Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-04-19


ply of his life, to be preserved y
as a matter Of record among .
his children and grandchildren. :
While it was written with no $
intention of being made public, !"
yet his life has been filled with =
such varied experiences, dating =
from his birth in England, boy .
hood, soldier, clergyman, legis- =
lator. etc., that we find much :
which we believe will be read y
with interest by the public, and :"
we will therefore from time to $
.. time as space permits publish =
sections of this autobiography, =
should it prove of sufficient in .
terest to continue.)
3 - s* s& 8
Continued from last week.
The winter of 1861 was spent in
St Louis recuperating and doing
. provost guard duty in the city. 1t
was an agreeable change from the
malarial camps of Missouri and
Kentucky, and was greatly enjoyed
by the regiment, as it gave us fine
opportunities to see the sights in
the city, which we were permitted
TO do under the necessary restric-
ticns imposed by military law. 1t
cannot be denied that these restric-
tions were sometimes broken over;
the rules were not always complied
with as they should have been, some
Nof the consequences of which were
Jseen after our first battle; but on
kthe whole there was no greater COM
xplaint than might naturally be ex-
kpected under the circumstances.
There happened to be at that
time in the city certain institution
known as McDowell's College, which
was being used as a prison for cap
tured rebels. 1t was part of our
kduty to guard the prisoners confin-
Jed within its walls and l must con-
Efess that we found them to be as
4 pleasant lot of fellows as you
would be likely to meet anywhere
on earth. There was one young fell
low for whom / formed quite an
attachment, considering the few OPP
portunities we had for seeing each
other, and think my feelings were
reciprocated by him. / had render
ed him some slight service, the ma
ture of which has passed from my
memory long since, but he appeared
to be very grateful for it, whatever
lit was, and in return he gave me a
u ipe which he had whitfield out of
fsome soft stone and marked with
" various devices. 1t was all he had.
A On one side of the bowl he had cut
Nthe word Liberty" on the opposite
\ side the words, THE South" On
Il the under side flag; on the upper
II side of the short stem, ''Jan 9th, "
and on the under side the word,
Y Mont" on one side of the stem,
n 'McDewells," and on the other,
II college," l have always kept that
young fellow in my mind, but have
never seen or heard of him since
that winter; but l still have the
pipe.
1t was generally supposed that
McDowell's College was a rebel in
stitution, for its president, DR.. Me-
Dowell, was reported to be sur
geon in the Confederate Army in
1 Texas, which was enough to dissi-
pate any respect that might other
wise have been felt for the schoo
as a seat of learning. Connected
with the institution there was q
museum which contained numerous
A hlspecimens of natural history, such
Ias stuffed rabbits, dried bats
lAmounted owls, toads, striped pigs
Hand various other uncanny thing:
<lwhich we were told were to be sac.
ylredly guarded from vandalism. I'm
fortunately, however, there was {
hole In one of the walls through
which some scamp managed Il
crawl and find his way into thu
Nmuseum. Once there he appropriat
hd several of the specimens, -whicl
jhe disposed of down town in ex
change for such dainties as were no
MO be had at the barracks. AS sooi
as the loss was discovered grea
4 hue and cry was raised over 1t, AM
strenuous efforts were made to dis
llopver the pilferer. But do as h
FiMould the commanding officer, Gen
! |eral Schuyler Hamilton was unabl
4 10 uncover the offender. If anyon
lnew who it was they would no
Ltell. so the guilty party went un
Xpunished. But General Hamilton
/Mas not to be defeated in his pun
I pose If the party actually guilty Q