The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-02-03

ries for sauce.
Mr.. Barnum bought piece of land
which he made into farm by hard la
Dor, one and half miles west of the
village, and built log shanty ten by
, fourteen feet in dimensions, where he
kept bachelors hall, doing his own cook.
ing and washing. He and Mr. Tobias
Byers, kept hotel for each other in
their travels between st. Joseph and
Kalamazoo, both living in "single bles-
sedness," one in Paw Paw and the other
on the western line of Keller. In the
fall of the year 1885, they both worked
for Judge Keller, and there formed a
happy acquaintance which has remained
uninterrupted to the present time.
As our "reminiscences are the truth.
full utterances of those who figured in
them, we will here relate an anecdote in
which both these old settlers bore con
spicious part. Do not censure them,
temperance reader, for if you had been
there you would have done the same
under the circumstances, and there is no
use of denying it, kmoac you would.
The time of our incident was the fall
of 1885, when Mr.. Byer's shanty was
raised. Ten men we're collected in all
to do the work, all of them living at or
near Judge Keeler's. For convenience
the building was placed at the base of a
sharp declivity that the upper logs
might be put on without too much lift
ing; our heroes worked bravely and
we'll until nearly dark on Saturday
night, and four logs yet remained which
they could not put in position that night,
and they were all fully five miles from
their homes. Four of them, three besides
the owner, Mr.. Byers, consented to stay
over night with the wolves and finish
the job Sunday morning, as it was Il
very necessary labor. Suppcrless and
tired the four, Byers, Barnum, Fenton
and Long, prepared for camping within
the log enclosure, when they ioyfully
heard the low rattle of q distant wagon
coming from the west over the rough
road. 1t proved to be team loaded
with goods for a country store in the
neighborhood Of Big Prairie Ronde. just
as it reached the newly commenced
shanty, the wagon gave way under its
heavy load, and the teamster left it in
care of our pioneers and went with the
horses to Mr.. Keeler's, and put up tor
the night, and went back the next
morning prepared to meet the broken
wagon. The precious freight consist
ed of barrel of whiskey, barrel of
wine, some smoked herring, and raisins.
a gimlet hole under a slipped hoop to
each barrel was pointed out by the
sympathetic teamster, and the " boys"
were made happy. Their supper of
herring, raisins, wine and whiskey, drawn
through straw was too much. Before
midnight they were ALTO use mod.
ern phrase tight The next morning
they had little heart or strength to lift the
logs to their place, and went back to
the hotel without accomplishing their
work. BY it they had practical de-
monstration of the hackneyed adage
that "when wine is in, wit is out. y
They did not very soon hear the last of
it, and some of them have never been
out on bender" since.
About the first of Sept. 1885, John
Allen and Judge Rumsey first settlers
of Ann Arbor, the place taking its name
from the christian names of their wives,
came to Lawrence and bought some lots of
lands where the village of Lawrence now
is. MIR. Allen brought with him his son
James, and Mr.. Palmer and his wife.
Mr.. Barnum went with them from Paw
Paw, to help cut road, commencing
at the Reynolds place, now owned and
occupied by Mr.. Jeunings,they continued
the road to Brush Greek and pitched
tent that Mr.. Allen brought with him,
where VIM. Bass farm now is. Mrs.
Palmer did the cooking for the four
men, and herself, by fire built outside,
though she was but sixteen years of age;
all slept on the ground. A little north
of Rodolphus Howe's present location,
they built log house on the bluff bank
of Brush creek. This building was
known long time afterwards as the