Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1880-04-23

died, and then he died too. They
brought him. over here to be buried,
and u was dretful mournful
kind of funeral, seein' that all
his family had kinder died out be.
fore him. When Hosea Lyman called
out for the mourners to follor him to the
grave IL seemed real kinder lonesome
that there want none, And he sung
'em all out, real spry and cheerful.
Hosea alwus likes to hev things done up
ship-shape, and he's master hand to
n funeral, Hosea is, 'Corpse's parents
he sung out, and they didn't come for
rud, seein' they'd been dead more'n
forty year. 'Corpse's brothers and sis
ters and there want none o. them,
seein' he never had none except little
Cyrus that died when he was a baby.
And when he come TO 'corpse's cousins
there wa n'tnobody but half-witted Jake
IIadlock, a-gigglin' because he was
dressed up in his Sunday clothes and
thought twas q singin'-school.
So you see there really hain't no.
body to see TO the old house, s'posin'
twas in the way
The enlerprising business man had no
interest in the "dying out of the Had
lock family, and the deacon's polixity
and gentle moderation irritated him, es-
pecially as it was evident that it had n
substratum of obstinacy which no argu-
ments of his could prevail against. He
shook the dust of Barberry Island off
his feet, or would have if there had been
any, and firmly resolved to leave the
degenerate Barberry Islanders hence
forth to their own devices, though they
should all take up their abode in the
middle of the main street.
A fence suddenly arrests our foot
steps. There is gate, fastened only
by feeble and frayed rope, but there
is little temptation to venture beyond it.;
marshy land, beset with bogs and pit
falls, lies on the other side The grassy
road has come to an end-because, as
Deacon Manley informed us, there
didn't seem to be no pertickler reason
for its goin' no further"
1t is just beyond the burying ground
that the road comes to an end, as if,
having brought its travellers to that
peaceful bourne, its mission was accom-
plished.
The cemetery looks neglected. Evi-
IDENTIFY Luke Iladlock was not the only
"corpse " whose relatives had "died
out" A tangle of grass and weeds and
running vines links the graves together;
! the paths are "psst finding out"
There are many more stones than
graves. This is in memory of sea
captain who was born on Barberry Isl
and, and died in Australia; this of three
! fishermen drowned off "the Banks"
! Another, of three Barberry Island boys
who were soldiers in the civil war, and
! sleep in unknown southern graves
! Here is one in memory of California
miner killed by his comrade in the early
DAYS of the gold fever. bnd this is
erected to twin brothers, one of whom
was drowned off Eagles Head, scarcely
| a mile away, and the other died of ships
fever at Constantinople. "Lost at sea
| from ship -" is the inscription on
many stones. Wanting altogether is the
familiar inscription of country church.
yards:
Affections sore long time he bore,
Physicians were vain, etc.
Certainly, in the old days Barberry
Island men had sufficient enterprise to
seek what goods the gods might give
them in the four corners of the earth,
and it was given to but few of them to
die in their beds.
But the women Jared differently.
Here is an inscription that reminds us
irresistibly of the countess who
Lived to the age of a hundred and ten,
And died of a fall from "A cherry tree then.
Bathsheba Ann, the widow, respective
ly, of Capt. Seth Rundlett, Zachariah
Lyman, Capt. Jacob Trueworthy, Luther
Rodick and Abijah Manley, died at the
age of eighty of the whooping-cough!
Ii is one of the hideous, old, black
stones with a grinning deaths head up
on it, and directly underneath the skull
is written,
They that have seen thy look in death
No more need fear to die.
Most of the women have died at a
good old age, whooping cough not hay
| ing interviewed to carry them off. The
widow of Seth Manley, who was
| drowned at the age of twenty-four, was
buried beside him at the age of ninety
one.
In an obscure corner we come sud-
denly upon n new grave. 1t causes a
shock of surprise, for the ancient dates
on the stones have beguiled us into the
fancy that nobody dies on Barberry
Island nowadays. And on the Island
of Calm Delights, so far from the jars
and turmoils of the world, there
wouldn't, as Deacon Manley would say,
"seem to be no pertikler reason " why
people should not live on forever. The
headstone has been very recently set,
but the date upon it is of year ago
"Jonas Battles. Aged 46. Drowned
off Dead Mans Point, Aug. 13, 49,"
Probably a fisherman whose boat was
overtaken by a sudden squall; such ac-
| cidents are common enough along this
rocky coast. But a sudden recollection
strikes us that we have heard of man
who saved young girl from drowning
here last summer, and lost his own life.
Only half remembering the details,
and feeling an interest in Jonas Battles
and his fate, we 90 over to Deacon Man
ley's store to make inquiries. The Dea-
con is living chronicle of all the events
which have transpired on Barberry
Island for the last fifty years. His stock
in trade is small in extent but great in
variety. Every article has its price
| plhllllJ maj lhtu upou II, anu III u tol-
spicuous position is this notice: "Cus-
toners will please make change for
themselves in the drawer" The door
stands wide open and there is neither
proprietor nor clerk about the premises.
The drawer filled with money is un-
locked. Apparently the millennium has
begun on Barberry Island.
We find the Deacon on the door
stone of his house near the landing, dill
igently mending very much mildewed
sail. He is little, old, weather-beaten
man, who looks like smoked herring
"Jonas BattleP Ohl yes. The Bat
tleses is one of the families that's
kinder died out. Elviry's the last, and
she's jest merried and moved over to
the main. The house looks shet up and
lonesome, you see"
He points to a square, white house,
the largest and most imposing upon the
leland pff ba t,,atn ctraat