The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-06-12

as was also Isaac Davis. They were all
men beloved by their nefghbors and
good citizens. That they were all en-
! ergetic men OF the stamp of their much
J beloved little brother1 is vouched for
iby the fact that they served with credit,
and in some cases with conspicuous
gallantry, through the war of 1912, as
their father had done in that of the
Revolution. In those days men had to
be drafted to stay at home. and Joseph
e. Davis was compelled to stay at
home to care for the women of the
family; he was not at allvstrong and
was not able to stand the hardships OF
the camp. Mr., Davis's sisters were all
married to gentlemen planters in
their neighborhood and all reared large
families, for whom they cared with
tender zeal They were old-fashioned
dignified, energetic, God-fearing wo-
men, who understood their duty and
performed it to the best of their abil-
Iity.
When Jefferson was born, he became
the idol of this united family True each
one had their pet and different theory
about education of their mothers darl-
ing, and each one took willing hand
in the task of training the child. Jo-
seph thought JEFF was too much in
| dulged. and finally persuaded his pa
| rents to let their baby boy at years
of age, ride through the wilderness"
as the journey was then called, to
| Bardstown, KY, on horseback with
| General Kinds, whose son. Howell,
made the Journey also under the Cen
erals guardianship. These little fell
| lows never complained of fatigue or OF
| their fare which was meager enough
necessarily. JEFF remained there for
| nearly eight years and was much be-
| he he n
came home he first met his father. who
| took him In his arms and kissed him
| JEFF distinctly remembered the wonder
| Ne felt that his father should kiss him.
4 he was nearly as tall as Mrs. Davis;
why not shake hands? He had grown
| and strengthened in the climate Of
Kentucky and felt quite young man.
After meeting his father and finding out
where his mother wa& he vent to her
| and desiring to surprise her asked II
any one had seen any stray horses on
| their grounds, but HIS mother recognize
ed her child and with a smile answered.
"No. but / have heard of stray boy
| here"
| From his father he received his fear
Hess energetic temperament fine con-
Istitution and habitua1 reticence-from
Ibis beautiful mother he received, un-
diminished by heredity through which
| 1t had passed for generations, the hot,
lfmruIsive temper, the scorn of wrong,
The sympathy with suffering. the sense
of humor, and the cheerful spirit which
was his during the agonies and trials
| of his varied life. He used to recall
with much amusement the fact that ne
had been an ugly little freckled faced
boy" in his youth. He grew very slow
lily and told me once that he overheard
| two of his older sisters talking to-
igether over his future prospects. One
said Jeff will be too small to be of
much use in the world" while The 9TH
Ter said Yes, but he is dear little
boy" He pondered on this and deter
mined to get two of his brothers TO
teach hifn~to fight, for. said he to him
self. ct saw a little boy no bigger than
me whip big fellow three years older,
who cried when he was hit" There
was no lack of boxing bouts and spar
ring among the spirited young broth
| ers and brothers in-law of the family,
and their little ward knew nothing
so interesting as these contests which
were always friendly.
Mr.. Samuel Davis, the father of my
husband, had moved from the sand hills
of Georgia to Kentucky, from there to
Attakapa, and from there to Wilkin-
son County, Miss, in search of a health
full location, and now owned a small
plantation on the outskirts of Wood
Vile. Miss, where under his superin-.
tendence his negroes made yearly
cotton and corn crop and his boys and
girls went to the country school, where
they acquired the rudiments of a good
English education They all knew the
power of letters syllabically, and could
spell IL the words were syllabized to
them from their perfect acquaintance
with the sounds of individual letters.
which children of this day under the
new system of pedagogy cannot do. l
Davis's day knew history las 1t was
written geography, arithmetic, very
much of the Bible, no French or Ger
man, but very good Latin. which they
were taught very young, but above all
they knew they were free--for the war
of the Revolution was comparatively a
recent event and success had crowned
endeavor'' so all things seemed posi-
BILE to those who could fight in a Just
cause This conviction dominated Mr..
Davis until the last hour of his life.
In his last illness when his disease had
taken a favorable turn, l expressed my
anxiety about him when he was so i'll.
He answered.: II do not think my rner-
ciful Heavenly Father will allow me
to die until ! have paid my respects
to General Miles in a book I am con-
templating writing" but death closed
his lips that day and left me desolate.
When JEFF was years old there was
plantation named Mingo who was very
fond of the spirited little boy, and he
used to take jeff on his knee and tell
him hair lifting ghost stories. to which
the child gave his unquestioning belief,
Finally one day Uncle Mingo forfeited
Jefrs confidence forever. Mingo nara
ted that one day just about dark a
ghost came in to talk with him and |
the ghost WIS taller than the trees. The
negroes cabin was low pitched as
those structures usually were. The child |
listened eagerly until upon inquiring |
was he in here, and did you see him?" |
Mingo answer. "Sho l seed him, an he |
was standin' thar. whar that chair is" |
The little follow jumped off the knee |
where he had spent so many awe In
spring, but thrilling hours and walked |
out of the cabin in the gathering dusk,
saying through his sobs, II thought |
you were telling me the truth, now
know you are telling me lies. The
ghost couldn't get in your house. II
don't want to talk to you any more"
So ended the ghost cult of Jeff's mentor
and the dread of spiritual manifesto
tions was over forever, for the com
nonsense little thinker who had grown
up in the midst Of practical energetic
people believed in opposing practical
tangible forces to every human embar-
raesment However the ehilds faith |
was destined to have a more severe l.
shock very soon. There was a most
respectable family in the neighborhood L
who were frequent visitors and very
friendly with the Davises. They had
aI7 ,