Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-06-29

the Acres boys, U L. Reeves ant
perhaps Deacon Merrill and Toogoot
& Bethel. Between 1854 and 1856
there had been considerable build
ing in anticipation of the railroad
which, it was expected, would run
from Dubuque through Manchester
to points west.
In the summer of 1856 l walked
from this county to Kansas and car
ried all of my earthly possessions il
carpet bag. From Masonville
took bee line for Vinton on the
Cedar River and from there I trav.
elled across the prairies toward De'
Moines, there being no paths Oh
roads to follow. A half breed in
dian took me across the Iowa river ir
his canoe and I remember very dis
tinctly that the "skeeters" nearly ate
me alive while | was passing
through the low swampy places two
miles in length between the rive,
and the high land. 1t is claimed
now that mosquitoes carry typhoid
fever germs. l think that is true
for l had the fever soon after this
experience.
Near the Iowa and Missouri state
line fell in with three men from
northern Wisconsin travelling with
a long covered wagon and fou1
horses. They kindly invited me tc
join them which l did. This was
during the heat of the Kansas wal
or the "Border-ruffian war;" as we Of
the north called it. Men from all
over the northern states rushed into
bleeding Kansas to save it from slav-
cry. At the same time men from
the south we'll armed and equipped
for war made rush for the territory
fully determined that Kansas should
be admitted as slave state. War
with all its horrors was the result.
As we approached the Missouri river
we met many men returning toIowa
on foot. They reported that the
ferries were controlled by southern
sympathizers and that northern peo-
pie were taken to the middle of the
river and robbed of their teams and
other possessions and then brought
back to the Missouri side and were
told to leave the country. A warn
ing was added to the effect that if
ever they came back they would
swing" or be shot. After being
convinced that this was a fact we
turned back as we did not care for
any holes in our hides. Late in the
fall Of the same year I went back
and this time l managed to get
across the Missouri river. remain
ed i'll Kansas one year.
The winter of 1858 was very long
and cold, with deep snow and good
sleighing., Many sleighing parties
were enjoyed by the young people
Of the Meade neighborhood where ]
lived. A temperature of from 20 to
40 below zero was not too cold for us
when we wanted to go sleighriding.
We used bob sleds with wagon box
partly filled with straw covered with
blankets. The unfortunate driver,
with his best girl, would occupy the
spring seat in front while the rest
of the party would pack themselves
like sardines in box, first boy,
then a girl, and SO on to the end Of
the chapter and also the wagon box.
Our schoolmaster was A. S. Sch
warts who came to us a stranger,
think from Illinois. By his gentle
manly manners and ability as a
teacher he was able to do us all
much good-leaving impressions
and aspirations that have. no doubt,
been of great value in determining
our characters and ideals Of life. In
addition to our good times at school
we had other pleasures and enjoy
menus. A lyceum was started and
every two weeks paper was edited
by one OF the older girls. These
papers were filled with good things
including plenty of wit and fun to
give relish. 7. Crosby, his brother,
Gutter Crosby, e. o. Clemans, I. N.
Fleming and other men besides
nearly all of the girls wrote for these
papers. At that time little was
thought of any permanent benefit
but now we can look back and see
that they were helpful character
builders. We had spelling schools
and the late d. w. Jones gave us
instruction in singing every two
weeks. We had, also, several comic
exhibitions. In one of these our
school master, with face as solemn
as a judges married Almira Roe and
myself to the great amusement of the
crowded house. Some of the iokers
suggested that it might be good
plan to have the knot tied in earnest
and a little later we reached the
same conclusion ourselves.
In hearing recitations at the old
school house the teacher would
usually ask the questions given in
the book in order. AS the pupils
took the came places on the recita-
ton bench each day it was possible
by little calculation to determine
what questions one would be asked
and you will not be surprised to
learn that the answers to these ques-
tons were very carefully committed
to memory by one young lady in the
class. One day the teacher skipped
around which brought a certain
young woman to grief. She had
come to the recitation fully prepared
to enlighten the school in regard to
the characteristics Of the Indians
So intent was she in giving her
carefully prepared answer to this
question that when it came her turn
to recite and the teacher asked he1
to mention the products of earth she