Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-02-13
Memories of Aud Lang Syne.
written for THE HERALD by Mrs. J.Garner.l
Many years ago
When was young
The flowers doomed

landed in Wisconsin. Lancaster was
then a very small place, almost
wilderness where now stands beau
tiful city, where old log huts used to
be there are many very nice houses. |
suppose one dozen houses were as
many as were here at that early peri
cd.
Down Main street was ditch
washed out so deep that a man could
walk down to the city spring and
could not be seen. Large stumps were
numerous and large trees were scat
tered all over.
Well do remember the old grape
vine swing that hung on one of those
large oaks that stood near where the
depot now is. Many happy hours we
girls and boys used to pass away at
that dear old swing and l am happy
to say there was no arlstocracy then;
all people were alike; no man or wom-
an felt above his or her neighbor; all
were friendly and good TO each other,
loving and kind one to another.
There were some fine prairies where
we used to go and gather gum from
the gum stalks that grew on the
prairie land and spent many happy
hours in that way. We came to Lam
caster the first of June in the year of
1871. When l first set my eyes on
Lancaster l came to the conclusion
that it must be the place called hard
scrabble and we found it took pretty
hard scrabbling to get along. Father
went to work and planted a garden
and a patch of potatoes. He had
good luck with both garden and pota
toes.
Uncle David McConley had an old
frame house which stood where Louie
Webber's shoe store now stands. We
occupied two rooms and the McCon-
ley's the other part of the house. 1t
did not take house of ten or twelve
rooms to hold one family then as it
does now just across the street
stood another little house where good
old Billie Raines lived with his moth
er. brother and sister On the cor
ner where Baxter & Diapers store now
is, stood brick hotel kept by Harvey
Pepper and his good housewife. Just
across the street from the hotel was
frame house which DR.. Hill had kept
as boarding house. And where the
beautiful bank building now stands
was the old log office of j. Allen Bar
Der and Nelson Dewey. An old log
house occupied the place where John
G.. Clark block now stands, and a
little farther up the street was an old
blacksmith shop. Then there was an
old log Jail that YOU could almost
throw cat through between the logs
where prisoners were kept. Many
are the times we girls used to 90 and
look through the cracks at poor Brew
er who was afterwards hung How
long would a man stay in Jail like
that now? Brewer was living near
where c. H. Baxter now lives and
was buried on the lots now occupied
by Mr. Harshberger. There was
nice little grove there then. Matt
Kendall was sheriff then. There are
very few families here now that were
here at that time
Where Gen. Calls lives was frame
hotel kept by Mr.. and Mrs. Scott, the
parents of John b. Turkeys wife. This
house was afterwards occupied by
| Ben iamin Forbes and his good wife,
Across the street was grocery store
| kept by Grandfather Forbes. That is
now the Bennett place. The old court
house was then used for church and
school purposes, as there was no
school house nearer than Bushnell Hol-
low and no churches. There were no
stores either until James Otis opened
store in an old frame house which
stood where Rudersdorf's saloon now
stands. People had to go to Snake
Hollow, now Potosi, to get their sup
plies before Mr.. Otis came. Down bv
what is now our city spring stood a
double log cabin with an ell run out
on the north. 1t was then that the
first Wisconsin HERALD was printed.
I stood by and saw the first paper
rolled off. Mary Tiel was with me.
Girls and boys were few and scatter
ing in those ola times. There were
the Shrader, Pepper, Calls, Tell and
Mahood girls, Marie Golfer, Mary
Pond and Helen Wood is about ali
The boys too were few in number
Some of the boys would go to see their
best girls dressed "fit to kill'' in blue
or brown jeans with brass buttons
shining like gold hickory shirts and
dickeys. And we girls would greet
them just as kindly as girls do now
days the boys dressed in long tailed
cloth coats which must be fine cloth
at that.
But alas. how every thing has
changed since | was sweet sixteen
when all the girls wore homespun
| frocks and aprons nice and clean aud