Excerpted from:
Author: Jackson, S. Trevena:
Title: FANNY CROSBY'S STORY OF NINETY-FOUR YEARS.
Imprint : NY., Chicago, Toronto: Fleming H. Revell Co.,
Date: (1915).
Description: Ed.1, 12mo, orig. cl., 192, (6)pp., port., photo-illus., v.g.

At the age of fifteen I entered the Institution for the Blind in New York City, where I remained as a pupil for twelve years, improving my opportunities and stocking my mind with useful knowledge. At the Institution I made a careful study of the poetry of Thomas Moore, Horatius Bonar, James Montgomery, Longfellow, Tennyson, Bryant, Whittier, Willis, Wesley, Morris and many others. Here also I wrote many poems, unknown to my teachers. One long poem on the poets, however, was praised by my friends. It concludes:

You from whose garners I have gleaned
such precious fruit, the task has seemed
So pleasant that my humble pen
Would fain resume its work again;
In your bright realms 'twere bliss to stay;
But time forbids, and I obey.

"While in this Institution I was often taken to churches and schools to show what the blind were capable of doing.

Well do I remember our visiting Congress in the autumn of 1843 when I recited a number of my poems, which were well received. They told me that stalwart men were moved to tears when in one of my poems I reached the words:

0 ye who here from every state convene,
Illustrious band, may we not hope the scene
That you behold will prove to every mind
Instruction hath a ray to cheer the blind.

"On returning from such visits a deeper inner longing awoke within my breast for the crystal streams of literature and the friendship of faithful souls. I wanted to go with the gallant, to sit with the sincere, to associate with those who, like myself, were winning their way, in the face of the fiercest foes, seeking a truer meaning to life. A great life was a wonderful inspiration to me. Whenever an opportunity came to meet noted statesmen, masterful musicians, literary leaders and artistic mortals, I always availed myself of it. I craved for them as the heart panteth for the water-brooks.

" To know and make friends with the builders of this nation was a desire of my growing womanhood. Just think, I have lived during the lifetime of all the Presidents of the United States, Washington excepted. Ex-President John Adams was called to rest in the year 1826. I was then just six years old.
"When in Washington I listened with untold pleasure to John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the Republic. I admired his firmness, intelligence and integrity. He had a warm corner in my heart. I was also a true lover and supporter of Andrew Jackson; He was a man of principle and fought for his nation and not his position. He was a big man, and I honored him and used all the influence I possessed in his favor. Though we never met face to face, he knew my strong feelings towards him.

President VanBuren I met, talked with, supped with and hailed as the 'Little Magician.' Down to his dying day he was one of my closest friends. President William Henry Harrison, who remained in office only one month, I revered. I was glad to sing his deeds and herald his virtues in song:

The forest with his praises rung,
His fame was echoed far and wide,
With loud hurrah his name was sung,
Columbia's hero and her pride.
The tuneful harp is now unstrung,
And on the drooping willow hung.

"When President John Tyler visited the Institution for the Blind in New York City, I was asked to write a poem of welcome and recite it for him. I did my very best and when I concluded with the words:

And the glad song of our nation shall be,
Hurrah for John Tyler and liberty tree

The people clapped their hands and gave me such an ovation that I shall never forget his visit. President James Knox Polk was my intimate personal friend. I recited for him at the White House, and he became unusually interested in me. In the year 1848 President Polk visited the Institution for the Blind and I had the honor of dining with him. Then he took my arm, and we went out under the lofty trees and through the grounds where we conversed together and listened to the; bluebirds and robins. For a simple kindness which I showed to a domestic the President said, ` You have done well; I commend you for it. Kindness to those in the humblest capacity of life should be our rule of conduct. By this act you have won, not only my respect, but my esteem.' On leaving him I went to my room feeling as happy as a bird in spring time that I had communed with a great scholar and statesman. That night, ere sleep closed my eyelids, I breathed a petition to our merciful Father to cause His face to shine upon my friend President Polk.
“One of the most sympathetic and dramatic scenes through which I passed during my stay at the Institution was when Henry Clay came to visit us. I knew the struggle of his early boyhood, and the story of his conquest over difficulties was an inspiration to my life. I was chosen to recite a poem of welcome in his honor. After I had rendered it, he came and took me by the hand and said to the audience, ' This is not the only poem for which I am indebted to this lady. Six months ago she sent me some lines on the death of my dear son.' Here both Henry Clay and myself broke down and wept.
“I have been greatly interested in all our Presidents, but, to me, Lincoln towers above the rest like a lofty cedar, and his name will never be effaced from the annals of the world's history. In reading carefully the history of great men, Abraham Lincoln is my captain and leader. Grant, Hayes, and Garfield have a secure place in my memory and a warm spot in my heart, but it was with Grover Cleveland that I was brought into closer touch than with any other of the Presidents. He was secretary to the Institution for the Blind and I often went to him with my heartaches, and he always proved a sympathetic friend. He copied for me very many of my poems. Through all the years he knew me he took an interest in my life and work. I have visited him at his home in Lakewood and at Princeton. A few years ago he wrote me a letter of which I will send you a copy."
[This is the letter :]

"My Dear Friend:
"It is more than fifty years ago that our acquaintance and friendship began ; and ever since that time I have watched your continuous and disinterested labor in uplifting humanity, and pointing out the way to an appreciation of God's goodness and mercy.
“Though those labors have, I know, brought you abundant rewards in your consciousness of good accomplished, those who have known of your works and sympathized with your noble purposes owe it to themselves that you are apprized of their remembrance of these things. I am, therefore, exceedingly gratified to learn that your eighty-fifth birthday is to be celebrated with demonstration of this remembrance. As one proud to call you an old friend, I desire to be early in congratulating you on your long life of usefulness, and wishing you in the years yet to be added to you the peace and comfort born of the love of God.
"Yours very sincerely,
“GROVER CLEVELAND."

The clock in the church tower was striking eleven as my wife brought in a cup of tea for Aunt Fanny. She drank it and added as she wished me good-night, “Tomorrow I will tell you a little love story."