The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1866-02-07
UNCLE ZED.


H IN ~ 3##%&@#
Ji DY MRS. n. H. sTODDARD.
Uncle Zcb's monument is under my win
dow in the yard its top in rosebush, and
its base on bed Of pinks. The stone cut
ter brought it on a truck, and with an air
of irreverence launched it into its present
position. Uncle Zeb ordered the monument
the day after he made his will, and left the
duty of paying for it to his executors,
although he lived long enough afterward to
pay for a dozen Of the most elaborate work
manship. This monument is a deceptive
affair, like most tomb stones; a wreath OF
hearts ease is carved round the open book on
the square of the pedestal, and a column
runs up from it, ornamentcd with the long
stems and flowers Of the white water-hly.
As hang over the window-ledge, my recol-
lections of Uncle Zeb assume the shape of
imps which grin ut me through the meshcs
Of the lily stems, and they slide their elfish
finger over the stony leaves Of the book, as
II they were writing the true story OF life
that | alone can read.
My first remembrance of Uncle Zeb dates
from an early period Of childhood. One
day, while l was at my grandfathers
heard hustle in the front entry, and noise
like that Of the dropping Of trunks
Old Lizzy Bowles, an ancient hanger on
OF the establishment. told me that my Uncle
Zeb had "come in from u voyage" and that
l must 20 into the east room and shake
hands with him. I went into the room
quietly, and looked out of the window first,
where saw Uncle Zeb's ship, the Dryad,
swinging at anchor, q mile down the harbor.
then turned aud looked at Uncle Zeh, who
was toasting himself by roaring fire which
burned in a Franklin stove.
lie was in that condition Of roasted help
lessness, which wood fire always engen-
ders in one on a vet damp day. lie strovc
to mitigate tho smart Of his shins by con-
tinually changing one leg over the other,
and he held his baked hands between his
crimson face and the fire. He looked at me
from behind them a moment, and then
reached up to the mantle, and took from it
present which he brought from Liverpool.
1t was n red and white cow and calf of
earthenware, the like Of which had never
been seen by any Juvenile in our primeval
village. AS he gave it to me he called me a
trollop, and said looked like my mother.
Grandmother, who was knitting blue stock
ing in q corner remote from the fire, said
"Sho, Zcb!'
This was my first interview with my rela-
tive, and my last present. retired TO the
kitchen. and to old Lizzy, who told me about
the cargo of crockery which she said Uncle
Zeb was going to sell in New York, and make
. fortune by.
Uncle Zeb was then about thirty; he had
made several voyages previous to the one |
spoke Of, and was already well to do. My
father was some years younger, and at the
beginning of Uncle Zeb's sea life, was q
STRIPPING, lounging about home in a round
jacket. II sometimes happens in q well reg
ulated family, that one Of its members is
overlooked; he is never especially noticed
by the rest, and his future is not thought Of.
My father happened to be the ignored
one in his family, and to that fact ascribe
the difference between him and his rela-
lions. His idiosyncracy got no twist from
their sympathy. But my father was in love ;
boy rs he was, lie thought Of marriage, and
the way to liye afterward.
The girl he loved was poor tailOTess
in fact, she made his homcspun jackets.
She was older than her lover, and had made
his jackets with equanimity, while he wore
them in tempcstuous state of mind.
Grandmother was the Snuire's wife; she
felt above the poor tailoress. An impartial
mind would perhaps have found it difficult
to establish the lines Of superiority, for
grandmother herself sold milk from her
kitchen ever day, and did not disdain to
keep the milk score with chalk on her yell
low buttery door. The tailoress was very
handsome and very resolute. She would
wear feathers in her bonnet; and every
Sunday she went to church dressed in bet
ter taste than anybody beside,-the hand
soonest Presbyterian of them all. Most OF
all, grandmother dislikcd her because my
father loved her. And Uncle Zeb had a
weakness in that direction; but it was OBJ
scured by selishness, and died out in moral
1nziness
Uncle Zeb went his voyages, and my
father, who did not know what else to do,
went to sea also; not having any help from
grandfather, no was obliged, of course, to
command Of Captain Southerd, neighbor-
ing farmer, who planted turnips, and carted
wood and hay to market, in the intervals
between his voyages Nearly all the in
habitants Of our little town were amphibi.
GUS. The boys took to the water like
epaniels; their first toys were punts, and
skiffs, and RATS. The men, when they were
not sailors, were ship carpenters. The land
owners put their savings into small vessels
which coasted from Maine to Florida, and
even went on six months trips into the At
lantic for whales.
Uncle Fob and his brother did not NEE
often. When one was at home the Other
was generally away. Uncle Zeb bought VI
the Dryad, piece by piece, and went in hel
to Gil the trading ports in the word, from
st. Petersburgh to Calcutta. The mer
chants from whom he purchased his cargoes
or to whom they were consigned, invites
him to their houses, and in this way b.
picked up bits Of eccentricity, which h
grated upon his ordinary manners, ant
made very strange compound Of himself
At home he travestied foreign ways, an,
introduced unheard Of fashions in grand
fathers house. lie swore beautifully in al
languages; but his native damns never lef
him, any more than his appetite forsool
him for salt junk and gr0g, after he ha,
learned to like what he called foreign kick
ehaws,