Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-05-28
The Great Pumpkin Freshet.

as summers uay. III didn't stop ralnin
fur two days and nights. Everything
hereabouts was under water, and there,
no calculating how many people lost theil
lives and how much property went tc
destruction. That was the time that the
three families on the island below Port
Jarvis was swept off afore you could say
Jack Robinson. Every one of 'em was
drowned, too, afore they fairly knowed
what the matter was every one except
Jerry Patterson. who lived in shanty
by himselfi and when he found every
thing was going by the board he just
made for the biggest birch tree on the
island, Skinned up among the leaves like
a monkey, and stayed there two days,
til we could git boat to him. That was
the time that the fresh sliced out about
half an acre from the Pennsylvania bank,
five miles below here, and let out the
biggest den of rattlesnakes ever sot eyes
on. You see they was all in their winter
sleep, and arter they had been cleaned
out, and the river fell, the weather turned
as cold as Greenland, and every one of
them varmints was frozen as stiff as an
iclcle. Well, there! you ought to have
seen EN-. They was scattered along the
shore for miles, and there wasn't one of
em that stretched out fair and square so
!
were twisted up into all sorts of knots
and corkscrews; such as would have made
you hurt yourself laughing to see. /
picked up one that looked exactly like a
fancy necktie, and if hadn't been afeared
of its thawin' out I'd worn il home TO
see how Betsy liked it.
! "Howsomever, 1 started out to tell
you about the big pumpkin fresh, which
is the name it is knowed by from one end
of the river to 'totheT. 1t was in the fall
of 1916, just when tho pumpkins were
ripe and ready to haul in Anybody
going down the river bout that time
would have seen several hundred mill.
ion bushels of that fruit in the fl lGs.
You see the practice is TO plant in among
the corn, and when that's cut off there's
the pumpkins ready to be hauled in. The
coarse kind are used to feed to the crit
ters on the farm, while the best are
slapped into pies by the women. That
fall was to work for Squire Goodrich,
who was deacon in the church, and a
mighty good kind of man. The wea.h-
er had been cloudy and mild for several
days, but there hadn't been any rain,
though it came down like huge deluge
up near the headwaters. That gave the
fresh sort of body, as you may say, and
when it overlook us we was all taken un-
awares. l was eatin' dinner, and the
Squire had gone out on the porch to
take a look at the weather, when he
came Tunnin' in all of tremble, with
starin' eyes and white face, and he says
to his wife: Jerusalem, Polly, all our
pumpkin pies are gone to the dickens.
You see that wasn't very lucid re.
mark, and Polly asked him to be little
more clear, when he pitched out OF the
house; we followed him, and there was
a sight which was worth seeing. II
couldn't have been more than two hours
since we had seen the river at its usual
height, and here it was ragin' and roarin
and tearin' along, and risin' every min
ute as cider does when you let it run into
a pitcher. 1t was full of trees, logs and
the boards of shanties that had been
standing along shore. On the roof OF
one of these residences stood rooster
that looked as proud and pert like as you
yourself, and two or three times every
minute he threw out his head and let out
a crow that / s'pose was to call the atten
tion of all the chickens along the river
to himself. But the greatest sight was
the pumpkins. The river was full of 'em.
There they was, from the size of your
fist to that of a bushel basket, bobbing
up and down like the cork to fish-line
and all of 'em running race down
stream. The deacOn's pumpkins was all
in the corner lot down yonder, close to
the river, on the slope, and he had
two pet ones that was about as big
round as cart-wheel, and lie had nuss'd
them with the greatest love, going out
quite frequent on moonlight nights to sit
by 'em and figure up in his mind how
many pies they would make through the
winter. So you can understand his sor-
row when he seen 'em just rise up and
line the procession that was going to the
blazes. The deacon's wife was one OF
the kindest women / ever seed, and
when she understood their terrible loss
she called me aside and aXed me if |
couldn't catch one of them big pump
kins, only one, for the deacon's sake.
He had dotted on 'em, for weeks and
weeks had petted 'em, and when he
wanted to be special loving to her he
called her his pumpkin. She wanted me
! to try for the deacon's sake. I've alters
a tender side for the females of the other
sex, and when she aXed me so sad like, /
answered unto her that I'd do it or break
a trace. There wasn't any time for to
lose, and slapped on my hat and started
on run down the river bank, so as to
keep the pumpkins in sight. l didn't
exactly think how | was gong to get
| that fruit in shore, cause / went off in
such a hurry that hadn't time to think.
| "Well, therew exclaimed Joe, with a
sigh, as he scratched his head In a puz-
zled sort of way. "There was one ex-
pected difficulty in the road I've no
doubt the deacon could have identified
them pumpkins in thousand, but /
wasn't as well acquainted with 'em as
what he was, and when they was all COW
cred up in the water, excepting their
Yaller tops, there wasn't any more chance
of knowing 'em than there would be of
! identifyin' bald-headed man by the
/ crown OF his head. But had promised
Mrs. Goodrich, and il wouldn't do to give
1t up without trying. When the river is
high it runs mighty fast, and kept up
dog-trot for half-mile, and then come
down to walk, straddling out as a man
must do when his steps is half dozen
feet long. That sort of travelin' is all
well enough for awhile, but in time it
gets monotonous like, and l was on the
| pint of throwing up the job when /
spied more pumpkins than / ever seed
in my life. AT a place where the river
narrowed some of the logs had man
aged to catch themselves somehow
and the pumpkin procession was
stopped. There they was, 100000 of
'em, humping and pfHhg up in a style
that was a sight to behold. My heart
give big bound, for kRowed the dea-
cons pumpkins was there and / thought
| could identify the biggest. l orter had
a boat but there wasn't any, and the
fruit was jammed so tight that it looked
to me as if they would bear my weight.
When | reached it and tried IL, sure
enough 1t was as firm as rock and
picked my way out to the center, where
! | iancied seen one of the deacon's pets.
II was rather ticklish work to reach it,
but / got 1t at last, and then was sure it
was the identical prize the deacon's wife
axed me to get for her. But il amt any
small job to tow a pumpkin up stream
agin a cuTront running ten miles an hour,
and you can't pick one up and carry 'em
of, for they're too big TO reach round
unless you run q rope through 'em and
string it round the neck the same as