The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-01-16
MISS oovE's STORY.
How Eight Children Were Brought Up
by the NeighbOrhood.

old, and my mother when /
was year and half" said the pretty
young school-teacher. She and two
of her Oldest girls were having little
chat together at noon.
why, who brought you up thenP"
asked one of them wonderingly.
1.-THE neighborhood."
why, Miss Cove, what do you
meanP" cried the girls together
Just what l say; the neighborhood
brought me up, and not only me, but
my two brothers and my five sisters
there were eight of US in ALL"
''But, how could the neighborhood
bring you up; I never heard Of such
thing"
Nor l."
"Well, I'll tell you about it" said
Miss Cove, laughing, II guess there'll
be time enough. You see, after father
died, mother had pretty hard time to
get along, but she was very smart,
courageous woman, and she managed
to keep US all comfortable. She owned
our little house clear, and, with our
cow nAd hens and garden, we had
nearly enough to eat. Then she used
to leave the younger children in charge
of the older ones, and go out to do
days work for the neighbors. They
were good, honest, kind-hearted coun-
try people, who make the best neigh
bors in the world She had a good
faculty about patching and mending,
and making our clothes last, and we
got along very well till she took cold
and died, very suddenly, of pneumonia.
Then the outlook was pretty bad.
There we were--eight of us, the Oldest
only fourteen, with nothing in the
world but bit of house, and cow
and a few hens, besides our little
patched garments.
There were no relatives living to do
anything for us; we were all alone. OF
course / was too young to remember
anything of this, but tell it as heard
it afterward. People talked of sending
us all, except my Oldest sister, Annie,
and my Oldest brother, Frank, who,
they thought, might go to live in fami-
lies and work for their board, to the
almshouse. We would be kept there
until we were able to work. 1 don't
Know how this plan came to be
changed, or which of those blessed,
good neighbors started the one which
was finally adopted.
my very first recollection of any
thing of the whole matter is centered in
sweet, pretty young girl, whose name
was Agnes Dean. But l did not know
her by that name at all; l always called
her mamma. That word, to this day,
is always associated in my mind with a
fair, slender young girl, with beautiful
yellow curls hanging down her back,
and the mildest, rosiest, sweetest face.
l can remember walking with her,
holding tight to her hand and looking
up at her. Long before that, they tell
me, she used to drag me about in q
little carriage, and rock me and tend
me every minute she could get out Of
school. She was my sister Annie
friend. Poor Annie had everything she
could do to keep the house tidy, and
cook. She had nose wing or mending to
do. One of the neighbors looked out fol
each of us, and we were well and Hastily
clad. Agnes Dean and her mother
made my little things. can remember
some of them now; they were nicer
than my own poor mother could have
got me, / suppose. There was little
pink cashmere hood, trimmed with
swansdown, which l had one winter
and there was an embroidered blue
dress, too. l don't suppose all the
other children Jared quite as daintily al
|, perhaps. l was the youngest, anC
that may have made some difference
then the Deans were well-tO-do people
But all of us had enough. Then, ever
week, the neighbors, by twos, tool
turns in cooking for us, Each Satur
day night great patches of cookies an,
pies, lOaves of bread and big piece o
roast meat, came to our house. The
lasted us over Sunday and far into tn
week if we managed prudently, and W
were all well Inc Lructed in pruden
management by the neighbors. PEI
haps, on the whole, we received NOR
lasting benefit from their good advic
than we did from their nice food an
their warm dresses.
al have heard good deal about il
being poor plan for children to hav
many masters, but it certainly worke
well in our case, and we are none Of u
any the worse for it. suppose thes
neighbors must have been actuated b
so much loving kindness and unseltis
charity that they made wise rules
They all seemed to agree in them, t0C
perhaps they consulted before maxim
them. One rule, which i remember
was: three cookies per day, and n
more, for each child. Another was: {
take off our best things and bang ther
up nicely in the closets, and put on on
old ones. when we came home frol