Dear Brother Herr:
As you have been so kind to me and have asked a somewhat detailed account of Christian Endeavor work in this prison and my connection with same, it is my pleasure to comply, especially as you do not visit us as often as we would like and cannot see for yourself all that goes on.
HENRY E. YOUTSEY
The Author knows of no man behind prison bars in whom he is more interested than Henry E. Youtsey.
When I commenced my life sentence here, February 6th, 1901, I fell in love with our Christian Endeavor Society at first sight, and in all those 104 months I have only missed about 15 meetings, due to unavoidable causes. I was ill for three months with malaria and could not go at all.
During the early days of my imprisonment our membership at its best averaged about 100, but during the summer months when the boys were given their choice between the open air of the yard and attendance at the meetings the average was less than 20.
In the summer of 1905, and at the instance of Mrs. M. B. R. Day, of Frankfort, I organized and managed a memorizing contest in which a number of prisoners learned and recited verses of scripture, and I obtained a number of handsome Teachers' Bibles and other presents which were given to them as prizes on Thanksgiving day. I continued this work for the three following summers, and in all forty-five prisoners learned and recited a grand total of 33,332 verses, (over four times as many as are contained in the New Testament), which is an average of 741 verses per man. The men studied so hard that some of them injured their eyes, and it was thought best to discontinue the work for a while.
I was Corresponding Secretary of our Society for about two and one-half years, and last December I was elected its President by the largest majority ever given any candidate for the office.
I started in to raise our membership to two hundred, and succeeded in getting it as high as one hundred and sixty-six. It was also my desire to have better attendance during the hot months, and I used every means I could think of to make our meetings attractive, and I was frequently both pleased and surprised to count from sixty-five to seventy, more than three times what it used to be. Some of our members being delicate are in great need of all the fresh air they can get and remain in the yard all day Sundays in pretty weather although their hearts are with us.
A part of our pledge binds the members to carefully read the Bible every day, and I wondered how they were going to keep that pledge without the Bibles, so I set to work again writing letters in every direction, and almost before I knew it our Ky. C. E. Societies sent us 50 Bibles, and Miss Mary B. Rohrer, of Franklin, Pa., sent me 150 of the prettiest Bibles you ever saw; they have flexible, over-lapping backs, red-under-gold edges, maps, and other helps. This is the most magnificent present we have ever received from outside parties, and besides all these, the Prison Commissioners offered us 100 more, which we could not use. One thing that has impressed me very forcibly is the fact that the Christian people outside are ready at all times to shower blessings upon us, and all we have to do is to ask for them.