Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1932-02-04
The Sycamore
A Story of Bristol Township Folk
By c. RAY

have governmental affairs in charge
what to do, to get the world out OF
the tangle in which it has been
wandering the past several months.
Readers no doubt have noticed
that we have worn our pencile quite
bit more than usual in getting
started, but as this work is to con-
tinue through the coming year at
least we feel we should lay the
foundation wide, and then there
may be projections and we were
about to say porticos, but we
haven't time to look it up in Web
ster to see if we can spell it cor
rectly. So if it is not cos" it is
Scoes.' At least, it is one Of those
additions to modern homes, where
you spend the summer evenings ana
let mosquitoes bite you,-that is
young men do il they have a beau
tiful maiden with them Old men
like the writer passed the critical
period in our lives before these
bugs had gained notoriety here
about.
We might do wei. to stop here to
relate a story told us by the late
z. Pedicord regarding the log cab
ins of the pioneers. The one he
told of was two rooms-rather Il
room and kitchen. The room was
not only living room and parlor, but
bed room as well. Our friend told
of courting young lady in one of
these homes. On account of a storr.
he was compelled to spend the night
there. This was before the advent
of underwear, union suits and 3. v.
DIS. II fact he said pants, shirts
coats and some times vests compris-
ed the most elaborate wardrobe
So when it came time to retire Mr.
Pedicord was shown his bed and he
lad to disrobe in the room with the
whole family present, and this is
how he did it, He removed all
clothing except pants and shirt, and
then crawled under the Quilts and
removed them In the morning he
dressed in the same way. Someone
has said that necessity is the moth
er of invention we micht ada
here that it is also the grandma h-
er, II not the whole family
First settler
And now led ITS 80 back and
start with the first settler. and
while Harold sets this on the limo
type, and it goes through all the
rigid ordeals which manuscripts
IS heir to before it appears in read
able form, We viii sharpen our pen
ell and talk to our friend and ad-
visor, encyclopedia Of facts, the
venerable George p. Roberts. And
we are not sure whether we should
use the word venerable If we re
, member newspaper writer's only use
that term in connection with very
old men, and George is not old
| while the thermometer of life says
84, his looks, actions, and conversa-
tion registers much younger. What
| an honor we should pay men like
| him. \ store house where we can
! so get, only for the asking. Our
story will be such that we will be
able to pay rightful tribute, not
! only TO him, but all our old friends
To write a story Of love and ad-
venture, the writer can choose the
! characters, and make them play
their parts. They appear and re-
/ tire at the will of the writer, but
not SO with folks in real life. Some
! how we are led TO believe that is
/ the reason we find stories Of the
/ latter kind much more interesting.
1 As never before, the question comes
/ 70 us, what led the early settlers to
! this region? How they found the
! good land might be the better ques-
ton. Why they staid is easy. =
To write facts takes a lot of
searching of records ds-interyiewing
Of our wise folks, (the aged) d.
! When we go to the records. we
don't always find what we are look
ing for; one of the things that
seems strange to US. Some, if not
many Of the land grants were never
recorded. We do not tell you this
to cause any excitement, even
though you do not have the original
sheep skin your title is no doubt
clear as clear as though you had
the original grant. A historian
tells us that the first settler was
David Stevens, who Entered land in
the northeast quarter of Section
So.
He goes on to say that he obtain.
ed something over 200 acres, so you
see he not only owned the quarter
section, but some in another quar-
ter. We find by reference to the
plat that some Of this land is now
owned by VIM. Crisman, and is sit
uated or located just south Of OthC
on State Route 78. We find thi:
grant is not recorded. Where tht
historian got his information We
are unable to say. At any rate hf
goes on to say he acquired the lanC
: in 1904, and took possession il
1908, in which year he became
, postmaster. At this time we wan
to leave Mr.. Stevens and go back tt
the locality where we started, anC
. tell you more about the coppera
rocks
We find an Is inch vein of Goa
between a ledge of sandstone abov
, and limestone underneath In thi
layer of coal is found the copperas
Whether the copperas is VALUABLE
or not has never been found out, a
no test has ever been made.
Underwood, the Hunter
ho,