Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1913-01-29
SOME ECHOES FROM
DAYS LONG GONE BY
Herman Buchner Redeems His
Promise With a Letter
And Recalls Some of His Early Expert.
ences Before and During the
Civil War.
Crossett, Ark, Jan. gath, 1913

Dear Sir: The day left Lancaster
| stepped in to the Gibbs & Starr
Tonsorial Emporium for final 1912
shave in Wisconsin. When I babe
them good bye, Lou said Good Bye
Bush, write as a letter, so we can all
hear from you. When Lou said
''us'' he meant che letter to all my
friends and not one to each of them,
which would take more postage stamps
than / have earned since I spent my
winters in the south. I am under
great obligation to you for having
given me the privilege to com
municate through the columns Of
The Herald with my friends at home,
and I am very thankful for your in
diligence.
The other day in rummaging among
some old papers I came across a
certificate issued to me by James
Blanding, formerly a clerk of the
circuit court for Grant county, Wis
consin, which disclosed that on the
Sd day of March. 1861, l renouuced
all allegiance to any foreign prince or
potentate and especially to the King
of Prussia to whom / had Heretofore
been a subject, and declared my in
tentiOn to become a citizen of the
United States of America. No one
will deny the assertion that I have
redeemed my declaration made at that
time. had no idea on that day that
in less than two months l would enlist
In the military service of the United
States of America to give my aid in
enforcing the principle that the
United States was not a confederation
of states that could be dissolved at the
pleasure of one of them. but that it
was solemn compact of these states
inseperable, that could not be dis
solved, over which but one flag should
wave and that ''the stars and stripes. -
had come to Platteville on the
22d day of April 1861 and resided there
at that time and was employed by
Mr.. Ed. Hoyt as cham bemaid in the
Platteville hotel stable, at the
stipendium of $12 per month, and
such tips as are general extended by
liberal travellers.
During the winter l had taken care
of ''Green Mountain Boy Morgan
horse during the illness of his owner.
think his name was Atkins. VINO
resided at Hazel Green. who had
given me the privilege to exercise the
horse at my discretion. [ had not
been to Lancaster before, but had
been up as far as EllenboIo several
times during the previous summer
for Mr.. Ed. Hoyt. my employer.
Mr.. Hoyt was a tall man, pale and
thin and it was rumored amongst his
friends that he had the old fashioned
consumption, at that time not known
among the common people as tuber-
GulOsis. | think it was DR.. Robinson,
who advised him as a remedy to drink
freely of the white corn whisky at
that time distilled by George Cowan,
who had u small distillery just beyond
Ellenoro, in the hollow on the west
side, going up the hill The other
still in Grant county was run by
Ruel Morrell at the Hurricane corners.
The whiskey was very pure. stilled
out of corn and was retailed by him at
40 cents per gallon, it was as white as
water, and was used by the people as
a remedy against many of the common
ills. In the good old ante belIum
days, whiskey was not under ban as
it is now north and south, it was
kept in most of the houses and a man
who would not offer a drink to a
guest as soon as he entered was not in
conformity to the prevailing custom.
1t may shock some of the good people
at the present time to learn that
during the early times it was not
considered. a mortal sin for preacher
to take his tOddy or sven take whiskey
clear on stated occasions. The
temperance wave had not swept the
country, although in the east there
had been started a reform society
then known as Tetotalers, who had
their missionaries travelling about,
especially along the wharfs of New
York City. This thought brings up
to my mind an amusing incident that
| witnessed. had come over from
the old sod in the fall of 1853 when
only thirteen years old and was
dependent upon my two brothers for a
maintenance. They both had families
and I knew that it was difficult to
make ends meet ia those good old
times So I came to the conclusion
to look for a job and found one at
lcon4innoa IN eth rrnno