Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1926-06-10
LETTER TO w. Il. TANNEHILL
by j. II. AND SOPHIA BROWN

Dear Brother and Sister:-We have
intended to write you description
of our trip before now, but haven't
( stopped long enough in one place to
do SO. Will begin at the beginning
although we may have mentioned
some Of the places in former let
ters.
We started from Belle Valley
Nov. 28, 1925. Looked after some
business in Cambridge and Zanes-
Vile, and staid in Columbus that
night We left Columbus at 7:40,
following the old National Road,
past Dayton, through Indianapolis.
Staid that night at Forest Cottage,
five miles from. Brazil, Ind, and
II miles from Terre Haute. Nov.
80 we passed through Terre Haute
before daylight, then on through In
diana and Illinois; through st.
Louis, and over the Mississippi
river to Jonesburg in Missouri.
The road from st. Louis to Kan
finished but about 10 or Is miles.
1t is sure a good road and we could
hardly keep the old Nash from get
ting up and going about SO or 80
miles per hour.
Dec. ! we left Jonesburg for Kan
sas City, and the road was so good
and we were feeling so fine that we
didn't think to stop for dinner until
we arrived in Kansas City at 5 p. m.
While there we hunted up S. e.
Stranathan, with whom we spent a
very pleasant evening. He asked
many questions about his old ac-
quaintances in Ohio. The following
day we made short drive to Otta-
wa, Kan, where Mrs. Browns s
nephew Lewis Belden lives, and
who has become prosperous in the
oil business.
We left Ottawa next day AS we
neared Newton, Kan, the wind be-
gan to blow and the rain to beat
against the car. On reaching New
ton, we turned directly south and
as the wind was from the north at
about 60 mile gale, we had no
more use for gas that evening, but
arrived in Wichita on fast time,
(wind in Kansas). On Dec. we
visited Valley Center, Kan, Mrs.
Browns old home town visiting her
sister and other relatives and
friends including an aunt who had
just passed her Goth birthday. The
following day we returned to Wichl-
ia and continued our visit with Mrs.
Browns eldest brother Edgar Bel
den, who is broom corn dealer
and buys broom corn all the way
from the Rio Grande river to north
ern Kansas, and whose broom corn
stories are as great as some peoples
bear and fish stories.
We visited John Kildow the next
day, and VIM. Baker, north of Wich-
ita, formerly of Olive Green. O..
The following day we visited other
relatives and friends of Mrs. Brown
in Wichita. Dec. 8 we left Wichita,
going south into Oklahoma, through
Enid to Cleo Springs, near our old
homestead, which we took as a
claim in 1900. There we visited an
old friend Mrs. Grace Brinson and
family; Mrs. Brinson was Grace
Farmhouse, daughter of Jacob
Farmhouse formerly of Hoskins-
vile, 0. Next day we continued our
trip through Fairview, Okla, into
western Oklahoma and Texas, that
"God-forsaken country" called No
Mans Land, to Canadian, Tex,
where we staid all night at an old
fashioned stage hotel. We left
Canadian early in the morning. Be-
fore making many miles, we were
held up by two coyotes, and as our
chauffeur (our friend Ross) clam
bered out-he was too excited to
wait to assemble his rifle or shot
gun, but let go with short gun.
He made one of the coyotes howl,
but they were off before he could
get another shot to take effect. Pass
ing on through Amarillo and Can