Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-01-13
Squire McClelIan,s Wood Sled.

squire McCl0llan,S wood. Sled
.PRoBABLY the largest wood-sled ever
built in - country was one devised by
Squire John cClellan-a great-uncle
Of Gen. George B. Mcclellan. For a
number of years it was one of the local
curiosities of the town of Woodstock,
Conn.,, the early home of the McClellan
family. The narrator's father, who saw
it frequently when a boy, says it was
nigh thirty-two feet in length by three
in breadth. The beams were of squared
eight-inch timber, with studs to match !;
and the ssshoes," or runners, were over
foot in width. For drawing it, there
were two ''tongues," or poles, in the
forward end. 1t was never used save
on one special occasion, when the team
consisted of fifteen yokes of oxen. The
story of its origin is as follows: In the
parish where Squire Mcclellan resided,
it was the custom, every winter, for such
of the men as had wood-lots to give the
parson acord of hickory wood each,
and thus make up to him a winters sup
ply of fuel. The Squire, in particular,
was always punctual In December with
his cord of nicely-prepared hickory. In
that parish there was a man who had
the reputation of being sssnug,'' mig
gardly, and apt to shirk his due share Of
the burden of paying the minister. In
deed, his remissness in this matter had
been standing grievance in the place
for many years.
One autumn there was a revival of
religious interest in the place, and many
members of the church were stimulated
to earnest labor, and to live more strict.
ly. Among these was the penurious
man above alluded to, whom we may
conveniently designate as Brother Z.
Not little to the establishment of his
neighbors, who had had ample expert
ence of his miserly dealing, he arose in
prayer-meeting one night, and exhOrted
to liberal giving, not only to the parson,
but to all benevolent objects. Waxing
exceedingly earnest in language and
tone, he declared, among other things,
that he would that winter give the min
lister q load of ayood. s'Yea, BRETHREN"
he exclaimed, ssthe Lord has opened
my heart! 1 will give him a load of
wood, and a big one. will give him
the biggest load you can draw from my
woods to his yard!''
This unexpected outburst from SO
droughty a source was the parish won
der for a week. Many thought that
Brother L must be near his end.
"Truly," said Squire McClellan-at the
deacons' meeting-''the Lord must have
opened Brother Us heart; but" he
added, with characteristic Scotch
shrewdness, sit may close soon, and it
may never open again. 1t behooves us,
in the parsons interest, to avail our
selves of it. Let us build sled that
will carry ten cords-and do it at once"
So thought the others. The monster
sled was privately but expeditiously
framed in back yard, and early one
snowy morning in December Brother
Z was amazed to see drive to his
door apparently all the ex-teams in town,
drawing the gigantic sled, accompanied
by shouting throng of teamsters and
all the small boys in the parish.
The Squire was riding on the sled.
"We've come for the parsons load of
wood, Brother Up he cried out.
i" You babe us haul the biggest load we
could, and I'm glad to hear that you
have lately had fine lot of hickory
chopped"
Brother T., however, seeing the
magnitude of the sled, tried to explain
and to demur; but in vain. The crowd
roared him into acquiescence, and with
a wry face, he finally led the way across
the snowy fields to his freshly-corded
tiers of hickory in the lot.
1t is said that fully ten cords of wood
were loaded upon the big sled under the
Squire's supervision, and then, to the
tune of most vociferous gee-hawing,
the enormous load was successfully
sledded to the parsons door-yard.
The worthy minister, equally amazed,
but more agreeably so, issued forth to
learn the cause of the uproar.
"Good people, good people," he
cried, rubbing his hands, "what mean
eth thisP Have the windows of heaven
opened?"
SHAY, nay, parson!" exclaimed the
Squire; "but the Lord has opened
Brother Us heart-and that SO
great gift could have issued from SO
small receptacle is one of the wonders
of saving grace. Question it not, but take
it and keep ye warm"
The minister had roaring fires that
winter, but it was long before Brother
= recovered his equanimity.-
Youths Companion.