The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-12-22

So anu AI@-'F ca .srE@ having tG1E.
-. school was cFc1r4 ana everything
vent smoothly on Ny breasast u-s ss1t
= me MATCH ! 4te. vht4 symsath4ael
VIA The boys who hal E~-e4 thc.A
81. ] dared NOT leave ~ seat
At len mi1utcs past II i -.o-k ! z.ae
Tho cAlldgen q speech ana s-anolacu4 ts.v
close IS the school. giving them tae ,s.a
ing a. "a holiday Ths boy, ss4a hal
leaten them To the aGa4r ana taey had
a great nlad % duck me any how. tut
u ended up IN "a game G. has ball. ari
| took leave Of the children. some II
whom ! have never since seen. some a.
thsm, perhaps most 81 them. are dead
AID ! shall not see theu AGAIN ia ,A5s
life.
viii imagine that | am Ola. At Fli.
quay and that / came by all. have SEEN
al the pcop.e and am ready rs return.
n i came by rail and saw only The fields
and houses. It viii bc more pleasant 10
rotlrn through the country ana stop ~
the way, 70 see some Of ire old time poo
Re. \ few miles brings re M 10 I.9ac
~ItowIand's, who lived o. the top 90 To
Ell south OF Terrible Greek. lia $ not
mere. Tor he died many yeavs ago SO also
dc his wife. but | can ~ce them All The
same, AID their voices ara Just a. natural
IS they used to be, A. tic strangers there
describe the changes tnat have occurred
IN the neighborhccd since / used 10 -
20 familiar With il. / ask about Bennett
Rowland. Benjamin WomacE. Green Aus
TN, Almon Austin. Elmond Rowland.
Austin Jones. John Adams and others. h,
ne.ghbors, whom I used 10 know, ana '.ae
answer is. "all gone; most 81 them dead.
l cross the creek and come over to The
place where | was born. aud l see 70
one | know; but. OF . stranger. / ask
where is the house II which | w. reared.
and all the houses which | knew So wen
IN boyhood and young manhood. and the
trees that once shaded the yard ana 'hc
lake, ana the fences / used to climb. a.
the answer is, gone. all gone the yam
KEGS burned the dwelling, ard others com
ing in possession of the land, have cut
down the trees, removed the fences. ana
torn down the barns, You used TO see,
and there is nothing left but the well
you used to draw water from
/ 90 to the well, look down upon ia
wall OF stone, draw a bucket OF water,
and drink to the memory Of those days
when father, mother, brothers and sisters
were all at home, ard for a moment /
forget tibet reality ana dream Of the past.
Put as l turn toward whore the house
t4tt 1tOOu anu StC NOl2It UuI NJ hDdlS
and 4 few stones, the dream fades away
and sadness fills my soul as l remember
we shall never come back again to tic
home We loved 80 well. or that family.
four Of u arc left, the others have crossed
the river. Soon we shalI follow. | IN
loath to leave the sacred spot, where as
q child | used to play, and as 4 young
mal ] used to build castles, 2nd from
Whlcn | used TO 60 out and see the world,
and to which | would Gene back again
to ell my place at the table and my Sclt
at the morning and evening prayers. But.
somehow, | Won to see the ~ncighbors.
md | am about to start TO visit, them.
Tut the stranger at the well informs 90
that the People | once knew are all gone.
The ~CTowdcra, who lived Just Beyond tle
branch arc gone; the Jone,'s a little far
ther on are gone; the Banks'9 over on
thc road are gone, the Utiey's who lived
over the hill almost ia sight are gone.
the Aycry's whose land Joined ours arc
gone; md all the older members OF the
McCuller's family are gone; in short, he
tells ne We're | to 90 TO the places and
the homes / once knew so well, l would
be a stranger, and so great have been
the changes ! would not recognize che
places | once know. | turn my eyes AGAIN
LIN tIQ WHICH, TIC OIl u&bCl4lII5 SlOcQ, anu
beyond It TO the mound il the garden
where sleep the ashes OF a brother who
died nearly fifty years ago, and, for tho
last time, sweeping the horizon al
while memory calls UP every
home and family ana face that in other
years made the neIghborhood 50 nearly
like a paradise, / bid them all adieu, ard
turn my steps toward my Raleigh homo.
l cross the old spring branch, pass the
road leading down to Simeon Jtlcy-a
Mill; cross Mill branch, and on the bill
come to where cold Trigger smith iire1.
a short distance leads me to the OIL
school house, where Stineon Ivey, Simeon
Williams and others taught fifty odd years
ago. I must halt here for awhile and
have q game Of marbles under those gian.
white oaks, meath which We played in
the olden ~timc-whjch oaks tradition
said, old Col. McCullers, OF Revolutionary
days, topped with a pen knife. School
/, out and here come the boys and girls
and what a happy period viii our plaJ-
time be. We are children and don't E-oy,
what care means, 50, no one can blame
Us for having our fun : : The play tiE"
hour ends, the teacher rings the he'll To-
Books" and here the children go, as il
racing, to their evening tasks.
a little further on [ pass the place
where the McCullers' ~lived-wherc ~
Harriet taught whom I wes q little boz.
and made my first little speech. But il :
50 changed, ! don't see any OF tie face
I knew, and no one seems to know me-
The next place l come to IS the residence
Of David Stephenson. Other settlements
have been made, but ! am III he old"a
time. l don't know who owns the Steph-
erson place; but it used to be a home
of wealth and hospitality. and two sons.
Matthew and Col. L. D. Stephenson, were
the only children. Matthew never mar
ried. Lon" as he was called, married
a Miss Kitchener. lie ana his wife are
dead, but some CT their children are still.
living.
Between Swift and steep Hill Greeks
I pass Augustine Turner's residence, but,
1 hardly know the place, md a. I see 20
one, I pass on. On the hill this side .!
steep Hill Greek l am at the old home
again, for it was here ny father ari
family lived just before, during, and after
the war. Over the hill. 70 the southeast,
is the little home / built, about the be-
ginning of the war, and where l lived
during the war. And not far off is toe