Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1922-04-26

Town OF Clinton. SAID Veteran Luther
Glenn, of Viroqua, recently Not {
stick in sight was cut. began right
in the woods"
MY brother Lewis and | came Il
Wisconsin in the autumn of 1856, five
years before was married. We came
to look over the country. Ny father
Baliss Glenn, had come to Wisconsin
before the Civil War and had entered
four forties of land; eighty acres in
the town of Clinton and eighty acres
in the town of Whitestown, at fifty
dollars per forty. He walked to La
Crosse to make the entries and walked
back, He had to walk from Madison
when coming here and back to Mali
son when returning, as that was the
nearest railroad station at that time
Our home was at Snow Fork, Hooking
county, Ohio.
"My father came again in 1868 to
visit his brother Isaac Glenn, at Otter
vale, and other friends. He stopped
and visited at the home of Calib
Shreve, at Debello, in the town of
Greenwood. Pap had a large satchel
with all OF mis- clothes in it, big tan
ned deer hide which Ed Silbaugh had
given him, and other things. On the
way home, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio,
to see my brother Lewis who had been
wounded at Chickamauga and sent to
/ the hospital at Cincinnati. Pap set
his satchel down in the depot with a
man he had met on the train, while
The went to ask about trains. When
4 he came back for the satehel, it was
gone, and the man with whom he left
| it knew nothing about it. But soldiers
\ 4ha.oxrprh NhA 1arNaf oil
! the time so he thought probably they
/ took it.
| Lewis stayed only a few days the
first time he came to Wisconsin. We
walked to Richland Center, and from
there he went by stage to Lone Rock,
where he got aboard a train to go
back to Ohio. | stayed in Richland
Center and worked for six weeks.
Then Icame back and worked for John
Appleman at Bloomingdale. / chop
ped timber every day from daylight
until dark for fifteen dollars per month
and split rails for seventy-fve cents
per hundred. For our early break
fast, we usually had fried pork, fried
potatoes, bread, butter, and coffee.
81 began work for my house on the
9TH of March, 1867. / chose white
oak and hickory elm trees for the logs,
getting all of one size as near as pos
sible. / cut the trees down with an
ak that l bought of Christian Morte-
rud in Bloomingdale. | cut down
enough for the house, and then trim
med off the limbs and measured the
logs. The house was twenty to twen-
ty-two feet in size, believe. | usu-
ally took just one log from tree, but
sometimes two. / got Peter Cole with
his yoke of oxen to drag the logs out
with a log chain, after / had trimmed
off the brush from half acre space
and had cleared road to it. Then |
had house raising.
"The following men helped me with
the raising:-O. P. Hill, Isaac V. Hill,
Marion Aiioway, Mart Fleming, Ike
Hyatt, Tom Campton, John Norris,
C. ]. Smith, John Fish, c. j. Blowers,
Laore King, Peter Cole, Saul Cole,
Nose Cole, George Stokes, Mr. Philips
and John McVey. The heaviest logs
were used for the foundation of the
house; and the lighter ones toward
the top. Smaller logs were used for
rafters for the roof.
"Boss Silbaugh put a clapboard
foor on for me. The clapboards were
/ LIItG Itct lOHEt cRAAt Oat VI
grained white oak They were about
an inch thick. The house was chink-
ed with Eastwood which was chopped
into four foot lengths and split up with
an ak. Then it was daubed with clay
on both the outside and the inside, to
finish filling any open spaces between
the logs. Straight grained Eastwood
was split into planks for the floor.
Openings were cut for two doors and
| two windows, and round hole was
made in the roof through which to put
/ stove pipe.a stove pipe. / got the
doors and windows of Andrew Bakken
at Bloomingdale. Uncle Constantine
Leonard loaned me second hand cook
stove.
81 boarded at the King home when !
began my work and ] stayed with
them until Mrs. King told me one
morning with tears in her eyes, that
| they were entirely out of anything to
eat, and that she didn't know what
they were going to do. She said
would have to find another place. so
l boarded with Mart Fleming until l
got the house up and the roof on 1t.
Mrs. Fleming cooked the dinner for us
on the day of the house raising. l
went and got it, and we ate 1t on the
ground. That was about the tenth of
March, and began living in the house
the latter part of March.
at showed good deal after NOV
ed in. and one morning when ] got up
the bed clothes were covered with
snow, as the clapboard roof did not
keep the snow from sitting through.
81 had no furniture except what |
made my self. | did my own cooking,
with the exception of making bread.
bought flour and Mrs. King would
bake my bread. / made biscuits some
times. My diet consisted Of meat, po-
tatoes, bread, butter, and fruit. SPUR
rels, pheasants, and big white rabbits
were plentiful; so / shot them and
dressed them for meat. A rabbit
would do for two or three meals.
There were lots of trout in the creek,
so / could have fish when | wanted
them.
"There were wild plums, blackber-
ries, raspberries, grapes and lots Of
crab-apples and gooseberries in the
woods. The fruit was so good that |
almost lived on what / picked and
cooked. Harry Pierce kept a little
store at Prestonberg, later named Dell,
where l could get the groceries that
l needed. / bought brown sugar for
sweetening the fruit.
81 built my house right by spring
of water which has never gone dry,
and it is still good today. Simon
Glenn's more modern house is built
on +ha same spot where / built the