The brothers were actually quite close. Kenneth gave him a fine clothes brush once, and an expensive watch he had won playing craps at the railroad shop. Margaret remembers how, when she first met Kenneth, he would talk often of Bradley, and warmly.
Kenneth was close to his mother and inclined to care for her. She was often sick and Kenneth would help her out, doing massage therapy using something called Viavi salve. He remembers buying his mother a new muff and fur piece and charging his father…
Kenneth was given money from the church to pay the note off on his car and take it with him to Siam. Mrs. Ridgeway presented Kenneth with the gift and tried to make a speech, but she began to weep instead. Other people in the congregation began to…
While at Princeton Seminary Kenneth had trouble with Robert Dick Wilson's daughter, Ann, who kept writing him letters, apparently in need of some type of counseling. Kenneth answered only the first of her letters.
In March Kenneth was still looking for a church to lead. He recalls receiving letters from two of the churches he had written to, but there were no firm promises yet at this point.
Kenneth joined a literary society, the Baltonians (Margaret was in the Aeolians). He prepared a musical program for the society. Each society had its own hall.
Kenneth reads from his journal about a two week evangelistic meeting he was planning. He wrote Dad Hall, a prominent Episcopalian evangelist, who agreed to be the speaker. Kenneth then informed the church of the plans.
Kenneth tells how he was saving money for marriage while pastoring the church in Columbus, NJ. He figured he could get up to $600 by the spring, which would give him enough money for his wedding in June
Kenneth tells about his decision to go into mission business and to do so rapidly. This upset Margaret, but it was Kenneth's way of doing things, and it will always be thoughout his life. He reads about his visit to New York to talk with people on…
Kenneth attended the annual banquet although he was sick. He attended his classes as usual, went to the banquet and ate, sang, and felt better. Princeton didn't have Greek societies but eating clubs with very real social function.
Following Bradley Jr.'s death, Brad Sr. wanted Kenneth to have a life-transforming experience, so he took the whole family to Gull Lake Bible Conference where Kenneth met Charles Blanchard, then President of Wheaton College. That encounter led to…
Kenneth worked as an usher at football games and sold tickets in his first two years at Princeton. He remembers a Harvard fan who once found himself on the wrong side of the stadium and would cheer for Harvard from the midst of a crowd that was…
At age fourteen, Kenneth worked with the Erie Railroad and got used to lifting heavy things in a storehouse, which quickly built up his upper body muscles. He worked various kinds of jobs before working in the blacksmith shop, where he learned to…
At age twelve Kenneth would play "follow-the-leader" at a swimming hole in French Creek. His mother didn't want him to be swimming at the river, so he would always manage to come back home with everything dry. But his mother always knew and would…
Kenneth visited his father in Meadville and met a working man at the Erie Railroad who was doing what Kenneth used to do there. He was making substantially more money than Kenneth was likely to make in religious work.
Kenneth wrote out all the Christmas cards by hand, to all the families in the church. It was a beautiful card. Margaret reads the message that Kenneth had composed. Kenneth comments that it was a great love affair, "It was my first church
Kenneth describes the Wright family he had come to know well and spent a lot of time with. They were the finest people Kenneth had ever known. Kenneth and the Wrights became good friends through the years.
After spending all summer studying and working, Kenneth returned to campus and roomed with Bill Irwin. He talks about his book business and how he earned a percentage of the sale for himself.
Kenneth quickly adjusted to Wheaton's strict environment despite the fact that he had had a wild youth. He had gone through a deep spiritual transformation following the death of his brother. He always quickly absorbs when he takes on a new interest.…
Kenneth explains his approach to taking tests. For example he took a three-hour exam in 45 minutes, to his professor's astonishment, by outlining what he was learning in a way that made it easy for him to memorize and remember it quickly during the…
Kenneth's first bike was made of a girl bike frame and parts from several other bikes. He and his brother were to keep their tires soft lest the repair blows up. The second bike was good and had the right kind of frame.
Kenneth tells how his brother Bradley died a year before his graduation from college. Bradley had frequent bowel troubles and their father stupidly suggested once that he used a machine in their home that operated an eccentric (that was "guaranteed…