Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1902-04-03


Went to see him. He prevailed on the
boy to leave the army and he sent him
TO Ohio where he studied medicine,
ana he is now successful practi-
TONER. To illustrate Moore's discip-
line this story is told by old settlers:
One of the younger boys who did not
go to the war but stayed home got into
some boyish deyilment while his
father was stationed at Athens He
lad the boy brought to camp and or
dered him placed in the guardhouse
Tor ten days, after which he told him
TO go home and behave himself, which
be did, at least as long as the old
man was in the neighborhood.
Now. after all this talk of the bat
tie OF Athens, there has been one point
omitted, and that is. how many men
We're lost? Accounts differ, according
to whether you talk with a Rebel sym
.pathlZer or a Yankee. William French.
from whom got much information. says
there was only single Union soldier
killed outright That was a man by
the name Of Harrison He was shot
as they We're charging up the hill from
Jennings house. He was killed on
the spot. The g. A. r. post in the
county is named in his honor. There
We're several wounded.s There We're.
a good many Rebels killed. he says,
but all We're carried away as they re-
treated by the Rebels, which shows
that they must have gone back in good
order | met one man who was on
the Rebel side that day. His name
is John A.. w. Smith. or his initials are
j. A. w. Smith, being the first jaw
smith l ever met who acknowledged
the corn. He said he knew they lost
some men. but he never heard how
many. He thought there must have
been eight OF ten, and a great many
wounded. No record was kept, and
as the South lost in the end no effort
was made to ascertain the number
Walter .Ayres. pension commissioner
for Southeast Iowa, says there have
been several applications for pensions
Oh account of that battle, but he
knows Of none that have been granted
John Smith is a typical Southerner.
We met him on the middle of the river
as we We're crossing on the ice. John
,Sherrick was acting as my guide.
John Smith served in the Rebel army
after the battle at Athens for six
months till his eyes gave out and he
had to come home. These men, being
OH opposite sides of the great struggle,
had been mortal enemies, yet here,
after forty years, they were .cronies.
So both told me. Smith was on his
about getting an ice saw. There are
other days that are hot, but none as
hot as that memorable Doth of August.
He asked Sherrick if he could help
him saw ice. Says Sherlock: ssWell,
1 guess I kin, as fur as I know now"
whats yer price?" asked Smith.
well, I shain't none of yer cheap
hands. I charge pretty good stiff
price Il am wilIin' to pay you a
good price. How will $1.25 and your
dinner strike you?' Sherrick replied:
..ThatH be all right" And as a, fur
Their evidence of good fellowship
Smith said: 'And I may not have
yer money fer you just at shutdown.
but I'll guarantee that it won't be long
enough fer it to git rusty before I
pay" And the terms being settled
we went on our way, but could not
help wondering if maybe John Smith
had not been the one who stood on the
porch Of the Jackson cottage that day
when Old Man Sherrick was pecking
at him with his old buffalo rifle. Thus
time works changes.
To-day the battle Of Athens is merely
a memory, but it will live in the ira
ditions of the town as long as the sun
shines and men live upon the earth
Each year there is a reunion of the par
Elephants of that battle. Several
thousand people from Iowa and Mis-
souri, assemble there to recount the
days that were and are not Each year
some familiar figure is missing. but
there ars still a good many of the sur
vivors. The oldest survivor Of the
battle is Mr.. Harlan, who is now
ninety-two years old. but his mental
and physical vigor belong to men of
sixty. He even writes poetry to be
read at he reunions. It usually con-
Germs those who believed that He
who fights and runs away may live to
fight another day" But they laugh
about all of it now, though it was dcs-
perately serious that day forty years
agone
Both towns look as if they were in
race to see which could decay the
faster. There is an appearance of dis
couragement and woebegoneness about
them that, Is pathetic. All their old
time glory has gone with the steam
boat that formerly gave them prestige.
The railroad makes new towns a7,f
destroys old ones. Athens has two
ramshackle stores that Noulu noL pt
acceptable in live community as a
crossroads grocery. One of them is
the old brick building which was used
at the time of the battle as hospital.
There is an old lame looking brick