Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-08-02

people will all tell you there is moth
ing more real. Think 1 have said Ben
ton was to me the only home place or
town. Dubuque and Galena were big
and prominent as business points, but
it conveyed no idea to me of part of
the country / lived in any more than
the words England" or Ireland.
Not as much, in fact, for l got famil-
lar with these people and they repre-
scented to me all there was of the world
or perhaps l would have put it this
way: The inhabitants of the world
consisted of Cornish, Yorkshire, and
Irish Sometimes l would hear talk
for or against one of these people and
used to wonder-Of course, there
could be nothing wrong with the Corn
ish, Neenans, ToOmeys, McGaugheys
and Monahans were so jolly and good
and gave us mighty good pies at har-
vest and threshing time. The York
shires did talk mighty queer, but |
used to like to hear it so as to have
something to laugh at, but could never
find any fault with or wrong with the
/ Bainbridges, Raisbecks, Blinkirons,
i AIdersons, Winders, Blades, RObsons,
Beadles, Calverts, Allisons, HOrsleys,
Cottinghams, Hirds and others | can't
recall While women then were not
permitted leadership, Benton will ev-
er be indebted to its sanity women of
/ the old time. There were two or three
I families of French and one of Germans
or rather Dutch (did not know what
German was) called Hoffman, the
shoemaker. Whether it was because
he made us boys pair of boots every
year and only once year (no store
goods of the shoe kind them that we
used to look forward to with such
great concern for it was Hoffman or go
barefoot or because the fat, jolly wife
and he would keep up such a hearty,
jolly talk and laugh, while / sat by
the stove eating the big slice of bread
and working hard and fast to prevent
the mOlaSseS from wasting. | would
not have been afraid if told more
/ Dutch were coming. So I wasn't
scared bit when / heard them talking
about country where they were all
Dutch and that lots of them were COM
/ ing in West of us and some had locat-
ed on lands just north. Two of those
/ families soon became known and prom
inent as Dutch John" and Dutch
Henry and it was years before l
knew that John Grotkin and Henry
Hilvers were their real names. Grand
men, they were Their neighbors did
nothing until John or Henry was con-
suited.
| Miners, because of the ready cash,
soon showed the capitalist spirit. Each
had a horse and wagon mot even
spring seat, yet was the buggy of the
time), and cow and hunting dogs, and
every Saturday afternoon Blades,
Grieves, Flody Pedalty, Cottingham,
Metcalf and others secured the prairie
northwest. Prairie chicken, quail,
pluvers, snipes and wild pigeons suf-
fered, but the farmer suffered, too
land ownership or crops cut no figure
to them.
"This was not lawlessness, for they
were the best of our people, but the
universal feeling that it was free
country and that the old country land
| lordism didn't go here. A clannish
ness of neighbors soon developed, too,
with the farmer at the wheel this time.
Custom had given Benton the hay
east of the Galena road with Hazel
Green the west, and Entertainments
caused a lot of personal scraps. Hazel
brush confined the hay land to COM
paratively small limit. Farmers stock
increased, their own land was being
broke so all had to depend on the spec
ulators' land for the winters feed.
The Germans with their thrifty spirit
were getting more than their share
and they were looked upon, too, by
the old first settlers as not yet fully a
part of us, so the Irish and English
would give each other wink of warn
ing against them which l can best il
lustrate by good old Mr.. Quinlan, not
bit of i'll will in him, but loyal to
pioneer neighbors, who came around
one morning before daylight with a
warning that if they wanted any hay
they would have to get out and mark
it off, for the Dutch were taking every
thing, and old timers will be able now
to see him in his zeal and hear the
emphasis he always used when talk
ing.
Thank God, he has left me see the
country more than expected for it and
a people all good or at least none bad
except as caused by our own acts or
evil natures. Sorry only that l must
say better to me than deserved. | can
only wish 1 could return the same
kindly patience and sympathy-they
are comforts to me beyond price"
ELLENBORO.