Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-12-27
Aud Lang Sine.

sN @>ss.s0 NAuCs
CHICAGO, DEC. Is, 1886.
NJ DEAR HERALD:-As q friend of
son.s twenty-five years standing ad-
dress you. You certainly cannot have
forgotten me for tenderly nursed you
when you were much younger than
you now are. You cannot have
forgotten the old Washington hand
press. the home made rollers, Capt.
Ferg, George Francis, Jack Barnett
and the little black-eyed ..devil, called
Charley! What times we used to have,
didn't we7 DO you recollect the morn
ing l stood on the old Burr corner
looking for the city of Lancasterp That
was in August, 1861, think. And
how surprised was when found that
was at that moment standing in the
center of the town. / had come from
Dubuque to what | supposed a larger
city. the afternoon previous, with Char
ley Brown, Fred Phelps and Capt.
Ferg. There was no railroad nearer
than Boscobel then, and the stage
coach consequently owned the road.
And how home sick / was, but how soon
| got over it through the friendship
rendered by Lancaster's people. There
was Col. Moore and Tom Cheerbrough
around the Jail; Ryland postmaster and
Ryland and Holloway, I. A. Burr,
Geo. M. Howe, M. M. Zeigler. John P.
Lewis and r. Meyers merchants; Bill
Baxter druggist; Charley Brown kept
the United States Hotel, the Hyde boys
Walter, Henry, George and Jehiel-the
Mansion house; Harlow Hyde the hotel
opposite John Callis's old house; there
were Allen Barber. Joe Mills lawyers;
Joe Blanding clerk of the court; Nathan
o. Sons meat market, etc.; Budd black
smith shop and wagon maker; the
the saddlers name / have forgotten
though think it was Collins; Frank
Van de Wall artist. DIR. Hyde (long
since deceased was coming for the
oiling; while Joe Barnett, - Barber,
(guitar) Frank Van de Wall, Joe
Nathan and Thode Burr furnished the
music. John G. Clark, John Calls,
Tom Barnett and few others were in
the army, or went there before be-
came well acquainted with them. Char
ley Baxter worked for Howe; William
Tierney for Lewis; Clay Evans for Ry-
land and Howe; Thode Burr for his
father; while Ferg, John Barnett, Geo.
Francis and myself were of the HERALD
force, John C. Cover. editor. Murphy
was the jeweler. and Miller kept a
lunch store just west of Burr's old
store. Brother Eaton preached in the
old frame church in those days. OF
the young ladies there were Mary. Mag
gle Fletcher, Belle, Mary and Helen
Crosby; the Burr girls; Alice Reid;
Maria Howe, Nettie HOLSTER and sister
and others can't for the moment re-
call. In a judicial way Judge McGon-
igal was County Judge and T. A. Burr
was Justice of the Peace. There were
exceedingly few houses west of the
west Court yard fence; while Gold
smiths nursery was the extreme south
and Ryland's old home pretty well to
the north end of the village. Where
the Baxters now live was Covers COW
pasture. Charley Baxter will tell you
We Gus boys) used to catch chipmunks
and ground hogs in his (now) front
yard. Jed Barnet used to. run the
stage between Lancaster and Boscobel,
think Foster between Lancaster and
Potosi; while Charley Brown went to
Prairie du Chen, Beetown and Cass-
vile. have forgotten who ran to and
from Platteville. There were also the
Barr brothers, noted pedestrians. Ed.
Pollock was, believe, rowing jour-
nalist at that especial period. The
Herald office was south of what is now,
/ believe, the new Phelps House, which
was bull. on the old United States
Hotel site.
What pleasant memories of those old
times, and how love to think of old
Lancaster and its associations. Inever
left place with go many regrets as l
did my pet village, and never expect to
again pass two years as pleasantly as l
did there. The boys used to meet in
the various stores after closing hours,
close the blinds tightly, cook eggs in q
paper skillet, or eat oysters out of the
new crockery. Many dozen eggs and
many pound of butter and crackers,
many peck of apples, and gallons of
ciderwere consumed of which the pro-
prietors knew nothing. Many a farmers
dog has been corralled in the day time
and keptin the cellar until ten or eleven
o'clock at night, when he would be
kicked out of the store door carrying
behind him, securely attached, an old
oyster can or two. And sometimes
certain boys with COW bells, horns and
snare drum would make the welkin ring
in the small hours. Borrowing melons,
grapes, apples, etc. after dark was also
a pleasant as well as favorite pastime.
Carriage rides in summer, sleigh rides
in winter all aided in making the lite
worth living. While those days are gone
there are memories connected with them
that will live years yet to come. Babies
that were then are now the young peo-
pie of Lancaster. Many of the then
older residents have passed away, and
the boys and girls of that day (1S61)
are now lowering around the fifty-mile
post of their existence. But those
whose names | have mentioned above,
and many l have ommitted because
my memory fails, will recall, if they
read this, very pleasant memories of
by-gone days. You, my dear HERALD,
are the same as of old, excepting that
age has developed you, as / hope it has
all of us.
Your old friend