News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1902-09-03

UuTe6 uUUl6 DOyb CdLlS W SioduCh lhO
hearts and Wilbur and Leroy
who are with us to-day and little
Amos, who passed away at two years
of age. Of course have no remem-
berance of him as | had not yet ap-
peared on the scene of action, but
think he must have been a little
worker, for | remember hearing
mother tell how he used to start for
the woodpile, saying to his brothers,
"tum burbur, tum Taloy let's Diet
'ood." Sometime during these years
our father had bought and moved OF
to this farm, having previously lived
on the No. Hyde Park road, SO this is
where the little fellow lived and died,
and where as the years passed by, we
three sisters we're born, myself being
the middle one; which has often re-
minded me of the old familiar rhyme
"Heigh diddle diddle' etc.
The first incident of special note
after the advent of girl No. 3, little
"Tater Eater DeeDee" as she called
herself, was the building of the new
house when | was seven years OF age.
How well [ remember the first night
we slept in this wonderful new house.
1t was a lovely moonlight night in
autumn OF the year 1855.
Our dear father was agreat sufferer
from neuralgia and many times was
unable to attend to his labors, es-
peciaIIy in the winter, which made it
very hard for mother when the boys
we're small; but in later years he was
somewhat better and, taking all in
all, | think our parents prospered and
by hard work and economy the home
was being paid for and new buildings
erected, until we thought our home a
pretty nice place. Time passed on
and other changes came. Wilbur
took unto himself q wife, Philura
Boyes by name, neighbor living
Just above here in house which has
since burned, and soon after made tor
himself home in another town. Two
or three years later Leroy, too, ex-
changed the state of ngle-blessed-
ness for the state of matrimoDy, tax
ing for his life companion Mira
Webster of this town, who is with us
to-day. Then came the years of war
when our brothers went to the front.
Those were sad and exciting times
when our fathers, husbands, brothers
and lovers exchanged the quiet home
life for the thrilling scenes of war.
Leroy was the first of our loved ones
to 90, and how anxiously we waited
for news; how welcome we're his let
tiers, at first so full of hope and cheer,
and how earnestly we prayed the
great Father, morning and evening,
to keep our soldier brother safe. But
sickness came to him and months
of weary suff ,ring that were so much
harder to bear than active life at the
front would have been. | have some
letters in my possession now, written
by friend and cOmrade of his, telling
us of his dangerous sickness with
typhoid fever. Then came the trial
that showed up the strong mother
love in our dear mothers heart.
Some one must go to Leroy. The
wife, with the wee baby that had come
to them, could not go and it was d.
cided that mother must go. Never
had she been on car, and never but
once had she even seen them pass and
that was when she was in the town of
Georgia attending a campmeeting.
But with only one days preparation
she started, alone amonga thousand,
on her lonely journey to Chicago,
where his regiment, the oh Vt Vol,
had been sent after being taken pris-
oners at Harper's Ferry and where
our brother was dangerously sick, in
what had formerly been the city hos
pital but was now used for sick
soldiers. Being so unused to travel,
so unacquainted with the ways of the
world and so utterly alone-with the
exception of soldier boy, who was
with her part of the way, himself re-
turning to his regiment in Chicago
but whose ticket took him on an
other roadside ate but little, slept
little and Travelled day and night, ex-
cepting one day when the passengers
got left over and had to wait, which
l dare say was the longest day of all !;
enxiously she waited and prayed for
her soldier boy and no doubt for
us who were left at home. Travelling
was slower work forty years ago than
at the present day; going by stage
to Essex JUNCTION then being left over
part of one day on the way, think
it took mother four days and nights
to reach Chicago. But finally at IL
O'Clock at night she entered the great
city, lonely enough, but found her
soldier friend (who l think was a
Stowe boy at the station, he having
come on a differentroad and reaching
the city first, had waited for poor
tired mother and helped her to a
hotel, both walking and he kindly
carrying her luggage which consisted
of valise. Weary almost to ex-
haustion she inquired if she could
have supper but was refused, owing
to the lateness OF the hour. Could
she have a cup of tea? No. Well,
could she have cup of water? She
got the water and went to rest, a
stranger in a strange land. But the
eye that never slumbers nor sleeps
watched over our precious mother