The Adair County news., 1910-06-15
The House Clemens Bulk.
CONTINUED

Ply the other side of the house which
was the outside, for a while and then
we might return and repose upon the
bed In the south corner of the room.
After fully complying with the law of
Etiquette on this particular point we
returned to find an awe inspiring silence
pervadlng the room. Although every
thing was quiet in the loft it was quite
probable that John and Bill would creep
down the ladder and carry off the bug
gy as they had proposed doing, but we
finally slept to be awakened about 2
a. M, by violent clawing on the out
side near our heads and with fear and
trembling imagined all kinds of vicious
varmlnts, but were soon relieved by
hearing that same, o Bill o Bill and
after receiving drowsy response from
the loft continued, "Come down and
go 'possom hunting" which he obeyed
by crawling out at a window in the
gable end of the cabin and descending
on the outside as John had done.
On account of good behavior no doubt,
the widow at breakfast next morning
was more familiar than on the evening
before and inquired what our dread dis
eases might be. On being told it was
dyspepsia, she rather mournfu!ly re-
marked that she had once known a man
afflicted with that disease and he died;
told also of another on the mountain
who was so old he became tired of life,
but couldn't die up there-moved down
In the valley and he died.
The inhabitants on that mountain are
rarely sick and seldom die a natural
death, and here it was that John NJ.
Clemens owned several thousand acres
of wild lands at his death of which
Mark Twain writes that the family ex-
pected so much and received so little.
Forty years ago it was covered with as
fine yellow pine trees as could be found
anywhere, but was too poor to produce
anything except potatoes and kind of
wild grass. The timber has been most
ly killed or injured by being notched
for the purpose of collecting pine gum
of which turpentine is made.
1t seems that Twain's father also
owned near two hundred acres sur
rounding his house about half of some
four hundred acres of very rich level
land formed by the junction of three
small mountain streams which is called
the Three Forks CT wolf. The house
Clemens. built was situated near the
lower end of this bottom which viewed
from the surrounding mountainous
country, presents picturesque appear
ance. II, is generally believed that ].
M. Clemens moved from Jamestown,
Tenn, to Florida, Mo-, but Bro Rem
neau claimed that he was boarding with
him at this house when Clemens left
for Missouri, and anyone knowing Bro.
Renneau as we did would not doubt it.
jamestown, Tenn, is nine miles
south of this place and may have been
his nearest post-office, but we don't be-
lieve he ever made jamestown his home.
Although Mark Twain was not born I'M
til five months after his father, had
reached Florida, Mo, he inherited an
inspiration common to that country. A
few miles below here on Obid river be-
low the mouth of wolf was born and
reared one of Tennessee favorite sons
Ex-Governor Benton McMellon, and
but a short distance from here in Ken
lucky, within circle, the radius of
which would not exceed dozen miles
were born and reared some of the
greatest men of this nation, viz; Ed
Timothy Frogge, one of the ablest di-
vines of the Methodist Church South;
Raccoon John Smith with whose his
tory many of the older people are IA
miliar and who Alexander Campbell
once said possessed the strongest nat
ural mind of any man he ever knew;
Cows. Bramlett and Leslie, of Kentucky;
u. S. Senator Cullom, of Illinois, and
Maxey. of Texas, besides others of
whom we will not speak.
Here is this rough mountain country
far removed from high schools, rail-
roads and circles of so-called refinement
rocked in gum logs and educated in
thunderstorms, compelled to scratch
for living among wildcats, raccoons
and rattlesnakes, they laid the founda-
ton for future usefulness, by developing
rugged constitutions with strong minds.
How different the present generation.
fear so many have too much OF too
many good things. Friend Matthew,
if you read this which we trust you
will, you will recall how several men
gathered in at Mrs Branums that
morning and gave US thorough quiz as
to the object of our visit and when told
remarked, that we didn't look like SICK
men, and instead of going on to James,
town as they thought we were, decided
to advance backward for Cumberland
City, where we stopped afterdark with