The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1883-08-15

laugh, "it is the solemn truth, and
what is more he wore them out.
. You see it was in the fall when Ben
was about ten years old, and the
men folks were all busy building a
dam, and in the house the girl and
myself had all we could do preparing
for them, as there were a lot of extra
hands. Ben met with an accident
and he had to have another pair of
pants or he couldn't go to school.
| Everybody was too busy to 90 to
town to buy any cloth, and for a
time l didn't know what to do. All
at once I thought of an inside coffee
sack that was in the house, and so
made the breeChes out of it. When
| showed them to the boy he looked
disappointed and said i don't want
to wear them, the boys will make
fun Of me- Never mind said l, if
you make a smart man people will
never ask what kind Of pants you
wore when a boy"
"Yes," broke in Mr. Foraker,
chats the truth Of it, and it wasn't
from extreme poverty as some Of the
papers said. My wife is a saving
kind of woman--a fortune to any
man-and that coffee sack just hap
pened to be handy"
"There never was a better boy to
his mother than Ben," continued
Mrs. Foraker, "and he helped round
the house as good as any girl I
taught all my boys to wash, iron,
milk, cook, spin, and Ben used to
have to pick the geese"
"Ben," supplemented the father,
"was one Of the kind of boys that
thought that if any of the rest of his
companions was able to do anything,
he could do it too. One day his
elder brother, Burch, put up thirty
three shocks Of corn, for which l
paid him one dollar, aud Ben felt
that he ought to earn some money
as well. l told him that he was too
small to do such hard work, for the
corn was strong and high, but he
said he was going to try. That day
1 went to the Fair, and when l came
back l found that he had put up his
lhirty-three shocks. He was not tall
enough to tie them, and so he had
got his little sister to stand on a
chair and do it, while he held the
stalks in place. 1t was a powerful
days work for boy, and don't see
how he ever did it,"
Running about one Of the pastures
on the farm is an old, dun colUred
pony, which was owned as a colt and
broken in by the now Judge. There
is a story told that when he was still
a "beardless youth" he fell in love
with a Mt. Carmel girl, and so as to
be near her he refused to go to the
RainsbOrO Sunday school, but rode
his pony to the one which was at
tended by the object of his affection.
But, alas! for the poor boy. When
he went off to fight his country's bat
ties, she forgot him and married an
other fellow. The pony was ridden
after morgan, at the time of his cele-
brated Ohio raid, by Mr.. Foraker,
and at present the little son of Judge,
when he is visiting at the farm, rides
the ancient nag to the Post office for
the semi-weekly mail land by the-way,
the farm was bought and presented
by their ever-thOughttul son.
A great many stories regarding his
youthful days are current in the
neighborhOod, and, among others, it
is said that in a heated political dis
cussiOn with NJ. Delaplane, a Demo
crat, his relative, Colonel Newell
picked up the lad and pushed him in
the others face, saying "No, sir;
we'll beat you yet, and some day this
boy will be your Governor" 1t now
seems as if his prophecy was bound
to be verified, The same Colonel
Newell once saved him from drown
ing when he fell into the mill race.
While at the farm Mr. Foraker told
your correspondent that the family
name used to be "Fouracres," which
Confined ON fourth Da0e