Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-11-21
THANKSGIVING OF ].
AND ALMIRA wilkins
By William Lincoln Shearer.

!lDrtne!n RcnESyINdlll0 was one OF liit
biggest and best in the township. 1t
vas situate two and a half miles from
the ounty scat west. and there was TO
i, a dirt road of gradual ascent of sucn
excellence thai il every excited COM
ment Of those who Travelled it.
Samuel Hawkins. born III Connecti-
cut. AN aide on the staff of General
George Washington during the revolu-
tionary war. settled on the farm soon
.i,er The close OF those hostilities. His
crave, unmarked in a deserted Gene
terry grown up with locust and thorn
trees and overrun with 5riars and
%brainbles. is alike d reproach to his
daughters OF the revolution.
Samuel Hawkins built a one-story
log house with a loft, and TO it he
brought his wife on a bleak Thanks
giving dav in lIs-. In the limited
| pace of this primal abode they laid
family of pioneer number they might
nave struggled at times for breath. had
il not been for the goodly chinks be-
tween the logs. which admitted the
breeZes in urnmer and filtered the
6nows OF winter.
The wonderful ti~mber-one tree,
were it standing now. would be worth
the price he paid for an acre-was cut
Town and burned to get it out of the
| way to clear ground to raise crops for
The rapidly growing family.
Being New E~nglanders. the family
made much of Thanksgiving. There
was no holiday in the year which they
observed with such reverence and en-
husiasm. until it was looked forward
to as the day of days of the festal
Sc son.
Pretty primitive. to be sure. at first.
Wild turheS was the basis of the feast.
to be had for the shooting: a few
cranberries from the marsh down the
run and the way down east" pastry,
the recipes for which, like the unwrit-
ten work of secret lodes. are only
transferred from mouth to mouth.
The origin of Thanksgiving was inn
pressed on the Hawkinses as IA cele-
bration of the day when a band of
pilgrims arrived In the new world to
ralve out a home. 1t seemed IA par
ticular appropriate occasion for them
to observe. because it, too. marked the
day of their settlement in the wilder
ness.
There was only one SON among the
children. and he was named Jeremiah.
In spite of this apparent handicap of
prophecy. the child waxed and grew
strong while his sisters married., died
and passed into oblivion. So the farm
was willed to Jeremiah, his heirs and
assigns forever in consideration of
his staying at nome.
jerry was a man of parts in the
community, and. In addition to farm
Ing, carried on quite extensive lumber
Ing operations, %skidding his logs in the
winter, saving them out, making the
lumber into RATS, plotting them down
the river on spring freshets to tide
water. selling his product. saving his
money and walking home 100 miles.
He finished clearing the farm and
helped TO build a great house of pine
timbers. almost impossible to duplicate
Yny. nf rin IL V..,c NO l;r -~I
some hotels. A stately hall extended
from front to rear OH the first floor,
and ended in an enormous fire place
which would take logs eight feet long.
The rooms were large and high. In
front. great colonial fiuted pillars ex-
making the double veranda. The whole
place had an air of prosperity and
plenty. The view was east toward the
county seat. Struggled in the valley
among a profusion of shade: and then.
beyond cultivated fields and patches of
woodland dotted the hills, rising high
er and higher, till they were lost in a
blue haze.
At 80 jeremiah was still shy of girls,
although his parents often urged him
to marry, because he was "abundantly
bile to-" All the old people were ask-
ing Of him was to care for them as
long as they lived, and thcn everything
was to be his.
Somehow the ordinary country girl
OF his section did not appeal to him.
But one day a new teacher Of the dis
trict school, who was Boarding
ound. came to the Hawkins home.
1t being their turn She was a di-
minutive little body of small features,
white hands. an abundance Of brown
hair becomingly arranged, and hazel,
frank eyes She had an attractive face
even IN repose. because the love Of hui
manity shone from 1t: and with a win
min smile. a contagious laugh and
sunny heart. was just the kind OF a
woman to attract the sturdy, severe
farmcr-lumberman, because she was SO
his opposite in many characteristics.
Things did get along swimmingly in
front OF that fireplace after Samuel
Hawkins and his wife went to bed
early. They finally eliminated in mar
riage on a Thanksgiving night. How
the day was reflected In every face,
nowhere to uch a degree as on
the altar of owe OF j. and Almira Haw-
kins then, and in the years to come.
How ablaze was the old house that
fire roared in the fireplace and ever
after that Thanksgiving day had "a
double n dearer Significance for them
both. Regular love match" everybody
said. n though they a guessed 1t.
they never half suspected is full truth.
1t was a perfect o match. a uniting
of heart. soul and body. They moved
In Il harmonious atmosphere apart from
the world. 1t was more like single life
IN a cloister, there WAS such unaniImity
and sweetness. just such a union as
the hope for spring eternal" in every
wOman's breast; bue Few there be
that find It,"
J. Hawkins wrote all the letters com
Ing from the family because he chose
TO. from right. MOI that he could write
as Well or as grammatcally as his wife.
She had n o time for the gentle. and now
lost. art of letter writing All ~ hsu