Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-10-27
FRIEND OF THE LATE Mr.. AND
MRS. WARE TELLS STORY OF
THEIR HARDsHlPs.
CAME HERE IN 1914
ere Among Earliest Settlers of the
County-Like Lincoln, Old Set
tier was a Famous Rail Split
ter and Wood Chopper.

back into memorys vast wales. They
were heroic figures. With them are
associated the old relics of frontier
struggles-the spinning wheels, the
crude implements. the looms and the
did Misunderstanding guns.
One of the heroic members of the
I'D school, the late Mrs. Elizabeth
Ware, widow of the late William
Ware, passed away recently, at the ad-
RANGED age Of 80 years. Their story Is
similar to that Of many of the hardy
fore runners of present seething
cities. Their lives We're marked by no
spectacular developments-but by slow,
steady and logged determination to
conquer the wilderness.
A friend of the revered couple has
written the following account OF their
sarly lives, replete with Incidents
which may be recalled but by a rapidly
thinning number Of patriarchs.
Came With ox-Team.
I'm the autumn of 1874, Mr.. Ware
md family, consisting of his wife and
me child emigrated from Fountain
county, Indiana, and located six miles
vest of Ottumwa on Bear creek, using
In ox-team to convey his few belong
Ings. Ottumwa at that time consisted
IF but a few huts scattered along the
bank of the Des Moiner river about
where Main street now is.
Mr.. Ware entered a small farm OF
100 acres, paying only SI25 per acre
Tor it.
His first care was to erect a cabin
Tor his family. He cut and hauled the
logs and hewed them and in short
lime was ready to invite his few scat
tered neighbors to come and help raise
his house. With clap-board roof. a
smoothly aided puncheon floor and the
logs well chinked and plastered they
were soon comfortably housed for the
winter. With plenty Of wood near by
and a good fireplace, there was moth
inp to fear from the cold weather.
Wild game was plentiful, and being
a good marksman. Mr.. Ware kept the
table supplied with venison, wild tur-
key and other game. Deer were almost
rs plentiful as cotton tails are now
The following spring Mr.. Ware broke
up enough land to raise sufficient crop
Tor his needs for that year, and COM
bining farming, hunting and working
for the neighbors at odd times, he
managed to get along quite well.
There were a good many indians in
hose days and they We're friendly. but
we're not such great beggars as they
got to be in after years. Mrs Ware
used to tell about a party of Indians
camping on Bear creek and cooking
and eating q pole-cat they had killed
that day.
Whenever they stopped at the Ware
nome they We're treated kindly and
seldom went away empty handed.
Mr.. Ware emuated the thrifty ex-
ample of his neighbors in the manu-
facture of the coarse, but useful fabrics
of the times.
Thrift Exhibited.
He raised fax which he prepared
for spinning by using the flax break
and the Scutcheon knife. His wife
took this fiber and spun it, afterwards
weaving it into cloth In the old fash
Toned loom that Mr.. Ware made for
her.
She also made linsey-woolsey. fan
mel and jeans cloth, besides blankets,
and several beautiful designs of bed
spreads. Much Of this work was done
during the long evenings and the spin
ming wheel was often kept going till
midnight.
Mr.. Ware was an adept in the use of
all Kinds OF tools, such as were used by
the farmers at that time.
Very good Walnut or Oak shingles
We're made from the tree being rove
out into thin slabs by the froe and
afterwards shaved to the proper thick
ness with a draw shave, while they
were held in position on a shaving
horse.
Going to the mill with a grist of
grain was a task and often required
several days to go and return.
Wages were not good in those days,
forty and fifty cents being the amount
usually paid for a days work at Or
binary farm labor
During the first few years of his
residence in Wapello county, Mr.. Ware
Gid good deal Of out side work for
the other farmers, especially in cutting
cord wood and making fence rails.
When he did not have to walk too
far, he would cut and cord from three
to five, cords of wood or make two
hundred rails from the standing tree
in one day, and think nothing of it.
Once he cut and corded ten cords of
wood in two days, and at another
time made one thousand rails in five
consecutive days. However the timber
was good. He used to cut cord wood
on the hills where Ottumwa now
stands.
When asked how he could cut so
much wood in q day he would say that
to be good wood chopper, a man
should grind his AK properly, wedge
shape. follow his lick, and keep steadily
at work.
The schools were not much to speak
OF. When a teacher could be secured
1t was for term of two, three or
four months at so much per scholar
for the time. The branches taught
We're readin', writin', 'rithmetic and
spellin'.
Not many of the teachers could do
all the sums" in the third part of the
arithmetic, and a few got stuck at
common fractions. Such advanced
studies as grammar geography and
history were considered superfiuities,
and not to be thought of.
Hauls Logs With Oxen.
When the snow was too deep Mr..
Ware used to hitch yoke Of oxen to
big log and drag it to the school
house and back to make a path for the
children.
Spelling bees were a great thing in
every school district and were always
well attended. This was especially
true after the public school system
was adopted There were many who
could spell every word in Webster's
spelling book.
Mr.. Ware was soldier In the war
of the Rebellion and member of the
9th Iowa Cavalry He served one
year and a half when his health
broke down. He secured his discharge