Flag"
          Onarga  Illinois   Mch 4th  1879

36.  "Emma Wallace,  Onarga, Ill.
        Feb 20th,  1879

37.  "My Atheneum Brother. May your life be accompanied by prosperity
and happiness; and often as you recall those by-gone days at Onarga, may
you be reminded of the one that penned these lines, and our
"Difficulties in getting an education" or "The Wise Choice"; and the
many pleasant times we have had in the Old Society Hall."
   Your friend, Carlile Scott
    Wellington, Illinois
    Onarga   Feb 17, 1879

38.  "Tis well to walk with a cheerful heart, Wherever our fortunes
call,  With a friendly glance and an open hand, and a gentle word for
all.  Since life is a thorny difficult path, where toil is the portion
of man, We all should endeavor while passing along, to make it smooth as
we can."    Feb 10th  1884  Deer Creek, Neb
            Sophie  Engle

39.  "Prosperity attends those that persue a diligent course.   B.F.
Owen
                             March 3rd  1879

40.  "When thou art far from here, Separated from thy kindred band, Wilt
thou direct thy steps toward Heaven, That sweet and happy land."
   Thy Cousin,  Flora C. Lindley
    Ash Grove, Ill.  March 3rd  1879

41.  "Dear Child. As thy feet are turned from our home to seek one in a
distant land for thy self.  forget not that the things of earth are not
all that thou kneeds. but seek to lay up riches for the Soul, that will
last througout eternity.  If we part to meet no more in life, let us
strive so to live that we may meet on that blissful shore where we will
meet to part no more."
                Jonathan Owen
                3rd mo  3rd  1879

42,  "Isaac, Remember thy Mother, when far away in  a distant land will
be verry anxous on thy account."
                 A. H. Owen    (Asenath)
                 Onarga,  3"mo. 3", 1879

43.  "If we never meet again, I wish you a long and happy future.
                  C. S. Ford
                  March 27th  1878

44.  "Never give up! It is wiser and better Always to hope, than once to
dspair;  Fling off the Load of Doubts cankering fetter, and break the
dark spell of tyrannical care.  Never give up!  or the burden may sink
you.  Providence kindly has mingled the cup, and in all trials or
troubles, bethink you,  The Watchword of life must be NEVER GIVE UP."
       Your Friend,    Cal Clark

45. March 28th 1883  Powder River, Wyo.
       "Live not to thy self alone"  C,S,F,

46.  "Gen. Grant"  You ask "how long I will remember the eve of March
1st 1879.  I trust it, and every one present is indelibley written on
the table of memory."
  Very truly yours,  Mamie Hungerford
                              March 2'/ 879

47.  "Remember your friend, Olive Scott
           Wellington, Ill."
           Onarga  Feb 20  1879

48.  "Yours Ever"       Mayfield Healey,
       Cottonwood Springs, Lincoln Co. Neb
                 Feb 29th  1880

49.  "When far away in my Hoosier home, remember the day of the mountain
roam."
   Allen Whicker  Powder River Wyoming
       Aug 28/ 81

50.  "Yours Truly"  Henry Booke
            Massillon  Ohio  Feb 3rd  1879

51.  Nichols Ranch, Powder River
       Aug 28/ 81
      "Brother Ike, So scattered and distant in miles, yet so near are
the ties of kindred, I hope one day to meet each other in the happy
eternity.  Childhood days are gone, and now we are men of the day, hopes
of joys and success have flown, but let us look forward to the dawn of
May."
             E. B. Owen        Amo, Indiana

52.  Lena E. Hungerford    Onarga, Illinois

53.  "No; never shall my soul forget, the friends I found so cordial
harted; Dear shall be the day we met,  And dear shall be the night we
parted!"
   Your True Friend,   Setty A. Riley
    Livingston County, Ill.  March 3  1879

54.  "Always be on the lookout for Brakers ahead.  Thy Sister  R. C.
Owen
             Onarga  Ill    March 3d  1879

55.  "Let fate do her worst; there are relics of joy, Bright dreams of
the past, which she cannot destroy, Which come in the night-time of
sorrow and care, And bring back the features that joy used to wear.
Long, long be my heart with such memories filled; Like the vase in which
roses have once been distilled - You may break, you may shatter the vase
if you will, But the scent of the roses will hang around still."  Your
friend,  Emma Wallace
            Forest  Ill.    March 2nd,  1879

56.  "This life is all chequered with pleasures and woes, that chase one
another like waves of the deep.  Each brightly or darkly, as onward it
flows, Reflecting our eyes as they sparkle or weep."   Yours Truly.
Delia Wilson
              Forest  Ill.  March 2nd  1879

57.  "B.P. Bussert, Common Cow Puncher
       Powder River P.O.  Wy  Dec 18 1880