American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1915-04-22
REVOLUTIONARY "REMINISCENCES

a11RS
dence was signed, my great grand
mother, Mary Thayer, was almos
three years old. She was born on tn,
thirteenth of August, 1873. Grand
mother remembered many incidents o
war, such as hiding in the woods from
Tories and other things herein men.
toned. She told these incidents tc
her grandchildren as though they had
happened but the week before, for they
had been so firmly stamped upon her
young mind. l have often heard them
repeated by my mother who listened
to them eighty years ago at her grand
mothers knee in the state OF New
York.
DR.. Issa Thayer owned a grant OF
land adjoining Albany, in New York,
and on the outskirts of the town he
built his colonial dwelling. A few
acres were cleared for orchard, gar
den and a small pasture, where the
cows, sheep and geese were kept when
not herded. The rest was in heavy
timber which bordered a great wood.
Roland Brown who had lost an arm
in the Indian war, was a farmer and
neighbor of DR.. Thayer. His little son
William herded the stock of the two
families and the girls often herded
the geese in the same vicinity. They
swung in the grape vines together,
gathered wild flowers from the woods,
and wild berries and nuts in their
season, which they dried to eat around
the fireplace to the stories told by the
elder members of the families.
There had been talk of the revolu-
ton long before Mary was born, and
the people were wrought up to a state
of rebellion which could hardly have
been pacified with anything less than
freedom.
The heavy taxes were a great bur
den on the people. But when they
were forbidden to weave their own
clothes and were ordered to buy them
all from England, women as well as
men became indignant.
Mrs. Thayer dismissed n of her
maids and stored the loom away.
Late in the fall of 1870, the one SER
want had gone home for a vacation,
and Mrs. Thayer had taken sick and
compelled to remain in bed for sever
al days.
Many, who had never before seen
things in disorder, went to work to
do the regulating as her mother
called 1t. Mrs. Thayer, hearing her
rafting the dishes and kettles, called
out:
What are you doing, Nary"
"Dest leglating" was the reply.
Her mother rose on her elbow and
pulled back the flowered curtains that
hung from above her four posted bed.
and peeped into the kitchen where she
saw her little daughter washing dishes.
She had already winged the hearth.
Mary had shown what she could do
n from that time on her service was
in great demand. The busy times that
followed took all the leisure and ener-
gy Of the household.
Her father came in just as she had
finished her "leglating" and giving
her a smile Of approval, went to his
wife and made a few hasty explana-
lions then took his gun and a few ar
ticles after which he babe them good
bye and rode off on his large black
horse.
Mary heard her mother crying and
thought that her father must have
whipped her, for the child could real
lie nothing else to be the cause Of such
sobbing. She said:
did fazer whip you hard, mover??
Why you cry?"
Your father never WHIPPED ME in
the world, my dear child. He is 60
Ing to leave us and may never come
back. That is why I cry"
The child had drawn her attention
and she knew for her sake she must
be brave, so she resolved she would
her part in the great struggle for
freedom.
Dr.. Thayer had desired to enlist at
he first herald of war; bu: his wife
mad delicate health and he had other
patients needing his attention, who
begged him to wait a little longer. But
when word came that Washington had
been driven from New York, and that
he British were gaining the victory
lie could no longer resist; so he rush
ID in to tell his wife the news and
AXE leave Of his family. He said:
81 had hoped at least to leave you
veil, Martha, but our men are losing.
have already contributed enough not
o consider me and life. Means must
Re sacrificed If freedom is gained"
May God protect you," simultan-
ously said both.
He called on Uncle Roland Brown,
Who came over every day ~ look af-
er the stock and see that there was
I trousers. Any woman who could
that he had lost his arm for
Though he was sixty years OF age
is heart was in the cause and he long
d to be In the thickest OF the fight.
lie often said: "If / cannot handle a
I might stop a bullet and per
APPS save a whole nan for the cause