Aaron Burr Maston was born on March 23, 1853, in Coshocton County, Ohio, U.S.A., in a little log cabin, which is still standing on the bank of a winding river, known as Crooked Run.

      His sister states that as a boy he was very devoted to his mother, helping her in many little ways. Mother and son were drawn together through the lad's delicate constitution, and the mother's tender and assiduous care.

      Late in life, referring to his childhood days, A. B. Maston wrote: "Men get to love places for their associations. To me the most enchanted scene on earth is the little valley in Ohio, where I was born and partly brought up. There is more music and poetry in its memories than all else beside. The log cabin is a king's palace, decorated inside and outside with the rich recollections of childhood."

      Aaron received his first education at Crooked Run, in Foster's School, about two miles from his home. When he was ten years old, his father sold the little homestead and moved to Whitley County, Indiana, locating near the beautiful little town of South Whitley. About this time, the terrible Civil War broke out, but Aaron was safely sheltered in childish unconsciousness on his father's farm among peaceful country scenes. [4]

      At Whitley, Aaron attended the Wilson School, but after living at this place only one year, his father sold the farm, and moved by wagon to Cairo County, Illinois. Not able to content himself with Illinois, he moved back to Coshocton County, Ohio.

      That winter Aaron attended school in the city of Coshocton, and afterwards at a school called by the strange name of "Hard Scrabble." After living in this place for four years, his parents moved to Jenkin Ridge, in the same county. The first "graded" school he attended was at Spring Mountain, Ohio.

      There were seven boys and three girls in the Maston family, and as the parents were by no means wealthy, they all lived perforce "the simple life." Aaron, with his brothers and sisters, went to school barefooted. They worked on the farm all the summer, and only attended day-school in the winter.

      As a boy, Aaron developed a taste for reading, but his one book, it may almost be said, was the "Pilgrim's Progress," over which he loved to pore during the evenings. His mother was a Baptist, and a very worthy, pious woman, regular in her attendance at the worship. Her husband, though a most estimable man, never made any profession of faith, and was not a member of any Church. At the same time, he was wholly in favour of his wife's religious proclivities, and would always drive her to church, but would generally remain outside while the service proceeded. [5]

      It is almost a truism that great and good men as a rule owe much to their mothers. It was so in the case of A. B. Maston, and the Churches of Christ in Australasia owe more than they will ever know to the piety and ability of this worthy woman. Referring to his mother, Bro. Maston used to say: "The best person I ever knew in all the world was a Baptist."

      Aaron became a member of the Church of Christ when he was fifteen. Writing of his own decision for Christ, and of the preacher who led him to the knowledge of the truth, he says: "As a rule, we think the man who first showed us the way out of darkness into light is the finest preacher in the world, and we never hear his like again. There is a charm about the first time we hear the truth we never again experience. When fifteen years of age, I heard for the first time the truth, as I now understand it, from J. W. Lowe. Mr. Lowe is not a great preacher, but is a very useful man, and has won many hundreds to Christ."

      Two thoughts suggest themselves as we read these words. The one is, that in A. B. Maston we have another illustration of youthful decision for Christ. How long will it take us to learn the lesson that the conversion of boys and girls is more to be desired than that of men and women, because the young people not only have, as a rule, a longer life of service before them, but experience shows that in the majority of cases they prove more faithful. The second thought is, that numbers are no criterion. When that one boy of [6] fifteen came forward, no one made much of it, and, perhaps, Mr. Lowe, the preacher, thought less of it than any. But, possibly, that one boy did more for the Kingdom of Christ than all the converts of many a so-called successful preacher. We know nothing about success or failure. The best that any one of us can do is to be faithful to the trust committed to us, and to leave results to God. [7]

[LABM 4-7]