Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1891-08-25
Appir k,sp,LL N,so>.
North West tlethsl. Mainr.
ANrcoorrs or eAnNleAl nAMllN

/
ANECDOTES OF HANNIBAL rAMliS.
| lrrsa = litter -riiien ~ his o"asih, Rs,. Cyra.
iismun. ~ u. b. the >sv lofs ib'ispsnsishi j
The circumstances IL the young "Car-
thsginian's" boyhood wcrr favorable la
the early formation of character.
4 liis fathers house was on Paris iIlll,
/ with an outlook of wide extent and great
tcsuty. II was the .hlw town ~ OK
ford County. llls father was a phy.i.
clan, having also an excellcnt farm. II
was th. only wav q country doctor could
/ live In those DAYS. There vas very 1T
tie money In the country. bat the sturdy
/ farmer. could pay la labor. Tie doctor
81 their fsmllic. and they doctorri his
farm. lie was, moreover, Clerk of
Courts, aud hc contriyci to bring up a
large family. and give all hls children
an cNccllcnt clucatiou.
Enoch Lincoln, Que ~ the first law
vcrs Ia the State. boarded In br. Ham
lin. family Tor years. lie had q fine
I library, cultivated poetry a. well az Law,
I was sent Ia Congress Isis to lssi, aud
was governor of the state ls3s to lssp.
/ The IIamlin residence was the "h.ad-
ccuier' ~ literary and political lni.lll-
grncc for oxford County, and Hannibal
s.cmc,i from childhood Ia - a barn pol
I liiclln. We lly~i twelve miles distant
Ia the town of Waterford, aud, although
like o,hcr boys, We had our own notion,
We never cared to dispute anything that
came from our cousin Hannibal aud
that brilliant ccuicr ~ enlightenment.
Had anybody told W. At that time, more
! than ssVrnty years ago, that Oxford
County was down East" aud, a. the
backvoOis ~ Maine, chiefly celebrated
/ for It, bears, We would have been a.
rvady to fight him NJ we were the bears.
Indeed an oxford boy never felt bigger
aud proul.r than when, With hall ram
m-i down on top II = partridge charge,
hc Was pursulng bear which he had
s.-n At some distance, bat never saw
again.
The General Court" gave our grand
father Ilsmlln tract ~ land IN the
"pru,lncc of Maine" In consideration
Of the .sryic,'. ~ himself aud HI. thru
sons In the Revolution. lie went down
Ia view II Ia high expectation 81 a home
for hl. old age aud for hi. postcrity.
when he returned hc reported to the
"Gencral Court" that there vas an abun-
dance ~ rocks aud cave. and bear, bat
hardly .oil enough to grow a decent
/ spruce TIRE.
The cave. seemcd to b. already well
supplied With b-ars. They wcrr Ia pos
...slon, they were the only Hghtful, or
indeed, possible Inhabitants, and hc
hopcl the legislature ~ Masachusctt.
would not disturb them. To thl. dAy II
I. called ilamlln'. grant, and only bcsr-
| inhabit Il.
Hear. are q very good element In early
/ society. They call forth skill, pluck
aud dash. We boys were all passionate
Ia fond ~ cunning" aud the woods
were full IL game. We actually kllle'i
partridgcs, hawks, crows. squirrels, rel.
black aud gray, wooichucks, aud oc-
| casiouaily a fox. aud Theoretically We
/ killci l.cars. We always had bullets la
our packets, and should We come across
1 a bear W. would lc, him know what "a
expect from an oxford boy.
we Acknowledged IIannlbal's primacy
/ la almost everything without q speck of
envy. bu, Ne did not want him Ia kill a
bear before We did. Aud b. didn't.
Hear. had begun Ia respect Oxford
enscs, AMI with reason. our uncle
/ Mcrrick (tmcrica), Revolutionary
soldier, met a bear and stoned him to
/ death. II must be confessed, however,
that he had the unfair advantage of suit
able stone. lying all around him and ~
a position some feet higher than the
bears. 4. he .aw him disposed for an
attack. h. hurled for dear life heavy
stone. which struck his bar. pate aud
/ .iificnesi him for the moment. such a
/ rain of stone. followed A. reduced hl.
pcor Load Ia pulp. The hill l. callei
/ hear Mountaln Ia thi. day. The neigh
boring peak 4. called Hawk Mountain.
Bear. aud hawk. rcignci below and on
high till those Revolutionary Yankees
/ came.
Onc of our nelghbors, Mr.. wtItcomb,
va. at work Ia hl. field aud heard the
.crcam of hl. wife Tor help. She was In
the pasture near by after the COWS, aud
a bear was after her. The msn .eifed a
pine kno, aud went for him In such
fashion that the bear had an Instructive
/ drrad IL the encounter and took himself
on with such a dlligcnt pace that the
man aud the kno, could not reach him.
Peace Ia the bears of Oxford County.
They are diminished and brought low.
They are confined Ia IIamlin's grant,
and We pity the boy. that have no bear.
Ia their woods.
In workmanship aud cunning We did
not yield to our cousin, but In SNOWFALL.
Ing, wrestling (wrasllnO, running and
Jumping, az In politics, Ne readily yield
ed the palm Ia him. And II was easy "a
do so, he was so fair minded and amiabls
Ia all our contests.
That fair.minde,lncss, that absence of
exultstion over the defeated, was one Of
hi. fine characteristics through life.
The boy wa. father to the man. III
confessed to me one trick which be- did
not wholly justify, but did very much
enjoy.
lie aud another boy found, as they
supposed, a beehive, or colony, la 4
bollow tree, but at length discovered II
was = great wssps' neat high up In the
branches. Then comes up that old Mig
gard of a bee hunter. let us play the
old mlser q trick. After long pzlsyer
they sold him their rights for q dollar
apiece, he Offering iifty cents, and they
beginning at ten dollars. They put
their dollar lato their pockets and tool
to their heels. lie cut down the tree
and took To his heels, pursued by ayeng
Ing wasrs. Neither party "peachcd,
he for fear Of ridicule, they from fear %
their money. II ilnslly got out aud th'
unpopular bee-hunter never heard TIN
last Of his giving those boys two dollar
for wssps' nest.
Newsboy-Extry. All about the IVES
side murder! Excited man from th'
we.t side-Wherrf Whrrcy What mar