USA > Tennessee > Old times in West Tennessee : reminiscences, semi-historic, of pioneer life and the early emigrant settlers in the Big Hatchie country > Part 17
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Sevier took much interest in things about town, and frequently contributed to the interest and va-
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riety of the local trade. To exemplify his passion in that way, an anecdote is preserved of him, in which he caused his friend Cox to become the contributor. Cox was concerned in the tanning business, and was the largest purchaser of green hides in town. It was customary to weigh and sell the horns with the hide at the established price. Vol happened to be down at the tanyard one day when a lot of hides belonging to an honest, hard-working countryman were being weighed and delivered. He noticed one of them without horns-the hide of a muley cow or ox. The country gentleman took the weight of the hides and went up town to get his pay from Cox. Vol went along with him. Going along, he suggested to the owner of the hides that he was entitled to hornage on one of his hides.
" What?" says the countryman, "how! what did you say ?"
" Hornage," says Vol. "One of your hides was a muley-didn't have any horns. It is worth more than those with horns. So, when Mr. Cox goes to pay you, you must claim hornage."
The hide vendor understood it. Handing in the weights, the calculation at so much a pound was made and the money being counted out, when the country gentleman stated to Mr. Cox that he was entitled to hornage on one of the hides-that it was a muley hide.
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"Hornage! what?" says Cox; "who ever heard of such a thing as hornage?"
"I have," says the gentleman seller, "and you have got to pay me hornage on that muley hide."
In the meantime Vol stepped in, and his friend Cox appealed to him, to know if such a thing was ever heard of before, and what he thought about it.
"Yes," says Vol, "it's right." "Hornage" was established in the tanyard thereafter, upon Vol's decision.
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CHAPTER XIII.
Fayette, Its Geographical and Topographical Features- County Sites Established for Seven Counties-L. P. Williamson-Hardeman-Bolivar-Ezekial Polk-Jack- son- Colonel C. D. McLean.
FAYETTE .- The year after the Chickasaw title to the lands in West Tennessee was extinguished by the United States government (in 1818), by an act of the Legislature, the territory embracing the present limits of Fayette, Hardeman, McNary and Shelby, was attached to Hardin, and comprehended Hardin county. Afterward, and during the period of the same session, by a supplemental act, the present limits of Shelby was defined and fixed.
In 1821 Shelby county was established, and the territory now forming the counties of Fayette and Tipton, was attached, and Hardeman and Haywood attached to Madison.
In 1822 Hardeman was established, then embrac- ing the territory, which, the year following (1823), was laid off and erected into a county, and called " Fayette" in honor of, and for
GENERAL LAFAYETTE,
who, the year following, was the "nation's guest."
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In the year 1824, the counties of Fayette, Harde- man, Haywood, Tipton, Dyer and Gibson, became separate and independent counties, with separate judicial jurisdiction. Previous to that period, and up to 1821, the inhabitants of the territory, now Fayette county, were embraced within the jurisdic- tion of Hardin; and from 1821 to the period when it was established as a separate county, under the jurisdiction of the courts of Shelby.
In the same year (1824) commissioners were appointed by the Legislature to locate and establish county sites for the new counties embraced in the act of that year.
In 1825, Somerville was established as the perma- nent county site for Fayette, and the lots were sold by the commissioners, appointed by the county court, in September of that year. It is worthy of note, that the county sites for the counties of Hay- wood, Tipton, Obion, Hardeman, Gibson, Dyer and Fayette, were located and established in the same year. Commissioners by the several county courts were appointed to lay off the towns and sell the lots, the several sites having been located upon grounds donated for that purpose.
The commissions for Brownsville, Haywood county, were L. McGuire, N. T. Perkins, William H. Hen- derson and Thomas G. Nixon, and the sale took place the third Monday in March.
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The commissioners for Covington, Tipton county, were Marcus Calmes, Robert G. Green, John Eck- ford, Alex. Robinson and E. T. Pope; sale twelfth of April.
The commissioners for Dresden, Obion county, were John Terrell, John Schultz, Mear Warner, Perry Vincent and Martin Lawler; sale fourteenth of April.
For Bolivar, Hardeman county, Thomas J. Har- deman, John H. Bills, Nat Steel, West Harris and John T. Cockran; sale on twenty-second of April.
For Gibsonport, Gibson county, J. B. Hogg, William C. Love, John W. Evans, Robert Finkle and John P. Thomas; sale July twentieth.
For Dyersburg, Dyer county, J. Rutherford, Griffin Rutherford, Ben Porter, William Martin and Thomas Nash; sale twenty-sixth of July.
Commissions for Somerville, were Henry Kirk, Daniel Johnson, Hamilton Thornton, William Owen and John T. Patterson; sale on the fourteenth day of September.
During that year (1825) immigration to the new counties exceeded any other year.
Fayette-the territory embraced within the limits of Fayette, bordering north on the waters of the Big Hatchie, south by the pure silvery waters of the Wolf, the Loosa IIatchie, with its numerous feeders, rising up through the center-no county in West
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Tennessee was more inviting to the carly immigrant settler, or could boast of richer virgin lands, peculi- arly adapted to Southern agriculture, and capable of sustaining a large population. Settled by men of enterprise, intelligence and wealth, it early took a stand among the most favored counties in the dis- trict, noted for the refined, cultivated taste and good morals of its citizens. Prominent among the early pioneer settlers of Fayette worthy of honorable mention, and whose long and useful life, beginning with his early manhood, was the late
LEWIS P. WILLIAMSON.
With an energy and enterprise unknown to the , present age, he exchanged the luxuries and com- forts, the pleasures and enjoyments of a cultivated and refined society in the " Old North State " for the hardships, dangers and difficulties incident to the early settlers in the wilds of West Tennessee. His boyhood days spent in his native State, North Carolina, his early manhood at " Yale," where he graduated with honors in his twentieth year; he re- turned to his native home, an elected member to the State Legislature before he was twenty-one years of age. Nine miles northwest of Somer- ville he fixed his residence, in the loveliest spot in the wilderness, and built him a round-log house with a passage in the middle, like other new comers of that day, and called it " Ivenness," after a place in Old
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Scotland, from which his wife's ancestors emi- grated, where he with his happy family lived, im- proving and beautifying it until his death, which occurred in 1865, having lived three score and four years, and the last forty in Fayette.
Mr. Williamson was a ripe scholar, a polished writer, an eloquent speaker and ready debater. He several times represented his fellow-citizens of Fay- ette in the State Legislature with notable ability. He was the author of, and secured to West Tennes- see the first railroad charter, the Memphis and LaGrange railroad; which was afterward adopted, and formed a part of the Memphis and Charleston railroad.
In the early days of Whigery he entered the field of politics, under the banner of "Harry of the West," and became a candidate for Congress. His glowing eloquence in the cause of Whigery-in advocating and maintaining the principles of govern- inent as taught by the great statesmen, Webster and Clay-distinguished him as a man of merit, and eminent among the first men of West Tennessee. Noted for his refined, cultivated taste, strict moral deportment, and his utter abhorrence of "grog-shops " (he was a great advocate in the cause of temperance), he relied alone upon his personal merit and the just- ness of his cause for votes. In the celebrated canvass in which he made a distinguishing mark as
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a speaker and ready debater, C. II. Williams, of Madison, and W. C. Dunlap, of Shelby, were his opponents. Williams was of the same school of politics with himself, and Dunlap a Democrat. Mr. Williamson and Mr. Dunlap made the canvass of the district together, on horseback. Personally warm and fast friends, an anecdote is told of them, illustrative of the men and mode of electioneering. Traveling together one day, they came to a cross- roads store, where liquor was kept also. Colonel Dunlap, forgetting nothing of the qualities constitu- ting a successful canvasser for votes, discovering several men standing in the store door, halted as they rode up in front, remarking to his friend Williamson that he felt dry-that if he, being a temperance man, would hold his horse for a moment, he would get down and "take a drink." The kind Mr. Williamson readily consented.
Colonel Dunlap dismounted, and with a generous, smiling face entered the store. Calling for a drink, he turned to the bystanders, and said :
"Gentlemen, join me-candidate for Congress- passing through your country- glad to make ac- quaintances. Come, gents, join me in a drink."
He was of course joined by half a dozen or more hardy voters, they thinking it was their rightful duty to drink a candidate's liquor. While all were tilling their glasses and exchanging glances at each
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other, the Colonel, throwing his eyes across his shoulder, remarked :
"See that man on his horse? He is a temperance man; delivers a fine temperance speech. Ile wouldn't be caught in such a place as this for all the votes in the neighborhood. He is my opponent. My name is William C. Dunlap, candidate for Con- gress-good day, gentlemen ; I can't be with you longer; my friend is holding my horse."
Mr. Williamson's devotion to the case of Whigery induced him to retire from the canvass in favor of his political confrere, Colonel. Williams, when his prospects of election were considered brighter than any other candidate in the field. His compass of mind fitted him for every intellectual pursuit. His rare business capacity and refined cultivated taste was evidenced in the management of his agricultural and domestic affairs and the beautifying of the home of his family.
It was, perhaps, in the year 1856-57, that the Agricultural Bureau of the State offered a prize for the best agricultural essay and address on the occa- sion of the Fair held that year at Jackson. The contestants were Governor James C. Jones, Gov- ernor A. A. Brown and Lewis P. Williamson. The prize was awarded to Mr. Williamson, and ordered printed in the report of the Agricultural Bureau.
As a Christian gentleman, worthy and honorable
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in every pursuit in life, no more fitting tribute and eulogy upon his fair name and character could be offered than the following quotation the writer is permitted to make from a touching letter from his widow, after his death, to a friend, and who survived him but a few years. She says :
"From the period of his conversion throughout his whole life he was a Christian in the sublime and exalted spiritual sense of the word, and was ever ready to give a reason for the faith that was in him with meekness and fear. While his worth was like a heap of gold that could not be counted, the great char- acteristic feature of his noble nature was his disin- terested benevolence. From the time he left college up to the close of his useful life, he had the care of the widow and the orphan, managed a great many estates for rich and poor, and never accepted com- pensation save in one instance, when it was forced upon him. His labors of love and works of good- ness were abundant, and known only to the few, for all were done in a quiet, unostentatious manner, not letting his left hand know what his right hand did. But his work is with his God, and his record is on high !"
HARDEMAN.
In 1822 Hardeman was formed, and the counties bordering on the Hatchie extending to the Missis- sippi, including Shelby, were attached for judicial
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purposes. The courts were held at " Hatchie Town " until 1824, when Bolivar was laid off and established as the county site. The county was named for Thomas Hardeman, member from the county of Davidson to the first territorial convention, held at Knoxville on the 11th of January, 1796, to frame a constitution preparatory to Tennessee becoming a State, and the town of Bolivar was called for the great "liberator of his country," Simon Bolivar, the hero of South America.
BOLIVAR
was a Venezuelean, born in Carraccas in the year 1785. Of noble blood, he was educated in the re- fined courts of Europe, a companion and traveler with Humboldt. When in his twenty-sixth year he returned to his natal land, offered his services to the Congress of Grenada to rid his country of the Spanish yoke, and with six hundred men marched against the great Spanish General Morillo. After eleven years struggle with varied successes, he finally triumphed over Morillo and his Spanish troops, confirming the title which had been given him of being the "liberator of his country."
Noted among the first settlers in Hardeman was COLONEL EZEKIEL POJ.K.
The advanced age to which Colonel Polk had at- tained when braving the trials and hardships inci- dent to pioneer life, in bringing the ax and plow
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where alone the savage hunter's footprints had trod the wilderness-the haunts of the wild beast- marked the strong and inflexible will and indomita- ble energy of the man. Colonel Polk's early life, his habits and proclivities, had fitted him for such an undertaking. A revolutionary patriot, he had served with the rank of Captain and promoted to that of Colonel in our struggle for independence.
He was a member of the first convention held in South Carolina to take measures against British encroachments. With a widely-extended and intel- ligent understanding, he displayed a sound judgment in the management of his affairs, marked with strong idiosyncrasys of character, as was notably attested by his writing his own epitaph. As a curious piece of literature of "old times in the Big Hatchie coun- try," it is here reproduced for the amusement and interest of the reader, without comment:
" Lines to be inscribed on the grave-stone of E. Polk, written by himself June 24th, 1821, in the seventy-fourth year of his age :
" Here lies the dust of old E. P., One instance of morality ; Pennsylvania born, Carolina bred ; In Tennessee died upon his bed. His youthful days he spent in pleasure,
His latter days, in gathering treasure; From superstition lived quite free, And practiced strict morality.
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To holy cheats, was never willing, To give one solitary shilling. He can foresee, and foreseeing, He equals most men in being.
That church and State, will join their power, And misery on this country shower ; The Methodist, with their camp-brawling, Will be the cause of this downfalling ; An error not destined to see, He waits for poor posterity ;
First fruits and tenths are odious things, And so are bishops, tithes, and kings.
As there are no rocks in this country fit for grave-stones, let it be done on durable wood, well painted, and placed upright at my head, and a weeping willow planted at my feet."
The Colonel died three years afterward; this, among his last injunctions, was obeyed.
JACKSON.
Jackson, Madison county, the abode of ease, ele- gance and refind civilized enjoyment, the homes of the interprising and intelligent, the beautiful and cultivated, the seat of learning and temple of the law, was the first habitable town in West Tennessee. It was peopled before Brownsville, Covington, Somerville, Bolivar and other county towns, had a local habitation, or a name, by the best families, from the old States. It was there the first courts of law were organized and the first academy of learn- ing established, and gave birth to the first newspaper
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published in West Tennessee. It stands to-day, with its blocks of brick and mortar, fashioned in the most approved taste and style of modern archi- tecture-its fine public buildings, and private resi- dences, with its enterprise in manufactures and commerce, thrift and wealth, second only to Mem- phis, with its many more advantages, beside the great "inland sea," rolling past its front. Yet it is within the recollection of the writer, when it was buta hamlet on the banks of the south fork of Forked Deer, dependent for its sugar and coffee upon the navi- gation by " keel boats" of that little tortuous stream. It is regretted-the more to be regretted, as " old times in West Tennessee " had its birth at Jackson- that the reminiscences and incidents of early life in that place is debarred its full share in the pages of this little volume, . Should the theme which has engaged the peu and interest of the writer, find favor with the readers of these "reminiscences in the Big Hatchie country," he may be encouraged to a larger and more inviting field, which will take Jackson and Madison county as the starting point, and "work up the timber," according to the original "blazes." The apology, if indeed, an apology be necessary, for going to Jackson, is to make honorable mention of one of the pioneer newspaper men of West Tennessee (and the first paper published in the district)
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CHARLES D. M'LEAN,
"the best in the world," whose long and usefu life has been spared through the vicissitudes and gradations of establishing a country, wrought from the wilds of a savage territory into a highly improved State, teeming with wealth and popula- tion-the work of only a half century. But few men are older, and who have been longer connected with the early and late history of West Tennessee than Colonel McLean. A native of Virginia, he was born in the year 1795. Emigrating to West Ten- nessee, he settled in Jackson in 1823-4. On the twenty-ninth day of May, 1824, he, with Elijah Bigelow, issued the first number of the Jackson Gazette, which was continued to be published under his supervision and management until the year 1830, when it came under the editorial man- agement of the late J. H. McMahon, and its title changed to that of the Truth Teller. The Gazette was the immediate successor to the Pioneer, the first newspaper published at Jackson, which ceased to be published after the death of its editor, occurring in a few months after the first number was issued.
The Gazette was the only paper published in the district for several years. It was published in the interest of General Jackson and David Crockett, from 1824 to 1830 inclusive; the files of which is yet, preserved by Colonel McLean as a relic of
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" old times " in West Tennessee, and is a welcome guest among the " Old Folks at Home," of which ; he is their honorable President, and ranks the oldest. Colonel McLean was honored by a seat in the State Legislature, from the county of Madison, during his residence in that county. In the year 1833, he fixed his place of residence in the vicinity of Memphis, where he continues to reside. Hav- ing lived to a green old age, his venerable form, beginning to bend a little with the weight of many long years of usefulness, may be seen on the streets of Memphis every bright day, enjoying life in a good joke, " the best in the world," which is the Colonel's universal response to an old friend, when inquiring as to his health-it is always the " best in the world."
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CHAPTER XIV.
Bright and Lasting Memories of Youth-Linking the Past with the Present-The Old Log Schoolhouse- The School- Path and Play- Ground-Demanding a Day's Holiday-Barring Out the Schoolmaster.
The most lasting of memories graven upon the young mind-the scenes and incidents of young life-become brighter and fresher in after life, link- ing, by fond and endearing memories, the past with the present, forgetful of the long intervening years of pain, peril and strife. With the vision of the past, the aged look back through the dim vista to the days of their youth, as a bright thrilling dream, enchanted by its memories, as a lover in pursuit of the object of his affections-bright pictures upon the unstained walls of youthful memory most truth- ful in nature.
The old schoolhouse, where they first learned to " spell baker," the play-ground with its scenes and incidents, the big spring and the sparkling spring- branch, rippling over its pebbly bed through the deep shades of the forest to the creek, where at summer's-noon they learned to "swim;" the school-path, narrow and winding through pleasant
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grounds made hard and smooth by the daily tramp of many little feet ; the " foot-log " across the deep creek, where they were wont to stop and cast peb- bles into its bright waters, or amuse themselves with the schools of little fishes rising to the surface to gather the crumbs from their "school-basket;" the five and thirty "school boys" banding together, to demand of the " schoolmaster " a day's holiday to go to a log-rolling or house-raising; or, perchance, to a fish-fry, or a shooting match, and he, in his individual sovereignty protesting against their juvenile wishes-their natural rights. The final decision taken, the early gathering of the boys at the " schoolhouse; " the barring of the doors and windows; the anxious waiting, and appearance of the " old schoolmaster," as he rises the hill ; his wroth and angry will at being barred out of his rightful castle, and being dethroned of his authority -he demands entrance, denouncing the " assumed rights," declares it a revolt, and threatens vengeance upon the leading rebels; the whole school backs up the leaders, while they stand pleading through the open cracks in the logs, disclaiming ill-will, and expressing their perfect willingness " to submit to his rule and discipline to-morrow; " the schoolmaster still refuses, holds on to his iron will, and renews his threats of punishment; he riles the boys to more desperate measures; the final catastrophe culmi-
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nates, the doors are unbarred, and the five and thirty heretofore obedient scholars gather round the schoolmaster, a half dozen of the largest gather him up upon their shoulders, and he is borne away to the creek-the usual place of going in swimming. The old incorrigible kicks and writhes, threatening vengeance; the pool is reached, and the whole school cry out, " souse him-souse him ; it will cool him off; " the hard-hearted " schoolmaster " begins to soften; the tyrant begins to beg and promise to let them have the day. Too late, too late, souse- he goes under ! " Souse him again !" by the whole school. Imploringly he cries, "stop ! hold ! do it no more and you shall have a week's holiday." That will do-let him off, let him off," was the verdict of the school. Smiling and good natured he clambers up the bank, and all hands join in expressing good will, with promises to be punctual to school Monday morning, and study hard.
The most joyous and happy gatherings of the neighborhood, in "old times," were at the quiltings. It was seldom that the young people in the settle- ments got together except at a quilting frolic. During the early winter months a week never passed without a quilting, which always ended in a dancing frolic, followed soon by several weddings. It was common, during the " log-rolling " season, for quilt- ing to be going on at the house while the men were
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out in the field or new-ground rolling logs. It was usual to invite the whole settlement to a log-rolling -the men to come and bring their wives and daughters. It was always the occasion of a big dinner. The field-work done, and the quilt finished, everything was cleared away for the hardy young men and girls to have their frolic. A fiddler who could play two or more tunes was always on hand. It would puzzle the "pleasing recollections" of "old times" to treasure up the varied innocent country amusements that brooded over the land. The fair and happy country lass thought not of making herself beautiful by art. Her plump, glowing cheeks put to blush the face-physic, common to "dressy" young women of the present day. Unwittingly they romped and played, unmindful of the outside tissue or tinsel; decked in innocence, she doth all things sweet and graceful;
" - to paint the lily ;
To throw a perfume on the violet, to add another hue
Unto the rainbow
As wasteful, and ridiculous excess."
OUR MOTHER.
Gentle reader, the strongest and most enduring passion of the human heart is for OUR MOTHER.
" All other passions fleet to air." -
Sweet, endearing memories of our mother, who
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loved us ere we had a being, from whom we drew our young life-thy image, the brightest engraven upon " memories wall," becoming brighter-unfad- ing and undimmed by time, is embalmed in the heart's affection. That little hillock raised upon the bosom of mother earth, overgrown with green moss, or decked with flowers, marks her last resting place; it has for us a resistless charm-we would not ask
-to give us back our dead ; Even in the loveliest looks they were."
Through all the wanderings and varied mazes our wayward feet have trodden since our youth, the image and sweet memories of our mother endear- eth; growing brighter and more lovely as the hair upon our heads takes upon it the frosts of many, many winters.
Reader, are you ever reminded of your mother, unbent and stately-stately among the stateliest, with elastic step, easy under the weight of venerable years-as she moves with an ear at all times kindly open, and a heart generous, loving to the prattle and whims of her children's children, her grand and great grandchildren, in their shining new frocks and clean white aprons, vieing with each other as to who should do this or who that for her ? They were very sunshine to her in the vale and shadows of her last days. Such are the sweet memories of 13
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my mother when last I saw her in life. May I not claim, in filial respect to her memory, the mention of her name in these pages as one of the brave- hearted mothers and wives who shared with their husbands and sons the perils and hardships of the pioneer settler's life in the Big Hatchie country? It would be filial impiety not to. 1
Born and reared in the lap and ease of plenty, she, when fortune's frowns were most bitter, joined with her husband-my father-in the wish to seek new faces and a new home in the far off West. Leav- ing behind all painful regrets, with the true heroism of a wife, she followed the fortunes of her husband through the long and wearisome travel from Cum- berland county, North Carolina, through the sands of South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, to Cov- ington county, Mississippi, taking camp fare and camp comfort common to the movers of that day (1822). With no misgivings as to the future, always cheerful and joyous, sustained by a pure Christian soul undimmed by adversity, she felt rich alone in the objects of her affection-her husband and chil- dren-her six little jewels, the youngest an infant and the oldest but twelve years. Sojourning a few years in Mississippi, she enters the same vehicle in which she had traveled from the " Old North State," with her six little jewels and another added, and shared the morer's comfort through the Choctaw and Chick-
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asaw "nations" to the Big Hatchie country, as men- tioned in the first chapter of these reminiscences.
My mother, whom my father was fond to call Patsey, was born in North Carolina, December 26th, in the year 1790, and was christened Martha Macon. Macon was the maiden name of her mother. She was the fifth child of Joseph Seawell and Martha Macon, and third daughter, and next to the youngest, who was a son. Their names were Harry, James and Nat, Nancy (Ann), Betsey (Elizabeth), and Patsey (Martha), my mother. She survived them all-her brother James only a few years.
My mother married my father in the year 1806, when in her seventeenth year. Under her loving care five sons and three daughters grew up to man and womanhood. She lived to enjoy the society and mingle in the domestic circle of her children until all had grown old together, and to bless with her fondest love and affection fifty-six grandchildren, be- side great grandchildren.
She survived my father by thirty years (remain- ing a widow), her youngest child (a daughter), nine years, and eldest (a son) by two years, and was by her surviving children followed to her last resting place in Elmwood, April, 1867, having lived seventy- seven years and seventeen days. Zealously attached to her church (the Presbyterian), of which she had been a member sixty-one years. Loving, kind and
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charitable, exercising charity toward the uncharita- ble, she was notable for her deep piety. With strong intuitive love for her children, she closed her eyes to their many shortcomings, while her soul was in prayer in secret. If to be blind to the faults and frailties of one's children be sinful, it was my mother's greatest sin. Loving, jealous, she watched over them with the same care and affectionate attention, as when they were around her footstool as little children.
It is difficult for the writer, in this short personal sketch of his mother, to separate her moral from her intellectual character. In her personal, she was a fair representative of the true majesty of WOMAN, spirited and gay in society, eloquent and chaste in conversation, tempered with feelings of tenderness and respect for the opinions and fancies of others. She was always the welcome guest in the social of her friends and acquaintances.
The genuine sentiment of her loving, kind, and generous nature, combining all the charming accomplishments that so beautifully adorn the Christian daughter and sister, wife and mother, dis- tinguished her as a NEIGHBOR.
Ardent in her temperament, devoid of fickleness, she was firm and constant in her friendships; devoted to her Bible, her religious feelings grew
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stronger and her faith brighter in the evening of her long life.
The truths and beauties of the Christian gospel were fully illustrated in her death, as they had been exemplified in her long life. Such, gentle reader, was one of the pioneer wives and mothers, who enjoyed life in the first settler's cabin and among her neighbors, who " spun cotton and wove cloth," long before envy and jealousy, common to fashion- able life, entered the settlements-who lived to see the wilderness disappear for the broad cultivated acres, the finely constructed mansion take the place of the settler's cabin, and refined cultivated taste brood over the land, where the howl of the wolf, and sharp, startling scream of the panther first became familiar sounds. Such was my mother, who, in life, was highly esteemed, and enjoyed the society of many friends, and whose memory is embalmed in the hearts of her surviving children.
An incident occurred in connection with my mother's last and mortal illness, vouched for by members of the family, which, however, it may encourage the dogmas of spiritualism, is deserving of mention. My mother's late residence in the town of Somerville was a retired and qiuet cottage home, beautifully improved, and fashioned after her own taste and fancy, and for the most part by her own
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hands. " My little cottage home," she was fond to call it.
Upon the mantle in her room stood an old time clock; it had been a companion in time with her for near a half century. For several months previous to her death, the old clock had refused to run. Several repairers of clocks had tinkered at it, yet it would not go-it refused to make time any more- it worried my mother. She finally gave up the undertaking of making it run, and left it with its weights sitting loose inside the case. A few days previous to her deatli she rode out to her daughter's, several miles in the country; it was on a Monday she went out. Tuesday night at about eight o'clock the members of the family who were sojourning- with her in her " little cottage home," were startled and amazed by the "striking" of the old clock. Sitting in an adjoining room (there being no one in my mother's room), they, in mute astonishment, followed the strikes until it struck twelve. Some minutes afterward, and while the members of the family were speaking of the unaccountable incident (for every adult member of the family were aware of the abandoned condition of the old clock,) a messen- ger rapped at the door, announcing the sudden illness of my mother, and for a doctor to be sent in haste. At twelve o'clock the day following the morn- ing, she breathed her last. Connected with this inci-
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in West Tennessec.
dent, and which made it the more impressive and sad, she had sent in on Tuesday morning, writing a note, for certain articles of dress and material to be sent, which she desired should be made up and ready for shrouding her mortal remains.
Our mother ! 'tis but thy mortal life death can sever ;
Thy sweet image lives embalmed in our heart's affection forever.
HECKMAN BINDERY INC.
JUN 85
N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962
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