The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1866-03-06


the brush crack. My horse jumped, and
looked around, but saw nothing Very soon
| heard it crack again, and thought perhaps
it might be panther drawing his heavy car
cass along but, in tteopening to the right
saw man, and he saw me, and as we ap-
preached each other | hailed him by his given
name, "OliVer what ale you doing here, my
brother" {" He was young man whom had
baptized, with number of others, some time
before on Pine Greek. | asked him where be
was steeringto? He said, "To the creek
"Where do you calculate to strike Phoenix
Run 2" He replied, cat Round mountain"
asked. ''why do you call it RounG mountain
20, he said. fthe people have names Tor
almost all these mountains" l asked him ii
he had ever been through this piece of woods
before He said, eyes, once" / remarked, Il
think you are bearing too much to the right
otherwise the wind has changed" He said
he thought hewas pretty near right, but would
not be sure; and as we kept talking and NOV
ing on, he added, ''If we are right, we shall
come to q house, pretty soon. l said had
never heard of a house anywhere in that part.
"While we were talking, "There," said he,
~ see the break, now, in the woods" We soon
came to what back .woodsmen call "slash
fence - there might have been, perhaps, an
acre, the timber of which had been cut down
and left on the ground just as it fell. AS we
could not get through this slash fence,we con-
suited which was the best way to get around
it, and had just started TO work our way, when
saw some children. They must have been
playing at hide-and- seek, for those that saw
us began to shout and scream, and very soon
| saw three or four more little ones crawl out
fof very large hollow bass-Wood tree that had
been cut down but was lying up on other tim
ber. | saw at once that they were not all
children of one mother.
''While we were talking and amusing our
selves with the children, we arrived pretty near
te the house. There did not appear to be a
yestige of anything growing, but what had
sprung up wild from the bosom of nature.
said to the brother with me, "Hold on want
to stop at this house" | went up TO a rude
door that was partly open, and knocked, but
no answer. | always had one question to ask
hrst, when | called at an isolated dwelling
and that was, "Where is your spring ?"
opened the door, and asked the question:
There were two women in the house one an
swered; "The springs down by that hemlock
tree the gourd shell is there sir" | then
told them my name, and thaI was a Baptist
minister; | asked them if they knew the course
| should have to take to strike Phoenix Run
near the Round mountain. They told NE that
| was on pretty direct course. Althis time
was surveying their habitation. | asked
them how long they had lived there 2 They
replied, cover nine years." asked them
where they were from They said they were
from York State. I asked them from what
part of York State, but got no answer. asked
them what county? No answer, What town ?
All silent. then concluded that, very prob
ably, they were like several others whom I
had met with, In isolated places, who had left
York State for cause. | asked them if they
had Bible ? They said, "No." A Testament?
| ''No, SIR" Why,what books have your "Nol
any" Have you not an Almanac "No. we
have not any books" | talked to them some
in relation to the interests of their souls. They
were intelligent, looked tidy in their persons,
| their garments well patched. put it down
that those females had seen better days. They
had but one room. The floor appeared to be
made of split chestnut; chamber floor they
had none; chairs, anG tables, were not there.
saw small quantity of crockery, more or
less broken. They had no chimney the logs
had long been burned out where the fire was
wont to- ube built and a very large slab stone
standing edgewise, served for fire back
There was some small pieces ofveuison hang
ing in little smoke. Blocks, like shingle- blocks
appeared to be their seats. Their bedsteads
lone on either side of the room) were very
rude, but convenient: they had bored into
the logs with a two-inch auger, and inserted
cross-pieces, which were put into hole of
the same size, in what might be termed the
bed-pOstS. One difference observed. between
the bed-poSts of civilization and those that
were on the borders, was, that while we have
but two posts on a side, theirs appeared to
have three, with the head part some inches
higher than the foot On the c7oss-pieces
appeared tc be laid slabs or boards, Il could
not say which, Inquired for their husbands
They said they were out hunting. | would
have given them my Bible, but it was the only
one had with me, and it would have been
very difficult for me to have made nv way
home without that
my companion left me soon after we arrived
on the Run, and | continued my COURSE
il dying my horse by myself, knew he must
be very hungry. / was passing a little log
cabin, something like seven miles from the
settlement below, where calculated to take
my dinner. | was somewhat acquainted with
the people living in the cabin they were pi-
Gus, good people, but very poor saw amongst
the logs lying around the house, some very
nice fresh grass, which l did not see on the
hAOuht''Ah NA'hOuEh ~ " 90 hsSdJ Iut lillNNIC Dl
May. l thought would ask the privilege of
turning my horse loose there a short time. |
inquired of two children if their father and
mother were in. One said no, the other said
yes. While was speaking, the good woman
came to the door, very glad to see me. told
her that wanted to let my horse pick little
of that grass, and would stop ten or fifteen
minutes. She asked me what time of day it
was | told her, about eleven o'clock, She
said, "Now, Elder, you must stay and take
dinner with u.s." told her she must excuse
me,for must go on, very soon; (and knew
that, if stopped to eat, should "eat the
children'G bread.") But she was so importu-
nate, that the thought struck me, if do not
stay, she will think that it Is on account of
their poverty SO | concluded to tarry. She
said to two little boys, ,TRun down to the creek,
and catch some trout" They were gone but
a short time and returpad with a orOod e.