Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1909-08-19
EARLY DAY "REMINISCENCES
Mrs. Gertrude r. Nash Tells OF Pio-
neer Day Experiences In Her Old
Settlers Picnic Address


of by all who heard it that we deem il
well worthy of place in the columns
of the Republican so that those of our
readers who We're unable to attseld the
gathering may have the opportunity OF
reading it and of enjoying the many
good points it contains and the recol.
lections it will call to mind i'm the
thoughts of every pioneer of Audubon
county who reads it;
MIR. PRESIDENT AND FRIENDS:
/ felt exceedingly honored in the in,
vitation from the program committee To
talk for few moments at this Old
Settlers reunion, for the invitation
seemed to put the seal upon the fact
that | ann in word and in deed among
the oldest inhabitants, n position EN-
bodying many desirable perquisites.
Latitude of subject was permitted by
the committee, but surely should be i'm
harmony with the purpose of the day
and in u measure tale of local history.
and had l the gift of eloquence would
love To weave into history for You the
story, from u womans viewpoint, of
the time when Extra was the metrop
oils of Audubon county, when the
Harrises, the Hamlins, the Houstons
and the Hensleys were our leading citi.
zens and our politics was rs democratic
as was our society.
OF course the Bonwells Van Gorders,
DIR. Stearns and some others were there
also, but We're too young and too far
IN IN,
great extent.
RECoLLECTIoNS OF EARLY DAYS
/ was also deferred from an attempt
at serious history making today by n
fear that at a reunion like this there
would be Others that would speak from
even u remoter past and more disciim.
mating memory. Still my long resi-
dence in the county should Justify me,
if / find it necessary, to voice some rec
objections towards the end of keeping
history straight; otherwise let this be
only a simple record of IA few indelible
lines traced on the heart and IN ex-
preston, though ever SO inadequate, of
the satisfaction of a, life lived i'm one
community from childhood to the time
of our children's children.
For 81 years has my life been your
life, my people your people. Before
that only the confused recollections of
early childhood in neighboring state
and today is my first opportunity to
meet collectively the friends of my
father generation and of my own, and in
consequence is priced us one of rare oc-
casion.
Many of us that are here today have
marked with pride the development of
this beautiful county, the conversion of
hundreds of treeless, desolate hills into
rich farms and comfortable homes, the
actual making of the waste places glad
We doubt il those of you whose fortune
it was to arrive on the ground, travel
ing in the palatial cars of the great
Rock Island branch, even though you
came on the very first run in January,
1879, can quite enter into the innermost
shrine of peculiar intimacy reserved for
the early settler who travelled by the
covered wagon and stage route, for the
shining steel ribbons of transportation
must mark the line between the pioneer
who prepares the way and the later
settler who comes because the way is
prepared and ripe with rare opportun-
ity. Not only does opportunity follow
in the wake of the railroad, accompanied
by those comforts and refinements that
we SO quickly come to believe are the
essentials of life, but to even more sharp
ly accentuate the time of division, come
also competition, ambition, RESPONSE
bility-all those things that destroy the
stiffness and peace of the pioneer.
PLEASANT MEMORIES LINGER
A charm fingers around those days of
privation and perhaps limitation
which can never he dispelled by full
measure of business success social life
or even by the ownership OF an auto
mobile. For freedom from wearying
contest, envy, strife, simplicity OF taste
that is easily gratified, are surely guam
titles that make for happiness and con
tent, though they may be handicaps to
ward rapid progress and higher civiliza-
ton. Is there anyone here today who
has not felt "a desire to possess for him
self the absolute repose and tranquility
of mind of the old Southerner, who
daily followed the shade of his cabin as
it crept from the west to the east, as
evidenced by his answer 10 the curious
inquiry of the stranger, What do you
find to do here, uncle, all the day long?"
Slowly the answer came, We'll, some
times we just sit and think and some
times we just sit But we were not so
primitive nor did we fail to establish in
fluences for recreation and culture, for
beside the regularly appointed lyceum
and the church social we oftentimes had
some entertainments of pre- eminent sue
cess. / remember one winter when both
tQueen Esther and Ten Nights in a
Barroom" were given in the Congrega-
tional church and augmented the church
receipts by good many dollars as well
as improved the religious and moral
standard of us all.
We children of the household always
took conspicuous part in all these
affairs, in fact were most important
factor in the social scheme. We went
everywhere, even to the occasional dane
ing party. For in those days our par
ents rocked little of the modern method
of child raising and we mixed freely in
society to the utter ruin of our nervous
system and our mentalities.
WHEN POLITICS BECAME WARM
Sometimes we were stirred to inham-
mable action by politics Well do re-
member the evening when the stage
driver brought us word from Atlantic
that the election of 1875 had gone Dem
ocratic and Tilden was to occupy the
presidential chair. In fine frenzy. of
patriotism we burned every box and
barrel in town to fifty celebrate this
great event. lQ say, I'VE" for in 1876
my father was Democrat and remained
so until taught better by his son in-law,)
We spent cur money lavishly for bon
fire material and shouted ourselves
hoarse, only to hear when the stage
came in the next evening that the Re
publicans claimed the victory. A grain
e % Aicfac4in,, hnu.nunr x..aS falt anail