January 17, 1829, and God gave to her the very best gift He can give to
any child--a good and holy mother.

Katie Mumford, as she was then called, had no sister to play with, and of
her four brothers only one lived to be a man. But her dear mother more
than made up for every lack, and from her lips the little girl learned
those blessed lessons which, in her turn, she has taught to us.

One lesson which Mrs. Mumford early taught her daughter was that our
bodies will not live for ever. She took Katie to see the body of her
infant brother who had just died; and, though she was not more than two
years old at the time, Katie never forgot that first lesson. Spiritual
things were even then real to her, just because they were so real to her
mother. Heaven was home to her, and Jesus her best Friend, ever near to
help and guide her.

Truthfulness was a second of those early lessons which remained with our
Army Mother all her life. She was but four years old when Mrs. Mumford
found her one evening sobbing bitterly in her little cot long after she
should have been asleep. She had told a falsehood, and conscience would
not let her rest. When she had sobbed out her confession, her mother
talked and prayed with her, and at last left her, happy in the assurance
that she was forgiven by her Heavenly Father.

After this you will not be surprised to hear that another lesson early
taught to Katie by her mother was to love her Bible. She could read
nicely when she was but five years old, and she loved to stand by her
mother's side, and read the Bible stories aloud, with just a little help
over the very long words. And this love for God's Word grew deeper every
year, so that by the time she was twelve years old she had read it