Early History of Hillsboro

By Rev. H. C. Northcott

[The foregoing history of Hillsboro, Fleming County, Kentucky, seems to be a complete copy of Northcott's manuscript except for the first chapter. This is determined in part where he says, "I have heretofore mentioned ......", as with Zadok Payne, who appears only once in this narrative.]

New Hope Church was about two miles west of Hillsboro. It was in the midst of a settlement of Irish Presbyterians who settled in that vicinity in the early part of the last century. The house was built of hewn logs, about 40 by 50 feet, with gallery and boxed pulpit as heretofore mentioned. It was built before I was old enough to go to Sunday School and was the first church building in that part of the county. The Sunday School conducted there was the first in that section, if not the first in the county. The house was built by the furnishing of hewn logs by the contributors, each one as many as he chose, while others contributed labor or other building materials. My father offered to assist, but the church declined on the ground that if he helped build he would wish to preach in it and they did not want his Arminianism, but that did not make him afraid of their Calvinism, as he sent his younger children there to Sunday School. We took our dinners with us to Sunday School, for we had two sessions, morning and afternoon. As before stated, Solomon WARD came from Carlisle once a month.

Captain David WILLS was Superintendent. He was an earnest Christian. In his prayers the big tears would chase each other down his face. I sometimes saw him in military costume with the cavalry on the muster field and admired his soldierly appearance. Uncle Tommy NEALIS was my teacher. There was not much in his teaching to interest or instruct boys. Wm. PORTER was sometimes a substitute teacher.

Prominent in the church were the CROWS, TODDS, STRAHANS and other NEALISES. A Charley NEALIS who lived on the road from Hillsboro to Saunders' and Day's Mill, two miles from Hillsboro, was a manufacturer of furniture. He had a factory hand named Charley CHINN who was a great drinker, and his sprees at Hillsboro and at Mr. NEALIS' would last a week. He would justify himself by saying, "I am Charley CHINN, independent poor man." There was a Hugh and a Steve NEALIS, but I never knew them well. In later years, Rev. J. P. HENDRICH often preached at New Hope and during my early life they had become more fraternal and Uncle Jerry HUNT preached funerals there, and the M. E. Church, for a long time, made it a regular preaching place. Many are the Saints of God whose remains repose in the spacious cemetery. New Hope has sent into God's great harvest field three preachers, if no more: Filelding STRAHAN, William PAUPIN and William CROW. As a factor in the history of the people of the vicinity, New Hope has done a noble work.

William McKEE lived about two miles southwest of Hillsboro, on the Long Branch. I think his wife was a Miss BOYD, of that vicinity. He was a stone mason by trade and cultivated a small farm. He had two sons, Robert and David, and several small daughters. His sons became stone masons. Robert became a wealthy landowner and is now dead. David never became a wealthy man, but I learn he is still living near Poplar Plains. They were good people. There was another Robert McKEE, son of Guyan McKEE, who lived in a different part of the county, but who I think at one time clerked in a store at Hillsboro, later but going to MaysviIle as an Editor of a paper. Later in life he became quite a prominent man at Selma, Alabama, dying some years since.

There was a John NEALIS, son of one of the older set, who lived half a mile northeast of New Hope, on Locust Creek. He married a Miss MORRISON, as also Charles NEALIS had done. The MORRISON family lived some miles northeast of Hillsboro.

From Hillsboro south, we go through the CRAIN neighborhood. The old grandfather was still living in my early boyhood. He was every frail, thin in flesh, almost a mere skeleton. He lived with his son, Lewis, until simply worn out with old age he gradually, without apparent disease, passed away. Mrs. Jane CRAIN had the following family: Thomas M., John Allen, Charles, Amelia, Eliza and Louise.

Amelia married Henry PICKRELL; Eliza, Rev. Daniel S. BARKSDALE; Louise, Dr. Simpson RIGGEN, who had been pastor of Fleming Circuit, but had been appointed presiding elder of a mountain district and had started to it, getting as far as Hillsboro, he was taken ill at the home of his son, and died there. Thomas M. CRAIN was a merchant in Hillsboro but died before middle age. John Allen CRAIN emigrated to Illinois. Both Charles and Samuel died in their teens from tuberculosis. Miss Polly MOFFITT, a sister of Mrs. Jane CRAIN, lived with her until her death. William CRAIN married a Miss MOFFITT, sister of Mrs. Jane CRAIN. Their children were Humphrey, James, John Simeon, Thos. Jefferson, Elizabeth, and Louise, I think.

Humphrey died in early manhood, James was merchant, police judge and legislator. His first wife was Celia, daughter of Rev. Basil HUNT and his second wife, Jennie, daughter of Ambrose OLIVER of Poplar Plains. John married Miss BARNES for his first wife and later Miss SMITH of Flemingsburg. Simeon married Miss TABOR, and Thomas Jefferson, Miss [Amanda M.] PLUMMER. He went to Gallatin, Mo. where he died a few years ago. Elizabeth was the second wife of Rev. D. S. BARKSDALE and her sister married James FIZER, whose son was long in the Methodist ministry. Lewis CRAIN had the following children: John, Richard Lewis, Joseph, James, Simeon, Nancy, Elizabeth and Allen. John Married Florinda MARKWELL, daughter of Lewis MARKWELL.

Richard Lewis was the only belligerent CRAIN I ever knew. He seemed to seek quarrels at school. He came into Sunday School where I was left in charge by the superintendent, Rev. D. S. BARKSDALE, and was so boisterous that I had to reprove him. He went out and told his brother, John, that he would knock me down when I came out. John told him that he would be liable to a heavy fine for disturbing religious worship, and he put it off. But the next Saturday Mr. TURNER was cutting my hair, he came in. I spoke to him as usual, but he said: "No, sir, and as soon as you get your hair cut I am going to whip you." Somebody ran down to where the Magistrates were holding court and told my father that I was about to get into a fight. He came at once and shook his cane over us and said we should not fight. I was glad to get out of it but I suppose Dick was sorry, as he felt certain be could whip me. I never held it against him. His father for awhile seemed distant and the younger, Simeon, was one of my pupils. I don't know what became of Dick, Joseph and James. Nancy married Lewis MARKWELL for his second wife. Elizabeth married Wesley TAYLOR, a merchant of Owingsville. She was a member of my pastoral charge on Owingsville Circuit. Simeon was a dry goods clerk for Mr. TAYLOR, the last I knew of him. When in his old age, their father came to visit them and he always attended my service if I preached while be was there. Ellen married George SUMMITT. They occupied the Lewis CRAIN farm after his death.

James CRAIN (the elder) had the following children: Marshall, Thornton, Samuel, Lewis Hiram, Patsy and maybe others. Marshall and Thornton married sisters named HOPKINS of Bath County. Lewis married Nancy DILLON whose father occupied the cottage north of my father's. I don't know who Sam or Hiram married. Hiram was a pupil of mine and I learned from some source he was a soldier in the Civil War. Lewis bought and kept the saloon at Hillsboro for some time. He moved to Bath and lived near Wyoming.

There was a small creek that headed near the James CRAIN farm and ran south to the ford at Fox Creek. I think called Long Branch. But whether that was its name or not, it seemed pretty long when coming up it. On that creek lived Alfred MARKWELL, son of William MARKWELL, who lived west of the mouth of that branch. When I was colporteur for the America Bible Society I carried a few hymn books for sale. When I called at Alfred's, his eldest daughter, America, wished to buy a 35 cent hymn book and had the money of her own to pay for it. But he utterly refused to allow her to spend it. I was glad to learn that she afterward married a gentleman who took great pleasure in affording all such sources of comfort.

Please allow me to correct one mistake in my former notes, where it says Thomas CRAIN was the owner of the CRAIN farm on the south of Lewis CRAIN'S farm. It should have been James CRAIN.

I will give a little more about Hillsboro. William TURNER, the tailor, had three boys, Tom, Benton and John, as near the same size as I ever saw boys born of the same mother at different births, and they were about equal in all kinds of mean mischief. They played it on each other and also on others. They became my pupils and they gave me more trouble than a dozen other pupils. I tried every way I could think of to get them to quit their mischief and study, but they would not and I was compelled to use the rod. But they would grin and never whimper. I wore along a good while, but no improvement appeared. One morning when I entered the school room I found that the second boy had gotten there ahead of me and had committed a very base deed. Other boys saw him and accused him and he confessed. I punished him severely. I got a request at noon from his father to call at his shop after school. I called accordingIy. The father said, "You whipped my boy severely this morning." I said, "Yes I did." He said, "The boy said he was not guilty." I said, "He said so to me, but I had proof of others who saw him." "Well," said Mr. TURNER, "You must not do so again, or you will have me to whip or I'll whip you." I said, "I don't want to whip you and don't expect you to whip me. But there is a way to avoid further trouble. You are not a subscriber; you only pay for the time spent. If you will stop now, I will stop now. I will be glad, as I only allow them to come because it is their only chance for an education. You can still send them, but I cannot control them without punishment." The boys were all back the next day, and I whipped that boy before dismission and I never was called to account again, though the boys came on.

Many years after these events I was in Linneus, Mo. at my brother Benjamin's, and we were talking about people we had known in Kentucky when my brother said, "Do you remember William TURNER, of Hillsboro?" "O, yes," I said, "I have good reason to remember him." "Well, he is here," he answered. I said, "What about his boys?" "They are grown up and working on the railroad. They are wild and reckless, but Tom says he loves you more than any other man he ever saw, but that you used to thrash him mightfully." I called to see Mr. TURNER and was cordially received. I have often wondered as to the final outcome of those boys.

John ROYSE married Miss Nancy WALTON. He built a small 1 1/2 story log house about 400 yards east of the village and lived there a long time. He then moved to the farm on Rock Lick Creek. I sometimes stopped with them on my trips to Morgan county quarterly meetings, and at one time preached to the family and a big lot of their neighbors. They had three sons, Hiram, Parker and Benjamin, and one daughter. Mrs. ROYSE was a daughter of Aunt Sally WALTON and a sister, Polly, made her home with them. John seems to have lost his zeal as a champion of the doctrine of unconditional, universal salvation in his old age.

After the death of my brother-in-law, Jacob TRUMBO, and the settlement of the estate, my sister, Mrs. Mary TRUMBO, moved to Hillsboro and occupied the ROYSE house and died there. She left several children: Elizabeth, Martha, Sarah and Asa; twins, Deborah Ann and Jacob, the latter dying in boyhood. Elizabeth married a man in the western part of the state, perhaps in Union County. Martha married Jas. BATEMAN, of the northern part of the county, and bore him a son and a daughter. The son died in Ohio a good many years ago, while the daughter married John T. WATTS, now of your city, and they had two bright daughters: one of them a successful stenographer in Washington, D. C., the other a teacher in Flemingsburg Graded High School; both worthy and well qualified women, their parents being worthy citizens.

Asa TRUMBO went to Illinois at the close of the war, and later to Nebraska, and I think is long since dead. Sarah TRUMBO married Rev. Josiah Whitaker FITCH, living but a few years, and leaving one son, Dr. FITCH, of Bowling Green, Ky. Deborah Ann TRUMBO married L. Green FITCH, a brother of Josiah, and they are both living, spending their declining years with their two sons and daughter. Frederick, who married a daughter of ex-Congressman Sam J. PUGH, now lives at Huntington, W. Va. where he is a successful physician, while their daughter, Sallie, married a Mr. OWENS and lives at Portsmouth, Ohio. The history of this family is another instance of the well-doing of the orphaned children of pious parents, according to a Divine promise.

The saloon of Hillsboro, kept first by Chev FOUDRAY, then by Wash. VALANDINGHAM (Flanagan for short), and then by Lewis CRAIN, Senior, was, through its whole history, a vile, corrupting asset. The proprietors, especially VANLANDINGHAM, opposed all efforts for the moral improvement of the village and surrounding population. It became a great resort for all who loved whiskey and brandy, especially on Saturday afternoons. All street quarrels and fights found their origin in the drink and sometimes, during other week days, the magistrates had to hold court to try cases of fisticuffs, and sometimes most days of the week were used to repress peace-breakers. Somebody said, "Everyday of the week is a 'law day' with Sunday for a rarity." A quiet, sober man who never drank anything was liable to sneers and insults by the intoxicated, and good women ran risks in shopping of being insulted by profane and indecent language.

The only burglary ever committed in the village was a great surprise. And the court tried one for it who was brought up in that saloon, and I think he only escaped conviction by the skill of his attorney. Ludicrous events took place.

I was in HUNT'S store one day on business when all at once I was met by three men, each of whom was in good humor and wanted to talk to me. One had made a flatboat trip in early life and wanted to tell me all about it; another was a Virginia hog merchant....he pronounced it "Virginus" and he wished me to listen to him tell of his experience. The other was an old Irishman, a little drunker than the others and very impatient with the others, and finally broke out, "Here's the way old Ben NORTHCUTT preaches!" And raising his voice he cried out: "Hear, 0 Israel, Hear, 0 Israel." As soon as I could, I stepped out.

Hillsboro's saloon drew the thirsty from far as well as near, and sometimes there was a visitor from way up Licking, and when his tongue became loosened by his drams, he always had a great secret to tell anyone whom he could persuade to go out behind the stable, and as soon as they were out of sight he would begin to tell the secret in a low whisper. As he went on, his voice grew more and more distinct and he became more excited and louder still, until the voice rose to a yell and the whole village could hear.

Another incident in my experience may show still more of the evil affects of the saloon, it drew the thirsty from afar. One man from near Goddard gave great trouble to the magistrates by his drunken violence. I called at a store on my way home from school, and the man was there, quite drunk. As soon as he saw me he began to swear, directing his language to me and "Old Ben NORTHCOTT said, 'Rope him, rope him' ". Instead of getting angry as he expected, and maybe a fight, I quietly left and went home. The next day I was called to the school house door and there was my man, on horseback. He was duly sober and getting as near as he could, said: "Mr. NORTHCOTT, I have come to confess the wrong I did you yesterday, and to ask your forgiveness." "Certainly, I am glad to forgive you," I said. He seemed pleased and then I said, "I am sorry, Mr. D., that you allow yourself in the condition that makes it necessary to make such an humble confession." He replied, "That's my business." A friend of mine, an editor of a prominent paper, when I remonstrated with him for his excesses, made exactly the same reply. This idea came from the old falsehood of the liquor traffic, that a citizen has a right under the constitution to get drunk, and act the fool and the madman if he likes. It is one of the Devil's biggest lies.

The next house going east was that of Penland HUMPHRIES, a little north of the road. He was the son of Uncle Billy HUMPHRIES. I think he became a preacher in the Newlight Church and moved to the waters of Triplett Creek. I called to see him there about 1874. I think Wm. HELPENSTINE lived near the HUMPHRIES place. Still east, old Mr. OVERTON owned a home on the road. He came from Old Virginia. He had a son named Creedwell who married Mary VANSANDT, daughter of William VANSANDT, while his daughter married Gamalial FREEMAN. A family named CLAYPOOL occupied the house after the OVERTONS left it. Uncle Billy HUMPHRIES lived on a farm adjoining on the east. He married his second wife when advanced in life and had one son, Barney, by this marriage, who became a prominent Methodist. Still further east lived James GORRELL, a cooper, and he had one son, Manswell, and his second wife was a widow named *CHRISTY with two sons, William and Ambrose, and perhaps a daughter. [*nee Susan F. SEAMANDS, widow of Robert A. CHRISTY and daughter of Barnett and Frances SEAMANDS.]

Mr. GORRELL made our lard kegs, which had to be made of soft wood; linden being principally used, as they had to be made leak-proof and required the utmost of mechanical skill in the fitting and hooping. The linden is also known as the lime or teal tree, and is rather rare in this climate, and he sometimes had to bring his timber from some distance. His stepsons were often at my father's house and sometimes ate with us. One meal we had old fashioned fritters. Will went into raptures over them and said, "They are the goodest things I ever et." I think the boys were in my school. They became good men.

Opposite Mr. GORRELL'S, on the north, was a creek known as Hornet's Branch which carried the water from east of Cochran's Gap and North of the road down to Fox Creek. I do not know why it was nicknamed, as it had another name, I think Mills Creek. On that creek James McGREGOR lived and raised three sons, Alexander, Robert and Barrisford. My brother and I went there one cold October morning, having been invited to come and get late peaches. Alex and Robert came to our school on our farm, walking all the way morning and evening, a distance of about three miles. Alex afterward showed his appreciation by giving me a school basket which he had made himself. He married a Miss Betty STEEL, of Hillsboro. Robert lived in Rowan County and was considered wealthy. Barrisford attended my school at Hillsboro, also walking from home. He was a good pupil.

Old James GRAHAM lived on Locust Creek, not far from the mouth. His house was a regular preaching place for Fleming Circuit. The family entertained the preachers and many of the people. He was a faithful class leader. He had the following sons as now remembered: Robert, William, Alfred, Solomon, Hampton and Ambrose; and two daughters, one of whom married Taylor THOMPSON and the other, Joseph H. STORY. Robert was a clerk for John MATHEWS at what was later known as the Saunders and Day Mill site, and afterward married one of the daughters of John MATHEWS. The MATHEWS family were English people. Wm. GRAHAM was a farmer and stock trader, making many trips to Spain for fine stock. Alfred married a sister of Joseph H. STORY, was elected to the legislature, later lost his mind and drowned himself in Licking river, near "Falling Rock" in the late 50's. Solomon also lost his mind and suicided by taking poison, I believe. Hampton never married, I believe, and was a trader in mules to the south and died many years ago. Ambrose married a daughter of Robert SHEPERD and lived on the old homestead, we think, until his death in 1884. He is still survived by three children, John C., B. E. Woodson and Mrs. Bruce SAUNDERS. John still owns and lives on the old Locust Creek farm.

After the death of Alfred GRAHAM, his widow married George MUSE, a Virginian, and a son by a former marriage to Eliza KIRK was James MUSE, who entered the Methodist ministry and died while a member of the Illinois Conference and his widow now lives in Mt. Carmel. I omitted to state that Wm. GRAHAM married Lydia Ann DEARING and lived at the old Tom RAWLINGS place, just east of Locust Church. I think all the GRAHAMS of Hillsboro vicinity were descendants of the old class leader, and they should be proud of such an ancestor. While I was class leader at FANT'S school house he came and led the class for me.

The Joseph H. STORY who married a daughter of James GRAHAM was one of the sons of Elija STORY, all of the older set of STORYS having large families, many of them going west. James STORY went to Indiana and afterward, John LYONS, of the LYONS family on Locust Creek, went to Indiana, married the daughter of James STORY, and both came back to Kentucky on horseback. He finally settled his family two miles west of Tollesboro, in Lewis County, where they lived to a respected old age and passed away. Hiram and Martha, of the old farm, still survive, as does Jackson, of Covington. Milton died in the Civil War, fighting for the Union. Mary, the eldest, married Elias DAVIS and died some years since in Missouri, I think. John LYONS was one of the most zealous Democrats I ever knew, and differing from him in both politics and religion, I liked him as a man for his honest opinions, and am always glad to learn of the welfare of his children.

On the road west from Hillsboro, 1 1/2 miles, lived Isaac and Rachel TERHUNE. They had no children but they had an adopted daughter who married Samuel LYONS, a brother of John. He also settled in Lewis county and his descendants still live there. The TERHUNES also raised a boy named William MAUPIN. He and I were members of the same class in the Presbyterian Sunday School at New Hope. Uncle Tommy NEALIS was our teacher. When the school closed for the winter a bible was offered as a prize to the pupil who would memorize the most of the Epistle to the Romans, and recite it when the school would open in the spring. I tried it and recited five verses. MAUPIN tried Romans, dropped it and took up the Epistle to the Hebrews, recited five chapters and got the bible. This boy finally went to Indiana, became a Methodist preacher and a member of the Indiana Conference and was very successful for many years. He died, but now has a son who is a member of the same conference.

It was about a mile from TERHUNES to New Hope. David WILLS was Superintendent and the STRAHANS, NEALIS and CROWS were teachers. Solomon WARD was the pastor. He lived at Carlisle and came once a month. There was a seated gallery where the boys were placed while the pastor preached. He had a high box pulpit. He would close the door after him and his audience of the lower floor could not see him when sitting down, but we of the gallery could see all he did, and while the clerk and people were singing the hymns he used his comb and brush to get his hair in shape for his more public appearance. I suppose he preached good sermons, but was too young to be a good judge.

My *father settled in the woods and lived many years in a cabin. When he was ready to enter land for a farm, he wished to get a farm near Poplar Plains, but the land had all been taken up and he had to come further south and buy where I was born. There had been no improvement, not a stick amiss. I think he had built his second cabin before his hewn log dwelling was built, and then the cabin was taken for a kitchen and a loom house. The first cabin was standing when I was a boy. It was perhaps 75 yards south of the permanent residence. I have heard him say that the hewn log, two-story house was 3 years in building, and that one object in building it was that it might serve as a preaching place, as there were no churches then. It was not even weather-boarded until I was in my teens. [*Benjamin Northcott, b. abt. 1770]

His first wife was Miss Jane ARMSTRONG, sister of William ARMSTRONG, of Poplar Plains, and of John ARMSTRONG, of Allison Creek. She died and left him three small daughters. The oldest, Drusilla, when perhaps thirty-five years of age, married Joshua VANSANDT. They lived in Indiana and had one son, Jerome. The second daughter, Jane, was brought up by Joseph BELT, whose wife was a sister of her mother. She married a Mr. CALDWELL and they lived and raised a family in Shelbyville, Tenn. A son of hers, Robert, married a daughter of Doctor HOPKINS of the Methodist Book Concern, Cincinnati, Ohio. I shared the honor of the marriage service with her father. She had been a teacher in a school in Tennessee. Another son of Jane Caldwell also became a distinguished lawyer and judge in the higher courts of Tennesee.

The youngest of the three daughters, Nancy, married John VANSANDT, a nephew of Joshua. They lived in Hamilton County, Ohio. He was a man of strong mind; well informed, a devoted Christian and the most uncompromising abolitionist I ever knew. His house was on the "Underground Railroad" of Kentucky to Canada and a hiding and feeding place for slaves fleeing to freedom. I suppose he helped quite a number, but some owners and losers of slaves of Kentucky brought suit against him for their losses and he had to give up a valuable farm to pay them. He was spoken of in "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN" as John Van Trompe.

My father married Martha O'DELL as his second wife. She was the mother of twelve children. Eleanor was her first. She was married to Lewis PETTIJOHN of Ohio. He was a preacher in the True Weslyan Methodist Church. After his death she lived with her daughter, Mrs. Frank WILSON of Noblesville, Ind., and died there at the age of about 96 years. Mrs. WILSON still survives her, and perhaps there was a son. Elizabeth, the second daughter of my mother, married Andrew GRAHAM. I do not know what relation he was to the GRAHAM family previously mentioned. He died leaving her two small boys, James and Nathan. They then lived at my father's until she married John McDANIEL, a widower, when they removed to Indiana, near Crawfordsville, where he died. She and her sons then lived in Crawfordsville until her death. James and Nathan became leading merchants there.

William was the first son of the family. He married Fanny, a daughter of Colonel Joseph GODDARD, the old Revolutionary soldier who built Goddard's Mill on the Sand Lick Fork of Fox Creek, and who has many descendants in Fleming. After a few years William removed to Vevay, Indiana, where he was the leading butcher for a long time. He was a local preacher in the M. E. Church. He had a good mind, well furnished, an attractive personality, fine voice, and always drew people to hear him. His first wife died and he married a second time to one who was the mother of Thomas NORTHCOTT, a preacher for years in the Indiana Conference. All of his several children have passed away with their parents except two, Mrs. PATTON, of Vevay, Indiana, and John B. NORTHCOTT of Paris, Ky. At least these are the only ones I know of as living.

Fanny, the next daughter, married Elias PETTIJOHN, cousin of Lewis. They emigrated to Illinois, where a daughter, Huldah, was born to them. Then both father and mother died. The infant Huldah was taken by her aunt, Ruth Pettijohn, although my mother was anxious to have her.

James Hood NORTHCOTT was the next. In his early manhood he traveled on foot over many states, selling oilcloths for dining room purposes. In Maryland he met and married Catherine, whose family name I have forgotten. They settled in Illinois, near Decatur, where he became a magistrate and local preacher. When the Civil War came he tried to get a commission, but failing in this, he joined the Union Army as a private. In a battle in Arkansas he was severely wounded, but survived and lived to a good old age, yet suffered from his wounds till death. One son, Edwin, is a physician in Portland, Maine, and two daughters are teachers in that state, while Theodore owns and conducts the celebrated Luray Caves, near Luray, Virginia. Both brothers are married, while the sisters are not.

Sophia, the next daughter, was born Jan. 21, 1811. She was first married in 1829 to Hiram DULEY, a local preacher in the M. E. Church. They settled on a farm on Licking River, adjoining the Ringo Mill, where they lived until the death of Hiram Dulay in 1840. Four children were born to them: Benjamin Zadock, Joseph Strange, William Watson, and Martha Susan. Benjamin and Joseph went to Illinois in 1854 and were followed by William or "Wat", as he was commonly known, in 1859. All three of them made that state their home from that time. Benjamin was a fine mathematician and his life was spent as a teacher for a long time in Illinois, but later in life as Professor of Mathematics in a small college near Little Rock, Arkansas where he died some years ago. Joseph and Watson both went into the Union Army from Illinois, and both were wounded. Watson so severely that he was discharged in 1863. He came back to Kentucky and married the sweetheart of his youth, Miss Loutitia WILSON, daughter of Scott WILSON who then lived in Bath County, and they together went to Illinois. She was a woman of fine character and was the mother of two sons, one of whom is John S., now a prosperous member of the Globe Tailoring Co. of Cincinnati, while George is in the real estate business at Hoopeston, Illinois. Their one daughter, Ina, married a Mr. OGDEN and lives at Toledo, Ohio. She is a very talented writer of sacred songs, many of her songs being used by Evangelist Billy Sunday in his work, and many of them are to be found in the popular song collections of the day. Joseph married a sister of Wat's wife, a widow MYERS. At that time both parents were dead. The daughter, Martha Susan, who married John Wesley Shields, has heretofore been mentioned.

In 1842, Sophia, being left with a family of small children, married Charles Zadock DULEY, brother of Hiram, and to them were born four children, two sons and two daughters. Hiram, the firstborn, is the editor and publisher of the Times-Democrat, and is too well known to the readers of that paper to need any further notice. Amanda married John N. LEE and has three living children, Lester W., who lives near Mt. Sterling, Mary who had married James H. SOUSLEY and lives at Tilton and with whom Mrs. LEE makes her home, and John Northcott LEE, who lives on her farm north of Tilton with his wife, nee Emmons. Louise Ellen, the second daughter, married John C. B. SOUSLEY, both dying in a few years and leaving two daughters who were brought up by their grandparents. The older of the two, Norene, is now living in Washington City and the younger, Adah Lee, is married and living in Mass. John, the youngest, went to Maysville and was for a long time in business there, but owing to close application to business, he suffered an attack of nervous collapse from which he never recovered and which ended by his death by his own hand in Lexington. He is survived by a second wife, nee EDMONDS, who lives in Maysville. Charles Z. DULEY died in July, 1896, and Sophia in December 1904, being within a month of 94.

I have already written of Mary Northcott TRUMBO and her family. Benjamin, the third son, was named for his father. After a season spent in Illinois he returned and married Elizabeth Christy, daughter of Jo Christy of Rowan County. He then returned to Illinois, farmed for a time, then became a member of the Illinois Conference. When the Civil War came up, he joined the 73d Illinois and was Lieutenant Col. of the regiment. He was in the battle of Perryville where Bragg was defeated. He also fought at the battle of Stone River, Tennessee. By the fatigue of this action he was permanently disabled and resigned. He returned to his Conference, but transferred to a Missouri conference and was presiding elder there until he retired. He then settled in Linneus, practiced law, instituted the Linneus News. He and his wife both died there. He preached a full gospel in his old age to many people. He is gratefully remembered by his old associates. The paper he published is continued by his son-in-law, B. D. ORMISTAN and wife, Nelly. and is a tri-weekly now. I am complimented with it all the time. General J. R. PERSHING was born and brought up In Laclede, a town in that county, by Methodist parents. I have no doubt he knew my brother, as he was well known in Laclede.

Allow me here to record a personal epidode. I owned land in Linn county and when on business there in 1868 or 9, I expected to get to Linneus on Saturday. The Hannibal & St. Joseph R. R. ran through Laclede and a branch from there to Linneus. But my train got to Laclede too late for the train to Linneus. I went to a hotel and on Sunday morning I went to the M. E. Church. Sunday School was in session. I introduded myself as brother of B. J. Northcott and a member of the KY. Conference. I was most cordially received and by invitation preached both morning and night. They called my brother "Uncle Ben" and said that I could preach pretty near as good as he. Gen. PERSHING'S father was a member of that church at that time and I suppose the son was then too young, but I learn that he became a member in mature years. A great meeting was held at Laclede by people of Linn and adjoining counties to honor and show their admiration and love of him. All Missouri is proud of him.

My sister, Martha, was the youngest daughter and I was next to her. She was mentally gifted and personally attractive. After her conversion she became a very skillful worker in evangelizing labors. She could pray, sing, exhort or anything needful in revival work. When she consented to marry Dr. J. H. D. PETTIJOHN, my mother was dissatisfied and sent me to Ohio to learn more of him before she would consent. I had a favorable report to make. My trip was on horse-back and coming home I stopped at a farm house in Bracken county, expecting to get an early start and get home by noon and in time for their marriage that afternoon, but after several miles my pocketbook was missing and I had to return to my stopping place. There I found it on the ground where I had stood while paying my bill. When I got home late in the afternoon all had agreed and they were already married. Dr. PETTIJOHN was Presbyterian, but became a Methodist preacher and a member of the North Indiana Conference. For several years he was a successful pastor until his wife died. Her death was most triumphant. She had been a great help to him. She left a son and a daughter. The son is a physician and the daughter now a widow Simpson. Both now live in Brookfield, Linn County, Mo. For many years he had charge of a government institution at St. Joseph, Mo. After his wife's death Dr. PETTIJOHN dropped out of the ministry, married again, and resumed the practice of medicine in Chicago. I think he has been dead for years.

Joseph Belt was the youngest of the family, named for my father's brother-in-law. His first marriage was with Louisa EMMONS, daughter of St. Clair and Alice EMMONS. Several children followed, but she became insane, was taken to a hospital and there died. After some years he married again, this time to Nannie VIZE, daughter of Rev. Mansfield VIZE. He emigrated to Indiana and there he died, under 50 years of age, after long suffering with an incurable disease. He was a man of good mind and a loving heart, a devoted Christian. His memory is blessed. Two of his daughters were in business in Crawfordsville, Indiana a few years ago.

I think my mother was a remarkable woman. My father, though not a pastor, was away a great deal evangelizing. The country was filling up rapidly with people who needed the gospel badly, but the supply of regular pastors failed to keep pace with the increase of the population. Hence, he was in great demand and, like St. Paul, he did not wish to build on another man's foundation, but sought out the neglected communities, and they were many, and laid foundations for permanent churches. Most of the Methodist churches that now survive, or did when he died, began under his minstrations in Lewis, Nicholas or Bath and Fleming counties.

With my mother was left all the interests of a growing family and a large farm. Besides the children I have named, there were two orphan boys taken into the family, both of whom remained till early manhood. I failed to remember the family name of the first; his given name was Alexander. The other was Houston MAXWELL. A third boy came, Reuben HOPE, but he died in a few years from disease contracted before be came, from insufficient food. Some outsider said in his hearing that Reuben HOPE ought to go to the poorhouse, but Reuben replied, "I have been to the poor-house. Jack WHITE, where I was, is the poorhouse. It seems that Jack WHITE had taken the boy in, but was not able to keep him and support his own family, and knowing my father's and mother's reputation for benevolence, had sent him to them.

When my father was absent my mother took his place in family prayers as she did in control of the household and farm. Of course, my older brothers helped in management of the farms and the daughters in the house, but her position was supreme. She never said to a refractory child, "I will have your father punish you when he gets home." She acted herself, unchallenged as to authority. But only one of the children ever directly refused to obey her. My oldest brother was playing with a neighbor's boy and she called him to catch and saddle a horse for her to ride to church, but he refused and a sister had to do it. Feeling guilty, he tried to avoid her, but after some time, thinking she had forgotten the offense, he ventured into her presence in the loom house. She took hold of him and he tried to get away, but she called one of the girls to help her. Then she said, "William, I will not punish you this time, but if you ever disobey me again I will whip you if I have to sew you up in a sheet while asleep." He never did again and was a loyal, loving son all his life.

The secret of her power was her piety. She not only prayed vocally, but she had her closet which she visited daily and I have seen her come out with a smiling, tearful face and I knew she had met her Lord. She was always calm and self-possessed and took care that we should do our duty faithfully. Often, after I would get in bed and before I had slept, she would come to my bed, kneel down and talk to me of the Savior and salvation. I think all her children were converted in early mature life, and that her influence was carried down to grandchildren and will go on till time ends. I could say more, but space forbids, for my heart is full as memory carries me back to my boyhood days. If all wives and mothers were like her today, the kingdom would soon be here.

I have previously in these notes mentioned the LYONS, whose farm adjoined that of my father on the east, but I feel that it is due to make more special mention of the wife of the pioneer, John LYONS. She was a Miss HIERONYMUS, a relative of Miss Julia TEVIS, founder of Science Hill Female Academy at Shelbyville. Mrs. LYONS was a pure, good woman, very kind and a good neighbor, somewhat feeble in health, but survived her husband several years. She told my mother the following incident: she had a spell of fever and after the fever had left her she was still denied cold water and food, according to the dictum of the physician of that day, only warm water and very small quantities of liquid food. Being left alone one day she summoned all her strength and made her way to the spring from which the family supply came and drank freely of the sparkling water and never had water tasted so good to her! She was strengthened by the water, and having made her way back to the kitchen she found there a ham partly used and from that she cut two slices; cooked and ate them before the family returned, and when they did come they were surprised to find her so much stronger, and from that time on she was allowed plenty to eat.

I remember when sick people suffered greatly from being denied nourishing food and cold water. Better ideas of hygiene now govern our physicians and save much needless suffering and many lives. The last time I saw Mrs. LYONS I found her at the home of a granddaughter and had the pleasure of placing a $10 bill in her hand as a loving donation from her illustrious kinswoman, Mrs. Julia TEVIS of Science Hill Academy, sent by me.

There was a family lived in the house west of the LYONS farm which had been vacated by Morrison LYONS, by the name of GILKERSON. Job, I think his name was, and we always called his wife "Aunt Sally". Job was addicted to more or less frequent sprees, and when drunk was very abusive of his wife. As soon as she could safely get away from him after one of these sprees she would come and talk to my father about her troubles. He, knowing how dangerous it was to interfere in a family quarrel, would listen to her kindly and say nothing. But finally, one day she seemed especially abusive of Job, and my father became so indignant at Job's drunkenness and abuse of her that he joined her in warm words of severe condemnation. She flew up in a flash and said, "He is just as good as them that talks about him." Was that not characteristic? Most women, if their husbands are to be abused, refuse to farm out the privilege. One of their sons, William by name, married a sister of David HEDGES and after living some years in Hillsboro vicinity, removed to Rowan County on the North Fork of Triplett Creek. I stopped with him on one of my quarterly meeting trips to Pine Grove. He was a good, useful citizen, not a bit like his father. Job GILKERSON had two daughters, Leah and Marjorie. One of them, I think, married a man named Jos. McCLURG, who seemed to follow in the footsteps of his father-in-law and I have lost sight of them.

I have heretofore mentioned the Zadok PAYNE family with their sixteen children, but I feel that some special mention should be made of these two old people. Mr. PAYNE was industrious, sober and economical, while his wife, who was a sister of John VANSANDT, my brother-in-law, was a genuine woman, much like the one mentioned in Solomon's picture of the model wife and mother. How they fed, clothed and schooled such a family was a wonder of industry and thrift, for they always seemed to have plenty to eat and were comfortably clad. When services were held at Alum Springs, Mr. PAYNE was a very old man, handicapped, I suppose, by rheumatism and other infirmities. It was a mile from his home, but using two canes, he walked barefoot all the way there, took a seat in the pulpit and seemed to enjoy all the services. Thank the Lord, I now think of him and his noble wife where:

"Age hath no power o'er the fadeless frame,

Where the eye is fire and the heart is flame,

In their home in the sunbright clime."

Off from the PAYNE farm, on the northeast, there came a mechanic named SHAW. He was a local preacher from Ohio. The first I ever saw of him was at Alum Springs. One Sunday morning the congregation had assembled to hear a stranger named SHAW. At last a stranger walked into the pulpit. He was tall, not very robust, and was clad in plain textured garments, the most conspicuous of his garments being an old-fashioned shad belly coat. People were puzzled to know what to expect. But when he opened his mouth behind it*. In his sermon he made so much use of the Pilgrim's Progress, and wove it so skillfully with the main ideas of his sermon, that it made a deep impression on the congregation. But he never came up to that sermon afterward. In fact, he sank below it. It is better for a preacher not to do his possible best at first, as it is better to grow up, than down. [*verbatim from news clipping, but obviously an error in printing]

I return to Locust Creek. On the west of my father's farm was the farm of James CRAWFORD, who was quite an old man, seeming to have very little use for neighbors, and most of us were afraid to go to the house, as he kept a vicious dog. On one occasion I had to go there one day and fearing the dog, I approached the house cautiously from the north, the front of the house being to the south, with a platform about 2 feet high at the front door. No dog was in sight and I ventured around to the east end and finally made my way to the front, but just as I stepped on the platform the dog rushed from the house with a savage growl and made a jump at my throat, but missed his aim and went on out into the yard, failing to come back, to my relief.

James CRAWFORD was a *widower with two sons, James and John. James lived for a time on Hornet Branch, on Fox Creek, but I have no knowledge of his family. John married Martha, youngest daughter of Zadok PAYNE, and they lived and died on the old home farm. They had several sons and one daughter: William, now dead; Monroe, who lives near Hillsboro; and Marion who lives on the old home farm. The daughter, Miss Edna, married William Browning TODD and they now live in Madison County, Ky., or did a few years ago. [*wife was Sarah Vansan(d)t, 1758-1827, daughter of Isaiah. They were parents of 13 children. Her brother Elisha was father to Mary Vansant, who married Zadok Payne. Hence, her brother's granddaughter, Martha Payne married her son, John Simpson Crawford]

Joseph Belt EMMONS had a son named Erasmus for an uncle, Erasmus RIGGS, who with a sister, Catura RIGGS, were frequent visitors at the EMMONS homeland. We became well acquainted with them. Mrs. EMMONS was a good wife, mother and neighbor. The reputation of the RIGGS family was good. The father and mother were old, feeble and gray-haired, but strong in faith and hope. Doubtless they long since have found the Heaven of their hopes.

But I must not forget to tell that Aunt Sally FREEMAN was one of the best of wives and mothers. Her piety was unostentatious, yet evident to all who knew the hardships and difficult duties endured and performed, and the meekness, gentleness and patience which characterized her everyday life. God give the world more such.

Gamaliel FREEMAN owned a farm north of the EMMONS farm. His first wife died when I was barely grown. She left two daughters about grown. They joined the church at service at our home which was held by my father. Mr. FREEMAN was a gentleman in language and deportment. After some years he married a Miss OVERTON, I think. She was a good helpmeet to him in his advancing years.

The road to Poplar Plains parted from the road to Goddard's Mill and Church at the lower end of Mr. FREEMAN'S farm, the road to Poplar Plains turning northwest while the Goddard road followed up to the head of that branch of Locust and passed through what was known as Copper's Gap, and thence down a small stream which emptied into the Sand Lick Fork of Fox. It passed the old Tom RAWLINGS' farm, mentioned heretofore as the home of Wm. S. T. Graham. Above this farm lived Jesse EVANS, some half-mile northeast of the Graham home.

Mr. EVANS had two daughters that I knew. Susie, who married William HURST, and lived not far from Elizaville the last I knew of them. Maggie, the other daughter, married William Forrester LEWIS, my brother-in-law. They lived for a time near Elizaville. They had a daughter named Hattie, who married a Mr. WHITNEY and lived in Alaska where he was in some sort of business and I suppose was successful. She formerly corresponded with us, sometimes from Alaska, but at other times from Seattle and San Francisco. The climate was too severe and in the cold season she had to seek milder localities. When last heard from, she was in a sanitarium in California under treatment for what I fear was to prove fatal. Not having heard from her we fear she has passed away. She was a very bright woman and a devoted Christian. Her husband furnished all the means necessary, for travel, board, and medical treatment, but remained in Alaska at last accounts.

Mr. EVANS had a small distillery where he made apple and sometimes peach brandy. It looked much more like a stable for his livestock than the great distillery and brewery plants of Ohio and Kentucky. He did not "despise the day of small things". Distillers in those days were their own salesman, where those who indulged could find what they wanted. They were almost as brutalizing as the saloon when conducted by men without conscience.

But I return to the Freemans. There was another bother named Garrett. If he ever married, I never heard of it. He was a neighborhood lawyer and seemed to have plenty of money. I think he made his home mostly with his brother, Gamaliel. Their old father was still living when I was a boy. He had no home of his own and depended on his sons for food, clothing and shelter. He sometimes came to Hillsboro and stopped there with a friend. He walked all the way using a cane in each hand for he was much crippled by the infirmities of age.

The first house on the road north from where it left the creek was a quarter of a mile from the creek and was occupied by Widow LLOYD with a son, Napoleon. Mrs. LLOYD later married Alex PAGE, a bachelor of the neighborhood.

Half a mile further north was the brick residence and farm of William VANSANDT. He was a brother of John, my brother-in-law, and was a carpenter and builder. He built a bridge across Allison when the turnpike was made between Flemingsbug and Poplar Plains. I have already told of his son Washington. His daughter Eliza married a boss drayman of Cincinnati. Polly, another daughter, married Creedwell OVERTON. The family were all members of the class which met at Fant's school house, of which I was leader, and attended regularly.

The aged *mother of William VANSANDT lived half a mile southwest of her son. In early life she was a Methodist, but later became a firm believer in the doctrines taught by Alexander CAMPBELL and united with his people and attended their services far and near, riding on horseback when she looked very feeble with old age. I never saw her at a Methodist service. But she was respected for her devotion and she lived to see the despised few grow to a multitude. [*Margaret Crawford m. Elisha Vansant 1788, Botetort Co., VA.]

[Thomas] Jefferson GRAHAM married her daughter [Rebecca] and I think lived with her on the old VANSANDT farm. He did not accept the doctrines of his mother-in-law. Elder Asa MAXEY was often a visitor at the house, partaking of its hospitality. He took one occasion to try to persuade Mr. GRAHAM to come with them. Mr. G. tried to parry the arguments set forth, but the Elder persisted till Mr. GRAHAM finally said, "Elder MAXEY, I don't want to join a church that has so many trifling people in it." "Well", said the preacher, "You know Mr. GRAHAM, that we never make a drag without catching some tadpoles." This was not all fact, but it put a quietus on the argument.

After the road ran 1/4 mile from William VANSANDT'S, it turned directly north till it came to the old Locust Meeting house on the right, and the St. Clair EMMONS farm on the left. This farm had the distinction of a large apple orchard, much of it winter fruit of the Jane variety. Our teachers used to send us there for their Christmas treats. Those apples were very fine. I have spoken of the daughters and the eldest son. There were two more sons, Alfred and Rufus. Alfred went west somewhere and died soon after. His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Samuel KELLY at Alum Springs from David's words where Absolom was killed: "Would God I had died for thee, 0, Absolom, my son, my son." It was a very eloquent and appropriate sermon and touched all hearts, while the near relatives poured out their emotions through streaming tears. Rufus EMMONS was for some years a school teacher in the county, and later in Lewis county where he was elected to the Legislature.

Old Locust Meeting House had a noble career. For a long time it was the meeting place for all Methodists south of Flemingsburg, being a regular appointment of Fleming Circuit and also often occupied by local preachers. Johnathan STAMPER did some of his boyhood preaching there. He tells the following in "Autumn Leaves".

"I was so young when sent to Fleming Circuit that many of the members about Flemingsburg thought I should be sent back, but I kept on till I got to Locust Meeting House. I had heard of Benjamin NORTHCOTT, a local preacher who was a member there and was not favorably impressed by what I had heard of him, and rather dreaded contact with him. After I had gone into the pulpit I saw a venerable looking man come into the house. He came right into the pulpit and sat down by me. Taking my hand, he said: 'I am Benjamin NORTHCOTT' and spoke encouraging words to me. When I prayed his responses were so eloquent and fervent that I was to some extent relieved of my fears. After service he took me home with him. There he said to me, 'Brother STAMPER, I saw you were afraid of me, and know why. Some of our young preachers brought reproach on the cause by their frivolity and un-minister-like deportment, and I felt it my duty to admonish them, and they have poisoned your mind. But if your deportment of today is kept up you will have nothing to fear from me, but all the help I can render will be gladly bestowed.' He also gave me wise advice. From that day till I left Kentucky we were devoted friends."

When he was about 50 years of age I heard John STAMPER, then presiding elder, preach in Flemingsburg the most eloquent sermon I have ever heard. I remember the text, the main points of his discourse. He was fitted by personality and voice for a great orator. In later years, he was presiding elder again and yet retained a great deal of his pulpit power. He had great influence over my father. At a quarterly meeting service he announced that he would preach a sermon on Missions that afternoon. At dinner he said, "Brother NORTHCOTT, who do you think will give me $10 for missions this afternoon?" "Why nobody," he answered. STAMPER gave a vivid view of the Nations without the gospel, and the adaptation of that gospel for their needs and the final triumph of Christ's Kingdom. "Now," he cried, "Who will be the first man to give $10 to make the gospel a success?" My father, seemingly afraid some other would get in before him, cried out, "I will."

Still further down the road lived Jerry STORY. His wife was a regular attendant of the services at Fant's School House. He never attended. He owned and operated a distillery for apple brandy. I will relate a personal episode. I was pastor of the Perryville charge from 1859 to 1860. During that time I made a visit home, but came with a severe cough. When I met my old family doctor, Wm. T. ARMSTRONG, he said, "You must use apple brandy and honey. I will get you the apple brandy from Jerry STORY, for I know it is pure." So he got it and I took it to Perryville and got honey and mixed about equally; I took a table spoonful a few times a day and got over the cough before I had used all of it. Of course the brandy got the credit for the cure. But subsequently, doubts arose as to which, or both, or something else should have the credit. Science has shown that alcohol is not a curative force, but that honey has some medical qualities. But I was young and had no tubercles, so I might have recovered without either, so I would rather trust to honey than the brandy, and feel that pure air, God's free sunshine and deep breathing is worth more than the good old Doctor's prescription, and I do not think, if living now, with the light of modern science before him, that he would repeat his prescription.

So far I have said very little about the educational interests of Hillsboro and vicinity. When I was very small, there was what remained of an old school house on our farm, about 20 yards west of the dirt road leading to Flemingsburg. But there was a good school house on the farm near its southern border, about 200 yards west of the same road. It was built of logs with "cat-in-clay" chimney at each end, with fireplaces wide enough and deep enough to take in logs 4 to 5 feet long and a foot or more in diameter. It had one window on the north side made by cutting out a log and inserting a long sash of one pane depth. Opposite this, on the inside, was a writing desk extending all the way across. That is where I first used a pen. I was in my 5th or 6th year when I first went to that school. And it was said that I had attended to the other, but I never could remember it.

Douglas I. WINN was the teacher. He was a good arithmetician, a splendid penman and a good instructor. He ruled his school kindly and was generally esteemed by patrons and pupils. The morals of the pupils were cared for: profanity, falsehood, and obscenity were forbidden, and truthfulness and all other moral qualities were enforced. Morally, it was a model school. Mr. WINN taught there several years. Afterwards, one session was taught by John WALTON, son of Aunt Sally. He had lost a foot by getting it caught by a tree he had cut down. It was amputated just above the ankle and he walked with a crutch. He was not a success as a teacher and did not continue long, but became a constable. The only other teacher in that school house was Samuel MORELAND. He was successful, but Mr. WINN succeeded him and was the last before it was torn down. Mr. WINN did not attempt to teach grammar, geography, or philosophy.

Then followed a school house a mile south of Hillsboro, on the east side of the road on the farm of Wm. CRAIN. I think the material of the old one was used to build it. Mr. WINN taught there and my younger brother and I attended. One morning Mr. Winn asked me, "Henry, did you folks see the phenomena last night?" I told him I did not know what a "phenomena" was. He explained that great showers of stars had fallen,"shooting stars", they call them. I told him that was the first I had heard of it, and that I did not think anyone of our family saw them, and so it turned out. But many did see them and were terrified, thinking the end of the world and the Judgment Day were at hand. Such a scene would not now seem so fearful, as science has shown that this was only an unusually heavy overflow of a regular astronomical occurrence every November. I have always regretted that I did not see one of the great displays of creative power and glory. But after this time, Mr. WINN was employed at Fant's School House and we attended there. But he had become dull of hearing and could not know near all the mischief going on, even in school hours, and he was unable to maintain discipline and gave up the school. Another teacher there was a Mr. ROUTE of Nicholas County, I think. But he was not capable of controlling such a mob of boys, though qualified in other respects.

Thomas RICHESON came next, as previously mentioned, and he was the last teacher I knew at Fant's School House. Later I attended a school in Hillsboro, the school house having been transformed from a blacksmith shop, about 20 by 40 feet, warmed by a large stove in the center. Thomas M. CRAIN was the teacher when I attended there and I studied philosophy and improved my grammar. That was about my last attendance at school, but I was very anxious to make farther progress now. I asked my father if he ever expected me to get [anything] from his estate for a college education. But he said: "I did not give your brother such an education, and can not make a discrimination." I did not know that a healthy young man could work his way through college, as has often since been done, and there was no fund to help students such as is now provided by children's day collections. So I had, as I thought, to do the best I could without. But I studied at home and added somewhat to my literary store. Now I wish to say to young men, and women also, to get the best education you possibly can, without neglecting parents who are dependent on you for support, or other helpless relatives.

I will close with a few facts in regard to customs and conditions at that period. Surplus horses were taken to South Carolina and other southern states; cattle to Cincinnati and hogs to Virginia or North Carolina. Farmers got 2 or 3 dollars per hundred for their hogs on foot and three to four dollars for cattle. People had plenty and ate heartily three meals a day. A young lady of a neighbor's family, talking of culinary matters, said: "It takes a ham a day at our house; fry for breakfast, bile for dinner, and cold for supper, and it's gone."

There were no butcher shops or meat stores then. Each farmer raised, fattened, and killed his own hogs. Beef clubs were often formed in a neighborhood. Each member to furnish a beef in turn, which was slaughtered and divided among the members. This was done once a week. The weekly killing brought together an interesting and interested crowd, and I well remember how good the beef steak tasted after eating smoked bacon for so long. These beef clubs were generally opened late in the summer or early in the fall, after the cattle had fattened on the grass.

[Published 1918: This is the end of this manuscript left by our deceased uncle, and we feel confident our readers regret this as much as we do. He has gone to his reward after a long life of usefulness.... Editor,Times Democrat]