Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1921-12-02
CHAPTER VI.

Which Describes the Lonely Life In
Prairie Cabin and a Stirring Ad-
venture on the Underground Rail-
road About the Time It Began op-
~eratlons.
When Samson paid Mr.. Gollaher, a
"detector'' came with the latter to look
at the money before it was accepted.
There were many c~ounterfeits and bills
good only at a certain discount Of
face value going about those days and
the detector was in great request. d.
rectly after moving in, Samson dug u
well and lined 1t with a hollow log.
He bought tools and another team and
then he and Harry began their fall
blowing. Day after day for weeks
they paced with their turning burrows
until a hundred acres, stretching half
a mile to the west and well to the
north of the house, were black with
them. Fever and ague descended up
on the little home in the early winter.
In a letter to her brother, dated
January 4th, 1882, Sarah writes:
"We have beer longing for news
from home, but not a word has come
from you. 1t don't seem as if we could
stand it unless we hear from you or
some Of the folks once in a while.
We are not dead just because we are
a thousand miles away. We want to
hear from you. Please write and let
us know how father and mother are
and all the ews We have all been
sick with the fever and ague. 1t is a
beautiful country and the soil is very
rich, but there is some sickness. Sam
son and / were both sick at the same
time. I never knew Samson to give
up before. He couldn't go on, his head
ached so. Little Joe helped me get
the fire started and brought some wa
ter and waited on us. Harry Needles
had gone away to Springfield for Mr..
Offut with a drove of hogs. Two 9TH
er boys are with him. He is going to
buy a new suit. He is a very proud
boy. Joe and Betsey got back with
the doctor at nine. That night Abe
Lincoln came and sat up with us and
gave us our medicine and kept the
ire going. 1t was comical to see him
lying beside Joe in his trundle bed,
with his long legs sticking over the
end of it and his feet standing on the
lloor about a yard from the bed. He
Mas spread all over the place. He
talked about religion and his views
would shock most of our friends in the
! East. He doesn't believe in the kind
OF Heaven hat the ministers talk
about or any eternal hell. He says
mar nobody knows anything about the
hereafter, except that God is a kind
and forgiving father and that all men
are His children. He says that we
can only serve God by serving each
other. He seems to think that every
man, good or bad, black or white, rich
or poor, is his brother. He thinks
that Henry Clay, e. to Daniel Web
ster, is the greatest man in the u
try. He is studying hard. Expects to
go out and make speeches for Clay
next summer. He is quite severe in
his talk against General Jackson. He
and Samson agree in politics and re-
ligion. They are a good deal alike.
He is very fond of Samson and Har-
ry-calls them his partners. We love
this big awkward giant. His feet are
set in the straight way and we think
that he is going to make his mark in
the world.
you said you would come out next
spring to look about. Please don't
disappoint us. l think it would almost
break my heart. l am counting the
days. Don't be afraid of fever and
ague. Sapington's pills cure it in three
or four days. | would take the steam
boat at Pittsburg, the roads in Ohio
and Indiana are so bad. You can get
"a steamer up the Illinois river at Al