Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-05-02

y L E1EIin HUME, AMI L liz 1lI|oL
I 1T ORIGINALLY IN 1854.
lest anything, the men went away
again.
Finally the great day came, the first
of May, 1874. which was the date on
which the government had decided
that the land in that part of the coun-
| try should be thrown open for settle
ment Across to the southwest not far
from the river was an excellent strip
of land, the soil was black and loamy
! and the roll was just enough for good
crop production. This was the piece
| which the McMillin family had de-
cided upon as their home. All was in
readiness and it was an anxious and
watchful family on the evening OF
April 80. 1914, in that cave up on the
side of the big rock formations above
the river. Finally the time piece told
that it was nearing midnight and this
man rushed on across the line and
with the aid of the candle held by his
good wife he staked out his future
homestead, two hundred and twenty.
nine and three-fourths acres of it,
starting at point near the cave home
and extending in general west and
southwest direction.
| Build Log Cabin Home.
! At daybreak, the next day, this new
conner was at work getting ready to
put his farm in suitable condition for
home He must first cut his way
through the thick dense forest which
covered the greater part of the acre
age. This done then followed the
building of the little one room log
cabin which served as home for
some time This the pioneer built
himself out of the rough native hewn
timbers and it was not long until the
little family was comfortable in their
new home. This house stood farther
up the river to the west of the present
homestead In few years a new
home was built and this too was con-
structed of the native timbers, hand
hewn. It stood close by the side Of
the present home of Mr. McMillin.
When he was IL years old the pres
ent homestead was built. Of course
it has been built over and added to
several times since that date, in the
spring of 1854, but the foundation
work and the large oaken timbers up
on which the house rests are the self
same that were put there in the early
| days And it is on this farm and in
| this house about mile and half from
Cliffland station and in plain sight Of
the building that Mr.. McMillin has
made his home for so many years.
| AS soon as the house was built, then
| followed the work of getting the land
| into shape for raising their grain and
produce The woods nearer the river
were so thick that it was almost i'm
possible at times to get through at all
| This had to be all cleared away and
! then the land was put in shape in the
best manner possible with the rough.
crude tools, which the pioneers had to
work with. Only few acres could be
worked that first year as it was fairly
along in the season when the labors
were started. The next year things
were a little brighter as they had the
| fall and winter months to prepare, al
| though not much could be done in the
winter as the cold weather in those
| days were very severe.
Fever And Ague.
| A great deal of sickness was exper-
! fenced by the settlers the first few
years Of their residence in Wapellc
county. The thickness Of the forest
allowed but very little sunshine TO
come in and when it rained the water
would stand for several weeks at q
time in little pools or puddles all over
the farm. This lead to stagnation and
great deal of suffering from fever
and ague was experienced by the NC
Millins At times nearly the entire
family would be stricken and they
would be so afflicted that one would
hardly be able to get up to get another
| a drink Of water.
The Father Is Drowned.
| During the second summer. of the
new corners residence in their Wapello
/ county home, the father was drowned.
He was attempting to cross over &
/, small bay off the Tes Moines river,
near what was known as Brysons
| branch, when he fell from the log on
which he was walking, and being UNI
! able to swim was drowned. Ihls TAX
ing of the father threw the response
bility of caring for the home and the
mother with her smaller children, up,
on Mr.. McMullins older brother and
gradually upon himself as he grew Old
err. The boys by their own intuition
and the experiences that they had
cleaned from their father managed the
place, took care Of the crops ana