The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1866-05-31
tFrom "Our Young Folks"
a Tenne esee Farmhouse.

a Tenne esee Farmhouse.
On cold merning of last December,
started on horseback from Corinth, in Miss
issippi, to visit the battlefield of Shiloh, or
Pittsburg Landing, in Tennessee. Cross
ing the State line, fell i'll with young
fellow wearing a Tapping grey blanket and
riding mule. On making his acquaint-
ance, learned that his name was Zeek,
and that he lived on the western edge Of
the battle field, TO which he promised to
guide me if would go home with him to
his fathers house.
At about two o'clock, after a ride of
twenty miles, we forded Owl Creek, q mar
row, muddy stream. Geek home was in
view from the farther bank IA log house,
with the usual great opening through the
niddle,-situated ON the edge of pleasant
oak grove stro wn with rustling leaves,
and enclosed, nth its yard and out-houses,
by Virginia rail fence.
"Alight - said Zeek, dismounting.
We were met inside the gate by "a sister
of the young man., a girl OF fifteen, in a
native Bloomer dress that fell just below
the knees. As Ientered the space between
the two divisions OF the house, / noticed
that doors on both sides were open, one
leading to the kitchen, where there was
"a great nre, and the other to the sitting
room, where there was another great fire,
i'll large old fashioned firepiaces.
Geek took me into the sitting room, and
introduced me TO his mother. There were
two beds i'll the back corners OF the room.
The uncovered floor was Of oak the naked
walls were OF plain hewn logs; the sleepers
and rough boards of the chamber floor con-
stituted the ceiling. There were clothes
drying on a pole stretched across the room,
and hanks OF dyed cotton thread on bay
onet thrust into II chink OF the chimney,
Cold as the day was, the door by which we
entered was never shut, aud sometimes
another door was open, letting the intry
wind sweep through the house.
Zeek's mother went To see about getting
us sople dtnner; md his father came In
from the woods, where he had been chop
ping, and sat in the chimney corner and
talked with "a lean, bent, good humor-
cd, hard-working, sensible sort Of man.-
Zeeh S mother came to announce our dim
ner. / crossed the open space, pausing
only to wash my hands and face III a tin
basin half filled with water and pieces of
ice, and entered the Kitchen 1t was a less
pretentious apartment than the sitting
room. There was no window in it; but
wide clinkS between the logs, and two
open doors, let in a sutficiency of fdaylfght,
and more than sufliciency of cold wind.
There was a bed in one corner, and little
square pine table in the center OF the room
The table was neatly set, with Il goodly
variety of dishes for a late dinner in "a back
country rtn-house. We could have dined
very comfortably but for the open doors.
Blowing in at one and out at the other, and
circulating through numberless cracks De-
tween the logs, ihe gale frisked at VIII
about our legs, and made our very hands
numb and noses cold while we ate. The
fire was no more use to US than one built
i'out of doors. The yictuals that had come
upon the able warm were cold before they
reached our mouths. The river of pork
which the kind lady poured over my plate
l Ill .,.s, ,,..l,
deposit, like spreading sand-bar. / en-
joyed IN advantage over Zeek, for had
taken the precaution to put on my over
coat and to secure back seat. He sat op-
posite me, with his back towards the wind
ward door, where the blast, pouncing i'm
upon him, pierced and pinched him with
out mercy. lie had not yet recovered from
the chill of his long winner days rido; and
h is lank, shiveriDg frame, and blue, mar
row, puckered face under its thin thatch of
tow (combed straight down, and cut square
and short across his forehead from ear to
ear, presented a picture at once astonish-
ing and lui!crous.
Have YOU got warm yet, Leek y'
eheeriully inquired.
"Now = shuddering. "I'm plumb
chilly I'm so kule 1 KANT eat"
"Ishould think you would be more COM
Portable with that door clossd," l mildly
suggested.
lie slowly turned his head half round,
and as slowly turned IL back again, with
another shiver. The possibility OF actu
ally shutting the door seemed scarcely TO
penetrate the ow-thateh. Ergsrr 3 ~
Geek begged to be exsused, he was so
"kule"; and, taking piece of squirrel in
one hand, and u biscuit in the other, went
and stood by the fire. found that he was
ayerse to going out again that day: 1t was
now late in the afternoon, and our poor an
imals had not yet been fed, or even taken
i'm from where they stood curled up with
the cold by the gate. ! accordingly pro-
posed to the old folks to spend the night
with them, and to take Geek with me over
to the battlefield in the morning. This
being agreed upon, the father invited me
to go out and ses his stock, and his two
bags of cotton.
In the yard near the house was the
oke-house, or meat-house, a blind hut
built of small logs, answering the purpose
Of u celar,-for in that country cellars are
unknown. In it the family provisions
were stored. Under an improyised shelter
at onecorper was the cotton. neatly pack ed
in two bales of five hundred pounds each,
and looking handsome as lady i'm its
brown sacking and new hoops. The hoops
were sort of experiment, which it was
thought would prove successful. Usually
the sacking and ropes about n bale Of cot
ton cost as much by the pound as the cot
ton itself; and to economize that expense,
planters were beginnlngto SUBSTITUTE nick
Dry hoops for ropes. phe owner was very
proud Of those two bales, picked by his
own hands and his children's, and pre-
pared for market at a gin and press in the
neighborhood; and he hoped to realize five
hundred dollars for them when throwppp-'
on the market. A planter of thousand
bales, made by the hands OF slaves he was
supposed to own, and ginned and pressed
on his own plantation, could not have con-
templated his crop with greater satisfac-
tioIN in King Cotton's haughtiest days.
Near the meat-house was huge ash
teach. Then there was simple horse-mill
most Southern farmers, made sufficient
syrup for home consumption, besides
little for market. Under n beach-tree was
q beautiful spring of water. A rail fence
separated the door-yard from the cattle
ward, where there were nocks of hens,
geese, ducks and turkeys, cackling, quack
ING and pobblino in such old familiar