The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1883-11-08

one of these, cabin twenty fee
square, the single room was made tt
sleep" thirteen persons, the company
comprising three young women, ;
man and his wife and child, and sly
other men. 1t was common thing
for all the family to sleep thus, with
only blankets for partitions.
oLD-TIME HOSPITALITY.
The hospitality extended to minis.
ters by the Brush people was gener.
Gus and large-heart9d to a degree, Mr.
Person says, that he has never known
among any other people. Their ia
bles, beds, stables, whatever they had
he found always open for himself and
his horse. At first he would propose
to pay for his entertainment, but this
gave offence, and was abandoned. So
he adopted a formula, ying when
about to leave, Il am indebted to you
for nights entertainment" The
general response was, Not at all, sir:
come and stay with US again; and
he was rarely permitted to pay any
thing for what he had received.
Moreover, they had the genuinely hos
pitable Way of making him feel that
he had conferred a favor by staying
with them. rather than incur an obli-
cation. For years." he says, ''it Was
my custom to apply for entertain
ment at any house wherever night
overlook me, and invariably received
a cordial welcome.
To invite the minister to lead in
the f. mily devotions was to bring out
the Bible and hymn book and say,
will you take the books. sir?" The
invitation to ask blessing, quite as
peculiar, was, "Will you make be-
ginning, sir?"\
OLD-TINE BASKET MEETINGS.
These were an established institu-
tion in the Brush. When the fami-
lies of a region were few and distant
from each other, they had long been
accustomed to hold 'basket-meetings." :"
These involved less trouble than a
camp-meeting, were usually not so
large, and did not last so long. The
name arose from the fact that the
people brought provisions enough
ready cooked in large baskets to keep
them through the meetings. There
were no services at night. the people
dispensing after the afternoon meet
ing, and spending the night in the
cabins within two or three miles
around, whose occupants gladly kept
open house. Describing his first
basket-meeting, Mr.. Pierson says:
"The place Of meeting was in tall,
dense, unbroken forest. A few trees
had been so felled that rude planks.
made by splitting logs could be pl ced
across them for seats for the ladies.
while the men mostly sat upon the
trunks Of other fallen trees. The
pulpit was truly gothic, made by cut
ting horizontal notches opposite each
other in the sides of two large oak
trees, and inserting into these notches
board about foot wide. :.
The sermon was plain, sensible and
earnest. The preacher was superior
to the people, and yet in all respects
one Of them. He had been born in
the Brush, raised in the Brush, and
b ID spent many years in preaching to
the people In the Brush. He dr. ssed
as they dressed, talked as they talked,
and, unconsciously to himself, used
all their provincialisms in his sermons.
That congregation presented scene
not to be forgotten. The
voice of prayer and song ascended
amid those massive, towering columns.
crowned with arches formed by their
outstretching branches, and covered
with dense foliage. 1t was the wor-
ship Of God i'll his own temple"
All the sermons were not so apt.
The next one was by preacher who
was type Of many others in the
Brush. The sermon WAS drawled ont
IN a sing-song tone from the begin
ming to the end The prea her ran
his voice up to the highest pitch, the
air in his lungs would become ex-
hausted, and at the conclusion of eve
ry sentence he would catch his breath
with an "ah." Thus.
"Oh. my beloved brethren-ah. and
sisters-ah, you have all got to die
ah, and be buried-ah, and go to the
judgment-ah, and stand before the
great white throne-ah, and receive
your rewards-ah, for the deeds-ah,
done in the body-ah."
There was not the slightest evidence
that be had any idea what he Was
going to say from one sentence to
another; and it was while catching
his breath" and saying "ah" he SEEM
ed to determine what he would say
next. AS the preacher warmed up"
the more impressible sisters would
begin to move their heads and bodies.
and soon all the aevoat brethren and
sisters would he swaying their bodies
back aud forth in perfect unison,
keeping time in some mysterious
manner to the preachers sing-song
tone. This meeting ended with a
wedding in the woods, after which
the bride having been generously
kissed, gained the top of stump,
mounted the brid-groom's horse be-
hind him, and the two rode away as
they we'll could be.
oFFICE-sEEKING AND CANnIDATING.
Ofice-seeking politicians were omni-
present in Mr.. Persons time III the
! Southwest. He found 20 place so out
Of the Way they had not penetrated it.
He was constantly mistaken for either
candidate or sheriff. Il was the
custom for the candidates some
months before election publicly to au-
nounce themselves, and on an occasion
when Court Was In session, to come
before the assembled people and set
forth their qualifications for the office
sought. These gatherings We're often
occasions of rare sport, and the de-
scriptions Of them Eli two chapters OF