Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-24
Made sPlain as Day"

waters of the rill.'
Made "Plain as Day"
In the Congressional Library at
Washington is a little unpretentious
volume. entitled, 'Doddridge's Notes."
in which this whole mystery is made
sketch cannot do better than to quote
verbatim:
THE reader must here be remind
ed that during the long continued In
dian wars sustained by the first set
tiers of the western country they
winter season. when, owing to the
severity of the weather, the Indians
were unable to make their incursions
into the settlements.
The onset of winter was therefore
hailed as a jubilee by the early in
habitants of the country, who,
throughout the spring and early part
of the fall, had been cooped up in
their little uncomfortable forts and
subject to all the distresses of the
Indian wars.
AT the approach of winter there
fore, the farmers, excepting the owner
OF the fort. removed to their cabins
on their farms, with the joyful feel
ing Of a tenant of a prison on recov.
erIng his release from confinement.
IL was hustle and hilarity in pre-
pairing for winter by gathering in the
corn, digging potatoes, fattening
logs ana repairing the cabins
To our forefathers the gloomy
months of winter were more pleasant
Ihan the zephyrs of spring and the
flowers of May
IT, however sometimes hammered
that after the apparent onset Of win
ter the weather became warm. the
SMOKY time commenced and lasted
TOT considerable number of days.
rms was the Indian summer be-
n IN p@o.I
opportunity of visiting the settle-
ments with their distressing warfare.
Inc melting of the snow saddened
every countenance and the genial
warmth of the sun chilled every heart
with horror "ie
The apprehension of another visit
from the Indians and of heinz dr;van
PACK 10 the detested fort was main
IuI IN tne highest degree and the dis
dressed apprehension was freouentlv
realized. a"0n'iy
:, The writer hereof has never seen bn+
II Is probably to be found in other iarea
libraries eA Aa1se
=. II IS the most graphic and, doubtless
In, Inc most complete transcript of pfoneer
me extant. 1t describes every phase
vi existence for those hardy men and
women who fought the Indians and the
wilderness and conquered both. It in
the llllad of the pioneer
Dr. Joseph Doddridge was himself a
pioneer and knew whereof he wrote
Born in 1863. near Bedford, Pa. his
faener removed to the extreme western
author was yet small child. There
ne spent his childhood in his fathers
frontier fort.
The father thought he was settling in
s washington county. Pa. but when the
found to be in the panhandle Of Viz.
g1nia Early in manhood the future
author of the Notes" became a min
lster Of the gospel. under that pioneer
soldier OF Christianity. Francis Asbury.
Incidents of Family History.
In later years he affiliated with the
Episcopal Church. He was educated at
jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pa. In
aodltlon to being minister of the Cos
pei, ne was physician, a philosopher.
a scholar
His brother. Phillip Doddridge. be-
came famous lawyer. was elected to
Congress from the Wheeling district, and
died in Washington in 1882, while sery-
ing In that body, and was buried in
Congressional cemetery, where a ceno-
taph marks his grave.
Henry Howe of Cincinnati was a
publisher of books on western life and
western history in the SOS. His
volume entitled "Histrical Collections
" Tic Niedl "SI' is most Valu-
able and interesting compilation, and
in it may be found the chapter on
Indian summer, taken from the bod
bridge book and duly credited there
to, together with many other seIec-
tons from the same source.
OF course, nobody undertakes to saw
why this warm smoky spell of
weather comes almost every year lust
before the closing in of winter-not
even the scientific gentlemen who ex-
plain SO many obscure things to us
laymen; but it seems both INCORRECT
and unreasonable to set down that the
origin Of the term is unknown. There
is no sort of doubt that our pioneer
forefathers gave the season its name.
and that for them it had a most dis,
tressful and sinister significance.
MILTON T. ADKINS