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A Short Account of Thomas K. And Eliza Smith by Sarah T. Smith.(Retyped in January 1992 by Dan Treadway. I have endeavored tomaintain the spelling and punctuation used by Sarah Smith. Thisaccount was with another typed in a similar manner on the same sort ofpaper, in which she stated she was 67 years of age. If the two werewritten at the same time, we can add 67 to Sarah's year of birth,1837, to estimate this account was written about 1904.) Thomas K. andEliza Smith who were pioneers of Marion township Morgan county Ohio,were born and brought up in the same neighborhood near BarnesvilleBelmont county Ohio. They attended the same school and meeting, and were married in Stillwater meeting house on the first dayof tenth month 1834. They first settled in a small house ongrandfather Smith's place where they lived more that two years butfeeling best satisfied to have a home of their own, decided to move to Morgan county, where they had262 acres of timber land, not a stick amiss except what was used inbuilding their little cabin in which they lived nine years, patientlyenduring together the hard-ships of pioneer life. Until by closeeconomy and persevering energy, they became more comfortably situated.Their farm was about two miles south-west of Chesterfield. The hundredacres farthermost west being very rough, they decided to sell it fortwo hundred dollars and expend the same in building a more comfortablehouse. So in the summer of 1846 they put up what was the considered quite acommodious frame house, consisting of parlor, kitchen and twobed-rooms on the first floor and three rooms above. There are manythings concerning the pioneer life of our parents that have been ofmuch interest to me. Our cabin was one of the smallest ones in theneighborhood containing but one door and one window. Its chimney wasmade of mud and sticks. Just above the back-wall of the fire-place waswhat was called a lubber pole on which were hung trammels to holdkettles over the fire, such things as cook stoves not then in vogueamong us. Baking utensils were dutch ovens and skillets with legs.Thedough was molded into loves and placed within them to rise, when readyto bake they were placed before the fire with hot coals under them andhot iron lids over them and what nice loaves came out of them. Hungrychildren seldome failed to appreciate their mother's cooking.Ourfurniture consisted of two pair of rough bedsteads and a trundle bed,a walnut bureau, six chairs and a cupboard without doors on theshelves of which our dishes of different colors were tastefullyarranged. A shelf was placed on one side of the cabin in winter onwhich pans of milk, stewed fruit &c. were placed to keep from freezing. Our floorwas made of puncheons split from logs and hewed off a little. My firstrecollection of cleaning floors is my mothers instruction about wipingout the knot holes. She kept our little home neat and clean, had herbeds in good order and when she wanted them to look better than usual,she had a blue and white double nine patch quilt for the outside coverof one and a blue and white striped one for the other giving the rooma verycheerful appearance. Two of our chairs were without paint andshe kept every round and post scowered. We were minus cushions rugsand carpets but our neighbors were also and we have heard our mothersay that she was never any happier than with her little family aroundthe cabin fire. It took time for our orchards to get started so fruitwas a luxury. We remember when our great grand father sent us a sackof dried apples sewed up at both ends and I suppose no explanation inregard to them, after a time it was discovered that there were a lotof rotten apples among them which we had failed to find while theywere fit to eat.Mother told of a very dry season when provisions werevery scarce and streams so dried up that it was difficult to get anygrinding done. At one time we had but one loaf of bread and nothingwith which to make any more, father and mother decided to make theirsupper of hominy and leave the loaf for breakfast but before we werethrough eating father's sister and cousin from a distance came andwhen they learned of our extremity they said they would eat hominytoo. The next day they found where they could get some meal and it wasnot long before there was some grinding done. Mother was well contented when father could be at home buthaving little of the wherewith he was obliged to work for others partof the time to procure provisions and other needful things before hisown place could be cultivated so as to make a living for his family.Facilities for grinding were very poor and he often had to go to millat night in order to get his turn. At such times mother was verylonely, and even in her great age often spoke feelingly of thekindness of her neighbor Zilpha Edgerton in sending her children tostay with mother at night when father had to be away, as well as doingmany other things for her comfort and happiness, she often said no ownmother could be kinder. Little John as he was then called, now overseventy years of age and a much respected citizen of Chester Hill, wasone of Zilpha's children. I well remember a very stormy afternoonafter William Stephen and I were large enough to go to school fatherhad gone to a saw mill on Wolf creek. Our road to school was nearlyall through the woods and mother's anxiety about us was great but shecould only watch and wait for us. When she saw us coming with JohnEdgerton with us with Stephen on his back, her thankfulness almostamounted to tears. The hospitality of my dear parents in their cabinhome is seldom equaled in this day of plentiful prosperity. It seems awonder to me when I think of the number they used to entertain atnight. Mother always managed to have one spare bed placed on the otherside of the bureau from their own, so she could get along nicely withone couple, but when five or six came at once she had to put her witsto work, always contrived a way, often by dividing beds putting one ortwo ticks on the floor so near each other that there was scarcely roomto walk between them. Her cheerful lively disposition won many friendsand she seldom had company once who did not repeat the visit. Nor didtheir kindness end by entertaining companionable people but the poorand needy ever found a welcome at their door. We well remember a poorinoffensive old man who used to drive a yoke of oxen hitched to a cartpast our house (after we moved on the hill) with light loads of whatever he wanted to hall, they generally rested a spell at our gate andhe would come in and say, "have you any cold pie?" And the pie or asubstitute was mostly furnished and he wended his way feeling strongerand happier than if he had been turned away with words of scorn. Oncewhen the threshers were there the oxen were stopped and Bobby went inno doubt expecting a bountiful dinner, but some mischevious boysstarted his oxen and he had to follow. The boys were doubtless muchamused with their fun and greatly astonished on going to the house toget a good scolding for their pains. Another thing worthy of mentionwas, after we had been a year or two in the woods grand father made usa present of a two year old colt thinking she could in some wayslighten father's labor. She did not seem to have much fancy for thewilderness county and soon decided to take the back track. Fathermissed her and followed after taking a straight course through thewoods to the river, his course was so nearly straight that some oneasked him if he had a pocket compass. He found her near the riverwhere she had been put up to await ownership. She never cut any moresuch capers was not as agreeable as some horses to work but did usmuch good. She would act so quiet and lazy, one would naturally giveher a loose rein, all at once she would see a white stone or somethingof that nature ahead of her and spring to one side almost as quicklyas if she had been shot and her rider did well to keep his balance;but if a little child walked before her that would not occur.Motherwas very persevering about visiting her friends especially those withwhom she was associated near Barnesville. Jesse and Nancy Baily whowere father's and mother's waiters when they were married, moved towhat is now called Bethel neighborhood and their visits back and forthwere frequent considering their limited way of travel. I remember allof us going once when Sam was a baby mother rode Bolly (the colt) tookSam on her lap and me behind her father took Stephen on his back andWill walked by his side, going down Coal run through the woods, ofcourse turned up the hill to the right somewhere along and finallyreached our destination where we doubtless had a good time. Anotherwell remembered visit was to an uncle of mother's near Plymouth, Ithink it was in the latter part of winter there came a pretty goodsnow and father rigged up a one horse sled hitched Bolly to it, tookhis family in and trotted off.The visit was satisfactory as far as Iremember but the afterclap came when we returned to find a regular stench all through the house causedby the dog having a pole cat under it. As the sense of smell was notgiven to me I remember no annoyance from it but mother said thevictuals tasted of it and she could not open a bureau drawer of a damptime for weeks after wards without smelling it. But it gradually woreaway as disagreeable things are apt to do if we do not give them undueattention. Father was a very strong abolitionest even when advocating thedoctrine was not popular in his own vicinity. He and his brotherJoseph voted the first liberty tickets ever polled in Marion townshipand only one or two others voted with them. He also was one of thefirst to take an abolition paper, edited by Gamaliel Bailey publishedin Cincinnati I think but being too close to the slave states or rather the spirit ofproslavery being too severe he was mobbed and had to leave there. However he had no notion of abandoning a good cause, so the next timehe set up in Washington city, where he mad a grand success by editingthe paper called the National Era, the remainder of his days. He wasencouraged and assisted by noble men and women such as JoshuaR.Giddings, John P. Hale, John G. Whittier, Harriet Beecher Stowe andmany others. Uncle Tom's Cabin came out first in its columns, gainingworld wide renoun and perhaps did more than any other book toward therooting out of slavery. We lived near the Under Ground rail road andfather was ever ready to help the runaway slave on his northern routein whatever way seemed best. In those days it was not uncommon for theslaves to be followed quite a distance on the Ohio side, havingsympathisers willing to aid them in their search for a few dollarsreward. I remember when a company of nine slaves were concealed amongthe rocks west of where we lived in the day time and at night slept inthe log barn on our place in the edge of the woods, provisions and bedding being furnished them inorder to make them as comfortable as possible. It was supposed thatthe hunters were watching around and not thought best to convey themto the next station until the coast was clear. There were some children amongthem and it was said that if they cried or made any noise they couldbe easily quieted by telling them that their master would come.Fatherand mother were also very strong temperance people living it out intheir every day life. No tobacco was used by them or any of their children and I do not ever remember seeing cider on their table as abeverage. Father drank milk three times a day and encouraged others todo so but mother and most of her children liked coffee and felt noprinciples against using it. Our parents were life long members of thesociety of Friends and very zealous in attending meeting though motherwas often prevented by poor health and the care of small children,while father was able to provide his own way of going he was seldomehindered by work or weather. Their family consisted of four sons andsix daughters. I think I may say that as a family we enjoyed eachother very much but some of us had very quick tempers often doing andsaying things under the impulse of the moment much regreted later on.But if they were troubled or afflicted the sympathy of the others seldome failed them. We lived asan undivided family longer than the most of our friends.Until theseventh child was married we all homed at the same place. After themorning she left us for her home in Iowa, they seemed to gofast andthough we have had many reunions since there were always missinglinks. In the fall of 1890 Sister Hattie (whose home is in California)came with her husband and little daughter to visit us. They stopped ontheir way at West Liberty Iowa to see sister Lucy and she and herhusband and daughter joined them on their way here. They arrived onthe seventh day of the week a little after noon and were joyfullygreeted both by smiles and tears and before the sun went down they hadclasped hands with father, mother sisters and brothers all except onebrother living in Denver. Father had been so lame for several yearsthat it seemed to be a dread to him to get in and out of a vehicklebut their visit seemed to put new life into him and he had quite anotion of going with them to brother Samuel's a distance of fivemiles, which he did and stood the trip very well enjoying himself onthe way and after he got there, every thing being done for his comfortthat thoughtful children could devise. The next day being thetwentieth anniversary of Nate and Hattie's marriage, we at homethought it would be nice to give them a little surprise, by havingtheir brothers and sisters at home on their return and it was asurprise for sure and a pleasant one for father as well as Nate's,mother was in the secret. After dinner was over quite a number of outsiders came in, father in his easy chair sat on the porch looking sosmiling and happy with little Sadie playing around him; and I thinkall or nearly all who bad farewell to the old home and its inmatesfelt that it had been good to be there. Only a short time and thechildren of the west had to return to their own homes. When at thebreakfast table the morning they left father said, "It is not likelythat we will ever all eat together again". Hattie said, "Oh I think wemay", then spoke as if it seemed more probable to her than it had thatthey would come when they did. After they were gone and things settleddown in the usual way, we thought fathers general health seemed betterthan for some time before. He seemed cheerful and talkative, muchinclined to talk of things of long ago. On the morning of the twelvthmonth twelvth 1890 he spoke at the breakfast table of the weatherbeing much like it was when he moved his brother Joseph to these partsfrom Barnesville I think in 1836, it was so cold and the country onthe road being thinly settled made it difficult to get accomadationsfor the night. He said one night their horses had to stand out and thenext morning they just stamped. After breakfast the morning spoken offather went to the barn for a short time and about ten 'oclock he saidhe would go again to do a little work there but soon came in breathingheavily, said he felt so weak and could not get his breath right. Itwas hard for him to get into his chair and at first seemed nearlygone, after working with him a while he revived enough to answer somequestions and said we had better get him to bed, we took him to thelounge on his chair and his last effort was to get onto the lounge, hedid not live an hour. Thus ended a long and useful life, his age was77 years and eight months. He and mother had lived together over 55years. Our dear mother's last words on leaving his lifeless form were,"I shall not be long behind". I have written this little account thinking it may some time be ofinterest to some of the grand children to have a little history of theearly life and labors of their worthy GRAND PARENTS. S. T. S.
Karl-Heinz
Böttcher
