In the Middle
When I was a young kid my family would spend a lot of weekends down at my Grandparents’ house. When you are young you have no idea of the world going on around you. You adapt. Your world is your world and that’s just how you think it is supposed to be.
My Mom comes from a large family. She is the oldest child. One of my uncles, the youngest member of her family, who is just a year and a half older than me, and I grew up like weekend brothers. Sometimes I would spend a week with him and my Grandfather during the summer break.
When I was really young I did not understand why we had to go to my grandparent’s all the time. Yes, it was the routine, but none of my other friends did that. Still, I always seemed to have a good time.
When I was about ten years old, the reason for the weekend trips started to become a little clearer. It wasn’t until my adulthood that I really understood what happened during that time, though.
I only remember a few things about my grandmother, my Mom’s Mom. I remember she drove a school bus that was always parked at their house. I remember her picking out crabs, as many of my Mom’s family lived off the water and crabs were a big part of their income and their life. She was good at picking out crabs, too. I remember the long line of cars at her funeral and I remember thinking I must be a descendent of royalty.
My Mom would drag her three kids down to my grandparents’ house just about every Saturday. My Dad would come a lot of the times, too. What I didn’t realize was that my grandmother was dying of cancer. My Mom was trying to help take care of her and my grandfather.
When I was about ten years old, my grandmother died. That didn’t stop the visits, but I think I remember them slowing down a little. But my Mom did make sure there was at least one week where I would have a summer trip to spend with my Grandfather and my uncle.
One of my fondest weeks with my Grandfather and my uncle was full of adventure. I remember my Grandfather being so cool. He had a Chevy pickup truck and he would let my uncle and me ride in the back. Those were the good old days before safety people ruined the fun for all us kids.
On one trip back to my Grandfather’s house we were coming around one of the sharp curves of a country road. As we came to the curve, my uncle used to like to call it Deadman’s Curve, we noticed an overturned RV. There was stuff everywhere. My Grandfather pulled over and asked if they needed any help. My uncle and I got out and started helping them clean up the mess. When we were done, the older couple gave us a few dollars. My uncle and I were thrilled with our new riches.
The next day my Grandfather took my uncle and me to the closest town with a store. There, in one of the stores, I saw a bright, new BB gun. Knowing that my mother was not too fond of guns, my grandfather said I would have to call home and get permission before I could buy it.
I called home, and being the smart boy I was, I talked to my Dad instead of my Mom. My Dad said I could get it but I’m sure he had a lot of explaining to do to my Mom before they picked me up. I believe my Dad eventually took possession of my BB gun when I left home.
John Scott was the fifth of ten children. He would live to be his parents’ last surviving child and he would also live to be their oldest child. He was the only one of their children to outlive both the mother and the father. He would die in his sleep at the age of seventy-three years old.
John Scott was a Congressman from Ohio’s second district for four years. His Dad died twelve years before he took office. John Scott would be married twice and have a total of thirteen children. Although he is the only American to hold this title, there is very little else that seems to be known about his life.
In the days of John Scott’s death, grave robbing was a “professional” business, but not really a legal one. Medical colleges, needing fresh cadavers, would sneak funding to “businessmen” who mysteriously found ways to drop off dead bodies at their back door while no one was looking. This was a real concern of people who just lost loved ones and believed their remains would find final relief in the coffins they placed in their graves.
Three of John Scott’s sons, John, Carter and Ben, knew of this terrible “profession” and they went out of their way to prevent it happening to their beloved father. Why just eleven days before, Augustus Devin had died of tuberculosis and had been buried near where their father was buried. As they buried their father they noticed that Augustus’ grave had been dug up and robbed.
The three sons decided not to take that chance with their father. The grave was already bricked vaulted, but they decided to reinforce it with three large stones on top of the casket and then they covered it with cement. After the cement dried, the grave was filled with dirt. They also paid a watchman $30 to guard the grave for thirty days.
His name was Lamech. The Bible doesn’t say a lot about Lamech. We know who his father was and we know who one of his sons was. We know he had other sons and daughters. He was from Seth’s, Adams’ son, line. Seth was the child born to Adam and Eve after Cain and Abel. Jesus would descend from his branch of the family tree. And we know that he lived 777 years. That’s pretty much all we know about Lamech.
As you can tell by the number of years Lamech lived, he lived a long time ago. After the flood, people just didn’t live that long anymore. With 777 years to his credit, you would think there would be more written about Lamech. There isn’t much more we know about him.
So let’s think about Lamech for a moment. What must his life have been like? Like most of us, Lamech was probably a good mix of his father and mother, with some of his own personality thrown in to add originality. Like many of early Bible characters, we don’t know what Lamech’s Mom’s name was.
Poor Moms in the Old Testament. They probably did most of the child rearing, yet we don’t even know their names. Much like today, a Mom is probably one of the most unrecognized jobs if you were to list jobs by importance. It’s a shame, except for Mother’s Day and their birthdays, they don’t get noticed more because they really do have a lot to do with shaping their children’s lives. Their guidance probably shapes more lives than anyone else in someone’s life.
Being unnoticed does not affect most Moms. Sure it bothers them when they don’t feel recognized, but it doesn’t usually stop them from loving us or caring for us. When the ball gets dropped on the parental end it is usually the father and not the mother who does the dropping. Mothers just seem to have these extra senses that they won’t let go, no matter what.
What we can probably tell about Lamech was that his Dad was probably a pretty good father because Lamech lived 777 years. If his Dad didn’t teach him how to work the land, well, he probably wouldn’t have lived 777 years.
What we can tell about Lamech’s Mom was that he would probably not have been listed in the Bible if she didn’t instill God in her son’s heart. And if Lamech’s Mom and Lamech’s wife did not instill God in their sons’ lives, none of us would probably be here.
John Scott’s son, John, and John’s cousin, George Eaton, were very curious about Augustus Devin’s death. They decided to investigate. Armed with a search warrant, and backed by three Cincinnati police, the two headed to the Medical College of Ohio. This college had a reputation for cadavers mysteriously showing up.
When the party arrived, the janitor, Mr. Marshall, escorted them as they searched the building. They found all kinds of body parts and even the remains of a “black woman,” but no Augustus. Mr. Marshall was getting a little nervous and said that he needed to alert the faculty of their presence. The group understood Mr. Marshall’s position, but they had someone tail him without him noticing.
Mr. Marshall went to an upstairs room and that is when they confronted him again. They notice a square opening in the floor with a windlass, a horizontal barrel with vertical post with a pulley and a crank. Attached to the windlass was a rope. They cranked up the rope and there was a dead, naked man tied by the feet to the rope. Only his head was covered with a cloth.
The group thought they had found Augustus, but John noticed that it was an older gentleman. Augustus was only twenty-three years old. But they talked John into lifting the cloth over the gentleman’s face, just in case. Imagine the shock on John’s face when he saw the dead man’s face was none other than that of his own father, John Scott. Augustus body was eventually found in a pickling vat at the University of Michigan.
The stones at the foot the coffin of John Scott’s grave “were displaced, the casket was drilled into, and the lid had been pried up so the body could be roped by the feet and pulled out.”
So what happened at the trial is even more of a mystery. The Hamilton County Court House burned down in 1884 and all the criminal and civil cases, and all the records stored there were lost.
So who was John Scott? John Scott Harrison is the only person to be the son of one President and the father of another President. John Scott Harrison was the son of William Henry Harrison and the father of Benjamin Harrison. John Scott was about twelve years old when his Dad became President. He never made it to Washington to see his Dad as President as his Dad died about a month after he was sworn in. John Scott never saw his son be President either. Benjamin Harrison became President about ten years after his father, John Scott, died.
Lamech is like the catalyst that transforms the past with the future. Lamech’s father was Methuselah. At 969 years, Methuselah is the oldest person listed in the Bible. Lamech’s son was Noah. We all know Noah’s importance to our existence.
Life seems to have three phases. The first phase is preparing for the future. In this phase we believe the world revolves around us. In this phase the bulk of our life is consumed with learning. We learn to walk, talk, read and write. We learn our lessons about family, friends, morals and God. We grow into who we will eventually become.
The next phase is surviving the present. Here we become spouses, parents, employees and leaders. Our focus seems centered on the children, our jobs, the mortgage and paying our bills. Our relief and pride seems to be seeing our children graduate, being able to take a nice vacation and hopefully having a little extra to store away for that rainy day.
Finally we enter the phase I will call remembering the past. Getting the house paid off, trying to stay healthy, being able to retire and being able to enjoy that retirement are the goals of this age. Grandchildren, longer trips, relaxing, and discovering things you always wanted to try but never had the time to work on are things you look forward to.
Each phase serves a very important purpose. Sometimes people get stuck in just one phase. I have seen people never grow out of the phase that it is all about them. I have seen people, later in life, who feel that they have always done everything for everyone else and now it should be all about them. It’s a little sad when you never grow out of that phase or you feel like you have been cheated because you feel like you never had a real chance to live that phase to its fullest potential.
If you think about it, Methuselah had to teach Lamech to become a man and Lamech in turn had to teach Noah to become a man. William Henry Harrison had to teach John Scott Harrison to become a man and John Scott Harrison had to teach Benjamin Harrison to become a man. My Grandfather had to help my Mother learn to become a woman and my Mother in turn had to help me learn to become a man.
If we all get stuck in the same phase, before you know it, the world will only have children in it. Each phase is so important. Don’t get stuck in just one phase your whole life. If you are a kid, learn and explore. If you are an adult, love and teach. If you are older, don’t be afraid to share your experiences and be thankful for the life you have been given. Life goes so much better when we are not so afraid to play our part.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Thank you so much for my grandparents and all the wonderful memories I have with them. Thank you so much for my parents whose love seemed to know no bounds. Thank you that I have been able to share part of my life with my son, step-daughters and grandchildren. Thank you for all the phases of life. Amen.
