Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1867-08-08
From the Ohio statesman]
DObbs and His Difficult ties

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DObbs and His Difficulties.
i Il am no novelist, and have never
! aspired to be-, but | claim to be some
thing of apolitician.
If there is a loyal mar | believe l
am one. l made great sacrifices dur
ing the war for my country. ! did
mot 90 to war because | could not
NV private affairs would not permit
lit. But if one person in the United
States of America kept up a more
calling fire in the rear than any other
one | am the man. | have been the
mark of the Copperheads. And be-
elsides it has cost me much domestic
trouble.
George Washington Harrison Socra-
ties Clay Dobbs, CHATS me,) unfortg-
E nately married one Amy Amanda
Maria Louisa Scraggs, and as old
Scraggs was a Democrat, my Amy has
been a follower of the old rebel SYM
pathizing Copperheaded Butternut,
and at times the climate at "Dobbs'
Cottage" became somewhat tropical.
But l have borne it all like a Christian.
Old Scraggs has always been too
fast for me in argument, but when he
came visiting and I held family prayer
and got the old %reprobate upon his
knees l had all the say, and you bet
ter believe l poured grape and cannis!
ter into Fort Sumter. Amy was q
beautiful girl, and / married her be-
. cause l loved her. Some said l mar
ried her for "Dobbs' Cottage" but
that is a copperhead lie, 1t is true,
her father made us a present of the
farm and cottage, but what Of that
t 1t was his daughter, and she had q
: right to it. / was master of the stu.
] alton until recently. This suffrage
question involved me in a very serious
difficulty. I had taken special paint
to tantalize Amy about copperheads
butternuts, and sympathizers, bur
when this suffrage question came W
q she gave me bark upon the Negro
equality question.
I / Tended the best l could, but found
the position was getting untenable
and so 1 declared straight out fol
y equality and went at it upon genera
equality principles.
I went my whole length and de.
> clared for outright equality.
Our people had got patriotic ant
Q had admitted the Negroes into the
public schools, and I had the honor o.
moving first in that important step.
One evening a few weeks ago
came home and Amy and I had a set
to on the equality question.
/ The children had been at school
that day, and each had a Negro next
to them. 1 saw Amy was working
her wits, the result of which was an
announcement that if the children had
to associate with Negroes, l should too.
I regarded the threat as an idle
boast, and thought no more of it.
A few days after this | notified her
that General - and his wife would
dine with us. Her eyes sparkfed /
knew there was mischief brewing, but
could not foresee it.
/ advised her that the General, his
wife, and I would be at the cottage at
one. And sure enough we were.
And Amy was prepared for US. She
had prepared an excellent dinner, and
met us at the door to welcome us, an
nouncing at the same time that dinner
was ready.
So soon as we were prepared she led
the way to the dining-room, and to
my surprise had spread a large table,
and had a saucy old Negro by the
name of Crow with his wife and the
two children that were seated next to
our children at school already seated
at the table. She apologized for her
haste in seating her first guests, as
Stunning that she had concluded we
were not coming, and then proceeded
to formally introduce old Crow and
the Grow family generally to the Gen
eral and his wife as brother Crow, sis
ter Grow, master Grow and little Miss
Crow.
felt o good deal like Growing some
myself. My legs began to show un-
mistakable signs of elasticity. I felt
as if I could heave out any six Negroes
lin the neighborhood. But I fully
comprehended the nature Of the stu
alton. The Generals wife was about
to explode. The General, although
an earnest Radical, could not suppress
his olfactory from becoming slightly
elevated. Ny Amy was extremely
polite, and chartered away apparently
in one of her happiest moods. Old
Grow sat back with his thumbs in the
armholes. of his dilapidated old vest,
whilst his wife, with folded arms, was
assuming an air of maiden innocence.
Amy handed the General a seat by
the wench, which filed up that side Of
the table, and hurriedly seated the
Generals wife by old gums and ivory.
Then gathering up the children seated
them beside their school fellows, after
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