Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1939-06-29

his Christian name, we asked folks
still our elders, and they couldn't
tell us. We thought we knew, and
eek" said we are right, Andrew
Tracy, was not only pioneer but
a man prominent in the affairs of
the township, owning and living on
a farm now owned and the home of
Harry and Jessie Ray Parmiter,
which brings to mind another work
of the pioneers, and another product
Of the township-brick clay and
the manufacture of brick on the
farms where the clay was found.
The house in which Mr.. and Mrs
Parmiter live no doubt was built by
Mr. Tracy and must have been a
good job, as the building stands as
plumb today as the day when built.
We learn that some of the men
prominent in the searly life and af-
fairs of the township and county,
made their mark in the world thus
X There has been revolution in
many things in Bristol township, in
the past half century. At this time
our mind goes back when husk
beds were very stylish, corn husks,
gathered and split, and stuffed in
the ticking. The beds were very
comfortable when a feather tick
was placed over them-the bigger
the feather bed the more comforta-
BILE they seemed but now we find to
be cultured folk, we must have
mattresses Sometimes we feel We
would rather not be SO ''highfalut-
in and be resting in the depths of
a fifty pound feather tick. But the
change in style has knocked the
price Of feathers. And even geese
eggs won't hatch as they used to,
which leads us on to the time when
in our boyhood we used to have an
encounter with the cross ganders,
and the old gobbler we had plagued,
and made that way. Some of our
older readers remember perhaps, |
the lesson in the old reader of the
boys and the ganders, where they
used corn stalks as weapons. Those |
were the days when every farm had |
it's quota of geese and ganders.-j
but now about the only place we see
geese is at the fairs.
We find things scattered all
through the nigh 80 years writing
in the Morgan County Democrat,
which we feel should be rewritten
here. If you have read it before,
you can shut your eyes until you
get past it.
School teachers of the early days
and up through our school days
were men who taught in the winter,
and then farmed through the sum-
nf nf
schools were made up of youngl
men, full grown, it was thought ad-
visable in many cases to hire big,
stout men as teachers, so order
might be had. The man who was
blessed with both Drawn and brains
was lucky in those days. In fact
they don't go bad together. At the
present, what we started to tell you,
copying from an old record we find:
Sept. "a, 1910. The record direc
tors having met at the old school
house and each having in the pres
ence of the other two sworn to
discharge the duties of
their office, they proceeded to
choose a chairman and district clerk
and treasurer, whereupon Levi Rob-
inson was appointed chairman;
Ephraim Johnston was chosen dis
trict clerk and treasurer; Ephraiml
] Johnston, clerk" NOV. 2, 1910.
Bargained with Jas. K Paxton to
teach an English school in district
No. three. Bristol township for the
sum of SIS per month, and board
to commence the 23rd of
November, 1910. Ephraim Johnson,
ln in
the last case spelled his name
Johnson
In the early part of this work
we spoke Of the Indians. There
have been some small mounds,
many of which were opened. One
on the farm of Mrs. Fanny Lyle
was opened and some bones found.
If we remember the story correctly,
the late Robert Henderson who at
that time owned the now c. c. Will
son farm had a part in the opening
of the mound,-or it may have been
one of the boys. Any way it was
told that the bones were taken to
the Henderson barn. We believe it
is unlawful to open mound now
AS we have no desire to do so, we
won't look up the law.
The township has been free OF
any serious crime. Most of the law
suits which were had by Bristol res
idents have been for .money only,
and line fence disputes Very few Of
the folks here have committed dep
relations that the penalty for has
been more than SO and costs, and
80 days as guest of the sheriff. The
fact that some are "Smart" may ac-
count for the low percent. In the
early days, fights were common. Of
ten the one who wore the black
eyes had his opponent arrested. OF
late years most of fussing has BEEN
by word Of mouth. We never knew
exactly what important means, as
the term takes in SO much-howI
you feel, how your neighbors feel
about you, how the Great Judge
sees, feels and knows. We have
long since determined that the most
important person in any neighbor-
hood has to die to be appreciated
Recently while calling on Silas OF
the Renrock pencil, he asked "Do
you know who the most honest man
who ever lived in Bristol was?"
And we without hesitation replied:
You refer to Seth Andrews-and
he did ''Uncle Seth" as he was
known by everyone here, was a Pc
culiar mbination-honest, highly
educated and queer. 1t was told of
him that one time when at McCon-
nelsville he found nickel on the
street. He measured the distance
to see which was the nearest store
and left the nickel there. He tried
to prove the old saying "you can
lead q horse To Wafer-huf VOL