USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 61
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Jason H. Manchester attended the public schools of Union county, and supplemented his public school education by a two- years course in the West Randolph Normal School, in Vermont. After completing his education he returned to Ohio, and took formal possession of the estate on which he now resides. In 1885, he was married to Miss Louisa Krebs, a daughter of Dr. Krebs of Waynesfield. Mrs. Manchester is a graduate of the Ada Normal University, of Ohio. She was also a student of medicine for a time at Cincinnati. To Mr. and Mrs. Manchester one child has been born, Hewitt Krebs, who died at the age of eighteen months.
Mr. Manchester's farm of fifteen hundred acres, is not only one of the largest, but one of the most productive farms in north- western Ohio. His annual yield of crops is about as follows: Of corn, 40,000 bushels, of wheat, 11,200 bushels, of oats 6,400 bushels, and of timothy hay and potatoes proportional quantities.
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His residence is situated on a knoll, about the center of the farm, and with a field-glass a view can be commanded of the entire farm.
WAYNE TOWNSHIP.
Wayne township was organized in 1834, and was named' in honor of General Anthony Wayne. It is six miles in length from east to west, and four and a half miles in width from north to south. Its area, therefore, is twenty-seven square miles. It is bounded on the north by Allen county, on the east by. Hardin county, on the south by Goshen township, and on the west by Union township. The surface of the township consists of numerous ridges extending from west to east. The lands. between these moraines are of great fertility, and are drained by creeks and smaller streams that empty into the Auglaize River, and into the headwaters of the Scioto River. The east prairie is divided between this and Goshen township.
The pioneers who selected lands adjacent to the prarie were more fortunate than those who entered lands farther west in the township, as the prairie produced an abundance of hay in the summer and early pasture in the spring. It has cost large sums of money to bring the prairie under cultivation. There are many miles of ditches in it, cut from ten to thirteen feet in width, and from four to seven feet in depth. Within the past few years. nearly all the lands have been brought under cultivation. Im- mense quantities of timothy hay, and thousands of bushels of corn and potatoes, are raised upon it annually.
The eastern portion of the county was not settled so early as the western townships. The first pioneers, William Hiett and John Hurley, erected cabins on the north side of the prairie, in the spring of 1831, and within the next four years were followed by Jacob Williams, Gilbert Hurley, Thomas McCall, Daniel Ells- worth, H. W. Bowdle, James Mahan, Sr., James Mahan, Jr., Joseph Dawson, Isaac Dawson, Samuel Lowman, Samuel Mocraft. Henry Whetstone, Eli E. Carson, Simon Mocraft, William Cox, Richard Berry, Moses Ross, Aaron Oram, William Kent, Alex- ander Kent, and within the next year or two, Lee Turner, Simon Maxson, Benjamin Madden, J. C. Berry, Harris Wells, Samuel Cavender and Lyman Pratt, most of whom brought their families with them.
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All the territory adjacent to the Scioto Marsh and prairie had for ages been a veritable paradise for the Indian hunter. Innumerable waterfowl of many varieties visited the marsh and prairie in the spring and fall, and of fur-bearing animals, the beaver, otter, mink, raccoon, and muskrat, there was a never- failing supply for the trapper. The timbered land abounded in such game as deer, bear, wild turkey, and pheasant. The pio- neers, like the aborigines, depended for a number of years upon the chase for a large part of their subsistence. It was no un- common event for a frontierman to kill as many as six or eight deer in a day. Of turkeys and smaller game, more could be taken than could be consumed.
The following chronological exhibit of the land entries in the township is also a record of the advent of the pioneers :
1831. Joseph W. Bowdle, Secs. 13 and 24.
Robert Grant, Sec. 4.
Robert Sproul, Secs. 8 and 9.
Moses Ross, Sec. 13.
Jacob Williams, Secs. 14 and 23.
1832. Joseph Miller, Secs. 4 and 8. George Mclaughlin, Sec. 13. John Kent, Secs. 13 and 23.
John Kent, Sec. 24.
John Kerns, Jr., Sec. 26.
Allen Gilmore, Sec. 6.
John Shelby, Sec. 7.
James Mahin, Sec. 11. Richard Berry, Sec. 12. James Mahin, Sec. 13.
Manning Halley, Sec. 17.
Henry Payne, Sec. 20.
Samuel Donnell, Sec. 23.
John O. Tenal, Sec. 3. Joseph Miller, Sec. 4.
Duncan McGeehan, Sec. 5. Rachel Harrod, Sec. 7. Andrew Caldwell, Sec. 8. William Cox, Sec. 11.
Asa R. Mahin, Sec. 12.
James Mahin, Sec. 14.
Samuel Cavendish, Sec. 14. Daniel Ellsworth, Sec. 17.
1 834. Joseph H. Rhodes, Sec. 3. Isaac Dawson, Sec. 5. John Perry, Sec. 6. Thomas Henry, Sec. 8. Robert Hopercraft, Sec. 11. Jesse Rees, Sec. 11. Frederick Shigley, Sec. 12.
Anna M. Inskip, Sec. 14.
Ebenezer Thayer, Sec. 17. John Burget, Sec. 27.
1833. Henry Morris, Sec. 7. William Kean, Sec. 11. Henry W. Bowdle, Sec. 11. William W. Bond, Sec. 12. Thomas Call, Sec. 14.
Daniel Ellsworth, Sec. 17. Otis R. Whitman, Sec. 21
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Richard C. Morris, Sec. 27. Richard Harrod, Sec. 7.
Perry G. Madden, Sec. 1. Amos Joy, Sec. 1.
Samuel P. Bowdle, Sec. 1.
William Madden, Sec. 2. Arthur C. Amaziah, Sec. 2. Lee Turner, Sec. 2. St. Leger Neal, Sec. 2.
John Davison, Sec. 3. James Rutter, Sec. 3. John Masters, Sec. 4.
Samuel Folger, Sec. 6. Aaron Dawson, Sec. 6.
Joseph Dawson, Sec. 8. John Cover, Sec. 10.
David L. Bowdle, Sec. 11.
David L. Bowdle, Sec. 12. James Mahin, Sec. 13.
Gilbert Hurley, Sec. 15.
Joseph Dawson, Sec. 17.
Jospeh Schooler, Sec. 18. John Lindley, Sec. 19. Harris Wells, Sec. 21. Henry Shaw, Sec. 22. Jesse L. Bowdle, Sec. 24. Joseph Morrow, Sec. 24. John W. Cramer, Sec. 27. John W. Cramer, Sec. 28. James Crawford, Sec. 29.
Henry B. Berry, Sec. 1. Lee Turner, Sec. 1. Anna Maria Inskip, Sec. 2. Nancy Coats, Sec. 5. Joseph Dawson, Sec. 8. Joseph Dawson, Sec. 10. Samuel Williams, Sec. 11. John Kirkpatrick, Sec. 12. Asa R. Mahin, Sec. 12. Johnston R. Livingston, Sec. 12. Joseph Bullard, Sec. 14. Jacob Williams, Sec. 14. Anna M. Inskip, Sec. 15. John C. Hurley, Sec. 15 . John Ridley, Sec. 18.
Joseph C. Ellsworth, Sec. 29.
1835. Wesley Henderschot, Sec. 1. Benjamin Madden, Sec. 1. Amos Joy, Sec. 2. Benjamin Madden, Sec. 2. David Davison, Sec. 2. Lee Petty and Wm. Black, Sec. 2. John Herburt, Sec. 3. Samuel Lowman, Sec. 3. James Smith, Sec. 4. Joseph Dawson, Sec. 6. John Perry, Sec. 6. Joseph Dawson, Sec. 7.
Edward K. Mahin, Sec. 10.
John Cox, Sec. 10. Lyman Pratt, Sec. 11.
Asa R. Mahin, Sec. 12. Aaron Dawson, Sec. 15. Samuel Donnell, Sec. 15. Manning Halley, Sec. 18. Daniel Holley, Sec. 18. Wm. Carrington, Sec. 20. Richard Cramer, Sec. 21. Samuel Black, Sec. 22. Andrew McClay, Sec. 24. Alex. Templeton, Sec. 25. Richard Cramer, Sec. 27. Sampson Buffenberger, Sec. 28.
1836. John Kirkpatrick, Sec. 1. Amaziah Davison, Sec. 2. Samuel Lowman, Sec. 3. William Thompson, Sec. 6. Jacob McPheron, section 8. John C. Berry, Sec. 10. Joseph Ballard, Sec. 11. David Kirkpatrick, Sec. 12. Aaron D. Berry, Sec. 12. Lawrence Moffitt, Sec. 15. Nathan Bullard, Sec. 14. Lyman Bullard, Sec. 15 Lawrence Moffitt, Sec. 15. Richard Campbell, Sec. 17. John Schooler, Sec. 18.
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Ebenezer Miles, Sec. 18. Jacob Myers, Sec. 19.
Elijah Harrod, Sec. 19.
Thomas Pierce, Sec. 19.
William Pepple, Sec. 20.
Benjamin F. Morris, Sec. 21.
John Black, Sec. 22.
Matthew Stewart, Sec. 22.
John Williams, Sec. 23.
Daniel Black, Sec. 27.
Jacob Harrod, Sec. 30.
Levi Meir, Sec. 30.
Daniel Black, Sec. 20. Eleazar Hathway, Sec. 22.
Thomas Pierce, Sec. 19. James Coleman, Sec. 19. Jacob Harrod, Sec. 19. Alexander Gilroy, Sec. 20. Simon Warecraft, Sec. 20. Nathan Woodbury, Sec. 22. James W. Nassau, Sec. 22.
Elisha McCoy, Sec. 25. Simon Morecraft, Sec. 27. John Zehner, Sec. 30.
1 837. Andrew J. Starkey, Sec. 21. George Robinson, Sec. 29.
1838. Alexander Madden, Sec. 22. 1839. Winslow Robinson, Sec. 27.
1841. W. L. Helfenstein, Sec. 25.
'Solomon Rudy, Sec. 3.
'Hardman Horn, Sec. 19.
Martha Harrod, Sec. 19.
Jacob Huffman, Sec. 14.
1847. John Kagg, Sec. 18.
Nathan Woodbury, Sec. 22. Warren B. Smith, Sec. 22.
1 848. William Dixon, Sec. 22.
William Whetstone, Sec. 29.
1849. Richard C. Morris, Sec. 29.
1853. Lewis Focht, Sec. 23. 1
The first township election was held at the house of Samuel Mocraft in April, 1831. Thirteen votes were recorded at that election. The second election was held at the house of William Black. James Mahin was elected the first justice of the peace, and Richard Berry, Allen Gilmore, and Josiah Dawson the first
1843. Hiram Hullinger, Sec. 3.
1846.
Edward K. Mahin, Sec. 22.
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trustees. After the departure of the Shawnee Indians in 1832. immigration increased rapidly until 1836, when the first school house was erected. It was a round log cabin, covered with clap- boards held in place by weight-poles. The floor was made of puncheons split from white ash logs and hewed on one side. A large fireplace at one end of the room furnished heat for the occupants. "They could get no glass for windows, so they used paper. Strips of wood were nailed across the windows, the paper pasted on, and oiled with coon's oil, which rendered the paper semi-transparent. The next trouble was to keep the birds from cutting the paper. The writing desks were made of punch- eons about ten feet long, and laid upon pins in the wall. There were two such desks. The seats were saplings split in two, about ten feet long, and legs put in the round side, with the flat side up. Such was the school house in which many of the children of the early settlers received all their education. Asa R. Mahin taught the first school in the winter of 1836 and 1837. He was employed for three months at ten dollars per month. A. D. Berry taught in 1837 and 1838; William Gilmore in 1838 and 1839."
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
The following list of officers is as near complete as can be ascertained from the township and county records :
Justices of the Peace.
Alexander Hutchinson, 1853-56; James Gray, 1856-58; David. R. Scott, 1858-59; James Gray, 1859-61; David R. Scott, 1861-64; Jonathan Dawson, 1862-64; John D. Turner, 1865-66; D. Davison, 1866-71; G. B. Bennett, 1871-72; Francis A. Berry, 1872-77; Calvin McPheron, 1874-75; William Gardner, 1877-78; F. A. Berry, 1878-80; D. W. Randali, 1880-81; George Hutchinson, 1881-83; A. H. Berry, 1883-87; William Lowman, 1884-87; Fred Dawson, 1887-89; R. W. Howell, 1889-90; A. P. Turner, 1890-92; W. W. Howell, 1892-97; A. D. Gossard, 1893-95; Samuel Smith, 1895-97; Isaac B. Masters, 1897-99; G. R. Wells, 1899-1900; A. V. McGinnis, 1900-01; S. H. Smith, 1901-03; A. V. McGinnis, 1901-03.
Clerks.
G. B. Bennett, 1872-73; W. J. Earl, 1873-87; C. J. Coffin, 1887-88; W. J. Earl, 1888-92; W. H. Butcher, 1892-94; J. G. Pratt, 1894-98; A. J. Huffer, 1898-99; W. R. Blackburn, 1899-1900; J. W. Sproul, 1900-03.
Treasurers.
C. C. Pepple, 1875-80; Thomas Sproul, 1880-82; C. C. Pepple, 1882-
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
85; Samuel Stewart, 1885-97; P. Pepple, 1897-99; T. A. White, 1899-1901; C. C. Pepple, 1901-1903.
PIKES.
The first pike in this township, known as the Uniopolis and Waynesfield Pike, was constructed in the summer and fall of 1876, at a cost of $20,670.00. Since the construction of that road, the work has gone steadily along, until nearly every public road in the township has become a free turnpike.
CHURCHES.
The first church organizations of the township held services in the school houses. Hopewell Methodist Protestant Church, in section II, was organized about 1840. Rev. Calkins is the minister in charge. The church membership is eighty. The enrollment in the Sabbath School is fifty.
Wallace Fork Methodist Protestant Church is located in the northeast corner of section 22, and was also erected about 1840. Rev. Mckinnon has charge of the congregation, consisting of seventy-five members. A large Sabbath School meets at the church every Sunday in the year.
SCHOOLS.
With the development of the township, the pioneer log school houses were replaced by frame or brick buildings. At the present time seven brick buildings, provided with all the modern school appliances, afford ample provision for the education of all the youth of the township.
WAYNESFIELD VILLAGE.
The following reminiscences and interviews, prepared by Dr. W. S. Turner for the Waynesfield Chronicle, are inserted by permission of the author :
"The town of Waynesfield was surveyed July Ist, 1848. The plat was signed November 20, 1848, by E. G. Atkinson. The lots were numbered consecutively from 1 to 24. The line ran east from the crossing to the alley next to W. S. Turner's resi- dence, and west to the alley west of the Baptist church. It extended from Berry's hotel south to the street north of the school house.
The southeast corner was all woods at that time, and was:
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owned by Henry Payne, a colored Virginian, who entered 200 acres. He had a large family by a wife he brought out of slavery, after buying his own freedom. He deeded the corner forty acres to his daughter a few years after our first survey. She married Robert Woodly, who sold part of the tract to Aaron Dawson. He laid out one row of lots commencing at the east side of the M. P. church, and running west to the new church.
The next addition was platted by Sproul brothers, situated in the northeast part of the village, and extending as far south as what is called "No Man's Street."
The next addition was the north half of the Woodly forty, which was laid out and platted by James Earl, with front lots extending eighty rods south of Bennett's Hotel.
The next addition was platted by E. G. Atkinson, embracing all the tract south of Sproul's addition, and east of Atkinson's alley.
The first building erected was a log house, sixteen by twenty- six feet, built on the present site of A. J. Huffer's restaurant. It was built by Henderson Brown, for a residence for Atkinson. The body of the house, hewed and covered with clapboards, cost sixteen dollars. M. R. Pepple sold the whole tract of ten acres to Atkinson for six dollars per acre, taking a two-year-old colt at forty dollars, a set of harness at ten dollars, and a good cow for ten dollars. The first lot sold was lot 7, on which D. Turner's office stands, the price being eight dollars, and William Whet- stone the purchaser, who afterward sold it to John Crawford for twelve dollars.
The next building erected was sixteen by twenty feet, a part of the building now occupied by Frank Atkinson's restaurant. It was built in 1851, to be used for a postoffice, a mail route having been procured through the efforts of E. G. Atkinson and Mr. Young, postmaster at Wapakoneta. It was to be carried on foot or horseback from St. Mary's to Kenton, on Friday, and returning on Saturday. Until this route was established we got our mail at St. John's, and the postage was twenty-five cents if not paid in advance. The writer once sent a letter, not prepaid. from Groveport, Ohio, to his mother, who had to pay twenty-five cents, because the letter had a dollar bill in it, the postage being double because it contained money. Think of that, boys, when
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you write to your ducks. Your postage is two cents ; in the early forties it was twenty-five cents, later it was twelve and a half cents, and in the early fifties ten and five. When the county was first settled, the postmaster sent word to the patrons that there were letters in the office for them. Mr. Atkinson says: "Many times I have hoofed it to Westminster or St. John's, and before I went, if I was not lucky enough to have a quarter, I had to work a half a day to get it, chop a cord of wood or make a hundred rails. I did that for persons now living in this county."
Mr. E. G. Atkinson was appointed postmaster in 1857, and was succeeded by Dr. Krebs in 1874. The income from the office was very small, considering the work that was required, like that of the Village Council, a great deal to do and small income.
The first person who settled in the new town was Dr. Seaman, who came in August, 1857. He and his wife and two children lived in the little frame house on the corner where I had intended to keep the postoffice.
In those days a commodity known as black salts, manufac- tured from ashes, was quite a business. People would build up log heaps and burn them, then make large leaches and run off lye, which they boiled down to salts. This they would haul to the large towns to be manufactured into saleratus. About two or three cents a bushel was paid for ashes at the asheries, and some who wanted to make a little more would measure in boxes without any seal. Trade in those days was very much like it is now. If a man gets only three cents on foot for hogs, he drains the churn before he weighs. So it was with sellers of ashes. If they were very anxious they would not be so particular to keep out the dirt, and would sometimes haul ashes that had partly been leached. So you see the matter of scheming has been going on for a long time. We had two asheries running here for several years, and the parties generally paid in goods, and many a poor man got his tobacco, coffee, salt, etc., out of his ashes 'while clearing up his farm.
At one time there was quite a feeling as to which town a man could do the best, Hairtown or Kindleburg. Uncle John Kindle ran one, but Hairtown doubled on him.
By the way, as I have made use of the nickname of our
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sister town, I will explain how it got it. It was so named atfer the founder of the place. Our township got its name from a couple of young men who got on board a little too much of what "knocked dad off the fence." They both having long, thick hair and full beard, had quite a time at hair pulling. The then noted Bob Woodly remarked that as the price of ashes had gone down, and ready money was demanded for whiskey, the town would go down and be nothing but a little hair-pulling town.
(Interview of E. G. Atkinson. )
Waynesfield is beautifully located in a rich and prosperous part of the county, twelve miles east of Wapakoneta, the county seat of Auglaize county. It is also thirteen miles from Kenton, and twenty-four miles from Bellefontaine. Our nearest neigh- bor is New Hampshire, over in Goshen township, four miles distant.
The town was laid out by E. G. Atkinson in 1848. Mr. Atkinson is still a resident of the town. He was the first mer- chant, and was postmaster during the war. Among the first residents were Thomas Atkinson, E. G. Atkinson, Michael Whet- stone, Henry Whetstone, Sr., Henry Payne, a colored man, and his son-in-law, Mr. Woodly; Thomas Pierce, William Pierce, Thomas Price, Louis Focht, and John Perry, who kept store where Butcher's store now stands.
About 1860 the three Bennetts - John G. Bennett, H. S. Bennett, and G. B. Bennett - came to the village, and two years later started one of the first sawmills in this section of the county. A short time after this they added a grist mill, which at one time had quite a reputation and brought trade from a great distance. G. W. Rutlege, of Kenton, told the writer that he could remember well, when a boy, coming to this mill on horse- back, from the marsh, away back in the sixties. Each of these brothers raised a large family of children - the combined number being forty - thus very materially adding to the population and school enumeration.
H. S. Bennett and G. B. Bennett are still living and resi- dents of the town; the former seventy-seven, and the latter seventy-four. John G. Bennett died in 1887, aged seventy-five years.
We find among the early merchants the names of Oran
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HISTORY OF WESTERN OHIO
North, John Perry, J. W. Smith & Co., Sylvester Sanders, Wil- liam Holly, and Ballard. Then a little later we find G. W. Ben- nett, Sr., who was a merchant about fifteen years. T. S. Bennett, who began the mercantile business October, 1866, and continued until 1894, a period of twenty-eight years. He was appointed postmaster in 1867 and served until 1884. A little later we find Sproul Brothers doing a lucrative business in what is now known as the old Huffman store room. Then comes L. M. Huffer & Son, who did a good business for a number of years in the same room. Later, we find Sproul & Dawson doing a good business, and they were succeeded by A. C. Smith & Son. Clark & Seaman, also, had a general store on the Butcher corner for a number of years. W. H. Butcher succeeded A. C. Smith & Son, and is yet in business. Samuel Plummer has been in the store business with John Bowers, T. E. Hullinger, and at the present time has O. Mix for a partner.
The first postmaster of Waynesfield was E. G. Atkinson, who was appointed in 1851. Dr. R. I. Krebs succeeded him, and held the position until 1872, when he was succeeded by T. S. Bennett, who served continuously for ten years. The next post- master was A. Huffer, who held the office during President Cleve- land's first term. Then came T. E. Hullinger, while Harrison was President.
We have two churches in Waynesfield, an M. P. church and a Baptist church. These churches were both built in 1866. The principal promoters of the Methodist church were M. R. Pepple. Sr., J. G. Howell, J. O. Bennett, H. S. Bennett, and E. G. Atkin- son. The contract for the building was given to Joseph Myers. but the house was completed by George Hutchinson. M. R. Pepple, J. G. Howell and J. G. Bennett were the first trustees. This church is in a flourishing condition, and has about one hundred and forty-seven members.
The principal founders of the Baptist church were A. C. Smith, J. W. Smith, Samuel Harrod, Perry Harrod, and T. S. Bennett. George Hutchinson was the contractor and builder. Rev. Doury preached for the first Baptist mission here. The church at the present time is in a flourishing condition, and has a membership of about one hundred.
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Rev. Doury, J. W. Smith, and G. B. Bennett, Sr., organized the first Sunday School in 1860, in the old school house.
We have two flourishing Sabbath Schools at present, with a combined membership of about two hundred pupils.
We have a substantial brick school house with four rooms. Only three of these rooms are occupied at present. Another department will no doubt be added in the near future. We have a special school district, and a graded course of study. We hope in the near future to put our schools on the higher school basis, by means of which we can graduate the advanced pupils.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
JOHN RIDLEY, or Redlon, one of the pioneers of Auglaize county and a soldier of the Revolution, was born in Saco, Maine, November IIth, 1760. He was the fourth son of Matthias Ridley, and remained under the paternal roof until 1775, when he and his elder brothers enlisted in the War of the Revolution. He participated in the battles of Bunker Hill, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown. After the defeat he accompanied the retreat- ing army to Valley Forge, and experienced all the severities for which the memorable winter of 1777-8 is noted. He carried the scars of frozen legs and feet the remainder of his life. He also participated in the campaigns of 1778-9, and was present at the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis. Soon after the surrender, the company to which he belonged was mustered out of service and he returned to Saco.
On the 15th of December, 1779, he married Abigail Holmes, of the town of Scarborough, and settled in his native town .. "He subsequently followed his brothers to Little Falls Plantation, now in Hollis, York county, and cleared a farm on a twenty-rod strip between the 'College Right' and 'Dalton Right,' so called." Mr. Ridley's house, built of logs, was near where the brick house, known as the Uncle David Martin house, now stands. He owned that farm and the land on the hill in the Ridlon neighborhood. Mr. Ridley lived at Little Falls Plantation about ten or twelve years, when he moved to Vermont, where he purchased a large tract of land and built a house. His wife died during his resi- dence in Vermont, and becoming discouraged in the cultivation of a rocky soil, and hearing from his brother Abraham from Ohio.
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about the beauties of the western country and the fertility of the soil there, he sold his property and emigrated to that State. Mr. Ridley's first settlement in Ohio was in Miami county, where he lived many years. He subsequently moved to Auglaize county and purchased a farm near Waynesfield, where he continued to live with his only surviving son until his death." He married
JOHN RIDLEY.
a second wife in Vermont. No children were born of this union. She also preceded her husband."
"Mr. Ridley spent his last days in the family of his son and namesake in Waynesfield, where he died in 1867, aged one hun- dred and six years and three months. He was never known to be sick, and died of old age. He retained his faculties to a remarkable degree, and when more than a hundred years old would carry a chair into his orchard and sit to shoot the birds that came for plums and cherries. He was naturally quiet and
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