Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-10-25


IOmllnson. now the mother of FIVE chill
dren notwithstanding the danger from tb,
savages, yet yearned in heart for her ole
home In the wilderness where she ba6
FIRST tasted the bliss of connubial love
and gave birth to her first child Besides
she was not reconciled TO pay so large q
share of the proceeds Of their toll by way
Of rent, when they had much better land
OF their own, where all it produced would
belong to themselves After repeated
discussions on the subject, they decided
on returning to their forest domain.
The journey from Red Stone to Grave
Greek could easily be made by water
Having no convenient boat. Mr. Tomlin.
son constructed a raft of dry logs. con
! nected by grape vines, and on this frail
hotilla placed his family and household
goods The cattle aud horses were driv
Ell by hired man across tie country bv
! land The water was low at that season
and the pr0gres Of the raft slow. From
the constant state of alarm in which they
had lived for years. he had acquired the
ha bit of rising from bed III his sleep on
! these occasions he would call out to his
wife. Eliza beth, Eliza beth, they are com
ing they are coming - aud seizing her in
his arms. pull her out Of bed Many
times she was thus awakened and found
herself standing on her feet by the bed
while her husband was still under the in
tiuence of the delusion. dreaming that the
indians were upon them On their way
down be bad narrow escape from drown
lng-drCaming that one of the children
had fallen overheard, he plunged into the
river after 1t. The water happened to be
shallow, and recovering his feet. he clam
bered on the raft awakened by the cold
bath His wife was in sound sleep. and
awakened by his asking for some dry
clothes.
They landed at their old home the last
| of October. 1t was sad and desolate
looking spot. Their cleared land in the
course of six years the time of their alb
sence, was grown over with papaw bushes,
aud the nice little orchard of peach and
apple trees overrun with briers and bram
! b!es. Even busy nature was again re
suming her rights. IN short there was
nearly as much tn be done before a crop
could be raised, as when the land was Gov
cred with the primeval forest
Here they were, a solitary family in the
wilderness. with no one to aid them near
er than Wheeling a distance of twelve
miles. They had brought tent with
them. which was set up near the spring.
and served to shelter themselves and goods
from the rain until they could build a
cabin This was slow job, as he had
no assistance bat the females The logs
were cut aud dragged on to the ground
with the aid Of his horses The site cho-
sen was the spot where their former home
had stood, near the margin oe the high
second bottom, - it sloped on to the aIlu-
vum of Grave Creek, overlooking the
beautiful spring, as it gushed in a clear,
rapid stream from the base of the slope
Z with the aid of his wife, the old lady,
aud Molly. the logs were rolled up. and
the cabin built to the usual height for put
ting on the roof The tlnbers for this
could not be put up without other help
than that of tie females He went to
/ Wheeling and procured two black men Of
/ his fathers TO come and assist him From
some cause they could only stay till the
timbers were put up and one half the roof
covered witch clapboards while the other
half was put on by himself and women
They had lived IN the tent seven weeks,
and it was now December. The weather
suddenly became cold, and they were glad
to exchange the shelter of tent for that of
the new cabin, although the crevices
between the logs were only '-chinked," but
not ''daubed," with clay or mortar.
The winter of l764 set in early, and
was one Of great severity all over the
with snow and for six weeks it was SO
steadily cold that it did not melt on the
roof OF the house. As they had laid up
no fodder for the cattle, the poor animals
began to suffer from want OF food, havlEg
nothing but such twgs and dead plants
as the woods afforded. Early in FeDru
ary Mr. Tomlinson left home for Rcd
Stone" intending to bring down by water
a supply of bread-stutf for the family
with corn wheat, and bran for the cattle
The river was yet fast closed by ice, but
had always been open by the last of the
month. so that lie should be back early IN
March After lie had gone the weather
continued intensely cold The cattle suf
fered more aud more from starvation, un-
til ten of the fourteen head which he own
ed were dead The remaining ones were
kept alive by the efforts of Molly Hart
ness aud Elizabeth. who every morning
went out with their axes and cut two or
three large trees of the maple, beech or
linden chopping the branches so that the
cattle could reach the tender twigs and
buds of the extremities In this manner
the domestic animals of the first settlers
were often kept alive during the latter
part Of tue winter aud early spring months
They also had to chop and haul wood
with the horses for the fire the unfuish-
ed state Of their cabin requiring a great
deal Of fuel to keep the children and them
selves in any manner comfortable For
two months these heroic females lived in
this manner alone
The last of February. as the weather
became mlder and the sap began to flow
/ in the maple they turned their attention
/ to the manufacture of sugar-a few sap
troughs we're made Of tie soft wood of the
buckeye and with their pals. dishes &c
/ they coBtrived to gather suificlency OF
tlo -;oI iric.a to mn ze a coOsii era BILE ouan-