I! 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
E. F. SKINNER. 
 
 At the Age of Forty. 
 
REMINISCENCES 
 
 BY 
 
 EMORY FISKE SKINNER 
 
 1908 
 
 VESTAL PRINTING COMPANY 
 CHICAGO 
 
COPYRIGHT 1908 
 
 BY 
 EMORY FISKE SKINNER 
 

 I DEDICATE THESE REMINISCENCES TO 
 
 MY WIFE 
 
 WHO HAS BEEN MY AFFECTIONATE COMPANION FOB 
 NEARLY FIFTY YEARS 
 
 I HAVE DICTATED THESE PAGES TO HER AND SHE HAS PUT 
 
 THEM IN WRITING, WITHOUT COMMENT. WITHOUT 
 
 HER ASSISTANCE I WOULD NOT HAVE 
 
 UNDERTAKEN TO WRITE THEM 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The thought of writing these memoirs was suggested 
 to me by a gentleman, who was newspaper writer, whom 
 I met in Pensacola several years ago. I was having 
 a pleasant conversation with him in which I related 
 some of the incidents of my life, when he said : "Mr. 
 Skinner, you ought to write a book giving the events 
 of your life; I am sure it would be very interesting." 
 I gave the suggestion no thought until after I was 
 paralyzed. In that condition I could do little but read 
 and talk; often I found the time hang heavily upon 
 me. After some experimenting I found that the dic 
 tating of these reminiscences made the time pass pleas- 
 anter to me, as it busied my mind. 
 
 Another reason for writing this book, is that I might 
 avoid the utter oblivion which is the condition of hu 
 manity in general, a short time after this life is ended, 
 and from which man shrinks in his normal condition. 
 
 My life has been more stirring and exciting than the 
 plain narrative herein related will convey to the reader. 
 
 My conduct has been governed by my own judgment, 
 as I have not had an older and wiser head to give me 
 the benefit of advice when such might have been bene 
 ficial; when it would have been received and followed 
 
 v 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 if the proper course had been suggested to me, as events 
 in my life have occurred. 
 
 I have sometimes regretted that I did not continue 
 in the profession of the law, but circumstances seemed 
 to force me into a business life, against my will. 
 Whether my success at law would have been more satis 
 factory to me than my business life has been, will always 
 remain unknown. 
 
 I trust this book will be a source of interest and satis 
 faction to my descendants as it shows how and where 
 I spent my life and my statements regarding these 
 events. 
 
 EMOBY FISKE SKINBTEB. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CHENANGO VALLEY OF EARLY DAYS. 
 
 As things were in my father's day When I was ten years 
 old Grandfather's purchase Milking the cows 1-7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Threshing the boy Edgar is bunged The slave girl's re 
 tort Boys I knew Sherburne Academy A boy's 
 fight Early gallantry Leaving home 8-21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PROM WASHINGTON TO OSHKOSH. 
 
 Inauguration of President Pierce Out of employment A 
 poor employer The Regulator Becoming a mill 
 wrightWorking for Mr. Comstock; for Mr. Ran 
 somChicago in 1855 22-34 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EARLY DAYS IN OSHKOSH. 
 
 Description of the place and the conditions Burnham, 
 Foster & Knapp A donation party Teaching school 
 Two friends Studying law A railroad accident . 35-47 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COLLEGE AT MT. PLEASANT. 
 
 Our moot court and the literary society Henry Clay 
 Dean Admission to the bar A lively debate In 
 Iowa wilds with the deputy sheriff 48-58 
 
 vii 
 
X TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FROM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Concluding with Mr. Schreyer Stevedores of Pensacola 
 Southern Lumbermen's Association Pleasure trip 
 to Mexico Baron Ketteler Pres. Diaz Bull fight- 
 Mexico to California Royal Gorge 227-249 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AVENO MINE. 
 
 Mr. Godfrey Ay er Payne Patent Medicine Colum 
 bian Exposition 250-257 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OUR NEW CORPORATION. 
 
 Buying out McDavids Running a sawmill 258-260 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 SECURING GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS FOR FRIENDS. 
 
 Mr. Collier and others Escambia convention President 
 McKinley Tallahassee Convention St. Louis Con 
 vention 261-276 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE NEGRO QUESTION. 
 
 Col. Tarble's real estate story Florida climate Leisure 
 life The Negro in politics 277-283 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE SUCCESSION OF ROOSEVELT. 
 
 McGourin Cost of being a Republican 284-288 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 MT. MORGAN MINE. 
 
 Another trip to Mexico Guadalajara Godfrey's rascality 
 A. C. Payne Mine worthless Suits to recover. 289-304 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 CHANGE OF BASE. 
 
 Paralysis Nephew at Chumuckla also paralyzed Clos 
 ing Florida affairs Trip to East Florida To Cali 
 forniaGrand Canyon Phoenix 305-314 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS XI 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE REAL ESTATE AGENT AND HIS SCHEMES. 
 
 Douville Battle Creek Another fire Sale to Mr. Saun- 
 ders 315-323 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 WESTERN WONDERLANDS. 
 
 A tour of the Pacific Coast Portland Exposition Yellow 
 stone Park Los Angeles home 324-332 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 MINING ROMANCES. 
 
 Mr. French's story Lost Mines Austin Nevada A 
 happy life 333-342 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 My rules for business conduct Influence of childhood 
 training Father Mother Grandfather Golf e . . 343-350 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 IN CONCLUSION. 
 
 My religious convictions Definition of Faith Prayer 
 The Clergyman's responsibility Deity Martyrdom 
 of Man.. , 351-358 
 
REMINISCENCES OF EMORY FISKE SKINNER. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CHENANGO VALLEY OF EAELY DAYS. 
 
 South of the Mohawk River is a beautiful strip of 
 country known as the Chenango Valley. About the 
 commencement of the nineteenth century this valley was 
 in a primeval condition, as far as the work of civilized 
 man was concerned. It was covered with a vigorous 
 growth of timber, comprising every species of tree in 
 digenous to the state. At the close of the revolutionary 
 war it was an unbroken wilderness. 
 
 The men of that day were like the men of this, and 
 speculators schemed to obtain large tracts of land for 
 the purpose of selling it at a profit to the incoming 
 settlers. These were mostly immigrants from the New 
 England states, going west to grow up with the country, 
 who wished to obtain farms for themselves; as later 
 I have seen them settling in the states of Illinois, Mich 
 igan, Wisconsin, etc. 
 
 This valley is watered by a stream known as the 
 Chenango River. As the settlers have denuded the 
 valley of its timber, the stream has decreased in width 
 and depth, so that now in the drouth of the summer it 
 is little more than a large brook. 
 
 The early settlers of the valley had but few places 
 where they could market their crops. The usual way 
 was to haul such produce as they had to dispose of, over 
 
 1 
 
2 REMINISCENCES 
 
 the rough, rugged and hilly roads to Albany, more than 
 a hundred miles distant. Afterwards the Chenango 
 Canal was built from Utica to Binghamton, and this 
 gave the farmers an outlet for their surplus produce, as 
 it connected with the Erie Canal and Hudson River, 
 giving them intercourse with New York City. 
 
 Before the canal was built through Chenango Valley 
 many efforts were made to transport produce from there 
 by means of covered flat-boats, which were called "arks ;" 
 these were floated down the Chenango River, then down 
 the Susquehanna River, while the two streams were 
 swollen by freshets, to markets on the Chesapeake Bay. 
 These trips were fraught with much danger, and often 
 resulted in the loss both of the boat and its cargo. In 
 fact the matter of transportation was a most difficult 
 one ; the canal, however, met well the necessities of that 
 section. 
 
 The land, as I have said, was covered with a heavy 
 growth of timber, consisting of beech, birch, maple, 
 hemlock, chestnut, some pine and other trees too numer 
 ous to mention. When I was a boy the settlement of 
 the country had been progressing for about forty years. 
 There were two lakes or ponds in the vicinity of where 
 I lived, situated on the tops of high hills; one of them 
 known as Jackson Pond and the other as Madison Pond. 
 When I was a lad we visited these places for the pur 
 pose of fishing or bathing, in summer time, and in the 
 winter to skate or fish through the ice. The name 
 Madison Pond has recently been changed to Chenango 
 Lake, and the place has become a summer resort. 
 
 From the hills east of the village of Sherburne, flows 
 a stream called the Mad Brook. About a mile from the 
 village on this stream there is a waterfall, at the foot of 
 
THE CHENANGO VALLEY 3 
 
 which are a couple of sulphur springs flowing out of the 
 rocks. To my boyish fancy this waterfall was a grand 
 affair, but on my last visit to the village I found the 
 water of the stream nearly exhausted. On the banks 
 of the falls was built a summer hotel, a very pleasant 
 resort for visitors, during the season. 
 
 In my boyhood days, it was necessary for my father 
 to raise most of the provisions which would be used by 
 the family; the wheat, corn, rye and buckwheat being 
 taken to the mill, six miles distant, to be ground into 
 flour and meal. He had sheep and cows, as well as 
 horses for driving, riding and tilling the farm; each 
 spring the sugar for the ensuing year would be made 
 from the sap of sugar maples, and in the fall came the 
 killing, curing and packing of several barrels of beef 
 and pork. A quantity of cider was also turned, for use 
 as vinegar. Large bins were filled with potatoes, vege 
 tables and apples and stored in the cellar. The hidea 
 of the cattle killed, were taken to the tannery to be made 
 into leather for boots for the family and the wool went 
 to the carding mill where it was made into rolls and 
 spun into cloth, for the use of home members. Every 
 fall a tailoress came to make the children's clothes from 
 the cloth which had been woven. The home of that day 
 was a general manufactory for the necessities of its 
 inmates. The farmer needed to buy only tea, coffee 
 salt and the better clothes, for his family. 
 
 My father and mother made a trip to Connecticut, 
 when I was a small boy, with the purpose of visiting 
 some relatives. I remember they went as far as Canas- 
 tota in a lumber wagon. From there they took the 
 packet on the Erie Canal for New York City, and from 
 thence by sailboat to East Haddam, Connecticut. It 
 
4 REMINISCENCES 
 
 was from this same Colchester County, from a place 
 called Westchester, that my father had emigrated to 
 live in Central New York. Previous to this his eldest 
 brother, Stephen, had moved to Sherburne, "N". Y., to 
 ply his trade as carpenter, there being many houses to 
 be built for the incoming settlers. My father joined 
 him in order to learn and follow the same trade, and it 
 was but two years later that my grandfather sold out 
 in Westchester and came to Sherburne also. Shortly 
 after he bought a tract of land for himself and his sons 
 and it was on a portion of this land that my father 
 lived most of his life. At the time of my grandfather's 
 purchase the method since adopted by the United States 
 government for surveying wild lands was not then in 
 vogue. Lands were then surveyed in lots containing 
 two hundred and fifty acres. My grandfather bought 
 two of these lots. 
 
 With the hope of escaping fever and ague, then prev 
 alent in most new countries, high ground was preferred 
 for the homes. It was for this reason that my grand 
 father selected some of his lands on top of a high hill. 
 In the matter of laying out roads in those days, the cus 
 tom seems to have been to follow as direct a course as 
 possible, up hill and down. Settlers did not seem to 
 realize that it was no farther around an apple than over 
 it. 
 
 At the time my grandfather settled in Sherburne, all 
 imports had to be brought from Albany, a distance of 
 about one hundred miles, and hauled by teams traveling 
 through the woods, over miserable and hilly roads. I 
 remember hearing my father tell that he walked from 
 his home in Connecticut to Sherburne carrying his 
 broadaxe, square and his clothing in a bag, on his 
 
THE OHENANGO VALLEY 5 
 
 shoulder. He stopped at taverns and settlers' homes, as 
 he might find them, for lodging and meals. It is dif 
 ficult for us to realize the hardships to which the early 
 settlers were subjected. There were only such conven 
 iences as could be constructed on the spot of the settle 
 ment. My father had an advantage over many settlers, 
 in being a carpenter, thus able to plan and make home 
 comforts which many could not do. 
 
 In spite of the great variety of trees, in that part of 
 the country, their usefulness was limited, owing to the 
 lack of saw mills to cut them into lumber. Carpenters' 
 tools at that time were made by the blacksmith, as 
 were also iron nails ; cut nails were unknown. Houses 
 were at that time built of small logs. The floors were 
 made by splitting straight grained trees in the middle, 
 laying with the split side up, then making all as smooth 
 as possible with an adz. The edges were made even 
 by matching and straightening. These half logs were 
 called "puncheons." 
 
 At the time of which I write, it was necessary to go 
 some thirty miles, with the wheat of the farmer, to have 
 it made into flour. There was very little that the settler 
 could raise for selling. The only article he could turn 
 into cash was potash, manufactured from wood ashes. 
 There were no dentists in that locality. If a tooth 
 needed to be extracted, a string was tied around it with 
 which to jerk it out. I have heard my mother tell of 
 suffering of this kind which she endured, that made my 
 heart ache. 
 
 At this time the curse of the Indians had been re 
 moved from this locality, though a few years earlier 
 this district had been the haunt of Leather Stocking 
 and Indian tribes with which Fennimore Cooper has 
 
6 REMINISCENCES 
 
 made us familiar. The condition of these early days 
 in the Chenango Valley I repeat from family narrative, 
 for as far back as I can remember, my father had a 
 lucrative farm, well stocked with cattle and horses, and 
 a good farm house provided with excellent conveniences 
 for that period in which we lived. He possessed good 
 horses, light wagons, and there were fairly good roads 
 for reaching town and visiting neighbors. 
 
 As a boy it was my duty to have the cows in the 
 milking yard by six o'clock in the morning. In the 
 summer time I made these excursions in bare feet. I 
 had to go about half a mile for the cows, and drive them 
 up to the house; so it is plain that I had to get up 
 pretty early in the morning. I recollect that sometimes 
 I had stone bruises on my feet, and these are very 
 painful and unpleasant things to endure, but luckily 
 boys are optimistic and make light of such sufferings. 
 
 I recollect hearing my father tell of the manner in 
 which he tided his stock over the long hard winters, 
 while he was clearing off the timber and getting his 
 farm ready for cultivation. He could raise no hay or 
 grain until this was done, so he was obliged to keep his 
 cattle alive by what he called browsing them. This was 
 done in the following manner. He would go to a piece 
 of woodland which he designed clearing, and would cut 
 down each morning, some of the birch, beech and maple 
 trees, and the cattle would eat the tender green twigs 
 of the young branches. This was all that he had to feed 
 them, that they might give milk for the children of the 
 family. This was but one of the many hardships which 
 the early settler endured during those early pioneer 
 days until he could get part of his land cleared so 
 
THE CHENANGO VALLEY 
 
 that he might raise hay, grain and vegetables upon it, 
 in order to feed his family and his stock. 
 
 I reckon people of that day had some "sand" and 
 grit in their characters, which provided them with en 
 durance to meet such hardships. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 YOUTHFUL, EXPERIENCES. 
 
 I was born in July, 1833. When I was about ten 
 years old, my father constructed a threshing machine 
 of his own invention, in the basement of the barn. He 
 erected an upright wood shaft, the lower end of which 
 was placed in a block of wood buried in the earth. The 
 other end was fastened to the timbers of the barn. To 
 the upper end of this shaft he attached a beveled wheel 
 upon which was fastened cast iron cogs. Below this 
 he inserted a strong pole for a sweep, to which a team 
 of horses could be attached and driven around the shaft. 
 A pulley was fastened to the pinion of this beveled 
 wheel, from which a belt ran to the threshing cylinder 
 situated on the floor of the barn. When I was a school 
 boy, we threshed oats with this machine on alternate 
 Saturdays, it being the custom in our district to dismiss 
 school every other Saturday for the whole day instead 
 of the half day usually allowed at the end of the week. 
 When threshing we would stow away in a mow at the 
 side of the barn floor, enough straw to supply the cattle 
 until the fortnight came again. 
 
 When playing, I often pushed the sweep of this ma 
 chine and took keen delight in seeing how fast I could 
 make the pulley, which ran the cylinder, revolve. One 
 day I had a visitor, and together we pushed the sweep 
 to see how fast we could make it turn. During our play 
 the belt fell off and dropped between the cogs. This cut 
 
 8 
 
YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCES 9 
 
 it in pieces. I did not emulate G. Washington by con 
 fessing what I had done ; instead I hung the belt out of 
 sight where it stayed until we were ready to start again 
 the next winter. When that occasion arrived and I was 
 ordered to make ready the horses, I realized that trouble 
 was brewing. My premonition proved correct. When 
 father discovered the condition of the belt, he "hol 
 lered'' for me evidently knowing the guilty party. I 
 went onto the barn floor without a word. Father took 
 a piece of board, seized me with his left hand and pad 
 dled me well with his right. He did not thresh oats that 
 day he threshed the boy. 
 
 I remember going swimming one Sunday in Gorton's 
 mill-pond, which was about two miles from where we 
 lived. While wading about I cut my big toe nearly off, 
 on what I supposed was an old axe in the water. I 
 wrapped my foot as well as I could and hurried home. 
 There I was informed that I had been hurt because I 
 was breaking the Sabbath. I accepted the judgment, 
 for I knew no better then. 
 
 An incident occurs to me in regard to the fanning 
 mill. It was somewhat like the affair with the threshing 
 machine, as there was a boy visitor, this time a little 
 nephew, Edgar Comstock, and like the other occasion 
 we turned the crank as fast as we could in order to see 
 how much noise it made. Edgar did not appear to get 
 tired, but I finally told him that he must stop. When 
 he refused I went and pushed him from the machine, 
 whereupon he began to cry and ran in to complain to 
 his mother. I remained in the barn for I knew that 
 when I went in there would be trouble for Emory. At 
 last however hunger drove me in. Dinner was just 
 over. My father asked me what I had been doing to 
 
10 REMINISCENCES 
 
 Edgar and I replied : "He sassed me and I bunged him." 
 This expression clung to me until I was grown and had 
 left home. Whenever I had trouble with any one I 
 would hear repeated: "He sassed me and I bunged 
 him." I was ever a sturdy fighter. 
 
 We had a field of very good land, about four acres, 
 which lay just south of the house. I recall that one 
 year on that land we raised twelve hundred bushels of 
 potatoes. These were mostly fed to the hogs and the 
 cattle, although we put about a hundred bushels in the 
 cellar for winter use. The cellar was large extending 
 under the whole house, probably 30x40 feet and it did 
 not freeze in winter. 
 
 Every spring we filled a hogshead with cakes of 
 maple sugar ; three or four hundred pounds, as we had 
 some two or three hundred maple trees. When we gath 
 ered the sap I would make a sled, put a tongue into it, 
 and yoke some steers to draw the sled around, collecting 
 the sap and hauling it to the kettles, where it was boiled 
 down into sugar or syrup. My father bought what was 
 called "muscovado" sugar for table use, in addition to 
 this supply of maple sugar and syrup. Every summer 
 we raised sufficient buckwheat for the winter's supply 
 of griddle cakes. As children we considered them a 
 great treat when eaten with maple syrup. 
 
 We kept from twenty to forty cows, and made large 
 quantities of butter and cheese. I remember the price 
 of butter as being from 13 to 15 cents a pound, while 
 cheese brought about 6 cents. 
 
 My mother, being short of girls, pressed me early into 
 service. I assisted in making butter and cheese, and 
 about the house. Eventually I became so handy that I 
 could cook and sew as well as look after the butter and 
 
YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCES 11 
 
 cheese, and in time could do all things in the domestic 
 line fairly well. 
 
 My father was somewhat of an Abolitionist then, 
 and it made an impression on me when several of the 
 townsmen appeared at our house one day and urged 
 father to run for supervisor on the Abolitionist ticket. 
 After some discussion my father consented. As a re 
 sult of the election I believe he received nine votes in the 
 town. 
 
 It was my custom to go every two or three months 
 and bring a cousin to our house for a visit. A sister 
 of my mother's had lost her husband, who had died 
 leaving his family in poor circumstances. Her daugh 
 ter worked in a cotton mill in New Berlin. She was 
 very glad to come to us as our place was about the only 
 home she had ever known. This girl met with great 
 extremes of fortune. It came about that she went to 
 Florida as a woman overseer of girls in a small cotton 
 factory near Milton. She eventually married the owner 
 of the mill, a man said to be worth more than a million 
 and a half dollars. x A few years later she came north 
 and visited at my father's, bringing with her a slave 
 girl as nurse for her infant daughter. My father made 
 it most uncomfortable for every one concerned by insist 
 ing that the colored girl should sit at the table and eat 
 with the rest of us. The nurse, however, from southern 
 training as to what was proper behavior, did not dare 
 to eat at the table with white people. One day my 
 father took the girl aside and told her that she need 
 not go back into slavery. As she had been brought into 
 a free state by the voluntary act of her owners she could 
 not be forced to go back. He offered to aid her and send 
 her to Canada. Her response was: "Good, lordy, Mis- 
 
12 REMINISCENCES 
 
 tab Skinner, I wouldn't stay up heah fo' yo' whole 
 fahm." 
 
 Living at a neighbor's home was a boy by the name 
 of Charles Gilfillan, who did chores for his board while 
 attending district school. He was a very bright pupil, 
 afterwards attending the academy at Sherburne, where 
 he attracted considerable attention. He experienced re 
 ligion, was then taken up by the Presbyterian Society, 
 and sent to a Theological Seminary that he might pre 
 pare for the ministry. I did not hear anything farther 
 concerning him for many years ; but eventually learned 
 that he had forsaken church orders and had gone to 
 St. Paul. He was very successful there, and visiting 
 him years after I found him the owner of the water 
 works of that city and worth half a million dollars. 
 One of his brothers, James Gilfillan, also became promi 
 nent. He was a lawyer, and a Register of the U. S. 
 Treasury. 
 
 Another lad whom I knew then recurs to me with 
 interest. His name was Ezra Huntley, and he lived 
 most unhappily with his step-mother. This boy caused 
 considerable excitement, in that quiet neighborhood by 
 disappearing suddenly from his home. A short time 
 after, we heard that he had gone to New Bedford, 
 and enlisted on a whaling ship bound for Behring Sea. 
 He was gone two or three years and when he returned, 
 was received as a hero by the boys. 
 
 My father's family was quite large at this time, 
 usually consisting of a dozen members. Being the 
 youngest I was naturally the butt of the older brothers 
 and sisters who enjoyed teasing me until I would be 
 come angry. My Methodist parents had named me af 
 ter two Methodist bishops and in consequence I was 
 
YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCES 13 
 
 nicknamed "Bishop," and many the quarrel which the 
 older children provoked on this subject. Probably this 
 had its influence in developing the good nature, for 
 which I maintain such a high reputation! 
 
 It was customary for the lads from the farms who 
 wished a more extended education than the district 
 school afforded, to attend the academies of some of the 
 nearby towns. These schools corresponded in opportun 
 ity to the present high school. I was possessed with an 
 ambition of this kind and my father made arrange 
 ment for me to board with the family of a Mr. Whit- 
 ford who kept a grocery in this town. Near the Epis 
 copal Church in the village of Sherburne was located 
 the two-story frame building known as the Sherburne 
 Academy. I was sixteen years old when I entered this 
 school and my course continued for two winters. The 
 more advanced pupils occupied the second story which 
 was rather a large room. The seats were made to ac 
 commodate two pupils, one end of each seat being 
 against the wall and the other opening into the school 
 room. I occupied a seat with Homer Newton, both win 
 ters; he was a very pleasant boy and an excellent scholar. 
 I used to envy him the ease with which he learned 
 his lessons. Apparently to commit anything he had but 
 to read it once. 
 
 Directly in front of us sat two girls, one about four 
 teen and the other sixteen years old. The elder was 
 bright, witty and good natured, she lived in the same 
 home with Homer, as she was being educated by his 
 parents. I did not see her for many years after we left 
 school, but twenty years later I met her accidentally in 
 Michigan. She was married and a mother. The other 
 girl was a slim little miss of rare beauty, with brown 
 
14: KEMTSTSCKXCBS 
 
 hair, beautiful blue eves and rosy lips. To my boyish 
 fancy she was very fascinating. I cannot say that these 
 girls made me m:re studious but certainly they made 
 the time pass mo-: pleasantly. 
 
 Of the boys anending school about half were sons of 
 farmers, living in the valley. Between the country lads 
 and the boys of the village a little friction became ap 
 parent which grad^illy grew into a marked division. As 
 was customary in >se days, the students formed a de 
 bating society, of which the lads from the country be 
 came the ruling -pirit By permission of the princi 
 pal, we held our nestings by candle light in the school 
 room. One of c^r by-laws prohibited the presence of 
 any student not a member of the club. This proved 
 unsatisfactory to ^: nie of the rougher village boys. One 
 night when we -*ere holding a debate, these disturbers 
 broke into the roein- through some pre-arranged plan for 
 entrance, giving -he club an uninvited and unwelcome 
 audience. I had :ren elected president, and on motion 
 I adjourned the meeting. We turned out the lights and 
 went home, to the evident dissatisfaction of the intrud 
 ers. Time passei on until one day in March, when an 
 election was held for the purpose of choosing village 
 officers. On the evening of that day the proper officers 
 met, in the basement of the Episcopal Church, to count 
 the votes and determine who was elected. I boarded at 
 a Mr. Whitford's, not far from the church, and I 
 thought I would go over and see how the election had 
 resulted. After satisfying my curiosity on that point I 
 started for home. It was quite dark in the church yard, 
 and three or four boys followed me out of the basement 
 of the church and attacked me. Believing safety to be 
 the better part of valor, I ran away. 
 
YOUTHFUL 
 
 15 
 
 Some boys in certain ages are like the male members 
 of some quadrupeds. If a stranger of their kind ap 
 pears among them they are not content until they find 
 out which is master. 
 
 The next forenoon, at recess, I recognized one of the 
 boys who had attacked me the night before. He was 
 larger than I, but I caught hold of him, threw him down 
 and began choking him, the other country boys standing 
 around to see fair play. Hie bell rang for school, but 
 I was too %usy" to pay proper attention to the sum 
 mons until the head teacher appeared on the balcony 
 and ordered me to stop. Our fight was ended for that 
 time by the appearance of the principal, but this was 
 not to the satisfaction of the other boy. He announced 
 that he would have another trial at the first opportunity. 
 After school that day a large boy named Delos Luther, 
 who came from the town of Pharsalia, accompanied me 
 to my boarding house. There stood my enemy attended 
 by several of his chums, ready for another encounter. 
 He attacked me and I grappled with him, while Luther 
 kept the other boys from interfering. I soon had my 
 enemy down, and I pummeled him well until he cried 
 enough. This ended our fighting, although his friends 
 tried to frighten me by saying that this boy's father in 
 tended to have me arrested for assault and battery. 
 Sometime after I met this gentleman on the street He 
 accosted me pleasantly and jocosely remarked that I had 
 given his son, Peter, what he should have done himself 
 a good threshing. 
 
 Public travel in those days was by means of the stage 
 coach, or by canal-packet, drawn by three horses, and 
 which achieved a speed of perhaps six miles an hour. I 
 recollect leaving home when about sixteen to visit a 
 
16 REMINISCENCES 
 
 sister living at Lodi Plains, south of Ann Arbor, in the 
 State of Michigan. I was taken to Utica, a distance of 
 about thirty miles. There I took the railroad for Syra 
 cuse and went to Auburn, next to Rochester, then on 
 to Buffalo. At the time six different roads formed a 
 line between Albany and Buffalo. Beginning at Al 
 bany, the first road ran to Schenectady, the next from 
 there to Utica, the third from Utica to Syracuse, the 
 fourth from Syracuse to Auburn, the fifth from Auburn 
 to Rochester and the sixth from Rochester to Buffalo. 
 These were afterwards combined and today form the 
 New York Central. This consolidation was effected by 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt, Sr., under charter from the 
 state. 
 
 From Buffalo I took passage in a steamer of good 
 dimensions to Detroit. A railroad was being built from 
 Detroit westward towards Lake Michigan, but at the 
 time did not extend far beyond Ann Arbor. I recollect 
 several kinds of rails used on this road. Some portions 
 had a flat rail, about two and a half inches wide by 
 three-quarter-inch thick, laid on stringers of wood and 
 spiked down. The running of cars over such rails 
 tended to curve the ends upward, and to draw the spikes 
 from the wooden stringer. When the bend was suffi 
 cient to raise the rails over the wheel it was called a 
 snakehead. It frequently happened that the iron pierced 
 the bottom of the advancing car, sometimes even wound 
 ing and killing passengers. Other divisions of the road 
 used rails of the shape of the modern "T" rail, divided 
 in two parts, these bolted together to form a continuous 
 rail. Another kind in use was the "I" pattern, that is, 
 after the fashion of the capital letter "I." Many were 
 
YOUTHFUL, EXPERIENCES 17 
 
 the experiments made in devising a rail which would 
 be durable and safe. 
 
 I spent several months in the family of my sister. 
 In returning home I left Michigan at Detroit on the 
 steamer "Atlantic," one of the side-wheelers on Lake 
 Erie at that time. On the following trip this boat was 
 lost with all on board and nothing was ever heard of 
 her from that day to this. 
 
 Reaching the age when the youth becomes gallant, I 
 invited the sister of a boy friend to go with me to the 
 spelling school. My father let me take a horse named 
 "Old Judge," and we started away in the cutter for a 
 good time. The drifts were heavy, and in a certain bad 
 place the horse floundered, fell and broke one of the 
 thills of the cutter. What a time I had righting the old 
 horse, turning the cutter around, and with a patched 
 thill, restoring my charge to her mother's arms. I ex 
 pected to be well scolded at home for breaking the cut 
 ter, but to my surprise my father did not utter a word 
 of reproof. 
 
 When I was sixteen years old I started into field 
 work, where I took my place in the row as a man. The 
 summers were devoted to putting in the crops, tilling 
 and harvesting them. This required steady work from 
 daylight till dark. There were no ten-hour rules in 
 those days. I have heard my father say that for years 
 he worked sixteen hours a day in the summer season. 
 In the winter people allowed themselves more time for 
 visiting and recreation. 
 
 My brother, Zara, and myself were living on the old 
 home farm when I was about sixteen. We tried work 
 ing the farm together, but we disagreed about many 
 things. There was considerable friction between MB 
 
18 REMINISCENCES 
 
 until my brother decided to leave and I was left to run 
 the farm by myself. I was the only one of the children 
 left at home with my parents, my brothers and sisters 
 having married or settled on places of their own. The 
 responsibility then fell upon me, as my father had re 
 tired from active management some years before. I 
 raised or bought all that was necessary for the farm 
 or the family, and sold what was marketable. It was 
 in this experience, probably, that I gained early knowl 
 edge of business methods. There were no neighbors 
 within half a mile, so I had small opportunity to mingle 
 with Others, neither did I have time for fishing or hunt 
 ing. I recollect trying to shoot some squirrels that 
 thronged the cherry trees with an old shotgun which 
 had to be touched off in the pan by means of a live coal. 
 Of course, I did not hit a squirrel very often. I occa 
 sionally shot a woodchuck, but they were very shy. 
 Sometimes I borrowed a rifle, intending to hunt on Sun 
 day, but my mother kept such close watch on my actions 
 that I found it difficult to accomplish my purpose with 
 out being caught and censured. 
 
 It was while I had charge of my father's farm and 
 business that on a certain Saturday morning a neigh 
 bor, Mr. Kingsbury, rode up to my father's house. It 
 was a sunny morning after a rainy spell. There was a 
 large side hill in front of the house which had been 
 sowed to oats. These had been harvested and stood in 
 shocks. Mr. K., looking at the hill, remarked to my 
 father that he should have those oats put in the barn. 
 My father replied that such was his wish, but that I 
 was so contrary I wouldn't do it. I turned to him and 
 said : "Do you want those oats put in the barn ?" He 
 replied that he did. I said that it should be done at 
 
YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCES 19 
 
 once, and immediately set two teams at work. There 
 was a young man among the field hands who thought 
 he could do more work if he had a little whiskey to 
 stimulate him; so with the knowledge of some of the 
 other help, I went to town and bought a jug of whiskey 
 and secreted it in the barn. We worked most strenuously 
 all day, and partook rather liberally from the jug. 
 When it came evening, after the cows had been milked, 
 it was proposed that we go down the river to fish. I 
 objected to the teams being used, but said that I would 
 arrange with a neighbor to take us down. This plan 
 proved satisfactory, and while the man was hitching up 
 his horses we boys lay on the grass in the front yard. 
 We had brought some of the contents of the jug with 
 us to fortify us in the exertions of fishing, and I had 
 put a small bottle in my pocket. In boy nonsense, as 
 I lay there on my back I put this bottle to my mouth 
 and let the entire contents run down my throat. 
 
 I can remember little after riding half a mile. After 
 that all is oblivion until three o'clock the next morning ; 
 the boys were then having a serious time to arouse me 
 sufficiently to get me home. 
 
 We succeeded in reaching our house without our re 
 turn being known. We went to sleep in the hay mow 
 of our horse barn and were dead to the world until 
 awakened by hearing my father drive the cows out of 
 the yard into the pasture. Owing to our absence he 
 and the hired girl had been obliged to milk forty cows. 
 
 All that day I felt very weak and miserable. For 
 tunately it was Sunday, and for once I kept the day in 
 rest and quiet. 
 
 This escapade, however, resulted in serious changes 
 in my future life. My parents did not learn the story 
 
20 REMINISCENCES 
 
 until the following winter, when it was carried to them 
 by mischief-mongers, and the end of the affair was that 
 I left home, never to return, except as a visitor. I had 
 managed the business of the farm for two years with 
 excellent success, and I was not afraid to face the world 
 for myself. I had a schoolmate friend living in Wash 
 ington, D. C., who was a clerk in a dry goods store. I 
 wrote to him, asking that he find me employment. In 
 a short time he wrote to me to come at once. An older 
 brother was brought home to take my place on the farm, 
 the affairs were settled, and I turned my face to new 
 fortunes. 
 
 The days of boyhood and youth were over. 
 * #'# * #*# * * # 
 
 Returning to this valley a year or two ago, and visit 
 ing the old village, I faced the melancholy fact that 
 the building in which had flourished the academy sixty 
 years ago had entirely disappeared, and not a reminder 
 of it was to be seen. The church was still there, look 
 ing much the same as in former days. At the rear of 
 the church, in the little cemetery, was the grave of one 
 of my grandfathers, Stephen Skinner, who married 
 Mary Foote, a lineal descendant of nine successive 
 Nathaniel Footes. 
 
 Sherburne, "loveliest village of the plain," has also 
 changed since the time of which I have been writing. 
 The banks of the canal have been leveled and the easy 
 going packets have been superseded by railroad cars. A 
 beautiful monument has been erected to the memory 
 of the soldiers who perished in the civil war; its loca 
 tion is by the side of the Congregational Church, and 
 at the intersection of the two principal streets of the 
 village. Among the names of the heroes chronicled on 
 
YOUTHFUL EXPERIENCES 21 
 
 the monument are several of those related to me, and 
 with whom I passed my childhood. A bank has been 
 established and a few houses of a better and more mod 
 ern style of architecture have been built. But most of 
 the people whom I knew have gone to "that bourne from 
 whence no traveler returns," and I realize that in a few 
 years I shall follow them. 
 
 The village itself, however, is the same placid home 
 of a contented people, practically undisturbed by the 
 ambitions or avarice of the outside world. 
 
GHAPTEK III. 
 
 FROM WASHINGTON TO OSHKOSH. 
 
 I was greatly impressed with the public buildings of 
 the city of Washington, and enjoyed my surroundings 
 very much. To my untrained eye the architecture ap 
 peared very imposing. The Washington monument 
 was then in process of erection, having reached a 
 height of about a hundred feet, only a fifth of its pres 
 ent elevation. Wings were being added to the Capitol 
 building, but so far only the basements of these had 
 been completed. But of all the excellent opportunities 
 for interest and instruction no building afforded me so 
 much attraction as the Patent office. I never tired of 
 examining the contents stored within these walls. 
 
 In March of the following year I had the pleasure 
 of witnessing the parade incident to the inauguration 
 of President Pierce. In the procession Mr. Fillmore, 
 the retiring president, was the usual guest, and rode in 
 the same carriage with Mr. Pierce. I was within twenty 
 feet of the incoming president when he delivered his 
 inaugural address. This was delivered from a platform 
 erected for the occasion over the front steps of the cen 
 tral building of the Capitol. The speaker was sur 
 rounded by the dignitaries of state, and the ambassa 
 dors, which added to the impressiveness of the occasion. 
 There was a marked absence of gold lace, decorations 
 and badges, which are so noticeable in a similar scene 
 today. Judge Taney administered the oath of office. 
 
 22 
 
FKOM WASHINGTON TO OSHKOSH 23 
 
 Mr. Fillmore, who sat in a chair beside the speaker, 
 would smile appreciatively whenever some emphatic 
 passage was uttered. The entire affair was dignified, 
 impressive and grand, and I shall never forget it 
 
 As time went on I found the climate of Washington 
 to be very trying to my New England blood. The sum 
 mers were exceedingly sultry, and the long hot days 
 had a bad effect upon me. One wilting day I went to 
 the second or third floor of the store building and lay 
 down on a pile of cotton goods. The proprietor, proba 
 bly missing me, came and woke me with a sharp repri 
 mand and the next day I was discharged. This was a 
 hard blow to my sense of justice, because I had tried 
 to be attentive to my duties and in every way to do the 
 best I could. 
 
 To find oneself in a strange city, a long way from 
 home, without employment, and with very little money, 
 is a strain upon the stoutest heart. I met help, how 
 ever, a second time from my friend, Moses Kinne. He 
 secured another situation for me in a short time, in a 
 store combining dry goods and shoes. It was situated 
 at Seventh Street, about a mile north of Pennsylvania 
 Avenue. I have been in the same locality several times 
 in late years, but find nothing to remind me of the old 
 store, which had been located under Dorsey's hotel. 
 This section of the city was known as "The Northern 
 Liberties," for what reason I never learned. 
 
 Near the store was a fire engine house. The engine 
 was a double-decker with the formidable name, 
 "Northern Liberties." The department was manned by 
 volunteers, who served without pay. I was awakened 
 one night by loud clanging of the fire bells. I hurried 
 out of bed and into my clothes and ran to the engine 
 
24 REMINISCENCES 
 
 house, arriving in advance of the company. A few of 
 us manned the ropes, and hauling the engine out of the 
 house, started for the fire. I was much excited and 
 seemed to fly rather than run, as the men rushed the 
 engine at a tremendous rate of speed. And thus I wit 
 nessed my first fire, although, having seen some vast 
 conflagrations since, as I now recollect the fire of that 
 night, it did not amount to much. 
 
 In our business life my new employer gave his clerks 
 to understand that they must not let a customer leave 
 the store without buying something. If we did he would 
 demand of us an explanation. Also we were instructed 
 to ask more for each article than we expected to get, but 
 the buyer also knew that he did not have to pay the 
 price first asked for the goods, but worst of all, we were 
 not expected to be truthful in our statements. In a 
 great many ways this trade was very distasteful to me, 
 so after a time, I made up my mind that if I had to lie, 
 I would lie for my own benefit rather than another 
 man's. I -resigned my position in the store and re 
 turned to the State of New York. 
 
 First I spent some time in visiting my sister, who 
 lived in the town of Sherburne, on a stream called 
 Handsome Brook. I went next to Painted Post, where 
 my brother, LaFayette, lived. He was running a saw 
 mill some distance below Painted Post. Under his in 
 structions I began running the boiler and engine. It 
 was my first experience with steam, and I found it very 
 interesting. But I was not to be here long. My brother 
 received a letter from a man in Corning, by the name 
 of K. E. Kobinson. He styled himself "The Kegula- 
 tor," and stated that he expected to build a planing mill 
 and start a sash, blind and door factory on a large scale. 
 
FROM WASHINGTON TO OSHKOSH 25 
 
 He added that my brother had been recommended to 
 him as a competent man to have charge of the under 
 taking. I urged my brother to give up his present con 
 tract and accept the position offered. Eventually he 
 did so, and together we went to Corning. 
 
 Mr. Robinson owned a large cracker factory, which 
 occupied the ground floor. He proposed to put in the 
 sash and door machinery over the bakery and to add the 
 planing mill at one side. My brother was an expert 
 mechanic and understood his business thoroughly. 
 When the machinery had been put in position my 
 brother put me at work on first one machine and then 
 another until I could operate all the machines in the 
 factory. As far as we two were concerned, everything 
 seemed propitious, when suddenly one night we were 
 awakened by an alarm of fire. Going to see what it 
 was, for the flames lighted up the whole heavens, we 
 discovered the planing mill, the factory and bakery in 
 one grand conflagration and my brother and I out of 
 a job. 
 
 The "Regulator" commenced rebuilding his factory 
 at once, but owing to some dissatisfaction on the part of 
 my brother, we concluded to leave Corning and go to 
 Ann Arbor, Mich. Arriving there, we found employ 
 ment with an old acquaintance of LaFayette's, a fore 
 man in the erection of a large paper mill at Geddes- 
 burg, on the Huron River, between Ann Arbor and 
 Ypsilanti. I worked on this mill for something over a 
 year. Charles W. Vail had a wide reputation for his 
 skill, it being held that he was able to erect the best 
 mill frame of any one in the State of Michigan. The 
 one built while we were with him was the best I have 
 ever seen before or since. It was made from white 
 
26 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 oak timber, hewn from the log ; the basement story was 
 framed from 14 in. square timber, and so thick and mas 
 sive that when it was finished it was impossible to see 
 through when looking from one corner of the building 
 to another. 
 
 The foundation was made by bedding heavy timbers 
 in the river channel and covering them with four-inch 
 planks. Upon this foundation the mill was erected. 
 The building was sided up and finished with white 
 wood, and presented a fine appearance when completed. 
 I found Mr. Vail to be very intelligent, a good talker 
 and singer ; altogether a very interesting man. After I 
 had been working a short time at framing Mr. Vail 
 made me his personal assistant. I was called upon to 
 help him whenever he took his measurements, or other 
 occasions where he needed aid. This was very instruc 
 tive to me, and I fully appreciated the friendliness 
 which this employer showed me. All the timbers used 
 for the mill were first hauled to a level piece of ground 
 several hundred feet from the mill site and framed for 
 erection. When the time came to raise the frame of 
 the mill Mr. Vail put me in charge of the work of mov 
 ing all this timber from where it lay on the ground over 
 to the mill site. When a certain piece would be wanted 
 he would give me the number of it, and I would see that 
 it was placed where it was needed. These timbers were 
 moved on rollers and I was given the superintendence 
 of such men as were necessary for the purpose. I think 
 I was engaged only about a month in this service, but 
 by this time I had become so expert that I could frame 
 as well and as quickly as any man on the job. I was 
 about twenty years old at this time, and had been in 
 this employment about six months. 
 
FROM WASHINGTON TO OSHKOSH 27 
 
 Before the building was quite finished Robert Ailes, 
 the millwright, came to oversee the putting in of the 
 machinery. I asked if I might work with him and learn 
 the millwright's trade. I received a warm recommen 
 dation from Mr. Vail, and Ailes took me into his em 
 ploy. 
 
 It was his method to work three men in a gang, and 
 to put one of the three in charge of the work entrusted 
 to them. This was before the days of turned shafting 
 and bored pulleys and gears. The shafting was six- 
 sided cast iron, and the eyes of the pulleys and gears 
 the same shape, and these were fitted to the shafts by 
 iron wedges. It required very, very skillful workman 
 ship to fit these keys or wedges with a cold chisel and 
 file so that they were true upon the shaft. After a time 
 I became skillful in this line, and after some six months' 
 practice I gave up working as a "jour." After that, 
 during many years of labor as a millwright I served as 
 a "boss." Mr. Ailes eventually gave me some of the 
 most difficult work to be done on the mill, for he had 
 confidence in my ability to do whatever task he set me 
 to accomplish. 
 
 At length the machines came and were set in place, 
 and the mill started, in the making of printing-paper 
 from rags. A man by the name of Barnes was put in 
 charge of the paper making. He came from one of the 
 New England states and was experienced in this busi 
 ness. He was a man of more than ordinary intelligence, 
 and being well disposed towards me, often gave me 
 friendly advice. One day he asked if it were true that 
 I was about to marry a certain young lady, and I ac 
 knowledged the possibility. She was the daughter of 
 a wealthy farmer and mill owner, who was also a 
 
28 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 member of the Michigan Legislature. This man was 
 of small stature and had married a wife smaller than 
 himself. They had two children, the young lady in 
 question and a boy, both very small. Mr. Barnes asked 
 if I had considered the size my children would probably 
 be, should I marry one so under-sized. He dwelt upon 
 the duty a man owes to his descendants to give them 
 good proportions, good mental powers and bodily vigor ; 
 he said that an intelligent man should exercise at least 
 as much judgment in behalf of his own children as he 
 would for the lower animals he might raise. I had never 
 before thought on this subject, but his conversation led 
 me to its careful consideration, with the result that I 
 severed my connection with the young lady as soon as 
 I could honorably do so. 
 
 My brother, before going back to New York state, 
 had introduced me to a man by the name of Comstock. 
 He was a connection of the family, by marriage, his 
 brother being the husband of my eldest sister. Mr. 
 Comstock lived about six miles south of Ypsilanti. After 
 the paper mill had been completed I went out to visit 
 him. While there I contracted to run a little sawmill, 
 which he owned. It was a water mill and the dam 
 holding the water, that operated the machinery, was 
 made of clay. Minks or rats or other rodents were very 
 destructive, digging through such dams, and the water 
 running into such holes, in time so increased the size 
 of the fissure as to permit all the water in the dam to 
 run out, unless the hole was discovered early and 
 plugged up. Annoyances of this nature occasionally 
 suspended other work. As I recollect, this mill had but 
 one saw and I operated it without any helper. 
 
 In this portion of the state of Michigan the soil was 
 
FROM WASHINGTON TO OSHKOSII 29 
 
 very rich, being a deep, black muck, extending over a 
 large section of the country. It was covered with the 
 finest hardwood timber I have ever seen. This timber 
 was all cut and burned by settlers, that they might se 
 cure clearings to cultivate. I am certain that I saw 
 land there that would cut twenty thousand feet of white 
 oak to the acre, and I estimate that this timber would 
 be worth today from $1,000 to $1,500 per acre. 
 
 Mr. Comstock owned quite a quantity of whitewood 
 timber, the logs were, some of them, five or six feet in 
 diameter and as free from defects and knots as a cake 
 of tallow, and they were of about the same color as 
 tallow. 
 
 While running the sawmill for Mr. Comstock I con 
 tracted with him to erect a horse barn. 1 sawed out the 
 materials in the mill and made a draft myself for the 
 frame. I then laid out the timbers for framing by the 
 system known as the square rule. Up to this time two 
 methods were used in laying out the timbers. One was 
 called, I believe, the fit and try; by this system the 
 pieces were put together on supports, side by side, and 
 the measurement of one made the measure for the rest. 
 This method was used by persons untrained in the use 
 of figures. The other way consisted in finding all 
 lengths by means of a ten-foot pole, and the system was 
 called square rule. 
 
 I was obliged to plane by hand all the lumber in 
 tended for covering the barn, and for door and window 
 frames, etc. It was my first experience in erecting a 
 building. I made some mistakes, but none were serious. 
 One may conclude that it was very substantial for a 
 horse barn, from the fact that the frame was made of 
 ten-inch square timbers, of oak. The covering was of 
 
30 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 whitewood; after the building was completed it was 
 painted white, and presented a fine appearance. Mr. 
 Comstock was much pleased with the result. 
 
 It was while this barn was in process of construction 
 that I took a vacation and made a trip back to New 
 York state to visit my parents and former home. I 
 spent a few weeks there, then returned to Michigan and 
 completed the barn. My brother, LaFayette, came west 
 with me. Mr. Comstock and he went out into the vicin 
 ity of Newaygo, Mich., and bought some school lands. 
 
 About this time my youngest sister, with her hus 
 band, came to see me. They were passing through 
 Michigan on their way to Wisconsin. It seems that 
 my sister had made an agreement with her husband, 
 that she would consent to his selling his farm in Sher- 
 burne and go with him to Wisconsin, on condition that 
 when settled he would erect a sash, door and blind fac 
 tory and take me in as partner. He was to allow me a 
 one-third interest. They wished me to go with them to 
 Wisconsin at once, but my contracts with Mr. Comstock 
 would not permit, and it was arranged that I should 
 follow them some weeks later. But in this matter 
 events took a turn. After completing my engagement 
 with Mr. Comstock I started on my journey to Wiscon 
 sin. I proceeded as far as Kalamazoo, and stopping 
 there, visited my cousin, Edward Phetteplace, son of 
 my mother's sister, Submit. In the years gone by he 
 had lived in Sherburne and had attended the academy 
 there. When a young man, attracted by the stories of 
 western adventure, he had gone overland to California. 
 On this trip he was elected the captain of the company 
 with which he was traveling. When he returned to 
 Sherburne he was regarded as an "Argonaut" of untold 
 
FEOM WASHINGTON TO OSHKOSH 31 
 
 wealth. How much he really possessed he had wit 
 enough to conceal, nevertheless he bought the old Kala- 
 mazoo House Hotel and rebuilt it with brick. During 
 this visit these relatives used every persuasion to have 
 me remain in Kalamazoo until my sister and husband 
 should return from Wisconsin, their purpose being to 
 induce them to settle here, instead of going to Wiscon 
 sin. I did not remain idle long . I had my kit of tools 
 with me and soon found employment in repairing a 
 flour mill, situated near the railroad depot of the town. 
 While I remained on this undertaking I worked alone. 
 When I had finished this task, the head millwright 
 (I forget his name) put me in as assistant to a man 
 engaged to erect a smut-mill some miles distant. This 
 fellow proved to be a carpenter, rather than a mill 
 wright and did not properly understand the business 
 required. He wasted two or three days, accomplishing 
 little or nothing. He became disheartened and made up 
 his mind that he could not succeed in his attempt. I let 
 him try until he was thoroughly discouraged, then I told 
 him that if he would let me take charge, and would do 
 as I told him, that we could put up the machinery. To 
 this he gladly consented. The very first day I had the 
 elevators laid out through five stories, and the machin 
 ery in position. The boss mill-wright was very much 
 pleased with my success, and wanted to know if I 
 would take charge of some work for a Mr. Hansom, 
 brother of the governor of the state of Michigan. He 
 owned a mill which was to have the old machinery taken 
 down and out, and new machinery made and erected 
 in its place. This was entirely new work for me, but I 
 felt I would be equal to the occasion and would learn 
 a new kind of work much in demand at that time 
 
32 REMINISCENCES 
 
 throughout all the northwest. There were six mill 
 wrights who were to work under my direction; some 
 of them had had ten or twelve years' experience on flour 
 ing mills. I took great pride and pleasure in this piece 
 of work. The plans were all draughted out and fur 
 nished me, and the work ran splendidly. I took some of 
 the most difficult parts of the work to do myself, doing 
 much with my own hands; especially the bolt chest. 
 The hoss mill-wright came occasionally to see how I 
 was getting along. On one occasion he directed me 
 to cut the bearings in the bridge trees of the bolt chest, 
 a certain size. I objected for the reason that the jour 
 nals would not fit the bearings because they would not 
 all be turned one size. He stated that he would have 
 the journals turned to the size named. So under protest I 
 cut them as he required. All this time there was trouble 
 brewing between this boss mill-wright and the men under 
 my control; gradually one after another left, stating 
 their grievances to me. I was feeling dissatisfied with 
 the outlook when my sister and her husband arrived 
 from Wisconsin. They assured me that everything was 
 working well in their affairs at Oshkosh, and they again 
 urged me to go there. One day I discovered a young 
 fellow at work recutting the bearings in the bolt chest, 
 he was the one who had assisted me when I was erecting 
 the smut-mill. I went at once to the boss mill-wright 
 and resigned my position. He asked the cause and I 
 told him that I thought it time for me to leave, when 
 another man had to do my work over. He remon 
 strated with me, saying that it was a mistake, that I 
 might do the work, but I did not like him anyway so I 
 insisted that an order be given me for my wages. I 
 then went to Kalamazoo and presented the order to 
 
FitOM WASHINGTON TO OSHKOSH 33 
 
 Mr. Ransom, who asked me what the trouble was, say 
 ing that he would give me charge of everything if I 
 would go back and complete the work. I thanked him 
 for his confidence in my skill, but declined his offer as 
 I was anxious to go to Wisconsin. 
 
 I was taken ill, a short time after this, a most dis 
 tressing pain attacking my back and head. A doctor 
 was called and I was told that I had fever and ague. 
 I suffered tremendously, and sickness being a new ex 
 perience I did not bear it with patience. During this 
 time my cousin's wife served as my nurse, and I was 
 given a course of the usual remedies ; these proved help 
 ful, and I recovered from the attack in two or three 
 weeks, when I proceeded on the journey west. 
 
 The railroad was completed at that time to Lake 
 Michigan, to a place called New Buffalo, if I remember 
 correctly. There I took a steamer for Chicago. We 
 arrived in the morning, going ashore near the place of 
 the present steamboat landing. This was in the fall 
 of the year 1855. Chicago was at the time a rambling 
 city, built mostly of wooden houses. It had a popula 
 tion of about sixty thousand. I took a bus for the 
 Garden City Hotel ; such it was called in that day. It 
 was located on Market Street, between Washington and 
 Madison Streets. It recurs to me as a two story building 
 of wood, having a veranda at the east side. I found 
 it a very fair hotel, although the immediate neighbor 
 hood was not built up. There must have been a rainy 
 spell before I arrived, as I have an impression of streets 
 that were very bad and unsightly. There were no 
 paved streets that I recollect. Most of the streets were 
 laid with three inch plank in the center, and in many 
 places these were pressed down under the mud. The 
 
34 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 more important buildings were being raised, six or 
 eight feet by means of jack screws. It was tiresome 
 work traveling over the side walks as they were uneven 
 and on many different levels. The indications were 
 few that this was to be a great metropolis. Two or 
 three railroads were projected, of which the Chicago 
 and Galena was the most prominent. 
 
 I stayed in the city but a day or two, then took a 
 steamer for Milwaukee and Sheboygan. At the latter 
 place I took a stage coach for Fond du Lac. The fol 
 lowing morning I boarded a steamer for Oshkosh, which 
 for some time had been the goal of my ambitions. I 
 think that the name of the steamer was Peytona, but 
 am not certain. It was a fine boat for those days, and 
 it was well loaded with home seekers, coming to settle 
 up the new state of Wisconsin. 
 
CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 EARLY DAYS IN OSHKOSH. 
 
 The principal street in Oshkosh was then called 
 Ferry Street. It was later changed to Main Street. 
 From the lower end of this thoroughfare a floating 
 bridge crossed to "Brooklyn," a place on the south side 
 of Fox River. This bridge was made of square timbers 
 lying side by side and fastened together. These were 
 planked over crosswise and a platform was raised at 
 one side to be used by foot passengers. Near the center 
 a section some sixty feet wide was cut out, one end of 
 which was held to the main bridge by a heavy iron 
 coupling. When a steamer or raft of logs desired to 
 pass, one end of this draw as it was called was loosened 
 and the current would float it down the river ; the other 
 end being fast by the couplings. When it was desired 
 to close the draw, it was done by means of a chain, one 
 end of which was attached to the main bridge, and the 
 other to a windlass on the draw. The ends of the main 
 bridge were held by piers at each end of the draw. 
 These piers were made by a caisson, composed of tim 
 ber pinned together and filled with stone, then sunk on 
 the bed of the river. When the draw was to be closed, 
 the windlass was turned with a crank, which wound up 
 the chain, and brought the draw again into place, thus 
 making a continuous passage for teams and foot pas 
 sengers. 
 
 The streets of Oshkosh were about as Nature had 
 
 35 
 
36 REMINISCENCES 
 
 made them. Ferry Street and others near the river 
 were very muddy and sticky in rainy weather. Most 
 of the stores were on Ferry Street between Algoma 
 Street and the river. They consisted of structures one 
 and two stories high. Just east of the bridge on the 
 river, was a sawmill; said to have been equipped with 
 the first circular saw, for cutting logs, in the state of 
 Wisconsin. The owner was a man by the name of 
 Swartz. The most pretentious building in Oshkosh was 
 Mark's Hall. It was three stories in height, and was 
 located at the corner of Ferry and C'eape Streets ; it con 
 tained an audience room for public meetings, lectures, 
 etc. Farther up the street, near the corner of Church, 
 was a large wooden building in the shape of a Maltese 
 cross, occupied as a meeting house by the Congrega 
 tional Church, the pastor at that time being the Rev. 
 H. G. Freeman. He was succeeded by the Rev. William 
 H. Marble, an eloquent and brilliant clergyman, very 
 popular at that time. Between the Hall and the Church 
 was the Winnebago Hotel. A cheap two story struc 
 ture used as a courthouse and jail, occupied the pres 
 ent site of the county buildings. The street running 
 northwest from Ferry Street was called Algoma. Upon 
 this numerous houses were built as far as Jackson 
 Street. 
 
 There were several sawmills on the north side of the 
 river. The section of country between High Street and 
 the river, was mostly swamp, where grew flags and bul 
 rushes. It was generally covered with water. It was 
 at that time being filled in with slabs and sawdust as 
 fast as the mills could furnish the material. 
 
 Communication with Neenah, Menasha, Appleton 
 and Green Bay was by boat. On the south side of the 
 
EARLY DAYS IN OSHKOSH 37 
 
 river were two sawmills, one owned by Mr. Hubbard 
 and the other by Reed Bros. Some two miles up the 
 river, at Algoma, was another sawmill owned by Mr. 
 Philetus Sawyer, who many years later became U. S. 
 senator for the state of Wisconsin. 
 
 Northwest of Oshkosh was a tract called Bald Prairie 
 while south and west of the city, the land was what is 
 known as oak openings. These burr oaks reminded me 
 of the apple trees which I had been accustomed to see 
 in the state of New York, only these were much larger 
 than the latter. 
 
 A Mr. Jackson was at that time mayor of the city. 
 He was a genial gentleman, quite popular with the citi 
 zens. I remember him very well. 
 
 On the present site of Hotel Athearn was situated a 
 two story building, known as Gill's Hall, the upper 
 story of which was used as a school-room, the teacher 
 being Mr. Henry J. Raymond. It was also used for 
 lectures and concerts. 
 
 Mr. Greorge Knapp, owned a farm about five miles 
 west from Oshkosh. I remained with him while wait 
 ing for my sister and husband to return from the east 
 Perhaps it had rained before I reached Oshkosh, but I 
 do know that about the time I arrived at the farm, it 
 began to rain, and it kept at it for weeks. The roads 
 became heavy and the mud very deep. It was almost 
 impossible to drive to town, and I thought it the rainiest, 
 muddiest country I had ever seen. I became quite 
 blue as I awaited the arrival of my sister and her hus 
 band. They had shipped their household goods to Buf 
 falo by canal, and then driven with light conveyance 
 across the country from Sherburne to Buffalo, where 
 they took a steamboat around the lakes to Sheboygan. 
 
38 KEMINISCENCES 
 
 From there they drove to Fond du Lac and thence to 
 Oshkosh, over the Lake Shore road between the two 
 towns. 
 
 This road to Oshkosh at that time might be described 
 as bottomless., the mud was black and deep. At that 
 time every building in the city in which a family could 
 live, was occupied. My sister and family stayed a few 
 days with Mr. W. A. Knapp, a cousin of my brother-in- 
 law, Mr. Andrew B. Knapp. Shortly afterwards, the 
 latter obtained possession of a part of a house which his 
 father owned, and which was leased to a Mr. Ellsworth 
 who kindly offered to share the premises with them. 
 Their household goods were delayed somewhere by the 
 freezing of the lakes, and the children slept on mat 
 tresses on the floor, for there were no bedsteads. During 
 that winter we lived in a very cramped condition but 
 were as well off as the majority of people in the city, for 
 no one "put on style," in that new country. 
 
 The sash, door and blind factory was not started that 
 winter. The weather was very cold, and I found work 
 at my trade, in the construction of a flouring mill, being 
 built where the Wakefield mill now stands. I had not 
 recovered from the fever and ague experience of Kala- 
 mazoo. I had a form of the disease known as "dumb" 
 ague; that is I had the fever each alternate day, but no 
 shakes preceded the fever. I was very depressed and 
 stupid ; quinine had ceased to relieve me, and I was able 
 to find relief only in taking arsenic in small doses. 
 
 At this time two men, Nicholas R. Burnham and 
 Luther Foster, owned and operated a muley sawmill, 
 and they induced my brother-in-law, Andrew Knapp, to 
 buy an interest. The company then decided to build 
 another mill adjoining the first It was to be a gang mill 
 
EARLY DAYS IN O8HKOSH 39 
 
 and much larger than the old one. The oak for the new 
 mill was found north, towards Neenah. It was hewn 
 and drawn to the site of the mill, which was at the 
 mouth of the river, to the north side. The mill was 
 built on piles, these being driven into the low and 
 swampy earth, by the pile driver, after a hole had been 
 cut in the ice. 
 
 The new firm was styled Burnham, Foster & 
 Knapp. To it belongs the credit of building the first 
 gang mill in the state of Wisconsin. Luther Foster 
 planned the mill. He was one of the firm and claimed 
 to have had large experience with gang mills in the 
 state of Maine. A millwright drew the plans and 
 superintended the erection of the mill. A Mr. Stearns 
 who was a good mechanic, was employed to build an 
 engine for the gang mill. He had a machine shop on 
 Ceape Street, where afterwards stood the John Morse 
 machine shop. If I recollect correctly the cylinder was 
 to be twenty inches in diameter with thirty-inch stroke. 
 At that time no facilities existed in the state of Wis 
 consin, north of Milwaukee, for the building of an 
 engine of that size. Mr. Stearns had to make the plans 
 for the engine as well as the patterns. He lost one or 
 two castings for the cylinder, not having conveniences 
 for pouring so large a quantity of molten iron. The 
 weather during the winter was dry and cold. There 
 were one hundred consecutive days, when the ice and 
 snow in Ferry Street did not melt under the rays of the 
 sun. There were twenty consecutive mornings that win 
 ter when the mercury stood twenty or more degrees be 
 low zero, yet at no time was the snow more than six 
 inches deep. There were four months of sleighing and 
 a steady clear cold all the time. The people had their 
 
40 REMINISCENCES 
 
 amusements and enjoyments, and altogether seemed 
 very happy and prosperous. I remember a donation 
 party which was held in Gill's Hall for the benefit of 
 the pastor of the Congregational Church. At that party 
 I met a fair young girl, scarcely fourteen years old, 
 but who was destined, some four and a half years 
 later to become my wife. 
 
 During the spring I completed my work in the flour 
 ing mill, and commenced putting in the machinery of 
 the gang mill. In the early summer Mr. Stearns com 
 pleted the engine and it was erected on piling, driven 
 into the ground for a foundation. Around this large 
 quantities of stone were imbedded in the mud, to hold 
 it steady. .Upon the piles were bolted heavy timbers 
 which were wedged and dove-tailed together, and upon 
 these was placed the iron frame of the engine bed. De 
 spite Mr. Foster's efforts to make the engine firm, it 
 was never steady in its position. The engine was belted 
 to a line shaft, which ran the whole length of the mill, 
 and was to drive all the machinery. The muley saw in 
 the old mill was transferred to the new mill, and a cir 
 cular saw added (a new invention at that time) which 
 would take a cant six inches thick and from twelve 
 to twenty feet long and take off a board, coming and 
 going, one-half or one inch thick, as might be desired. 
 I have seen this machine drop as many as twenty-four 
 boards in a minute. I have known but a few machines 
 of this kind worked ; for some reason they did not be 
 come popular as I had expected. 
 
 About the middle of the summer of 1857 the new 
 mill was sufficiently completed to put out flooring, 
 fencing and scantling in large quantities. The firm 
 then bought five million feet of logs from Andrews & 
 
EAKLY DAYS IN OSHKOSH 41 
 
 Haight. These logs were very dissappointing. By fall 
 I became convinced that Mr. Haight, Mr. Burnham and 
 others were conspiring to swindle the firm of Burnham, 
 Foster & Knapp, by inducing them to purchase very 
 poor logs at a very high price, with a view of other 
 parties getting control of the mill. I went to my 
 brother-in-law, who was an unsuspicious and confiding 
 man and informed him of my fears ; he advised me to 
 attend my own affairs. As far as he was concerned I 
 would have done so, but I felt it a duty to protect my 
 sister's interests, so explained my views and also rea 
 sons for the same to her then left it to her to do as she 
 saw fit. About a week after I informed her my brother- 
 in-law shut down the mill. Then came the solving of 
 their tangled affairs, which resulted in both Burnham 
 and Foster leaving the concern. 
 
 I decided to teach school that fall, and accepted an 
 engagement in the district where George Knapp re 
 sided. I was employed there for a term of three or four 
 months, I believe. This was my first experience in 
 school teaching, and five years had passed since I at 
 tended the academy at Sherburne. I however felt my 
 self competent to teach in all branches unless perhaps 
 grammar, but I taught with much success, not only 
 that, but all other branches studied in the school. I 
 had a few young lady pupils, and boys only a few 
 years younger than myself, also children so young 
 that I taught them their letters. I boarded with George 
 Knapp and went home at noon for luncheon. I remem 
 ber that one day his wife asked me to go out and call 
 her husband to dinner. He was digging a well with 
 the aid of a hired man. The soil was very clayey, and 
 they were down about twenty feet. When I bade him 
 
42 REMINISCENCES 
 
 come in, George told the helper that they would first 
 take the tools out of the well, as he had heard of in 
 stances where the openings filled with water while the 
 diggers were away. We went in to dinner, and I re 
 turned to the school. In the evening when I reached 
 home, I learned that Mr. Knapp had proved wise in his 
 caution. When he had returned to the well, he had found 
 it full of water, running over the top into the creek not 
 far distant. 
 
 A short time after I commenced teaching, I made the 
 acquaintance of a Mr. Cooley and his family. They 
 lived about two miles east of the schoolhouse on the 
 road towards Oshkosh. There were three young ladies 
 in the household, a younger sister of his wife and two 
 grown up daughters. During that winter I spent many 
 pleasant evenings there. 
 
 The "openings," and prairies, in early times were 
 covered with native or wild grass. When this had once 
 been ploughed under, it never grew again. I remember 
 Mr. Cooley's claim that herd's grass and clover would 
 grow luxuriantly when sown, and would solve the prob 
 lem of pasturage for this country. He had fine fields of 
 these to exhibit as evidence of the truth of his theory. 
 It has since been proved that no better country can be 
 found for the growth of these grasses. 
 
 Spring arrived, the school closed and I went to Osh 
 kosh to live. My brother-in-law and his father had 
 gained possession of the mill, and they engaged me to 
 take control, and erect the two gangs which had not yet 
 been set up. One cool morning I was down at the mill, 
 looking over what was to be done, when a middle-aged 
 stranger appeared, and said that he intended buying 
 such a mill. He asked me to take him to the owners, 
 
EAIILY DAYS IN OSHKOSH 43 
 
 which I did. The result of the negotiation was that the 
 Knapps sold him a one-half interest in the property, and 
 a new firm was organized under the firm name of A. B. 
 Knapp & Co., the "Co." being Mr. James Jenkins, the 
 gentleman above referred to. During the spring I com 
 pleted the construction of the mill as designed, and 
 employed Carlton Foster, a millwright who had worked 
 with me on a flouring mill, to put in machinery, in the 
 basement for sawing lath. 
 
 Some of the land in Winnebago County was still sub 
 ject to entry at $1.25 per acre. The choicest of the 
 land had already been taken and some of the farming 
 land close to the city of Oshkosh became quite valuable. 
 
 During the summer we were troubled with too much 
 rain. This raised the water in the river and lake so 
 that it came over the foundations of the mill, and up to 
 the pulleys and belts, which drove the gangs and circu 
 lars. This made me endless trouble. I made water 
 tight boxes to put under pulleys for the belts and pul 
 leys to run in. This worked all right unless some care 
 less workman let a block slip under the pulley, which 
 would cause a leak and let the water in; this would 
 result in shutting down the gang until the box could be 
 taken out and repaired. At one time the water became 
 so high that one of the gangs became unmanageable, 
 the wrist becoming so hot that it melted everything in 
 contact with it. I tried my best to make it work, but 
 gave up. Others in the mill, who were expert in such 
 work, tried their skill but none succeeded. It was a 
 mystery to all what caused the trouble. I took the time 
 one Sunday to fit a new cast iron shell into the piston 
 strap as perfectly as I could ; this I ran with "Babbitt" 
 to the crank pin and fitted everything in good shape. 
 
4A EEMINISCENCES 
 
 I completed my task about one o'clock in the night. I 
 was very tired and lay down in the sawdust and slept 
 the sleep of the just until Monday morning. We began 
 sawing logs at six A. M. and worked till seven P. M. 
 there were no eight hour day limits at that time. I 
 put the belt on this gang in the morning and it ran cool 
 and nice, never bothering afterwards that I am aware. 
 
 We had in the mill then, in the shape of sawing 
 machinery, the muley mill, the reversible circular saw, 
 a gang for slabbing logs, and a live gang for sawing 
 the log after being slabbed. Our average cut was about 
 60,000 feet of lumber per day. I worked very hard, 
 often night as well as day until the occupation became 
 irksome. I had charge now of the entire business in 
 side the mill, that is, overseeing the men, running the 
 machinery, piling of lumber, etc. All this made life 
 strenuous. Mr. Jenkins proved to be a clever, active 
 man of business, and he was given charge of the prin 
 cipal transactions of the company. There were not 
 many railroads in Wisconsin at that time, the only one 
 in this 1 section being from Fond du Lac to Horicon. 
 This had been built in order to transport lumber into 
 the prairie districts of the state. The lumber manu 
 factured in Oshkosh for out-put, was hauled into the 
 country by teams or transported on barges to Fond du 
 Lac and shipped from there south on this short line of 
 railroad. Daily steamers ran between Oshkosh and 
 Green Bay; they were stern wheel steamers of good 
 dimensions. A good steamboat also plied between Green 
 Bay and Buffalo. 
 
 About the year 1851, James Rouse, second husband 
 of my sister Exania, sold his farm at Lodi Plains, 
 about ten miles south of Ann Arbor, Mich., and went 
 
EAELY DAYS IN OSHKOSH 45 
 
 to Minnesota, intending to enter claim on government 
 lands for himself and family. He took a steamer from 
 Galena, Illinois, and went to St. Paul, Minnesota, and 
 from there to St. Anthony Falls, ten miles distant on 
 the Mississippi River. The country west of the river 
 was entirely unsettled then, and open to entry. Instead 
 of making his selection on the site where stands the 
 present city of Minneapolis he went some twelve miles 
 further west, to Eden Prairie and made his entries 
 there. A year later on a trip up the river he was at 
 tacked by cholera, which was prevalent on the Missis 
 sippi that summer, and died. His family made little 
 success with this venture of his, although they lived in 
 that country for a number of years. In the fall of 
 1856, Uncle Bostwick, as he was called, took occasion 
 to reprimand me for something I had done, or had not 
 done, most unjustly I thought, and it made me very 
 angry. I expressed my resentment in no unstinted 
 terms and then and there resigned my position. My 
 brother-in-law remonstrated with me and tried to per 
 suade me to return and resume work ; he endeavored to 
 excuse his father and the latter even apologized for what 
 he had said. Mr. Jenkins also urged me to reconsider, 
 but all influences failed to alter my decision and a Mr. 
 Tim Crane was employed to take my place. 
 
 Once foot-loose, I decided to go to New York state 
 for another visit. I took the steamer for Green Bay, an 
 other from there to Buffalo where I took the train for 
 Utica, going by stage-coach from there to Sherburne. 
 I visited my parents and among friends. My youngest 
 sister, Mrs. Knapp, came east on a visit and when it 
 came time to return to Oshkosh she accompanied me. 
 On the trip we went through Kalamazoo, Michigan. 
 
46 REMINISCENCES 
 
 On reaching Oshkosh I engaged to put in new 
 machinery in a mill belonging to a Mr. Ira Griffin. It 
 was a sash mill, with two upright saws, designed to 
 cut two boards at a time. I remember that I succeeded 
 in this very well. 
 
 During my residence in Oshkosh I made numerous 
 acquaintances, among others, with a Byron Sherry and 
 Ebenezer James, who proved most companionable as we 
 held common views on such subjects as philosophy, re 
 ligion and politics. A deep friendship grew out of the 
 relation. One day in passing me Sherry slipped a bit 
 of paper into my hand ; it contained the following lines : 
 
 "Friendship is a name to few confined ; 
 'Tis the offspring of a generous mind. 
 With genial warmth it fills the breast 
 'Tis better felt than e'er expressed." 
 
 We three were in a similar business condition. The 
 foundry belonging to Sherry had been burned. James 
 had become a bankrupt through a small sawmill venture, 
 and I was practically out of work. Sherry and I were 
 ambitious to become lawyers and later we were able to 
 put this purpose to the touch. How well I remember 
 these young men ! Two years ago I went back to Osh 
 kosh and found James living there still. Sherry was 
 living in Kansas City the last I heard of him. He had 
 been very fine looking when a youth and was a great 
 favorite with the girls. 
 
 My plan to study law had been intercepted by an 
 other visit east. When I returned to Oshkosh later, 
 my mother accompanied me. She came to see her chil 
 dren who were living in Wisconsin. 
 
EABLY DAYS IN OSHKOSH 47 
 
 In the year 1857 the Northwestern Railroad was com 
 pleted from Fond du Lac to Oshkosh and it offered the 
 citizens of the section an excursion over the road. A 
 committee was appointed to select the guests, and I was 
 among the fortunate, or as it turned out, unfortunate 
 ones who accepted the invitation. My brother-in-law 
 was unable to go, so I took my sister with me. The 
 train consisted of some eight or ten coaches when we left 
 Oshkosh and other cars filled with excursionists were 
 added at Fond du Lac and other towns. It was a very 
 happy crowd, composed of the representative people of 
 this new country. A short distance below Watertown an 
 ox, with the usual stupidity of that animal, jumped on 
 the track ahead of the locomotive and ran between the 
 rails until coming to a small bridge it fell through be 
 tween the ties. The locomotive ran into it and was de 
 railed, as were also the baggage car and the smoker. The 
 train was a heavy one consisting of fifteen coaches. A 
 car in the middle of the train was telescoped. Some fif 
 teen persons were killed or died of their injuries, as a 
 result of this accident. The principal sufferers were 
 passengers from Oshkosh. My sister was badly injured 
 in the back. A Mr. Philetus Sawyer, who was very bald 
 sustained some severe scalp wounds. He presented a hor 
 rible sight when, all covered with blood, he pulled him 
 self out of the wreck. He was not seriously injured 
 however. Thus our pleasure trip ended in sorrow. The 
 railroad company returned us to our stations as best 
 they could and our arrival was a scene of mourning and 
 lamentations, exceedingly affecting. It was a long time 
 before my sister recovered. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 COLLEGE AT MT. PLEASANT. 
 
 The next winter I taught school in the town of Black 
 Wolf, where my brother lived. When my school ended 
 in the spring, I decided to go to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and 
 enter college there. Prior to this time I had taken a 
 mortgage on a saw mill at Omro to secure the money 
 that I had loaned my brother-in-law. Before leaving 
 Iowa I placed the mortgage in the hands of a young 
 attorney for foreclosure. I remember that I had quite 
 a problem to solve as to how I should reach Mt. Pleas 
 ant. Traveling facilities in the west at that time were 
 extremely limited. I eventually went to Watertown, 
 Wisconsin, by rail and from there also by rail to Prairie 
 du Chien, on the Mississippi, where I took a steamer to 
 Galena, Illinois, and from there another steamer to 
 Burlington, Iowa. In paying my fare to the clerk of 
 this boat I received in change twenty dollars in worth 
 less, counterfeit money, which fact I did not discover 
 until I landed in Burlington and the boat had gone on 
 down the river. People now know little about this wild 
 cat or worthless money, but at that time all persons 
 handling much currency, sustained greater or less loss 
 from these bills through bank failure, counterfeits and 
 discount. No bank statements were issued to the pub 
 lic, and the soundness of a bank was indicated only 
 by the rate of discount demanded. Each state had its 
 own laws for the establishment of banks and the issuing 
 
 48 
 
COLLEGE AT MT. PLEASANT 49 
 
 of paper money, secured mostly by the depositing of 
 other worthless paper. The bank bills of one state 
 would not circulate in another except at a discount, A 
 formidable document of protection, called a bank-note 
 detector, was issued in New York I believe. Those 
 handling money, consulted this with as much eagerness 
 as the modern citizen consults the daily papers. 
 
 On landing at Burlington I found myself without 
 good money to pay hotel bills over night and fare to 
 Mt. Pleasant. Something had to be done to meet the 
 situation, so I went to a jewelry store and told the man 
 in charge of my predicament, asking him to let me have 
 ten dollars on the security of my gold watch and chain, 
 until I could return him the amount. He kindly ad 
 vanced that sum, and I was able to conclude the journey. 
 Arriving at Mt. Pleasant, I found my uncle and family 
 living upon one corner of what was known as The 
 Bishops Square. Bishop Hamline, a noted divine of 
 the methodist church, a man of fine manners, much 
 erudition, but aged and infirm; his son Dr. Hamline 
 and Dr. Elliot, president of the college, lived on the 
 three remaining quarters. The last named gentleman 
 was author of several books, among them, Elliot on 
 Slavery, 2 volumes. He had the reputation of being 
 a most learned man. He was, I think, of Irish descent 
 and physically of the Horace Greeley and Oliver Gold 
 smith type. He had three children, two girls and a boy, 
 all students of the college. The commencement that 
 year was held about two months after my arrival, in the 
 college building. 
 
 I found in Mt. Pleasant few advantages for studying 
 law; no more perhaps than existed in Oshkosh. The 
 educational lines followed more the denominational 
 
50 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 lines; some thirty superannuated Methodist ministers 
 lived in the town. It was the county seat of Henry 
 County, and the court house occupied the public square. 
 Prominent business houses surrounded this on the four 
 sides. 
 
 I made arrangements to study law with the firm of 
 Clark, Doolittle & Cook. Mr Clark was brother of 
 the noted woman writer, "Grace Greenwood." Mr. 
 Doolittle was a young gentleman of pleasing manners. 
 Mr. Cook had won some honors as a lawyer and legis 
 lator in Pennsylvania. He was a late addition to the 
 firm. I read law under such guidance with much 
 avidity, my first studies being Blackstone and Kent. 
 
 Mt. Pleasant was at that time quite a literary center. 
 Political interest was dominant and animated. That 
 first summer I caused to be organized a law school, as 
 a department of the college work. Henry Ambler, a 
 leading lawyer of the place, accepted the position of 
 circuit judge, in our moot court; he was also to occupy 
 the post of lecturer on statutory and common laws. 
 Senator Harlan accepted our invitation to lecture on 
 constitutional law; sometime later this gentleman be 
 came Secretary of the Interior, under President Lincoln. 
 Another practicing lawyer of some note, by the name 
 of Palmer, discoursed on criminal law, and Dr. Elliot 
 consented to lecture on ecclesiastical and Roman law. 
 During the fall, winter and spring these gentlemen 
 gave us lectures upon several subjects assigned them, 
 and all concerned appeared to take great interest in this 
 law class. 
 
 Later we organized a Literary Society; the gentle 
 men mentioned, all of the 13 students in our law class 
 and several residents, became members. The debates of 
 
COLLEGE AT MT. PLEASANT 51 
 
 the literary society were usually held in the court house, 
 and were generally very well attended. Of those who 
 participated, I remember Mr. Alvin Sanders, who at 
 that time was a banker in Mt. Pleasant, but who after 
 wards moved to the state of Nebraska, and I think 
 served two terms as United States Senator from that 
 state. There was also Henry Clay Dean, a lawyer who 
 afterwards became a Methodist minister and a chaplain 
 of the United States senate. He had studied law in the 
 office of Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, a man of 
 great reputation in congress. Mr. Dean was a man of 
 great ability as well as a great egotist. In any group of 
 which he was a member, he monopolized the conversa 
 tion. He was I think the most eloquent orator to whom 
 I ever listened. He was inclined to obesity, was careless 
 in his attire, neglected his ablutions, which detracted 
 much from his popularity. The following anecdote of 
 Dean was repeated by William Penn, a drygoods mer 
 chant of Mt. Pleasant, who with his wife visited in 
 Pennsylvania and was told of the orator's visit to this 
 same place the summer before. Mr. Dean had been in 
 vited to occupy the Methodist pulpit and after the ser 
 mon, was taken to dine with the narrator. A little daugh 
 ter of the house listened with open-eyed wonder to Mr. 
 Dean's table talk. After the meal, watching her oppor 
 tunity, she pulled her mother's dress and asked : "Mama, 
 did God make Mr. Dean?" "Yes, of course," replied 
 the mother. "Well," said the child, "Why didn't God 
 put a clean shirt on him ?" This anecdote was published 
 in the Mt. Pleasant Home Journal, and it made Mr. 
 Dean very angry. I recollect seeing in print a story to 
 the effect that Mr. Dean visited a senator, with whom 
 he was acquainted, remaining in his house over night. 
 
52 REMINISCENCES 
 
 The wife of the host with female diplomacy, placed a 
 clean shirt and collar in his room, with the intimation 
 that they were for his use. A year later the senator 
 again received a visit from Mr. Dean ; the wife offered 
 the same courtesy, and later discovered that the shirt 
 discarded, was the very one she had given him the year 
 before. Personally I had reason to be grateful to this 
 erratic genius, for he manifested considerable interest 
 in me, gave me the freedom of his library ; from him, 
 also, I received many valuable hints on public speaking. 
 
 I became deeply interested in our moot court, and 
 for sometime officiated as its clerk. Cases in the court 
 were made up by agreement; they involved questions 
 of law which the students argued before Mr. Ambler 
 acting as district judge. If the embryo lawyer were 
 dissatisfied with the decision of Judge Ambler he could 
 appeal to our supreme court. This was composed of 
 three prominent lawyers of Mt. Pleasant, who had 
 kindly agreed to act in that capacity for us. During 
 the year I had some twenty suits in this moot court and 
 as I recollect, I won all but three of them before Judge 
 Ambler; the three which I lost, I appealed to our 
 supreme court and won two out of the three. I tried 
 more cases with George B. Corkhill as opposing counsel 
 than with any other member of the law class. In later 
 years this man was appointed United States district 
 attorney for the district of Columbia, by President Gar- 
 field. He held that office during the trial of Guiteau for 
 the assassination of the president. 
 
 Of the thirteen students in our law class I remember 
 only the following: James Berryman, George Baker 
 Corkhill, and Charles McDowell of Mt. Pleasant; also 
 Boss from Pennsylvania and Harlan from Kentucky. 
 
COLLEGE AT MT. PLEASANT 53 
 
 During the winter a debate occurred in Mt. Pleasant 
 between a new arrival in the place, a homeopathic 
 physician, and a number of allopathic doctors residing 
 there. Vigorous attacks were made without regard to 
 feelings or reputation. The debate interested and 
 amused me very much. Since then, however, I have 
 had no great veneration for the medical profession. 
 
 Politics at this time were growing strenuous. Sena 
 tor Douglas' introduction, and the passage of the Kan 
 sas-Nebraska bill by congress, had excited the feelings 
 of both North and South to fever heat, as to the future 
 of slavery. This bitter strife focused in the struggle to 
 gain control of Kansas, and it became a question which 
 party could send the greatest number of emigrants 
 there. This new section was not far removed from our 
 locality, and party spirit was intense. Judge Claggett, 
 of the Iowa circuit court, was a violent democrat, and 
 made himself most unpopular with a majority of the 
 people of his district, of which Henry County was a 
 part. An effort was made to impeach him, but he 
 evaded this by resigning. 
 
 There was a second cause of excitement at that time 
 in the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak. There were np 
 railroads then, west of the Missouri River, it being an 
 unbroken country, except for the wagon trails of the 
 government and the emigrant trails to Salt Lake and 
 California. This territory was peopled by wild Indians 
 and herds of buffalo roamed over these plains. The 
 extent of the gold deposits at Pike's Peak was a matter 
 of conjecture, but many went there filled with great 
 expectations. In the following year, a Mr. Francis 
 Springer was appointed by the governor of Iowa, as 
 
54: REMINISCENCES 
 
 circuit judge to succeed Judge Claggett. He was a 
 gentleman of fine address, and a very able lawyer. 
 
 Ross and Berryman wished to make application for 
 admission to the bar, and asked me to join them. I ob 
 jected as I did not consider my studies completed, but 
 eventually I yielded to their persuasions, realizing that 
 the attempt would bring me no injury. When court con 
 vened our applications were presented and Judge 
 Springer appointed three members of the Mt. Pleasant 
 bar to examine us in open court, and report upon our 
 qualifications. The committee gave us a thorough test 
 and reported in favor of our admission and the judge 
 ordered us sworn in as members of the bar. 
 
 At this term of court the grand jury had indicted a 
 young man for burglary, and he was arraigned for trial. 
 The judge asked him if he had counsel. He replied in 
 the negative, saying that he had no money to pay for 
 such. It is customary for the court to appoint a mem 
 ber of the bar to defend such cases, and for some reason 
 the judge selected me. The prisoner was from Indiana ; 
 I visited him daily in jail until the trial the following 
 Saturday. District Attorney Berryman was an able 
 lawyer. He opened the case with skill, introduced his 
 evidence and rested his case. We had no witnesses for 
 the defence, as I remember. The trial occupied the fore 
 noon, then the court adjourned for dinner. It was ar 
 ranged that I should make the opening address, so 
 when the court convened in the afternoon, I spoke for 
 two hours. The district attorney then addressed the 
 jury, the court charged the jurors as to the law, and 
 they retired to decide upon their verdict. They failed 
 to agree, and after holding out all Saturday night and 
 Sunday, stood to disagree. The judge discharged the 
 
COLLEGE AT MT. PLEASANT 55 
 
 jury. On Monday or Tuesday he had the prisoner 
 brought before him, and ordered a new trial to be held 
 the following Saturday. I felt much elated at the re 
 sult, and was confident that I should free the young 
 man on the next trial, but before that time a friend or 
 relative of the prisoner appeared in Mt. Pleasant and 
 employed an old criminal lawyer to take the case. This 
 lawyer asked me to assist him, but I refused. My 
 tutor, Mr. Clark, expostulated with me, but I knew that 
 if the man was cleared, the lawyer, and not I, would 
 get the credit. At the trial the prisoner was speedily 
 found guilty. 
 
 About this time our literary society was indulging in 
 some amusement of its -own. There was a certain matter 
 which I had given considerable study and I proposed 
 the following resolution for debate which was accepted ; 
 "Resolved ; that the whole human race did not originate 
 from one pair." I took the affirmative of the question, 
 and Corkhill the negative. He was a fluent speaker, and 
 I judge I must have acquired some skill as a debater, be 
 cause I was usually honored with a good audience. On 
 the evening of the contest an umpire was chosen to 
 decide the question at issue, upon the merits of the 
 arguments. After the discussion he decided in my favor. 
 Such a verdict was not in accord with the tenets of the 
 Methodist Church or of the college. Some of the pro 
 fessors and other citizens, therefore, wished a rehearing, 
 to which I consented, and again assumed the affirma 
 tive side. With my consent Senator Harlan and Henry 
 Clay Dean spoke on the negative side. This time the 
 decision was against me, more upon theological grounds, 
 I thought, than upon the merits of the arguments. 
 
 That spring there was a great emigration to the gold 
 
56 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 fields around Pike's Peak. Many private schooners, bear 
 ing the affirmation : "Pike's Peak or bust/' drove west 
 ward, at the beginning of the season. At the end a few 
 returned, with the sententious legend, "Busted" written 
 on the canvas. My friend Ross was seized with the 
 gold fever, and was most urgent that I go with him, but 
 I declined. He went, and I have never heard from nor 
 of him since. He was a nice fellow and I would like 
 to know what became of him. Early in April our law 
 class broke up and I decided to return to Wisconsin. 
 My uncle had a section of land lying west of Dubuque 
 some thirty miles or more, and he wished me to go and 
 see it as I went back, and to report on its location and 
 value. To this I consented. On the journey, going up 
 the river from Burlington, a man came aboard the 
 steamer with whom I soon became acquainted. He had 
 been to Des Moines, the capital of Iowa, to have a 
 requisition signed by the governor for the deportation 
 of a man who had escaped from Racine County, Wis 
 consin, the charge being that he had sold a piece of 
 land located in the bottom of a lake. The deputy's 
 route would take him past the place I was expected to 
 examine, so we continued together. Landing at 
 Dubuque, Iowa, we stopped there for the night. The 
 town is located at the east end of a canyon several miles 
 long, opening on the Mississippi River. We engaged a 
 team and open buggy for our trip inland. When we 
 left Dubuque in the morning, a few flakes of snow were 
 falling, as we went up the canyon the snow storm in 
 creased, and when we arrived at the end of it and drove 
 out onto a level prairie, a blizzard struck us with great 
 force. It penetrated my clothing as if it had been 
 gossamer. My companion who had passed through 
 
COLLEGE AT MT. PLEASANT 57 
 
 many similar experiences in the northwest, was driving. 
 I slid under the buffalo robe, which was a large and 
 heavy one, and evaded the storm as much as possible. 
 About noon we arrived at a place called Cedar Falls. 
 I noted with interest a brick flouring mill. After 
 dining we resumed our journey. The storm was now 
 less severe, but the air was very cold. We came next to 
 a town called West Union, where we stayed all night 
 at a hotel which was cold and cheerless. In the morning 
 we proceeded on our way across an uninhabited and 
 trackless prairie. On this was situated the land be 
 longing to my uncle, which I was to examine. I covered 
 the location, as well as I could without a surveyor's 
 assistance, and we proceeded on our way across a wide 
 and pathless stretch of country. We came to a creek 
 at one place, and the deputy sheriff, who was driving, 
 asked me to get out and examine the stream and select 
 a place to ford. I did so, and stood on the bank, waiting 
 until he should reach the other side. The water did not 
 appear to be more than eighteen inches deep where he 
 was to cross, but when he drove in, the horses dropped 
 suddenly under water, broke loose from the buggy, and 
 finally floundered out on the other side. When the 
 buggy tipped forward, the driver was thrown into the 
 water, but clinging to the lines, he was dragged to 
 shore by the team. This accident amused me very 
 much, but it failed to affect the deputy in the same 
 humorous way ; instead he became very angry, and de 
 nounced me soundly. Later I was able to convince him 
 of my innocence in the matter. My companion dried 
 his clothes as well as he could while I patched the broken 
 harness, and we proceeded on our way, reaching 
 Decorah in time for supper. The next morning we had 
 
58 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 the team harnessed and brought to the door of out 
 hotel, and my companion directed me to be ready to 
 leave at any moment that he should appear. In a short 
 time he came back in another buggy accompanied by a 
 stranger, who was handcuffed. He transferred this man 
 to our buggy, directed me to get in, jumped in himself, 
 putting the horses to a run for about a mile, in order to 
 get out of the county in which he had arrested the man 
 fearing to be served with a writ of habeas corpus. 
 This Sunday was a very different day from the Friday 
 before. The sun shone brightly, the sky was cloudless, 
 the air balmy and all Nature smiled. Even the prisoner 
 appeared to be resigned to his lot. It was the deputy 
 alone who seemed anxious, and he drove the team as 
 hard as they could stand it. At Cedar Falls he secured 
 another conveyance, resigning the one he had been using 
 to me. Fearing pursuit, he was resolved to cross the 
 Mississippi that night. Before parting from me thd 
 officer asked the loan of some money with which to 
 complete his journey home. Sometime afterwards, 
 when at Oshkosh I received the payment of this loan, 
 but I never learned the fate of the prisoner. 
 
 After parting from the deputy and his charge, I pro 
 ceeded to Dubuque, the next day crossed to Prairie du 
 Chien, and from there took the train for Oshkosh. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 VAEIED OCCUPATIONS. 
 
 I made arrangements to continue my law studies 
 with Wheeler & Coolbaugh, of Oshkosh, a firm doing 
 a large law business. Mr. Wheeler was an honorable 
 man and a good lawyer, but physically not strong. Soon 
 after I entered, Earl P. Finch, from Neenah, studied 
 law in the same office. 
 
 I boarded that winter with the family of George W. 
 Lathrop, who lived about two miles from town on the 
 south side of the river. I walked into the city every 
 morning and back at night, which gave me good exer 
 cise. The next summer I went into town to live with 
 my sister, whose home was on Otter Street. One night 
 hearing an alarm of fire bells, I ran out to Ferry Street 
 where I saw off towards the river a number of buildings 
 blazing high in the air. I was at once convinced that 
 all the buildings on the street would burn. I went to 
 our law office, seized as many books as I could carry, 
 and ran with them to my sister's home. I then re 
 turned for another load of books but reaching the office 
 I found the building on fire and unsafe to enter. 
 
 The fire department, which consisted of one or two 
 hand machines was trying its best to stop the spread of 
 the conflagration. A locomotive and flat car were sent 
 to the city of Fond du Lac, sixteen miles distant, for 
 the fire engine of that city. The men returned with the 
 machine in little more than half an hour, making re 
 markable time for those days. 
 
 59 
 
60 REMINISCENCES 
 
 The city was without water works at this time. Large 
 cisterns had been sunk at various points in the streets 
 for use in case of fire, and most houses at that time 
 were supplied with wells, into which the suction hose 
 of the hand machines could be dropped and the well 
 pumped dry. When the company from Fond du Lac ar 
 rived, the boys unloaded the machine on the south side 
 of the river, and started on a run for the fire. Crossing 
 the floating bridge they came up Ferry Street between 
 the burnt and burning buildings. It was indeed exciting 
 to watch this company haul the machine through the hol 
 ocaust of fire which was burning on every side. It was 
 certainly a very brave act, and won great applause from 
 spectators. The fire burned so rapidly that little was 
 saved that in any way was exposed. All the buildings 
 on both sides of Ferry Street, big and little including 
 Mark's Hall and the Winnebago Hotel were burned, 
 as far as Algoma Street. 
 
 While living in Mt. Pleasant, in order to straighten 
 out my uncle's financial affairs, I had procured a text 
 book on Double Entry Book-keeping, and had studied 
 the principles so well that I was able to put all his busi 
 ness transactions, so far as he could remember them, into 
 a set of double entry books. This experience made me 
 quite familiar with this system and was of great benefit 
 to me in after years, for I became well grounded in its 
 principles. 
 
 The mortgage that I held on the saw mill in Omro 
 I was induced by the mortgagor, to bid in, under the 
 promise that he would redeem the same and pay me 
 the cash. This he failed to do, and I became owner of 
 the mill. The lumber business at that time was not very 
 lucrative. Pine trees were so plentiful and accessible 
 
VARIED OCCUPATIONS 61 
 
 up the river, that more lumber was manufactured than 
 the demand required. A Mr. Waterman and myself 
 entered into partnership in the fall of that year, to con 
 duct a lumber business and operate the mill. This mill 
 was what in those days was called a muley mill; its 
 maximum capacity would not exceed ten thousand feet 
 per day ; its average was even less. The employees I do 
 not think exceeded eight or ten men in number. The 
 next spring I moved to Omro that I might be near the 
 business. I opened a law office and Waterman managed 
 the mill. 
 
 Prior to this time there had been boats for towing 
 logs, operated by horse power. These boats were fur 
 nished with what is called a "grouser," also side wheels, 
 a rudder, and a spool for winding the towline. This 
 grouser is a piece of oak, eight by twelve inches in size, 
 and from sixteen to twenty feet long. It could be 
 dropped endwise and would stick in the bottom of the 
 river and hold the boat firm. The horses attached to the 
 sweep, walked on a platform built on the deck of the 
 boat. The circular gear, attached to the end of the boat 
 operated the spool around which was wound a tow-line, 
 perhaps one and a half inches in diameter, and from 
 five hundred to one thousand feet long. The horse power 
 would be attached to the side wheels and the horses 
 would run the boat out the length of the tow-line, which 
 was attached to a raft of logs or anything else which it 
 was desired to tow. When the line was all run out it 
 would stop the boat, and then the grouser would be 
 dropped, firmly fastening the boat to its position; then 
 the gear of the boat would be changed from side wheels 
 to the spool, which would be turned to wind up the tow- 
 line and haul the tow up to the boat. Then the same 
 
62 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 process would be repeated. Thus a heavy tow could be 
 hauled up the river or through a lake. These horse- 
 boats, as they were called, were used principally in small 
 rivers. I conceived the plan of substituting a locomotive 
 boiler and engine as power on one of these boats, think 
 ing it would be more powerful, economical and conven 
 ient. The change as made was necessarily experimental 
 and crude, but it was quite successful. I towed my own 
 logs from the boom at Lake Poygan to the mill, as I 
 bought them. For convenience in towing, they were put 
 up in rafts about three hundred feet long and forty 
 feet wide. The booms were made of long logs, about a 
 foot in diameter ; the ends were flattened, and bored with 
 a three-inch auger; an oak pin held the two ends to 
 gether. 
 
 When enough pieces had been put together to make a 
 raft, the logs were placed inside of it like candles in a 
 box. The logs were cut in the woods in northern Wis 
 consin and hauled to the river bank or onto the ice, 
 and when the ice broke up in the spring, the logs would 
 float down with the current to where a channel was cut 
 through, near the mouth of the Wolf River to an arm 
 of Lake Poygan. This arm was secured by a stationary 
 boom into which the logs were driven, then by expert log 
 men they were placed in the towing-booms which I 
 have before described. These towing-booms were lashed 
 together in great rafts or floats, and then towed by 
 powerful tugs. 
 
 There were more than a dozen mills at one time at 
 Oshkosh, and at Fond du Lac nearly as many more, 
 There were also mills at Neenah and Menasha, For 
 a great many years it was estimated that three hundred 
 million feet of pine lumber was produced each year, be- 
 
VAEIED OCCUPATIONS 63 
 
 ing the products of forests lining the banks of the Wolf 
 Biver and its tributaries. Small towboats were used 
 to tow logs up the Fox River to the sawmills situated on 
 its banks. They were of the same pattern as the one 
 which I altered and have described. 
 
 At a place called Portage, the Wisconsin and Fox 
 Rivers are within a few miles of each other. A canal 
 had been dug by the Fox River Improvement Company 
 connecting the two rivers. These streams were dredged 
 in order to make them navigable for light draught steam 
 ers towing lumber scows. A man of the name of Neff, 
 living at Oshkosh, had a tug boat on the Wisconsin 
 River, and also had some scows at Oshkosh which he 
 wished taken to Portage. A Mr. Barnes had seventy- 
 five thousand feet of lumber which he had contracted to 
 deliver at Portage. My tugboat captain agreed to take 
 the scow and lumber to Portage in specified time. He 
 therefore loaded the lumber on the scows and started up 
 the Fox River. When he arrived within two days' jour 
 ney of Portage, Mr. Neff met him and induced him to 
 unload the lumber on the river bank because it impeded 
 his progress. This he did and started with the lighters 
 up the river. The captain of the tug "Lady Jane," com 
 ing down the river was informed of this transaction and 
 reported it to me. When I heard of the affair I knew it 
 meant heavy damages and probably a law suit unless the 
 lumber should be delivered as agreed. The "Lady Jane" 
 was to return immediately with another tow, as towing 
 lumber from Oshkosh to Portage was part of her busi 
 ness. I engaged a couple of lighters from the captain, 
 got aboard the boat and traveled up the river to where 
 the lumber had been left. Mr. Barnes had heard of 
 the mishap and had started down the river to see me. 
 
64 REMINISCENCES 
 
 We returned to the place where the lumber was piled, 
 and the two scows were left with us on which to load 
 the freight. The next morning we began this work, 
 and before sundown had it all on board 75,000 feet 
 of dry pine lumber. This proves that we were both 
 strong, active men. 
 
 The next day my boat returned from Portage. I 
 started the captain again for that place, Mr. Barnes ac 
 companying him, while I proceeded to Omro. On the 
 return of the boat to the latter place, I was informed 
 by one of its hands that the captain had tried to sell my 
 boat at Portage. I tied the boat up to the dock and 
 discharged the captain. He was furious and refused 
 to leave the boat, I told him that he could stay on it, 
 that it was all right, as I wanted to have a watchman 
 anyway. The next day he recovered from his bad tem 
 per and wished to conciliate me, but he had proved him 
 self incompetent and dishonest. I had no use for that 
 kind of a man, so insisted upon his going. I had al 
 ready tried several captains and had been unfortunate 
 in them all, so after some delay I concluded to leave 
 the sawmill in Waterman's charge and go as tug captain 
 myself. I found all the business that the boat was 
 able to do. I was very busy all that season, and 
 made considerable money with the tug, also acquir 
 ing much experience in towing logs. There had hap 
 pened to be quite a scarcity of boats that fall, doing that 
 line of business. The freezing up of the river ended 
 the towing and sawmill business for the season. Of 
 course I had very little law business, and spent much of 
 my time in Oshkosh. 
 
 During the years since I had arrived in Oshkosh I 
 had been bound to the town by an attraction, in the 
 
VAEIED OCCUPATIONS 65 
 
 guise of a' girl, now a young lady. She was tall, of slim 
 figure, with, red cheeks and a very handsome chin. She 
 had bright brown eyes and brown hair. What particu 
 larly attracted me I cannot say. It may be that when 
 ever I met her she looked pleasant and smiled. When 
 I called at her home I always visited with the family. 
 Her mother I found to be an exceedingly intelligent 
 and upright woman, and she too, always gave me a 
 pleasant welcome. There was at that time in Oshkosh 
 a bevy of school girls, the brightest and most intelligent 
 that I had ever met, and my choice I considered the 
 best of them all. We had known each other more than 
 four years and had been very happy in our courtship; 
 so we concluded in the spring of 1860 that it was time 
 to be married and begin a home of our own, in Omro. 
 I rented a cottage situated in a grove of burr oaks, fur 
 nished it complete for living, then one quiet Sunday 
 evening we were married in the young lady's home by 
 the Eev. W. H. Marble, the guests being friends of her 
 self and family and my friends and relatives. The next 
 day we removed to our home in Omro and lived there 
 as happy as mortals can be. 
 
 It occurred to me that I ought to carry some insur 
 ance on my mill. The local retail lumber trade at Omro 
 was limited, and I had shipped my lumber principally 
 to Waupun, Wis. I thought I would go there, collect 
 some money and get the mill insured. I took my wife 
 with me and we drove in a buggy through the beautiful 
 country lying between Omro and Waupun. The drive 
 was very enjoyable, the weather fine and the beautiful 
 homes, bountiful crops and handsome farms looked en 
 chanting. I found my affairs at Waupun in a prosper 
 ous condition, and having transacted my business, we 
 
60 REMINISCENCES 
 
 started for home. On arriving at the top of a hill over 
 looking the village of Omro, I met a neighbor who in 
 formed me that my sawmill had burned the night be 
 fore. This put an immediate stop to our happiness and 
 pleasant planning. I was without capital to build 
 a new mill ; the prospects for the lumber business were 
 not good, and I was in a troubled sea of doubt as to 
 what I ought to do. Friends and relatives advised 
 against rebuilding, and this made it more difficult for 
 me to arrive at any decision. The question arose, should 
 I devote myself entirely to the law? I doubted if I 
 could make a living at it. Thus different schemes were 
 considered, but none adopted. 
 
 The railroad from Bipon to Omro had been built by 
 a man named Bigelow. Bonds of the township had been 
 given him in exchange for stock in the road, making 
 that gentleman practically owner of the railroad. He 
 spent much of his private fortune in promoting it, also 
 all the money he could borrow. The track was in such 
 bad shape that the Milwaukee and Horicon Railroad, 
 which operated the road called the Omro & Ttipon Rail 
 road, being some ten miles in length, refused to run a 
 locomotive over it until the road should be put in repair. 
 I wished to ship over this road a quantity of lumber 
 which had been hauled and piled along the railroad. 
 Andrew Wilson and another mill owner were in the 
 same predicament. Mr. Bigelow called for contribu 
 tions of money to help him in repairing the road. He 
 had proved himself to be a good promiser and poor per 
 former ; so the citizens refused to give him another dol 
 lar, but told him that if he would give me a lease of the 
 road for three years they would raise the money to put 
 it in repair so that lumber might be hauled out and goods 
 
VAEIED OCCUPATIONS 67 
 
 and freight brought in. Finding that he could make 
 no better terms, Mr. Bigelow consented. 
 
 I had had no experience in railroad building or re 
 pairing, and so wrote to Mr. Blossom, receiver of the 
 Milwaukee & Horicon Railroad, asking him to send me 
 a competent man, which he did. I spent my time on the 
 line of the road, watching the work and the method of 
 doing it I soon discovered that the superintendent 
 whom I had engaged was a poor manager of men. I 
 concluded that I could do better, so dismissed him and 
 took charge of the work myself. The fall proved re 
 markably warm that year, the ground did not freeze, so 
 we were able to work on the road-bed until the twentieth 
 of December by which time it was in fairly good shape. 
 Mr. Bigelow had a contract with the Milwaukee & Hori 
 con Railroad on a mileage and pro rata basis. This 
 allowed me only sufficient money to keep the road in 
 order. I endeavored to secure better terms from Mr. 
 Blossom, but he argued that, being a receiver, the court 
 would not permit him to make another contract disad 
 vantageous to his receivership ; so the prospect for mak 
 ing money in the running of the road was not encourag 
 ing. 
 
 I think that description of the methods of building 
 railroads fifty years ago would be interesting to the peo 
 ple of this day. When a railroad is to be built by a 
 corporation nowadays it is only necessary to issue bonds 
 and stocks and sell them on the stock market in Wall 
 Street and so raise millions of dollars with which to 
 build the road. In those days the farmers and merchants 
 all wanted railroads in order to get their grain to market 
 and goods into the towns. Some schemer would employ 
 a civil engineer to survey a line of railroad where it 
 
68 REMINISCENCES 
 
 might be needed ; then a man fitted to such work would 
 be employed to visit farmers along the line of the sur 
 vey and induce them if possible to donate the right of 
 way. This most of them would do, as they were very 
 anxious to have the road built. Then a plausible talker 
 or writer would induce the farmers along the line of the 
 proposed railway to mortgage their farms in exchange 
 for stock of the road and most of them, with the opti 
 mism of the time, would do so ; also villages and towns 
 would be persuaded to issue their bonds. I remember 
 the city of Oshkosh gave to William B. Ogden, Presi 
 dent of the Chicago & North- Western Railroad, $100,- 
 000 in bonds, to enable him to build the road from Fond 
 du Lac to their city. Any man who was unwilling to 
 give a good share of what he owned to further such a 
 project, and would not advise his neighbors to do the 
 same, was considered to be lacking in public spirit and 
 business foresight. In the early fifties the Chicago & 
 North-Western Railroad was built from Chicago to 
 Janesville and from there northward to Fond du Lac, 
 where it established machine shops and car shops, then 
 extended the line to Oshkosh, Green Bay and Lake Su 
 perior. That line of road became the nucleus of the 
 railways which gridiron the great Northwest and whose 
 lines of track aggregate nearly ten thousand miles. 
 
CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 WESTWAKD, HO! 
 
 In 1858 political strife was engendered by the pas 
 sage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which led to those" 
 celebrated debates in Illinois between Lincoln and Doug 
 las, and two years later to the candidacy of both, for the 
 presidency of the United States. Bell and Breckenridge 
 were also candidates. Douglas introduced a new feature 
 into presidential contests by "stumping" the country in 
 favor of his own election. I was a great admirer of 
 Mr. Douglas. He sent for Henry Clay Dean to aid him 
 by speaking through the state of Illinois in his behalf. 
 I believe it was my efforts which persuaded him to con 
 sent. On his return from campaigning in Illinois, he 
 reported to me that Douglas had promised him that if 
 elected president he would appoint him (Dean) governor 
 and appoint me United States Attorney for the territory 
 of Utah. Douglas in this canvass spoke as far north as 
 Fond du Lac, traveling as he went in a special train. 
 I went to Fond du Lac to hear him speak, as I had not 
 had that pleasure before. An immense crowd gathered 
 to hear him. I secured a good position both for hearing 
 and seeing. He proved a very deliberate, sententious 
 speaker. He told how many times he had spoken that 
 week and that day, then turning to Charles Eldredge, 
 who at that time was a member of Congress, said : "My 
 friend Eldridge says that I would not be able to stand 
 this, if I did not have the Constitution of the United 
 States." 
 
 69 
 
70 REMINISCENCES 
 
 I had a great love for Senator Douglas, and desired 
 to see him elected president What would have been the 
 result to the country if he had become president can only 
 be a matter of conjecture. At all events he proved him 
 self to be a true and loyal patriot, until his untimely 
 death robbed the country of his services and counsel. 
 
 A proposition to form a business partnership with a 
 Mr. Deverill was presented to me soon after. We were 
 to engage in buying and selling grain, flour or any 
 other commodity in which we considered there was a 
 profit I consented, and we conducted such a business 
 for a year ; then upon figuring results I found that we 
 had made a profit upon everything I had bought and a 
 loss upon most everything he had bought. 
 
 Then came 1861 and with it the great war. When Fort 
 Sumter was fired upon, that event caused great excite 
 ment through the entire north. The southern states had 
 seceded and what the result would be for the country, 
 none could foresee. The firing on Fort Sumter caused 
 President Lincoln to call for seventy-five thousand vol 
 unteers "to put down the rebellion in the south." On 
 receipt of this news a public meeting was held in Osh- 
 kosh, and speeches were made by representative citizens. 
 Mr. "Gabe" Bouck, a prominent democratic lawyer and 
 politician of Oshkosh, urged the city to send at once a 
 company to the protection of the capital, offering his 
 own services as leader. He asked me to enlist, promis 
 ing if I would do so to make me second lieutenant of 
 his company. Prior to this Charles W. Felker, a prom 
 ising young lawyer at Omro, and I had agreed that in 
 case of a war we would raise a company and serve in 
 same; therefore I felt obliged to refuse Mr. Bouck's 
 proposition. 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 71 
 
 Early in July President Lincoln issued a call for 
 three hundred thousand additional men. At that time 
 there were few military men in this country who knew 
 how to drill a company, still fewer who could drill a 
 regiment or a brigade. In all towns of considerable 
 size, one or more companies were being raised and 
 offered to the adjutant general of the state ; but it was 
 destitute of clothing and arms and could only accept 
 companies as it could provide them with equipments. 
 
 Felker and I called a meeting to be held in one of the 
 churches in Omro. This was well attended by the pa 
 triots of the village, and over fifty men enlisted that 
 night. Felker was nominated captain of the company, 
 and elected by acclamation. I was nominated as first 
 lieutenant and was elected in the same manner, as was 
 also Dr. Ambler for second lieutenant. After the elec 
 tion we formed in line and marched through the streets, 
 cheering at the houses of the different officers, and 
 finally retired to sleep the sleep of patriots. 
 
 After this meeting we tried to increase the number of 
 our enlistments. I think it was about eighty men we 
 wanted, and that we finally secured about seventy. I 
 remember going out one day with Mr. A. B. Cady, who 
 was our village postmaster, to see a young man by the 
 name of Pingrey, and if possible to persuade him to 
 enlist. Mr. Cady in a strenuous argument told him that 
 his (Cady's) grandfather served in the war of the Rev 
 olution, that his father had served in the war of 1812, 
 and that he himself had served in the Mexican war. 
 Pingrey listened without enthusiasm while Cady was 
 extolling the patriotism of his own family, and then 
 quietly remarked that he had never known of a Pingrey 
 being in any war, and that so far as he was concerned 
 
72 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 there never would be. This reply floored Cady and 
 greatly amused me. We returned that day without any 
 recruits. 
 
 Patiently we waited to have our company accepted. 
 Some of our men became very impatient and often un 
 reasonable; several members went to Ripon and en 
 listed in a cavalry regiment which was being raised 
 there. 
 
 About this time was born unto us a son, and he has 
 been our only child. The event gave my wife and my 
 self much happiness. 
 
 When the excitement began to subside, the enthu 
 siasm for the war began to wane. It seemed impossible 
 for the state to equip the numerous companies that were 
 offered, neither were they accepted in the order of their 
 offering. Finally, one morning in September, Felker 
 received a letter from the adjutant, saying that if he 
 would report a full company by a date in July, which 
 he named, he would assign us to the seventh regiment 
 Wisconsin volunteers. Felker, not being a veteran in 
 matters pertaining to war, showed considerable inde 
 pendence, and wrote the adjutant general in reply a 
 very caustic letter, calling his attention to the fact that 
 the date he mentioned had elapsed nearly two months; 
 perhaps he had made a mistake in dates and meant Octo 
 ber 1, if such were the case, although many of our men 
 had enlisted in other companies, he would report a full 
 company, the same subject to his orders, but that if 
 he meant as he wrote it was an evident impossibility 
 
 and that he might "go to h ." This letter Felker 
 
 wrote and signed, and asked me to sign it also, which 
 I did; with it evaporated our expectations of military 
 glory. We afterwards learned through Judge Wheeler, 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 73 
 
 who was in close touch with the state authorities, that 
 our commissions were at this time made out and all 
 ready to be forwarded, but that the evident spirit of in 
 subordination in our letter was more than the adjutant 
 general could stand for, and so he let our company die 
 a natural death rather than through military carnage. 
 I gave up all ambitions for military glory then. The 
 evident incompetency of the officers in command, the 
 disheartening campaigns of the war, made the future 
 look gloomy for the north. It became apparent to the 
 most optimistic that the war would be bitterly con 
 tested. 
 
 In the spring of 1862 my prospects were most dis 
 couraging. The legislature refusing process of law 
 against persons enlisted in the army made the lawyer's 
 profession a very uncertain means for making a living. 
 My mill was burned, shutting me off from any business 
 in that line. My only chance for employment in a 
 military capacity was to enlist as a private and this 
 would yield but a pittance towards the support of a 
 family. No opportunity for employment appeared, and 
 I was finally persuaded to remove to Oshkosh, where I 
 opened a law office with a Mr. Boyington, who had 
 about the same amount of law business as I had ; which 
 was not much. I was a democrat, and he was a repub 
 lican. There was a secret political organization, which 
 permeated the country at that time; I believe it was 
 called the Loyal Legion. Mr. Boyington told me one 
 day that my case had been considered by this order and 
 that he had been authorized to say if I would join it 
 and become a good republican, I could have any politi 
 cal preferment I wished, but that if I remained a demo 
 crat the organization would see that I had neither busi- 
 
74: REMINISCENCES 
 
 ness nor prosperity. I was inclined to think at that time 
 that this resolution had been formed, but I was not to 
 be forced into any party in which I did not believe, 
 so I returned a defiant answer. 
 
 Matters crept along; nothing was talked of but the 
 war. I concluded that I could not succeed in Oshkosh, 
 that I would have to go somewhere else. After a good 
 deal of deliberation I came to the conclusion that I 
 would go to California and enter into the practice of 
 law in that state. It was the most promising scheme I 
 could think of, so I prepared to go there. 
 
 That spring I joined the masonic fraternity, and be 
 came a member of Oshkosh Lodge No. 27. I was fond 
 of masonry, and have never lost my love for it. A man 
 who is a good mason is a good man in any walk of life 
 which he may follow. At that time I was well posted 
 in the work and became a master mason. 
 
 I went from Oshkosh to 'New York City, and from 
 there sailed on the steamer "Ocean Queen" for Aspin- 
 wall. This steamer was built of wood and was I think 
 heavily loaded; at any rate she had a habit of plung 
 ing her bow deeply into the sea when it was at all 
 rough. We were eight days on this voyage. When we 
 sailed into the tropics the weather became very warm, 
 and so was the drinking water. The only way to get 
 anything cool to drink was to buy lemonade, made 
 from limes, at the bar. The food for cabin passengers 
 was fairly palatable. On the trip I made the acquaint 
 ance of two passengers, whom I afterwards met in 
 Nevada. One was John P. Kelley who claimed to be 
 the nephew of the acting governor of Kentucky; the 
 other was Frank Drake, an engineer at Mare Island 
 Navy Yard, who was returning from a visit to relatives 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 75 
 
 and friends in Massachusetts. I made this voyage in 
 June, 1863. 
 
 We landed in rowboats at Aspinwall, which proved 
 to be a low and dirty town. We came ashore in the 
 morning and after a short delay were transported over 
 the Panama R. R. to the city of that name, where we 
 went aboard a steam lighter which transported us to the 
 steamship "North America." I was fortunate in se 
 curing good accommodations. This steamer, like the 
 "Ocean Queen" was an old wooden hull, which I was 
 informed had been brought around the "Horn" from the 
 Great Lakes. The whole after-part of the upper deck was 
 hung with bunches of bananas, over which were stretcned 
 awnings to protect the fruit from the sun. 
 
 The next morning we started on our voyage to San 
 Francisco. We had a very pleasant trip, occupying 
 fourteen days. The sea was very smooth all the way, 
 and we were in sight of the land most of the time. We 
 often saw whales sporting in the distance, which excited 
 the interest of all ; also the porpoise following the ship 
 was a novel sight. 
 
 Upon arriving at Acapulco, Mexico, our ship entered 
 the harbor in order to coal. This coal was carried in 
 sacks aboard the ship on the backs of the natives. During 
 our stay in this port, many of the passengers amused 
 themselves by throwing coins into the water and watch 
 ing the natives dive for them. The water was clear and 
 deep, and the divers invariably got the coin. When the 
 steamer had received the necessary quantity of coal she 
 proceeded on her way. After reaching the latitude of 
 Lower California we were most of the time in sight of 
 the coast, which was of a dark brown color. This was 
 
76 REMINISCENCES 
 
 caused some said, by the hue of ripened wild oats, the 
 straw of which in drying assumed that color. 
 
 At the end of fourteen days from Panama we steamed 
 through the Golden Gate, past Fort Alcatraz, into the 
 Bay of San Francisco, and I had then my first view of 
 the city of that name. I landed and went to a hotel, 
 then proceeded to look up two acquaintances from Osh- 
 kosh, whom I knew to be living here. One had been a 
 dry goods merchant when in Wisconsin and was a lover 
 of fast trotters. The other gentleman had been a law 
 yer in Oshkosh. I found them located in what was 
 known as Montgomery Block, an office building occu 
 pied largely by lawyers. Mr. McCracken was en 
 gaged, as far as I could judge, in getting contracts from 
 the city for paving the streets, and Mr. Lane was prac 
 ticing his profession. 
 
 I thought I would stay awhile in San Francisco, 
 thinking that by so doing I could better choose a loca 
 tion in the interior in which to practice law. 
 
 I found that in the forenoon of each day a cold, raw 
 wind prevailed in the city ; furs for the ladies and over 
 coats for men were comfortable, but at sunset the wind 
 died down, and the evenings were delicious, reminding 
 me of what I had read of oriental countries. There were 
 many places of amusement not of a high order, but on a 
 par with the tastes of the inhabitants. Montgomery 
 street lay at the bottom of a hill and ran from Market 
 Street to Telegraph Hill. A few streets were built 
 parallel to Montgomery Street and west of it on the 
 hill was Kearney Street, then as now it was the center of 
 Chinatown. The business part of the city was between 
 Montgomery Street and the Bay. The shoal water on 
 the bay shore had been filled in with ballast brought 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 77 
 
 by ships, and sand hauled from the hills, until quite a 
 city had been built on made ground. I recollect one 
 place where a ship had been stranded, and there were 
 several streets between it and the Bay. Market Street 
 was a bed of bottomless sand. A street railway had been 
 built three or four miles to a place called Mission Dol 
 ores, the site of an old Spanish Church. JSTear this had 
 been erected a woolen mill, where very heavy and warm 
 blankets were woven for miners. I remember buying one 
 for myself that weighed eleven pounds. They were 
 about the warmest blanket I ever saw just what the 
 average C'alifornian and tenderfoot needed. 
 
 Near this mill was erected a rough theater, in which 
 Billy Birch and Ben Cotton, with other cork 
 artists, delighted large audiences every Sunday. A 
 street railway being the means of transportation, mules 
 were very busy on Sundays hauling passengers to and 
 from the Mission and the city. 
 
 Most emigrants to California in those days came by 
 the way of Panama. The overland stage route had 
 been established, but the latter was a long and tiresome 
 journey. "Frisco" was a mecca for miners who de 
 sired amusement and a good time. 
 
 After I had been domiciled in this city about a month, 
 I saw an advertisement in a San Francisco paper which 
 read as follows : 
 
 "Wanted A man to go to Reese River to build a 
 saw mill, and take charge of it," 
 
 If I could secure such a position it would mean an 
 immediate income. I told Mr. McCraken that I was 
 inclined to answer the advertisement, and asked him if 
 they \vould pay me $100 per month. He replied: "You 
 ask $100 per month and you won't get the job. They 
 
78 REMINISCENCES 
 
 will be certain that you do not understand the busi 
 ness." He advised me to ask not less than $300 per 
 month. I began then to wake up a little to the opportuni 
 ties of that country. I answered the advertisement, was 
 well received and the opening appeared satisfactory. I 
 engaged at the salary I asked: $300, having a written 
 contract with Mr. Mathewson, who was the agent of the 
 company. I was informed that John Parrott, banker, 
 Frank Billings, afterwards President of the Northern 
 Pacific Railway Co., and the agent of the company, Mr. 
 Mathewson, who had been editor of the Alta California, 
 published in San Francisco, also the collector of the port, 
 were members of this company ; so I was satisfied that 
 there was ample capital behind the project. I was 
 authorized to order and have built in San Francisco, 
 the machinery for a sawmill and to buy whatever was 
 necessary for the purpose, including food for myself and 
 men, and tools to operate the business. The company 
 claimed to have about two thousand acres of timber 
 land, which Mathewson assured me was covered with 
 trees averaging two feet in diameter. It was necessary 
 to have all the machinery built; none of it was to be 
 found for sale in San Francisco. In order to know 
 how much and what kind of food would be required, I 
 obtained a list of rations furnished by the government 
 to its soldiers, and from this I made my calculations 
 as to the food that would be needed. I was instructed 
 to purchase everything that would be required to oper 
 ate the mill after it was built; for the cutting of logs 
 and their hauling to the mill. It took solne two months 
 to get everything ready for our departure for Austin, 
 Nevada, which is on the Reese River, and was our 
 objective point. Mathewson informed me that they had 
 
WESTWAED, HO! 79 
 
 contracted with a transportation company to deliver the 
 machinery and supplies to whatever mill site I should 
 select, and that they were to pay ten cents per pound 
 freight on same. I decided to take an engineer with 
 me, as I might not be able to find one at our destination ; 
 so I wrote to Frank Drake at Mare Island offering him 
 the place, which he gladly accepted. 
 
 The company procured us passage to our destination, 
 and we embarked at San Francisco on the steamer 
 Yosemite for Sacramento. I have a vivid memory 
 of that trip, of our steaming across the bay, past the 
 islands and up the river. I sat up late in the evening 
 charmed with the moonlight, and the beautiful scenery, 
 then went to my berth, awaking the next morning at 
 Sacramento. That day we went by railroad to Placer- 
 ville, about fifteen miles distant in the foothills of the 
 Sierra Nevada mountains. In the early days of Cali 
 fornia mining, this place was known as "Hangtown," 
 owing to the numerous lynchings that had occurred 
 there. It was the terminus of the overland stage route. 
 I remember that this place was composed of wooden 
 buildings, scattered through a ravine or canyon. The 
 country between Sacramento and Placerville had all 
 been dug over in the early fifties by miners, and 
 "rocked" in miner's cradles, and later had been re- 
 washed by Chinamen. 
 
 Upon our arrival at this place, we were immediately 
 transferred to stage coaches which were of the old Con 
 cord build, the body suspended on heavy, wide, leather 
 straps, or thorough-braces. They would accommodate 
 nine passengers inside, and two on the outside with the 
 driver and each was hauled by six fine horses. These 
 stage horses were usually brought from the states of 
 
80 REMINISCENCES 
 
 Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri. It was the custom 
 to change the horses every ten miles. 
 
 We then began the ascent of the Sierra Nevada 
 mountains, which we had to cross in order to reach Car 
 son Valley. The roads up the grade were broad, smooth 
 and sprinkled by water carts. In many places the roads 
 were cut in solid rock, on the sides of the mountains, 
 traversing the canyon. At the bottom flowed the 
 American River. When we got into the coach, I took 
 the front seat, riding backwards, as I had been told that 
 it was the easiest. The hostlers let go the bridles of the 
 horses and we went up the grade at a smart trot. The 
 road had been laid out by engineers, and the grade kept 
 as true as possible ; sharp angles were often met and had 
 to be turned, and sometimes the road would follow an 
 intersecting ravine, going up one side, and back on the 
 other for perhaps half a mile or more. 
 
 At one station, where we stopped, I saw the smoke of 
 a sawmill near by. As I had a curiosity to see the mill, 
 and supposing that the stage was to wait for a change of 
 horses, which would give me sufficient time, I went to it, 
 then hurried back only to find that the coach had gone. 
 I looked down the road and saw it in a whirl of dust, 
 leaving me. I followed my first impulse to try and 
 overtake it, I more than ran, I flew. I gained on 
 it rapidly, but the driver did not stop for me. After 
 running a quarter of a mile, some of the passengers saw 
 me and called the driver's attention to my struggles to 
 overtake them. The driver motioned toward the other 
 side of the ravine, indicating that I should cross over 
 and head off the coach. I went to the bottom, but in 
 attempting to climb up the other side my legs would 
 not work they were paralyzed. However, with the aid 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 81 
 
 of my hands I managed to haul myself up to the road, 
 very much exhausted and out of breath. When the stage 
 arrived I was helped in, and a sympathizing passenger 
 handed me a flask of whiskey with an injunction to take 
 a deep drink ; that it would revive me. I did as directed, 
 but the liquor caused a serious nausea ; when the result 
 of this was over, it seemed to me that I was practically 
 empty. 
 
 The schedule of these stages over the mountains was 
 an average of ten miles an hour. We met and passed 
 numerous freight wagons, many of which carried ten 
 tons each. Behind the larger wagon would be a smaller 
 one called a tender, which carried the food and camp out 
 fit for the drivers and barley and hay for the mules. 
 These wagons were usually hauled by twelve or fourteen 
 mules, also brought from the states mentioned. 
 
 We steadily climbed the mountains, reaching a meal 
 station where we stopped for supper, and a change of 
 horses, then proceeded on our journey. 
 
 In coming up the American River I noticed that the 
 road was cut in solid rock on the steep mountain side. 
 Looking over the edge of that trail one could see the 
 river, one thousand or more feet below, running in a 
 torrent. If a coach should chance to tip over the edge 
 of the cliff nothing but the tall majestic pine trees, 
 which grew on the side of the canyon, would break its 
 fall before it reached the river. 
 
 It was some time after midnight, about two or three 
 o'clock, when we entered what was called Strawberry 
 Valley ; a canyon on the western slope of the mountains, 
 perhaps ten miles from the summit. This is one of the 
 grandest views that I have ever seen. I should judge 
 it to be a quarter of a mile in width where the stage 
 
82 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 road passed. On one side of this level valley rose granite 
 walls said to be a thousand feet high. They appeared 
 to be perpendicular. In this valley grew almost exclu 
 sively what are known as the sugar pine. These were 
 from one to two hundred feet in height and from two to 
 five feet in diameter. The moon shone very brightly as 
 we rode through this most attractive scene. 
 
 We passed to the south side of Lake Tahoe. It lies 
 over six thousand feet above the level of the ocean. As I 
 recall it, the entire scene was very picturesque. This 
 spot has since become a favorite summer resort. The 
 lake is about twenty-two by thirteen miles in area. The 
 water was very clear and cold. Mark Twain describes 
 it as "A sea in the clouds, whose royal seclusion is 
 guarded by a cordon of sentinel peaks, that lift their 
 frosty fronts, 9000 feet above the level of the world." 
 I have wished many times to travel over this route again, 
 but I do not know whether there is now such a stage line 
 through the canyon, and if there were, whether the 
 charm would be the same. 
 
 The following morning we reached Carson City, 
 where we took breakfast. Our ride from Lake Tahoe 
 down the mountain was very exciting, and rapid, the 
 horses sometimes running. Carson City at that time 
 was the capital of the territory of Nevada. The United 
 States government maintained an assay office there. It 
 was a sandy valley with plenty of alkali dust, through 
 which runs the Carson River. The town as I recollect, 
 is situated about twelve miles from Virginia City. There 
 I was to meet Dr. Mathewson. 
 
 This city is built on the side of Mt. Davidson, the 
 mountain which contains the famous Comstock Lode. So 
 far as I know it is the richest ever yet discovered in the 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 83 
 
 world. At the time of which I am writing, this 
 mine was at the height of its "Big Bonanza" fame, but 
 the tide of immigration to California and the west had 
 begun to ebb and was flowing back over the mountains 
 towards the east. The first discoveries in the Corn- 
 stock were of gold, but the deeper the vein was dug, more 
 silver was found and less gold. The method of extract 
 ing silver from the quartz at that time was very crude, 
 and much of the silver was lost in the process. Since 
 then, methods have been invented which save most of it. 
 It is estimated that up to this date, six hundred million 
 dollars in gold had been reclaimed from the placer dig 
 gings of California. But this vast sum had been wrested 
 from the earth by a great cost in labor. To quote the 
 Hon. Thomas Fitch, of Nevada : "Over fifty thousand of 
 the brightest, bravest, most generous, energetic, and 
 enterprising men on the earth; the knight Paladins 
 who challenged the brute forces of Nature to combat; 
 the soldiers who, possessed with the aura sacra fames, 
 faced the storm and the savage, the desert, and disease, 
 swarmed around the base of Mt. Davidson, and reached 
 out to Aurora, to the Reese River and to the mountains 
 of the Humboldt." 
 
 Virginia City was reputed to have a population then 
 of twenty-five thousand, consisting mostly of men, for 
 women and children were few. Saloons were numerous. 
 I remember entering one of the latter, where the fur 
 nishings were stated to have cost $30,000. The build 
 ings were principally of brick and adobe, though lumber 
 was brought from the Sierra Nevada Mountains some 
 twenty miles distant, and hauled to the city by ox teams 
 and wagons. The water was very bad for drinking pur 
 poses, there being in it a large amount of mineral sul> 
 
84: REMINISCENCES 
 
 stances in solution and alkali, but I think there was not 
 much of it drank ! The speculation in mines and gam 
 bling was furious. Many of the secrets of the lode known 
 to the miners were disclosed to the owners of the saloons, 
 making the latter bonanza capitalists. Prospectors had 
 searched the mountains east of Virginia City, and many 
 mines rivaling the Comstock had been discovered. 
 
 Dr. Mathewson and I made a journey to the foot 
 hills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, to a town named 
 Galena. We passed through a place called Steamboat 
 Springs, named, I suppose, because of the steam issuing 
 from the water, which resembled the exhaust from a 
 steamboat, A story was told me, that in earlier days a 
 party of immigrants camped for the night in this vicin 
 ity. One of the party, hearing a strange noise, went to 
 the spring to discover the cause, then hurrying back to 
 the camp exclaimed: "Boys, hitch up and get out of 
 here ; we are right over hell." I did not see the springs 
 myself, but presume that they are much like those I 
 have seen in Yellowstone Park. 
 
 In coming back that night we took a more direct road, 
 which led over Mt. Davidson ; a fine road, built for haul 
 ing ore to the quartz mills. Now they do this different 
 ly. The quartz is smelted in furnaces, the metal then 
 separated, and practically all saved. 
 
 After reaching the summit of the road, it being a 
 bright moonlight night, we came down the grade to the 
 city at a lively trot ; we had a fine span of horses and an 
 open buggy. It was ten o'clock when we reached our 
 hotel. 
 
 Claims were made on the ledge in feet at that time. 
 One man, according to mining laws, could pre-empt only 
 two hundred feet. At the time of which I write the 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 85 
 
 Gould and Curry mine was selling at $4,000 per foot, 
 and if I am not mistaken, it was 1,200 feet long. The 
 leading paper in this mining city was the Territorial 
 Enterprise, a wide-awake daily paper. Mark Twain 
 was city editor ; he gave evidence then of his great wit, 
 and during those days published some things in the paper 
 as bright as he has ever written since. 
 
 From here we took the overland stage for Austin, our 
 destination. The outfit was about the same as that with 
 which we had crossed the mountains. If I remember 
 rightly, the distance was about 250 miles, and the time 
 thirty-six to forty-eight hours. The stage road was most 
 ly through alkali plains, the sand being very deep and 
 heavy, and the ride tiresome and uninteresting. Austin 
 at that time claimed a population of 5,000. Silver was 
 discovered there in March that year. It was a motley 
 looking town, consisting of tents and huts of adobe and 
 stone. I think the hotel was called the International. 
 It was a structure two stories high. The town was built 
 in a ravine, or canyon, lying between Mt. Prometheus 
 on the south and another mountain not so high on the 
 north. Here I found Frank Drake, the engineer, and 
 after getting our bearings we started out under the lead 
 of Dr. Mathewson to see the pine land. We found it on 
 the west side of the mountain range, about half way be 
 tween Austin and Big Creek, some twelve miles dis 
 tant. 
 
 The first thing was to find a location for the mill. 
 Water being a necessity, we tramped through the sage 
 brush on the foot-hills for some time, but all indications 
 showed that there was none in the vicinity. Finally, 
 Drake told me that if I would not laugh at him that he 
 would find water, sure. I replied that I would not even 
 
86 REMINISCENCES 
 
 smile, to go ahead. So he cut a forked twig out of some 
 brush, and held the two branches, one in each hand, the 
 stem being upright, and he walked about where he 
 thought there might be water. Owing, likely to some 
 mis-step or muscular movement, the fork of the twig 
 fell down towards the ground at a certain place. He re 
 peated the experiment from several directions, and 
 when he reached the same spot the twig fell each time. 
 "Dig down here fifteen feet and you will find water," 
 he said. I could see no reason why we were not just as 
 likely to find water there as at any other point, so we 
 began to dig. We made a windlass out of some of the 
 growing timber, and after going so low that the laborer 
 could not throw the dirt out of the top we set up a wind 
 lass and used a rope and basket. The digging continued 
 until I feared a cave-in, and I concluded that after all 
 the best thing was to go to Big Creek, where we were 
 sure of plenty of water. I became convinced we would 
 find no water here with such appliances as we had. So 
 we went over to Big Creek 'and set up our house, which 
 was a walled tent 7x9 feet. This was to be our home 
 until the mill should be completed and lumber sawed 
 with which to build the real house. The first work in 
 our enterprise was to cut logs, from which to make tim 
 ber, and I climbed the mountain side, where I could 
 inspect the trees. I was much surprised and disheart 
 ened; the largest log I could find would only make an 
 8x10, sixteen feet long. I reported the situation to 
 Dr. Mathewson, and he did not seem much surprised, 
 only saying that we must go ahead and put up the mill. 
 We had brought no "fire" or other brick with us to set 
 up the boiler; some stones found in the mountain were 
 represented to be fire-proof, so I employed an ox team 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 87 
 
 to haul some to the mill site, with which I lined the 
 furnace under the boiler. For these teams I think I 
 paid $15 per day. I had to pay $11 per day for masons, 
 $5 for laborers, and eight or ten dollars per day for 
 carpenters. We set posts in the ground upon which to 
 fix the foundation for the mill, and I had a well-hole 
 dug, filling it with water from the creek. 
 
 We were all without experience in hewing timber, 
 but I took hold of the broad axe and succeeded tolerably 
 well until one day I had the misfortune to split my 
 big toe open; this laid me up for a short time. I set 
 the engine up on a wooden frame, and I think that in 
 December we sawed the first board. Then we sawed 
 lumber for a house and built that. This pinon pine 
 was a soft, light wood. If one took a board of it and 
 laid it in the sun, without putting a weight on it, the 
 board would nearly tie itself into a knot. Notwith 
 standing the high price of labor and of materials, I 
 got the mill running at an expense of $2,500, not count 
 ing the engineer's wages and my salary. After getting 
 the mill in working order I made timber by nailing 
 boards together and with such timber put the mill under 
 cover. At first we sold lumber for about $200 per 
 thousand feet. 
 
 I was in the habit of going into Austin on Sundays 
 to spend the day with Dr. Mathewson. We were com 
 ing out to the mill one Monday morning together, when 
 he outlined a plan by which we two combining, could 
 get hold of the mill at the expense of the company that 
 had furnished the money with which to build it I 
 listened to his plan, until sure I had not mistaken his 
 intentions, then said to him : "Doctor, these men have 
 hired me, paid what I asked, and so far as I know have 
 
88 REMINISCENCES 
 
 treated me well, and I shall be true to them as long as 
 I am in their employ." His answer was: "I think 
 when a man has a chance to make a lot of money, and 
 refuses, that he is a fool." I replied : "That may be, 
 but I will not cheat those men." He rode on in silence, 
 but from that time I knew my man. Nothing more 
 was said about the matter between us and I thought he 
 had given up his scheme. 
 
 One Sunday, in Spring, a number of the men went 
 into town, and as usual, some of us went up to the 
 doctor's to dine with him. There I was introduced to 
 a stranger, a Mr. Merrill, from Maine. As we were com 
 ing back from the mill one of the boys who worked 
 for me asked if I knew why Mr. Merrill had come 
 here. I replied that I had no idea ; then he said : "If 
 you won't give me away, I will tell you what he is 
 here for." I replied that I would not give him away. 
 "Well," he said, "he has come here to take your place." 
 I was completely taken by surprise, but had plenty of 
 time for thought. 
 
 The next morning Mr. Merrill and the doctor rode 
 out to the mill. I met them very cordially, showed Mr. 
 Merrill over the plant, told him of the difficulties I had 
 had to encounter there, the length of time occupied in 
 building the mill and the amount of money I had ex 
 pended in doing it. He appeared to be a very fair 
 man and complimented me highly on my work. I 
 thanked him, then said : "I understand you have come 
 here to take my place. I will say to you that I am un 
 der written contract with the owners to take charge of 
 this mill and run it, and that I will not permit any 
 man to replace me until the year is up. If the company 
 is willing to pay my salary for the year and give a 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 89 
 
 written release from the contract, I don't care what 
 they do with the plant ; but if any man comes here and 
 attempts to supercede me by force well, I advise him 
 to get his life insured before he attempts it." 
 
 Mr. Merrill and the doctor rode back to Austin and 
 that was the last I heard of the subject. 
 
 The territorial legislature passed a law that a person 
 could have title to any unoccupied piece of land which 
 he would have surveyed and file map of same in the 
 county records, I complied with the law and located 
 three hundred acres one-half mile below the mill. 
 
 I had considerable unpleasantness with Drake, the 
 engineer. When planning the machinery I had calcu 
 lated the engine to run 150 revolutions per minute. 
 Dtrake argued that such speed was too fast. 
 
 To settle the contention I had to tell him that I would 
 assume the responsibility, and that he must run the en 
 gine at the speed I had planned or I would discharge 
 him. 
 
 Just before my time expired Dr. Mathewson wanted 
 me to make an offer to run the mill another year, say 
 ing that the company was going to put up a quartz mill 
 near the sawmill, but I refused. When my time was 
 up Dr. Mathewson gave me a draft on San Francisco 
 for my due, some $1,200. 
 
 The locations of fissure veins were innumerable, but 
 they were all thin in this locality. I knew of one vein 
 that was being worked above Austin by a Dr. Good- 
 fellow, which was only two inches thick, but the ore 
 would assay $3,000 to the ton. I think half a dozen 
 stamp mills were erected that summer within ten miles 
 of Austin. So far as I know none of them ever paid 
 any dividends to their builders. 
 
90 REMINISCENCES 
 
 In the fall of 1864 I occupied a room in a livery 
 stable in Austin with the owner. He kept saddle horses 
 for hire, and his mow of baled hay was a favorite place 
 for immigrants to sleep. I have seen sleeping there 
 ex-governors from the states, ex-congressmen, sen 
 ators; all coming to this new territory to grow up with 
 it and get new political jobs. I will say in regard to 
 the people in this section that the average of education 
 and intelligence was higher than that of any other 
 community I had ever known, though a mining popu 
 lation is not usually supposed to be highly educated. 
 I learned while in that country to have respect for 
 "Judge Lynch," and had my respect lessened for 
 "Judge Law." We had several shooting scrapes in 
 town; they occurred frequently. One thing I noticed 
 as distinguishing the bad man of the south from the 
 bad man of the north: the latter gave his victim a 
 chance for his life; he would not shoot an unarmed 
 man, but the former would get the drop on his vic 
 tim and give him no chance for defense. There were 
 plenty of bad men from both sections. 
 
 When I left Chicago to go to California I bought a 
 Colt's revolver and etrapped it to my hip; I thought 
 this a necessary precaution, but at the time of which 
 I write I had found it was not, and I had traded my 
 revolver for "feet" in a mine. 
 
 The Indians east of Salt Lake were interrupting the 
 stage line about this time and my correspondence with 
 my wife was very much interfered with on this ac 
 count. She became much worried and I also was quite 
 anxious about it. One day when in the post office I 
 asked the assistant postmaster if he had learned 
 whether or not the mail had succeeded in reaching the 
 
WESTWARD, HO! 91 
 
 east, whether the blockade had been removed. He ex 
 pressed ignorance in regard to the matter, and I took 
 occasion to say that I was worried about it, as I had 
 been pending money in every letter to my wife. About 
 two months afterwards this assistant postmaster was 
 appointed comptroller of the state of Nevada. From 
 the time I spoke to him till he received that appoint 
 ment my wife never received a letter from me, but 
 eventually all the letters written prior to that time, and 
 all written after his appointment as stated, reached their 
 destination. The fellow was an ex- Wells & Fargo ex 
 press agent, which company carried and delivered mail 
 over all the Pacific coast, wherever their express routes 
 ran. Letters had to bear the United States stamp and 
 also a Wells & Fargo stamp. The express company 
 ran a messenger and treasure box over every route 
 traversed by the company, and this was over the whole 
 Pacific coast. Its service was more certain than that 
 of the U. S. mail, and was patronized by most business 
 men. 
 
CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 LIFE IN NEVADA. 
 
 In the winter of 1864-5 General Rosecranz appeared 
 in Austin; he was connected with some mining inter 
 est. A brother of Frank Drake had a book store and 
 news depot which was a great resort for "the boys;" 
 they came there to get their papers and to gossip in 
 the evening. The General formed the habit of coming 
 there also to chat with the others. He was a fine look 
 ing man and a good story teller; he entertained us 
 greatly by telling anecdotes of the war, in which he had 
 been so prominent a character. One night I said to 
 him : "General, how about Chickamauga 1" He 
 queried : "What about Chickamauga ?" "Well, sir," 
 I said, "the papers out here reported that you were 
 badly whipped there." He replied: "That was not 
 so"; claimed that he defeated the enemy there and 
 gained a great victory. He also claimed that the treach 
 ery of General Garfield caused his downfall. The lat 
 ter was his chief of staff. Rosecranz sent him to Wash 
 ington to attend to some affairs of the army that could 
 not be well and safely transacted by letter, and claimed 
 that Garfield, instead of representing matters as they 
 were, misrepresented them, and came back with his 
 (Rosecranz's) removal in his pocket. "Old Rosy" said 
 that if he had known the facts at the time he might 
 have ordered Garfield tried by a drum-head court mar 
 tial and shot. A number of years later I remember 
 
 92 
 
LIFE IN NEVADA 93 
 
 reading an authorized account in the newspapers which 
 confirmed this story as General Rosecranz had told it. 
 That winter I had become acquainted with a Cap 
 tain Johnston, an Irishman, who claimed to have been 
 a captain in the English army. According to his own 
 statement he was a dangerous duellist; I thought him 
 a good deal of a braggart, but he amused me, in a meas 
 ure. A Captain Kent was superintendent of the Key 
 stone Mining Company, and had bought a mine of 
 Captain Johnston, for which he was to pay at some fu 
 ture time; I think it was to be when he could report 
 to his principals in Pennsylvania and get remittances 
 from them. I judge finances were at a rather low ebb 
 with Captain Johnston, any way. He made a demand 
 on Captain Kent for his pay, and that gentleman re 
 plied that he had not yet received the money. Captain 
 Johnston did not believe him, and one day he appealed 
 to me to act as his second in a duel. This was new busi 
 ness to me, but I thought there might be some fun in 
 it, and after some palavering, consented. I told my 
 principal that in the first place he would have to chal 
 lenge his man, which he did, while we all waited for 
 the fun to begin. The next day, I think it was, General 
 Rosecranz met Captain Johnston on the main street. 
 The latter was pointed out to him, and the General im 
 mediately turned on him, with a military air that would 
 have intimidated almost anyone, and said: "Captain 
 
 Johnston, what is this you are making a d fool of 
 
 yourself about?" The latter in a pleading manner 
 went on to relate his supposed injuries. The General 
 replied that he knew all about the transaction ; that his 
 supposed enemy was acting in good faith, and that he 
 
94 BEMINISCESTCES 
 
 would get his money in due time. Immediately the 
 roaring lion became a lamb. 
 
 In the fall of 1864 I bought a mine from a Mr. Hun 
 ter. It was a claim named after himself and was 
 located on the top of Mt. Prometheus, about one mile 
 from where I lived in Austin, and was about one thou 
 sand feet higher than that point. I used to go there 
 every day and work, sinking an incline on the vein. 
 When I first began walking up the trail to the mine, 
 and a pretty steep trail it was, I would need to stop 
 every two or three hundred feet to regain my breath, 
 but after a month or so of practice I could start from 
 the foot of the trail and not break a good, smart walk 
 until I arrived at the mouth of the incline. I had found 
 a vein about twelve inches thick, which would assay 
 $30 per ton. I believed the mine to be valuable and 
 bought Hunter's interest in it. 
 
 I had made the acquaintance of a Dr. Gellar, whose 
 home was in Santa Clara, Gal. He was a nice gentle 
 man ; had been a member of the California legislature, 
 was a practicing physician, and had been living in Aus 
 tin for some time. He conceived the idea of getting 
 the owners of mines to give him their deeds, he 
 agreeing to pay a certain price for any mine he 
 should sell. He wished me to give him a deed of the 
 Hunter mine, but I did not believe that people in New 
 York city would buy our mines; hence I refused to 
 give him the deed, though he was confident of success. 
 He went to 'New York, and after a few months re 
 turned, reporting that he had sold the mines, and paid 
 the owners the amounts agreed upon. He had organized 
 a company in New York with a capital of five million 
 dollars, a certain portion of which was set aside for the 
 
LIFE IN NEVADA 95 
 
 building of reduction works. He had received $500,- 
 
 000 of the stock, which was worth, when he left New 
 York, 60 cents on the dollar. The company wanted a 
 competent man to manage the mines in Nevada, and 
 Dr. Gellar wanted me to sell him the Hunter mine, for 
 which he offered to pay my price $10,000 $1,500 
 cash down, with a written contract to pay the balance 
 when he should sell it. The great success of his former 
 trip to New York inspired me with confidence in his 
 ability, and I sold him the mine. 
 
 It may be a matter of interest to know that Califor 
 nia and the territories of the Pacific slope had always 
 held to the gold standard. All debts were payable in 
 gold in that section during the war, and U. S. legal 
 tender notes did not circulate as money, though large 
 amounts of the same could be purchased at a discount. 
 
 1 remember buying and sending to my wife a United 
 States compound interest note drawing 7 per cent on 
 its $50 face value. It was lost or stolen in the mails 
 and she never received it. This was the first and only 
 note of the kind that I ever saw. It would be regarded 
 as a great curiosity now. 
 
 In the spring of 1864 I sold my plat of surveyed 
 land on Big Creek to a Mr. Johnson from Crab 
 Orchard, Mo. He diverted water from Big Creek for 
 irrigation and planted it with Irish potatoes. He raised 
 about three hundred bushels per acre and sold them for 
 8 cents per pound. All vegetables and salt meats were 
 imported into this country from California, 
 
 Silver ore at that time was crushed in stamp mills 
 and the silver gathered by amalgamation. Many com 
 binations of silver and other metals would not amalga* 
 
96 REMINISCENCES 
 
 mate, and perhaps one-half of the silver was lost in the 
 "tailings," or refuse, by this treatment. 
 
 In the summer of 1865 the overland trip across the 
 country by stage had become quite the fashion for peo 
 ple of adventurous spirit. Some notable men had made 
 the trip and had advertised it to the public in general. 
 Among others were Deacon Bross, of the Chicago 
 Tribune; Horace Greeley, of the New York Tribune; 
 Prof. Silliman, of Yale College; James G. Elaine, of 
 glorious memory, and Albert D. Richardson, the popu 
 lar correspondent, who was afterwards murdered. Many 
 of these were induced to make us short speeches. I re 
 member Prof. Silliman, in a public talk to us ignorant 
 miners, explained how the fissure veins were formed 
 and how the quartz and metal penetrated them. His 
 theory was that in some stage of its existence the earth 
 was very damp ; it was then submitted in some manner 
 to great heat ; this rapid drying of the earth's surface 
 caused it to crack. Again the surface was covered with 
 water in which were carried large quantities of quartz 
 and minerals in solution, and this substance settling in 
 the fissures made the veins which we were trying to dig 
 out. As an explanation it was very lucid ; almost any 
 body who had not much sense could believe it. This 
 theory gave me great respect (?) for scientific men. 
 
 Dir. Gellar wished me to go to New York and see the 
 directors of his company and said he could procure my 
 appointment as superintendent of the company in Ne 
 vada, which would be most gratifying to me. I wished 
 to go home and visit my family any way. I think it 
 was some time in October I made arrangements for the 
 visit to New York, being furnished with letters of in 
 troduction to J. S. Christy, president of the company, 
 
LIFE IN NEVADA 97 
 
 and to several of the directors. The doctor was also to 
 write them direct, recommending my appointment. 
 When I was ready for the trip Mr. Johnson, whom I 
 have mentioned before, decided to go with me. 
 
 Road agents sometimes worked the stage routes, so 
 I put my money into San Francisco exchange, paid my 
 fare through to that city, and saved out only coin enough 
 to pay my incidental expenses. We intended to leave by 
 the stage that passed through Austin on Saturday. The 
 coach had only one or two passengers, but the agent re 
 fused to take any more; we thought this very strange, 
 but could not help ourselves. The next day, Sunday, 
 we left, bidding our acquaintances good-bye. The jour 
 ney was without incident until we arrived within a mile 
 of the Gould & Gurry mill at Virginia Gity, Monday 
 evening. There was a full moon, and it was light 
 enough to read print. I was lying on the front seat 
 with my head in Mr. Johnson's lap, partially asleep, 
 when the stage suddenly stopped. I heard a sharp voice 
 saying, "Hold your hands up or Fll shoot your head 
 off." Two of our passengers before this had left the 
 inside of the coach to enjoy a ride with the driver; one 
 of them was a Mr. Batchelder, of Boston, who had been 
 a captain in the army during the late war. He was 
 taking this overland trip as an adventure and to see the 
 great west. I knew the command I heard was given by 
 a stage robber. I opened the door of the coach and 
 stepped to the ground. A man wearing a linen coat, 
 with a belt around his waist, a straw hat, a mask, etc., 
 pointed a double-barreled shotgun at me and said : "Get 
 back into the stage." I did so without delay. Then I 
 heard some one say, "Throw out that Wells & Fargo 
 box." The driver threw it to the ground, and it was 
 
98 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 carried to the rear of the coach, on the left side. It 
 was an iron box, and a man broke it into pieces with a 
 sledge, I watching the proceedings from where I sat in 
 the stage. I was not much concerned. The road agents 
 did not usually interfere with the passengers; their 
 business was to rob the express box. The contents did 
 not appear to satisfy them. The next call was for the 
 passengers to get out of the stage. I knew that meant 
 business for us. My first impulse was to hide my 
 purse in the coach, but I recollected that passengers 
 without money were sometimes turned around and 
 kicked. I resolved that I would not suffer such ignominy 
 for the small amount of cash I had with me, so I took 
 my money, which was in a buckskin bag that also con 
 tained a silver "brick" worth $7 from the Hunter mine, 
 a number of odd silver coins which I had bought in 
 Austin, a $20 gold piece and fifteen silver dollars, and 
 slipped it with the purse into the pocket of a long linen 
 coat which I wore to protect myself from the dust. We 
 were made to stand in a line facing the coach, a high 
 wayman with a double-barreled shotgun being at each 
 end of the line, one back of us and one at the horses' 
 heads, while another robbed us. I was at the head of 
 the line and the weight of the coin in my pocket indi 
 cated where I had hidden my valuables. The robber, 
 without saying "by your leave," ran his hand into my 
 pocket and seized the purse. I remarked: "That is 
 all the money I have." He said: "Get back into the 
 coach." I made no unnecessary delay in doing so. From 
 my seat I saw them rob the other passengers. When 
 they came to Mr. Batchelder and demanded his purse, 
 he handed them $300 in gold. They asked him if he 
 had any greenbacks. He took out a pocket-book and 
 
LIFE IN NEVADA 99 
 
 opened it ; in it lay seven one hundred dollar bills. They 
 demanded his watch and the diamond he wore in his 
 shirt front, and tore the latter loose. Mr. B. said it was 
 a present from his mother, who was now dead, and that 
 he would like to make some arrangement for its re 
 demption. The robber had carelessly dropped the 
 diamond in the road, but he stooped down, picked it up, 
 handed it to Mr. Batchelder and said: "Keep it." 
 They searched Mr. Johnson but could find nothing. I 
 knew he had $300 in gold, paid him just before he left 
 Austin. The robbers next ordered us back into the 
 coach, then removed the barrier they had placed at a 
 sharp bend in the road (it had been so placed that the 
 driver could not see it until he was near), then or 
 dered the driver to stand still until they gave him the 
 signal to start, which they did when they had reached 
 the top of the mountain. 
 
 Upon receiving the signal the driver made good 
 speed until he reached the hotel in Virginia City. There 
 were eight men passengers and one woman. The rob 
 bers did not disturb the latter, but asked her if any 
 man had given her his money to keep ; she replied "No." 
 Johnson was the only man who had sustained no loss; 
 he had slipped his gold inside his boot-leg while the 
 robbers were breaking into the express box. There were 
 three or four silver "bricks" lying in the bottom of the 
 stage, weighing about one hundred pounds and worth 
 $1,000 each, but the road agents had learned not to 
 want this kind of property, as its loss invariably led to 
 their detection and capture. 
 
 I learned afterwards that three of the robbers were 
 | county commissioners of Lander County, of which Aus 
 tin was the county-seat ; also that the secret of the Sat- 
 
100 REMINISCENCES 
 
 urday coach refusing to take more passengers was that 
 in the usual course of travel the stage due to arrive on 
 Sunday had reached Austin on Saturday, twenty-four 
 hours ahead of time, with twenty thousand dollars in 
 gold coin which the stage company was transporting 
 from Salt Lake City to Virginia City. There was much 
 excitement in the latter town when we arrived and told 
 of the robhery. We spent the night at Virginia City, 
 but from there were to take another route to California 
 than the one I traveled over when coming to Nevada 
 two years before. 
 
 Messrs. Huntington & Hopkins, then large hardware 
 dealers in Sacramento, in company with the Crockers 
 and Leland Stanford, had built a road from this place 
 to Dutch Flat. When Congress enacted a law for the 
 building of an overland road the gentlemen named or 
 ganized a construction company to build the western 
 end of the road, which they called the Central Pacific ; 
 this road was to extend east of the Sierras to meet the 
 Union Pacific. Our coach went by the way of Truckee, 
 where it began to ascend the mountains. That after 
 noon we passed Donner Lake, rendered famous as the 
 place where the Donner party of immigrants endured 
 the terrible sufferings which has been so graphically 
 and pathetically depicted by Bret Harte. I remember 
 passing the fearful chasm at Cape Horn. I am uncer 
 tain whether we went farther than Sacramento by rail ; 
 we may have taken a steamer there for San Francisco. 
 
 When I received the draft for services from the saw 
 mill company I sent it to Lane, of San Francisco, for 
 collection. I wished him to remit me a certificate of 
 deposit for the proceeds from some San Francisco bank, 
 but I received no satisfaction. Then I wrote him some 
 
LIFE IN NEVADA 101 
 
 threatening letters about the matter. When I arrived 
 in Frisco Mr. McCracken told me that I had not taken 
 the right course; he suggested that I let him manage 
 Lane, saying that he thought he could get the money. 
 I did so, and in a short time Mr. McCracken handed 
 the amount to me. I have always doubted whether 
 McCracken loaned the money to Lane or paid it out of 
 his own money in order to protect Lane's reputation. 
 When I lived in Oshkosh Mr. O. C. McCracken was a 
 dry goods merchant there, and he also liked a good 
 horse. After he went to California there were rumors 
 that he gambled. When I reached San Francisco his 
 wife and child had arrived from Oshkosh and he was 
 keeping house. I visited him while there, but he did 
 not introduce me to any of the gambling fraternity. His 
 associates appeared to be gentlemen. He was always a 
 good friend to me and I respected him. 
 
 I waited in San Francisco till a steamer should sail 
 for the isthmus. I took passage by the Nicaragua route, 
 then a rival of tne Vanderbilt Panama line. We landed 
 at San Juan del Sur. As we drew near the coast at a dis 
 tance of about a mile, we turned a sharp angle toward it, 
 and our steamer passing through some woods threaded 
 a little, narrow channel of water, into a circular lake, 
 not twice the length of our steamer in diameter. Our 
 vessel was of wood of good dimensions and carried six 
 hundred passengers, all of whom were glad to land on 
 the wharf after ten days' confinement on the steamer. 
 We had to go from this place to Virgin Bay, twelve 
 miles distant on Lake Nicaragua, At the landing we 
 found several hundred burros, also a number of two 
 and three-seated wagons and other conveyances, of 
 which the passengers were told to take their choice. 
 
102 REMINISCENCES 
 
 I had made the acquaintance of a pleasant gentleman 
 who had lived at Los Angeles for several years. He 
 talked Spanish fluently and was a very agreeable com 
 panion. We each selected a burro on which to ride, 
 and followed a road leading up a stream through the 
 woods. The natives had booths where they sold fruits, na 
 tive drinks of all kinds, and food, also articles of local 
 curiosity. I bought a walking cane of a very handsome 
 wood that grew in that locality, and when I reached 
 New York City I had it turned and mounted. It made 
 a beautiful cane, and manufacturers offered me $10 for 
 the stick. 
 
 We arrived at Virgin Bay at about 3 p. in. and found 
 a steamer waiting to take us across the lake. There 
 were no accommodations at this place in the way of 
 lodgings, but the steamer did not leave until the next 
 day, as it took all night to get the freight and baggage 
 across from San Juan del Sur. We started across the 
 lake in the morning ; it was a beautiful sheet of water. 
 A few miles from the shore at Virgin Bay is an island 
 upon which are two extinct volcanoes, beautiful moun 
 tain cones, about equal in size and height. 
 
 We arrived at Nicaragua River where it leaves the 
 lake. Some dredging had been done here to deepen the 
 channel. Our boat went on down the river to Castillo. 
 We arrived there just before dark and spent the night. 
 As no accommodations for sleeping on the boat were to 
 be had, my friend went ashore to find lodging. He found 
 one. Our bed was of planed boards covered with a 
 sheet and supplied with another sheet to put over us. 
 I was not accustomed to that kind of bed; besides a 
 Spanish garcon talked in an adjoining room, which pre 
 vented my sleeping. In the morning we were trans- 
 
LIFE IN NEVADA 103 
 
 ferred to a smaller, lighter draft steamer, that could 
 pass the rapids in the river, which began just below 
 Castillo. This boat was crowded with passengers. We 
 were served with breakfast aboard the boat, and pro 
 ceeded on our way down the river. We saw many beau 
 tiful birds in the trees, of brilliant plumage and gay 
 colors. Through the rapids the river was narrow and 
 crooked, and our passage consequently slow. 
 
 Many of the passengers imbibed large quantities of 
 liquor and became intoxicated. When about twelve 
 miles from Greytown one passenger who had taken too 
 much was leaning against a post on the lower deck. In 
 some manner his shoulder slipped past the post and he 
 fell over backward into the river. I watched him as 
 he lay there on his back, on the surface of the water. 
 The bell was rung and the steamer stopped, but before 
 a boat could be sent to his rescue I saw him suddenly 
 disappear beneath the water. I suppose an alligator 
 or crocodile grabbed him and hauled him down. I was 
 unable to learn the man's name, and I suppose this to 
 be one of those cases where a man disappears and his 
 friends and relatives never know what became of him. 
 This accident sobered the passengers, who before had 
 been hilarious with drink. 
 
 We arrived at Greytown after dark and were told 
 that the transportation company would pay our board 
 at the hotel. My friend had the advantage of most of 
 the passengers, in being able to speak Spanish. He se 
 cured lodging for us in the best hotel. It was of the 
 usual type in Mexico, as it surrounded a patio. We 
 lodged in the hotel for a week waiting the arrival of 
 the Atlantic steamer from New York. The weather 
 was very fine and we had an enjoyable time. All things 
 
104 REMINISCENCES 
 
 were curious and interesting to me on account of their 
 novelty. I found some of the finest cigars that I have 
 ever had the pleasure of smoking and brought a couple 
 of thousand home with me. I saw some very hand 
 some jewelry of gold and tortoise shell that was said to 
 have been manufactured by the Mosquito Indians. The 
 carving was delicate and artistic. I bought my wife a 
 beautiful ring, which proved too small, and so I have 
 it yet. 
 
 From the fact that I have been over the Isthmian 
 routes of the proposed canal, both via Panama and 
 Nicaragua, I have felt more than ordinary interest in 
 the present project. I have sometimes thought that the 
 United States government made a mistake in selecting 
 the former route. With my imperfect knowledge of 
 engineering I see no formidable difficulty in construct 
 ing a canal via Nicaragua. 
 
 In my boyhood days there was but one school in 
 America, so far as I know, for educating boys to become 
 civil engineers. What I learned of engineering I ac 
 quired from other men who had taught themselves. I 
 judge I was possessed of natural talent for this profes 
 sion, but I lacked the early education to fit me for such 
 a position; a fact which I have always very much re 
 gretted. I did not dream at that time of the great de 
 velopment of our country I was to see. The business 
 of a farmer or merchant comprised most of the prospects 
 open to the ambitious boys of that day. What is before 
 the lads of this day is a world of magnificent possibili 
 ties ! How I should like to know what I now know, and 
 have the youth, physique and intellect that I had fifty 
 years ago, with the present chances for education and 
 
LIFE IN NEVADA 105 
 
 with the possibilities in sight for the boys of this gen 
 eration ! 
 
 Science must enter largely into such gigantic opera 
 tions as building an isthmian canal, but practical ex 
 perience and "good horse sense" are of even greater im 
 portance. The digging of a canal some thirty miles 
 long and an average depth of three hundred feet is 
 perhaps a possibility, but not a probability, without the 
 expenditure of an amount of money, and of life, that is 
 appalling. It involves an amount of work that is al 
 most incredible. But the digging of the Nicaraguan 
 canal, though a gigantic operation, appears feasible to 
 a person of no greater experience and observation than 
 myself. 
 
 During our stay at Greytown most of the passengers 
 amused themselves viewing the city and becoming 
 familiar with the possibilities of the country. Between 
 Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean there was con 
 siderable agricultural development, also some fine coffee 
 plantations. On the East side of Lake Nicaragua I 
 saw but little enterprise or development, the country 
 having the appearance of waiting for something to 
 turn up. The city of Greytown was an exception. 
 
 One moonlit night I took a walk through the city. It 
 consisted largely of poor shanties. I saw a few peo 
 ple gathered about a house and inquired what was the 
 matter; someone who understood and could speak Eng 
 lish replied that a couple of men were fighting. I said : 
 "Why don't you stop them ?" He replied : "Oh, the 
 men have got swords." The house was without lights 
 and the women at the door were wailing. The fighters 
 seemed astonished at my appearance and stopped. I 
 seized one of them and swung him through the door. 
 
106 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 However, as I could understand none of their talk, I 
 went back to the hotel. As I came into the light of 
 the room I was greeted with the demand: "Where 
 have you been?" "Why?" said I. They exclaimed: 
 "Look at your coat." I did so; it was covered with 
 blood. I told them of my interference in the fracas 
 just related, and they suggested that I ought to have a 
 guardian attend me when I went out. 
 
 One morning we saw a steamer in the offing a mile 
 or two from shore, and were informed that it was the 
 steamer come to carry us to New York. We were con 
 veyed to this vessel in whale boats and other craft 
 manned with oars. We found it to be an iron steamer, 
 the first I had ever seen. It was a fine craft and we 
 found good accommodations aboard; her name was 
 "Santiago de Cuba." When the baggage and freight 
 were on board the steamer set sail. We passed through 
 the Caribbean Sea into the Gulf of Mexico, past Cape 
 San Antonio on the west end of Cuba, through the 
 Straits of Florida into the gulf stream, and made our 
 way up the east coast of the United States to New York 
 City. Nothing of importance occurred on this part of 
 the voyage that I can recall. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WIND AND WATEK. 
 
 When our ship arrived at New York the passengers 
 scattered in all directions. I had made some acquaint 
 ances and formed some friendships on the voyage. My 
 friend and I remained together and boarded at the 
 same house, which faced what was then known as St. 
 John's Park. I understand this has since been taken 
 as a site for a freight depot for the Hudson River R. R. 
 I delivered my letters of introduction, gave the parties 
 much information about the mines of Nevada, and was 
 well received. After some weeks I was informed by 
 the president of the company that I would be employed 
 at a salary of $3,600 and would be expected to return 
 to Nevada in February. I planned to go to Wisconsin 
 to get my wife and boy and take them to Nevada when 
 I returned. 
 
 On my journey to Wisconsin, when we arrived at 
 Pittsburg, Mr. Charles Eldredge, member of Congress 
 from the Fond du Lac district, and Mr. Philetus Saw 
 yer, member of Congress from the Oshkosh district^ 
 came into my Pullman car. During the journey Mr. 
 Sawyer informed me how he happened to run for Con 
 gress, which interested me not a little. He said that 
 Colonel Bouck, who was colonel of a Wisconsin regi 
 ment, resigned his commission and came home from 
 the army to run for Congress on the democratic ticket, 
 proclaiming that the war was a "damned failure." 
 
 107 
 
108 REMINISCENCES 
 
 Sawyer said lie did not believe it, and in order to beat 
 Bouck he determined to run himself. He spent con 
 siderable money to get elected $10,000. Mr. Sawyer, 
 as I recollect, served twelve years in the lower house 
 and eighteen years in the senate. He was a shrewd, 
 far-seeing man, who never went back on his friends. 
 He was a good talker in a chair, but could not make a 
 speech on his feet; he appeared to lack the nerve to 
 make the first effort. He was a good friend to me after 
 wards. Mark II anna was a similar man, but not so 
 genial as Mr. Sawyer; until a few years before his 
 death Hanna had never made a public speech, yet finally 
 he became something of an orator. President McKinley 
 told me that he was very much surprised at Mark 
 Hanna's ability. Mr. Hanna discovered that he could 
 talk on his feet and became one of the principal stump 
 speakers of the country during Mr. McKinley's last 
 campaign for the presidency. 
 
 I met my family in Oshkosh and after a few weeks' 
 stay we went to Sherburne for a visit among my people. 
 After a short sojourn there I went to New York City. 
 I had not been there long before I discovered that an 
 tagonistic influences were at work against me. I learned 
 that one of the directors of the company, a Mr. Bennett* 
 of Binghampton, wanted to send a young lawyer from 
 his city to Nevada to examine the titles to the mines. 
 I knew that was unnecessary. As it proved afterwards, 
 Mr. Bennett had other designs, and as will be related, 
 he accomplished what he wished. I stayed in New 
 York all summer. I had some half a dozen acquaint 
 ances there who were trying to sell mines. We boarded 
 with a Mrs. Sheik, near St. John's Park, in the locality 
 where I had boarded the fall before. 
 
WIND AND WATER 109 
 
 The Fenians were then making a great noise in the 
 country about invading Canada, Their head center 
 organization was in New York. A young Irishman 
 who claimed to be chief clerk of this organization 
 boarded in the same house with us; also a number of 
 Irish saleswomen. Mrs. Sheik was herself an Irish 
 woman, but she had procured an appropriate name by 
 marrying a German. The talk at the table by these 
 Irish guests was very optimistic and very annoying to 
 me. I became disgusted one day at dinner because of 
 the young man's braggadocia, and I remarked to him 
 that I had boarded with a young Irishman while I was 
 in Nevada who had explained to me the manner in 
 which many Irishmen had come to this country. The 
 man I had boarded with, Jack Doyle, said that when a 
 ship was in a nearby harbor and wanted emigrants for 
 America, they would take some large wooden boxes, bore 
 many holes through the sides large enough for a man to 
 put his hands through, put a lot of Irish potatoes inside, 
 take the boxes to the mountains and leave them there 
 over night ; in the morning the ship's crew would go to 
 the boxes and would find an Irishman fastened to nearly 
 every hole in the boxes. He had put his hand through 
 the hole and grabbed a potato, and it was impossible for 
 him to get his hand out with the potato clasped in it. 
 I had asked why he did not drop the potato and so take 
 his hand out, but the reply was, "The damned fool 
 didn't know enough." When I had finished my story 
 the silence around that table was appalling; I did not 
 know for a time but there would be an earthquake. I re 
 marked that I did not believe the story at all, but that I 
 didn't know but this young fellow might be able to in 
 form me as to its truth. Mrs. Sheik threatened to ex- 
 
110 REMINISCENCES 
 
 tradite me to some other boarding house, but the in 
 dignation soon subsided and I heard nothing more about 
 the wonderful things the "Faynians" were going to do. 
 By fall my projects had all matured, but brought me 
 no results. I decided to return to Wisconsin, but noth 
 ing there seemed to offer satisfactory inducements; so 
 I went to Chicago to try my fortune in that city. I met 
 an old acquaintance, who was in the same predicament 
 as myself. After some investigation we concluded we 
 could both get rich in a retail grocery store. I was to 
 do the buying and he the selling. We bought a grocery 
 on the west side, which we thought had a good trade, but 
 by the next spring we had become rather pessimistic in 
 regard to the future of the business. We, therefore, im 
 proved the first opportunity to sell out and let another 
 man get rich. The principal assets of the business 
 were bad debts, which proved to be permanent invest 
 ments. I spent some time trying to collect them, with 
 out success. I made up my mind that if I were to live 
 within my income I must go to work at my trade. At 
 first I went to work in the wood- working department of 
 a machine shop, but after putting wooden cogs into iron 
 core wheels for a few months, I concluded to try my old 
 trade of millwright. I engaged with Messrs. Webster 
 & Pray, at that time the leading millwrights in Chicago, 
 to take charge of the rebuilding of a flouring mill at Nor- 
 ville, Mich. The work required considerable skill on my 
 part, and I was about eight months in this employment. 
 I was then sent to Flint, Mich., where I put in new ma 
 chinery for the making of flour on the patent sys 
 tem, in which effort I was very successful. When I 
 finished and received my pay the proprietor made me a 
 present of a barrel of patent flour. I then returned to 
 
WIND AND WATER 111 
 
 Chicago where my family lived. One day I saw an ad 
 vertisement in a newspaper as follows : 
 
 "Wanted: A Man Competent to Take Charge of a 
 Large Lumbering Business in Michigan." 
 
 I applied for the place and was engaged to go to 
 Pentwater, Mich., to take charge of the business of Mr. 
 Charles Mears at that point. Mr. Mears went to Pent- 
 water with me. On arrival I found that he had for 
 superintendent, a man who held the position for ten 
 years, until he had come to think himself a bigger man 
 than the owner. Mr. M. for some reason desired to get 
 rid of him. I was not informed as to the situation un 
 til I arrived at Pentwater. I then told Mr. Mears that 
 with his permission I would wait a week before taking 
 charge, in order that I might get acquainted with the 
 men and the business. 
 
 At Pentwater, Mr. Mears had two saw mills and a 
 large store. A stream ran from Lake Pentwater into 
 Lake Michigan ; it was about one hundred and fifty feet 
 wide and a half a mile in length. At its mouth a wharf 
 had been built out into the lake, where vessels landed 
 and were loaded and on which lumber was piled ready 
 for shipment. A vessel would arrive from Chicago, tie 
 up at the wharf and be loaded with from one to two 
 hundred thousand feet of lumber, in from twelve to 
 twenty-four hours, when she would be ready for her re 
 turn trip. 
 
 Mr. Mears owned pine lands and did his own logging 
 in the winter, the logs being piled on the shore of Lake 
 Pentwater and also on the shore of a little lake north of 
 Pentwater called Bass Lake. He stored logs in these 
 lakes for the two mills, and also cut some seven 
 thousand bolts for a shingle mill which he had in Chi- 
 
112 11EMINISCENCES 
 
 cago. He also manufactured lumber at Whitehall, and 
 at two other lakes on the west coast of Michigan; only 
 the plant at Pentwater was to be under my control. 
 
 I was privately and confidentially informed that no 
 new man could in less than six months obtain sufficient 
 experience to run the business; moreover, that the old 
 superintendent was popular with the men, who would 
 not permit a new man to take his place. Immediately 
 after taking charge insubordination was exhibited and I 
 became convinced that the laborers, intended to make the 
 job a very tiresome one for me; therefore, as soon as 
 a man evinced an intention to disobey my orders I dis 
 charged him. At the end of four weeks I had dis 
 charged over sixty men ; then the rest became very docile 
 and gave me no further trouble. While there I rebuilt 
 one of the saw mills. 
 
 Living in Pentwater I found a Mr. Young, whose 
 native place was Sherbourne; he had married a Miss 
 Cook, one of the young ladies who sat in the seat in 
 front of me in the academy when I attended school 
 there, and whom I have mentioned before. These were 
 the parents of the present alderman, who ably repre 
 sented the sixth ward of Chicago. While I was there 
 Mr. Mears, then seventy or more years of age, married 
 the pretty, sixteen-year-old daughter of his landlady. 
 
 Certain agencies were at work at Pentwater antago 
 nistic to me. A clerk in a store by the name of Palms, 
 and myself attended a party one evening. Not long 
 afterwards Mr. Mears took occasion privately to inform 
 me that he had heard very damaging stories of my con 
 duct there. I asked : "What is it, Mr. Mears ?" He re 
 plied: "I am told that you got drunk." I said I was 
 very sorry to hear it, but did not see how that could 
 
WIND AND WATER 113 
 
 
 
 be possible, as I had not seen a drop of liquor since I 
 had been in Pentwater, and did not drink anyway ; this 
 seemed to satisfy him. 
 
 A feature peculiar to Lake Michigan is the violent 
 gusts of wind that spring up without warning. On one 
 occasion my wife and boy came from Chicago to visit 
 me. The wind sprang up before the steamer reached the 
 wharf. The boat made a couple of ineffectual efforts to 
 land, but finally backed out and went north to the Mani- 
 tou Islands, where it remained two nights before return 
 ing. One beautiful morning in early fall I decided to 
 take a tug boat and go to Bass Lake, pick up a tow of 
 logs and bring them to Pentwater. The sun was shining 
 brightly and there was no wind. Bass Lake is distant 
 about three miles down Lake Michigan. The tug was a 
 flat-bottomed scow, having a hundred horse-power boiler 
 on deck. It was a stern wheeler, quite powerful, but un 
 wieldy. When arrived at Bass Lake we anchored near 
 the shore, spread our towing boom, attaching one end of 
 it to the tug, and commenced running logs into the 
 other end of the boom from the little lake. The wind 
 began to freshen. After we had put a few hundred logs 
 into the boom, we found we could do little against the 
 wind, and the tug was in danger of being blown ashore, 
 so the captain of the tug decided to go back to Pent- 
 water. The wind blew almost at right angles to the 
 shore; when far enough out in the lake the captain 
 turned the boat southward to go up the shore, this put 
 it in the trough of the sea. The boat rocked terribly, 
 and threatened to "turn turtle." We were fast being 
 blown ashore, as the logs helped to pull us in that di 
 rection. The captain cut the towline and let the logs 
 go ; then he was unable to bring the bow of the boat into 
 
114: REMINISCENCES 
 
 
 
 the wind. I feared that the rocking of the tug would 
 break the braces that held the boiler to the deck and that 
 it would roll off into the water. The captain was a re 
 sourceful man and a good sailor; he tried to rig a jury 
 mast on which to attach a blanket from the cabin for a 
 sail. We saw a sea-going tug put out from Pentwater 
 harbor coming to our assistance, but it put out only a 
 little way from the pier when it turned back, leaving us 
 to our fate. We were being "rocked in the cradle of the 
 deep" all right, and were unable to get the tug's head 
 into the wind. I expected nothing but shipwreck, which 
 would probably result in the drowning of all on board. 
 The captain and I finally rigged a jury mast made from 
 a pike-pole, secured a blanket to it, and brought the tug 
 around, bow into the wind. After running a short time 
 we turned around and sailed into Pentwater harbor. The 
 storm subsided as quickly as it had arisen. 
 
 The engineers on the tugboats were required to keep 
 within call on Sundays, in case of necessity arising to 
 use the boat. One Sunday morning one of the en 
 gineers asked permission to go with some others five or 
 six miles blackberrying, which I granted. The party 
 returned on horse-back feeling rather hilarious, and ran 
 their horses down the principal street, which was paved 
 with sawdust. The horse which the engineer rode 
 stumbled and fell, throwing its rider violently onto the 
 road ahead of him. The engineer was stunned and in 
 jured internally. We carried him to the company hotel. 
 Two young doctors who had lately settled in the town 
 were sent for, and they gave the injured man a dose of 
 chloroform. The patient went into a stupor from which 
 he never recovered. The doctor worked his lungs like 
 a bellows trying to keep the breath of life in him, for 
 
WIND AND WATEB 115 
 
 several hours. I have known of a number of persons 
 killed by an over-dose of some anesthetic, but there is 
 one consoling feature in the experience of physicians 
 their mistakes are buried with their patients. 
 
 When winter came I returned to Chicago, and later I 
 went to Oshkosh and took charge of a lumbering opera 
 tion for my father-in-law. I spent the winter in the 
 woods above New London, Wis. In the spring when 
 the logging roads thawed out, I built a board shanty on 
 the bank of the river at the log landing, and stayed 
 there in charge of the logs, waiting for the ice to break 
 up, when the logs were to be put in cribs. These were 
 about forty feet square, made by four booms put to 
 gether and pinned at their ends with oak pins, the in 
 side being then packed full of logs. The cribs would 
 run down the river without attention. If one corner 
 struck the bank the crib would simply turn and go out 
 into the stream again. Before we had the logs all put 
 into the cribs, the ice above us had broken up, and the 
 rush of logs, cribs of posts and railroad ties made our 
 logs so insecure that we decided to pull out and go down 
 the river with the jam. We took eight or ten suitable 
 logs, put poles across on top, pinned the poles to the logs, 
 put oars on each end of this float, put our shanty in the 
 center of it, and our provisions and traps in same, then 
 got on board. Turning the logs and cribs loose, we fol 
 lowed in the rear of the logs in our house on the crib. 
 It was our intention to tie up at New London and stop 
 there all night, but we failed to make a safe landing; 
 the high water in the river making the current so strong, 
 that we had to run the river all night. It rained very 
 hard and was so dark that one could not see his hand be 
 fore him, except when the lightning flashed. The 
 
116 REMINISCENCES 
 
 thunder was almost a continuous peal. Taken altogether, 
 it was one of the most terrific nights I ever experienced. 
 Of course, under such circumstances, we could not think 
 of sleeping. It was so dangerous to walk on the crib, 
 that we stayed inside the shanty and watched the shore 
 by the flashes of lightning. To have stepped off the raft 
 into the water would have meant probable death. 
 Towards morning, as it grew lighter the storm abated. 
 We came to an island in the river, which we had ex 
 pected to reach ahead of the logs, as the cribs should 
 have been turned to the right of it. We stopped here, 
 much relieved to escape from our perilous position of 
 the night 
 
CHAPTEK X. 
 
 FBOM NORTH TO SOUTH. 
 
 I went to Oshkosh and soon became convinced that 
 the scheme which had brought me to that city would 
 not materialize. It was decided that my wife should re 
 main here and that I should go back to Chicago. There 
 I joined a Mr. Fargusson who was in the mill-supply 
 business. I went into the project on my own responsi 
 bility and secured the agency of a number of manu 
 facturing concerns ; this I afterwards made quite profit 
 able. Mr. Fargusson and I occupied the same store on 
 Canal St. and worked together very harmoniously. He 
 was, I think, of Scotch extraction, and was an honest, 
 respectable man whom I very much esteemed. 
 
 At first I engaged in building flour mills. I planned 
 one to be built at Washington, Neb., which was to be 
 operated by water power. Also a similar one to be 
 erected in Kansas, and a third one for Messrs. Baxter 
 & Brunner, of Gratiot, Wis. In the latter case the own 
 ers insisted that I should come to Gratiot, and superin 
 tend the building of the mill, or they would not give 
 me the contract to furnish the machinery for it; this I 
 consented to do. According to my best recollection this 
 was in the summer and fall of 1870. The masonry for 
 the foundation of the mill was laid on solid rock ; I fur 
 nished the machinery from the firm of Messrs. J. S. 
 Noyes & Co., of Buffalo, N. Y. I used water wheels, 
 some five in number, manufactured, I think, by G. E. 
 Houston, of Beloit, Wis. The building of this mill I 
 
 117 
 
BEMINISCENCES 
 
 enjoyed very much, as I had no annoyance from the 
 proprietors and they did not ask me to make everything 
 as cheap as possible. The building above the foundations 
 was of wood. I built all in a first-class manner, accord 
 ing to my ideas of what that term meant. The owners 
 were very much pleased with the mill. I afterwards 
 read that Charlie Brunner, the junior partner, and 
 his wife and child were killed in the Lake Shore R. R. 
 disaster, which occurred near Ashtabula, O. Thus, at 
 one blow, a whole family was destroyed. He was a 
 splendid man and I loved him very much. 
 
 I planned several other mills that summer. In 1871 
 I took a contract to erect water works for fire protection 
 in the village of Watertown, Wis. At my request Gen. 
 "Gabe" Bouck, who was in the Wisconsin legislature, 
 caused to be enacted a statute permitting villages and 
 cities to issue bonds to pay for such improvements. The 
 main street of the village was continued across the dam 
 which backed up a small lake, furnishing a good supply 
 of water but a low head ; it supplied water power for a 
 flouring mill, and the owner donated the water to the 
 city for the proposed works. I set a six-foot Houston 
 wheel on iron posts which stood on solid rock, and built 
 a circular flume of boiler iron. In fact, the whole outfit 
 was of iron, no wood at all about it The water pipes 
 ran up through the streets of the village and at the 
 different street-corners hydrants were attached to the 
 pipes. When wanted for fire purposes, hose was attached 
 to the hydrants. While I was building these water 
 works the great fire at Chicago occurred. We heard 
 rumors of that fire which seemed almost incredible, but 
 they were confirmed later, so the next day I went to 
 Chicago. I found that our store, No. 54, or 56 Canal 
 
FEOM NOBTH TO SOUTH 119 
 
 Street, had escaped the general destruction. I walked 
 through the streets on the south side, among the ruins; 
 it did not seem possible that such a fire could have 
 happened. One thing that surprised me was that the 
 house of Mr. W. B. Ogden, built of wood in the center 
 of a square on the north side> was apparently uninjured, 
 while everything around it was destroyed. A row of 
 fine trees surrounded this square on which the house 
 was built, and this taught me that green trees were a 
 great protection to buildings in case of- a conflagration. 
 After viewing the ruins as much as I wished I returned 
 to Watertown, the accommodations for strangers being 
 very limited. 
 
 That fall I entered into an agreement with the village 
 of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, for the construction 
 of works similar to those erected at Watertown. I con 
 tracted for the water pipe in Cleveland, Ohio, and it 
 was to be delivered at Black Biver Falls, about the first 
 of November. 
 
 After completing the job at Watertown, I erected a 
 pump in the large saw mill of D. J. Spaulding, then 
 president of the village of Black Eiver Falls. This 
 gentleman was one of the finest men it has ever been 
 my pleasure to know. Owing to the quantity of freight 
 on the lake the pipe was shipped on lie last boat of the 
 season. The trenches had been dug through the streets 
 and was awaiting the arrival of the pipe. The weather 
 became very cold and the ground was frozen six feet 
 deep. I recollect laying the pipe one day, and making 
 the lead joints when the thermometer showed twenty 
 degrees below zero. With all these difficulties to con 
 tend against I completed the project, gave a satisfactory 
 exhibition of the power of the water, received my pay 
 
120 REMINISCENCES 
 
 and went home. Mr. S. S. Merrill, superintendent of 
 the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, was very just to 
 me in repaying over-charges on freight collected at 
 Black River Falls by his railroad. 
 
 By some means which I do not now recall, I had 
 obtained the agency for the Northwest of the celebrated 
 carbolized hose, manufactured by the Gutta-percha & 
 Rubber Company of New York. The sale of this hose 
 was quite remunerative to me, as I received a commis 
 sion of twenty-five cents per foot on all that I sold. 
 
 The next summer, I think in 1872, I made arrange 
 ments with Cole Brothers, of Pawtucket 2 Rhode Island, 
 to sell the steam fire engines manufactured by them. 
 This was a double-piston machine built after the plan 
 of the celebrated Amoskeag fire engine. It was a lighter 
 machine, and I thought, therefore, preferable for use in 
 the west, where the streets were not generally so well 
 paved then, as they are now. I sold nine of these Cole 
 Brothers fire engines the next year after I took the 
 agency. The capital of the firm was limited and I 
 agreed to pay a certain price for each machine ordered, 
 and take my chances in collecting my pay from the towns 
 where I sold the machines. The firm agreed to deliver 
 the engine at the point where I should sell it, and to 
 give a satisfactory exhibition of its workings. I fixed 
 a price on the machines that would allow me a profit of 
 $500 per engine. 
 
 In selling these engines I learned a good deal about 
 the inside workings of municipal politics. My principal 
 competitor in the business was the Silsby Company of 
 Lockport, New York, though I had several other 
 machines to compete with, the Amoskeag, Clapp & 
 Jones, etc. I was a very successful salesman and it waa 
 
FEOM NORTH TO SOUTH 121 
 
 seldom that I lost a sale of either flour mill supplies, 
 mill machinery, hose, belting or fire engines. The 
 only sale of a fire engine that I lost was in my own 
 city, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In each city where it was 
 decided to buy a fire engine the people would resolve 
 themselves into two factions; one favoring a rotary, 
 and the other a piston machine. In almost every 
 instance I was opposed by the rotary people. For the 
 same class of machine they asked $1,000 more than 
 I did, which one thousand dollars they often used 
 for bribing aldermen or others to help them make a 
 sale. I resolved from the start that I would use no 
 bribery methods, and during all the time that I was 
 selling fire engines I never offered or paid any city 
 official or other person a consideration for the buying 
 of my machine. I fought the rotary people "in the 
 open," and usually the fight was a very strenuous one. 
 If there happened to be machinists among the alder 
 men I sought them out and explained to them the 
 good points of my machine, and also pointed out the 
 defects in the rotary engine. 
 
 I remember having a hard fight with the Silsby people 
 at Oskaloosa, Iowa. I either saw in a newspaper or 
 received a letter that they were going to buy a fire 
 engine, and I immediately took a train for that city. 
 I had been interviewing the aldermen, explaining the 
 good qualities of my engine for about twenty-four hours, 
 when as usual a Silsby Company agent appeared. There 
 was a man in the city council who had a machine shop, 
 and it was easy to convince him of the superiority of 
 my machine, but another man in the council who was a 
 politician, and mixed up in state politics, was a 
 smooth, slick, plausible fellow. At first he was quite 
 
122 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 favorable to my engine, but when the Silsby man arrived 
 I knew I should have him to fight, judging by my past 
 experience with city fathers. It was evident to me in a 
 very short time that this alderman was "on the make.' 7 
 When I was convinced of this I let the other agent have 
 him. 
 
 At a meeting of the council the Silsby agent and my 
 self both appeared to represent our respective machines. 
 There was one alderman, I think they called him 
 "judge," who suggested that there was no difference in 
 the intrinsic value of the two machines, so far as he 
 could see. I told the council they could have my engine 
 for $4,500, but no less. "The Judge" finally made a 
 motion for adjournment till the next night, and then 
 buy the engine which they could get for the least money. 
 My friends told me the next day that Silsby's agent had 
 agreed to underbid me, and I was pretty well convinced 
 that he would sell his engine to the city. My friends 
 wanted me to enter into competition with him, and 
 after considerable persuasion I told my supporters in 
 the council that I would bid against the Silsby agent 
 with the distinct understanding that I was not to be 
 bound by any bid I made. This was agreed to by 
 them, and I went to the council meeting the next even 
 ing with that understanding. The "judge" arose and 
 remarked that the council had come to the conclusion 
 that it would buy the machine that could be obtained 
 for the least money, and turning to me he inquired at 
 what price I would sell to the city a second-class fire 
 engine. I replied "$4,500." He then turned to the 
 Silsby agent and asked at what price he would sell his 
 machine, to which the reply was "$4,400." We kept 
 falling in price until my competitor struck $2,500, 
 
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH 123 
 
 when I refused to go any lower. The council then 
 entered into a contract with him at that figure, and also 
 contracted with me for two thousand feet of carbolized 
 hose. When we had finished I turned to the council 
 and said: "I congratulate you upon having purchased 
 a fire engine at its true value. That is the price at 
 which the Silsby Manufacturing Company will sell 
 their machines when they cannot get any more for them. 
 I could not sell one of my machines for less than 
 $4,500." One of the members of the council wished to 
 know what I would have done if the council had 
 accepted one of my bids. I replied that I had an under 
 standing with my friends in the council that no bid of 
 mine, less than $4,500 would be accepted, and that it 
 was with that understanding I had entered into compe 
 tition with the Silsby representative, for the purpose 
 of enabling the city to get a Silsby engine at the lowest 
 possible price. I then turned to the Silsby agent and 
 said: "You establish a price with this sale which will 
 be a precedent ; I will see that you sell no more machines 
 at over $2,500." 
 
 I had had a very strenuous conflict. A local news 
 paper had suddenly become very much interested in the 
 Silsby machine; what influenced it I could only sur 
 mise. The next day it contained a bitter attack upon 
 myself. During this contest I had not slept for six con 
 secutive days ; when it was all over I went back to Osh- 
 kosh. After about two weeks I received a letter from a 
 friend in Oskaloosa saying that he thought if I would 
 visit the town at once I could sell it my fire engine; I 
 took the next train for that city. On arrival I learned 
 that the Silsby Company had repudiated the contract 
 their agent had made with the city, stating that he had 
 
124 REMINISCENCES 
 
 exceeded his authority and that $4,000 was their lowest 
 price. My friends were indignant, and took the posi 
 tion that they would not have the Silsby machine at any 
 price. A meeting of the council was called for the night 
 of my arrival, and I signed a contract with the city for 
 a Cole Brothers fire engine at a price of $4,500. The 
 machine was delivered in due time, and found satis 
 factory. 
 
 In the spring of 1874 the city of Oshkosh decided 
 to buy an additional fire engine. I interviewed the chair 
 man of the fire committee in regard to the Coles Brothers 
 machine; he asked me to have one made for that city 
 and to bring it to Oshkosh, saying that if it proved a 
 good machine the city would buy it. This man I had 
 known ever since I came to Oshkosh in 1855, and I 
 considered him, something more than an acquaintance. 
 During the time I had known him, he had migrated to 
 Colorado, become interested in some mines, which he 
 had sold immediately after the civil war to New York 
 parties, and was reported to have a good deal of money. 
 He had afterwards returned to Oshkosh, built a fine 
 residence, also a saw mill, had bought pine lands, be 
 coming a prominent lumberman, and was one of the 
 city fathers. I had the engine built and brought to 
 Oshkosh, gave an exhibition with it, and stored it in 
 the engine house on the south side. 
 
 "Jack" Hasbrouck, the fire marshal of the city, took 
 out my engine during a conflagration among some lum 
 ber piles one night, and used it to fight the flames. The 
 fire department, and citizens generally, were pleased 
 with the good conduct of the machine, and praised it 
 highly. I thought this would decide its purchase, but 
 no action was taken by the council. I was satisfied that 
 
FROM NOIiTH TO SOUTH 
 
 the delay was caused by the action of the gentleman 
 above alluded to, Mr. Doe, who stated that the Silsby 
 Company were building a machine to bring into compe 
 tition with mine. I told him that I would not enter 
 into competition with the Silsby engine; that they 
 would build a first-class engine of greater weight and 
 capacity than mine, and I would of course be beaten in 
 a contest with it. My machine stayed in the Brook 
 lyn engine-house awaiting developments. Not long 
 after I was in my own home in Oshkosh on a visit to 
 my family, in May, 1874, when my father-in-law came 
 to me and asked me to ride with him to the city. On 
 the way he told me about a project he was considering. 
 It seemed that some parties had appeared in Oshkosh 
 having for sale some seventy-five thousand acres of 
 railroad pine lands in Florida and some local persons 
 lacking the capital necessary for the purchase, had 
 asked Mr. Hubbard to join them. He said that these 
 men had been down and examined the lands, that the 
 young man who was book-keeper at the Wakefield flour- 
 mill had gone with them to learn what he could, pledg 
 ing to give Mr. Hubbard a correct account of things in 
 Florida as he should find them ; that he had returned 
 and made his report. To insure the full interest of this 
 young man, my father-in-law had told him that if he 
 saw any good bargains in that state, that he would join 
 him in their purchase. The book-keeper brought the re 
 port that he had secured a saw-mill plant and six thou 
 sand acres of land for $26,000, paying $1,000 down and 
 agreeing to pay $10,000 more in thirty days. Then my 
 father-in-law went on to say that he was getting to be 
 an old man, was troubled with rheumatism, that he 
 wished to go to a milder climate, that he wished to put 
 
126 REMINISCENCES 
 
 his nephew into a business which would give him some 
 thing to do, and that he also thought it might suit me to 
 go to Florida and engage in the lumber business so he 
 thought he would invest. I replied, "Mr. Hubbard, I 
 have been influenced in the past by the advice of others, 
 but in the future I mean to act only upon my own 
 judgment in matters of business. I cannot tell what I 
 would like to do, until I have examined this proposition 
 myself and formed my own conclusions." He replied 
 that he wished I would go and see the property and tell 
 him what I thought about it I suggested that this 
 would cost considerable in both time and money. He 
 appeared to be quite anxious for me to go, however, and 
 said, if I should see fit to enter the project that he 
 would furnish the money to run the business in good 
 shape. We interviewed Mr. Johnson, the book-keeper 
 referred to, and he was very optimistic about the affair, 
 saying that there was: "Thousands in it." 
 
 It was consequently arranged that in ten days' time 
 I should meet Mr. Johnson in Chicago and that we 
 would proceed to Pensacola and together examine the 
 property for which he had bargained. 
 
 I had some sales of fire engine-hose in the western 
 part of Wisconsin also in St. Paul and Minneapolis 
 that I wished to close up and I had some collections to 
 make in the same territory. After completing these 
 affairs, I met Mr. Johnson in Chicago as planned. He 
 brought me from Mr. Hubbard $10,000 in Xew York 
 Exchange payable to my order, with instructions that 
 if, in my opinion the property was worth the sum 
 agreed upon, that I should buy it. We left the north in 
 May, for the "Land of flowers." 
 
 I had some relatives living in Florida who had been 
 
FBOM NORTH TO SOUTH 127 
 
 there since a befo 'de wah." The husband of a cousin 
 was in the lumber business at a place called Bagdad, 
 Florida, Scon after arriving in Pensacola I learned 
 that a steamer was going to this place with a party of 
 people who were to attend an entertainment for the 
 benefit of a local church. I was invited to join the 
 excursion, and did so. We arrived after dark. I had 
 not seen my cousin for twenty years, but was invited 
 to her home and was hospitably received. Their house 
 was a fine old mansion surrounded by live oaks and 
 other handsome trees. It was a very pleasing home. 
 
 Every one had a good time, and after the entertain 
 ment, which had been held in the church, the steamer 
 returned to Pensacola with its passengers. 
 
 In deciding about the business venture, my chief 
 desire was of course, to see the pine lands. I knew that 
 a sawmill was valueless without saw-logs, and I wished 
 to learn if the forests would yield a supply of logs for 
 a good many years. The agent of the railroad offering 
 this land for sale, was a Mr. Peter Knowles, a long time 
 resident of Florida, in fact since before the "late 
 unpleasantness." He was a very genial gentleman, 
 liked good things to eat and drink and a good time 
 generally. He procured a two-seated covered wagon, 
 for our journey, in which he placed provisions for our 
 comfort. This was propelled by a pair of mules and a 
 negro driver. We crossed the river at Ferry Pass, an 
 arm of Escainbia Bay, and landed on terra firma at 
 Florida Town, where we struck the pine lands which I 
 wished to see. We rode from Florida Town nearly 
 northward, traversing the highest land. 
 
 These pine woods were different from any forests I 
 had ever seen. The ground was covered with a fine 
 
128 REMINISCENCES 
 
 green grass which looked like a gentleman's lawn. The 
 trees were very stately and handsome, most of them 
 forty or fifty feet to the limbs, the tops covered with 
 green pine needles which grew in clusters. There was 
 no underbrush and no obstruction except where some 
 tree had been burned or blown down, and lay with its 
 long trunk on the ground. One could drive in any 
 direction in these woods. All that was necessary to 
 know was the points of the compass. It seemed like 
 sacrilege for man to come and cut down these magnifi 
 cent trees. I wished often, in the years to come, that I 
 need not do this. 
 
 We traveled that day about twenty-five miles through 
 this beautiful forest. In later years it was my fortune 
 to own most of these lands and at one time I could ride 
 thirty miles in a northerly direction and be upon my 
 own land all the time. 
 
 Every few miles through these woods could be found 
 a "squatter." These men would cut down a few trees, 
 build a log house, clear up a few acres upon which to 
 raise cotton, corn and sweet potatoes. His pigs, sheep 
 and cattle would find their own living in the woods, 
 and all the squatter had to do, to secure the ownership, 
 was to brand them while they were young. The names 
 of these settlers would indicate that the majority of 
 them were of Scotch extraction. These were the origi 
 nal Florida "crackers." There were no schools among 
 them, during the days of slavery ; and a great many of 
 them were unable to read or write their own names. 
 They prided themselves that a white man would not 
 steal. This fact in their estimation raised them far 
 above the negroes, for whom they had great contempt; 
 per contra; the negroes entertained a very low opinion 
 
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH 129 
 
 of the poor whites, while they cherished a deep vene 
 ration for their own masters. We stayed all night with 
 a squatter who entertained us hospitably at his house 
 not far from the Alabama line. I certainly enjoyed 
 those woods and my admiration for them has never 
 lessened. 
 
 In the morning we started on our return, but by an 
 other road, so we traveled through new forests all the 
 time. At night we arrived at a sawmill not far from 
 the Escambia River, and were hospitably entertained 
 by the owner, Mr. R. D. Byrne who invited us to spend 
 the night at his house. I recollect that we passed the 
 evening around the fireplace, although it was in the 
 month of June, and that the fire felt very comfortable. 
 We conversed about the country's possibilities, and of 
 the forests, meanwhile smoking our cigars. The next 
 day we returned to Florida Town, and visited the mill 
 that was involved in the purchase. This, I think, was 
 naturally one of the most beautiful spots I have ever 
 seen in Florida. The mill was situated on Escambia 
 Bay at a point where it was about two miles wide, and 
 directly under a bluff that towered about eighty feet 
 above the water, and which gradually sloped to the 
 water's edge. This incline was covered with a thick 
 forest, consisting mostly of live oak trees, from whose 
 limbs hung festoons of grey Florida moss, reminding 
 one of Santa Glaus with his grey hair and whiskers. 
 On the top of this bluff was the residence of the mill 
 owner, in a clearing of ten acres. The house was 
 surrounded with crepe myrtles twenty-five feet high, 
 and now in full bloom. In the front yard were two 
 gigantic live oaks, quite shapely and beautiful. On 
 each side of the front porch were two fine Japanese 
 
130 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 plum trees, the largest that I have ever seen of this 
 variety. In the rear of the house were two very large 
 magnolias, and other trees; sycamore, mulberry and 
 black oak. In the yard were several large arbors of 
 scuppernong grapes. In the garden were peach trees 
 in full bearing. It seemed as if a man with a con 
 tented mind might find here: "Paradise regained." 
 
 From the mill we returned to Pensacola and stopped 
 at what was called the Santa Rosa Hotel. Whether this 
 was built before or since the war I am unable to tell. 
 It was three stories in height while most of the build 
 ings of the town were but one. 
 
 A Mrs. Hickey was boarding at this hotel and she had 
 a mocking bird which she had educated as a songster. 
 In the morning we were awakened by the most raptur 
 ous singing to which I had ever listened. The bird 
 appeared to be in a very ecstacy of excitement and it 
 made so much noise that it was impossible for one to 
 go to sleep again. I had never before heard a mocking 
 bird, and was charmed as I listened, so much so that 
 I obtained a young one and took it with me to Oshkosh. 
 I imagine however, that it needed the training of other 
 birds. After a lingering and uneventful existence it 
 died. 
 
 At this time there were two private banking houses 
 in Pensacola: Hyer Brothers and C. L. Le Baron. In 
 making out the papers for the purchase, I had the mill 
 and lands deeded to Mr. Hubbard, rather than have 
 them deeded to the new firm and they give a mortgage 
 to him. I knew this would make Mr. Hubbard safe, 
 regardless of what might happen to the rest of us. I 
 also agreed to take the stock of goods in the store at 
 a fair valuation. After this business was finished, I 
 
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH 131 
 
 returned to Oshkosh, leaving Mr. Johnson to inventory 
 the stock and have the care and custody of the property. 
 When I arrived at Oshkosh, Mr. Hubbard refused to 
 give a note to secure the balance due on the property, 
 but was willing to give a mortgage on it to secure the 
 note of the new firm. To this the sellers consented, and 
 the purchase of the property was consummated in that 
 way. 
 
 The cost of the mill and lands was $26,000. The 
 inventory of the goods in the store, as made by Mr. 
 Johnson, showed a value of $3,000. While the forego 
 ing settlement was in progress, Mr. Hubbard one morn 
 ing called me into his room and said: "Mr. Skinner, 
 I am sick of that investment of yours in Florida; 1 
 want you to go to Pensacola and get what you can of 
 that $10,000 and let the trade go." I replied, "Mr. 
 Hubbard, I do not see how I can do this. If the 
 parties thought we were sick of the trade they would 
 not return any of the money; if I went down there and 
 made a settlement of the trade which involved a loss 
 to you, you would always blame me, unless I made 
 good the loss to you, so I am not willing to do as you 
 request. I believe the property is a bargain at the 
 price which we paid for it." After this interview, my 
 father-in-law never referred to the subject again. 
 
 Sometime in the summer following my return from 
 Florida, the new Silsby fire engine appeared in Osh 
 kosh. Mr. Doe sent me a challenge asking a trial of 
 capacity between it and my engine, but I flatly refused 
 to make any test of the kind. In consequence I was 
 bullied incessantly by Mr. Doe and the supporters of 
 the Silsby engine. Jack Hasbrouck the chief of the 
 fire department, was very confident that my machine 
 
132 REMINISCENCES 
 
 would be victorious, as were numerous other adherents 
 of the piston engine, and after much worry, in a weak 
 moment I consented to make the test. The engineer 
 for the Cole Brothers machine had returned to Paw- 
 tucket before I made my trip to Florida ; while Silsby's 
 expert engineer was on hand to run his machine. The 
 excitement in Oshkosh over the two engines was intense ; 
 I have never seen a political contest engender so much 
 feeling as existed then between the supporters of the 
 two fire engines. The day of the trial proved a beauti 
 ful one, and there were as many spectators present as 
 would have been called out by a well advertised circus. 
 The result of the trial was in the parlance of the 
 initiated that the Cole Brothers machine was 
 "washed." Mr. Doe influenced the city to buy the 
 Silsby engine and it was named the "Doe" after him. 
 
 The agent of the Silsby engine also contracted with 
 the city to furnish it two thousand feet of carbolized 
 hose, but in a short time the city was notified that it 
 could not get carbolized hose, unless they procured it 
 of me. Doe was furious and said that the city should 
 not buy any from me. So Mr. Sam Hay was instructed 
 by the city council to purchase two thousand feet of 
 carbolized hose for the city. He also found that he 
 could purchase only through me, and so reported to 
 Mr. Doe. I then offered to supply Mr. Hay and divide 
 the commissions with him, which he was willing to do 
 provided the council would sanction the deal. A meet 
 ing was called to consider the matter and this I at 
 tended. After the usual preliminaries the matter of the 
 hose was taken up. Mr. Doe stated the situation as re 
 ported by Mr. Hay, to the fire committee and then 
 said that an agent of the manufacturer of the carbolized 
 
FROM NORTH TO SOUTH 133 
 
 hose had attempted to tribe him by offering a large 
 amount of belting for his saw mill, if he would give his 
 consent to the buying of the carbolized hose for the city. 
 I was sitting on a back seat provided for 
 spectators and when Mr. Doe sat down I arose 
 and said to the council that Mr. Doe's state 
 ment that he had been offered a bribe by 
 an authorized agent of the manufacturers was un 
 qualifiedly false; that such business they left to the 
 Silsby Company. The mayor who was presiding at 
 the meeting, informed me that no person was allowed 
 to address the council without first obtaining consent. 
 
 The meeting soon adjourned and Mr. Doe walked 
 into the lobby. He was a large man, with a loud voice, 
 and had the reputation of having been in his younger 
 days something of a sport. He was threatening to 
 knock somebody's head off his shoulders. I cut short 
 the conversation I was having with a member of the 
 council and stepping into the lobby, met the gentleman, 
 to whom I said: "Mr. Doe, why do you make such a 
 fool of yourself? You would not strike me and you 
 know it." 
 
 Mr. Doe made some farther efforts to obtain the hose 
 from some other source but failed and after a little 
 delay the city gave me the order for the carbolized hose. 
 But I still had my fire engine on hand and sought a 
 city to which I might sell it. I had sold a third-class 
 fire engine to the city of Houghton, Michigan, and 
 thought that I might perhaps sell this one to the city 
 of Hancock, just across the lake from Houghton. I 
 had little difficulty in making the sale. I delivered the 
 machine and it proved very satisfactory to the pur 
 chasers. 
 
CHAPTEK XL 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL FOREST. 
 
 I was informed by Mr. Johnson, who was still at 
 Escambia, that yellow-fever was epidemic in Pensacola 
 and that it would not be safe for me to come down there 
 with my family until after a frost. 
 
 It was therefore in early November, 1874, that with 
 my wife, my son and my partner Ebenezer II. Hub- 
 bard, I started for Florida. I do not recall the incidents 
 of that journey until we reached Decatur, Alabama. 
 At that time the road between Louisville and Pensacola, 
 now known as the Louisville and Nashville, was com 
 posed of short, independent lines. I think the road 
 from Decatur to Montgomery was known as the Ala 
 bama Southern; from Montgomery to Mobile as the 
 Montgomery and Mobile, and from Flomaton to Pensa 
 cola as the Pensacola and Louisville Railroad. 
 
 We missed connections at Decatur and stopped at 
 the Polk House for about twelve hours. Our train 
 did not arrive until about 12 o'clock at night, and we 
 sat up in the parlor of the hotel waiting for it, the 
 daughter of the landlord meanwhile amusing us by 
 entertaining her beau. At this time there were no Pull 
 man cars on this route; the coaches were very plain, 
 and usually dirty, but we had to content ourselves as 
 best we could with the accommodations at hand. 
 
 The next day about dark we arrived at Oakfield six 
 miles north of Pensacola, and were informed that it 
 
 134 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOREST 135 
 
 was not safe to go any farther. Several colored people 
 were awaiting our arrival to take us to Escambia. I 
 was suffering with a terrible headache, and so my wife 
 and I stopped at a large house where a number of 
 refugees from Pensacola had made their home during 
 the prevalence of yellow fever. These were seeking in 
 various ways to amuse themselves and drive dull care 
 away. Ill as I was I found much to divert me in the 
 stories of a certain gentleman; they were impossible 
 and humorous; one of the stories I recall even now. 
 It was of a dog, born without any forelegs and the 
 owner to mitigate somewhat this misfortune had a 
 couple of wheels made and placed where the dog's fore- 
 legs should have been. The dog after that propelled 
 himself with his hind legs, would chase chickens and 
 pigs with great zeal, and also guard his master's front 
 gate against intruders. 
 
 The next morning our teams came for us and we went 
 to Escambia, about six miles across the country. On 
 arriving there we examined the house and found that it 
 had eleven outside doors, each fastened with only a 
 button; that the openings where the windows should 
 have been, were filled by solid wooden blinds ; one room 
 had four small glass windows which had evidently 
 been appropriated from some schooner. I do not recol 
 lect how we provided ourselves with board and lodg 
 ings until my household goods arrived from Wisconsin. 
 
 I found the mill sawing out a cargo of Rio deals 
 for South America. We bought our logs from people 
 who lived back in the country, who put them in cribs of 
 about twenty logs each, by pinning a pole across each 
 end of the logs. In this manner we secured all we could 
 saw until about the year 1879. I then learned that 
 
136 REMINISCENCES 
 
 there had been in 1873 a great depression in the lum 
 ber and timber business at Pensacola; that the shippers 
 had met with great losses that year and that some of 
 them had become bankrupt 
 
 It was the custom in the port of Pensacola, at that 
 time for the merchants to buy timber and lumber from 
 the producers and ship it to ports all over the world, 
 where they could find a market. The merchants 
 usually sold cargoes of lumber or timber, delivered at 
 destination ; the buyer would name about the amount of 
 cargo wanted, the merchant would charter a suit 
 able vessel, load the cargo and ship to its 
 destination. In selling these cargoes there were 
 three items which the merchant had to take 
 into consideration; these were cost, insurance and 
 freight. What he was paid above these items was 
 his profit It was necessary that he be a man of con 
 siderable means, as there were no banks of large capac 
 ity in Pensacola at that time, the bank of Hyer Bros, 
 being in process of liquidation. These sellers assumed 
 the roles both of shippers and bankers. These three 
 items cost, insurance and freight, were matters of 
 much variability. The merchant, after selling his 
 cargo, had to buy it of some mill ; if hewn timber he had 
 to contract with some timber getter to deliver it within 
 a certain time, at a certain price. The matter of in 
 surance was a variable quantity, which depended upon 
 the rating of the vessel, and the month of the year in 
 which it sailed. The freight also was an unknown 
 quantity, governed by the scarcity of vessels seeking 
 freight or the abundance of vessels unchartered. So you 
 will perceive that the seller took chances which might 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOBEST 137 
 
 cause him great loss, but he usually took these risks 
 with the nerve of a gambler. 
 
 The conditions of this trade were such that it neces 
 sarily partook of the nature of gambling. The buyers 
 in Europe were kept well posted as to the conditions of 
 the local market, having parties here who were their em 
 ployees or were interested with them in the business. 
 About this time and after I came here, the brokers in 
 England who made the sales to buyers in Great Britain 
 and on the continent, assumed the right to make sales 
 whenever in their opinion it was advantageous to them 
 selves to do so. I remember the case of a mill company 
 which came here from Chicago and had bought some 
 thing like one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land 
 in the state of Alabama at the nominal figure of a few 
 cents per acre. The men were wealthy Chicago lumber 
 men and they understood the lumber business in Chi 
 cago. They came to Pensacola and built an immense 
 mill capable of sawing two or three hundred thousand 
 feet of Michigan white pine per day. They sent a mer 
 chant to England to make sales for them, paying him 
 a commission on such sales as he might make. He went 
 there and sold a good many thousand feet of lumber and 
 chartered between twenty and thirty vessels. After 
 making these large sales he came home and informed 
 t^e mill men of his success and they were happy to 
 think that they had such a prosperous season before 
 them. In the early winter the vessels began to drop in 
 on them. In the sawing of the pine it is necessary that 
 the lumber should have a chance to dry out, for if the sap 
 were wet the lumber would stain blue in the vessel and 
 damage its value on delivery, for which the buyer would 
 demand reclamation from the shipper. In such cases as 
 
138 REMINISCENCES 
 
 these the broker selects an arbitrator and the buyer does 
 the same; these two select a third and the three decide 
 the amount the shipper must allow the buyer as dam 
 ages, either on account of the cargo being injured in 
 shipping, or not being as specified in the contract. The 
 award of such arbitrators is usually liberal to the buyer. 
 
 At one time I believe these mill men had twenty ves 
 sels in port for cargo. A vessel, when chartered for a 
 cargo is usually ready as soon as she has her ballast out ; 
 then she is allowed so many days for loading. When 
 such days have expired the vessel is on demurrage, the 
 amount of this depending upon the tonnage, or size. 
 This demurrage is a part of, and collectible with the 
 freight from the cargo, amounting usually to from one 
 to two hundred dollars per day, and upwards. The lum 
 ber shipped in a vessel must be of the character, size and 
 quantity sold ; if it is not it may be rejected in toto, or a 
 new price agreed upon that the buyer may choose to 
 make, or damages may be claimed for non-delivery of 
 goods bought. The result of the experience of these 
 men the first year, selling their lumber in such ill-ad 
 vised manner, put them in such financial straits that 
 they were compelled to close down and eventually to sell 
 out their plant at a price that put them out of business. 
 
 I recall another instance similar to the one mentioned, 
 in which a partner, a reckless character who should have 
 known better and done better, one fall chartered all the 
 vessels he could find in Europe, probably getting a com 
 mission on the vessels' charters. The ships arrived at 
 Pensacola, until I think the firm had thirty vessels in 
 port at one time, and though quite wealthy, they were 
 reduced to bankruptcy by the bad conduct of this part 
 ner. 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOEEST 139 
 
 I have mentioned these two instances of bad manage 
 ment, in order to show that a vessel when engaged must 
 be loaded as prescribed in the charter-party. Still 
 greater losses have been made by ambitious merchants 
 attempting to corner the market in the supply of sawn 
 timber. The loss of a dollar on a stick of timber 
 amounts to a large sum of money in the purchase of two 
 or three hundred thousand. In the height of business 
 at this port, one firm, if I remember correctly, loaded 
 and dispatched as many as one hundred and forty vessels 
 in one year, and the cargo of each would average a mil 
 lion feet of lumber. 
 
 The law governing these transactions is very complex 
 and intricate. The merchant should know the kind of 
 lumber required in every port to which he ships lum 
 ber, for scarcely any two countries require the same di 
 mensions or quaKty. Lumber for shipment abroad is 
 usually sold by St. Petersburg standard, which is nine 
 teen hundred and eighty superficial feet and the price 
 is usually specified to be in English sterling pounds, 
 shillings and pence. Freight and insurance are also 
 generally payable in English money. Timber, both 
 sawed and hewn, is sold by the load being sixty cubic 
 feet. Drafts for the payment of cargoes are paid in 
 English sterling as stated above, and are usually drawn 
 in sets of three and on time. Sometimes, however, 
 buyers wish to pay in the currency of their own country. 
 During the time that I was engaged in this trade, the 
 buyers so disliked to lose anything on a cargo, that 
 they would use any means to place the loss on the 
 seller, just or unjust. 
 
 The pine belt that at one time existed on the gulf 
 coast and lower Atlantic, at the close of the civil war, 
 
140 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 was a forest of great extent. Its area was practically 
 level and streams were found in almost all its parts. 
 Where the timber was not in easy haul of the streams, it 
 was an inexpensive thing to build railroads to the 
 timber. The pine at this writing (1907) in comparison 
 with 1865, is practically exhausted. Of course there is a 
 great deal of it still left ; enough to give employment to 
 lumber men for several decades ; but the end is in sight. 
 It seems incredible that these millions of acres of pine 
 should have been cut off, transferred through the chan 
 nels of commerce to other climes, and so few people 
 have been enriched by the process. I have lived in Pen- 
 sacola thirty-two years and more; I have seen a great 
 many people with small means engage in this lumber 
 business, the manufacturing lumber from these pine 
 woods, and this port of Pensacola for a great portion of 
 that time has shipped on an average three hundred mil 
 lion feet of lumber and timber per year, but out of the 
 men engaged in denuding these forests, I cannot at pres 
 ent writing recall more than fifteen who have accumu 
 lated over $100,000 in the business. A great many en 
 gaged in the business have not only become bankrupt, 
 but have lost large sums of money which they had bor 
 rowed from merchants, still others lacked practical 
 knowledge of lumbering or ability to learn it. I men 
 tion these principal items of risk, for the purpose of 
 showing the hazards encountered by a stranger in en 
 tering this region and business, without any prior know 
 ledge of the conditions which surround it. Almost 
 every person coming here from the north who had been 
 a successful lumberman in the white pine districts of 
 Wisconsin or Michigan and had amassed a fortune 
 there, greater or less, would naturally have a good deal 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOREST 14:1 
 
 of confidence in his own judgment and experience, as I 
 discovered upon meeting them, and it would usually cost 
 such a person about a hundred thousand dollars to learn 
 how to do business in the south. I remember a gentle 
 man from Michigan who had bought mills and a large 
 tract of pine, and whom I casually met on the street in 
 Pensacola. He asked me to meet him at Millview and 
 instruct him as to the proper method of manufacturing 
 his lumber. I expressed a willingness to do so, as I 
 did not like to have men come down from the north and 
 lose money. He said: "I will write you when I get 
 ready, and ask you to come over. I wish first to get a 
 million feet of lumber piled in the yard." I replied: 
 "You have then a million feet of lumber sold?" He 
 rejoined, "I have no lumber sold, but a yard looks so 
 much better with lumber piled in it." I said to him: 
 "My dear sir, it is right there you are making a mis 
 take. In the north you may safely manufacture any 
 amount of lumber of certain dimensions, and it is al 
 ways salable and in demand in that market ; as much so 
 as a barrel of flour or a barrel of pork, but in this 
 country it is different ; you should sell your lumber 
 first, and then manufacture it. You may have a mil 
 lion feet of lumber in your yard, and you probably 
 would not get a chance to sell it in a year, and in the 
 meantime the lumber would decrease in value one-half, 
 from the effects of sun and rain." This idea was so 
 different from his experience in the north that evidently 
 it did not impress him much. He continued doing busi 
 ness in an unsatisfactory manner for about a year, when 
 he sold out for a lump sum to a syndicate in England. 
 The buyers told me that the lumber he sawed (a mil 
 lion feet) was still in the yard unsold, and that they 
 
142 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 would be glad to get $6 per thousand feet for it. The 
 former owner had paid that price to a contractor to 
 cut the logs off his own land and deliver them to his 
 mill. It was customary then for log contractors to re 
 quire of the mill owners sufficient money or supplies 
 to enable them to hire men to cut, teams to haul and 
 men to drive the logs, before they would go to work. 
 Perhaps they did with these supplies or money as they 
 promised, or possibly they did something else with it, 
 which would never be known. These log contractors 
 were good talkers and good promisers; many of them 
 were playing a game they were familiar with, but which 
 the "tenderfoot" does not know. 
 
 The "cracker" population as a rule were irrespon 
 sible in a financial transaction. In the seventies, soon 
 after the war, it was a sentiment prevalent among the 
 crackers, owing to their prejudice against the colored 
 people, to hob-nob with the more educated and culti 
 vated class of whites, who thought it no harm, if not 
 indeed a praiseworthy and loyal act, to cheat and bank 
 rupt the man from the north who came here to get rich 
 out of them, as they thought, and whom they called 
 yankee, as a term of reproach. When I was asked if I 
 was a yankee I always replied : "That I was a born 
 and bred yankee." Of course at the present time, after 
 thirty years of experience and enlightenment, that 
 prejudice exists only to a limited extent, and that prin 
 cipally among the women. I found then that this preju 
 dice existed against myself to a considerable degree, but 
 when a man tried to do an unfriendly thing, I at 
 tempted to convince him that it was a game that two 
 could play, and that he would gain little by so doing. I 
 think I did not suffer from this sectional prejudice for 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOREST 143 
 
 more than six years after my arrival ; it died out very 
 soon after the white population got political possession 
 of the state. The people had suffered so severely 
 through negro legislation, dominated by carpet bag in 
 fluence, that the irritation was natural ; when the source 
 of the injury was removed the irritation vanished. Dur 
 ing the first few years of my residence at Escambia I 
 found difficulty in getting many of the best logmen to 
 cut for my firm. In 1876 I think it was, the lumber 
 market was very much depressed and it was almost im 
 possible to sell lumber at a profit. Two or three men 
 who bought logs on the Escambia River closed down 
 their mills and refused to take any more from their log 
 gers, refusing even those they had contracted for. These 
 men came to me in their trouble, to sell their logs, 
 though they had formerly refused to sell to me. I said 
 to them : "All right, I will take your logs as long as I 
 have money to pay for them, but when my money gives 
 out I shall have to stop buying." 
 
 In those early years of living at Escambia it was my 
 custom to go north when the hot weather came. During 
 the time we spent away traveling, we closed down the 
 mill. This year I told my bookkeeper when I left, to 
 buy logs as long as he had any money in the bank, then 
 stop buying. When I returned in the fall I found that 
 he had paid out what money I had, and also had over 
 drawn my account at the bank about $10,000; but I 
 had a fine stock of logs on hand. I found that the mar 
 ket was much better than when I had left in the spring. 
 I formed a shipping partnership with a Mr. Hooten, 
 of Pensacola, who had had a long experience in ship 
 ping lumber for himself or in the employment of 
 others. This partner had sold several cargoes to be 
 
144 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 shipped abroad, and had contracted for the lumber to be 
 furnished by other mill owners. The price advanced 
 on lumber from $1 to $2 per thousand feet The mill 
 owners had neglected to buy logs and could not get 
 them at the old price, when the vessels arrived for their 
 cargoes, they told my partner that I had bought all the 
 logs in the market, knowing what was going to hap 
 pen, and that I had the logs and could saw the lumber 
 myself, while they could not furnish it. I had thought 
 this state of affairs would come about and had gone to 
 work preparing the lumber, and had it on hand. I did 
 not let my partner know this fact, but kept him in "hot 
 water" by asking him what he was going to do. He 
 finally acknowledged his helplessness, that he could not 
 buy the lumber anywhere. I said: "You represent 
 your company; I represent Skinner, Hubbard & Co. 
 I will sell you the lumber at $2 per thousand advance 
 on the price you were to pay the other parties for it" 
 He replied: "I accept your offer." I loaded the ves 
 sels all in good time. Then I said to him : "Mr. Hoo- 
 ten, you send those parties a bill for the difference in 
 price between the contract price for the lumber and 
 that which you had to pay for it ; if they refuse to pay 
 the difference, sue them." They did refuse; we sued 
 them, got judgment and they paid the judgment. 
 
 When I came to Escambia we had no postoffice there. 
 I arranged with the postmaster at Pensacola to give my 
 mail to the mail carrier who carried the mail between 
 Pensacola and Milton and I would send a messenger to 
 Pritchard Field and get my mail as the carrier passed 
 that point. C. L. Le Baron had a private telegraph line 
 from Pensacola to Milton and I put a private line from 
 Escambia to Ferry Pass. I hired several boy operators, 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOREST 145 
 
 but had much trouble with them and more with those 
 employed by Le Baron. After continuing it for about 
 a year I came to the conclusion that the line was more 
 of a vexation than a convenience, and I gave it up. In 
 1878 my partner, having been accustomed to city life, 
 with nothing to attend to, went home to his uncle and 
 refused to come back. 
 
 I heard of the wonderful telephone (the telephone is 
 as wonderful to me today as it was then), I received a 
 letter from a cousin of my wife who was operating one, 
 giving it unstinted praise. I had never seen a telephone 
 myself; there were none in Florida so far as I knew. 
 In 1880 I put up a line from Escambia to Pensacola, 
 placing the Pensacola end of the wire in the office of 
 my friend, Col. Geo. E. Wentworth. It Worked very 
 satisfactorily, and was a great curiosity, being the first 
 telephone in that part of Florida, if not in the state. 
 
 I needed a light-draught tugboat to tow lumber and 
 logs; one that I could run through the narrows in the 
 sound up to Choctawhatchie Bay, as well as operate in 
 Escambia Bay and River. I concluded to go to Oshkosh 
 and buy a tug; one of those used at that place for tow 
 ing logs and lumber. I bought a nearly new boat ; one 
 of the best, if not the best in those waters. My partner, 
 Eben. Hubbard, went up to Oshkosh to take passage 
 on the boat and come down with it, and he had quite 
 an interesting trip. The tug went up the Fox River 
 and through the canal which connected that river with 
 the Wisconsin River, down the Wisconsin to the Mis 
 sissippi, down the latter to the jetties and into the 
 Gulf of Mexico. She then had to work her way north 
 ward among the Chandelier Islands into Mississippi 
 Sound and through that to Mobile Bay, and from Mo- 
 
146 REMINISCENCES 
 
 bile Bay to Pensacola Bay through the Gulf. This tug 
 was built for use in fresh waters, and had no condenser, 
 her trip through salt water caused her boiler to foam, 
 which interfered with her steaming. When the boat 
 reached Escambia the men were very much pleased 
 that the trip was ended ; the voyage having been made 
 for them through unknown waters. To have made such 
 a trip without accident and nearly on the schedule time 
 (made previous to leaving Oshkosh) was very grati 
 fying- 
 
 At that time it was customary for men employed on 
 the inland waters of Pensacola Bay to amuse themselves 
 by telling frightful stories of sickness and death to 
 tenderfeet just from the north. Capt. Colburn, of the 
 tug Hercules, was very susceptible to these fairy tales, 
 and his fear being noticeable made him a shining mark 
 for the story teller. I kept him busy towing logs from 
 Choctawhatchie Bay to the mill. A few months after 
 his arrival at the port he was taken sick while at Free- 
 port and was very badly frightened, and notwithstand 
 ing he was to be part owner of the boat and captain 
 of it, he made up his mind to get out of the country 
 while his life remained, and return to Oshkosh. 
 
 At the time of my arrival there was a great deal of 
 malarial and break-bone fever. Considering the way 
 the natives lived, the mystery to me was that they did 
 not all die, and not that many of them were taken ill. Dr. 
 John Brosnaham moved to Gull Point, about three 
 miles down the bay, the year after I came to Escambia, 
 and was a great help to me in keeping my family and 
 employees well. He made calomel pills with which he 
 always kept me supplied. He had several grades of 
 these pills, of different strength; the mildest pills he 
 called "little cusses," next were the "royal Bengal ti- 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOKEST 14:7 
 
 gers," the most powerful were "little hell." Either 
 kind could be administered to the patient, as his condi 
 tion might require. It was remarkable the uniformity 
 with which these pills relieved the patient. 
 
 The principal diet of the crackers at this time was 
 hog and hominy, intermixed with greens when the lat 
 ter could be had. The hoecake was made by mixing 
 cornmeal and water, with a little salt, putting it on a 
 shovel and baking it over a coal fire; the bacon was 
 fried in a skillet. In the fall they would make some 
 cane syrup, and when in funds some wheat flour, which 
 they would mix and bake as hoecake. This was at times 
 the principal food of the negroes and poor crackers, and 
 sometimes the "little hell" pills were required to pro 
 duce any effect. 
 
 Until 1878 I had kept myself in fairly good health 
 with the contents of numerous bottles of Simmons' liver 
 regulator. I went north that summer to New York, 
 where I spent several days with a Mr. Colquett who was 
 a buyer and shipper of pitch pine lumber from the 
 Atlantic coast ports. I was anxious to learn how they 
 inspected lumber in New York when it arrived in cargo 
 lots. He had several vessels which were unloading in 
 New York harbor, and he wished me to see a cargo 
 which was unloading in Brooklyn. He did not seem 
 to be very- well posted as to localities in that city, nor 
 as to car lines. We boarded a car which he thought 
 would take us to the vessel, but it did not. He con 
 sidered, however, that by walking cross-lots we would 
 soon reach the vessel. It was a very hot, clear day and 
 the sun's rays were scorching. The distance proved to 
 be more than a mile. I have never had a sunstroke, 
 but think I came pretty near it then. 
 
148 REMINISCENCES 
 
 The next day I went up to New Haven, Conn., 
 where I had a cargo of timber and lumber unloading, 
 which I had sold to the New Haven Sawmill Co. When 
 I arrived at New Haven I went directly to the vessel, 
 but the heat of the day before I think had stimulated 
 the malaria in me and I began to feel sick. I asked 
 Mr. Booth, the agent of the buyers, to take me to a good 
 hotel, which he did. When I reached the hotel I went 
 to bed and asked the landlord to send for a good doctor. 
 The physician came and looked me over. I do not 
 know what his diagnosis was, but he put some "No. 1" 
 in a glass of water and some "No. 2" into another glass 
 of water and told me to take a teaspoonful of "No. 1" 
 and in half an hour a teaspoonful of "No. 2," repeating 
 till I got well, or died. The girl who waited on my 
 room told the housekeeper that she believed the man in 
 No. 22 was crazy ; "Just think, this hot day he has kept 
 calling for blankets till I have put six on his bed." Dur 
 ing my life I have suffered terribly with headaches, first 
 and last, but I never had such a painful headache as I 
 had that night. My reason appeared to be all right, 
 but the pain was intense. I feared that before morning 
 I would be out of my head if the pain continued. About 
 twelve o'clock I touched the bell button for the night 
 clerk to come to my room and in vigorous language I 
 told him my condition. I directed him to bring me 
 some crushed ice, put it in a washbowl, pour in some 
 water, set it at the head of my bed and furnish me a 
 towel. I then wet it in the ice water and put it on my 
 head. When the towel would get warm I would take it 
 off my head and put it in the ice water ; then wring it 
 out and put it back. By three o'clock in the morning 
 the headache had ceased, and later I went to sleep. 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOREST 149 
 
 About 9 o'clock the doctor came to see me again. I told 
 him that I did not want any more "No. 1 and No. 2," 
 but that if he would give me something that would not 
 make my head ache I should be glad. He remarked: 
 "You appear to know better what to do than I. I rec 
 kon you better doctor yourself." I told him that I 
 thought so too, and bade him good day. I then called 
 the landlord in and asked if he could recommend a 
 good allopathic physician. He was careful to express 
 no opinion as to the merits of any physician, but fin 
 ally mentioned a Dr. Hubbard. I said: u Send for him; 
 I never knew a Hubbard who was a fool." He came 
 and put me under a treatment of calomel and quinine. 
 In ten or twelve days I thought I was all right and 
 insisted upon going into the dining room to get my 
 meals. This led to a relapse and I was quite ill again. 
 After about two weeks more I felt that I had recovered 
 and I made up my mind that I would go to my wife 
 in Chicago; I was very impatient at the confinement 
 and delay. Dr. Hubbard told me that if I took the 
 journey then to Chicago it would kill me, but I paid 
 my bills; settled with Mr. Booth as he dictated for the 
 cargo of lumber, ordered a carriage and went to the 
 railroad station. As I sat in the depot awaiting the 
 arrival of the train for New York, I felt very ill and 
 concluded that I would have to return to the hotel. I 
 started to get a carriage to take me there, none was in 
 sight, but the train rolled into the station and I got 
 aboard. I kept getting stronger all the way to New 
 York City, and then for some reason I crossed to Jersey 
 City and took the Pennsylvania train for Chicago. I 
 met my wife in the latter place, and accompanied her 
 two or three days in the hot sun on a shopping tour, 
 
150 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 then we went to Oshkosh. My wife was an invalid and 
 a local physician was treating her; he also prescribed 
 for me, as I had not yet recovered from my late illness. 
 About a week later I went to Ripon in order to place 
 my son in school. While at the house of the president 
 of the college, waiting for the return train, I was taken 
 quite sick again, but I arose, in spite of the pain, and 
 took the train to Oshkosh. My partner, Mr. Eben 
 Hubbard, met me at the station and took me to the 
 house of my wife's father. The next day I was taken 
 with a terrible fit of vomiting. My mother-in-law came 
 to me and said: "Don't you think we had better send 
 for Dr. Osborne ?" This doctor had been our physician 
 before we went south. I replied that I would like to 
 have him. He was sent for and came in the morning; 
 talked with me awhile and went out of the room. In a 
 short time Mrs. Hubbard came to me and said: "Mr. 
 Skinner, may I tell you what Dr. Osborne told me?" 
 I replied, "Certainly." "He says you are all used up, 
 that he can't do much for you ; whether you live or not 
 will depend upon good nursing ; that in any event you 
 Will not get out in six weeks." I had never suffered 
 much sickness. I took no stock in the doctor's prognos 
 tications in my case, but following events proved him 
 correct. Mrs. Hubbard was one of the dearest old 
 ladies I ever knew, as well as the best friend I ever 
 had. She nursed me faithfully, but it was six weeks 
 before I became convalescent. I fully believe she saved 
 my life. Dr. Osborne remarked that it would be some 
 time before I would have another fever, and I have had 
 none, although I have lived twenty-seven years in Flor 
 ida. The experience of that malarial fever has demon 
 strated to me that a person, convalescing from it, should 
 
A BEAUTIFUL FOREST 151 
 
 be very careful in resuming the customary avocations 
 of life, and I have used that knowledge much to the 
 advantage of my family and the health of my employees. 
 As soon as I had fully recovered I returned to Escam- 
 bia. 
 
 My experience in 1878 in buying logs led me to buy 
 the log landings along the shores of the bay and river, 
 where logs could be handled by teams and rolled into 
 the water ; then these landings could not be used without 
 my consent while I owned them. Up to this time and 
 for several years later, timber lands in Florida were 
 valued at only fifty cents per acre, which price, of 
 course, was ridiculously low. I was aware of that fact, 
 but I think it was the general impression of the natives 
 that these lands never would be worth more. They 
 could secure government land by locating it under the 
 United States Homstead law, but most of them failed 
 to do so, because it cost fifteen or twenty dollars to lo 
 cate the claim. 
 
 Most of the natives possessed a migratory disposition. 
 They would see locations often which they thought su 
 perior to the one they occupied. It did not involve much 
 labor to cut poles, notch them and build a log house ; 
 they could cut down a cypress, juniper or pine tree for 
 shingles. Most of them had a little ox-cart or one- 
 horse, four-wheeled wagon in which to move their wives, 
 children and household goods,, and they could drive 
 their pigs and cattle to the new home. The man would 
 girdle a few acres of trees and start a new plantation, 
 perhaps a little richer and better than the former worn- 
 out garden spot At one time I think as many as a 
 hundred of these "squatters" were living on my land. 
 
 In the fall of 1880 my former partner, E. H. Hub- 
 
152 REMINISCENCES 
 
 bard, returned to Escambia and spent the winter with 
 me. His eldest daughter, Mary, was born at my house. 
 I had an option on some thirty-five thousand acres of 
 pine land at seventy cents per acre. This land lay on, 
 and tributary to the Canuch River, and was covered 
 with very large pine trees. Mr. Hubbard had two 
 brothers in New Mexico raising sheep, and about this 
 time they sold out ; their names were John Q. and How 
 ard Hubbard. The mill property at Escambia still be 
 longed to my father-in-law and I urged them very 
 strongly to look at this pine land and buy it. If they 
 preferred I would let them have the mill at Escambia 
 and I would go somewhere else, but the three brothers 
 decided to go to Mobile and embark in the lumber busi 
 ness there. Later this land was sold to a syndicate of 
 Wisconsin men a Mr. Wharton and others. After 
 wards Mr. Wharton offered the land to me at $2 per 
 acre, and he finally sold it to a Mr. Peters, who made 
 a fortune out of it, and then sold it to Mr. F. C. Brent 
 and others, who have also made a great deal of money 
 from it. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 POLITICAL VENTUBES. 
 
 In 1882 an incident occurred at the City Hotel in 
 Pensacola which I think had considerable to do with 
 my entering into politics. At that time my wife was in 
 Newton, Mass., boarding, and my son was attending 
 Yale college. I therefore found it rather lonesome at 
 Escambia, and would frequently come into Pensacola 
 on Saturday nights and stay over Sunday. One Satur 
 day night I was standing by the counter in the office of 
 the City Hotel. It was a little after the time the train 
 arrived from the north, and there was an unusual num 
 ber of people in the office at the time. I heard a tall, 
 six-footer who was standing by me inquire of the clerk 
 if Mr. Skinner was in town. The clerk replied : "That 
 is Mr. Skinner standing by you." It occurred to me 
 that very likely the man wished to buy a cargo of lum 
 ber. He turned to me and said: "Mr. Skinner, my 
 name is Mr. Knowles." I rejoined: "Mr. Knowles, I 
 am glad to meet you." He then said: "Did you send 
 such-and-such a message to me at the depot?" I re 
 plied, "I sent such a message to a man there who re 
 fused to deliver my freight to my drayman." He said, 
 "I am that person, and I consider your message a direct 
 insult." I remarked, "A man who does not wish to be 
 insulted should not offer insults," and turned around, 
 as much as to say that that ended the conversation. 
 Suddenly I felt my hat knocked off my head ; then in a 
 
 153 
 
154: REMINISCENCES 
 
 flash I struck the stranger in the face. Probably the 
 blow dazed him a little. I watched him for a few min 
 utes to see what he would do next. I stood there with 
 my thumbs in the arm-holes of my vest, awaiting the 
 next act on the programme. My antagonist worked 
 himself through the crowd to the farther corner of the 
 room, leaving me in the center, between him and the 
 door, when he drew a revolver from his pocket, and 
 pointing the weapon at me, said: "Get down on your 
 knees and apologize to me, or I will shoot you." I fully 
 believed he would. I was taken entirely by surprise. 
 The crowd sought safety through the doors of the office. 
 I think what I did was without forethought. Walking 
 directly towards him I grabbed the pistol, at the same 
 time Byron Dunwiddy seized him and took his pistol 
 away, then letting him go. The man hurried out of 
 sight as fast as possible. I was unarmed and up to this 
 time was not angry and I did not know where Knowles 
 had gone. I tried to borrow a revolver, but it appeared 
 all were without, or would not lend one to me, and the 
 stores which sold firearms were all closed. By this time 
 I became very angry ; probably if I had secured a wea 
 pon and met Knowles I would have done something for 
 which I ever afterwards would have been sorry. I re 
 mained in town Sunday and Monday looking for 
 Knowles, but saw nothing of that gentleman. When I 
 had last seen him the blood was running down his face. 
 I have since heard that he kept out of sight till his face 
 healed. 
 
 Monday a stranger met me in the office of the hotel 
 and said : "Mr. Skinner, I saw that attack on you Satur 
 day night, and I think you are the bravest man I ever 
 saw." I replied, "I was pretty badly scared, but I did 
 
POLITICAL VENTUBES 155 
 
 not know what else to do." Mr. S. S. Harvey met me 
 that day and said : "Nobody will ever attack you in this 
 country again." It is my own opinion that when a man 
 is in danger of being killed by another man he can't 
 tell what his legs will do with him, whether they will 
 carry him away from the danger, or carry him towards 
 it. I learned later that Mr. Knowles, knowing my habit 
 of coming into town Saturday nights, had invited his 
 
 acquaintances to the hotel to see him "make the d d 
 
 yankee run." The man who told me of his being in 
 vited to see the show, said that he told Knowles he 
 might be making a mistake, saying, "You can't tell 
 sometimes what those yankees will do when you get 
 them in a tight place." 
 
 Soon after this I was approached by some of the lead 
 ing republicans of Pensacola and asked to run for con 
 gress. I told them I did not think there was any chance 
 to elect a republican, but they finally convinced me that 
 there was a good one. It seems there was a majority 
 of whites and negroes at that time in the First Congres 
 sional District of Florida who voted the republican 
 ticket. We had heard that there was a move in what 
 was known as the "black belt" of Florida to run one 
 Daniel McKinnon as an independent The democratic 
 candidate was a Mr. Davidson, who was known in Flor 
 ida as "the funeral member" of congress. He was a 
 pleasant gentleman without much force of character, 
 who was invariably appointed by the speaker of the 
 house, as one of the committee to escort the body of a 
 deceased member of congress to his former home. 
 
 The first congressional district of Florida comprised 
 all the counties bordering on the gulf from Perdido 
 River on the west to Key West on the south, together 
 
156 REMINISCENCES 
 
 with some of the inland counties. It was over six hun 
 dred miles long. A republican convention was to be 
 held at Quincy, Fla., August 24th to nominate a can 
 didate. The county convention to elect delegates to the 
 congressional convention was held some two weeks pre 
 vious to that date. About the 12th or 13th of that 
 month I was in Pensacola to spend Sunday, as usual, 
 when Dr. White, the quarantine physician, said to me : 
 "After dinner we are going up to examine that case in 
 the hospital on East Hill, to find out whether the party 
 has yellow fever, or not." I said : "Let me know when 
 you get back." About three o'clock I met the doctor 
 in the office of the City Hotel and asked him: "What 
 did you decide about that case?" He replied: "It is 
 yellow fever ; we are going to put up the yellow flag for 
 Pensacola tomorrow." At that date yellow fever was 
 supposed to be infectious. I said to Dr. White : "Have 
 you changed your clothes since you went there?" He 
 answered: "No; no one pays me to do that." I said 
 "Good day," and went home to Escambia. At that time 
 there was no railroad from Pensacola to Tallahassee, 
 though the Pensacola & Atlantic R. R. was building. 
 The usual route was to Montgomery, then the Georgia 
 Central to Columbus, Ga., and from there via Way cross 
 and Jacksonville. When our delegation arrived at 
 Montgomery the authorities notified us that Montgomery 
 had quarantined against Pensacola and they would not 
 permit our delegation to get off the cars there. They put 
 us in a passenger car and ran us through the town to a 
 place where they kept us, till the train for Atlanta 
 should arrive. We left that train at Eufala, and went 
 from there to Macon, and from Macon to Jacksonville. 
 The cars were very hot and dusty. We were very tired 
 
POLITICAL VENTURES 157 
 
 when we reached the city and went to the hotel, con 
 gratulating ourselves that we had beaten the yellow 
 fever scare. I had been in my room about long enough 
 to take a bath when I heard a knock at the door. I 
 opened it and a gentleman stood there who announced 
 himself as the quarantine doctor of Jacksonville. He 
 asked me if I did not know that Jacksonville had quar 
 antined against Pensacola. I replied that I did not 
 live in that city; he asked me why I registered from 
 there and I rejoined that I lived near that place, in a 
 small village not much known abroad, and when far 
 from home I usually registered as from Pensacola. 
 He asked, "Where is Col. Tarble ? He is mayor of that 
 city, is he not?" I said, "Yes," and showed him the 
 colonel's room. The latter gentleman tried to argue 
 with him. He said there was no fever in Pensacola, 
 that but one case had been developed. After combating 
 the officiaPs arguments for a considerable time we con 
 vinced him that we were not very dangerous. He 
 wanted to know where we were going, to which we re- 
 plied that we were going to Quincy on the 4 p. m. train 
 that afternoon. He said, "I think you are all right, but 
 I will order you to leave on the four o'clock train this 
 afternoon." 
 
 This quarantine business along the gulf coast against 
 yellow fever is the most foolish, senseless and tyrannical 
 exercise of one-man power that it has ever been my per 
 sonal experience to suffer. It is a most senseless ex 
 hibition of fear, a most tyrannical interference with the 
 liberty of the individual, causing him great trouble, 
 annoyance and expense. We took the train that even 
 ing for Quincy. Fearing our party might have diffi 
 culty in finding hotel accommodations at Quincy, CoL 
 
158 REMINISCENCES 
 
 Tarble and I stopped off and stayed over night at Talla 
 hassee. The next morning the colonel and I went to 
 that place. It was considered politic for our party not 
 to announce my candidacy for the nomination, and I 
 had little or nothing to do with arranging for the con 
 vention the next day, but Col. Tarble and the rest of 
 the delegation were kept very busy. They satisfied 
 themselves that we could control the convention. 
 
 I had never witnessed a political convention com 
 posed largely of negroes, but had presumed they would 
 behave very much like white folks under similar cir 
 cumstances. When the convention organized the next 
 day the negroes displayed racial characteristics, which 
 I had not suspected them to possess. It appeared that 
 nearly every negro in the convention wished to speak at 
 the same time. Some of them were quite good orators, 
 using fair arguments and good logic. Most of the talk 
 ing was done by those who supported the independent 
 candidate, McKinnon. This man had served a number 
 of terms in the Florida legislature, was a rabid democrat, 
 and had caused to be placed on the statute book of the 
 state several laws showing unkindly feelings towards 
 the negroes. I thought for a time they would all be 
 mixed up in a promiscuous fight I was not aware at 
 that time that the negro did so much talking before 
 fighting. The greater part of the negroes in this con 
 vention were preachers, who made politics and religion 
 their principal occupation; one of them would talk 
 himself tired and then another would take the platform 
 and howl with all the eloquence he could command, 
 then sit down exhausted, giving the floor to a third ora 
 tor, and so on until their energy had been expended. 
 
 George Washington Witherspoon was a fine orator, a 
 
POLITICAL, VENTURES 159 
 
 preacher and the last congressional candidate on the re 
 publican ticket in the district. He had consumed much 
 of the time of the convention in explaining his conduct 
 for the last two years and soliciting a renomination, 
 but becoming convinced that he could not succeed, he 
 came to Col. Tarble and wished to know whom West 
 Florida was supporting, promising that he would give 
 the colonel what influence he had and support his can 
 didate. When informed, he asked to be introduced to 
 me, and then said that he had hoped to be nominated 
 himself, but was convinced that it was impossible, so if 
 I would agree to it, he would make a speech to the con 
 vention nominating me. I gave my consent and he 
 arose and spoke for nearly half an hour very eloquently, 
 extolling my qualifications for the honor and announced 
 my name. This was the first intimation the McKin- 
 nonites had as to who was the dark horse. They had 
 confidence that they could nominate their own man, so 
 they consented to an immediate ballot and it was taken. 
 The result showed that I had two-thirds of the conven 
 tion, and was declared the nominee. Then there was 
 pandemonium in the convention hall ; all the McKinnon 
 delegates wanted to express their indignation and dis 
 appointment; they had evidently over-estimated their 
 strength. One big, fat negro from Tallahassee lay 
 down at full length on the secretary's table and called 
 for some one to stick a knife in him. This negro was 
 postmaster at Tallahassee, and was afterwards proven 
 a defaulter to the postoffice department The McKin 
 non supporters openly made the charge that I had 
 bought the convention. Col. Tarble, John Eagan and 
 others returned to Tallahassee, where we organized a 
 campaign committee. Ex-U. S. Senator Conover, who 
 
160 REMINISCENCES 
 
 had been a prominent republican politician in the state 
 of Florida, was at the convention and became my active 
 supporter, as did numerous other politicians. 
 
 I had arranged to go north in a few weeks to visit 
 my wife and son, which I did as soon as the preliminary 
 arrangements for the campaign were made. I was ad 
 vised to get a good rousing speaker from the north to 
 help me stump the district. I was also advised to leave 
 a couple of thousand dollars with the treasurer of the 
 congressional committee, to be used in lubricating the 
 republican congressional machinery. 
 
 At the Quincy convention the McKinnon negro dele 
 gates had appeared to have an enmity against Mr. Cono- 
 ver. When he attempted to speak they made an attack 
 on him and drove him from the hall. The day before 
 the convention Col. Tarble was talking with McKinnon. 
 The colonel was a conspicuous-looking man who would 
 be noticed in any crowd. Half a dozen negroes came 
 up to him and asked if he was collector of the Port of 
 Pensacola and he replied that he was. They said that 
 they were delegates to the convention and had not had 
 anything to eat that day. The colonel said : "You prob 
 ably are McKinnon delegates; he will give you money 
 to get something to eat." McKinnon told them that he 
 had no money to give away and that he would not give 
 them anything. Tarble told them to wait a minute 
 while he stepped into a grocery and got a twenty dollar 
 gold piece changed into silver dollars. When he re 
 turned he threw each of them a dollar and told them 
 to go and get something to eat" He added that he did 
 not give them the money to buy their votes, but that he 
 did not like to see men go hungry ; that when they got 
 hungry again to come and see him. He knew they 
 
POLITICAL, VENTURES 161 
 
 would be hungry before the opening of the convention 
 the next day, and sure enough they presented themselves 
 for a hand-out the next morning, and informed the 
 colonel that they would vote as he did ; that they liked 
 his kind of politics. 
 
 John Eagan was elected chairman of the convention. 
 He was a good presiding officer and understood his 
 business; he was also from Pensacola and was one of 
 my supporters. At one time the convention did not 
 like his rulings and half a dozen negroes rose to ex 
 postulate. A one-armed negro from Tallahassee picked 
 up a heavy chair in his right hand and made as though 
 he would knock Eagan over the head with it. Col. Tar- 
 ble jumped up and swung a big, heavy cane which he 
 always carried, shouting "sit down." The negroes sat 
 down as though they had been shot. 
 
 When Col. Tarble with his delegates from Pensacola 
 arrived at Quincy from Jacksonville, ex-governor 
 Stearns, who lived in Quincy, caused a meeting of the 
 board of health to be called, to have those delegates ex 
 cluded from the village. Col. Tarble attended the meet 
 ing of the board of health and told the gentlemen that 
 there was only one case of sickness in Pensacola when 
 they left, and that none of the delegates with him had 
 been exposed to yellow fever. Turning to Stearns, he 
 said : "You can drive us out of town into the woods if 
 you want to, but I shall take the convention to the 
 woods with me if I go there." He then said : "Gentle 
 men, you know what the governor of North Carolina 
 said to the governor of South Carolina!" The mem 
 bers of the board admitted that they did not know* 
 "Well, he said, 'Gentlemen, it is time to go and take a 
 
162 REMINISCENCES 
 
 drink/ " The colonel furnished several drinks, and 
 heard nothing further about leaving town. 
 
 After getting all the campaign machinery in order I 
 went directly to Portland, Me., where my wife and son 
 had preceded me. While in Portland I made the ac 
 quaintance of Mr. Neal Dow, son of his father, the 
 great temperance reformer in Maine before the civil 
 war he was afterward appointed a general in the fed 
 eral army, and was at one time in command of federal 
 forces at Pensacola. The son was an expert in politics 
 and told me how they did things in Maine. He gave 
 me a good deal of information in regard to running a 
 campaign. In answer to my inquiry he recommended 
 to me, an orator who would fill my requirements, a 
 young man by the name of Loony. This gentleman 
 was an Irish Catholic, and from the accounts given me 
 must have "kissed the blarney stone" before leaving the 
 emerald isle. I went to see Loony and found him a 
 pleasant fellow. He told me he was twenty-eight years 
 old, that he had never uttered an oath, nor used tobacco, 
 nor tasted liquor, nor ever gambled. I said to him, 
 "Mr. Loony, you are certainly a very remarkable young 
 man, but let me tell you that during the last ten years 
 you have lost a heap of fun." 
 
 I wrote to Senator Sawyer of Wisconsin, informing 
 him that I was the republican candidate for congress 
 in my district, and asking him to send me letters of 
 introduction to the secretary of the congressional com 
 mittee and such other persons in Washington as in his 
 opinion would assist me, which he kindly did. He 
 sent me letters of introduction to the secretary of the 
 treasury and the secretary of the post office department ; 
 also to the secretary of the congressional committee. 
 
POLITICAL VENTURES 163 
 
 It is customary every two years when a new congress 
 is elected for the republican members of the expiring 
 congress to appoint a committee to help the election 
 of republican candidates in close districts. George C. 
 Grorham was secretary of this committee, and its exec 
 utive officer. Senator Sawyer's letters were very cor 
 dial and endorsed me in unstinted terms. 
 
 On my return to Tallahassee I stopped in Washing 
 ton to see parties to whom I had letters of introduction. 
 Calling on Mr. Gorham I gave him my name. At first 
 I did not present my letter. He said that he had heard 
 about me, and that some charges had been made against 
 me. I talked a little while to him then presented Sena 
 tor Sawyer's letter. After reading this he said: "Mr. 
 Skinner, you are all right ; this letter of introduction is 
 as good as if it had come from Gen. Grant." He then 
 pulled open a drawer in his desk and took from it a long 
 letter written by a negro named Fortune, who lived in 
 New York City and imagined himself a great leader 
 of his race. The letter was full of ridiculous state 
 ments, proving that neither the writer nor his informer 
 knew anything about me. In fact up to that time I 
 had no particular political record, not having meddled 
 in the politics of Florida at all, but had devoted myself 
 since coming to the state exclusively to the lumber busi 
 ness. I had tried to build up a good trade and to make 
 some money. 
 
 I had arranged with Mr. Loony that if I should want 
 him to come and stump the state with me, I was to 
 write him and he would come. When I returned to 
 Tallahassee I did not find things in a satisfactory con 
 dition. I could see but little hope for my election, with 
 such division. We could succeed only with a united 
 
164 REMINISCENCES 
 
 party. I found McKinnon running as an independent 
 candidate, supported by Stearns and his influence. It 
 had become a belief, with many of the republicans of 
 the state, that they could be more successful in electing 
 a candidate who was an out-and-out democrat and who 
 would run as an independent. This scheme was tried 
 several times, both in state and congressional campaigns, 
 but in every instance proved a complete failure. Stearns 
 had been captain in the federal army, was left in Flor 
 ida at the close of the war, and then engaged in "carpet 
 bag 77 politics. He was elected lieutenant governor of 
 the state on the republican ticket; the governor died 
 and he succeeded to that position. He was then nom 
 inated to succeed himself, the year that Tilden and 
 Hayes ran for the presidency. In the scuffle to secure 
 sufficient electoral votes to give Hayes a majority over 
 Tilden in the electoral college, the state government was 
 given to the democrats and the electoral votes to the 
 republicans. Then Stearns joined a man by the name 
 of Martin and settled down in a general store in Quin- 
 cy. They controlled every negro vote in G-adsden coun 
 ty, and had great influence with the negroes in Leon, 
 Jefferson and Jackson counties. I thought I would go 
 and interview Stearns, and see what was the trouble 
 with him. I soon found out. He told me if I would 
 promise him a consulship he would support me with all 
 his influence. I replied that I had no consulship to 
 give anyone; that I could not promise him something 
 that I did not have the right to give ; that I was not a 
 politician, nor did I understand how to play the game 
 of politics ; that I should not place myself under obliga 
 tions to anyone, which would not leave me free to act 
 
POLITICAL VENTURES 165 
 
 rightly. We failed to come to an understanding. I had 
 no idea how many votes he controlled. 
 
 Yellow fever had become very severe in Pensacola, 
 and this fact hampered me greatly in canvassing the 
 District. It looked as though the coming congress would 
 be republican without doubt. The democrats in certain 
 sections would resort to their old tactics of intimidation, 
 stuffing ballot boxes and cheating in the count The 
 probabilities were that the contest between Davidson 
 and myself would be close, that the certificate of elec 
 tion might be given to him, and that I might have to 
 contest the seat in the house; that a republican con 
 gress would unseat him, giving it to me. 
 
 It was never my disposition to enter a contest and 
 give it up without a thorough trial, so I told the "boys" 
 that, having accepted the nomination, I would see the 
 thing through. It appeared that there was no way of 
 estimating the number of votes McKinnon could get 
 from the negroes; we all felt certain that he would 
 get no democratic votes. I found that the two thousand 
 dollars which I had left with the treasurer of the con 
 gressional district committee had disappeared, and that 
 he could give no lucid explanation of what he had done 
 with it. I concluded that thereafter I would disburse 
 my own cash; which I did. Of course under the cir 
 cumstances I had no great hope of success. We had 
 meetings in the counties mentioned, the audiences being 
 composed mostly of negroes. In Leon county we had 
 many political meetings after dark, in the rural dis 
 tricts, as most of the negroes worked on the plantations, 
 and their masters objected to their leaving their work 
 to attend political meetings. I had a good chance now 
 to study the negro in politics. 
 
166 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 When I came back from Washington, a meeting of 
 the congressional committee was held, and I was in 
 formed that it would be impossible for me to use With- 
 erspoon in stumping the district, as he had been charged 
 in the public prints in Washington with getting two 
 hundred dollars from the negro postmaster at Talla 
 hassee, which he claimed to have paid to Fred Douglas 
 and Lynch of Mississippi. When I asked Witherspoon, 
 who was present, how this was, he said that the man 
 wanted to be appointed postmaster; that he had gone 
 to Douglas and Lynch, who were the foremost men of 
 their race in Washington, and they told him that they 
 must each have one hundred dollars before they would 
 agree to help him. He then wrote the postmaster ex 
 plaining the situation and that the latter took two hun 
 dred dollars of the post office funds and sent the same 
 to him, which amount was paid over to Douglas and 
 Lynch, one hundred dollars each. When later it was 
 discovered that the postmaster was short in his accounts, 
 he told the detective that he had sent the money to 
 Witherspoon. It seems that Douglas and Lynch had 
 published a card in a Washington paper denying that 
 they had ever received any money from Witherspoon, 
 stating further that they did not know him. Wither 
 spoon, turning to me, said: "Do you suppose that I 
 would go to Washington and spend a year and a half 
 there, striving to get a seat in congress to which I had 
 been elected, but cheated out of by the democrats, and 
 not make the acquaintance of Douglas and Lynch, who 
 both lived there?" I replied that it did not seem to 
 me probable. J. S. Curry, a treasury agent and an in 
 spector of customs, who was in the room, listening to 
 the conversation, here interjected the remark: "The 
 
POLITICAL VENTURES 167 
 
 last time I was in Washington I saw you and Fred 
 Douglas riding together in the same carriage." I then 
 said: "The card of Douglas and Lynch will have no 
 effect in prejudicing me against you, their statements 
 are evidently false." 
 
 I found Mr. Witherspoon to be an eloquent speaker, 
 and very intelligent for a negro. He was capable of 
 arousing his race to great enthusiasm. He traveled 
 with me while we were stumping the district and we 
 usually spoke to the same audiences. I remember that 
 at one time we went on a trip to Carabelle and Apala- 
 chicola, where we had rousing meetings. Returning 
 on the steamer he sat down to eat with the white pas 
 sengers, and quite a scene was created by the boat's 
 crew making him leave the table and go to the lower 
 deck. He was very dignified and peaceable about it, 
 and the affair passed off without further trouble. 
 
 Mr. McKinnon held a meeting in Tallahassee, but 
 there were not many to hear him, or much enthusiasm. 
 In the western end of the state Escambia county in 
 particular, Col. Tarble attended to the canvass. He 
 stayed manfully, however, to the office he held, mayor 
 of Pensacola, and U. S. collector of the port. 
 
 Yellow fever was the worst that year in Pensacola 
 that it had ever been, or has ever been since. The col 
 onel's son died of it ; he had refused to leave his father ; 
 was a promising young man of about eighteen years, 
 and was mourned and regretted by the whole popula 
 tion of Pensacola. The colonel managed the canvass 
 so well in Escambia county that I received six hundred 
 majority there over Davidson, McKinnon receiving no 
 votes. In Gadsden county, in which Stearns lived, I 
 received seven votes. McKinnon received about one- 
 
168 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 third of the negro vote in Leon and Jefferson counties, 
 and one-quarter of the votes in Jackson county; he re 
 ceived a little over three thousand votes in all. It was 
 the opinion of every man with whom I conversed, that 
 McKinnon received no democratic votes whatever; he 
 polled no votes except negro votes, which but for his can 
 didacy would have been cast for me. McKinnon' s vote 
 and mine were a majority of those cast The democrats 
 resorted to fraud in only a few counties. 
 
 Davidson said he had had a hard task to beat two 
 men, but with his opponents, votes were not strength, 
 because they were so divided. About the only satisfac 
 tion that I had out of this canvass was the complimen 
 tary vote I received where I was known. I had then 
 lived in Escambia about eight years, and in the precinct 
 of Ferry Pass where I lived I received nearly the whole 
 vote ; some fifteen or eighteen refugees from yellow fe 
 ver in Pensacola illegally voted in the precinct against 
 me, by swearing in their votes. 
 
 I had expended about five thousand dollars as costs 
 of that canvass, and there was little satisfaction in the 
 way it had been expended. I published a newspaper 
 at Tallahassee, but I learned that most of the copies 
 which circulated through the mails, were destroyed by 
 a couple of postal-route agents. I had the satisfaction, 
 later, of having those agents removed. I wis asked to 
 do many favors in the post office department, by getting 
 postmasters and postal agents appointed. This annoyed 
 me considerably, yet I was foolish enough to go on the 
 bonds of several negro postmasters. 
 
 I carried the campaign no farther south than Cedar 
 Keys. Undoubtedly if I had gone through the southern 
 counties I could have increased my vote considerably, 
 
POLITICAL VENTURES 169 
 
 but I realized that my whole hope of election depended 
 upon pacifying and uniting the republican vote in the 
 black counties before mentioned. Stearns was resolved 
 to control me politically or defeat me ; he succeeded in 
 doing the latter. 
 
CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 M'DAVID BROTHERS AS PARTNERS. 
 
 In the summer of 1882, I had considerable logging 
 done on the Choctawhatchee River. I had about ten 
 thousand logs in my boom at the mouth of that river, 
 when a tidal wave occurred in the Choctawhatchee Bay. 
 It entered the river and forced the current so far that 
 it carried the logs up several miles. When the wave 
 receded, it made so strong a current down the river 
 that the logs piled up against the boom, broke it, and 
 they went out into the bay. I sent men and a tug to 
 pick up the logs and secure them; they succeeded in 
 getting about half of them in a bayou opening into the 
 river below Freeport. I employed another tug to go to 
 Choctawhatchee to do my towing. It was commanded 
 by a Captain Leonard. The year before I had unfor 
 tunately incurred his enmity, and he did much to my 
 injury. A Dr. McLane had chartered this boat to 
 transport the machinery for a sawmill from Pensacola 
 to Point Washington at the head of Choctawhatchee 
 Bay. It was an old side wheel river steamer. We 
 started out some time in the afternoon, the doctor and 
 his wife being aboard when I took passage. We had 
 a most enjoyable trip until late in the evening, when 
 we all went to bed. It was after sunrise when I arose, 
 and I found the boat aground in the narrows, every 
 one of the crew being drunk and asleep except the en 
 gineer. I was unable to arouse the cook, who was in a 
 
 170 
 
M'DAVID BROTHERS AS PARTNERS 171 
 
 drunken stupor in the galley. Along towards noon the 
 Captain awoke and went to get another drink to straight 
 en himself out; he found no whiskey left in the two 
 gallon jug. I had poured it out. He asked me if I 
 had taken it and I told him that he and his men drank 
 it all themselves. He said if he knew that I had taken 
 it he would put me ashore on that island. His "hair 
 pulled" badly all the rest of the day so that the doctor, 
 his wife and I had rather a lonesome time. A little 
 after noon the cook awoke and brought us something to 
 eat, after which we felt happier. We arrived at Point 
 Washington that night and the second day the "Iberia" 
 started back with a tow of logs for me. I went with 
 them and the journey was without incident until we had 
 reached the wide part of Santa Rosa sound. The wind 
 which had been fresh all day, was dead ahead and in 
 creased to a gale by evening. Our boat was nearly 
 powerless against it. The Captain put out the big an 
 chor and hung to it, working the engines at the same 
 time to keep from dragging it. The Captain was in 
 such a rage at the weather, he would go to the bow of 
 the boat, where the wind would blow the water in his 
 face, shake his fist at the gale and swear like a pirate, 
 cursing everybody and everything. He gave the most 
 picturesque exhibition of profanity to which I had ever 
 listened. This man was six feet tall, over forty years 
 of age, with blue eyes, light hair and possessed of a 
 wiry frame; he had a daring and reckless temperament. 
 During the civil war, he had been employed by the 
 federals in Mobile Bay as a pilot, and had been cap 
 tured by the confederates just before Admiral Farragut 
 entered the harbor. Tried by a court martial as a spy, 
 
172 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 he was sentenced to be hung the next day, but was re 
 captured by the federals just in time to save his neck. 
 
 The next trip Leonard made to Choctawhatchee my 
 man at the boom gave him another tow of logs to bring 
 to my mill. Instead of delivering them as directed, he 
 delivered them to George Wright. This was a sample 
 of the many things Captain Leonard did to injure me. 
 I found such a bad set of rascals at Choctawhatchee that 
 I gave up logging in that locality, and turned my atten 
 tion to Escambia River. 
 
 That fall I became acquainted with John McDavid, 
 who with his brothers owned about fifteen thousand 
 acres of land in Santa Rosa county. He offered to sell 
 me their lands at fifty cents an acre. I do not know 
 why I did not buy them but I think it was because I 
 disliked running in debt. I had always been very care 
 ful not to place myself in a position where some other 
 man could make me do what I did not want to. After 
 some negotiations we agreed to enter into a partnership. 
 There were six of the McDavids. We agreed to buy 
 Mr. Hubbard's interest in the mill. The combined Mc 
 Davids were to own one-half and I the other half inter 
 est in the company. They were to put in their lands, 
 and I was to put in what lands I had. At that time 
 I could have closed out my business and netted fifty 
 thousand dollars as a result of ten years' business and 
 labor in Florida, 
 
 I considered it necessary to go to Oshkosh in order 
 to see Mr. Hubbard and make a trade for the mill. I 
 made him a proposition to pay him the purchase price 
 of the property, but he did not seem to wish to sell it. 
 I told him I would as soon go somewhere else and build 
 another mill, but I wanted to see him get back the 
 
M'DAVID BROTHERS AS PABTNEBS 173 
 
 money which he had put into the property. After about 
 a week's delay he informed me that he would do as I 
 wished, and he deeded the mill, with the pine lands be 
 longing to it, to the new firm. Our lands were located 
 mostly along the river, some so far from it as to make 
 the hauling of the logs by oxen too expensive to be 
 profitable. 
 
 About this time there was a good deal of experiment 
 ing in Florida seeking to find a cheaper and better way 
 for transporting logs a long distance to water. One 
 of the means tried had been a tramway, but the wooden 
 rails soon wore out. Another had been, to build a pole 
 road, laying small trees on the ground, using concave 
 wheels that would straddle the pole, but such roads 
 lasted only a short time. 
 
 I concluded I would go to Michigan and see what they 
 were doing there in the way of hauling logs. I went to 
 Grand Rapids and there made the acquaintance of a 
 Mr. Belknap who was engaged in manufacturing sup 
 plies for the logging business. While I was talking to 
 him one time, a man came in and Mr. B. introduced 
 us. We soon began discussing the subject in question. 
 I spoke of the tramway and the pole road; also other 
 methods used in our section, but he replied : "We have 
 been through all these experiments up here and I tell 
 you there is but one way to haul logs economically, and 
 that is on a railroad." After some further talk I prom 
 ised to come up to Lake Cadillac and look at some nar 
 row-gauge railroads in that locality, used for hauling 
 logs. I did so and the sight was convincing. As a re 
 sult I bought in Chicago six miles of steel rail of S. D. 
 Kimbark, contracted to have a locomotive made by 
 the Lima Machine works, and engaged George Randall 
 
174: REMINISCENCES 
 
 to survey the road and superintend its construction. 
 Randall I had known in Geddesburg, Michigan, when 
 he was a boy, at the time I was working there on a paper 
 mill. Later he came to Oshkosh and was engineer of 
 the Green Bay & Lake Pepin R. R. He was also en 
 gineer 011 the Fox River canal. 
 
 Under our articles of copartnership John McDavid 
 was to give his time and service to the company; later 
 he wished to give his time to the McMillan Mill Com 
 pany, and suggested that I secure anyone I wished to 
 take his place and he would pay his salary. I sent for 
 my brother, La Fayette, who was then living in Ne- 
 waygo, Mich., and we began the construction of the 
 road at the river, on the west side of Bonal Island, 
 which is an island in Escambia River. That fall and 
 winter we built five miles of road in a north-easterly di 
 rection. After being on the line three or four months 
 Randall became homesick and despondent, and wished 
 to go home. We consented to his doing so. My brother 
 had charge of the business at Chumuckla, this being 
 the name I had given to the terminus of the road. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 OUR TRIP TO GERMANY. 
 
 In the Spring of 1884 I started from Pensacola to 
 my home in Escambia, when stepping into my buggy 
 at the station, I saw a tall, athletic looking young man 
 walking ahead of me; I took him to be a Scotchman, 
 more from the color of his hair than anything else. 
 Overtaking him I asked him where he was going, and 
 he replied : "To Ferry Pass, to learn how hewn timber 
 is inspected." I informed him that he would find no 
 place there to remain overnight and invited him to stop 
 at my house. I also said that I had several rafts of 
 hewn timber being inspected at Ferry Pass, that I was 
 going there in the morning with my tug, and that I 
 would take him along and drop him on the rafts as I 
 went by, on the way to my log booms. He accepted 
 my invitation, and during the evening entertained us 
 very much by relating his experiences since coming to 
 America, which were some of them quite amusing. It 
 seems that when he landed in New York he was en 
 tirely ignorant of the English language. A relative 
 of his living in New York put him on board a train 
 coming to Chicago, but he could only make his wants 
 known to someone who understood German. He was 
 afraid to leave the car, lest he should be left, so he 
 went through to Milwaukee without anything to eat, 
 only getting out of the car at Chicago. Reaching his 
 destination, he secured employment with a German 
 
 175 
 
176 REMINISCENCES 
 
 store-keeper, and there he learned a smattering of Eng 
 lish. Then he went to Moss Point, Mississippi, in order 
 to learn how to inspect lumber, and was then returning 
 to his home in Germany. 
 
 The next morning I took the young gentleman, whose 
 name was Schreyer, to Ferry Pass, introduced him to 
 the inspector, left him on the raft while I went on 
 my way. After a couple of hours' absence I returned, 
 took him aboard and went back to the mill, where I 
 bade him goodbye, not expecting to see him again. In 
 perhaps an hour I was surprised at his re-entering my 
 office. He said: "Mr. Skinner, I have been down on 
 your wharf looking at your lumber. I like it very 
 much and I should like to sell for you in Germany 
 if you would let me." I replied : "But, Mr. Schreyer, 
 I don't know anything about you; I should have to 
 know you pretty well before I could let you do that." 
 After some farther consideration I invited him to spend 
 another night with me and talk the matter over. Dur 
 ing the evening he told me that his father, brother and 
 himself were in the lumber business in Hildesheim, 
 Germany, having a lumber yard there, which handled 
 Baltic woods, and that they wished to handle pitch pine 
 also. He invited me to come to Germany and visit 
 them, and learn about their standing. He left the fol 
 lowing morning, saying that he would write me when 
 he got home. When this trip to Germany was men 
 tioned my wife became very much interested, and asked 
 many questions of Mr. Schreyer. I did not place much 
 importance to the talk, but some three weeks later I 
 received a letter from Mr. Schreyer urging me to visit 
 him, see his father and brother; also stating again his 
 wish to sell our lumber; he suggested, too the line of 
 
OUR TRIP TO GERMANY 177 
 
 steamers I would find it advisable to take. After this 
 my wife asked occasionally when I was going to Ger 
 many but finally I said I was not going. She then 
 went to Oshkosh and I went to Boston. While there I 
 went into the office of the North German Lloyd Steam 
 ship Company, and found that one of the best state 
 rooms of the steamer "Werra" was not taken. I en 
 gaged it and telegraphed my wife at Oshkosh, that if 
 she wanted to go to Germany she must be in New 
 York the following Monday. 
 
 We sailed Tuesday and had as pleasant a trip across 
 the ocean as one can make. The sea was smooth as a 
 lake all the way over. We were landed at Bremen 
 Haven in the rain at night, and immediately took the 
 train for Bremen. We went to the hotel which we had 
 selected, and met all the manners due royalty, never 
 theless, "they were very sorry, but they were full." 
 We found accommodations, however, at another hotel. 
 The next morning Mr. Schreyer called and we went 
 with him to Hildesheim. We spent about a week at 
 this place and found it very quaint and interesting. 
 At one time it had been a walled city. The walls, 
 however, had been torn down and the ground once oc 
 cupied by them had been made into a park. Some of 
 the houses of the old town were five or six stories high, 
 each story projecting into the street farther than the 
 one below it. I remember seeing while at this place, 
 a woman and a dog hitched together to a cart, haul 
 ing a load of some kind. I also recollect going to a 
 church claimed to have been built by Charlemagne; 
 beside it grew a rosebush as old as the church itself. 
 There were exhibited to us the vestments of the priests 
 of the cathedral, ornamented with gold, very rich and 
 
178 REMINISCENCES 
 
 handsome. We were also taken through the wine cel 
 lar, where we walked long distances between casks of 
 wine, and were asked to sample as many kinds as we 
 would like. At the time of our visit this wine cellar 
 belonged to private parties who used it to store wines, 
 but in olden times it had belonged to the cathedral and 
 used for storing wines for the priests. There was 
 an entrance to the cellar from the rear of the pulpit, 
 through which the priests could retire to refresh them 
 selves, after the arduous duties of their profession. 
 
 Mr. Schreyer was visiting us one evening, after we 
 had been a week in Hildesheim, when Mrs. Skinner re 
 marked that she would like to take a trip through Ger 
 many. I said I would not travel where I could 
 not make my wants known and understood. Mr. 
 Schreyer asked Mrs. Skinner where she would like to 
 go; she named the points she wished to visit, and he 
 replied that he also wished to see these places, and if 
 his father would give him permission that he would 
 make the journey with us. I told him if he would go 
 with us, that I would pay his expenses, but he re 
 sponded: "If I go I pay my own expenses and you 
 pay yours." I mention this incident to show the dif 
 ference between the customs of Germany and of the 
 United States. The German pays his own way and 
 thinks it belittles him to accept a treat, 
 
 I had by this time agreed with Mr. Schreyer to let 
 him act as my agent in selling lumber and timber, all 
 sales to be subject to my approval before closing. 
 
 The German country was new to me; I had never 
 seen agricultural districts where the landscape appeared 
 so finished. The country around Hildesheim and north 
 of there is a fine locality for raising the sugar beet, and 
 
OUR TRIP TO GERMANY 179 
 
 sugar beet factories were a common sight. On the 
 outside of the old wall is built the modern part of 
 the city, which contains many fine residences. The 
 Hartz Mountains are in view from the city. 
 
 We journeyed from Hildesheim to Nuremburg, which 
 still retains all of its fortified walls. Inside the 
 walls the buildings look very much as they did 
 five hundred years ago. It is the quaintest and 
 most ancient city that I had ever visited. This journey, 
 of which I am writing, was made some twenty-one 
 years ago, and I made no effort at that time to jot 
 down my impressions. I recollect there was quite a 
 large stream of water flowing through the city and pass 
 ing under a stone arch in the city wall, both at its 
 entrance and its exit. This wall was built of stone, 
 was perhaps thirty to forty feet thick being thirty to 
 thirty-five across on top, and I should think, thirty 
 feet high. 
 
 One feature that interested me very much was a castle 
 built in the corner of this wall. It was occupied often 
 by the King of Bavaria, but it served principally as 
 a museum for exhibiting the instruments of torture 
 used in ancient times in the strife between Protestant 
 ism and Catholicism. These instruments of torture 
 were used by the Roman Catholics to compel Protes 
 tants to recant their belief, or in case they would not, 
 to put these victims of their religious intolerance to 
 death. I remember one styled "the holy virgin," which 
 was built of wood in the form of a woman ; it had 
 hinges on one side and opened on the other. The inside, 
 when open, was the shape and space for a human 
 form. On the front half of this were placed iron spikes, 
 that, when the door was closed, would pierce the eyes 
 
180 REMINISCENCES 
 
 and mouth of the victim. The instrument was shut 
 by means of a long pole. Another feature in this castle 
 was a well, said to be three hundred feet deep, which 
 was designed to supply water to the inmates of the castle 
 during a siege. I amused myself by dropping pebbles 
 into the well and noting the time required for them to 
 reach water and the sound to return to my ears. 
 It gave one a realization of the depth. There was a 
 subterranean passage from the castle to the outside of 
 the wall. I found the study of this ancient fortress ex 
 tremely interesting. 
 
 We went to the home of Albert Durer and saw many 
 of his art works; also visited a museum filled with 
 antique articles of virtue; paintings, furniture, old 
 china, jewels, etc. Nuremberg is the center of the 
 toy manufacturing of Germany; it is also notable for 
 its wood carving. We also visited the extensive works 
 of the Faber Pencil Company, and were escorted 
 through the manufactory by Johan Faber himself. He 
 ordered some pencils made in our presence, and then 
 presented them to us. Adjacent to the town he had 
 planted a red cedar forest, This tree grows very 
 rapidly in this section. 
 
 We left Nuremberg and went to Munich, the great 
 art center of Bavaria. We visited the principal art 
 galleries: the Pinecothek, filled with the paintings of 
 the old masters, and which contains a large number of 
 madonnas, Christs, saints, sinners and subjects chiefly 
 religious. I presume these pictures represent high art, 
 but I did not admire them greatly, either in subject 
 or technique. The building called the New Pinecothek 
 is devoted to works of modern painters and I admire 
 these much more than I did those in the former gal- 
 
OUR TRIP TO GERMANY 181 
 
 lery ; but the works of art which pleased me most were 
 in another building called the Glypothek which is used 
 for general art exhibitions. The paintings here were 
 up to date and according to my mind far superior to 
 the old. Our stay at Munich was to be so short that 
 we were able to give but a cursory view to the pic 
 tures. One of the most noticeable objects in Munich is 
 the colossal statue of Bavaria, one hundred and seventy 
 feet high. I remember this great bronze most distinctly, 
 but I think it was the size rather than its merits as a 
 work of art which impressed me. 
 
 One Sunday we attended The King's Opera House 
 and heard "Lohengrin" given by his majesty's own 
 opera troupe. The old ladies who sat in the galleries 
 were knitting and they were all bonnetless. 
 
 It is in this same Bavaria where the celebrated beer 
 of this name is manufactured. Our stay in this place 
 was far too brief. One could stay a month or more 
 in this city as it is certainly very attractive. 
 
 From Munich we went to Freiburg, via Augsburg, 
 Lake Constance and Basle, on the borders of Switzer 
 land. We did not stop at Lake Constance, but we could 
 see the lake and the steamboats plying its waters. The 
 south coast of the lake is very bold ; it is this lake which 
 is the source of the Rhine. I do not remember that we 
 stopped at Basle, but I recall a view of the falls in the 
 river and an iron suspension bridge above them. We 
 stopped at Freiburg over night, my object being to 
 visit a Mr. Eivers. A son of this gentleman was em 
 ployed in my store in Escambia and the young man 
 had proved so worthy that I looked upon him with 
 much favor. I had promised him that when in Grer- 
 many I would intercede with his estranged father in 
 
182 REMINISCENCES 
 
 his behalf. The son it seemed had incurred his father's 
 serious displeasure, but now sought a reconciliation. 
 Mr. Rivers I found to be absent from town and we met 
 only the wife and daughters. 
 
 There was not much to interest us in Freiburg, ex 
 cept the cathedral, so the following morning we took 
 the train for Heidelberg, the next afternoon we took 
 a carriage to the castle ; arriving at the end of the drive 
 we were obliged to walk some distance. Seeing a gen 
 tleman coming down the roadway towards us I re 
 marked: "I believe that is Mr. Rivers." When he 
 approached I asked the gentleman if his name were 
 not Rivers, and he replied that it was. I informed him 
 that his son was in my employ in America, but he 
 seemed to have little interest in him. I learned, how 
 ever, that he was stopping at the same hotel that we 
 were, so I arranged for an interview with him that 
 evening. We then left him and continued our way to 
 the castle. I have seen nothing before or since which 
 interested me as much as did that old castle. Such a 
 gigantic, beautiful old ruin! I cannot blame the Ger 
 mans for hating the French who came into the country 
 and destroyed this relic of ancient glory. A large por 
 tion of the castle was ruined by the invaders, but some 
 of it was in a fair state of preservation. 
 
 Heidelberg is situated on the Necker River (a branch 
 of the Rhine) some twenty miles from its mouth. The 
 castle is situated on the side of the mountain, and over 
 looks the town and the river. There had once been a 
 forest east of the castle but it had been made into a 
 beautiful park. Inside the castle, one large hall was 
 used as a museum, and in it were stored many articles 
 of historic value. From the parapet which was about 
 
OUR TRIP TO GERMANY 183 
 
 two hundred feet long and fifty wide, one had a beau 
 tiful view of the Necker River. In one corner of the 
 parapet was a circular room, having a roof like an 
 umbrella ; on a bench within this room we saw a young 
 lady reading, she looked very romantic amid such sur 
 roundings. Mr. Schreyer spoke to her in German. She 
 had recognized us as Americans and said to Mr. S. 
 that it was not necessary to speak to her in German as 
 she was from Buffalo, N. Y. She also explained that 
 she was not feeling very well and so had remained at 
 the castle while her companions went about Our view 
 of this old ruin was far too short; I hope sometime to 
 be able to give it a more satisfactory visit. This castle 
 is to other castles what the Chicago exposition was to 
 other fairs. It excelled them all. 
 
 The next morning we took the train for Mannheim, 
 where we were to take the steamer down that most pic 
 turesque river in the world : the Rhine. Castles to the 
 right of you, castles to the left of you; history and 
 legend written on every point of rock, on every moun 
 tain and forest that we passed. 
 
 Landing at Rudesheim, we stayed over night, putting 
 up at a very pretty little hotel, which was covered with 
 vines and flowers, and where there were vine em 
 bowered arbors in which to drink wine. I do not recall 
 that any other visitors were stopping there at this time. 
 Above the hotel on the mountain side was situated the 
 celebrated Niederwald monument of bronze. There was 
 a cog railroad running from the hotel to the monument. 
 The hillside about was terraced and planted with grape 
 vines, for it is here that the celebrated Rudesheimer 
 wine is made. The railroad also runs through fine 
 vineyards as it ascends. 
 
184: EEMINISCENCES 
 
 As to the monument : The superstructure was about 
 twenty feet square, upon the top of this was repre 
 sented a large arm chair, before which stood the gigan 
 tic but elegant figure of "Germania." One arm was 
 raised and the hand pointed across the Rhine towards 
 France. On each side of the superstructure were bas- 
 reliefs, representing noted Germans, from King Wil 
 liam down, famous for their connection with the 
 Franco-Prussian war. All the figures were moulded 
 from life. On one side is shown the young soldier 
 leaving his father, mother and sweetheart, for the war, 
 while on the other side is represented his victorious re 
 turn. The monument is placed on a narrow flat piece 
 of ground, situated about half-way up the mountain. 
 We returned to the hotel for the night ; everything there 
 was very quiet and pleasant. The moon shone bril 
 liantly, the wine was delicious. One could sit in the 
 moonlight enjoying the inspiration of a good cigar and 
 dream of the golden legends which seemed floating in 
 the air. 
 
 A little farther down was Bingen "Fair Bingen on 
 the Rhine." I believe that I never enjoyed a journey 
 so much as this delightful trip down the river. I doubt 
 if there is another locality in the world, possessing so 
 much of legend, romance and history as the borders of 
 the Rhine above Cologne. 
 
 We visited the fortress of Ehrenberestein, which is 
 regarded as the Gibraltar of the Rhine. It is garri 
 soned by many thousand soldiers and provisioned for 
 many years. It looked to me to be wholly impreg 
 nable. 
 
 At Cologne the most important feature was the cathe 
 dral, the spires of which, towering to the great height 
 
OUR TKIP TO GEBMANY 185 
 
 of five hundred and twelve feet, one sees before reach 
 ing the city. It is the most stupendous Gothic struc 
 ture in the world, and required over six hundred years 
 to build. It was planned and building commenced two 
 hundred and fifty years before Columbus sailed to 
 America. This beautiful specimen of architecture is 
 the glory of Cologne. As we entered the mammoth 
 structure, some sort of religious service was taking 
 place. We remained some time admiring the grandeur 
 and beauty of the vast interior. 
 
 The next day we took the train for Dusseldorf, this 
 city being another art center of Germany. While there 
 I witnessed the unloading of several regiments of sol 
 diers from the cars. I saw these men march later 
 through the streets. I was impressed by their quick, 
 springy step, and felt that anything in their way would 
 have to step aside or be run over. We visited the art 
 school and also witnessed the entrance into the city 
 of the Crown Prince Frederick and his son, Prince 
 Henry. We were in an open carriage and as the prince 
 and his retinue drove by, Mr. Schreyer startled me by 
 rising to his feet and uttering a horrible howl. For a 
 moment I thought he had lost his senses, but no, it was 
 intended to be a good American cheer given in Ger 
 man. 
 
 The river below Dusseldorf runs through a flat 
 country which is not so interesting, so we took the train 
 for Amsterdam, arriving there after dark. We decided 
 to stop at the hotel Amsdel. While walking from the 
 station, carrying my luggage, a man came up and took 
 hold of my satchel ; I told him in good vigorous Amer 
 ican to let go, but he hung on. I drew my right hand 
 back and planted a blow between his eyes ; then he let 
 
186 REMINISCENCES 
 
 go. Schreyer was much alarmed lest the police run me 
 in, but I heard no more of the incident. 
 
 When we arrived at the hotel we could procure no 
 rooms below the fourth floor; my wife protested that 
 she could not climb so many stairs, but when she found 
 it was absolutely necessary she did it. The hotel had 
 no lift. When the servant came to announce supper 
 my wife ordered it brought to our room, the servant 
 said : that if the madame could walk down that the sup 
 per would be so much better and she walked. 
 
 Amsterdam is a typical Holland city, with streets 
 for the most part canals. By these, passengers and 
 freight are transported from one part of the city to 
 another. There are narrow streets on each side of the 
 canal, but the liquid avenue is the center. This city 
 is built on the west arm of the Zuyder Zee. Our stay 
 was so short that we saw but little of the place, as the 
 next day we took the train for Delft, passing through 
 Haarlem and Leyden. I remember that we visited a 
 church, which was celebrated, though I have forgotten 
 its historical connection as well as the name. We also 
 visited the house wherein the Prince of Orange was 
 assassinated, a mark on the floor showing where the 
 prince had stood when the assassin presented him with 
 the pretended petition and then plunged the dagger into 
 his breast. The house would today be considered of 
 very mean architecture ; the stairway by which he de 
 scended from his dressing room to meet his death, was 
 very narrow, showing how simple was the life of this 
 great warrior and statesman. 
 
 From Delft we took a carriage and drove to Queen 
 Emma's palace, in the woods, where we greatly admired 
 the beautiful Linden trees. From there we went to 
 
OUR TRIP TO GERMANY 187 
 
 Rotterdam and Dordrecht, the two principal seaports 
 of the Netherlands. These places are very quaint and 
 interesting, and to me noticeable because of their wind 
 sawmills. Each mill had three gang saw frames which 
 would saw three pieces of timber at once; each was 
 hung on one-third of the circle and all were propelled 
 by a huge windmill. 
 
 We went from Dordrecht to Antwerp. I remember 
 visiting the bourse at this place, also seeing the spire 
 of the cathedral. Two spires had evidently been planned, 
 but only one completed. I thought it the most beautiful 
 spire I had ever seen. Antwerp is a great shipping port 
 and does a large trade in lumber. I afterwards shipped 
 a great deal of lumber to this place. 
 
 Mr. Schreyer left us at this point, returning to Hildes- 
 heim. After his departure I felt like a child lost 
 among strangers. We took the train at Antwerp for 
 Calais; all went well until we arrived at the French 
 border. I had understood that we could go through 
 Calais without change of cars, but when we arrived at 
 the French frontier every one in the cars alighted. I 
 did not know what to make of it. The guard came to 
 us several times and said something which we did not 
 understand, then a lady came and spoke in what my 
 wife recognized as French, and we at last comprehended 
 that they wished us to go out of the car, go through the 
 custom house, and enter a train for Calais. I noted that 
 the country through which we traveled after this, was 
 very flat and low ; that the French soldiers were of short 
 stature and were gaudily dressed. When we arrived at 
 the boat landing on the pier we found people who could 
 talk American with a bad brogue which they called 
 
188 KEMINISCENCES 
 
 English. We had rather an unpleasant trip across the 
 channel from Calais to Dover. 
 
 We went by rail to London and stopped at the Gros- 
 venor Hotel, adjoining the Victoria railroad station. 
 We visited the Kensington museum, where I was highly 
 entertained. The paintings were largely from the early 
 English masters; Lely, Benjamin West, Turner and 
 others ; but what interested me most was the machinery 
 department which I did not discover until late in the 
 evening. Stored therein was the first locomotive made 
 in England ; also a model of the first steamboat built in 
 that country. I remained in this section until they 
 began closing for the night. I enjoyed greatly the many 
 interesting subjects. When we came out i't was raining 
 a little, I called a hansom and when the cabby closed 
 the door he asked "Where to?" I replied: "To the 
 Gross- venor." Cabby said again: "Where?" and I re 
 peated: "The Gross-venor." Then he called a police 
 man, who was standing by and asked him: "Can you 
 tell me where this man wants to go ?" I said once more : 
 "To the Gross-venor." My wife began to "catch on" 
 that my pronunciation was at fault, and said to me 
 "Grove nor." Then everything was plain to th^ cab 
 man and he took us to our hotel. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ENGLISH BROTHERS AND ENGLAND. 
 
 I will now go back to the year 1878. I had sold 
 two cargoes of lumber to be shipped to Sutton Bridge, 
 in England. In due time a ship appeared to take one 
 of the cargoes, a fine elderly man by the name of Ingra- 
 ham was the Captain. I invited him to take dinner 
 with me Christmas, and he proved to be a genial and 
 kind hearted gentleman. When he had his cargo aboard 
 and was ready to sail, he asked me if I would do busi 
 ness direct with the firm he represented, without the 
 intervention of commission merchants. He stated that 
 his employers were very wealthy, that they did an ex 
 tensive business in lumber; that they had four vessels 
 of their own; that they received cargoes at Sutton 
 Bridge and East Lynn on the east coast of England; 
 and that they had large sawmills and planing mills at 
 Peterborough, which place was reached by rail from 
 both ports. I told him I would be glad to do so. Cap 
 tain Ingraham came after lumber for two or three years 
 and I very much enjoyed knowing him. 
 
 I think about the year 1882, one of their vessels came 
 and received a cargo from me, which, upon being landed, 
 did not give satisfaction. The style of the firm name 
 was English Brothers, and consisted of an old gentle 
 man and his sons. I knew that the cargo when I shipped 
 it was all right and was what I had sold them, and of 
 course I refused to allow their reclamation. I wrote 
 
 189 
 
190 REMINISCENCES 
 
 them many sarcastic and caustic letters and our business 
 relations became quite strained. Captain Ingraham was 
 at that time after a cargo of wood in the Baltic Sea. 
 When he returned to Sutton Bridge he told his firm that 
 he knew I had never sent such a shipment. He waited 
 until the captain, who had shipped the cargo, returned, 
 for, knowing the tricks of the trade, as well as this skip 
 per, pretty well, he had formed his opinion as to how 
 the cargo got aboard the vessel. He asked the captain 
 if there had been any rough weather while he lay in port 
 at Pensacola, to which the skipper replied that there had 
 been, and that he had lost all his timber while loading, 
 but that he had sent out his sailors to pick up as many 
 pieces as they had lost, which they did and he had put 
 these into the cargo in place of those lost ; he had been 
 careful, however, to keep this information from the own 
 ers. Captain Ingraham, feeling friendly toward me, 
 explained to English Brothers how the rotten, worm- 
 eaten timber got into the ship, and convinced the firm 
 that it was the captain of the vessel who was the rascal 
 and not I. English Bros, dropped their suit for recla 
 mation, but did not make the amende honorable which 
 I thought my due. However, they knew then that I was 
 not to blame and the next fall they sent two vessels to 
 me for cargoes, which were duly loaded, shipped and 
 paid for. 
 
 In March, I received a cablegram from them, asking 
 me to buy a cargo for their account for immediate ship 
 ment. There was a vessel in port, loaded by L. M. Mer- 
 ritt, of tonnage suitable for the port of Sutton Bridge, 
 which I bought of him for them. I think that the cargo 
 came to about 1,000, or $5,000. Of this cargo I had 
 furnished about 100,000 feet, and I was satisfied that 
 
ENGLISH BROTHERS 191 
 
 the whole cargo was of good quality. As usual, I attached 
 the specifications of the cargo, the charter-party of the 
 vessel, and drew on them for the value of the cargo, and 
 billed it to them for exactly what I had paid for it, and 
 felt that my draft would be cheerfully paid when it 
 should be presented. I turned the papers over to my 
 bank, as was the custom, and the bank gave me credit 
 for the amount of the draft. In due course of time the 
 bank was informed by cable that payment had been re 
 fused. I was entirely in the dark as to the reason, until 
 I received a letter from English Bros., saying that the 
 cargo was not what they wanted, that it contained too 
 many 3x9-inch deals. I wrote them that I did not know 
 what they wanted, only by the specifications mentioned 
 in the telegram ; that was "3x9 and up," which I bought 
 for them as instructed. They replied that I should have 
 known that they wanted what they had usually bought 
 from me. I wrote in reply that I had no telepathic com 
 munication with them, telling me what they wanted, 
 that it would have been an easy matter for them to stipu 
 late in their cable that cargo should be as usual, if they 
 wished such, instead of wiring, "3x9 and up." The cor 
 respondence became rather acrimonious. After a while 
 I received account of sale, "For Whom It May Con 
 cern," with a long account of commissions and storage, 
 and a draft in my favor to cover the balance, which 
 amounted to about three-fifths of what I had paid for 
 the cargo ; so when I was in London the last of Septem 
 ber I thought I would go to Sutton Bridge and see the 
 gentlemen, as I was about $2,000 short on the accommo 
 dation, and from any course of reasoning that I could 
 pursue, I could not find myself blamable in the affair. 
 I felt the fault to be wholly on their side. So I con- 
 
192 REMINISCENCES 
 
 eluded to go to Button Bridge and visit Captain Ingra 
 ham, my wife accompanying me. 
 
 We took the cars for Peterborough, where we changed 
 cars for Wisbech, at which place several of the sons of 
 Mr. English lived and maintained a lumber yard. Sut- 
 ton Bridge was a few miles beyond Wisbech, and before 
 going there I went into the office of English Bros, to 
 inquire about Mr. Ingraham. While making my queries 
 at the desk I heard one man say to another in an adjoin 
 ing room that he believed that the stranger at the desk 
 was Mr. Skinner of Florida. 
 
 We took the train for Sutton Bridge, which we found 
 to be a town of minor importance, being a small shipping 
 port. It had a hotel of meager accommodations, at 
 which we stopped. I learned at Wisbech that Captain 
 Ingraham had given up sea-faring life, that Mr. English 
 had placed him in charge of some docks which he had 
 built at Sutton Bridge, and that he was engaged there 
 at the present time, in discharging a cargo of lumber. 
 After locating at the hotel, I went to the docks and 
 looked him up. I found him to be little changed since 
 I last met him ; at that time he was between sixty and 
 sixty-five years of age. I was very much interested in 
 this man, he was so like my own father when he was of 
 his age. Mr. Ingraham was very much surprised and 
 pleased to see me. My attention was much drawn to 
 their methods of moving lumber, so different was it from 
 ours. The ship delivered the lumber on the wharf ; then 
 each workman took a deal on his back, it being all he 
 could lift, and carrying it to a pile two hundred feet dis 
 tant, where two men took it from him and he returned 
 for another load, two men placing another deal on his 
 back. With us we rarely lifted those weighty deals, but 
 
ENGLISH BROTHERS 193 
 
 instead put them on rollers or two- wheeled carts. Here 
 in England a "growler" of beer was kept where the man 
 could take a drink whenever he wished one. I did not 
 fancy this method of soul-carting lumber, or rather of 
 not carting it as it transformed men into beasts of bur 
 den ; but it has been a custom here from time immemo 
 rial, and so of course was considered right. 
 
 Captain Ingraham was desirous that we go home with 
 him, and accordingly the next day we did so. He and 
 his wife lived alone except when some of their children 
 were visiting them. At that time a daughter was at 
 home. She was, I think, employed in a ladies' furnish 
 ing house in London. She appeared an honest^ comely 
 girl, much like her father and mother. Captain Ingra 
 ham and wife made it very pleasant. I appreciated espe 
 cially the character of this man, with his practical good 
 sense and his kindly spirit. 
 
 While at this place English Bros, sent a request that 
 I come to Wisbech, which I did. When they learned 
 that my wife was with me, they sent to Sutton Bridge 
 for her. One of the sons of Mr. English took us to his 
 home. They treated us very kindly and showed us much 
 attention. While we were visiting them a political meet 
 ing occurred about six miles distant, within the grounds 
 of some gentleman's manor. It was a meeting of the 
 supporters of the Conservative party of England. The 
 admission to the grounds was by card, this was required, 
 in order to keep out persons who might make a disturb 
 ance or oppose the sentiments expressed by the speakers. 
 These were to be the Earl of Cardigan and a Mr. Law 
 rence, M. P., the latter gentleman being a cousin of 
 Mrs. Alfred English. I was invited by one of the 
 
194 REMINISCENCES 
 
 brothers to attend this meeting and I cordially ac 
 cepted. 
 
 After luncheon, four of us mounted what was called 
 a "trap" and went to hear the speaking. The grounds 
 in which the meeting was held were very beautiful, and 
 I was very much interested in hearing the politics of 
 this country expounded. The audience stood while hear 
 ing the speakers and before I was aware I became 
 separated from my companions by the crowd, and I did 
 not find them again that afternoon. 
 
 The Earl was a very gentlemanly looking man. He 
 wore a frock coat and kept both hands in its pockets. 
 He spoke in a conversational tone, without gestures, was 
 very candid and argumentative, and made a favorable 
 impression upon me. There did not appear to be much 
 enthusiasm in the crowd, and there was no cheering at 
 the good points made by the speakers. Every thing 
 was very decorous until it came to the last speaker, who 
 was a sturdy red-faced Englishman who attacked his 
 subject with a vim. He spoke in a loud voice, pawed 
 the air with his hands, and reminded me of the political 
 wind-jammers at home. After the meeting broke up, I 
 was unable to find either my escorts or the trap, so I 
 started with the crowd and walked back to the city. 
 When I inquired for my wife, and was informed that 
 the ladies finding the men all gone to the meeting, con 
 cluded that they would walk there themselves, and that 
 they had not yet returned. English women thought 
 nothing of walking that distance. I concluded that 
 my wife would come back a ruin, but I sat down and 
 awaited developments. Soon the ladies returned, and 
 were in high spirits, they had had a very good time, 
 had enjoyed themselves and my wife had walked twelve 
 
ENGLISH BROTHERS 195 
 
 miles. About two was her limit in America. How a 
 person can walk such a distance in England without 
 exhaustion, has ever since been a wonder to me. 
 
 During this visit Mr. Arthur English took me to see 
 his country place, which proved to be very handsome. 
 I do not remember where it was located. His wife 
 was absent at the time, she was the daughter of an 
 Irish clergyman. Arthur English was the oldest son, 
 and was managing head of English Bros., lumber dealers 
 and ship owners. It was said that he was very anxious 
 to be knighted by the queen; to be elevated from the 
 non-aristocratic status of a lumber dealer to the dignity 
 of knighthood. Whether his ambitions have ever been 
 realized I do not know, but for his sake I trust they 
 were as he was certainly a pleasing gentleman. The 
 sons were very desirous that I should visit their father, 
 who was living in the country near Peterborough. He 
 had been a very enterprising man, was now somewhat 
 advanced in years, being about seventy at this time. 
 I went to see him and was entertained at dinner; his 
 wife, himself and two of his sons were there. I was 
 a little uneasy not knowing whether he had seen or read 
 my letter, in which was a severe allusion to him in 
 connection with the reclamation on the cargo of timber 
 before mentioned. Mr. English was a wealthy man 
 and a large land owner for this part of the world, hav 
 ing some three hundred acres which he farmed. His 
 wife was somewhat dictatorial and opinionated. Once 
 during a conversation at dinner she remarked that she 
 wished that we would keep our wheat at home, and not 
 send it over to England. I was informed that Mr. 
 English raised wheat largely and that American wheat 
 
196 REMINISCENCES 
 
 kept the price of that commodity down, so that he did 
 not realize as much for it as he wished. 
 
 While here I also visited a country fair giving a fine 
 exhibition of cattle and horses, which I found very at 
 tractive. While strolling through the fair with one of 
 the English brothers, he called my attention to a robust 
 looking man as Lord So-and-So ; I remarked that I was 
 not as much interested in lords as I was in cattle. My 
 host asked me if I did not reverence the English no 
 bleman. I replied "no, unless there is something to raise 
 him above other men; that the fact alone of his title 
 would have no weight with me." He asked if the 
 Americans did not reverence the Queen of England. I 
 replied that Americans respected and admired the Queen 
 because they believed her to be a good woman ; that we 
 honored our good women very highly and that all such 
 women were practically queens in America. He evi 
 dently was under the impression that we did not know 
 a good thing when we saw it. 
 
 During this visit I had interviewed a couple of at- 
 torneys-at-law who had been recommended to me as the 
 best of their kind in Wisbech, and had laid before 
 them my demands for the disputed cargo. They were 
 not enthusiastic as to my chances of collecting the claim ; 
 said that the English Bros, were very influential in that 
 locality, and that it would be up-hill business to win a 
 suit against them. I had talked to the different mem 
 bers of the firm in regard to a settlement, but they were 
 very insistent that I should have known what they 
 wanted, and that I was very obtuse not to have had 
 telepathic knowledge of their wants. The matter was 
 left in that state. 
 
 On my way back to London my wife wished to stop 
 
ENGLISH BEOTHEES 197 
 
 at Peterborough and see the cathedral which was being 
 repaired. Some historic graves are here, among them 
 that of Catherine of Aragon. Two ladies were being 
 escorted about the cathedral at the same time we were. 
 They proved to be the daughters of the poet Long 
 fellow. Miss Alice afterwards became dean of Rad- 
 cliffe college, and Anna married Joseph Thorpe, brother 
 of Ole Bull's wife. 
 
 While waiting at the station for the train from the 
 north, I took occasion to look at the locomotive which 
 was to take us to London, covering the distance of 
 seventy miles in one hour. It was of the usual English 
 type, the connection rods and cylinders being between 
 the driving wheels. It had no cow-catcher. What I 
 noticed most, was the enormous diameter of the driving 
 wheels; it had but two, one on each side of the boiler, 
 they were eight feet in diameter. The road was double- 
 tracked and there were no grade crossings, all being 
 either under the track or over it on bridges; so the 
 road was nearly free of obstructions and was nearly 
 level all the way to London. 
 
 We stopped at the same hotel as before as it con 
 veniently adjoins the Victoria station. A day or two 
 after arriving, I received a cable from home telling 
 me that my mill had burned. We had intended to make 
 a tour of England and Scotland, but this information 
 cut short our trip. I engaged passage by the first 
 German Lloyd steamer leaving Southampton for New 
 York City. It happened to be the "Werra," the same 
 vessel on which we had come over. 
 
 While waiting in London for the steamer I thought I 
 would go to Wisbech and make another effort to settle 
 my claim against English Bros. I met Mr. Arthur 
 
198 REMINISCENCES 
 
 English, told him of my loss, and offered to take $1,000 
 for settlement of the claim, which he freely paid. I 
 never did any more business with them. On the ar 
 rival of the steamer we sailed for home. Our return 
 trip was quite different from the one going over, it had 
 then been as smooth as a mill pond all the way, but com 
 ing back the wind blew a gale, the waves rolling very 
 high. I arose the first morning, and after taking my 
 promenade on deck, returned to our stateroom, when I 
 was greeted with this exclamation, from my wife : "Oh 
 Emory, I am so sick. I shall die but I don't care, 
 I've had such a good time !" 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 GOVERNMENT DEALINGS IN LOGS AND POLITICS. 
 
 On the journey home I spent much time studying 
 how I should construct the mill which I had resolved 
 to build. I satisfied my mind on all points but one, and 
 that was how I would get the logs into the mill. The 
 old mill was on a brick foundation, which was too 
 narrow for placing the machinery as I wished and still 
 have room for the log-haul. 
 
 As soon as we landed in New York my wife went to 
 visit her parents in Wisconsin, and I took the first train 
 home. On arriving at Flomaton I met by chance a 
 Mr. Neacy, of Filer & Stowell Co., Milwaukee, saw 
 mill machinery builders. I told him I wanted him to 
 go home with me ; which he did. We set up a drafting 
 board in the hall of my house, and went to work draw 
 ing plans for a new mill; these we completed within 
 a week. I secured a schedule of the machinery re 
 quired, and of the timber needed for the frame, which 
 I bought at Ferry Pass. I then engaged three mill 
 wrights who had been recommended to me as thoroughly 
 competent, and in ten days after arriving home I 
 started north to buy machinery. In after years I think 
 Mr. Neacy sold as many as a score of mills, modeled 
 after the plan of this one. 
 
 On the way back to Escambia my wife accompanied 
 me and we reached home after dark. In the morning 
 I arose and before breakfast went down to the mill site 
 to see how everything was going. Timber was spread 
 
 199 
 
200 REMINISCENCES 
 
 all over the mill yard, being framed. I had stepped 
 over no more than two or three pieces of timber before 
 I began to swear. I saw that my head man had made 
 serious mistakes in framing and did not understand his 
 business; that I must take charge of matters myself, 
 and so I informed him. After a few days' observation of 
 his work I discharged him altogether. I took the scratch- 
 awl and square into my own hands and laid out the 
 frame. My son took a gang of men and raised the 
 mill frame into position. Some two or three weeks after 
 I had discharged my boss millwright he appeared at 
 the mill and told me that a mistake had been made in 
 his settlement. I told him to go to the office and that 
 any mistake would be corrected; he replied that they 
 would not correct it there. He said that he had for 
 gotten to charge me with three days' time in coming 
 down from Michigan. He added: "If you don't pay 
 me for that I will sue you." I rejoined : "If this is all 
 the business you have here, get out quick." He got, 
 and I never saw the man again. 
 
 I built the mill with only one competent millwright 
 to assist me. About the last of March I had the ma 
 chinery all placed and expected to start it inside of a 
 week, when I received a telegram from Oshkosh an 
 nouncing the death of Mr. Hubbard, my father-in-law. 
 This made it necessary that my wife, my son, and 
 myself should go north immediately to attend the 
 funeral, therefore I was unable to see the starting of 
 the mill. I had always prided myself that when I 
 built a mill, the machinery would start off the first 
 day without a hitch or a change in it. When I re 
 turned, this mill had been in operation for several 
 days, and it was kept running almost constantly for 
 
GOVEBNMENT DEALINGS 201 
 
 twenty years, until I sold it with my timber lands in 
 Florida. 
 
 I have before described the co-partnership I entered 
 into with John McDavid and five of his brothers, in the 
 fall of 1883, they bringing into the company about 
 fifteen thousand acres of pine land. We had bought 
 five thousand acres of land from Mr. Hubbard, with 
 the mill. During the winter of 1883-4 we began build 
 ing our logging railroad; during the summer of 1884 
 we completed six miles of the road, which was a three- 
 foot gauge, with twenty-five pound steel rails. These 
 rails were little worn when I sold out in 1904. Up to 
 that time I had bought twenty-six miles of rail and had 
 built that number of miles of road. In the summer of 
 1884 we bought our logs from different cutters, who 
 ran their logs down the river in rafts. We did not 
 supply the mill with logs cut from our own lands. 
 The business of building the railroad as well as the 
 work in the woods was under the supervision of my 
 brother, LaFayette Skinner. His wife became discon 
 tented with living in the woods, and just before I 
 started for Europe, he resigned his position and re 
 turned to Newaygo, Michigan. This left the work in 
 the care of the McDavid brothers. 
 
 After the mill burned we contracted with Brent Bros, 
 to supply them with logs, that we might not be obliged 
 to shut down the railroad, and that we might furnish 
 employment to the men in the woods. We built booms 
 at Ferry Pass which would hold fifty thousand logs at 
 a time. I bought six miles of railroad iron in 1884 
 and six miles more in 1885. We had a store at Chu- 
 muckla on the railroad five miles from the landing, 
 where we did a trade of about $3,000 per month. I 
 
202 REMINISCENCES 
 
 named this place after the springs of that name, about 
 three miles away, which were noted for their curative 
 qualities, and I now believe them to be of value in 
 that line. I also built a railroad repair shop at this 
 point creating an embryo village. 
 
 I was very busy in 1885-6 sawing lumber and ship 
 ping to Mr. Schreyer in Europe, so busy that I could 
 give little attention to the logging department which, 
 was left mostly to the management of the McDavid 
 brothers, five of whom were in the employ of the firm. 
 I attended to the running of the mill, to supplying 
 the stores at Escambia and Chumuckla, to the charter 
 ing of the vessels and their loading, that season there 
 being twenty-five in number. I also attended to the 
 management of the tug, which towed the logs from 
 boom to mill, and to the lighters, which took the lumber 
 from the mill to the vessels. I had to keep a close 
 oversight of Mr. Schreyer in Europe, controlling the 
 price of lumber and timber and the amount of these 
 products which I could permit him to sell. As he 
 worked on commission, he was inclined to sell more 
 than I could allow him, his profits being thus propor 
 tionately larger. I managed all these affairs myself and 
 kept no extra help in the office. I remember that in 
 my younger days I had wished for all the business to 
 which I could attend. During this period and the years 
 to follow my wish in this respect was fully gratified. 
 
 My health was not good at this time. I was troubled 
 with insomnia, also with indigestion and headaches, 
 which condition continued for ten years or more. The 
 headaches were very painful, usually lasting for two 
 days or more, and on recovering I would feel as if I 
 had hrd ,1 long fit of sickness. At the present time, 
 
GOVEKNMENT DEALINGS 203 
 
 with added knowledge, I attribute these disorders to 
 indiscretion and over-indulgence in eating. In our 
 youthful days we are taught almost everything that may 
 be useful to us in after years, except the one most im 
 portant thing of all; how we may have good health. 
 This means to partake of proper food and eat only 
 what our bodies require. If we are sick our friends 
 urge us to eat, when our ills have been caused by over 
 eating, and our stomachs are protesting against the ex 
 cess of food. I remember reading when a boy a book 
 by a Dr. Hall in which he gave this truism : Most men 
 make angels of themselves through their stomachs. At 
 the time of reading I did not catch on to the full mean 
 ing of this. We eat until we are full and then eat more. 
 We do not have the consideration for our stomachs 
 which the ancient Roman gourmand showed, who re 
 lieved it after a repast by an emetic. We take too 
 little exercise, physically, to make our digestion good, 
 so we suffer the consequences. 
 
 In 1886 one of the McDavids had a quarrel with an 
 employee, and the latter in revenge reported our firm 
 to the U. S. government as cutting timber on govern 
 ment lands. I looked into the matter and found that 
 it was true, so I insisted that this be stopped at once. 
 Not long afterwards the government sent a land agent 
 to investigate the trespass. There was considerable gov 
 ernment land on the line of our road that had been 
 trespassed upon for many years before we built the 
 railroad. The agent ran the line separating our lands 
 from the others, and attributed all the trespasses visi 
 ble, to our firm. He began suit against us for a large 
 sum of money, and when the U. S. court convened the 
 grand jury indicted several of the McDavids. I was in- 
 
204 REMINISCENCES 
 
 formed that I too, had been indicted. I supposed that 
 this was true until some three years later when I was 
 told bj the foreman of the grand jury, corroborated 
 by another member, that this was not so ; that my name 
 had not been mentioned before the grand jury. I 
 realized myself to be entirely innocent, knowing that 
 I had always been careful to infringe on no man's 
 rights, yet there stood filed in the office of the clerk of 
 the court an indictment against my name, with the sig 
 nature of the foreman of the grand jury on the back of 
 it. I could only conclude that this had been ao- 
 complished by the district attorney who desired to in 
 jure me politically. Mr. S. C. Cobb, the foreman of the 
 jury, assured me most positively that he had never seen 
 the indictment against me and that he had never en 
 dorsed such. I can only account for this document 
 being in existence by the fact of the district attorney's 
 knowledge that I was a member of the firm of Skinner 
 & McDavid and expecting to indict all the members of 
 that firm he had prepared an indictment to be ready 
 when needed. After finding that there was no evidence 
 incriminating me, he failed to destroy the paper, but 
 kept it among documents of a similar character, and 
 probably Mr. Cobb, as foreman of the grand jury, had 
 endorsed the paper, not knowing what it contained. 
 When the cases at that term of court were called, the 
 district attorney announced that he had no evidence to 
 support the charge against me, the judge instructed 
 the jury which had been impaneled in my case, to find 
 for the defendant without leaving their seats; which 
 they did. This ended the criminal suit. The district 
 attorney brought action against Skinner & McDavid, 
 which remained on the docket of the court for some 
 
GOVERNMENT DEALINGS 205 
 
 four years; the outcome of which will be referred to 
 later. 
 
 In 1884 I was notified of a meeting of Republican 
 politicians to be held at the office of the collector of 
 the port of Pensacola. I attended the meeting, wish 
 ing to learn what was to be discussed, and found that 
 it was called with the purpose of inducing me to again 
 run for Congress. I informed those present that I did 
 not aspire to another nomination, that I was un 
 willing to make the canvass again; that I was no hog, 
 so knew when I had had enough. My response seemed 
 to amuse those present, ,and I was asked if there was 
 anything else in the political line, which I would ac 
 cept; to this I replied that if the sentiments of the 
 meeting were unanimous in favor of sending me as a 
 delegate at large to the forthcoming Republican conven 
 tion at Chicago, it was an honor that I would appreci 
 ate and most willingly accept. I stated farther that 
 I would enter into no contest for the privilege, if any 
 one present wished to be that delegate, I would step 
 aside. Apparently all were enthusiastic that I should 
 be accorded this honor. 
 
 The state convention for the election of delegates to 
 the Chicago convention was to be held at St. Augustine ; 
 there were to be elected four delegates for the state at 
 large, and two for each of the two Congressional dis 
 tricts of the state. A few weeks before the state con 
 vention was to be held, the county convention was to 
 occur at Pensacola, and would elect some thirteen dele 
 gates to be sent to the state convention. An Irish 
 lawyer, by the name of Eagan, appeared on the scene 
 at this time. He had been trained in Republican poli 
 tics in the eastern part of the state; he was pretty 
 
206 REMINISCENCES 
 
 well acquainted with Republican politicians through 
 out the state and enjoyed their confidence. I had been 
 instrumental, sometime before, in his appointment as 
 postmaster at Pensacola, but he had been removed by 
 President Cleveland shortly after the election of the 
 latter. Eagan had then taken up the practice of law, 
 but now held under his brother, a deputyship as internal 
 revenue collector. Meeting Eagan one day, he informed 
 me that Col. Tarble was ambitious to go himself as 
 delegate to the convention. I could hardly credit this 
 after what had occurred in this gentleman's presence 
 and that he had cordially approved my name. I went 
 to his office and said to him: "Eagan says you wish 
 to go yourself to the Chicago convention." He replied 
 that there was no truth in this statement. I assured 
 the colonel that if he wanted to go that I would will 
 ingly withdraw and give him an open field. He con 
 vinced me that he wished me to go, but the friction 
 between the Eagan faction and the Tarble faction, most 
 unaccountably to me, was kept up. About half the 
 delegates to the Pensacola convention seceded and 
 formed another, each electing delegates to the state con 
 vention at St. Augustine; I was included in both. I 
 went to St. Augustine with the Tarble delegation, 
 although Eagan persistently asserted that Tarble wished 
 to become delegate to Chicago. On our way to St. 
 Augustine we stopped over a day at Jacksonville. While 
 there an old acquaintance in whom I had thorough 
 confidence approached me and asked whom we were to 
 send to Chicago from our part of the state; I being 
 modest replied that I did not know. He said that Tarble 
 wanted to go ; I said that I thought not. "Yes he does," 
 said he, and added, "I met him a little while ago and 
 
GOVERNMENT DEALINGS 207 
 
 he tried to make a combination with me to send him 
 there." This convinced me of Col. Tarble's double- 
 dealing. I think now that Eagan sent this man to me 
 to convince me of Tarble's treachery. I told Tarble 
 that I would not go to Chicago as a delegate and that 
 he could not. The colonel denied the charge ; my violent 
 speech irritated him and we became political enemies ; a 
 condition which lasted for several years. I prevented 
 his being appointed collector of the port of Pensacola. 
 He went into the livery business in Chicago, just before 
 the Columbian exposition. I have become convinced 
 since that time, that the trouble between Tarble and 
 myself was caused by Eagan, who hoped to add to his 
 own political strength by an alliance with me. 
 
 When the St. Augustine convention was organized, 
 through the contrivance of Eagan, his delegation was 
 seated instead of that of Col. Tarble's, which was the 
 straight and legal one. The day before, when I had 
 become convinced of Col. Tarble's double-dealing, I 
 met Jim Coombs, a man who is now President Eoose- 
 velt's "dictator" in Florida politics, and asked him if 
 he would like to go as a delegate to Chicago, to which 
 he answered, "I would like it the best of anything in the 
 world." I replied: "Then I will see that you are 
 elected." Later I notified Eagan that he was not to 
 present my name to the convention, saying that I would 
 not be a candidate. He expostulated with me but find 
 ing my decision was final he said that if I would not 
 go myself, that I must select someone to represent my 
 name and influence in the State. When Eagan's dele 
 gation was seated in the convention he came again and 
 tried to persuade me, but I told him I had promised 
 Coombs that he should go, and that I would not go back 
 
208 REMINISCENCES 
 
 on my word. So, much against the wishes of Eagan, 
 Coombs was elected. 
 
 This convention was composed of about two-thirds 
 negroes ; it was noisy, tempestuous and disagreeable. I 
 could see no good reason why a respectable white man 
 should associate with darkies in such a bear garden as 
 this convention proved, and I resolved then and there to 
 have nothing more to do with politics in which the 
 negro was the dominant factor. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ME. SCHREYER AND OTHER TRIBULATIONS. 
 
 My business with Julius Schreyer, for the first two 
 years, had been very satisfactory and profitable. Our 
 lumber had been acceptable and was sold at good prices. 
 Schreyer had shown some impatience at my restricting 
 him in the amount he might sell, so I found it necessary 
 to get another inspector for the lumber which I bought 
 for him at other mills. I selected a young man in my 
 employ whom I believed to be both competent and 
 honest. My first inspector prophesied that he would 
 prove incompetent, but I thought him prejudiced by 
 rivalry over a girl in the neighborhood. The young 
 man inspected half a dozen cargoes that I bought at 
 other mills, but were all bought from one firm. Their 
 total valuation exceeded $50,000. As reported by Mr. 
 Schreyer, lumber below grade was put in every vessel. 
 I sent my son to Germany to investigate, as I could not 
 believe that this inspector had proved as negligent or 
 criminal as the reports showed, but he corroborated the 
 statements made by Mr. Schreyer. I called the young 
 man into the office and asked him why he had been so 
 careless in inspecting the cargoes, and he had the 
 audacity to tell me that my son had told him to do this. 
 I knew the assertion was unqualifiedly false and I told 
 him that he was a liar; I discharged him then and 
 there. One cargo of decking which he had shipped, 
 being the worst of the lot according to the account of 
 
 209 
 
210 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 the stevedore who loaded it, was entirely lost as the 
 vessel foundered at sea. I have never been able to 
 understand what caused this inspector to play the part 
 of scoundrel; whether he was simply too negligent and 
 lazy to attend to his business, or was bribed by the mill 
 manager from whom I bought the lumber. I was in 
 formed that this manager put him onto piles containing 
 two hundred thousand feet, which Boyer had rejected 
 the year before from prime shipments, and that this in 
 spector shipped them as prime in these cargoes. 
 
 Early in the spring Mr. Schreyer came to see me, and 
 said he had been obliged to settle the claims of the 
 buyers, or else go out of the business of selling lumber 
 in Germany. I reimbursed him for all the reclama 
 tions he had paid, amounting to some $8,000. The 
 inspector, who had been responsible for this loss, was 
 not long after killed by a negro who struck him on the 
 head with a scantling, during a quarrel. 
 
 I made a new contract wth Mr. Schreyer, agreeing 
 that Mr. Boyer should inspect all the lumber shipped 
 and he agreeing to settle all reclamations on the cargoes 
 at his own cost. 
 
 The affair which occupied my attention after this, 
 was another venture into the political field. In the 
 summer of 1888 I was solicited by Republican politi 
 cians to run for the state senate, but I had seen so 
 much of the jealousy existing between the different fac 
 tions of the party that I refused to accept the nomina 
 tion unless the convention was unanimous in my sup 
 port. As a result I received every vote in the con 
 vention. There was a majority of Republicans in the 
 county and I felt confident that several hundred Demo 
 crats of this county would also vote for me. I therefore 
 
ME. SCHKEYEB 211 
 
 entered upon the campaign with every prospect of win 
 ning. It was the duty of the County Commissioners 
 to revise the list of voters just before election, and the 
 commissioners, who were appointed by the governor 
 were in this instance all Democrats. In the revision 
 which they made at this time they erased from the list 
 names of one thousand Republican voters. They re 
 fused to meet again and replace the names wrongfully 
 thrown out, so all these voters were disqualified. Al 
 though the election was a national as well as state 
 election, yet there was no method, so far as we knew 
 by which we could obtain justice. At the time of the 
 election, even worse means were resorted to; such as 
 violating the ballot-box, etc. In one precinct in Pen- 
 sacola after the voting had closed, a Democrat entered 
 the polling place wearing a large overcoat. He opened 
 the ballot-box, filled one of the big pockets with the 
 contents, and replaced these with Democratic votes from 
 the other pocket. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, and even worse, it seems 
 that I was elected by three hundred majority, and yet 
 they gave the certificate of election to my Democratic 
 competitor. I learned this fact from the chairman of 
 the county commissioners several years later when with 
 him in Mexico. I think this political outrage would not 
 have been perpetrated against me, but that some other 
 candidates were voted for on the same ballot, who were 
 very obnoxious to the majority of the citizens of the 
 county, especially the Republican candidate who ran 
 for sheriff. All of the newspapers printed in the county 
 were Democratic, and I had no means of reaching the 
 ears of the voters, except by public speaking and issuing 
 of bulletins and circulating them through the mails. The 
 
212 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 United States district attorney in Florida was a Demo 
 crat ; I consulted the U. S. district attorney for Louisi 
 ana at New Orleans. He of course, denounced the abuse, 
 but gave it as his judgment that nothing could be done, 
 so long as a jury must be selected from the white 
 voters, even if the matter were carried to the U. S. 
 court. 
 
 Owing to certain reasons which I will not detail, there 
 had been no resident United States judge, in the 
 northern judicial district of Florida, for nearly ten 
 years. Many of my friends solicited me to stand as a 
 candidate for the judgeship. I had received a legal 
 education which I believe well fitted me for the office, 
 but I was afraid to make the attempt, knowing I would 
 be attacked by the records of the court over which I 
 would be expected to preside. Senator Sawyer, who 
 had been a good friend to me all the years I had been 
 in Florida, and who had been familiar with my career 
 ever since I had arrived in Oshkosh, Wis., in 1855, 
 said he thought he could have me appointed, but I 
 feared the attack which would be made upon me when 
 the senate should be asked to confirm my appointment. 
 At that time I supposed that I had been indicted in 
 that court for cutting timber on government lands, and 
 I knew that a suit was then pending against my firm 
 for trespass on government lands, which could not truth 
 fully be denied, although I knew myself to be inno 
 cent and blameless. I felt that the office of judge was 
 the most honorable position with which a citizen could 
 be invested, and it was the one which I would prize 
 above all others. The matter dragged along until the 
 next year, when I happened to be in Washington on 
 some business and by chance met ex-Senator Conover, 
 
MR. SCHREYER 213 
 
 who had been my political assistant in the canvass for 
 Congress in 1882. The filling of this judgeship had 
 been a familiar topic among politicians and lawyers in 
 Florida for a long time. Mr. Conover informed me that 
 he had a man whom he would like to have appointed 
 district judge, and asked if I would go with him and 
 call upon Attorney General Miller and try to have him 
 appoint this man. I consented to do as he wished after 
 his assurances that the man was a suitable candidate 
 for the position. In the afternoon we went and saw 
 Mr. Miller and had an interview lasting some three 
 hours. He questioned us very thoroughly as to the 
 political conditions in Florida, and we explained as we 
 understood the situation. One point which we made 
 especially strong was that the violators of the ballot-box 
 should be punished. I recall very distinctly a question 
 which the attorney general asked Mr. Conover, which 
 was: "Does the man look like a judge? I want a 
 man to look a judge as well as to be one." Mr. Conover 
 satisfied him on this point. When we arose to leave, 
 the attorney general said: "Gentlemen, I will appoint 
 your man; you will see this confirmed in tomorrow 
 morning's paper." The announcement appeared as he 
 said it would. The history of this man as judge is not 
 a part of my memoirs ; I shall allude to him only as his 
 career affected mine. 
 
 Returning to my affairs in the lumber business. I 
 met farther difficulty with Mr. Schreyer. Notwithstand 
 ing my contract with this gentleman that I should not 
 be held responsible for any reclamations of lumber in 
 spected by Mr. Boyer, a heavy reclamation was de 
 manded on a cargo shipped to Italy. Mr. Schreyer was 
 himself responsible for the difficulty as he sent a ship 
 
214 REMINISCENCES 
 
 for the lumber without giving it time to dry ; some of it 
 had also been rained on, when being loaded and as 
 southern pine will do when shipped wet, I presume the 
 sap on the lumber turned dark and mouldy. I did not 
 consider myself responsible in the matter, and refused 
 to pay any reclamation. In the spring of 1889 I had 
 a ship offered me of the capacity of a cargo which I 
 had sold to Schreyer, and I chartered the vessel on his 
 account and with his consent. Not long after I received 
 a charter party for a vessel which, unknown to me, 
 he had chartered for this same cargo, he having failed 
 to notify me as he should have done. I wrote him that 
 I could not furnish the lumber in sufficient quantities 
 to make the second consignment unless he would take 
 two hundred thousand feet of kiln dried saps, which I 
 would furnish at the price of $10 per thousand feet. 
 I think at that date no kiln dried saps had been 
 shipped to the continent. He accepted the offer and I 
 loaded the vessel, which proved to be the last I ever 
 loaded for him. The other part of the cargo consisted 
 of two orders. He had sold one of prime lumber, an 
 other of heart-faced flooring. For the order of kiln 
 dried saps he had stipulated that I should draw upon 
 him at ninety days. When the vessel was loaded I went 
 to the bank with the documents. The cashier requested 
 me to place the drafts upon the bills of lading for 
 which they were drawn. I did so and left the papers 
 with him. 
 
 I went north with my wife after this as it was our 
 custom to pass the heated term there and obtain rest and 
 recreation. I had been north but a short time when I 
 received a telegram from my son saying that Schreyer 
 had refused to pay the draft. I wired the bank for 
 
ME. SCHREYER 215 
 
 information and they wrote that they had received no 
 such notification. I therefore rested easy for a few days 
 until my son sent me Mr. Schreyer's letter in which 
 he said: "You have made a mistake, you placed a 
 $4,000 draft on the kiln dried sajfe and a $2,000 draft 
 on the two orders of prime flooring; you pay my claim 
 for reclamation or I do not correct your mistake." He 
 refused to pay the $4,000 draft, but paid the $2,000 
 draft cash and secured possession of the $4,000 worth 
 of lumber. I presume that the cashier let the drafts 
 fall out in handling them, because they were not pinned 
 to the bills of lading as they should have been. I wrote 
 the bank that I should hold them responsible as the 
 fault was theirs I having performed my duty in the 
 matter. They ordered suit to be begun against Mr. 
 Schreyer in Bremen, and thus the matter stood until I 
 returned to Florida. After studying the situation, I 
 concluded that I would go to Germany and assist the 
 bank in getting their money from Mr. Schreyer. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 * 
 
 A BUSINESS TRIP TO EUROPE. 
 
 I took the steamer from New York to Southampton 
 and from there went to London. My object in coining 
 to the metropolis was to find another agent to sell my 
 lumber. After a little while I selected Messrs. Shad- 
 bolt & Sons, of London. I then decided to go over to 
 Germany and see Mr. Schreyer. I took steamer to 
 Rotterdam and went from there to Bremen by rail. I 
 found Mr. Schreyer very contrary and entirely shame 
 less as to his conduct. He appeared destitute of any 
 moral honor. I interviewed the lawyer employed by 
 Pensacola bank, and concluded that he was attorney for 
 the Bremen Bank and probably for Mr. Schreyer also. 
 I left matters about as I found them and went back to 
 London. 
 
 On my trip crossing the ocean I had made the ac 
 quaintance of a man by the name of Pratt. He was at 
 the head of an advertising agency in Chicago. It seems 
 that this firm advertised English productions in the 
 United States for so much per year, making their own 
 contracts with the papers, and to prove performance of 
 his part of the bargain, Mr. Pratt brought copies of the 
 issue of each paper to the advertisers in London. 
 
 I wanted to see something of Scotland and England in 
 a sight seeing trip. Mr. Pratt was somewhat posted and 
 we planned to take the trip together, going up through 
 the trossachs of Scotland, coming back on the west coast 
 
 216 
 
A BUSINESS TRIP TO EUROPE 217 
 
 to Liverpool, and from there to London through the lake 
 country of England. 
 
 Our trip from London to Edinburgh was very interest 
 ing and I learned for the first time in my life what 
 "Bonnie Scotland" meant in English, for it was surely 
 most beautiful. The first night we stopped at Melrose 
 on the bank of the Tweed, stopping at a friendly hotel, 
 where we met several American guests. In the morning 
 we went to see the ruins of the abbey; in fact it was 
 pretty much all a ruin, but the carving of the windows 
 and the doors was artistic and fine. We went down to the 
 bridge and crossel the Tweed. We took a carriage and 
 drove to Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott. This 
 place was in a good state of preservation. There were dis 
 played here many fine art exhibits which the author had 
 accumulated in his life, and his fine library was intact. 
 We were shown several groves on the hill side, the trees 
 of which were said to have been planted by Sir Walter 
 to represent the positions of the English, French and 
 German armies at the battle of Waterloo. We found the 
 rest of the country also very interesting and replete with 
 the historic conflicts between the English and the Scotch. 
 
 We took the train from Melrose to Edinburgh, where 
 we put up at the Princess Hotel. We visited Holyrood 
 and Edinburgh Castle where we were shown the little 
 room, in which it is claimed that Mary, Queen of Scots 
 was imprisoned. In the middle ages this castle must 
 have been very difficult for the attacking party to storm, 
 with the means of warfare then known. Three sides of 
 the fortress were protected by almost perpendicular rock, 
 the other side had formidable stone defenses, as well as 
 being very steep. We drove in a carriage to the entrance 
 of the castle, and then walked through the fortifications. 
 
218 REMINISCENCES 
 
 Later we crossed the great bridge that spans the river 
 Forth. It had several piers which I should think were 
 a succession of cantilever bridges joined together. Be 
 cause Mr. Pratt was in haste, being more devoted to 
 business than to jaunting about the country sight seeing, 
 we did not take our proposed trip through the trossachs. 
 We went from Edinburgh to Glasgow where I wished to 
 see a Mrs. Bruce who was mother of my bookkeeper at 
 Escambia, I had promised him to call upon her if I 
 went to Scotland. We remained in Glasgow over Sun 
 day, and Monday I went to Greenock to visit a brother 
 of Mr. Bruce. He was manager of the Clydesdale Bank. 
 I remained with him all night He took me through a 
 shipyard and showed me an iron ship then building. 
 After an interesting stop at Greenock we went to Liver 
 pool. It rained most of the time we were there, so we 
 did not see much of the city. I cannot remember the 
 name of the hotel at which we stopped but I do recall 
 that it was finished in southern pine which looked very 
 beautiful. 
 
 We took the train for Leamington, in historical Eng 
 land. I saw so much during the two or three days we 
 spent there that my memory presents a picture like a 
 bird's eye view. In the hall of the hotel where we stayed 
 was a wainscoting of tile which represented scenes and 
 characters in Shakespeare's plays. I thought them very 
 fine and artistic. The city was a summer resort, and 
 some medical springs were found in the vicinity. The 
 next day we took a carriage and visited the ruins of 
 Kenilworth Castle, where Amy Robsart was secreted by 
 the Earl of Leicester and where Queen Elizabeth acci 
 dentally met the heroine of Sir Walter Scott's novel 
 
A BUSINESS TRIP TO EUROPE 219 
 
 "Kenilworth" while being entertained by the Earl at 
 this castle. 
 
 We did not go to Stratford on Avon for some reason. 
 We visited the cliff in which an old hermit had dug out 
 of the solid rock a den where he lived and died. We 
 visited the residence of another of the nobility of Eng 
 land. The grounds of this place were very beautiful. 
 The house was elegantly furnished, and on the walls 
 hung the portraits of many of the ancestors of the 
 family. 
 
 We also spent a day in viewing the Castle of War 
 wick. I have heard it stated that it was the finest resi 
 dence in England. The family were away but we 
 obtained permission to enter and were shown through 
 the castle by the custodian. We gave this man a good 
 tip and he pointed out to us all there was of interest 
 A heavy stone wall surrounds the castle enclosing as I 
 remember two or three acres, surmounted in several 
 places by towers for defense. In the center of the space 
 encircled by the wall stands the castle. As we passed 
 through the heavy iron gateway, a keeper took my com 
 panion's kodak away from him saying that he could 
 not enter with one. On each side of this gateway were 
 lofty towers, with battlements on the top, where defend 
 ers could protect the entrance. These towers were en 
 tered from within the walls and were very strong. In 
 the picture gallery were many portraits of the earls of 
 Warwick and their families. The different rooms con 
 tained much elaborate furniture, works of art, etc., but 
 the banquet hall interested me more than any thing else. 
 I recall its immense fireplace and the great dimensions 
 of the room. The old earl of Warwick was reputed to be 
 a "king-maker" and I should judge that he might have 
 
220 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 feasted a regiment of his retainers in this hall at one 
 time. I also noticed one thing which I think might 
 escape most observers: the ceiling of the room was of 
 southern pine and not of English oak, as it probably had 
 been in medieval times. I expressed surprise at this 
 and was informed that the ancient wall had been injured 
 by fire, and that the oak had been replaced by southern 
 pine, which was in natural color and oiled. In the vil 
 lage near the castle was a building in which Shakes 
 peare had been in some way identified. 
 
 The lake district in England is very beautiful and I 
 think is known as the Heart of England. I believe the 
 Thames river rises in this region. On our way to Lon 
 don the train passes through Oxford and we obtained a 
 bird's eye view of some of the College buildings. I re 
 turned to London very much pleased with my trip, but 
 greatly regretting that I did not have more time for sight 
 seeing, there being so much of interest. 
 
 Arriving at London I went to the Fifth Avenue Hotel 
 on High Holborn Street. On the trip across the Atlantic, 
 I had made steamer acquaintance with two gentlemen, 
 one of them named Cushman, the name of the other 
 I do not recall. Mr. Cushman was the inventor of 
 the tubular railroad car frame. About that time and 
 later, I saw in the United States a similar freight car, 
 the frame of which was made of different sizes of gas 
 pipe ; the frame was supported on car wheels and on top 
 of this was placed a box car. This was claimed to be 
 much lighter than a frame made of wood. The second 
 gentleman, whose name I have forgotten was at the head 
 of a large stock company making these freight cars for 
 the purpose of renting or selling them to the railroads. 
 The purpose of these gentlemen in going to England was 
 
A BUSINESS TRIP TO EUROPE 221 
 
 to introduce the use of these ears upon the English rail 
 ways. They had acquired a mass of valuable informa 
 tion to be used in their arguments in favor of their 
 introduction. As nearly as I can recollect, their car 
 only weighed ten tons and would carry thirty tons of 
 freight. It cost more to carry a bushel of wheat from 
 Liverpool to London, in an English car than it would to 
 carry it from Chicago to Liverpool. This great differ 
 ence in the expense of shipping they attributed to the 
 weight of the English car, and the small amount of 
 freight it would carry. The English car frame was built 
 of 10x10 inch square southern pine timbers, from twelve 
 to twenty feet long, with a little box on top of it not over 
 four feet high, uncovered except by canvass. The pro 
 moters claimed that this car would weigh more than the 
 freight; that with their car a locomotive hauling four 
 tons would be hauling three of freight, whereas with 
 the English car the freight would be less than two tons. 
 They said that they had shipped six flat cars by steamer 
 to London, and on their arrival they would set them up 
 and give the English railway officials a demonstration 
 of the superiority of their cars over those in use. When 
 we reached our destination these gentlemen went to the 
 Fifth Avenue Hotel and I to the Lincoln's Inn Hotel. 
 I spent a couple of weeks in London corresponding with 
 Mr. Schreyer, and busied myself during that time in 
 becoming acquainted with London and its environments. 
 One Sunday morning I visited St. Paul's Cathedral 
 which was not far from my hotel. While admiring the 
 structure I observed an omnibus labeled Hampton Court, 
 and thinking of nothing better to do I climbed aboard. 
 I entered into conversation with my neighbor on the 
 seat. He told me that he was from South Carolina, that 
 
222 REMINISCENCES 
 
 his father had kept a hotel on Jeckel Island, and that he 
 himself was interested in some theatrical troupe. I 
 judged from what he said that he had become stranded 
 in London, but at all events he proved an agreeable com 
 panion. I found Hampton Court and vicinity quite an 
 interesting spot to visit. As I recollect, it was built by 
 Cardinal Wolsey and presented by him to Henry VIII. 
 I believe it is in possession of the crown of England, and 
 is used chiefly as an art gallery. In it are to be seen 
 portraits of most of those famous in the history of that 
 country. I should judge that in size it would equal 
 the Field Museum in Chicago. In some rooms around 
 the court resided many proteges of the Queen, it being 
 her privilege to domicile a certain number of ladies who 
 happened to possess her favor, but were in impecunious 
 circumstances. Hampton Court is a place of great 
 resort for people coming from London by bus, boat or 
 train. Adjacent to the Court is a maze of shrubbery 
 which few can enter and find their way out, without 
 aid from the guide. I did not try my skill. In the 
 yard is a grapevine which is more than a foot in diame 
 ter, when measured at the ground. It is said to raise 
 grapes in sufficient abundance to supply the proteges of 
 the Court ensconced there. 
 
 I visited Hampton Court later, but being without 
 agreeable companionship I found the charm of the castle 
 less potent. 
 
 I spent three weeks of this visit in the seeing of 
 sights in London. Among the notable buildings which 
 I visited was the Tower of London. I think no one 
 museum which I saw, presents so much of England's 
 history as does this tower, and every American visiting 
 London should spend a day in its study. 
 
A BUSINESS TKIP TO EUROPE 223 
 
 Mr. Cushman invited me to go down with them and 
 witness the test of the tubular car. Three Englishmen 
 had been selected by the railroads to give the cars a trial 
 and make a report. One of these judges was a member 
 of parliament, another was President of the Board of 
 Trade, and the third represented the combined railroads 
 of England. The trial was to be held on the Mill-wall 
 docks of London. The docks were traversed by rails, 
 the tracks being full of short curves and switches, which 
 would give the cars a severe test as to their ability to 
 keep the track. 
 
 Our party took the train at London for the Docks, 
 which were located some distance down the Thames. On 
 arriving we had to wait some time for the distinguished 
 experts. I asked Mr. Cushman not to introduce me to 
 these gentlemen, as I wished to view the exhibition from 
 the standpoint of an on-looker. The cars were flat 
 bottomed railway cars with plank sides and ends about 
 two feet high. A locomotive was coupled to the cars and 
 we got aboard, all standing. As we were hauled over 
 the rails and through the curves and switches I heard one 
 Englishman remark to the others "These bloody cars do 
 stick to the track; I was sure they wouldn't take the 
 curves." After a sufficient trial of this test the engineer 
 was told to shunt the cars off the track. The locomotive 
 shoved us pretty hard and I heard one Britisher say to 
 another, "They tell me these bogies are an English inven 
 tion." "Well" was the reply, "that is one thing in their 
 favor." (Bogie is an English word for an American 
 Railroad Truck. ) The Englishmen became satisfied 
 that they could not get the cars off the track when they 
 were empty so they told the exhibitors that they wanted 
 the cars heavily loaded. By this time it was twelve 
 
224 REMINISCENCES 
 
 o'clock, and as no dock laborer would work for love or 
 money until the customary time to return, a delay in the 
 proceedings occurred. The Americans agreed to have 
 the cars loaded with railroad iron and be ready for a 
 further exhibition at three in the afternoon. I was 
 assured in my own mind that the cars would not leave 
 the track, therefore after going back to London I did not 
 return for the exhibition of the afternoon. In England 
 a railroad did not then receive freight in a warehouse, 
 load it into a freight car and deliver it at its destination 
 into another warehouse as is done in this country. The 
 shipper in England was furnished a car at the point of 
 shipment, which he loaded, and when it arrived at its 
 destination the receiver unloaded it. Mr. Cushman told 
 me that he had offered a certain railroad in England 
 fifteen cars if they would take them and use them; the 
 man representing the railroads had replied that if they 
 should adopt the American car it would make all the 
 rolling stock of the United Kingdom worthless; I for 
 get the immense value it would wipe out. 
 
 On my return from the trip to Scotland I stopped at 
 the same hotel as my American acquaintances. They 
 informed me that a certain Mr. Spencer, M. P., had 
 invited them to take luncheon with him at the Parlia 
 ment Houses, and to view a sitting of Parliament from 
 a gallery of the house. They said they would be allowed 
 to include me in their invitation, if I would like to go, 
 I gladly accepted as I thought it a matter of much in 
 terest to see the House of Commons in session. We 
 reached the buildings about four P. M. and spent some 
 time in viewing various halls. Some of the gentlemen 
 of the nobility were pointed out to me. We went to a 
 gallery in the House which overlooked the Thames, and 
 
A BUSINESS TRIP TO EUROPE 225 
 
 were served with refreshments passing a most pleasant 
 hour in conversation and viewing the river scenes below. 
 When the hour arrived for the opening of the session, 
 Mr. Spencer escorted us to the Stranger's gallery, where 
 we could sit and watch the proceedings as long as de 
 sired. 
 
 The chamber in which the House of Commons con 
 venes is a long room with a long table in the center ; from 
 this several rows of seats extended to the wall, rising one 
 above the other like those in a theater. In these the 
 members sat keeping their hats on their heads; a cus 
 tom which appeared strange to me. When a member 
 desires to address the house he comes down from his seat 
 and stands by the table. At the opposite end of the hall 
 from where we were, the chairman was seated on a 
 raised platform; he wore the typical, long wig of the 
 English judge, one could see nothing of him but his face. 
 Lord Palmerston at that time was Speaker; he was son 
 of the premier of that name. The subject before the 
 house that night was the licensing of the saloons in the 
 kingdom. The Ladies' Gallery was directly in the rear 
 of the Speaker, there was a screen before it so we could 
 not see the occupants. I was informed that they could 
 see the house plainly, but could not signal to the mem 
 bers of the house. When a division took place, the mem 
 bers voting "aye" passed by the Speaker to a room in the 
 rear and were counted as they went out. When these 
 returned to the hall, the ones voting "no" would file 
 past the speaker and be counted. As I remember, it was 
 eight or nine o'clock before the session began. We sat 
 in the gallery during the proceedings until the "wee 
 sma' hours" of the morning. At length becoming tired 
 
226 REMINISCENCES 
 
 we returned to our hotel, before the house had adjourned 
 its session. 
 
 We visited the Westminister Abbey, where are en 
 tombed so many of the kings and queens of England, 
 and many of its notable men, who have been chief actors 
 in her history. The marble statuary contained in this 
 edifice is very fine. We Americans should remember 
 that this abbey holds a part of the history of the United 
 States as well as of England. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FEOM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Concluding that I could help little in the settlement 
 of the bank's claim against Mr. Sehreyer, I returned to 
 Escambia. A few months later the bank notified me 
 that they had received an offer from him towards set 
 tling the claim, and inquired what I would do about it, 
 I asked Mr. Brent if he wished to settle and he said that 
 he did ; I then offered to stand one-half the loss. A year 
 later, when I was in Los Angeles, Gal., I received a tele 
 gram from Mr. Sehreyer saying that if I would resume 
 business with him he would come out there to see me. 
 I wrote him in reply that when I found a man dis 
 honest I did not care to do any farther business with 
 him. That to render business satisfactory and successful 
 it was necessary that there should be confidence and 
 honor on both sides, and I added that I did not wish to 
 take any farther risk with him. 
 
 Some time prior to this I had made a personal effort 
 to organize the interests of the lumbermen so that they 
 need not be at the mercy and misrepresentation of the 
 commission men, who largely handle the lumber product 
 of the south. Knowing that our system of inspecting 
 lumber was defective in many respects, I succeeded in 
 perfecting the organization of the lumber manufac 
 turers. We came to conclusions as to the specifications 
 of grades, and adopted a form of charter by which we 
 all agreed to be bound. Of this organization I was 
 elected president. 
 
 227 
 
228 REMINISCENCES 
 
 In the fall of 1887 the contracting stevedores in Pen- 
 sacola some sixty in number, conceived the plan of 
 organizing themselves into a combination or association 
 by which they would control the loading of all vessels 
 which came into the harbor for lumber cargoes. In a 
 measure it was the purpose of the stevedore organiza 
 tion to nullify the benefits of our new charter-party. 
 The contest between the two organizations became quite 
 bitter in Pensacola. Many of the stevedores were not 
 actual residents of Pensacola, but lived in Quebec, where 
 they plied their trade in summer and came to Pensacola 
 to follow it in winter. Our new charter-party gave the 
 right of appointing the stevedore to the charterer of the 
 vessel, as had formerly been the custom. Many evils 
 had befallen the trade through the disuse of this cus 
 tom, from which the shipper was often the sufferer. 
 
 Through the efforts of State Senator Mallory several 
 laws had been enacted by the legislature, which looked 
 as if they had been passed with the express purpose of 
 enabling the stevedores to control the loading of vessels 
 in the harbor of Pensacola. One was that no person 
 should ply that trade without a license, and placing the 
 licensing of stevedores in the hands of three men, called 
 harbor commissioners, who were appointed by the gover 
 nor. These commissioners assumed a great deal of 
 authority which was not sanctioned by law, and they 
 were inclined to favor the interest of the stevedores. I 
 had to contend against this organization with even some 
 of the members of our own association, who were dis 
 loyal to our interests and were trying to make political 
 capital by working in favor of the stevedores. This 
 contention lasted several months, then, owing to my 
 tenacious fighting qualities we won the victory over the 
 
FROM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 229 
 
 other organization and they gave up their efforts to 
 control the loading of vessels. 
 
 The Southern Lumber Manufacturers' Association 
 was organized in the winter of 1890 at New Orleans. I 
 attended this convention and was made chairman of the 
 committee on organization, and wrote the constitution 
 and hy-laws. This association was composed of lumber 
 men from all the southern states. At this writing (1906) 
 the association had been in existence sixteen years and it 
 has been of much benefit to the lumbermen of that sec 
 tion. I remained a member of it for several years, but 
 finally I thought it too timid in protecting the rights oi 
 its members; it did not do as it should have done, so I 
 dropped out of the association. In after years they fol 
 lowed the methods which I had so long urged. 
 
 After the Lumbermen's convention had adjourned a 
 large excursion boat was loaded with members and we 
 were taken down the river to Governor Warmouth's 
 plantation. We were to see the method of raising sugar 
 cane and making it into sugar. This was all new to me 
 and I found it both instructive and interesting. 
 
 After the adjournment of the convention my wife and 
 I decided that we would make a pleasure trip to Mexico. 
 We went by way of San Antonio and Laredo to Mon 
 terey. The hotel accommodations at the latter place were 
 quite inferior to those in the United States, but the 
 town was novel and we enjoyed the sight seeing very 
 much. We went to the baths of Topo Chico while there. 
 The waters of these baths affected my wife badly, as 
 they produced an inflamation in a sore on one of her feet 
 caused by her shoe. We were unable to purchase a shoe 
 that was suitably easy, which made it very uncomfort 
 able for her. We therefore completed our visit to Mon- 
 
230 REMINISCENCES 
 
 terey and went to Saltillo, and remained over night. 
 This place was but a short distance from Buena Vista, 
 the battle field where General Taylor won his famous 
 victory over General Santa Ana. This is a pleasant 
 Mexican town. 
 
 From here we went through a desert country to San 
 Luis Potosi, where we met a party of tourists from Iowa 
 who were traveling in a private car. The governor of 
 San Luis Potosi gave a reception which we all attended. 
 That night I was taken with a very severe toothache, 
 from which I suffered great misery. It was a very un 
 fortunate occurrence at that time. I was in a strange 
 country, knew nothing of the language, had no remedies, 
 and did not know how to procure any. In the morning 
 as we started with the Iowa party for the City of Mexico 
 one of the ladies noticing my affliction, gave me a small 
 bottle of tequila and told me to hold some of it in my 
 mouth. I did this and it stopped the pain almost in 
 stantly. For ten years after this I kept constantly on 
 hand a bottle of this remedy. I used it also as a panacea 
 for headaches. 
 
 We arrived at the City of Mexico and stopped at the 
 Jardin Hotel. This building had formerly been a con 
 vent but it had been converted into a resort for tourists. 
 To it belonged a very fine garden, from which it took 
 its name. There is no suitable sanitation of this city, 
 nevertheless we found it a pleasant place to visit, there 
 is so much of novelty to interest the sight-seer. Our 
 party made the acquaintance of Colonel Foster, who was 
 an ex-confederate soldier, having gone to Mexico at the 
 close of the civil war. He had been commissioned a 
 colonel by President Diaz and was evidently well re* 
 
FROM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 231 
 
 garded by him, having been intrusted with many duties 
 involving confidence, skill and discretion. 
 
 This gentleman procured admission for our party to 
 witness the reception by President Diaz and his cabinet, 
 of Baron Ketteler, newly appointed German Ambassa 
 dor to Mexico, which was to be held in the Ambassadors' 
 Hall of the president's palace. At one end of the hall 
 which was about a hundred feet in length, there was a 
 raised platform, occupied by Diaz and his associates. 
 We were also given positions here. 
 
 The baron entered the hall at the end opposite the 
 dais; he was of good stature and of commanding phy 
 sique and he appeared in the most gorgeous uniform I 
 had ever seen. The president wore a handsome suit, 
 the front of his coat being ornamented with numerous 
 decorations which had been conferred upon him. He 
 sat among the members of his cabinet who formed a 
 semi-circle on the dais. Two lines composed of colonels 
 of the Mexican army, stood facing each other, and ex 
 tended from the dais to the door through which the baron 
 entered. He advanced four steps, took off his military 
 hat and made a low bow; then he put on his hat, ad 
 vanced four steps more, and went through the same 
 ceremony. When he had accomplished half of the dis 
 tance President Diaz arose from his chair and advanced 
 to the steps. As the baron reached the platform, the 
 president leaned over and gave him his hand to assist 
 him to the dais. A little speech in Spanish was responded 
 to by the president, and later he introduced the ambassa 
 dor to several members of his cabinet, and invited him to 
 a seat near him. After a few moments 7 conversation the 
 entire party retired to the president's rooms, adjoining 
 the reception hall. These we had visited the day before ; 
 
232 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 they had been furnished and decorated by order of 
 Emperor Maximilian, and included the most gorgeous 
 draperies and fittings which I had ever seen. Baron 
 Ketteler was afterwards killed in Pekin when the em 
 bassies of foreign nations were besieged by the "boxers." 
 
 That afternoon our party was received by President 
 Diaz, an appointment having been procured by Colonel 
 Foster. At the request of our party I consented to act 
 as spokesman, Colonel Foster officiating as interpreter. 
 This gentleman said he was a cousin of Honorable John 
 Foster, who had succeeded James G. Elaine as Secre 
 tary of State under President Harrison. 
 
 I have met Americans who claimed that President 
 Diaz could speak and understand the English language, 
 but the gentleman himself assured me of his inability 
 to do so. The parlor where we were received was very 
 richly and beautifully furnished. I recollect a table of 
 solid silver which had been presented to the president, 
 and I remember his telling me that General Grant had 
 sent him word that he would come to his aid with one 
 hundred thousand men, if he needed to drive Maxi 
 milian out of Mexico. 
 
 President Diaz I consider to be one of the greatest 
 men of modern times. He was born, raised and edu 
 cated in Oaxaca. He studied law and at one time was 
 appointed Chief Justice of the republic of Mexico, but 
 he became involved in a revolutionary movement and 
 had to flee the country. During his absence he was 
 tried by court martial and sentenced to be shot. 
 
 After the interview I was conscious that President 
 Diaz must have observed how very ignorant I was re 
 garding the history of his country and himself. He 
 recommended his native state, Oaxaca, if I contem- 
 
FKOM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 233 
 
 plated investments in Mexico, saying that he considered 
 it the richest of the states in gold and silver, and that 
 coal was also found there in large quantities. He in 
 formed me that his government had granted a large 
 concession of coal lands to an English company, in the 
 state of Oaxaca, and that they were under contract to 
 furnish coal in the City of Mexico at the price of $11 
 per ton (Mexican money). 
 
 Later, when I was in the city of San Francisco, I 
 bought a copy of the Overland Monthly which gave an 
 account of General Diaz' return to Mexico. I re 
 gretted very much that I did not know of this story 
 at the time I was able to interview him. It seems that 
 although under sentence of death he resolved to return 
 to his native land and lead another revolution. He 
 sailed from New York to Havana, where he took passage 
 on an American steamer for Vera Cruz under the name 
 Dr. Blank. He had but just recovered from an attack 
 of malarial fever, and was very weak when he entered 
 the vessel. As soon as the steamer was well under way 
 he took the purser into his confidence, and implored him 
 to hide him so that he would not be recognized by any 
 of the passengers. The purser, who was an Irish- Amer 
 ican, secreted him in a little closet where he could not 
 lie down, but supplied him with food which he had car 
 ried to his stateroom, ostensibly for his own use. It 
 seems that the vessel touched at some point in Mexico 
 before landing at Vera Cruz and a company of soldiers 
 were put aboard at that place. This added to the 
 anxiety of both the purser and of Diaz, and when the 
 steamer arrived at Vera Cruz he determined to jump 
 overboard and swim to shore. Attempting this he was 
 discovered and a boat sent out from the vessel, which 
 
234 REMINISCENCES 
 
 picked him up very weak and exhausted. When they 
 were bringing him up the gang plank a lady saw and 
 recognized him, and knowing the peril he would be in 
 if he were seen by any of the Mexican soldiers, with 
 quick wit she threw her cloak over him. The purser 
 immediately returned him to his stateroom where he 
 remained until another scheme could be concocted to 
 get him to shore. A lot of flour in barrels was being 
 unloaded from the steamer on to barges, and these 
 were unloaded at the dock. Diaz managed to com 
 municate with some of his trusted friends in the city 
 and inform them of his precarious position. The 
 purser procured some laborer's clothes, which Diaz put 
 on and so disguised himself that his own wife would 
 not have recognized him, and going down to the lower 
 deck among the stevedores, he went to work as one of 
 them, rolling flour on to the barge. When it was loaded 
 he remained on the barge while it crossed to the dock, 
 from where he managed with the aid of his friends to 
 escape to his native city Oaxaca, he and associates then 
 starting an insurrection against the existing government. 
 The president at this time was, I think, named Gon 
 zalez; he had succeeded to the office on the death of 
 Benito Juarez, known as the George Washington of 
 Mexico. 
 
 At the time of Diaz' return, the misnamed republic 
 was in a state of anarchy. For some fifty years revo 
 lution after revolution had reduced the country to a 
 chaotic condition, where the citizens engaged in peace 
 ful pursuits, such as farming and mining, were obliged 
 to maintain forts and keep armed retainers, to protect 
 themselves from the outlaws. Elections were of course 
 a farce, and always have been there. Communication 
 
FBOM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 235 
 
 between the different states of the republic, owing to 
 the bad roads, was difficult and expensive. The gov 
 ernor of a distant state who was ambitious to become 
 president would start a revolution in his own state, 
 against the national government and march with his 
 army to the capital, overpower the authorities and pro 
 claim himself president, then busy himself with any 
 form of intrigue which might keep his position secure. 
 Sooner or later would appear another ambitious pre 
 tender who would start a similar insurrection and the 
 government would again be changed. 
 
 To prevent this easy recourse to revolution, Diaz 
 subsidized railroads and telegraph lines which were 
 built into insurgent districts thus affording necessary 
 information, when incipient revolts were forming, and 
 he was thus able to send troops to quell the uprisings 
 before plans could be matured by the enemy. Before 
 his time, without means of securing information and 
 the difficulty of marching troops and transporting sup 
 plies through a mountainous district without roads, 
 had left the chances of success with the revolutionists. 
 
 Diaz also sent for the leaders of the banditti, in 
 quired of them their approximate monthly income from 
 the hazardous life they were leading; he asked if they 
 would not prefer a safe life for the same pay, and 
 offered to make them "rurales," a sort of rural mounted 
 police. By this diplomatic means he changed a dan 
 gerous element into a body of efficient police, inasmuch 
 as they were posted as to all the fastnesses which any 
 other robbers might use, they were able to keep the 
 country well cleaned of desperadoes, and Mexico be 
 came one of the safest places in the world for the trav 
 eler. 
 
236 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 What will come to this great country after the death 
 of this wise ruler, is a serious problem. Will she be 
 torn by instability and revolt as in times past, or will 
 some other capable man succeed this strong and effi 
 cient head ? No one can tell. 
 
 From the roof of our hotel, we could obtain some 
 excellent views of Popocatepetl and the White Lady. 
 Our party arranged to go to Vera Cruz by the National 
 Railway, a road which had been built by English capi 
 tal and engineers. We left in the morning and rode 
 through the beautiful valley of Mexico and over the 
 range of mountains to the east of it, to the city of 
 Pueblo. We found this a very interesting city, near 
 which lies the battleground where the French troops 
 fought the Mexicans on the "cinco Mayo." We stopped 
 at a hotel of modern architecture. It was nearly quad 
 rangular in form and three stories in height. One side 
 of our room looked out on a street and the other opened 
 upon a patio or court The rooms were entered from a 
 gallery or hall, which ran around the patio. I was very 
 much pleased with this hotel and we stopped here for 
 three or four days. 
 
 One day I went to a bull fight, the first I had ever 
 witnessed. As a bull fight it was the best I have seen, 
 although I have witnessed several since. The bulls 
 were black; fine, courageous creatures. I must own 
 that my sympathies were with the bulls, which always 
 met death, but unfortunately none of the matadors. 
 One bull jumped over the fence, which was fully five 
 feet high, and which encircled the arena. I did not 
 enjoy the sight of the bulls goring the poor blindfolded 
 horses. When a bull was killed a team of horses would 
 be driven in, hitched to the hind legs of the dead beast 
 
FKOM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 237 
 
 and it was drawn from the arena. Then another bull 
 bounded in to meet its fate. 
 
 Another day we went to the Pyramid of Cholula, 
 which is nine miles distant from the city of Pueblo. 
 This pyramid is of quadrangular form, six or eight 
 hundred feet on each side of the base. It is a subject 
 of great conjecture, as no knowledge exists as to its 
 builders or mode of construction. It suggests the period 
 of the Egyptian pyramids although this is formed of 
 dirt. It is about three hundred feet high and on its 
 top is built a church bearing the usual Eoman Catholic 
 emblems. Around this pyramid there flourished quite 
 a large Indian village. 
 
 It is fifteen miles from Cholula to Popocatepetl, the 
 extinct volcano, if I remember correctly. After spend 
 ing the day viewing the pyramid and surrounding vil 
 lage we returned to Pueblo. Near this city are the quar 
 ries of the beautiful Mexican onyx. There was a large 
 and fine cathedral at this place, the interior of which 
 was ornamented with much of this semi-transparent 
 quartz. The dome of the cathedral was beautifully 
 frescoed, and in the center of the dome was a cross 
 studded with diamonds, which were easily and plainly 
 seen from the floor. 
 
 From the main line of the National Railroad, lead 
 ing from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico, a branch 
 some thirty miles long runs to Pueblo ; on this road are 
 situated extensive mills which make serapes and 
 blankets of brilliant colors, and are offered for sale by 
 peddlers at attractive prices. At a town where the 
 branch diverts, quite an industry was carried on in 
 the manufacture of walking canes made from native 
 woods and horn engraved by local artists. 
 
238 REMINISCENCES 
 
 We were now in the state of Tlaxcala, where in 
 ancient times lived the tribe of Indians whom the 
 Aztecs were never able to conquer. 
 
 We met the train going to Vera Cruz at this point 
 and proceeded on our way to that city. We crossed 
 vast plains which appeared to be very rich, and well 
 cultivated, from a Mexican point of view. During the 
 day I became afflicted with one of the terrible head 
 aches to which I was subject at that period. It was so 
 severe that my wife and I left the train at Orizaba and 
 remained overnight at a hotel, the rest of our party 
 going on to Cordova and spending the night there. The 
 next morning I was partly recovered from my indis 
 position, so we took a drive among the orange groves 
 and coffee plantations which flourish in this section. 
 
 We boarded the train that day for the City of Mexico. 
 There are some heavy grades on this road between 
 Orizaba and the plains of Tlaxcala. The locomotives 
 used are of English make and of a style called double- 
 enders. It is a peculiarity of this road that the govern 
 ment furnishes a company of soldiers to ride upon each 
 train to protect it from banditti. I found our old ac 
 quaintance, Colonel Foster, in command of the company 
 on this train. Another requirement made of the rail 
 road is that they shall run a trainload of pulque into 
 the City of Mexico each day, this being a main article 
 of diet for the Mexicans. We arrived at the City of 
 Mexico that evening. 
 
 Through the kindness of Colonel Foster we were 
 permitted to visit the castle of Chapultepec ("Grass 
 hopper Hill"). This castle had been fitted up regard 
 less of expense by the Emperor Maximilian as a sum 
 mer residence for himself and the Empress Charlotte. 
 
FROM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 239 
 
 Through some mistake, Colonel Foster who was to ea- 
 cort us through the palace was not present when our 
 carriages arrived at the main entrance. We drove on 
 over the picturesque road leading up the hill passed 
 the soldiers in charge without challenge, and alighted at 
 the doorway. There being no one to receive us, we 
 walked in and rambled through the castle for some three 
 hours. We went everywhere we chose and I suppose 
 saw more of the castle than is the fortune of most tour 
 ists. There are, I believe no finer fittings in any royal 
 palace in Europe. I remember one stairway where 
 the railings and banisters were of solid silver. In 
 Charlotte's private hall, leading to her oriel room the 
 walls and stairways were of onyx, and the railings and 
 banisters were said to be of solid gold. The dreams of 
 grandeur and greatness that filled the mind of the 
 empress were to be ruthlessly dispelled by the capture 
 and death of her beloved consort 
 
 Near the center of the palace was a well which was 
 said to reach the bottom of Chapultepec HilL I pre 
 sume that a tunnel connects it there with the outside 
 world. In the basement of the palace we saw stables 
 cut out of the solid rock, extensive enough I should 
 judge to accommodate a hundred horses, though none 
 were kept there at that time. The stables themselves 
 were very elegant as were the carriage rooms. There 
 was a bewildering number of beautiful apartments in the 
 palace which I am not able to describe. I remember 
 that the roof garden was filled with a variety of magnifi 
 cent tropical flowers. We spent a most agreeable after 
 noon at the palace, free as we were to go where we 
 wished and no one to say, "You cannot enter here." 
 
 At the national museum in the City of Mexico is the 
 
240 REMINISCENCES 
 
 state chariot of the Emperor Maximilian and his din 
 ner plate of solid silver. My recollection is that the 
 outside of the carriage is also of silver. In this museum 
 was the Aztec Calendar Stone and the stone upon which 
 the ancient Aztec priests made their human sacrifices. 
 There was a gallery of pictures in the City of Mexico 
 said to excel any other on the American continent. The 
 mineral exhibition there was the finest I have ever seen. 
 The cathedral holds many paintings usual to such re 
 ligious edifices. Altogether the trip to Mexico proved 
 very interesting and instructive to me. All that I saw 
 was new to my eyes and very different from what I had 
 ever seen. 
 
 I renewed my acquaintance with Mr. Richard Guen- 
 ther who was at this time Consul general for the United 
 States to the Republic of Mexico. During the short 
 time he had resided in this country he had acquired 
 sufficient knowledge of the Spanish language, to be able 
 to deliver an oration in that tongue which he had given 
 at the unveiling of a monument to the memory of Benito 
 Juarez. It was a most beautiful monument in Italian 
 marble, representing the dead patriot in a reclining 
 position. 
 
 The Paseo Avenue from the Alameda Park to the 
 Castle of Chapultepec, built by Maximilian for the 
 empress, is a most beautiful drive extending from the 
 city to the summer palace. 
 
 Knowing that I was interested in the lumber busi 
 ness, Mr. Guenther told me that he had an option on 
 some four hundred thousand acres of pine land within 
 fifteen miles of the city of Durango; that it was repre 
 sented to him that it would cut fifteen thousand feet of 
 lumber to the acre, and that a railroad was practical 
 
FROM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 241 
 
 from the land to the city. I told him I was willing to 
 go there and see if the representations were true or 
 false, and if they were anywhere near the truth that I 
 would take an interest in their purchase. Mr. Guen- 
 ther said he had a partner living at Valardena engaged 
 with him in mining, who was very familar with the 
 country around Durango, and spoke Spanish with 
 fluency. He agreed to have him accompany me to these 
 forests. I therefore arranged to have my wife go 
 through to Los Angeles with the acquaintances from 
 Iowa with whom we had been traveling. Mr. Guenther 
 and his partner Mr. Godfrey were extensively engaged 
 in mining, and it was arranged that a mining engineer 
 in their employ should meet me at Picardias with a 
 team and take me to Valardena, The railroad from 
 the Torreon station to Durango was not yet built and 
 it was necessary to travel about a hundred and fifty 
 miles by stage. This line passed through Cuencame 
 about fifteen miles south of Valardena. We arrived 
 about an hour after the stage had passed. It would be 
 two or three days before another would pass on its 
 way to Durango, Mr. Godfrey therefore hired a Mexi 
 can to take us to that city and we started the next morn 
 ing, traveled at a moderate pace and when night came 
 stopped at a miserable, poverty stricken town and spent 
 the night in very primitive and inhospitable quarters. 
 The next morning our driver refused to go any farther, 
 but insisted on returning to Cuencame. We "hustled 
 around" and found another Mexican and engaged him 
 to take us to Durango. The roads were very bad, the 
 country and the people very poor, so the second night 
 proved a repetition of the first The next morning this 
 
24:2 REMINISCENCES 
 
 driver also refused to go farther and we were obliged to 
 hire still another team to get us to Durango. 
 
 On arriving at this place we found a passable hotel 
 and were enabled to take a bath, which we certainly 
 needed after the two days' ride through such dust and 
 dirt. We spent as much as two or three days' time try 
 ing to learn from the parties to whom we were referred, 
 the exact location of the lands for which we were look 
 ing. The governor of the state of Durango tendered us 
 a couple of rurales, and we hired a cook. Thus it was 
 that one morning five of us started to find the forests 
 for which we were searching. The first ten or twelve 
 miles traveling towards the west, crossed plains which 
 extended from the city to the Sierra Madre Mountains. 
 We then began to climb the mountains which appeared 
 to be of solid rock without soil or vegetation ; there was 
 a perceptible trail and that was all we had to guide 
 us on our way. We had carried a little water with us, 
 which enabled us to take an afternoon lunch, but none 
 of the party so far as I could learn, knew the country 
 ahead of us. After dark we arrived at a canyon said 
 to be three thousand feet deep. I thought it was all 
 of that before I got to the bottom. Our horses followed 
 the trail down the canyon side in Indian file. It was 
 so dark we could see but little of the dangers and we 
 allowed our horses to pick their way as carefully as 
 they chose. About eleven o'clock we reached the bot 
 tom. After following down the canyon about a mile we 
 saw a light which proved to issue from a camp of lum 
 ber carriers, who were transporting boards from a saw 
 mill to Durango. One of their cavalcades had stopped 
 at this place over night. The freighting was done by 
 burros. To each side of these beasts of burden was 
 
FROM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 24:3 
 
 lashed four boards, one end of which, dragged on the 
 ground. These boards were about five-eighths of an inch 
 in thickness, twelve inches wide and about twelve feet 
 long, and were whip sawed. The donkeys were driven 
 along Indian file, and when I saw the quality of the 
 lumber displayed in this line, I was given a poor opinion 
 of the timber in this district; also the transporting 
 facilities looked very discouraging. 
 
 Our party when arriving at this camp were thoroughly 
 exhausted. It was estimated that we had traveled over 
 sixty miles from Durango since morning. I appeared 
 to be the only one of the party who insisted on having 
 something to eat before lying down. The other members 
 of our party were so tired that they desired rest more 
 than food. I had our provisions unloaded, a fire built 
 and some bacon fried on the coals. We then ate heartily 
 of our supplies, lay down on the grass of the canyon, 
 under the canopy of stars, and slept the sleep of fatigue 
 until late in the morning. When I awoke I could find 
 nothing of more interest to do, so I began shooting at a 
 mark with my revolver. 
 
 We ate a hearty breakfast and then the matter as to 
 whether we should go farther was seriously debated. I 
 told Mr. Godfrey that no timber in that God forsaken 
 locality would interest me commercially and so it was 
 agreed that we should return. We saddled our horses, 
 mounted and rode out of the canyon. That day we made 
 our way out of the mountains to a village; I have for 
 gotten its name. A primitive iron foundry had been 
 established here, the only one in that part of Mexico, 
 although there is, within a few miles of Durango, a 
 mountain of iron ore, which Humboldt in his day pro- 
 
244: REMINISCENCES 
 
 nounced the largest visible iron ore deposit in the 
 world. 
 
 The next day we traversed the valley to Durango 
 where we arranged to take the stage back to C'ueneame. 
 The coach was to leave at five o'clock in the morning: 
 We paid for our passage and the stage company agreed 
 to have us called early, so that we would not be left, 
 and to make double assurance we engaged a man at the 
 hotel to wake us at the proper time. In the deep sleep 
 of early morning we heard this garcon pounding at our 
 door saying that the stage was leaving. I arose and 
 donned my clothes quicker than Godfrey and with my 
 valise in hand I started out just as the stagecoach made 
 its appearance in the street in front of the hotel. It 
 appeared to be loaded with women. There was no use 
 in my trying to talk, as no one would understand me so 
 I found a place on the back seat and listened to the 
 jargon of voices. As the stage was about to leave God 
 frey put in an appearance and then the speech was 
 fast and furious. I afterwards learned from Godfrey 
 that the man accompanied by enough women to fill the 
 coach had made his application after we had procured 
 our seats and that they had sold him the seats, our 
 own included, counting on getting away before we ap 
 peared, thus making us pay again the next day and 
 claiming that it was our own fault that we had lost 
 our places. The fare was some $25 (Mexican) each. 
 
 These Mexican stages were built in imitation of the 
 old Concord coach. They were drawn by one pair of 
 mules on the pole and three horses abreast in the lead. 
 The driver had conveniently placed near his feet about 
 a peck of small cobble stones which he threw at the 
 leaders as occasion required. As the morning broke 
 
FROM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 245 
 
 and the sun arose Godfrey and the passenger came to 
 better terms. When we left Durango it had looked as 
 if there might be a shooting match, but during the day 
 all parties became quite friendly. About noon on the 
 second day we arrived at Cuencame, where we procured 
 horses to ride to Valardena. I stayed at this place some 
 two or three days to inspect some mining operations 
 being carried on by Oshkosh capitalists. Mr. Godfrey 
 and a mining engineer by the name of A. C. Payne, 
 having charge of the enterprise. 
 
 The country between Picardias and Durango was 
 very sparsely settled; there were a number of little 
 towns, that were very poor, dirty and unattractive. 
 The International Railroad from Durango to Torreon 
 was not built, but grading was being done. I saw 
 nothing here to interest me in the way of mining and 
 so I left Mexico to join my wife in California where 
 she was waiting for me. I stopped but a short time 
 in Los Angeles, but while there I visited Sierra Madre 
 and also Santa Anita, the ranch belonging to "Lucky" 
 Baldwin. While at the latter place I attempted with 
 two others to drink a bottle of wine made in this district, 
 thinking that three of us could manage that quantity 
 without deleterious effect, but after a limited trial I 
 concluded that the safest way to carry the contents of 
 that bottle would be in the bottom of the carriage. 
 
 During this trip we also visited Riverside and saw 
 the noted groves of that place. In February of that 
 year there had been a hard freeze for that section, which 
 had caused the oranges to drop from the trees in great 
 numbers. On Magnolia Avenue, a drive some ten miles 
 long, which is bordered with orange groves on either 
 side, the ground was literally covered with oranges 
 
246 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 which had fallen from the trees, owing to the extreme 
 cold weather. This gave me an unfavorable impression 
 as to the profits to be made from orange growing in 
 Southern California, 
 
 Before leaving California we visited San Francisco, 
 where I found little to remind me of my former sojourn 
 there in 1863-5. From San Francisco we went to the 
 city of the Later Day Saints; there I discovered an 
 old acquaintance with whom I had roomed in 1864 
 when in Austin, Nevada. He had established a fine 
 livery business in Salt Lake City and was well ac 
 quainted with many leading Mormons. He showed us 
 about ; taking us to the "Bee Hive," the Mormon Church 
 and we were also escorted through the new temple, 
 which was then building. Salt Lake City, with its 
 broad streets bordered by flowing streams of water, its 
 fine hotels and evidences of prosperity on every hand, 
 impressed me very favorably. It appeared to me to 
 be a city of great commercial importance. 
 
 It occurred to me to visit the station agent in Salt 
 Lake City and make inquiries of him as to which train 
 we should take in order to see the fine scenery I had 
 heard lay between Salt Lake and Denver on the Denver 
 & Rio Grande Railroad. The agent told me that I 
 should take the train leaving the city in the morning 
 and stop over night at Grande Junction and then take 
 the train again the following morning. I replied that 
 I had been told that there was not much to see between 
 Salt Lake and the Junction. He answered : "You asked 
 me a straight question and I have given you a straight 
 answer. If you think I don't know, take which ever 
 train you please." I followed his directions and have 
 always felt that it was owing to this advice that I had 
 
FBOM MEXICO TO CALIFORNIA 247 
 
 the pleasure of viewing the scenery, the most magnifi 
 cent to me of any in America, if not the grandest I 
 have ever seen. 
 
 When our visit was ended we went to take the early 
 morning train for the east. In the passenger room at 
 the depot we met a Mr. Dunstan, wife and children. 
 These were pleasant acquaintances of my wife, she 
 having become quite friendly with them while she was 
 in Los Angeles, and I was still on my trip to the Sierra 
 Madre Mountains west of Durango in Mexico. They 
 were very agreeable people and we traveled in their 
 company until we left Denver for New Orleans. We 
 passed through fertile fields of the Great Salt Lake 
 Valley which were irrigated by the melting snows from 
 the Rocky Mountains, until we began to ascend the 
 range of mountains lying to the east of the valley. 
 Scenic effects of sublime grandeur came gradually 
 into view. The country appeared to be studded with 
 ruined castles built of brightly colored rocks of the most 
 fantastic architecture. I remember one canyon which 
 looked as though great stone doors, hinged to the moun 
 tain's side had been swung open to let us pass through. 
 We crossed the valleys of the Colorado and the Green 
 Rivers, I believe, before we arrived at Grand Junction, 
 some time after dark. At this town we obtained some 
 what primitive accommodations at a new hotel some 
 distance from the depot, where we spent the night. 
 After breakfast the next morning we took the train 
 for the east. I had a good impression of the country 
 around Grand Junction, as the soil appeared to be very 
 rich. I saw a large number of fruit trees and so judged 
 that the valley would be a fine fruit district; this proved 
 
248 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 to be correct as it is now recognized as a superior sec 
 tion for raising fruit. 
 
 At Glenwood Springs our train divided, one section 
 taking the southern route over Marshall Pass, which is 
 some eleven thousand feet in elevation, and the other 
 division, on which we traveled, taking the Northern 
 route by the way of Leadville, where Mr. Dunstan 
 wished to meet some acquaintances. In crossing the 
 mountains we saw several inches of snow. We stopped at 
 Leadville for a day. The hotel appeared to be closed 
 for the season, but at one we were able to secure rooms ; 
 for our meals, however, we had to seek a restaurant. 
 The altitude was quite trying to some of our party. 
 I, myself did not take exercise for the fun of it. After 
 leaving Leadville we passed through some fine scenery, 
 our trip being through the Koyal Gorge, where flows a 
 mountain stream, closed within high walls which were 
 nearly perpendicular, the gorge in some places being 
 quite narrow. The railroad crosses the river on a 
 bridge, one end of which is supported by rods fastened 
 to rocks above. 
 
 We arrived at Colorado Springs, and not being able 
 to get accommodations at the Antler's Hotel, we went 
 to the Alta Vista, which is near it. We took several 
 excursions while in Colorado Springs. One to a can 
 yon where we hoped to see some beautiful falls, but 
 were disappointed. We went to Manitou Springs and 
 to the Garden of the Gods, in a three seated surrey 
 drawn by four horses, and we very much enjoyed the 
 ride. The scenery in the "garden" is very grand and 
 well worth a visit. I learned too late, that my old tutor 
 and district judge of our moot court had a fine residence 
 here. We also went to a cave whose formation was 
 
FROM MEXICO TO CALIFOBNIA 249 
 
 very unusual as well as attractive. The party entering 
 the cave was under charge of a guide who pointed out 
 the wonderful things to be seen. 
 
 From Colorado Springs we went to Denver, where 
 I was surprised to find a town of such elegance. The 
 buildings looked as though they might have been trans 
 ported from Boston. We went from here, for a one 
 day's excursion to Georgetown and Silver Plume. The 
 railroad, building into this canyon held the greatest 
 attraction for ma At one point there was a loop, the 
 road above being brought in a curve back over the road 
 below. At that time, this was considered a great novelty 
 and a fine piece of engineering skill, covering the diffi 
 culty of too steep a grade. 
 
 In leaving Denver we separated from our traveling 
 companions who had added so much to our pleasure of 
 the journey. The Dunstans went east to Chicago and 
 Michigan. Mr. Dunstan was later elected lieutenant 
 governor of his state. They lived at Hancock on the 
 Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 
 
 We went to New Orleans by the way of Colorado 
 Springs, Pueblo and the Pan Handle of Texas. In 
 my early school days, the geography showed this pan 
 handle as the "staked plain" or Great American Desert, 
 I was surprised therefore to ride through a beautiful 
 farming country with a rich black alluvial soil, as fine 
 as that of Illinois or Indiana. Our route was through 
 Fort Worth and Houston, where we struck the Southern 
 Pacific Railroad for New Orleans and Pensacola. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AVENO MINE. 
 
 This visit to Mexico and my making the acquaint 
 ance of Mr. Godfrey led to some transactions which 
 caused me great annoyance and considerable pecuniary 
 loss. Godfrey was a pushing sort of man; and he 
 boasted much of his knowledge of mines and also of his 
 honesty. While I was with him at Valardena, he 
 offered me a third interest in a mine on which he was 
 then working, as a present. I thanked him abundantly 
 but told him that I did not wish an interest in a jack- 
 knife blade mine ; that I had seen too many of them in 
 my early days in Nevada. The mine in question 
 appeared to be a well-developed fissure vein but it was 
 only six inches to a foot in thickness and required 
 a great deal of work to extract the ore. Godfrey elaimed 
 that it would yield a hundred dollars to the ton in gold, 
 besides the silver. When I refused to meet his offer, 
 he asked me what kind of a mine I would consider, 
 and I told him that when he found a good fissure vein 
 ten feet thick, that would yield $25 to the ton in silver, 
 he might write me and I would come and see it. He 
 wrote some time later, hoping to interest me in the 
 building of a smelter at Torreon, but that sort of in 
 vestment did not attract me. Matters ran along until 
 the spring of 1893, when he wrote me that he had found 
 a mine much better than the hypothetical one I had 
 described to him two years before, and he wished that 
 
 250 
 
AVENO MINE 251 
 
 I would come and see it. I went to Mexico, met Mr. 
 Godfrey and saw the mine, which was situated twelve 
 miles from the city of Durango. Two brothers by the 
 name of Diaz were working it under a lease. A little 
 town of two thousand inhabitants was situated at the 
 mine. It was claimed that the mine had been worked 
 for over two hundred years and that a depth of four 
 hundred feet had been reached; that the foot-wall hav 
 ing never yet been found, the width of the vein could 
 not be estimated, although in one place it had been de 
 veloped fifty feet in width; and the ore it was asserted 
 would clean up $25 per ton of silver. We interviewed 
 the station agent where Mr. Diaz made his shipments 
 of silver, and he stated that the shipment amounted to 
 about $18,000 per month in silver, the product of this 
 mine. 
 
 Mr. Diaz acting for the owner offered to sell me the 
 mine for $100,000 (Mexican) with an option running 
 sixty days for $5,000 (Mexican). The option money 
 was to count in the purchase price if I bought the mine 2 
 if not it was to be forfeited. The price included the 
 reduction works, which were of the old fashioned kind 
 primitive in character and common in Mexico at that 
 time. 
 
 I returned to Pensacola much elated over the prospect 
 of a fortune. On my arrival I told a banker of that 
 place where I had been, what I had seen and that I 
 proposed to go to New York to try and place the mine 
 there. He said: "Why not place it here?" I replied 
 that I did not believe men could be found in Pensacola 
 who would invest the amount necessary. He thought 
 differently, and mentioned the names of half a dozen 
 men who would invest $10,000 each. He offered to 
 
252 BEMLNISCENCES 
 
 pay one-half of the option money and to place the mine 
 with Pensacola capitalists. I accepted his proposition 
 and forwarded the amount necessary to secure the 
 option. About two weeks later a party of seven promi 
 nent men of our city and myself started to visit the 
 mine. 
 
 While on the trip, somewhere after leaving Eagle 
 Pass, Mexico, in the smoking room of the Pullman car 
 I made the acquaintance of a mining engineer named 
 Ayer, from Chicago. He was traveling in Mexico in 
 the interest of one of the largest manufacturers of min 
 ing machinery, in Chicago. I introduced him later to 
 the members of our party, and we talked with him 
 considerably during the evening of matters pertaining 
 to mining. Seeing that he was well posted in the busi 
 ness, the parties from Pensacola eventually concluded 
 to employ him to go and see the mine and give his 
 opinion as to its value and prospects independent of 
 the report furnished by Mr. Godfrey in the first in 
 stance and of A. C. Payne, made after he had visited 
 the mine at my personal request 
 
 The next morning we left Torreon for Durango, tak 
 ing on Mr. Godfrey and Mr. Payne at Pedrisena. On 
 arriving at Durango the party decided to stop there a 
 day before visiting the mine, and give Godfrey time to 
 procure teams to take us out to the mines. The Pensa- 
 colians enjoyed the city of Durango very much, finding 
 it novel and beautiful We left the city on the second 
 morning after our arrival on our way to see Aveno 
 Mine. Arriving at the station about eight miles dis 
 tant, some of the party chose to ride horseback while 
 others preferred the carriage. Reaching Aveno, the 
 entire party was lodged in a large, two story adobe 
 
AVENO MINE 253 
 
 building belonging to the mine and occupied by Mr. 
 Diaz as a residence. 
 
 A young lawyer of Pensacola, from the time we en 
 tered the Republic of Mexico had been troubled with 
 some malady, and he resorted to all the patent medi 
 cines which he could find; each member of the party 
 seemed to have brought some kind of medicine for his 
 own particular ailments and these were freely contrib 
 uted to the stricken individual; I judge that by the 
 time we arrived at the Aveno mine he must have swal 
 lowed at least a gallon of patent medicines recommended 
 for about every disease to which this flesh is heir. By 
 bedtime our party held a consultation as to what we 
 could do for the sick man, and some additional drugs 
 were obtained from the commissary. Between one and 
 two o'clock the combined medicines began to take effect 
 and the sick man was relieved but I observed that the 
 patient had not lost a single meal since leaving 
 Pensacola. 
 
 Godfrey and Payne amused us greatly telling min 
 ing anecdotes, a couple of which I had occasion to 
 remember later on. One told by Godfrey was to the 
 effect that a promoter trying to impress upon the mind 
 of an expected purchaser that he was getting his inter 
 est in the mine at first cost, said : "I am letting you in 
 on the ground floor." The possible buyer queried: 
 "But how about the fellow in the basement?" The 
 story that Payne gave was the charge of an English 
 judge to a jury that had been listening to the evidence 
 in a mining case which was being tried before them. 
 "Gentlemen of the jury," said his honor, "you have 
 listened to a great deal of conflicting testimony in this 
 case. You alone are to decide the case from the evi- 
 
254 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 dence, but I wish to call jour attention to the fact that 
 there are three kinds of liars: the common liar, the 
 damned liars, and the mining engineer/' 
 
 We spent the next day in examining the mine and 
 the reduction works, which were quite extensive, also 
 in acquiring knowledge of the past, present and future 
 prospects of the mine. Mr. Ayer was employed by the 
 Pensacola parties to extract half a ton of ore from the 
 mine, of its average grade, pulverize it and take it to 
 St. Louis for reduction. A most favorable impression 
 was made on all as to the value of this mine. 
 
 That night we returned to Durango and spent the 
 next day in viewing it ; the following morning our whole 
 party started for the City of Mexico. The country and 
 people were new to most of the party and therefore 
 more interesting. When we arrived at the city, the 
 entire party put up at the Iturbide Hotel. One even 
 ing while there all met in my rooms and agreed to the 
 price, division and purchase of the mine and a con 
 tract was drawn up and signed by all interested. After 
 a day or two spent in sight seeing we left for home 
 over the National Railway. At one station where there 
 was a brewery our young lawyer of patent medi 
 cine fame got out to procure some beer. A big revolver 
 protruded from his pocket, and was deftly extracted by 
 another member of our party, who handed it to me for 
 safe keeping. When the train was again in motion the 
 lawyer was apprised of his loss; it was the opinion of 
 all that some Mexican must have taken the pistol while 
 the lawyer was hunting for beer. After bracing his 
 mind with legal reflections, he announced his intention 
 to sue the railroad company for the value of the lost 
 weapon. As he himself and his belongings were in the 
 
AVENO MINE 255 
 
 custody of the railway company it must be responsible 
 to him for the robbery. All the party agreed with him 
 as to the liability of the company, and he decided to 
 bring suit as soon as he should reach Texas, where Eng 
 lish was spoken. 
 
 Arriving at San Antonio, I stopped to visit my sis 
 ter-in-law and her daughter, who were temporarily in 
 that city, while the other members of our party kept 
 on to Florida. Soon after when I reached Pensacola 
 I was notified in writing by Mr. Brent that he would 
 withdraw from his agreement to purchase the Aveno 
 Mine, and in quick succession I was notified to the 
 same effect by all, I think, of the other men who had 
 signed the agreement to buy the mine. I felt very 
 much disappointed, but was satisfied that it would be 
 of no use to make any fuss about it, and I let the mat 
 ter drop. 
 
 It seems that while we were in Mexico two banks in 
 Chicago had failed, owing to bad management I think, 
 and that this had brought about a panic in money mat 
 ters affecting the whole country and resulting in serious 
 loss. During our absence in Mexico, the Louisville & 
 Nashville Railroad had withdrawn its deposits from the 
 bank of which Mr. Brent was president, this deposit 
 amounting to some $30,000, the State of Florida had 
 also withdrawn its deposit amounting to $40,000. The 
 general impression prevailed that all banks would issue 
 certified checks and not honor individual checks. The 
 bank was also involved in the liabilities of Mr. Baars 
 for the purchase of timber, amounting to some two 
 hundred thousand dollars, all these causes combined to 
 put the bank in serious straits. During the summer it 
 resorted to certified checks and refused payment of the 
 
256 REMINISCENCES 
 
 checks of individual depositors in most instances. The 
 money in payment of the mine, some $60,000 would 
 have to be drawn out of this bank, had we gone on with 
 the purchase of the Aveno Mine. I made some effort in 
 Chicago to preserve the option, and thought I might be 
 able to accomplish the purchase of the mine, but B. R. 
 Pitt, who had during his visit to Mexico become con 
 vinced of the value of the mine, at the last moment 
 failed to respond and I had to give up the purchase, 
 although having paid $500 additional to have the 
 option extended thirty days. 
 
 During the spring I was appointed by the Southern 
 Lumber Manufacturing Company in connection with a 
 Mr. Burton, to erect an exhibit of southern lumber in 
 the Forestry Building of the Columbian Exposition in 
 Chicago. I selected from my lumber at Escambia some 
 very handsome varieties of curly pine, cypress and other 
 woods, which I sent up to Chicago. I entered into con 
 tract with a firm at Meridian, Mississippi, to erect this 
 exhibit, the design for which was made by an architect 
 of that place, and adopted by the Southern Lumber 
 Manufacturing Company. The exhibit was to be 
 erected at the front entrance of the building, opening 
 towards Lake Michigan. The space appropriated to us 
 was forty-five feet square, and forty-five feet high and 
 it should have made a very creditable appearance, but 
 the work was so shabbily done by the contractors that 
 I refused to accept it as a compliance with the contract. 
 I had paid the contractors about half of the stipulated 
 price before I saw the exhibit, then I refused to pay 
 any farther sum except under instructions of the execu 
 tive officers of the Association. On referring the mat 
 ter to the company they sustained my position and re- 
 
AVENO MINE 257 
 
 fused to order me to pay anything farther on the con 
 tract. I received a season's pass to the exposition, and as 
 I spent the summer in Chicago I had abundant oppor 
 tunity to visit the fair; one or two hours at a time 
 would however make me so tired that I gave up fre 
 quent visits. 
 
 This Columbian Exposition was the finest effort of 
 the kind I have ever seen, or ever expect to see, so since 
 that time I have taken little interest in visiting others. 
 There may be something in the future that will excel it, 
 but I do not think that such can occur in this genera 
 tion. Certainly I do not expect to live to see it. The 
 Court of Honor at night, with electric lights in full 
 effulgence, and the fountains playing, was I think the 
 most brilliant scene that my eyes ever beheld or can 
 ever behold, unless it be my good fortune to gaze upon 
 the golden streets of the New Jerusalem of which I 
 have heard so much from people who could in the very 
 nature of things know nothing about it. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OUK NEW CORPOEATION. 
 
 In the fall of the year 1893 I returned to Escambia. 
 I learned through a Mr. Cyrus Orr that my partners, 
 the McDavids, had offered their interests in the hold 
 ings of Skinner & McDavid to the father-in-law of 
 Mr. Orr, Colonel Milner, of Birmingham, Alabama, 
 on a basis of $107,000 for their half interest in the 
 property. Previous to this I had notified them that I 
 would not continue the partnership that I had with 
 them, for a term longer than that mentioned in the 
 articles of co-partnership ; the term expiring in Novem 
 ber of that year. I had informed them that I would 
 organize the business as a corporation, if they would 
 consent to do so. Upon receiving this information from 
 Mr. Orr I immediately wrote Mr. John McDavid that 
 I had been informed of the offer by himself and his 
 brothers to Colonel Milner, and that if they wished to 
 sell their interest in the firm, I would pay them the 
 price they asked if we could arrange the payments 
 satisfactorily. They replied that they would sell their 
 interest at the price stated. I proposed that they take 
 about twelve thousand acres of land which the partner 
 ship owned at Choctawhatchee, and that I pay them 
 $10,000 cash, assume the debts of the firm, and pay 
 them $10,000 a year until the whole amount should 
 be paid ; that I would organize the property into a cor 
 poration with three hundred thousand dollars capital, 
 
 258 
 
OUR NEW CORPORATION 259 
 
 that I would place one half of the stock of the said 
 corporation in the custody of the First National Bank 
 of Pensacola, as collateral to secure the notes for $60,- 
 
 000 dollars, such notes to be payable, $10,000 a year, 
 with interest at six per cent, per annum. In consider 
 ation of this action on my part they were to deed to 
 the corporation their interest in the lands belonging 
 to Skinner & McDavid and give a bill of sale to said 
 corporation of all the personal property of whatever 
 kind or wherever found, belonging to said partnership. 
 This transaction was effected and each of the several 
 notes paid as they fell due. At the end of six years the 
 bank returned to me the stock deposited with it, to se 
 cure the payments of the notes. 
 
 In the new corporation there were as stockholders 
 only three persons, my wife, my son, and myself; so 
 our business was practically a close corporation. The 
 change from partnership to corporation made no dif 
 ference in our business nor in the management of it. 
 
 1 attended to most of the business in the woods, and to 
 furnishing logs for the mill. The profits in the manu 
 facture of lumber during these years were small; 
 apparently there was an over production of southern 
 pine lumber and it was sold at very small margin. 
 The cost to us for logs cut upon our lands was about 
 $2 per thousand feet, less than the price of logs bought 
 on the market ; this of course left us a small margin in 
 competition with those concerns which had no timber 
 lands of their own. But this was very unsatisfactory 
 to me, for I felt sure that in the immediate future the 
 stumpage of pine lands would greatly increase in value. 
 I made strenuous efforts to get the lumber manufacturers 
 of the gulf coast to consolidate their interests in prac- 
 
260 REMINISCENCES 
 
 tically a trust company. I induced about sixty-six per 
 cent, of the manufacturers to enter into such a combi 
 nation, but the jealousy and distrust among each other, 
 and variable necessities of individuals rendered the 
 plan inadequate to carrying the trust to a successful 
 issue, so after spending some three years in efforts to 
 solve the problem of over production and prevent under 
 selling I gave up the attempt in disgust. 
 
 There prevailed in the south an idea that a man who 
 had failed in some other business could make a success 
 in running a sawmill; there were constant instances 
 where lumber merchants, that is the men who bought 
 lumber from the mills and shipped it abroad to dealers 
 in Europe and elsewhere, would secure money from 
 their correspondents and with it would assist one of 
 these impecunious and impractical men, who were 
 always ready but without means of their own to start 
 a one horse saw mill business, and this beginning meant 
 a steady down grade to bankruptcy. Hundreds of 
 these futile attempts have I seen; efforts to get rich 
 without capital and without experience in the manu 
 facture of lumber ; while the fact is that to successfully 
 operate a sawmill requires the highest order of admin 
 istrative and executive ability and the man who is com 
 petent to construct, operate and make money in a saw 
 mill, has the ability to enter upon and manage any 
 other business successfully, of which he has the neces 
 sary training. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 SECURING GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS FOR FRIENDS. 
 
 My wife and I went to a session of the Chautauqua 
 Society at De Funiak Springs, Florida, to find some 
 relief from the monotonous life at Escambia. While 
 there I chanced to make the acquaintance of the Kev. 
 Geo. Collier, who had served in the Civil War as chap 
 lain in the regiment of which William McKinley 
 was major. This gentleman was very desirous that 
 Mr. McKinley should be nominated the next year for 
 the presidency, and he tried hard to inject into me 
 some of his enthusiasm on the subject. I told him that 
 I had had my last experience in politics and that I 
 should attend no more negro conventions. The next 
 year he came to my house in company with his wife 
 and said that Major McKinley wished him to visit me 
 and induce me to work for his nomination. He showed 
 me a letter in which McKinley stated that he desired the 
 acquaintance of an honest, influential man upon whom 
 he could rely, should he be elected, for advice as to 
 appointments to office in Florida, and he therefore 
 wished him to visit me, so there would be no mistake, 
 and if he should find me the man he needed, to urge 
 me to go as a delegate to the St. Louis convention in 
 his behalf. 
 
 I told Mr. Collier as in my previous talks with him 
 that I would not again become a member of a negro 
 convention, but after great persuasion on the part of 
 
 261 
 
262 REMINISCENCES 
 
 my guest, listening to his statements regarding the fine 
 character of McKinley and the intimate relations that 
 he held with him, that my help would place me first in 
 the esteem of the future president among the citizens 
 of Florida, all this added to the personal entreaties of 
 Mr. Collier made me reverse my judgment and I prom 
 ised to make an effort to secure a delegation from our 
 state which would vote for McKinley's nomination at 
 St. Louis. I had been in touch with the republican 
 politics of Escambia County for several years. When I 
 sought out the republican leaders and told them what 
 I would like to do, I was informed by them that they 
 did not believe that a McKinley delegation could be 
 had from the state. It had been impressed upon me by 
 Mr. Collier that as Florida held the first convention to 
 elect delegates that if a delegation favorable to Mc 
 Kinley could be secured here it would serve to influence 
 those states which would hold conventions later. 
 
 I was told on the other side that ex-vice president 
 Morton had sent twenty thousand dollars into Florida 
 to be distributed among politicians "where it would 
 do most good," towards obtaining a delegation in his be 
 half ; that an emissary had been all through the western 
 part of the state, distributing a good part of that fund, 
 and it was the opinion that every republican negro 
 politician had been "fixed." It was considered useless 
 to hope to change the trend of politics as they then 
 stood. I informed these pessimists that I was inclined 
 to assist Mr. McKinley and that if they would help me 
 that we would send a delegation to St. Louis pledged 
 to nominate our candidate; I agreed to pay suitable 
 persons their expenses if they would go into the dif 
 ferent counties west of the Apalachicola River to stim- 
 
GOVEBNMENT APPOINTMENTS 263 
 
 ulate efforts in electing delegates to the republican con 
 vention to be held at Tallahassee, in the month of 
 April. These state delegates would in their turn elect 
 the delegates to be sent to the National Convention to 
 be held by the republicans in St. Louis that year. 
 
 It was decided that it would be best to hold the coun 
 ty convention at Escambia, where I lived, on the suppo 
 sition that the leaders of the different factions of ne 
 groes could be more easily controlled there than in the 
 city of Pensacola where free access could be had to 
 numerous saloons. A passenger train was chartered on 
 the railroad to bring the delegates and others to the 
 convention. I asked the trustees of the colored church 
 for the use of their building, which was granted after 
 my becoming personally responsible for any damage 
 done to their property. 
 
 The negro is very shrewd and unscrupulous in poli 
 tics. When the certificates of the delegates were handed 
 in from the different precincts, it was discovered that 
 the call for the meeting to be held in one precinct of the 
 city of Pensacola stated that the meeting would be 
 held at 1 o'clock on a certain day of the month, without 
 stating whether it would be 1 A. M. or 1 P. M. of that 
 date, so that precinct had two sets of delegates to repre 
 sent it in the convention. One meeting had been held 
 at 1 A. M. and the other at 1 P. M. 
 
 After the expenditure of a large amount of oratory 
 the convention was finally organized and its officers 
 elected. On one occasion in the meeting, a lawless negro 
 threw a missile of some kind which struck the side of 
 the room near my head. I arose and walked over to the 
 vicinity of the presiding officer and told the convention 
 that the building belonged to me, that I had given the 
 
264 REMINISCENCES 
 
 convention the use of it, but that I would permit no 
 lawless or turbulent conduct in the room. Quiet was 
 restored for a time but it became evident later that 
 four or five burly, hot headed negroes were bent on 
 breaking up the meeting in a row. At last one of them 
 seized the table in front of the presiding officer and 
 broke a leg from it. I arose and ordered the whole 
 convention to leave the room, which order was obeyed. I 
 then informed the disturbing element that I should go 
 to the office and have all these rowdies arrested. I 
 went to my office, but I was unable to get the sheriff 
 by telephone as he was absent, so after spending a few 
 moments in trying I returned to the convention hall, 
 to find that the troublesome negroes had disappeared, 
 and then I invited the delegates back into the hall, so 
 the convention was reorganized with the disturbing 
 element absent. After this I stood by the presiding 
 officer and dictated his mode of procedure. A full 
 quota of delegates was elected to the Tallahassee con 
 vention. John Eagan and some of the other republi 
 can leaders among the white men disappeared from the 
 convention when I went to call the sheriff, and did not 
 reappear to take part in the farther proceedings. In 
 this manner thirteen delegates were secured from the 
 county of Escambia to the state convention to be held 
 at Tallahassee. It was undoubtedly the intention of 
 the unruly element to break up the convention in a 
 row and hold another of its own, but my vigorous inter 
 vention foiled their plans. 
 
 The McKinley forces, as I remember, were equally 
 successful in all the counties west of the Apalachicola 
 River. The outcome of the Escambia convention gave 
 me some reputation as a ruler of negro conventions. 
 
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS 265 
 
 The state of Florida west of the Apalachicola River sent 
 to the Tallahassee convention a solid McKinley delega 
 tion numbering about forty. The total number of dele 
 gates in that convention was about one hundred and 
 twenty. The delegates east of the river were about 
 equally divided between McKinley and Morton, leaving 
 the delegates in the state standing about eighty for 
 McKinley and forty for Morton. Upon my arrival at 
 Tallahassee to attend the convention I was taken with 
 another attack of sick headache, which lasted about 
 twenty-four hours. When I was able to attend the con 
 vention it had been organized. The turbulent negroes 
 of the Morton faction were exhibiting their chagrin in 
 powerful oratory. There was no way to stop this dis 
 play of forensic eloquence except by driving them from 
 the room or allowing them to talk until they were ex 
 hausted. This flow of oratory was kept up till after 
 midnight, when the Morton faction under the lead of 
 "Jim" Coombs seceded from the convention, leaving 
 to those remaining in the room, the duty of electing 
 delegates and performing the other services that were 
 customary. John G. Long, Dennis Eagan, myself and 
 a negro were elected delegates for the state at large. 
 
 When the delegates from the counties of the first 
 congressional district were assembled it was found that 
 the chairman of that district was among the seceders, 
 and when sent for he refused to attend the district con 
 vention. Another delegate from the district was nomi 
 nated and elected to act in his stead, and two congres 
 sional delegates were duly elected. The seceders from 
 the convention belonging to the first congressional dis 
 trict held a meeting and elected two delegates also to 
 the convention ; I think these two were "Jim" Coombs 
 
266 REMINISCENCES 
 
 and a negro from Pensacola named Mark White. The 
 second district elected McKinley delegates. The state 
 of Florida went to the St. Louis convention with eight 
 delegates pledged to his support, and the two contesting 
 delegates whom I have mentioned as supporting Mor 
 ton. This made a contest at St. Louis and much to the 
 surprise of everyone that had anything to do with it, 
 the two Morton delegates were admitted to seats in the 
 convention to the exclusion of the two delegates regu 
 larly elected; on the ground that the seceding conven 
 tion was the regular one because it was called to order 
 by the chairman of the congressional committee, who 
 had refused to perform that duty for the regular con 
 gressional convention. 
 
 When I attended the St. Louis convention my wife 
 accompanied me. We had engaged accommodations in 
 a private hotel free from the great crowd that was in 
 the city at that time, and we had very pleasant quarters 
 there. 
 
 The convention met in a large hall erected for the 
 purpose. I found that a few men ran the whole busi 
 ness and that the other members of the convention had 
 very little to do with the planning of the resolutions, 
 the work being done by a few men in committee. The 
 most vital resolution was one concerning the money 
 question. A large number of delegates, especially from 
 some of the western states and mining territories, were 
 in favor of the free coinage of silver. I think that this 
 craze which affected a large part of the population of 
 the United States was composed principally of the same 
 men who had at the preceding presidential campaign 
 favored the issuing of greenbacks in unlimited quan 
 tities, so as to supply all the need of money to the coun- 
 
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS 267 
 
 try and the individuals. I was uncompromisingly 
 opposed to both schemes; I believed that gold was the 
 only metal that represented real money among the 
 commercial nations of the world; that any substitute 
 for gold in the way of coining silver and printing paper 
 should be used only to represent gold in possession. 
 
 The debate on this money question occupied more 
 of the convention's time than any other subject. The 
 views of McKinley had never been fully expressed on 
 this question, though he was generally believed to be 
 in favor of placing the country on a gold basis. The 
 leaders among the delegates advocating free coinage of 
 silver, occupied the attention of the convention nearly 
 one whole day under the determined lead of Senator 
 Teller of Colorado, Cannon of Utah and some others. 
 These finally concluded to secede from the republican 
 party, to take their followers over to the democrats. 
 Apparently not much effort was made to combat their 
 arguments but they were allowed the floor and the 
 chance to talk until like the negroes in a southern con 
 vention, they should talk themselves into physical ex 
 haustion ; then the vote on the resolution in favor of gold 
 as the basis of the country's coinage was carried by a 
 large majority. 
 
 The advocates of silver coinage, with Senator Teller 
 in the lead took their defeat most seriously. As they 
 sat with tears running down their cheeks, they remind 
 ed me of scenes I had witnessed in my younger days, 
 of emotional persons at Methodist revival meetings. 
 They arose finally in a very spectacular manner and 
 announced that they seceded from the republican party, 
 that they could not stay with it and be particeps 
 criminis in the ruin of the business of the country which 
 
268 REMINISCENCES 
 
 would be sure to follow. Their departure reminded me 
 of the seceders from the Tallahassee convention as they 
 had marched out of the hall a few months before. The 
 seats of the Florida delegates were on the right side of 
 the main aisle, and as the seceders passed me I called 
 to them: "WHEN YOU GET OUT STAY OUT. 
 DON'T COME BACK." I was so disgusted with 
 what I believed to bo their insincere talk. They be 
 lieved that the industries of their sparsely settled ter 
 ritories would be injured by want of a market for the 
 silver bullion that was being extracted from their mines, 
 and they would sacrifice the best interests of the coun 
 try at large for the petty interests of their own particu 
 lar section. They were undoubtedly doing what 
 they thought they were compelled to do in order to 
 retain their seats in the United States senate, whatever 
 might be their honest convictions upon the question 
 at issue. 
 
 After this historic episode, the nominations for the 
 presidential candidate were in order. A number of 
 the delegates who prided themselves upon their orator 
 ical ability arose to second the nomination. Morton 
 also received a nomination. When the voting took 
 place each state delegation was called upon to announce 
 through its spokesman the vote of that state, the states 
 being called in alphabetical order. When the state of 
 Florida was called I told the negro who was spokesman 
 for our delegation to answer "eight votes for Mc- 
 Kinley," which he did. Then Jim Coombs arose 
 and asked that the delegates from Florida be polled. 
 Each delegate arose as his name was called and 
 announced for whom he voted. The corrected vote 
 showed that Florida cast six votes for McKinley and 
 
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS 269. 
 
 two votes for Morton, these two were Coombs and 
 White. 
 
 The announcement of the vote of the convention 
 showed that McKinley had a large majority, and but 
 one ballot was necessary to secure his nomination. One 
 ballot was also necessary to nominate the vice-president, 
 the choice of the convention being Mr. Hobart of New 
 Jersey. This practically concluded the duties of the 
 convention. 
 
 John G. Long was very anxious to be a member of 
 the national republican committee. He practically con 
 trolled the four negroes in our delegation, and would 
 dictate the membership from our states on the different 
 committees. I had no farther ambitions in a political 
 way in Florida, and did not choose to oppose any of his 
 designs. If I had anticipated his course later I would 
 have made strenuous efforts to block his game, and with 
 such efforts on my part, I believe that a different result 
 would have been accomplished in our committee. I 
 desired to be on the committee to notify McKinley of 
 his nomination, but such did not appear to be Mr. 
 Long's pleasure and I was too proud to ask any favors. 
 It seems that the chairman of the state delegations from 
 states that had no republican congressmen or senators, 
 had met together and agreed among themselves that 
 they would control the political patronage of those 
 states. This I was informed had been agreed upon, 
 though I had no evidence of it except as circumstances 
 developed in the state of Florida after the inauguration 
 of McKinley. 
 
 At the Tallahassee convention Dennis Eagan, who 
 had been the chairman of the state republican committee 
 for a great many years, and had remarkable control over 
 
270 REMINISCENCES 
 
 the negro politicians of the state, declined a re-election 
 and he offered the name of John E. Stillman as his suc 
 cessor, in a speech in which he complimented Mr. Still 
 man as one worthy of every confidence and esteem. Still 
 man was unanimously elected, due I think to Mr. 
 Eagan's recommendation. While he was favorably 
 known in the eastern part of the state, up to that time 
 he was almost unknown in the western part. Mr. Long, 
 in his efforts to control the politics and federal appoint 
 ments in the state, conceived that it would be necessary 
 to have a state committee which would obey his orders, 
 and his first move was to promote harmony in the party. 
 He suggested that a certain number of the committee, 
 there being one member from each county, I think some 
 forty-five in all, should resign and that Morton men, 
 or seceders should be appointed in their places. This 
 would give each faction twenty two votes, and the chair 
 man would have the casting vote. This proposition was 
 argued by Long until it was agreed to. Finding that 
 he could not control Stillman, he felt it was necessary 
 to get him out of the way. He therefore persuaded 
 John Eagan to resign as member from Escambia 
 County, and have a Morton man appointed in his place ; 
 which was done. When a state committee meeting was 
 called and Stillman was deposed from the chairman 
 ship a tool of Long's was elected in his stead. John 
 Eagan had just enough Irish treachery in his make 
 up to betray his brother and the many friends who had 
 trusted him to carry out their plans, nor did he let me 
 know of his intended treachery. When the conditions 
 had thus been arranged to Mr. Long's liking he thought 
 he would be the exclusive dispenser of national patron 
 age in Florida. On the pretext that republican politics 
 
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS 271 
 
 in the state required it, a meeting of the state committee 
 was called; the real purpose of this being to remove 
 Stillman from the chairmanship and to elect a Morton 
 man to the place; which was promptly done. Mr. 
 Stillman was too honest and independent to lend him 
 self to Mr. Long's purpose and he in consequence waa 
 ejected from the machine. Until this time I had no 
 realizing sense of the power of "the machine." I 
 found it was very difficult to have McKinley make an 
 appointment which it opposed; however Dennis Eagan 
 was appointed postmaster at Jacksonville, and Still 
 man was appointed collector of customs at Pensacola 
 and both of these appointments were very satisfactory 
 to me. 
 
 When the Morton men seceded from the convention 
 at Tallahassee Mr. Sheppard was sitting at my side, and 
 "Jim" Coombs was sitting directly back of us. When 
 the stampede occurred Coombs called to Sheppard, 
 "Come on, let's go," while I said : "Don't you go ; stay 
 here with us and I'll take care of you." So Sheppard 
 refused to go with Coombs and this made the latter 
 very angry. 
 
 It was some time in June after McKinley was in 
 augurated that Sheppard wrote urging me to help him 
 to an appointment as United States district attorney, 
 but a short time after this I learned that Coombs and 
 Sheppard had made up with each other and that the lat 
 ter had accepted the appointment of collector of customs 
 at Apalachicola. About the same time John Eagan 
 asked me to recommend him for United States district 
 attorney for northern Florida. I told him I would do so 
 provided Sheppard had accepted the appointment of 
 collector of customs at Apalachicola. I wrote Sheppard 
 
272 REMINISCENCES 
 
 and found that the report was true. At the death of 
 John Eagan, Sheppard was appointed United States 
 district attorney and later upon the demise of Judge 
 Swain he was made United States district judge for 
 the northern district of Florida, by President Roosevelt. 
 
 Up to this time I had never met Mr. McKinley and 
 concluded that I would go to Washington and see him. 
 Senator Mallery took me to the White House and in 
 troduced me to the president, who was very gracious; 
 and informed me that Mr. Collier, who had been in 
 strumental in securing my services for the campaign, 
 was one of his dearest friends. I told him that my 
 object in coming to Washington was to ask him to ap 
 point John Eagan United States district attorney; he 
 asked who Mr. Eagan was and his qualifications for the 
 place, and I informed him that he was a brother of 
 Dennis Eagan, was a bright lawyer who had been most 
 active in republican politics, and had helped me secure 
 a Florida delegation for him. Then the president took 
 a card from a pigeon hole of the desk at which he sat, 
 filled it out with the necessary information, and told me 
 that he would have Mr. Eagan' s appointment sent to the 
 senate in the morning; this was done and the appoint 
 ment confirmed on the same day, which was a very 
 unusual occurrence. My success with the president in 
 this instance led me to believe that he would recognize 
 the obligation he was under, and that he would favor 
 me whenever I made a strong effort to secure the ap 
 pointment of a friend. 
 
 At the application of several aspirants for political 
 office I gave them my written endorsement and made 
 no personal application to the president until it came 
 to the appointment of United States marshal. T. F. 
 
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS 273 
 
 McGourin desired that office, he had been of great serv 
 ice to the party and had made strenuous efforts in be 
 half of McKinley. I had assured him at the Talla 
 hassee convention that he should have this position. He 
 had antagonized Long by his independence and refusal 
 to be dominated by him ; I believed him to be a straight 
 forward, honest man; he was however of a nervous 
 temperament and became quite insistent that his claims 
 should be presented ; this was done, in time and his en 
 dorsement filed. At his urgent solicitation I decided 
 that I would go and see the president about it, though 
 the commission of the present democratic incumbent 
 would not expire for some six weeks. I went to Chicago 
 with my wife and from there to Washington, via San- 
 dusky, Ohio, where Mr. Collier lived. The latter gave 
 me a letter to the president in which he recited his 
 having visited me at his (the president's) request, and 
 the latter's promise that if I would work for him he 
 would recognize me in federal appointments in Florida. 
 
 When I arrived in Washington I was admitted to 
 the president without the intervention of any senator. 
 After some pleasant conversation I told the president 
 the object of my visit at that time, and handed him the 
 letter from the Rev. Collier; this latter gentleman was 
 also a firm friend of Mr. McGourin. The president 
 took the letter and wrote on the back of it, signed his 
 name to what he had written, put it in an envelope, 
 sealed it, handed it to me and said : "Take this letter 
 to Mr. Griggs, the attorney general." 
 
 During our talk the president had said that the 
 democrats were coming so manfully to his support in 
 the matter of the Cuban war, that he did not like to 
 remove a democrat from office; he said also that the 
 
274 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 present marshal's commission would expire in about a 
 month, and when that happened he would feel at liberty 
 to appoint a republican. 
 
 Believing that the endorsement of the president on 
 Mr. Collier's letter was a direction to the attorney gen 
 eral to appoint McGourin when the present incumbent's 
 term should expire, I took the letter, thanked the presi 
 dent very warmly for granting my request, and carried 
 the letter to the attorney .general. I endeavored to 
 learn from the latter whether the endorsement was a 
 direction for the appointment of McGourin, but he 
 evaded a direct answer; he said however that my man 
 should have the appointment. I returned home, as 
 confident that McGourin would get the appointment as 
 if I had brought it with me. I told that gentleman 
 that the place would be his when the term of the pres 
 ent incumbent should expire, but when that time had 
 elapsed he was not appointed, and he became very much 
 worried and excited about it. Finally I persuaded 
 John E. Stillman to go to Washington and see what 
 the trouble was. It turned out that Long had been de 
 termined that McGourin should not be appointed to 
 the office, as he had a candidate of his own for the 
 place; it was apparently a test case and the president 
 appeared unwilling to act I gave Mr. Stillman a letter 
 to the president, detailing McGourin's claims to the 
 appointment, but he still refused to act. Stillman then 
 went to Mark Hanna, who was a friend of his. Mr. 
 Hanna did not like Long, and he went to the president 
 and secured McGourin's appointment, apparently 
 against the president's inclination. The latter was 
 evidently more concerned in preparing for his renomi- 
 nation for the presidency than in keeping his word. 
 
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS 275 
 
 There is no doubt in my mind that when I went to see 
 the president and gave him Mr. Collier's letter, that he 
 intended me to believe that he would appoint Mr. Mc- 
 Gourin as I had requested, and that he was acting a 
 falsehood. This incident destroyed all my confidence 
 in McKinley's honesty or integrity, but he was too much 
 of a politician to keep faith with those whom he had 
 used to obtain his high position. 
 
 Not very long after this incident the postmaster at 
 Pensacola died, creating a vacancy and the necessity 
 for a presidential appointment. I decided that a young 
 man in the employ of the Louisville & Nashville Rail 
 road freight office would make a good postmaster, and I 
 suggested that I would recommend him for the place. 
 He appeared pleased with the idea, but after a few 
 days declined to make the fight for the office. I then 
 selected Mr. Rix Robinson for the position, when I 
 learned that the man whom I had first chosen had 
 entered the lists for the appointment supported by the 
 influence of Long. This made the fight very interest 
 ing to me. I persuaded Mr. Stillman, the collector of 
 the port of Pensacola, to go to Washington and help me 
 secure the position for my candidate. We called upon 
 the president and he assured us that he had just made 
 an appointment but could not remember the name of 
 the party. By this time I did not believe all that Mc- 
 Kinley told me. He stated that the postmaster general 
 had just left with the appointment; so we proceeded to 
 hunt up Mr. Smith, and found him in the general post- 
 office building. We sent our cards to him and were 
 promptly admitted; he informed us that no one had 
 been appointed and that Mr. Robinson's name was well 
 recommended. We saw that the postmaster general 
 
276 REMINISCENCES 
 
 did not know of the intrigue of John G. Long, and 
 when we informed him of the situation he invited us 
 to call on him the next afternoon, and said that in the 
 meantime he would endeavor to have the appointment of 
 Mr. Robinson made. The next day we called upon him 
 as per agreement and he informed us that the appoint 
 ment had been made as we wanted it This was the 
 last occasion I had to ask President McKinley for any 
 political favors. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE NEGRO QUESTION. 
 
 Among the interesting characters in Pensacola was 
 Colonel Tarble. He came to this town in the spring 
 of 1874, the same year I did, and opened a ship chan 
 dlery store with a man by the name of Hickey. I think 
 they drank up the profits of the store and some of the 
 principal. After their failure the colonel opened a 
 livery business. He had a keen knowledge of horses; 
 he knew more of a horse after looking him over ten 
 minutes than I would after using him a year. After 
 that he went into politics and was elected mayor of 
 Pensacola, and about 1880 was appointed collector of 
 customs for the port Later he lost his official positions 
 and went to the city of Chicago, just prior to the Colum 
 bian Exposition, and opened a very fine livery stable on 
 the north side; but this like many other promising 
 ventures made at that time in Chicago, proved a failure. 
 
 The colonel fell in with some real estate sharps of 
 Chicago who thought an honest dollar could be turned 
 in trading Florida lands to people from Wisconsin and 
 Michigan who wished to move to a warmer climate and 
 own an orange grove. I met the colonel one day when 
 I was temporarily in Chicago and he requested me to 
 come and visit him at his office on Dearborn Street, 
 which invitation I accepted, and we talked over old 
 times in Pensacola. He told me that some parties in 
 Lansing, Michigan, wished to trade six or eight houses 
 
 277 
 
278 REMINISCENCES 
 
 in that city which they claimed had cost them $8,000 
 each, and a farm of six hundred and forty acres, for a 
 Florida cattle ranch. He said that Colonel Ohipley 
 would sell ten thousand acres of railroad lands on the 
 Perdido River for seventy-five cents per acre, and that 
 if I could buy the land that he would do the rest. After 
 I had become "wise" to the colonel's game I told him 
 that I could not afford to go into any such transaction 
 and therefore declined the proposition. Later the colo 
 nel moved back to Pensacola, and in talking with him 
 just after that event, in 1905, I happened to remember 
 that scheme, and I asked him how his trade with the 
 Michigan parties turned out. He replied: "I did not 
 trade with them." I asked, "How did that happen ?" 
 "Well," he said : "I went to Lansing and saw the houses 
 and the farm, and they were good. I then obtained an 
 option on the land from Colonel W. D. Chipley, land 
 commissioner for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad 
 and also transportation to bring them down and take 
 them back. I brought the parties to Pensacola to see 
 the proposed ranch, which was adjacent to the Perdido 
 River. I quartered them at the Escambia Hotel, made 
 them somewhat acquainted with the town, its shipping 
 and its bay, from all of which they received a favorable 
 impression. After they were rested from their trip 
 I hired the best team and surrey available and took 
 them out to view the land. That also made a favorable 
 impression upon the gentlemen. I had fixed the price 
 of the land at $10 per acre, which I assured them I 
 considered very cheap considering the fertility of the 
 soil. The parties began to 'warm' up and develop their 
 scheme for raising cattle ; the number of head the land 
 would support; the buildings they would need to erect 
 
THE NEGRO QUESTION 279 
 
 for their protection. I began to consider the deal as 
 consummated, and was puzzling myself as to what 1 
 should do with the fine houses in Lansing. One of the 
 investigating gentlemen said it would be necessary to 
 have a house built on the ranch, for the man who should 
 take charge. Just as they were leaving the land they 
 saw a clearing with a comfortable farm house on it, 
 and they suggested that they would like to stop there 
 and get a drink of water. The suggestion was com 
 plied with. One of the gentleman visitors concluded 
 that this particular house would be a desirable one for 
 their ranchman, and asked the owner how long he had 
 lived there and how much land he owned. The man 
 replied that he had homesteaded his farm, which 
 comprised one hundred and sixty acres, and that he 
 had lived there five years. The gentleman next asked 
 him what he would sell it for, and received from the 
 farmer the reply that he wanted to sell mighty bad and 
 go to Choctawhatchee where his wife's people lived and 
 where he had been offered a good chance to work. 'What 
 will you take for your place?' asked the newcomer. 
 'Well/ said the rancher, 'it's a good ways up there, and 
 if you'll buy me out ' 'What have you?' was the 
 question. 'Well, I have five cows, forty sheep, one 
 hundred bushels of corn in the crib, and that horse 
 which you see there tied to the fence (Colonel Tarble 
 told me it was worth a good hundred dollars) and the 
 furniture in the house, all except my wife's feather bed, 
 which she wants to take with her I'll sell you the 
 whole thing as it stands for $400.' Silence took posses 
 sion of the party concluded Colonel Tarble, until 
 I suggested that we return to town. Little conversation 
 occurred on the ride back. Arriving at the hotel, I 
 
280 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 asked the parties if they wished to return to Chicago 
 that night, and received the reply that the sooner they 
 got out of the town the better for them. There's many a 
 slip between the cup and the lip," mused the colonel. 
 
 After a residence of some thirty-three years in 
 Florida I am convinced that it possesses one of the 
 pleasantest climates in the United States. I think it 
 would be approximately correct to say that out of the 
 three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, that 
 three hundred may be counted upon for pleasant 
 weather, and the remaining sixty-five days would not 
 be all uncomfortable ; for cold and disagreeable weather 
 when it does come, is of short duration, seldom exceed 
 ing three days at one time. 
 
 This mild climate may in a measure be the reason 
 why matters move a little slow in Florida, The rail 
 roads are usually behind time with their trains, the 
 helper is always a little late, and things don't happen 
 at the time calculated, but a little later. It is no un 
 common thing for local trains to halt almost anywhere 
 to accommodate its patrons. On a certain occasion 
 our train waited a considerable time before the gate 
 of a pretentious farm house. It was supposed that some 
 person of importance was the cause, and when a large 
 and impressive woman came down the walk followed 
 by an obsequious retinue of darkies, the passengers con 
 sidered that the delay was justifiable. When the lady 
 in the case was seated, she informed some of her ac 
 quaintances on board that she was on her way to town 
 with several dozen eggs; that she lacked but one to 
 complete the number she was to deliver ; she was aware 
 that one of the hens was on a nest and she simply had to 
 keep the train waiting until she could secure that egg. 
 
THE NEGKO QUESTION 281 
 
 Another time an obliging conductor hearing a young 
 lady passenger exclaim in delight over the masses of 
 purple flag which bordered the swamp, stopped the train 
 and secured a generous supply of the iris, which cer 
 tainly pleased the girl, and none of the passengers was 
 heard to find fault, 
 
 In this part of the country, when one gives his serv 
 ant orders to be on hand at a certain hour he finds that 
 he will be behind time even if he does not fail to put 
 in an appearance altogether. When I first went to 
 Florida there was many an old "mammy" and many 
 an old "uncle," relics of the time "befor' de wah," and 
 these were the most delightful servants that I have ever 
 known. 
 
 The domestic servants at my home had quarters and 
 kitchens about two hundred feet from the kouse, and it 
 is one of the pictures clear in my memory of sitting at 
 the breakfast table and looking out of the window at 
 the file of darkies bringing in the breakfast. A stout 
 middle-aged negress would head the line bearing the 
 chief dish, and behind her in order of size followed the 
 others, down to the little pickaninnies who came for an 
 open eyed stare into the room where the quality were 
 waiting. But such servants are gone; now most of 
 them sleep the long sleep with their old masters, their 
 progeny, however, live without care or responsibility. 
 The young negro of today comes and goes where he 
 listeth; he is useless to his employer and to himself; 
 he simply vegetates. What the future may have in 
 store for these thoughtless creatures time alone can 
 disclose. When attending college at Mt Pleasant, Iowa, 
 the Literary and Debating Club connected with our 
 law class, had a long struggle over the subject "Ke- 
 
282 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 solved that the whole human race did not originate from 
 one pair." I have detailed this in a preceding chapter 
 but the arguments apply to the negro question. I 
 chose the affirmative and was a leading disputant on 
 that side. This was in 1858, when the whole country 
 was racked by the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. I gave the 
 subject all the research possible in that literary center, 
 and the question was argued by the most brilliant men 
 in that city, including Senator Harlan, Henry Clay 
 Dean and numerous lawyers and divines. I became 
 thoroughly convinced that the balance of authority and 
 evidence was in favor of the contention. I believe that 
 the mulatto is a hybrid, being a cross which degener 
 ates and devitalizes, and that the mixture of the races 
 has the effect to lessen the capacities of the Caucasian 
 and does not advance the negro race. 
 
 In his natural state the negro is invested with singu 
 lar temperamental endowments, which are very different 
 from those of the Caucasian. For one thing he appears 
 to be devoid of all regard or estimation of truth, a 
 virtue highly esteemed by the white race. I never knew 
 a negro who would not lie, even when unnecessary. 
 I have known among them, however, many who were 
 magnetic and brilliant orators, though the majority use 
 a few high sounding phrases and play upon popular 
 ideas. When control over the negro is removed he is 
 a most vain and insolent animal and I feel sure that his 
 future in the United States will be one of bloodshed, 
 crime and sacrifice of life. That the negro will live 
 peaceably and enjoy even equality with the whites, I 
 do not believe. I do not adopt this view through any 
 pessimistic fear that the white race will ever treat the 
 negro unfairly, but I do not believe that the black man 
 
THE NEGRO QUESTION 
 
 will ever be content to live simply in political equality 
 with the whites. His over-weening egotism will not 
 allow him to do so. I am not possessed of a dislike for 
 the negro on account of his color, but my estimate of him 
 is due to his character and habits, therefore I fear for 
 the future. The people of the south may keep him 
 under control for a limited number of years, but his 
 innate egotism will eventually break all control, and 
 then will come the issue. How it will come, when it 
 will come, none can tell, nor what the end will be. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE SUCCESSION OF ROOSEVELT. 
 
 After the assassination of President McKinley we 
 read a great deal in the newspapers as to what Roose 
 velt would then do, whether he would act as substitute 
 to the dead president, and do those things which Mc 
 Kinley would have done had he lived, or follow plans 
 of his own. 
 
 The republican machine in Florida, by John Eagan's 
 treachery, had been turned over to the friends of 
 Morton, and upon the death of John G. Long, J. N. 
 Coombs of Apalachicola had been elected to the chair 
 manship of the state republican committee and it was 
 understood that he was very solid with Roosevelt. The 
 republican office holders in this part of the state had 
 been reappointed by Roosevelt with the exception of 
 Mr. McGourin; he obtained recommendations from all 
 local republicans, including myself, and requests for 
 his reappointment to his present office; then he went to 
 Washington to present these to Roosevelt and solicit a 
 reappointment. I was aware however that he did not 
 have the support of the state republican machine. After 
 a few days in Washington, he telegraphed me to meet 
 him there. Upon my arrival I found that W. H. 
 Northrup had been appointed to the office of United 
 States marshal by the president, and that his name had 
 been sent to the senate for confirmation, but that the 
 secretary of the treasury, Mr. Shaw, had prevailed 
 
 '284 
 
THE SUCCESSION OF EOOSEVELT 285 
 
 upon the president to hold up the nomination for one 
 week in order to give me time to arrive and present 
 Mr. McGourin' s claims to the office. Upon my reaching 
 Washington, McGourin took me over to see the secre 
 tary. After a short chat, I saw that he was anxious 
 for McGourin's appointment, and I learned that it was 
 through his influence that the nomination of Northrup 
 had been held up in the senate. After we left the 
 secretary's room McGourin asked me to go back and 
 urge the secretary to make an application to the presi 
 dent to extend the time for which he had deferred 
 action on Northrup's appointment. I returned to the 
 office and repeated the request to the secretary, but Mr. 
 Shaw feared he would not be successful, saying that the 
 last time he had talked with the president, he thought 
 "the hoss's eyes were sot" and that if he interfered 
 again in the matter that he might get kicked. The next 
 day McGourin and I went over to see the president. The 
 equipment of the rooms had been entirely changed since 
 the time of McKinley. Instead of fat, sleek negro 
 attendants there were men from the "wild and woolly 
 west" with the legs of their trousers tucked into their 
 boots, and the free and easy manners of "rough riders" 
 substituted in their places. We sent in our cards and 
 after waiting for some time were informed that the 
 president would see me but no one else. I was ushered 
 into his office and informed that the president was then 
 busy. After another wait of perhaps a quarter of an 
 hour a gentleman entered the room with rapid strides, 
 took me by the hand and called me by name. He com 
 menced to talk about Florida matters, and Mr. Coombs 
 in particular. He asked me if that gentleman was not 
 a wealthy lumberman, if he was not the president of 
 
286 REMINISCENCES 
 
 a bank at Apalachicola, a prominent and sound repub 
 lican, etc. I saw that the president had rather inflated 
 ideas of Mr. Coombs' importance, and that it would be 
 necessary for me to be very careful what I said. He 
 inquired if Coombs was not at one time a candidate for 
 governor of Florida. I then recollected that while Mc- 
 Kinley was president, John G. Long had interviewed 
 me once when I was in Jacksonville, and had asked me 
 to take the republican nomination for governor of 
 Florida; that I had looked at him to see whether he 
 took me to be a fool, or was making fun of me ; but he 
 convinced me that he was in earnest and endeavored to 
 persuade me that a republican might be elected gover 
 nor of the state. Of course I knew that there was no 
 chance of that, and told Mr. Long so. When the presi 
 dent mentioned that Coombs was the republican candi 
 date for governor, I remembered that he had accepted 
 the nomination and had made the contest, had received 
 a few votes, and I now became aware that he had been 
 posing before Roosevelt as a defeated republican candi 
 date for that office. 
 
 After a little preliminary talk Mr. McGourin's case 
 was introduced as a subject of conversation. The presi 
 dent admitted that he had a clean record and was a 
 good officer. I then suggested that I did not think he 
 could afford to appoint so disreputable a man as North- 
 rup to so important a position. The president appeared 
 to get excited in a moment ; he assured me that he could 
 do anything he chose; that I had no right to call 
 Northrup disreputable, and asked of what crimes he 
 had been convicted. I replied that the fact of his 
 being disreputable did not imply that he had been con 
 victed of any crime. "Yes it does," said the president. 
 
THE SUCCESSION OF ROOSEVELT 287 
 
 I told him that I did not so understand the word and 
 referred him to Webster's dictionary to settle the ques 
 tion. I saw that the conversation was becoming some 
 what acrimonious, and fearing it might not be to the 
 advantage of McGourin I thought it better not to ex 
 tend it. The president asked me to make specific charges 
 against Northrup and he would investigate them thor 
 oughly. I said I would do so, but after leaving the 
 president concluded that from the temper he was in it 
 would be useless; and furthermore I had no desire to 
 injure JSTorthrup, but only to help Mr. McGourin. 
 
 We concluded that as a last resort we would go 
 and see Senator Hanna. This gentleman appeared to 
 be interested in the case; said he was invited to dine 
 with the president that evening, and would carefully 
 introduce the subject. The next day we again saw 
 Senator Hanna, who gave us some details of his con 
 versation with the president the night before. He 
 said the president was angry with me, and that I could 
 do nothing with him to help McGourin. He advised me 
 to go home, and said he would attend to the case and get 
 McGourin appointed if possible, which he did in a 
 day or two. 
 
 This was my last effort in soliciting the appointment 
 of others to federal offices. I had never asked any 
 thing for myself, though I think I could have had 
 almost any federal office in the state, and sometimes 
 when successful for others I received few thanks from 
 the beneficiaries. 
 
 From my experience among northern republicans I 
 had gained the impression that all the republicans in 
 the south were looked upon alike ; that we were thought 
 to belong to that party only for the purpose of securing 
 
288 REMINISCENCES 
 
 office, and that, very few, if any, were thought to be 
 republicans from principle. They apparently knew 
 little of the ostracism endured by the white republicans 
 in the south. I remember one day in the eighties that 
 Mr. Brent who was the leading banker in Pensacola, 
 said to me : "Mr. Skinner, if you will become a demo 
 crat, we will send you to congress." I was made to 
 feel in a groat many ways what it cost me to hold to 
 the republican party; and I also presume that when I 
 was associating witk northern republicans I was thought 
 by them to bo a "carpet-bagger." 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 MT. MORGAN MINE. 
 
 After the world's fair in Chicago I received a letter 
 from Mr. Godfrey saying that he had discovered a 
 very rich gold mine near Zacatecas, Mexico, and asked 
 if I would join him in buying it. I sent him $2,500 
 to pay for my half, but later I had word from him 
 that some parties in the City of Mexico had bought the 
 mine away from us. After waiting a while I wrote him 
 to return the money I had sent him, but he replied that 
 he had bought another mine with the money and asked 
 me to sanction the purchase. This was called the Mt. 
 Morgan Mine. I concluded that I would go to Zaca- 
 tecas and see it for myself. I found it to be a well 
 developed fissure vein averaging about two and a half 
 feet in thickness, having been explored by Mexicans 
 for about two hundred feet in length and about sixty 
 feet in depth. Mr. Godfrey assured me that the 
 average quartz in the vein carried from two to three 
 ounces of gold per ton. I liked this mine better than 
 the one he had first selected. I learned that a party 
 by the name of Ayton, a mining engineer in charge of 
 the celebrated Bote mine of Zacatecas, had sold the Mt. 
 Morgan Mine to Godfrey, retaining five of the twenty- 
 four shares into which the Mexican government divided 
 a mine. I was not pleased with this situation of affairs, 
 and told Mr. Godfrey that I thought that he should buy 
 Mr. Ayton out. I returned home with the understand- 
 
290 REMINISCENCES 
 
 ing that the mine was to be sunk deeper on the vein 
 and kept working. I received a report from him that 
 richer ore was found as they went down, and that 
 Ayton had agreed to sell his shares to us for $8,000. 
 Godfrey stated that if I was willing to pay half of the 
 $8,000 that he would pay the other half, and I was to 
 place $4,000 to his credit in New York City to con 
 summate the deal. I did this and was notified by Mr. 
 Godfrey that he had received the deed of the five shares 
 from Mr. Ayton. I entered into an agreement with Mr. 
 Godfrey that I would furnish $100 per month for the 
 purpose of sinking a working shaft on the center of the 
 mine, and Godfrey agreed to furnish an equal amount 
 for the same purpose. I received monthly reports from 
 him showing the depth the mine was sunk during the 
 month, the size of the vein, the amount of gold the ore 
 carried ; all of which for a while was very satisfactory. 
 
 I think it was in the winter of 1894-5 that my wife 
 and myself went down to the city of Mexico, stopping 
 on our way at the city of Zacatecas. At this time the 
 reports of Godfrey showed that the ore ran from three 
 to four ounces of gold per ton. I visited the mine, 
 and found that Godfrey had erected an adobe house 
 for the workmen to live in, also that there was quite a 
 lot of ore lying on the dump; some of it according to 
 Godfrey's report was very rich ; all of the ore he claimed 
 would run two ounces of gold per ton, and some smaller 
 piles would run a great deal more. 
 
 When we started for the mine, Mr. Godfrey took 
 along a mortar, pestle and a horn spoon. He requested 
 me to select any piece I wished from the piles each 
 containing from a half ton to a ton of ore. The pile of 
 small pieces, contained none which weighed more than 
 
MT. MOEGAN MINE 291 
 
 a pound. The ore I selected he put into the mortar and 
 had the workman pulverize it with the pestle; then 
 turned this into the horn spoon, poured on water and 
 washed off the dirt, and the bottom of the spoon was 
 covered with what he assured me were grains of gold. 
 I picked out several pieces of ore which were tested in 
 the same way, which proved them all to be very rich. 
 I left the mine thinking we had a valuable piece of 
 property, and I went on my way to the City of Mexico 
 with my wife, where we spent a very pleasant time 
 sight-seeing. 
 
 After staying in the city as long as we wished we 
 started on our return, leaving the train to remain over 
 night at Silao. In the morning we went to Guadalajara, 
 which is situated on a branch of the main line of the 
 Mexican Central Railroad. We passed Lake Chapala, 
 and through a very fine region of agricultural land. We 
 found Guadalajara which is in the state of Jalisco to 
 be a very interesting city, it is I believe second in size 
 in the republic, and has a population of over one hun 
 dred thousand. It is a beautiful place, has many shade 
 trees, and some fine public buildings, the finest of 
 which is the cathedral. We spent an afternoon in view 
 ing this edifice, and by means of a liberal tip induced 
 one of the priests to show us the riches of the church ; 
 among other treasures being costly cloth of gold for 
 vestments, finer than any we had seen in Europe. We 
 took a carriage ride on the paseo, a fashionable drive 
 running along the river San Juan, and heard a good 
 band playing in the park. The city has excellent schools 
 and it is said that west of Guadalajara is the richest 
 agricultural district and grazing land in the republic. 
 Colima, the only active volcano in North America is 
 
292 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 situated here. In Guadalajara there is a branch of the 
 Battle Creek (Michigan) Sanitarium, which is said to 
 be quite prosperous. 
 
 On our return we stopped where once had been the 
 Falls of Juanacatlan, but a power plant furnishing 
 electricity for the lighting of Guadalajara, and for other 
 purposes, used the water which had formerly made the 
 falls. We stopped on our return trip at Aguas Calientes 
 over night, took a bath at the celebrated hot springs, and 
 telegraphed in the morning to Godfrey at Zacatecas 
 to meet our train on its arrival at that place, which he 
 did and went with us as far as Calera ; from there he 
 returned to Zacatecas. We stopped at Calera over night 
 and in the morning took the train for home by way of 
 Torreon and Eagle Pass. 
 
 After this visit and seeing the ore I supposed taken 
 from the mine, I wrote Mr. Godfrey that I thought the 
 mine could and should pay its own way. I advised 
 him to ship and sell a carload of ore and use the money 
 to develop it farther. I had induced my nephew Bost- 
 wick Knapp of Chicago to study Spanish so that he 
 could talk and write it a little, telling him that some 
 time I would take him to the land of the Aztecs with 
 me. I also wrote Mr. Godfrey that I was not willing 
 to operate the mine longer as a partnership. 
 
 In the spring I went to Chicago. I had obtained 
 Godfrey's consent to incorporate the mine, and I had 
 proceeded to have it done under the laws of the state 
 of Illinois. It was necessary to have three stockholders 
 and three directors. I gave my wife a part of my stock, 
 so as to qualify her to be a director. When I sent the 
 papers to Godfrey for his signature he refused to sign 
 them claiming that I wished to get control of the mine 
 
MT. MORGAN MINE 293 
 
 into my own hands. I proposed that he give Mr. Guen- 
 ther a share of his stock and make him a director, but 
 nothing I could suggest met his approval. He insisted 
 upon selling me a part of his stock for $10,000. When I 
 suggested to him that he sell a carload of ore and get 
 money, he wrote me that he was ailing, something was 
 the matter with his kidneys, that he would have to 
 leave Zacatecas and go to the City of Mexico for treat 
 ment, that he did not know as he should ever be able to 
 work again. The five shares bought from Ayton were 
 still in Godf rey's name. I had become convinced of the 
 great value of the mine after seeing the large quantities 
 of ore piled up on the dump, and I proposed to my 
 nephew that we go to Zacatecas and see what we could 
 learn. The insurance company by which my nephew 
 was employed, gave him each year a two weeks' vaca 
 tion, and he concluded to extend this into a three weeks' 
 trip to Mexico. We were to visit the mine at Zacatecas 
 and see Mr. Godfrey in the City of Mexico, and try 
 and learn what we could about both. 
 
 We left Chicago about the middle of July. I had 
 the papers with me for the incorporation of the mine. 
 We bought the tickets via Louisville & Nashville Rail 
 road to New Orleans, to San Antonio via the Southern 
 Pacific, from there to the City of Mexico over the Mexi 
 can National and to return from that city by way of 
 the Mexican Central Railway to Torreon, thence by the 
 International Railroad to Eagle Pass. From the latter 
 point we would return as we went, via San Antonio, 
 New Orleans and Nashville to Chicago. Our journey 
 down was uneventful, but it was in the heat of a tropi 
 cal summer. It was very rainy while passing through 
 western Louisiana and eastern Texas. In going over 
 
294: EEMINISCENCES 
 
 the mountains in Mexico we saw a remarkable appear 
 ance in the sky, resembling electric lights. On the 
 fringe of large clouds covering the mountains as we 
 passed along was an exhibition apparently of electricity 
 such as I had never seen before in any country. It was 
 simply gorgeous in appearance and the grandest and 
 most brilliant display of lightning that it was ever my 
 good fortune to witness. 
 
 I had written Mr. Godfrey when I should arrive and 
 I expected that he would be at the depot to meet me on 
 my arrival in the city ; but he did not appear. We went 
 to the Iturbide Hotel. I expected to find Mr. Godfrey 
 in a bad state of health, as he had written me to that 
 effect, but when I found him he appeared in excellent 
 health, and apparently had not been ill. It had taken 
 me a couple of days to locate him. He was in a very 
 irritable state of mind, and was very indignant with me 
 for trying to get control of the mine, and he would do 
 nothing towards incorporating it, insisting that he must 
 sell me his half of the stock for $10,000 cash. I was 
 not disposed to put any more money into the mine by 
 the purchase of his interest, so refused to meet this 
 proposition. I requested him to deed me one-half of 
 the five shares he had bought of Ay ton, on joint account 
 and he did so. I wished him to go to Zacatecas with us 
 on our return, but he declined. After this we visited 
 the principal points of interest in the City of Mexico. 
 We stopped at the Iturbide Hotel, once the residence 
 of Iturbide the first and last native born emperor of 
 Mexico, who occupied this palace for the one brief year 
 of his supremacy, from March, 1822 to March, 1823, 
 during which time he was proclaimed Emperor under 
 the title of Augustin I. He was afterwards banished 
 
MT. MOEGAN MOE 295 
 
 through the influence of General Santa Ana, but he 
 returned, was arrested and shot July 19, 1824. 
 
 We visited Chapultepee on its hills of porphyry, a 
 combination "White House" and "West Point." From 
 the hill we could look down on four battle fields of the 
 Mexican- American war: Contreras, Churubusco, 
 Molino del Key and Chapultepec. There were about 
 three hundred cadets quartered in the north end of the 
 palace. South and east of Chapultepec Hill is a fine 
 grove of cypress trees. They are the only large trees I 
 have ever seen in the Republic. One of them is said to 
 have a circumference of forty feet 
 
 We visited Tacubaya, a city with a fascinating mix 
 ture of ancient and modern civilization. We saw the 
 floating gardens, or Islands on the Viga Canal, each 
 of which is about two hundred feet in length and per 
 haps fifteen in width. They are very fertile and are 
 watered in a curious manner. The laborer beats the 
 water with an oar and splashes it over the soil. 
 
 After visiting the principal points of interest in the 
 City of Mexico we started on our homeward journey. 
 We stopped at Silao and concluded to make a visit to 
 Guanajuato, situated in a narrow canyon about seven 
 thousand feet above the sea. Most of the streets are 
 too narrow for wheeled vehicles. The Mexican Central 
 Railway has a branch running between the city and 
 Silao, which is about twenty miles in length. From 
 there we were transferred to a street car, drawn by 
 mules, which took us to Guanajuato. It is a city of 
 many handsome buildings, public and private, includ 
 ing a new theater, just completed at the time we were 
 there; it was said to have cost a million dollars. We 
 were unable to view the interior as the building was 
 
296 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 closed. The mines of Guanajuato are the richest in the 
 republic, one of which in forty years having yielded an 
 annual profit of three million dollars. 
 
 We heard of a burial place while there which was 
 entirely different from anything I had ever seen. It 
 was three miles from the city, so we secured burros and 
 rode out there. The cemetery was situated on top of 
 a " round hill and consisted of a building which en 
 closed four sides of perhaps an acre or more. In the 
 walls of this building are vaults of sufficient size to 
 introduce a coffin; these spaces run in tiers, one above 
 another. When the space is filled, the opening will 
 be sealed. These vaults are rented for a certain number 
 of years, and when the term has expired, if the lease is 
 not renewed, the body is removed from the vault and 
 stored in the crypt below; the empty vault can then be 
 leased for another corpse. The entire mountain upon 
 which Guanajuato is built is of solid rock, and it re 
 quired a great deal of work to dig a grave, hence the 
 necessity for the kind of burial which I have described. 
 I do not know of a similar method being used anywhere 
 else. 
 
 When we had completed our sight-seeing in this 
 vicinity, we continued on our journey to Zacatecas. On 
 reaching the hotel there, I called for a particular room, 
 and was informed that it had been reserved for Mr. 
 Godfrey, that he had written the landlord to keep it 
 for him, and therefore his arrival had been expected for 
 many days. This surprised me as he had refused my 
 invitation to accompany us here. 
 
 The next morning we procured some horses and rode 
 out to the mine. I found that the entrance to it harl 
 been closed, having been filled with broken stone, and 
 
MT. MOBGAN MINE 297, 
 
 the windlass had been removed. We were practically 
 barred from any examination of it; therefore we came 
 on home, the trip having proved wholly futile. Mr. 
 Godfrey did not appear at Zacatecas while we were 
 there. 
 
 The next year I learned that Arthur C. Payne, a 
 mining engineer whom I had met on a previous trip, 
 was in the employ of a sash and door firm at Oshkosh, 
 Wisconsin, and I wrote him of the trouble I had had in 
 regard to the Mount Morgan Mine, and asked him if 
 he would meet me in Chicago. He complied and came 
 to my residence and I explained the situation to him. 
 By this time I wanted some other opinion than Mr. 
 Godfrey's as to the value of the mine and I believed 
 Mr. Payne to be an honest man, and thoroughly com 
 petent, because he had had large experience in Mexico. 
 I asked him what he would charge to go to Zacatecas, 
 examine the Mount Morgan Mine, determine what the 
 vein carried in gold and silver, and report officially. 
 He replied that he should want $1,000. This was more 
 than I felt like paying, and so the matter ended, for the 
 time. It was in the winter of 1896, however, that 
 I received a letter from him stating that he was going 
 to Valardena to take charge of some mines bought by 
 parties in Oshkosh and that he would examine and re 
 port on the Mount Morgan Mine for $300, the sum 
 which I had previously offered him. I wrote to Mr. 
 Payne that I wished him to determine how much gold 
 and silver per ton, the vein contained. He went as 
 agreed and examined the mine, then wrote me to the 
 following effect: That he did not like Mr. Godfrey 
 and that he would give no statement which would be 
 of benefit to that gentleman, but if the examination was 
 
298 REMINISCENCES 
 
 to be for my individual benefit, that he would gladly 
 make it. I assured him that the matter was solely for 
 my interest ; then he made a very flattering report. He 
 corroborated all the statements which Godfrey had 
 made, and this made me very anxious to get the mine 
 into more satisfactory working condition. I asked Mr. 
 Payne to learn from Godfrey what he would take for 
 h-L share of the mine. He succeeded in getting a con 
 tract from Mr. Godfrey by which I should pay down 
 $1,000 and $11,000 more in three months, and $40,- 
 
 000 additional as soon as the net profits of his half 
 should equal that sum. Mr. Payne insisted that he 
 be allowed to buy one share for the sum of $1,000, to 
 which I consented. The Mexican mining laws divide 
 a mine into twenty-four shares; Godfrey owned twelve 
 and I twelve shares. My option for buying his half, 
 would expire on the first of December, 1897. On the 
 strength of the report of Mr. Payne I now believed the 
 mine of great value. 
 
 I immediately went to Chicago, hoping to find some 
 of my friends who would buy Mr. Godfrey's interest. 
 
 1 found that most of them had bought into gold mines, 
 and that their faith in such investments was at a low 
 ebb, in consequence of these experiences. I then went 
 to Boston, but found only one man who would invest. 
 I returned to Escambia, thinking the deal hopeless, but 
 not long after, I went one day into the law office of 
 Blount & Blount in Pensacola and talked of this 
 matter to Clem Blount, to whom I showed Mr. Payne's 
 report. He became interested at once saying that he 
 knew Mr. Payne and had confidence in him. Mr. 
 Blount had been one of the party that I had taken to 
 the Aveno mine. In conclusion lie said : "I will take 
 
MT. MORGAN MINE 299 
 
 one share at $1,000." I thanked him and told him I 
 would see what could be done in Pensacola. I next 
 showed Mr. Payne's report to John Eagan and he 
 asked me to leave it with him, saying he would see what 
 he could do. He expressed a willingness to take a share 
 himself, and stated that he believed a sufficient number 
 of persons in Pensacola would subscribe to complete the 
 amount required to buy Godfrey's interest. I stood 
 ready to take two and a half shares myself. The full 
 amount necessary was soon raised. I gave each one in 
 terested a written statement of the money I had re 
 ceived from him, how and for what purpose it was to 
 be invested, then I started for Mexico in order to close 
 the deal with Godfrey. 
 
 I telegraphed Mr. Payne, who was at Valardena, 
 to meet me at Torreon and accompany me to Zacatecas. 
 Upon our arrival at that place we found Mr. Godfrey 
 awaiting us, and the bargain was soon closed, accord 
 ing to the Spanish method, which was as follows: We 
 went to a notary public's office, and that official took 
 all the papers for Mr. Godfrey's interest in the mine. 
 I gave the notary exchange on New York for the amount 
 due from me, and Mr. Payne handed a check to the 
 clerk which I did not read, but Mr. Payne said it was 
 a check on a Chicago bank for $1,000; this Godfrey 
 accepted and told the notary it was all right ; then the 
 papers were signed by both of us as is the Mexican 
 custom. I was then handed the papers relating to the 
 title, with a copy of the record of sale. 
 
 After getting a transfer of the title I procured some 
 horses and Mr. Payne and I rode out to the mine. I 
 was very much surprised to find the working shaft, 
 which was ninety feet deep, and 5x8 feet in size, 
 
300 REMINISCENCES 
 
 filled with broken stone, up to within forty feet of the 
 surface, and all the entrances to the mine closed with 
 rocks. We therefore could not examine the mine, so 
 I returned home. 
 
 I have been thus careful in detailing the circum 
 stances of Godfrey's actions because of what occurred 
 later. 
 
 When I arrived at Pensacola we proceeded to incor 
 porate the mine under the laws of the state of Florida, 
 as stipulated in my agreement with the persons who 
 contributed towards the purchase. The stock was issued 
 and I was elected president of the company. It was 
 also agreed that Mr. Payne should be employed as 
 superintendent of the mine but he notified us that he 
 could not give it his entire attention on account of his 
 employment by other parties, but that if it would be 
 satisfactory to us he would engage a man to do the 
 work under his direction, and he himself would visit 
 the mine at stated periods. All of this was agreed to by 
 the company. 
 
 The first effort of the new manager was directed to 
 cleaning out the shaft. I then insisted that he should 
 give me a further test as to the value of the ore. After 
 some delay he sent me an analysis showing that the 
 vein carried a value of less than $8 per ton, instead 
 $62 as he had certified in his previous report. I asked 
 him to explain how he had made such a mistake as to 
 send me his former glowing account of the richness 
 of the mine, when I had sent him to examine it before 
 buying. He replied that the mine must have been 
 salted. I asked him how it was possible to salt a mine 
 two hundred feet in length and one hundred feet in 
 depth, so as to deceive an experienced man like him- 
 
MT. MORGAN MINE 301 
 
 self; to this he gave no sensible reply. Mr. Payne's 
 conduct convinced me that he had deliberately deceived 
 me and had lied about the mine. He had proved him 
 self a villain and had joined Godfrey in a plan to 
 swindle me. From the time I went to the City of 
 Mexico to see Godfrey, I had had no confidence in the 
 man, but I did not believe him to be such a scoundrel 
 as later events proved. As to Mr. Payne, up to this 
 time I had had the utmost confidence in his ability 
 and his integrity, and of all mining engineers that I 
 knew, I would have selected him to report the truth in 
 regard to a mining proposition. His infinitely false 
 report on the Mount Morgan mine caused me a loss 
 of at least $15,000. So from my personal experience 
 I have come to believe that the mining engineer will 
 betray his best friend when it comes to reporting on a 
 mine. The events which followed the purchase of the 
 mine were very annoying and subjected me to much 
 unjust censure, but I will relate the particulars of 
 this later. 
 
 For several years I pursued my usual duties in the 
 manufacture of lumber, and its selling as best I could, 
 but the prices were low and the profits small. I could 
 see the forests rapidly diminishing and the product 
 sold close to the cost incurred. I had wasted much 
 time in an effort to combine producers of southern pine 
 lumber in an agreement to hold together for a higher 
 price for their goods, but all my efforts in this direction 
 had proved unavailing. I could but feel, however, that 
 in the near future prices were certain to increase. 
 
 I had by this time accumulated over one hundred 
 thousand acres of land situated in Escambia and Santa 
 Rosa counties, Florida. The fixed charges upon these 
 
302 REMINISCENCES 
 
 and upon the mill and business amounted to quite a 
 sum which had to be paid whether the mill were run 
 ning or not. liather than see my bank account dimin 
 ish, I kept on manufacturing lumber at barely $1 per 
 thousand feet, profit. 
 
 In the year 1898 the stockholders of the Mount Mor 
 gan mine sent Mr. Blount and myself to visit the mine 
 at Zacatecas. On our way there we went to Durango 
 and saw Mr. Payna He agreed to meet us the next 
 day at Zacatecas, but failed to keep the appointment. 
 We made the acquaintance of a mining engineer by 
 the name of Whipple in charge of a mine not far from 
 ours, and we made arrangements with him to equip 
 our mine so that we could examine it ; then he went with 
 Mr. Blount into it and they selected samples where 
 they thought they could find an average ore. We did 
 not let these out of our sight, but took them ourselves 
 and saw the assayer test them. We satisfied ourselves 
 that it was not possible for any further fraud to be 
 perpetuated upon us. The result showed the value of 
 the ore to be less than $8 per ton. After a trip to the 
 City of Mexico we returned to Pensacola and reported 
 the result of our visit to the company, giving it as our 
 opinion that it was not advisable to invest any more 
 money in the mine. 
 
 Sometime in the year 1900 I happened to be in 
 John Eagan's office in Pensacola, and he told me that 
 some of the parties who had contributed to the buying 
 of the Mount Morgan Mine, had received the opinion 
 of a lawyer that he could recover for them the money 
 which they had given me to invest. Up to this time 
 none of the men had ever suggested that I reimburse 
 him for the loss he had sustained. It was soon after 
 
MT. MORGAN MINE 303 
 
 this that I was served with a summons in each of three 
 or four suits begun against me to recover the money paid 
 by the plaintiffs for the stock. I could see no equity or 
 justice in my being held responsible for money they 
 had invested in a speculation regarding which they had 
 the same chances for information that I had had my 
 self, and to whom I had imparted accurately all the 
 information I possessed. I presume it was done at the 
 suggestion of the lawyer before alluded to, and that 
 he received a good fee from each of the eight persona 
 who entered suit against me. If I had paid the money 
 back, it would have been an acknowledgment of guilt 
 on my part. I think it was two years before the suits 
 were noticed for trial; and when finally brought I 
 did not appear. The plaintiffs produced such testimony 
 as they could, and the presiding judge ordered the jury 
 to bring in a verdict for the defendant The lawyer 
 for the plaintiffs appealed from the verdict to the 
 supreme court of the state of Florida with the result 
 that the decision of the lower court was sustained. 
 My lawyer took all the evidence, put it in a tin box 
 and placed it in the custody of the clerk of the court 
 of Escambia county ; he then put the key of the box in 
 his pocket and I presume the evidence of those unjust 
 suits will repose in that box until something shall 
 happen to destroy it. 
 
 I have always believed that John Eagan had much 
 to do with the bringing of these suits; it would have 
 been his manner of showing gratitude for the many 
 favors I had done him. Thus ended the numerous 
 suits which had hurt my feelings very much. I never 
 have believed that any of the plaintiffs thought I had 
 done anything wrong in the matter, but on the contrary 
 
304: BEMJNISCENCES 
 
 they were satisfied that I, like themselves, had been 
 deceived by Payne; but they were not "game" to meet 
 a loss of $1,000 each, in a manly way when an un 
 principled lawyer told them they could recover the 
 amount of their losses from me. 
 
OHAPTEK XXVI. 
 
 A CHANGE OF BASE. 
 
 In the fall of 1903 I came home from Chicago and 
 found that affairs had been working badly all summer 
 at Chumuckla in our logging matters. I had placed a 
 nephew in charge of the business at that place, but lie 
 was of a passionate disposition and antagonized many 
 of the employees, among others a B,. R. engineer by the 
 name of Lewis, whom I had always found to be very 
 competent and obliging. Lewis had quit work and an 
 inexperienced man had been given charge of the loco 
 motive who was proving both unsatisfactory and ex 
 pensive. About the middle of September I determined 
 to go to Chumuckla, and decided that my nephew 
 must patch up his quarrel with Lewis, if he retain 
 his own place. Lewis was living on a homestead which 
 he had taken up, about half way between Chumuckla 
 and Florida Town, in Santa Rosa county. I drove 
 there from my place in an open buggy and the weather 
 being warm I rode in my shirt sleeves. I sat in the 
 buggy for two or three hours until my nephew and 
 Lewis had settled their differences. In the meantime 
 I had become quite chilly and realized that I had made 
 a mistake in leaving the house without my coat. How 
 ever I rode back to Chumuckla with a constant sense 
 of chilliness, and that night I did not sleep well as my 
 feet were cold. The next day I resolved to return to 
 Escambia, my mind much relieved that Lewis was 
 going back to work feeling good humored. 
 
 305 
 
306 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 After dinner that day I left to go to Molino to take 
 the train for Escambia. In the evening I went down 
 town and was shaved. Coming out of the barber shop I 
 met Mr. Hyer on the street, who after greeting me said : 
 "Skinner, you don't look a day older than you did the 
 first time I saw you" this had been thirty years be 
 fore. I returned to the hotel and went to bed, but the 
 bed was poor and my feet were cold. The train was to 
 leave in the morning at seven o'clock, for Escambia. 
 At a quarter to six I arose and went to the office of the 
 hotel. It had been my custom for a long time to exer 
 cise my legs by doing a cake walk each morning, and as 
 I had time to spare I took my usual exercise. The 
 clerk remarked to me "Mr. Skinner, you appear to feel 
 mighty well this morning." I replied: "I never felt 
 better." After finishing my cake-walk I felt a sting 
 ing sensation in my right arm between the shoulder and 
 the elbow; more like a mosquito bite than any thing 
 else I can liken it to. Not long after that I felt a 
 similar sensation in the thigh of my right leg. At train 
 time I took my satchel and walked to the depot, not 
 realizing that anything was the matter with me. When 
 I arrived at Escambia station I was not expected and so 
 there was no carriage to meet me. I gave my valise to 
 the mail carrier and walked to my office about a mile 
 away. Arriving there I busied myself in examining 
 the mail which had come in my absence, and found that 
 three bank checks had been sent back for signature. 
 I signed two of them without experiencing any difficulty 
 but in signing the last one the muscles of my hand and 
 fingers refused to respond to .my mind. This surprised 
 me and calling to my son asked him what he supposed 
 was the reason; he said: "Father it looks like paral- 
 
A CHANGE OF BASE 307 
 
 ysis." Even then I was not alarmed. At dinner time 
 I walked up the hill from the office to my house ; arriv 
 ing there, I found that the clock had run down, and I 
 went into the kitchen to get a wooden chair that I 
 could stand on, to reach the clock and wind it. Pass 
 ing through the dining room I saw the little cup 
 board where I kept some liquors and stopped and took 
 a drink of whiskey. 
 
 I went to my son's house to eat my dinner ; as nearly 
 as I can recollect, I ate a hearty dinner and felt the 
 effects of the liquor more than commonly. After din 
 ner we left the dining room for the sitting room and 
 my son remarked: "Father, if I were you, I would 
 go up stairs and lie down." I replied: "I guess I 
 will." In going up stairs my right foot hit the step 
 and I stumbled forward. I righted myself, however, 
 and went on up the stairs and lay down on the bed; 
 I do not now recall whether I went to sleep or not. My 
 son telephoned to Pensacola for a doctor, and by the 
 time he arrived, about half past four, I was pretty 
 well paralyzed on my right side; my arm was entirely 
 useless and I had to take my left hand to move it; 
 the physical condition in which I found myself was so 
 unknown to me that I was astonished. In a day or 
 two I was able to be up, and by holding to something 
 with my left hand I was able to walk to the next room. 
 I was entirely ignorant as to the cause of, or the cure 
 of my malady. Since my first attack I think that I 
 have gradually improved; but I realize more and more 
 that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. I have 
 lived in hopes that I would eventually recover from 
 my infirmity, but perhaps I never shall. I have been 
 very fortunate in having to suffer no pain, nor in being 
 
308 REMINISCENCES 
 
 under much physical annoyance. I do not think that 
 the stroke affected me mentally, as I appear to have 
 my faculties in about the same condition that they 
 were when I was first afflicted. 
 
 Just a week from the time I was paralyzed, my 
 nephew who was at Chumuckla went on the train from 
 that place to the log landing at Delany River. The 
 men unloading the logging train got a log through the 
 skids, and while they were rolling it into the river he 
 stepped onto the rollway in front of the car on which 
 two logs still remained, in order to direct the man who 
 was trying to get the logs into the water. It seems 
 that a log projecting from a car in the rear of the 
 one with which they were working, blocked the two 
 logs on the car in front; this was at last loosened and 
 the freed logs rolled towards the water. They came 
 quicker than was expected, and my nephew, to escape 
 them, jumped through the skidding onto the sand be 
 neath; then he suddenly began to call for help. When 
 the men reached him they found that he could not stir 
 a muscle of his limbs; he was paralyzed in his motor 
 muscles, though his speech was apparently not at all 
 affected. As soon as I learned of these facts I sent the 
 tugboat to the Delany River landing to bring the sick 
 man to the Pensacola Hospital, where the physicians 
 could not find a bruise or contusion on him, nor any 
 ostensible cause for the paralysis. Possibly it was 
 caused by the fright or the concussion of striking the 
 packed sand. In time he recovered the use of the mus 
 cles, but he never regained his strength. He became 
 despondent over his condition, and died a little more 
 than a year later of a fever which developed while he 
 was in Quincy, Florida. 
 
A CHANGE OF BASE 309 
 
 The mystery as to the cause of the paralysis of 
 both my nephew and myself has much aroused my 
 curiosity. I have concluded that the interruption of 
 the telephonic system, carried on between the brain 
 and the muscles, which is so apparent to one thus af 
 flicted, is due to ruptured brain cells, and that the 
 paralysis itself is a result and not a cause. 
 
 It will be five years next September (1908) since 
 this stroke occurred, and some of the time when I have 
 been under treatment I have fancied myself improv 
 ing ; but on the whole there hap been very little change. 
 I notice that the weather affects my condition; a very 
 warm period weakening me ; also the effect on one's 
 mind of realizing that he may be a cripple for the re 
 mainder of his life is physically depressing. 
 
 By January, 1905, I had sold my holdings in Flor 
 ida, My paralysis made it difficult for me to get 
 around, so I found it a little dull at Escambia, there 
 fore my wife and I took a notion to go to east Florida, 
 and if that section had sufficient attractions, to make 
 our home there. I decided that I would take no nurse 
 with me, as our freedom would be that much more 
 hampered. We went to Jacksonville, where a great 
 fire had recently occurred. We stopped at the Wind 
 sor Hotel, which had escaped injury. From there we 
 went to St. Augustine, spent one night at the Ponce 
 de Leon, and then proceeded on our way down the 
 coast to Daytona. We had heard that place very much 
 admired and praised. We stopped a week at the Clar 
 endon, at Seabreeze. All the accommodations of this 
 hotel had been engaged for the automobile races, and 
 I could only secure rooms up to that time. In those 
 days I was not much of an automobile enthusiast, 
 
310 REMINISCENCES 
 
 having acquired the craze then which I took later when 
 I had a machine of my own, but I could well appre 
 ciate the beautiful beach at this place, and the fine 
 course which it afforded. We went from Seabreeze di 
 rect to Miami. We rode around that city considerably 
 and I was quite favorably impressed with the locality. 
 The soil appeared to be of coral formation. If one had 
 to dig post-holes it was necessary to dig right into this 
 coral rock, but it could be pulverized so as to make 
 clean dirt. Great industry was shown here in the mat 
 ter of building wagon roads, as this rock made an ex 
 cellent roadbed. Orange trees, however, grow lux 
 uriantly in it, and I saw many grape fruit fields. The 
 pineapple culture seemed to be a great success, also, 
 and the indications showed a fine future for the local 
 ity in the raising of the latter fruit. 
 
 After staying here two or three days we concluded 
 to take the boat for Nassau, which at that time was the 
 terminus of the Flagler route. We stopped at the 
 Colonial hotel while there and during our stay took 
 many pleasant drives around the island. Our accom 
 modations at the hotel being very satisfactory; and 
 among other pleasant features there an excellent band 
 furnished music every evening to entertain the guests. 
 In leaving this place we crossed the channel between 
 New Providence and the island east of it, and visited 
 a place of resort where they fed their guests with 
 oranges; these were pared and a stick run through 
 them, and in that manner one could partake of his fill. 
 There was a large bath house and the finest bathing 
 beach one could desire, but after the novelty of these 
 attractions had worn away the life here appeared to be 
 a dull one. East of the hotel, in the channel between 
 
A CHANGE OF BASE 311 
 
 the two islands, the water was of different shades of 
 blue and green, the colors being very intense. This 
 was caused, I suppose, by the growth underneath. Down 
 the channel at some distance south of the hotel, glass- 
 bottomed boats were towed by tugs over the subma 
 rine gardens between the islands, in the channel. One 
 day we concluded to take this trip and we were greatly 
 pleased by what we saw ; fantastic and gorgeous shrubs 
 appeared to be growing out of the coral bottom of the 
 stream. Among this growth many beautiful fish of 
 brilliant colors were to be seen. 
 
 After stopping at this hotel a little more than a 
 week, we concluded to return to Miami, where I had 
 looked at some property with the idea of purchasing 
 it. I was considerably surprised at the change that 
 had occurred during our absence. I had supposed that 
 this part of Florida was below the frost line, but I 
 found the leaves of the orange trees frost-bitten, and 
 the pineapple fields, of which I had seen before many 
 luxuriant specimens, were blackened with the cold. I 
 had thought that there might be a great future indus 
 try established in Florida in the growing of this fruit, 
 but the appearances now deterred me from making any 
 purchase. So we pursued our return journey to Palm 
 Beach, where we stopped at Hotel Breakers. This was 
 a very pleasant, home-like place, situated directly on 
 the ocean beach. There was a horse car line that con 
 veyed guests from this hotel to the Royal Poinciana. 
 We took advantage of this and occasionally visited the 
 latter hotel for the purpose of seeing the style and fash 
 ion displayed by the guests and to observe the pomp of 
 the service. Of the two hotels, I preferred the Break 
 ers. After stopping at this place of fashion as long as 
 
312 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 it was interesting, we continued our journey to St. 
 Augustine, where we stopped at the Alcazar. I had 
 become attached to this hotel during a former stay, so 
 enjoyed coming back. While at this place we bought 
 coral beads for our grandchildren, and numerous other 
 articles for their edification. 
 
 From St. Augustine we went to Jacksonville, where 
 we remained at the Windsor until we started for our 
 home at Escambia* Our trip had covered about six 
 weeks; we had had a very pleasant time, and nothing 
 disagreeable had occurred, but I decided that I would 
 travel farther before selecting a home. We remained 
 at Escambia until April, when we went to Chicago and 
 bought round-trip tickets to Los Angeles, California, 
 returning by the way of the Northern Pacific Rail 
 road. 
 
 We concluded to take a trained nurse with us; this 
 time a woman, on account of my helpless condition. 
 We left Chicago on the evening of April 14th. We 
 saw little of interest during the first of our trip, except 
 the Standard Oil pipe lines which were being laid be 
 side this road. The farms of Kansas also were attrac 
 tive. We decided to stop at Las Vegas, a locality of 
 which we had heard much, as the hotel and hot springs 
 had been largely advertised as a health resort. We 
 found the hotel closed, so we stopped at Harvey Hotel 
 for a couple of days, when we decided to go to Albu 
 querque, where I had a nephew living in the vicinity, 
 and to whom I had written of our coming. He was a 
 few years younger than myself and I had not seen 
 him since I left home in my youth for Washington, 
 D. C. This man was the eldest son of my brother, 
 Dan Barnes. I found him much afflicted, having 
 
A CHANGE OF BASE 313 
 
 cataracts on both eyes. To meet him again after so 
 long and to talk with him of the events of our lives for 
 the preceding fifty, or more, years, was very interest 
 ing. Albuquerque proved to be a promising place, with 
 good future prospects. I saw here a large sawmill, re 
 cently built, with a capacity of three hundred thousand 
 feet per day. The logs for the supply of this mill 
 were brought by rail from Arizona and were cut from 
 forests more than one hundred and fifty miles distant. 
 They were unloaded from the cars into an artificial 
 pond, from which they were drawn into the mill as 
 needed. The altitude of Albuquerque is about four 
 thousand feet. 
 
 At the conclusion of our visit in this city, we de 
 cided to go and see the Grand C'anyon of the Colo 
 rado. We took a Pullman car and arrived at our des 
 tination in the forenoon and stopped at the Hotel El 
 Tovar, which occupies a site seven thousand feet above 
 sea level and is close to the rim of the canyon. It is 
 built of pine slabs and stone and is from three to four 
 stories high. It is very attractive in appearance and 
 has the accommodations usual with a first class hotel. 
 In nearby buildings were displayed many curious ar 
 ticles made by the Navajo Indians. A few rods from 
 the hotel was a cliff where one might look thirteen miles 
 across the canyon to the other side, and also look down 
 to where the river flowed, a mile below. The chasm 
 is stupendous; how or when Nature formed it, haa 
 never been satisfactorily explained; but the magni 
 tude of it impresses the onlooker with a sense of the 
 wonderful power of Nature. 
 
 After gratifying our curiosity with the various 
 views of the canyon, we concluded that we would visit 
 
314 EEMINISCENCES 
 
 the city of Phoenix and the Salt River Valley. I had 
 always wished to visit this territory since ex-Governor 
 Bashford of Wisconsin the first territorial governor 
 of Arizona, appointed by President Lincoln had in 
 vited me to accompany him here. I was more pleased 
 with the city of Phoenix than I expected to be; there 
 were many fine buildings and the spirit of the place 
 was full of enterprise and push. I accidentally dis 
 covered that the grandson of Governor Bashford had 
 come to this city from Prescott, was then living here 
 and was cashier of the bank on which I had a letter 
 of credit. 
 
 The valley in which Phoenix is situated is one of 
 great fertility; a number of irrigating ditches car 
 ries the water to the cultivated lands, and the great 
 Roosevelt dam being built on the headwaters of Salt 
 River will hold water sufficient to irrigate two hundred 
 and fifty thousand acres. 
 
 We met, casually, some persons here whom we had 
 known in Chicago; among others a Mr. Giles, who 
 owned considerable land in the valley. In Chicago 
 he had been a jeweler, when I lived there in the six 
 ties. The drawback to this section is the extreme heat. 
 Later we retraced our journey to Ash Fork and from 
 there proceeded on our way to California. Our trip 
 from Chicago to the coast having occupied more than 
 three weeks. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 THE REAL ESTATE AGENT AND HIS SCHEMES. 
 
 When I was paralyzed it took but a short time for 
 me to realize that my strength was unequal to con 
 ducting my business in a profitable manner, and I saw 
 that I must withdraw from active affairs. In the fall 
 of 1903 a Mr. Bell, who for some time had been try 
 ing to negotiate a sale of my lands, came to my house 
 in Escambia with a number of gentlemen whom he 
 presented as capitalists from Indianapolis. He stated 
 that they were prepared to buy my property if they 
 could make a satisfactory contract. After consider 
 able negotiation I sent to Milton for my lawyer, Ear 
 nest Amos, who drew up a contract which I submit 
 ted to them. One of the party of gentlemen, a Mr. 
 E. E. Douville, appeared to take the most prominent 
 part in the negotiations. He requested that the con 
 tract be made out to himself alone, for reasons which 
 he did not state. I therefore had the contract altered 
 to suit his wishes. This also proved unsatisfactory to 
 him, and he drew up a contract written by himself, 
 which he offered me. After two or three days of dis 
 cussion and alterations, we attached our signatures to 
 this. A certain sum had been agreed upon as the pur 
 chase price of the pine lands, mills and railroad; 
 $5,000 was to be paid when the contract was signed, 
 $5,000 more on January 1st of the next year, and a 
 $100,000 to be paid on the following April 1st, less 
 
 315 
 
316 REMINISCENCES 
 
 the two payments already provided for. There was a 
 provision that by the payment of $5,000 a ninety-day 
 extension of the April payment could be had. 
 
 The deal was consummated according to these terms 
 and the payments met as stipulated, until the follow 
 ing April; then Douville made the payment of $5,000 
 to postpone for ninety days the payment due April 1st. 
 
 Soon after tho contract had been signed, my wife 
 and I went to Mudlavia, Indiana, to see if the mud 
 baths there would benefit my paralysis and her rheuma 
 tism. I had suffered for years from eczema, and I 
 found that the mud baths produced an irritation which 
 became almost unbearable, so after taking some twelve 
 or thirteen baths I had to discontinue them. 
 
 We returned to Escambia, and spent the winter. The 
 next spring, in May, I think, my wife and I went to 
 Battle Creek, Michigan, to see what the Sanitarium 
 there could do for our conditions. I did not receive 
 any particular benefit from the treatment that I could 
 perceive, but we found the accommodations and treat 
 ments very pleasant. While there I employed a pri 
 vate nurse, for my exclusive benefit; he also did my 
 writing for me. Up to this time my wife had acted 
 as my amanuensis. 
 
 I did not hear from Mr. Douville while I was at 
 Battle Creek until after the middle of June. I then 
 learned that there was some doubt as to whether the 
 purchasers would make the payments due on the 29th 
 of the month. If not, they would forfeit the $15,000 
 which they had already paid on the contract. Our 
 efforts in the lumber business had been very light since 
 entering into this contract with Douville. Expecting 
 to surrender the property, I did not feel like making 
 
THE BEAL ESTATE AGENT 317 
 
 improvements which I would otherwise have done, 
 thinking I should hand over the affairs to the pur 
 chasers so soon. 
 
 The sums of money he had paid me would but 
 make good what we had lost from our inability to make 
 contracts, and from the suspended conditions of oper 
 ating the mill. Douville applied to me for terms to 
 farther extend the time and I offered to give him thirty 
 days, for $5,000, but stipulated that this sum should 
 be paid before the time of the contract had expired. 
 This was not done, so I notified Mr. Douville that his 
 rights under the agreement had lapsed, and that he had 
 forfeited the payments he had already made. I was 
 sitting in the rotunda of the Sanitarium one forenoon, 
 when I saw Douville enter. Evidently he did not see 
 me. He registered, I think, and went away. Not long 
 afterwards I saw Mr. Bell enter the rotunda. I do 
 not believe that he saw me, either. I presumed that 
 they had come to pay me the $5,000 and get an exten 
 sion of the contract. In the afternoon Mr. Douville 
 sent me his card, with a request for an interview. I 
 went out and met him in the hall on the third floor. I 
 conducted him to a parlor, inviting him to take a seat ; 
 sat down myself and waited for him to explain his er 
 rand. He then stated that he had found a party in 
 Michigan, whom I had known when at Pentwater, who 
 stood ready to buy a half interest in my property and 
 pay cash. That he himself would take a quarter in 
 terest, and that another man, living at Pentwater, or 
 Manistee, would take the remaining quarter, he was 
 sure, when he returned from Canada, where he had 
 gone on a business trip, to be absent two or three weeks. 
 With this prospect in view Douville asked me to give 
 
318 REMINISCENCES 
 
 him authority to consummate this deal. If I did this I 
 considered it would be necessary to put the permission 
 in writing. I told him that I knew no lawyer in Bat 
 tle Creek whom I would trust to draw up such an agree 
 ment, but he was so urgent that he be allowed to close 
 the deal, as he had outlined it, that I received an im 
 pression that there might be some truth in his state 
 ments. I did not feel equal to the task of drawing up 
 the contract with him, so after thinking the matter over 
 told him that I would extend the contract I already 
 had with him for thirty days, to enable him to close 
 the deal he had in hand. 
 
 Douville asked me if I would allow him one and 
 one-half per cent commissions if he made the sale, and 
 also stated that he had put $5,000 of his own money 
 into the transaction, and he asked if I would return 
 him this amount. I consented to both of these terms. 
 Then he wished me to put this agreement in writing. 
 I did not feel able to do more at the time, so I told 
 him I would write him a letter, that evening or the 
 next day, covering these points. This appeared to sat 
 isfy him and he departed. Then I returned to my 
 room. 
 
 When I was sufficiently rested, I had my nurse write 
 a letter to Mr. Douville for me, stating that I would 
 extend the time of the present contract with him for a 
 period of thirty days. In the usual time I received a 
 reply to this, saying that my letter was all right, as 
 far as it went, but that it said nothing about his com 
 missions or the $5,000. It did not seem to me that I 
 had forgotten to mention these conditions in my let 
 ter, but I wrote him that he was to have a commission 
 
THE REAL ESTATE AGENT 319 
 
 of one and one-half per cent and $5,000 in case he 
 complied with the contract. 
 
 About a week after this I received another letter 
 from Mr. Douville, making no allusions to the Michi 
 gan people, to whom he had expected to sell the prop 
 erty, but stating that he felt sure of finding a customer 
 in a short time. This letter surprised me. I did not 
 know what to make of it. I at once wrote Douville 
 that I had given him no option on the property, and 
 asked him to send me a copy of my letter, as I had 
 failed to keep one. I received from him a letter en 
 closing what he asserted was a copy of the one I 
 had sent him. After this I put out of mind that I 
 would have any further business relations with Mr. 
 Douville, as I had come to the conclusion that no con 
 fidence could be placed in him. 
 
 About the 2d of August I left Battle Creek and 
 went to Chicago and took rooms with my nurse on 
 33d Place, adjacent to a branch of the Battle 
 Creek Sanitarium, where I continued to take the treat 
 ments followed by that institution. I think it was some 
 time in September when I received a letter from Mr. 
 Douville saying that he would like to see me. I sent 
 a reply that he could see me if he came where I was. 
 Not long after that he called at my place and said he 
 came to get my sanction to his selling my property in 
 Florida ; but my son and I had come to the conclusion 
 to have nothing further to do with him, so I refused 
 to give him any authority to sell the property. 
 
 I returned to Escambia soon after this, taking my 
 nurse, Mr. Grantham, with me. We arrived in the 
 morning and found that there was to be a circus in 
 Pensacola that day, and most of the workmen had gone 
 
320 REMINISCENCES 
 
 to see it. The mill was practically shut down, ex 
 cept the dry kilns. 
 
 While we were eating dinner that day, in the mid 
 dle of the meal my son rose suddenly from the table, 
 passed from the dining room and went out of the front 
 door. I wondered what was the matter, but did not 
 leave my seat. In a little while I heard the fire alarm 
 whistle from the kilns and realized the cause of my 
 son's hasty exit. I arose and hobbled down to the mill 
 as fast as I could go. When I was near the office 
 I saw that the roof of the building was on fire. There 
 were several men there who had come from the woods 
 to get provisions. One man was struggling to drag 
 the hose from the hydrant in front of the mill up the 
 elevated walk that went into the office. He needed 
 help and I hastened to assist him, but before I could 
 reach him he had dropped the hose. There appeared 
 to be nothing efficient done which would put out the 
 fire. The building was a large one, and as I saw that 
 it was likely to burn down I hurried into the store 
 below to direct getting out the goods. It appears that 
 I forgot more important things which were in the 
 office. Mr. Thompson, the bookkeeper, had gone to 
 Pensacola that day and he had locked the two safes, 
 but all of my letters and bills for the last thirty years 
 were burned. We have sadly missed these, as all of 
 our correspondence with Douville was burned except 
 two or three letters which I happened to have in my 
 valise. The building, which was about 110x30 feet 
 in size and two and a half stories high, I saw burned 
 to the ground. The two safes fell into the basement, 
 but the contents of both were fairly well preserved; a 
 copy book of letters was also preserved, and our ae- 
 
THE REAL ESTATE AGENT 321 
 
 count books, which contained the accounts of the Skin 
 ner Manufacturing Company since the days of 1893., 
 were practically in good condition. 
 
 Being now without a store or office, we took as a 
 substitute an empty house which stood on the bluff. 
 In one part of it we put a stock of goods to supply the 
 needs of the mill hands and their families, and the 
 remaining part of the building was used as an office. 
 Our business moved along as usual without any serious 
 interference on account of the fire. 
 
 The next affair of interest came from the negotia 
 tions of my son with a Mr. J. R. Saunders for the sale 
 of the property, but specific terms and the conclusion 
 of the matter were left to my decision. My son had 
 included considerable property in his offer to Mr. 
 Saunders that had not been included in the contract 
 with Douville. I named the price definitely for which 
 I would sell the whole, but he wished to divide the 
 pine lands from the cypress lands, so I gave him a 
 price upon the pine lands only, stating that I would 
 keep the cypress lands myself. He then made me an 
 offer $25,000 less than my price, which I promptly 
 declined. A short time afterwards I called on him to 
 get some maps which I had loaned him, and he re 
 newed the subject of buying the lands. After satisfy 
 ing himself that I would make no reduction in the price 
 named to him he said that he would take the property 
 at my figure. We then began making out the papers 
 for an option; these were completed and signed No 
 vember 1st, 1904, and $10,000 paid; this to be for 
 feited if the sale was not concluded. Final papers 
 were made out November 25th. 
 
 Not long afterwards I was surprised at receiving a 
 
322 REMINISCENCES 
 
 letter from Douville claiming a commission for selling 
 the property. He had had nothing whatever to do with 
 selling the property. Since his contract had expired 
 and I had given him no further authority to dispose of 
 it, I therefore looked upon his claim as a manifesta 
 tion of brazen cheek and bluff. I paid no attention 
 to the matter; did not even reply to his letter. After 
 the lapse of a few weeks I received another letter from 
 him making a similar claim for commission, and in 
 quiring if I had received his former letter. I paid no 
 attention to this letter either. The next year I was 
 served with a summons from the United States court 
 in the case of E. E. Douville vs. The Skinner Manu 
 facturing Company. I called on Attorney W. A. 
 Blount and engaged him to defend the suit He told 
 me that Douville had consulted him in the matter, and 
 he had told him that from his own story he had no 
 claim for commission. It seemed that after my inter 
 view with Mr. Blount, Douville had called on him and 
 objected to his appearing for the defense, and Mr. 
 Blount notified me that he preferred not to defend the 
 case; but said that suit had not been properly brought 
 and he would knock Mr. Douville out in that court 
 which he did. Douville then brought action in the state 
 court of Florida for the sum of $7,500, and we had to 
 find another lawyer to defend us against the suit. My 
 son suggested Judge Maxwell, so I told him to engage 
 him if he preferred. When court convened Mr. Dou 
 ville did not appear; his lawyer, however, asked for a 
 continuance, and said that if we took judgment by de 
 fault he was instructed to begin another suit; there 
 fore we consented to an adjournment. 
 
 Soon after this I went to California to live. At 
 
THE REAL ESTATE AGENT 323 
 
 the next term of court it was not convenient for me 
 to come east to attend the trial, so I asked my son to 
 request Douville to put it over the term. To this he 
 consented provided we would agree to postpone it for 
 one year. This was satisfactory to me, as I did not 
 want to go to Florida in the winter time. I therefore 
 came to Pensacola but a short time before the trial, and 
 then hacl a consultation with our attorneys. I told 
 them that I did not believe the suit would ever come 
 to trial that I thought it was all bluff. The only 
 thing I saw in the suit to alarm me was the fact that 
 Douville had employed a lawyer in Pensacola who had 
 an unenviable reputation for "fixing" juries. I told 
 my lawyers to be very careful and get all the infor 
 mation they could about the prospective jurymen, and 
 they promised to do so. My son could not well be 
 present at this trial, on account of ill health of his 
 wife, and I did not consider it necessary that he should 
 be there. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIIL 
 
 WESTERN WONDERLANDS. 
 
 After I was paralyzed I thought I would seek a 
 more congenial clime in which to spend the remainder 
 of my life, if such I could find. I had hearc^much of 
 the glorious climate of Southern California and once 
 had visited that section. I decided that I would go to 
 Los Angeles and make a systematic investigation, with 
 the idea of making my home there. I wished, in the 
 first place, to obtain a satisfactory dwelling. I visited 
 a great many places offered for sale in both Los An 
 geles and Pasadena. In the last named place I saw 
 a very attractive home on Orange Grove Avenue, which 
 I thought of buying. The furniture which was in the 
 house was very rich, attractive, and appropriate to the 
 setting and style of architecture, and I desired to pur 
 chase it if I took the place, but I did not wish to make 
 a decision until I had seen more of the western coast 
 cities of our states. I went to San Diego and was 
 much pleased with that city; it had many attrac 
 tions, but I was not favorably impressed with the pos 
 sibilities of fruit growing, or agriculture in that vicin 
 ity. There appeared to be a lack of water, of railroads 
 and of shipping facilities; to me it did not promise to 
 be a great business center on the coast. For this rea 
 son I went back to Los Angeles and from there north. 
 I saw many excellent localities between Los Angeles 
 and San Francisco, but I gathered the impression that 
 they were too quiet and would be dull places in which 
 
 324 
 
WESTERN WONDERLANDS 325 
 
 to live, so I went on farther north. I was prejudiced 
 against San Francisco owing to the fact that it was 
 controlled by a corrupt labor element. 
 
 Journeying through northern California, we had a 
 beautiful view of Mount Shasta, and our train stop 
 ped at Shasta Springs, where an aerated spring of soda 
 water fell over rocks of a wooded bank, which termi 
 nates near the railroad. From what I could see of it, 
 in the evening light, I thought it a charming place, 
 which I mean sometime to visit. The train wound 
 slowly up the river, the grade becoming more difficult 
 as we proceeded. We continually saw evidences of 
 mining, but this had few attractions for me now. 
 
 As we approached Salem, the capital of the state of 
 Oregon, the country showed more evidence of culti 
 vation, and we saw some handsome farms. The scen 
 ery from Salem down the Willamette River was charm 
 ing. When we arrived at the city of Portland we went 
 to Hotel Portland, which was a house of much ele 
 gance and well filled with guests. The world's fair 
 being held here at this time to celebrate the discovery 
 of this country by an expedition sent out by President 
 Jefferson under the command of Clarke and Lewis, ac 
 counted for the crowded condition of the hotels. I was 
 much pleased with the city, which is very beautiful, 
 and has many fine business buildings and elegant res 
 idences. The greatest charm of Portland is its Hill 
 Park, being a portion of the city on a high hill crest 
 overlooking a beautiful view. A trolley line ascends 
 this mountain on one side, passing through this park 
 and descends on the other side. The Falls of the Wil 
 lamette are on the south side of the town. On the 
 river just above the falls were several sawmills. Be- 
 
326 REMINISCENCES 
 
 low the falls the river runs through the city, and here 
 are located the steamboat docks for the boats which 
 navigate the Columbia river from the ocean to The 
 Dalles. 
 
 The exposition was a very creditable affair, the ex 
 hibits being mostly of the productions of the North 
 west. The United States had its Philippine display 
 there. The lumber exhibits of the state were also 
 good. We went to The Dalles by train and returned 
 in the same way. The scenery was occasionally very 
 fine, but I did not see any of the fine forests which are 
 said to exist in the state of Oregon. 
 
 We next went to Tacoma, Washington. We had 
 some fine views of Mount Hood and Mount Tacoma ; 
 there was so much rain and fog that it was only oc 
 casionally that we could get good views of them, but 
 their white summits looked very grand when they could 
 be seen. Tacoma appeared to have more life and bustle 
 than Portland. It seems to be built on the top of a 
 high hill, from which a good view can be had of that 
 part of Puget Sound which curves by the city. Many 
 sawmills line the shore of the sound. I visited that 
 district to get a view of the large logs that abound in 
 the state of Washington. I saw some that were eight 
 or ten feet in diameter; I think these were the largest 
 that I had ever seen. I have heard of the great red 
 wood logs of California, but have never seen them. 
 
 I stayed about a week here and then went north to 
 Seattle. During much of the time spent in that city 
 it rained, and the weather was foggy and cloudy. The 
 activity, bustle and vim of the town struck me very 
 favorably; if I had been younger and an able-bodied 
 man I would have selected Seattle as the place to 
 
WESTERN WONDERLANDS 327 
 
 make my Lome, but as I am now situated, I value pleas 
 ant weather, a congenial climate and less range 
 of temperature. I had now seen the whole west coast, 
 from Mexico to British Columbia, and I selected Los 
 Angeles as the place in which to spend most of the 
 days left me of life. 
 
 We returned east over the Northern Pacific rail 
 road. Before leaving Seattle I bought tickets for the 
 tour of the Yellowstone Park, though I had some 
 doubts as to whether I would be able to stand the jour 
 ney. On the train we made the acquaintance of a 
 gentleman and his wife from Akron, Ohio. He was 
 very obliging to me and looked out for my comfort all 
 the way around the Park. What I saw in Yellowstone 
 Park made plain many things about geysers and other 
 features there of which I had read but hardly under 
 stood. A great deal of the Park is denuded, having 
 been burned over by forest fires. It appears to have 
 been covered at one time with tall, slim timber, which 
 fell after being burned, and the trunks nearly cover the 
 ground. Excellent wagon roads had been built by 
 the United States government; a company of United 
 States soldiers policed the grounds and maintained 
 strict order and observance of regulations. On the 
 arrival of the train at the Park the surreys and two, 
 four and six-horse coaches met the passengers and took 
 them to the Mammoth Hotel, about six miles distant 
 from the terminus of the railroad. We stayed over 
 night here and had very comfortable rooms. 
 
 The next morning the stages commenced to load up 
 with passengers to the number of about three hundred. 
 We traveled until noon, when we stopped at the Nor- 
 ris lunch station. There was a great crowd here, but 
 
328 REMINISCENCES 
 
 after an hour's wait we were able to get something 
 to eat. Afterwards we proceeded on our trip, each 
 passenger taking the same seat in the coach that he 
 occupied when he left Mammoth Hot Springs in the 
 morning. As we rode on we saw some deer in the 
 woods, and once a bear, walking at his leisure, caused 
 considerable excitement among the passengers. Through 
 the action of the government, park roads have been 
 built and have reached a high state of perfection. We 
 arrived at Old Faithful Inn in time for supper, and 
 remained there over night. This Inn is built from 
 slabs of the trees growing in that vicinity, and from 
 stone quarried in the neighborhood. This building is 
 very picturesque in architecture and we found it very 
 comfortable to spend the night here. Some forty rods 
 distant from the Inn is the Old Faithful geyser, which 
 spouts, I think, every hour and six minutes. It throws 
 up steaming hot water to a height of some one hun 
 dred and fifty feet. The round opening where the 
 water leaves the earth is about eighteen inches in 
 diameter. All through the Park we saw many hot 
 springs, some in varied colors; also a large number of 
 geysers. 
 
 After our enjoyable night at Old Faithful Inn we 
 started in the usual order the next morning. We took 
 lunch that day at the Thumb lunch station, which was 
 a stand-up counter, and then proceeded to the Lake 
 Hotel, the passengers being allowed their choice of 
 steamboat or stage. We spent a very enjoyable night 
 on the shore of the lake, in this hotel. 
 
 The next morning we proceeded north on the river 
 to Canyon Hotel, where we remained over night. We 
 saw a number of wild animals during this day's trip, 
 
WESTERN WONDERLANDS 329 
 
 consisting of deer, elk and other species. At this 
 hotel they have a custom of feeding the bear after sup 
 per, and the guests go out to watch them if they wish. 
 All the waste food from the hotel is taken out and 
 scattered on the ground. The bears will walk down the 
 hill, singly or together, eat their lunch apparently un 
 concerned at the crowd of people standing about. Two 
 soldiers were present with their rifles to protect the 
 onlookers should occasion arise. A short distance be 
 low the hotel the government has built an arched bridge 
 of cement across the river to the government road on 
 the other side of the chasm. 
 
 The next morning we rode down to the river, where 
 we obtained a fine view of the falls and the rushing 
 torrent which sweeps below. The scenery was 
 grand, such as we do not often see, and it impresses 
 upon man the mystery of Nature. After some more 
 sight seeing in the neighborhood we continued our 
 journey to Norris lunch station and from there pro 
 ceeded on our homeward way to Mammoth Hot 
 Springs, from where we were taken to Gardiner. Later 
 we took the train and went to bed in our sleeper. 
 
 In the morning we found ourselves at Livingston 
 and our coach attached to the train for Minneapolis, 
 traveling through the interesting grain country of 
 North Dakota and Minnesota. We visited a niece liv 
 ing in Minneapolis, and from there took the train on 
 the Wisconsin Central railroad for Oshkosh. 
 
 We had not visited this city for some ten years. We 
 spent several weeks there and went to Chicago, and 
 about the last of October started for Pensacola. We 
 went as far as Nashville, where we remained until the 
 yellow fever scare abated, then continued on our way 
 
330 REMINISCENCES 
 
 south, to Pensacola. We stopped with our son at that 
 place until February of the next year, when my wife, 
 my son and myself went by the way of the Southern 
 Pacific railroad to southern California, once more to 
 try and select a permanent home. 
 
 Arriving at Los Angeles I learned that the house on 
 Orange Grove Avenue, Pasadena, had been sold. We 
 went to Hollywood to board, at the Hollywood Hotel, 
 which was a very admirable hostelry. We looked at a 
 number of places with a view of buying there, but my 
 son preferred a home in Los Angeles, although the 
 transportation by trolley between the two places was 
 quick and easy. 
 
 We spent many days looking at different places in 
 Los Angeles, but we finally saw one which pleased my 
 wife and son very much; they expressed their admira 
 tion of the place and said they would be delighted to 
 have it for a home. My son was anxious to return to 
 his family in Pensacola, so departed soon for Florida. 
 I then began negotiations for the property, which I 
 soon brought to a conclusion. The owner and builder 
 of the place had died just as the house neared comple 
 tion, since which time it had been in possession of a 
 care-taker. It was beautifully furnished and I desired 
 to buy the furniture with the house, but the heirs re 
 fused to part with it. 
 
 The house is about 75 feet long and 35 feet wide, 
 and consists of two stories and a basement. The lat 
 ter contains the heating furnace, a large billiard room, 
 two bed rooms, a bath room, and one very large room, 
 50 feet long by 25 feet wide, which has a cement floor. 
 The front portion of the main floor is so connected 
 that it is practically one room. The end of this space 
 
WESTERN WONDERLANDS 331 
 
 towards the north is the parlor, the opposite end being 
 the living room, and between these two is a reception 
 hall 20 feet square. Beside the parlor is the dining 
 room, while opening from the living room is the li 
 brary, flower room and den. Facing the entrance in 
 the hall is the stairway, which is of oak, having a spa 
 cious landing half way between the floors. There is 
 a great deal of fine wood carving in the construction 
 of this stairway. Much of the lower floor is finished 
 in English oak, and the wainscoting is paneled; the 
 dining room, parlor, hall and living room are beam- 
 ceiled. The flower room, library and den are finished 
 in mahogany. In the dining room is a fireplace with 
 china cabinet above. On one side of the room is the 
 butler's pantry, beyond this is the kitchen, and other 
 work rooms with a stairway to the basement. From 
 the reception hall, passing under the stairs leading to 
 the second floor, is the staircase leading to the bil 
 liard room and the other rooms in the basement. At 
 the end of the living room is a very beautiful fireplace 
 of marble said to have been quarried in California. 
 
 On the second floor a long hall opens into numerous 
 bedrooms, closets and bathrooms. These rooms are 
 all finished in white enamel and several of them are 
 very large and fine. On the staircase landing is a fine 
 window of leaded and stained glass, presenting in beau 
 tiful colors the graceful figures of a youth and maiden. 
 The rich lights thrown upon the hall from this win 
 dow is one of the many attractions of the house. In the 
 library the cases are built in the walls, the face being 
 of leaded glass doors, curvilinear in shape. 
 
 In its exterior view the house is of the Mission style 
 of architecture. The ground upon which it is built 
 
332 REMINISCENCES 
 
 approaches the crest of a hill, affording a most beau 
 tiful view over nearby lawns and gardens, then over 
 the rolling expanse lying between Los Angeles and the 
 sea. The slope of the ground is such that the house 
 stands two stories at the front and three in the rear. 
 
 Since purchasing the place I have cemented a road 
 way past one side, built a garage of the same style of 
 architecture as the house, and by means of a retain 
 ing wall, levelling the ground between by filling, and 
 cementing the surface, an excellent court is afforded 
 between the house and the garage. The rest of the 
 yard I have terraced, set out to trees, roses and other 
 flowers, and have built a play house and arbor for the 
 children not only my own six grandchildren, but it 
 is a favorite resort for the little folk of the neighbor 
 hood on pleasant evenings. The house, garage and 
 playhouse are brilliantly lighted by electricity. 
 
 This house with its pleasant surroundings is located 
 in a most beautiful climate. I intend to retain it as 
 a home for myself and wife, and for my descendants 
 as long as they may wish to occupy it. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 MINING ROMANCES. 
 
 There are some detached incidents which occurred 
 during my stay in Nevada, which I wish to relate. I 
 resided in Austin, Nevada, from September, 1863, to 
 November, 1865, and while there I corresponded for 
 the Milwaukee Sentinel. I was therefore wide-awake 
 to any incident which I felt would be of interest to the 
 readers of that paper. 
 
 I made the acquaintance of a Mr. French while here. 
 He had been a miner during the early days of placer 
 mining in California. He related an incident to me 
 in which he had been a participant and which on ac 
 count of its dramatic interest made a lasting impression 
 on me. At the time I made no memorandum of the ac 
 count, and though I have thought many times to put it 
 in writing, it has waited until the present tima 
 
 Mr. French was placer mining on the Sacramento 
 River. Each man of the camp had pre-empted a small 
 piece of ground for mining, and the little log cabins 
 placed on higher ground for protection against the 
 water, usually held two occupants who cabined together 
 and did their own cooking. They worked day times on 
 their respective mining claims with pan and shovel. If 
 a miner had a suitable claim he washed the gold out of 
 the gravel with a sluice. This was constructed by mak 
 ing a long box from boards and nailing across the bot 
 tom of this cleats of wood, to catch and hold the gold as 
 
 333 
 
334 REMINISCENCES 
 
 it was washed from the gravel. Sometimes quicksilver 
 was placed behind these cleats, which would retain the 
 fine gold lost in case of a too liberal supply of water. 
 The miners, when too busy, would let the deposit of 
 gold accumulate in the trough for several days until the 
 latter needed cleaning out, as the time was lost to the 
 working of the claim while cleaning out the sluices. 
 Capital punishment was administered in those days to 
 anyone who robbed the sluices. A miner s gold savings 
 were sacred and it was death to the thief who stole 
 them. Judge Lynch tried the criminal and executed him 
 on the spot wherever such a crime had been committed. 
 One morning it was discovered in the camp where 
 Mr. French was located, that the sluice containing the 
 savings of two or three days had been robbed the pre 
 ceding night. This announcement electrified the miners 
 and a meeting of the inhabitants of the camp was 
 called at once. Suspicion fell upon a miner living in 
 that district and a committee was sent to arrest him. 
 Judge Lynch was elected to hold court; a jury was 
 impaneled and sworn and the trial commenced. The 
 evidence was all circumstantial, the judge charged the 
 jury, and the jury without leaving their seats under 
 the oak where the trial was held, began to deliberate on 
 their verdict. The defendant had urgently declared his 
 innocence, but several of the jurymen announced their 
 opinion that the defendant was guilty. When it came 
 to Mr. French's turn to express his opinion, he declared 
 his belief in the defendant's innocence, or, at least, that 
 he saw no evidence to prove that the accused had com 
 mitted the crime. He made a vigorous speech to support 
 his opinion, when a bystander made an insulting re 
 mark impugning his own honesty; to this Mr. French 
 
MINING ROMANCES 335 
 
 replied that he would hold him responsible when 
 his present duties were over. This meant war to the 
 knife and the knife to the hilt The jury finally dis 
 agreed, there being about eight for conviction and four 
 for acquittal. The execution of the prisoner was thus 
 prevented but a robbery had been committed and the 
 mob demanded a victim, so it was decided that the 
 accused should be whipped and banished from the camp. 
 Mr. French pleaded with the crowd not to do so griev 
 ous a wrong. The prisoner defied his persecutors and 
 threatened to hold any man responsible who applied a 
 whip to his back, but in spite of his protests, he was 
 tied to the oak tree and three men volunteered to apply 
 the lash. The punishment administered was very se 
 vere, but the prisoner never uttered a groan; and later 
 he was driven out of camp. 
 
 The excitement of the affair died away and some 
 thing like a year expired, when one morning a man 
 appeared at the door of Mr. French's cabin whom he 
 recognized as the man accused of the theft. The fu 
 gitive said he was very hungry, that he had had noth 
 ing to eat for several days and was nearly famished, and 
 asked Mr. French if he would give him something to 
 eat, and not betray him. Mr. French expressed his 
 sympathy for the man and his willingness to befriend 
 him. He cooked and set before him the best breakfast 
 that his cabin afforded. The outcast said to Mr. French 
 that he had a wife and family living in the states, that 
 he had the strongest love and affection for his wife, that 
 he did not feel that he could write and tell her of the 
 circumstances under which he was burdened, and he 
 asked Mr. French if he was willing to write a letter to 
 her and sign it, expressing a belief in his innocence ; he 
 
336 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 said that if he could get such a letter written by Mr. 
 French, he would then feel like writing to her himself 
 and asking her to come to California and live with 
 him. He said that he had been quite lucky in a distant 
 mining camp and had the prospect of making a com 
 fortable home for her. 
 
 Mr. French wrote the letter as desired, expressing 
 the utmost confidence in the man and his belief in his 
 innocence as to the crime charged. He handed the man 
 the letter; the latter expressed his heartfelt thanks for 
 all the kindness he had received, and departed. Mr. 
 French told him that if he ever came that way again, 
 to come into his cabin and help himself if he were 
 hungry and the cabin unoccupied at the time. 
 
 Some time afterwards, one of the three men who had 
 flogged the prisoner was found dead in the woods. Six 
 months later another of the three men was found shot 
 to death in the same way. The third man was in terror 
 of the fate awaiting him and fled from the country. Mr. 
 French said that several years later he was stopping in 
 San Francisco, when one day on the ferry boat he 
 chanced to meet the suspected man. He appeared to be 
 very much pleased to see his benefactor and asked him 
 to go home with him and see his wife. Mr. French was 
 introduced to a very charming woman and a fine family 
 of children. The man at that time was engaged in busi 
 ness in San Francisco. Mr. French gave me the man's 
 name, which I remember very distinctly. I frequently 
 eaw the name in the San Francisco papers, but whether 
 it was the man who was the hero of this story or not I 
 do not know. It may have been the name of one of his 
 children, or of a member of another family. Whether 
 
MINING ROMANCES 337 
 
 he had taken retributive justice on his tormentors is a 
 matter entirely of imagination. 
 
 While living in Nevada I heard many stories of the 
 argonauts of early times. I recollect one told of a party 
 of immigrants who were induced to take the southern 
 trail to California, owing to the tales they had heard 
 of the Mountain Meadow massacre, which had been the 
 work of the "Avenging Angels" of the Mormon Church ; 
 these tales caused them to take a more southern route 
 to avoid a like fate. After crossing the Colorado River 
 in South Utah they passed north of the Grand Canon 
 into the Territory of Nevada. They escaped the Mor 
 mons, but met an equally tragic fate in Death's Valley, 
 where they suffered terrible hardships from heat and 
 lack of water. All but three met death there. Often 
 these despairing travelers would see lakes of water ahead 
 of them, which would revive their despondent spirits 
 until the deception of Nature was disclosed by their 
 finding that what they had supposed to be a lake was 
 but an alkali flat. In southern Nevada they discovered 
 some very rich mines of gold, but they could not take 
 advantage of such a fortune, owing to their meagre 
 supply of food for themselves and their teams. It was 
 necessary to move on as fast as possible in order to 
 reach some place where they could get supplies before 
 their food was exhausted ; then they counted on return 
 ing to the rich mines which they had discovered. The 
 country east of California was practically unknown. 
 The travelers pushed on until they entered Death's Val 
 ley, where there was no water and it did not rain. This 
 valley is said to be three hundred feet below the sea 
 level. 
 
 This immigrant train was well equipped, well manned 
 
338 REMINISCENCES 
 
 and well supplied. It consisted of about twenty-five 
 human beings when they entered the valley, but their 
 scant supply of water was soon exhausted, their stock 
 soon drooped and died, and their bones were left to 
 bleach in the torrid sun. The men after a day or two 
 began to fall in the same way ; three of the party, after 
 enduring indescribable sufferings, finally reached an 
 inhabited locality in California, where they told of the 
 sufferings and tragic deaths of their companions, and of 
 the riches they had discovered in Nevada. 
 
 Some hopeful prospectors engaged two of these men 
 to guide them to the mines, but the latter had lost their 
 reckoning and could find nothing which they remem 
 bered to guide them to the locality of the lost mines. 
 Only the remnants of the outfit and the bones of the 
 immigrants and the stock were found bleaching on the 
 trail. It had become an incident forgotten by nearly 
 all except the adventurous gold seeker who chanced this 
 way. When I was in Austin the story of this immi 
 grant party was revived ; the third survivor of the trag 
 edy had told his tale to some hopeful prospectors and 
 under his lead a party started for southern Nevada to 
 rediscover the lost mines. I was invited to join this 
 party and had some thoughts of going. By most people 
 the mines were regarded as a myth, formed in the brains 
 of the survivors' fevered fancies, and caused by their 
 terrible sufferings. The mining party returned with 
 no more success than the former attempts. 
 
 The remembrance of this story had almost passed 
 from my mind, but after I went to Los Angeles to live 
 I read of the discovery of gold at Bullfrog, Goldfield 
 and other points in southern Nevada, and concluded 
 these might have been the mines which were first found 
 
MINING ROMANCES 339 
 
 under such unhappy circumstances by the unfortunate 
 immigrants. 
 
 When I went to Austin in 1863 it was stated that 
 there were five thousand inhabitants in and about the 
 town. The town was built in a canon on the west side of 
 the Toyiabe mountains. The overland stages crossed 
 through this canon, the course of the mountains being 
 north and south. West of the range was a large valley 
 covered with sage bush, which was known as Reese 
 River Valley. Through this, about six miles 
 from Austin flowed the river toward the north. It was 
 an insignificant stream which disappeared after flowing 
 some distance. About ten months of the year it did not 
 rain in the vicinity of Austin ; in December and Janu 
 ary we had some slight showers and occasionally some 
 falls of "beautiful snow." The bottom of the canon 
 rose quite rapidly as you ascended it toward the sum 
 mit, making the appearance of the habitations pictur 
 esque in the extreme. 
 
 There was not much available material in this vicin 
 ity for house building, except stones and rock and the 
 small pinon pines which grew on the mountains and 
 from which poles and posts could be obtained. Prob 
 ably one-half the people lived in tents. Cotton cloth was 
 the principal material used for roofing. The soil was 
 largely adobe, from which were made sun dried bricks 
 for the walls of the houses ; these walls were very sub 
 stantial, and on them were laid poles for rafters on 
 which was spread cotton cloth for the roof; cotton cloth 
 was also used for ceilings. The soil packed hard made a 
 floor about as clean as if made of wood. 
 
 I lived in a little house of this kind, perhaps 18 feet 
 by 30 feet, for more than a year. We put up three 
 
340 REMINISCENCES 
 
 bunks to accommodate the three occupants of the place, 
 in the end of the house opposite the fireplace. These 
 occupants were John P. Kelly, a nephew of the then 
 governor of Kentucky, a civil engineer; John Doyle, a 
 miner who said he was a Welshman, but whose name 
 always struck me as being Irish, and the author of these 
 Reminiscences. Each had his duties to perform. I 
 believe we had but two meals a day ; I cooked the break 
 fast, of fried bacon, boiled potatoes and bread. Kelly 
 washed the dishes and Jack Doyle got supper. We spent 
 many of our evenings playing chess or reading by candle 
 light, as we had to rely upon tallow dips for our evening 
 light. We three were about equally skillful in a game 
 of chess ; of course only two could play at a time, and 
 the third member was of necessity an onlooker of the 
 game. Very often he could see chances of attack or 
 defense which would escape the players, and he would 
 sometimes make remarks which would annoy or vex one 
 of the players, and perhaps the game would end with a 
 little ill-feeling; this, however, soon subsided. 
 
 The chief hotel of the town was called the Interna 
 tional ; it was a two-story building of adobe and lumber 
 hauled by ox teams from the Sierras, 250 miles distant 
 and costing $400 per thousand feet; it was used for 
 joist, floors and rafters. The principal attraction of 
 the place was called the Stone Saloon. It was a one- 
 story building with walls of stone, dimensions about 
 twenty-five feet wide by one hundred (or more) feet in 
 length. The entrance was on the principal street and 
 not far from the hotel. As one entered, upon the left 
 was a large, gaudy bar, disbursing liquors. On the right 
 was a cigar counter, this luxury selling fifteen cents 
 each or two for a quarter of a dollar, and drinks were 
 
MINING ROMANCES 341 
 
 sold at about the same rate. Passing the bar the rest 
 of the room was lined with tables for the playing of 
 games of chance, and these were occupied by the players 
 and surrounded by sight-seers. In about the center of 
 the room (or hall) was erected a platform upon which 
 a band of musicians generally played. About every half 
 hour a female opera singer who had seen her best days 
 would come out and sing a selection, during which time 
 most of the games would be suspended. Some of the 
 tables were presided over by comely females who acted 
 as dealers for the bank. These attracted the average 
 miner, for he could lose his money with a better grace 
 to such a banker than to a man. It is wonderful the 
 attraction that a female possessed over these miners who 
 perhaps had not seen a woman for years. There were a 
 great many games here for driving dull care away. This 
 part of my life, however, is so long ago that I have 
 forgotten most of the games, the more so, as I never 
 gambled myself ; I might remember better had I been a 
 player. I have never seen similar orgies since I left 
 Austin. 
 
 On the foothills of the mountain range there grew 
 every spring a very excellent forage plant called bunch- 
 grass, which sustained large herds of cattle pastured in 
 the valley ; it made good "feed" for summer and winter. 
 It grew in the spring and dried on the bunch in summer, 
 but retained all of its nutritive value. 
 
 The usual modes of travel were foot and horseback. 
 Occasionally a light wagon would find its way to the 
 town, but most journeys were made on horseback. I 
 found here some of the easiest riding horses that I ever 
 bestrode, and I became very fond of the saddle. 
 
 I have many times thought I would revisit the place 
 
34:2 REMINISCENCES 
 
 and see how it looked now, but I presume that is un 
 likely. The class of people I met there were very intelli 
 gent; a great many of them were college bred. The 
 young man who wished to make a fortune quickly ; the 
 man who had lost his fortune in the East and wished to 
 make another; the politician who had lost his hold on 
 the public, came west to grow up with the country. I 
 never was lonesome while I lived there, and I often 
 resolved to bring my family here to live; but it is the 
 lot of man to make plans for the future which are over 
 ruled by circumstances, as they were in my case. The 
 kind of life I led there had great attractions for me. It 
 was a free and easy, devil-may-care sort of existence, 
 perhaps the most natural life one can enjoy. The only 
 thing that gave me a feeling of unrest was the absence 
 of my wife and boy, they being still in the States, 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 My business experience led me to adopt certain rules 
 by which to be governed. One was never to put money 
 where I could not control it myself; another was not 
 to give accommodation endorsements to others. When 
 I feel it is right, and wish to help someone, I prefer to 
 loan him the money, take his note, and, if necessary, 
 put my own notes in the bank. I believe that no note 
 which I have given has ever been protested; all have 
 been paid when due or extended by mutual consent 
 My observation is that few men, companies or corpo 
 rations escape the necessity of borrowing money for use 
 in their business; some require credit occasionally, 
 others all the time. I learned also that in order to 
 make money a man must take chances, otherwise he 
 will fail to make a fortune. I have always found that 
 it paid to be truthful in all business transactions. I 
 have lost much through the failure of others, and I 
 have usually found that the men who have deceived me 
 are men who boast of their honor and integrity and 
 made a cloak of religion. I prefer to give such peo 
 ple a wide berth and allow them no opportunity to 
 cheat or defraud. I have found it very hard to for 
 get or forgive a person who has deliberately insulted 
 or defrauded me; my disposition in this respect has 
 often resulted in loss financially. I was brought up 
 to be economical, and this has been one of my leading 
 
 343 
 
344: REMINISCENCES 
 
 characteristics. When a person has once gained my 
 confidence, I am very loyal to him until I have posi 
 tive evidence of his treachery, but when I have once 
 reposed trust in a person and he betrays it, it is im 
 possible for me to trust him again. The first time a 
 person deceives me it is his fault, the second time it is 
 my fault. I cannot say that my judgment in likes and 
 dislikes is always correct, but I am careful never to 
 betray a friend or do an act which I think dishon 
 orable. 
 
 During my boyhood days I was under an influence 
 intensely religious. I have no doubt that my mother 
 believed that if she prayed to God that He listened and 
 would answer the petition. I was taught that I was 
 under the constant surveillance of the Deity. The anec 
 dote I have told before, of the Sunday when I went 
 bathing and cut my foot on an old axe in the water, 
 and how I managed to walk home, though the injury 
 was a serious one and the comfort I had received was 
 the assurance that the punishment was inflicted on me 
 because "I was breaking the Sabbath." This is a sam 
 ple of the religious conviction under which I was 
 trained. 
 
 All the boys in our neighborhood were kept steadily 
 employed week days, and Sunday was about the only 
 day in which we could play. Indeed, I was so con 
 fined that I had scarcely an opportunity to take ad 
 vantage of that day even. Occasionally I would pro 
 vide myself with a gun and go hunting, but game was 
 scarce and there was not much pleasure in the sport. 
 The most of my boyhood pleasures were obtained by 
 visiting neighboring children after dark; as we had, 
 however, no neighbors who lived less than half a mile 
 
BECAPITULATION 345 
 
 from our house, my social intercourse was quite lim 
 ited. 
 
 My father was a dignified, austere man ; he believed 
 that to spare the rod was to spoil the child. I have 
 no recollections of his taking me on his knee or play 
 ing with me; yet he was a very kind and honorable 
 man. He was known in the neighborhood where he 
 lived as Uncle Alfred. My earliest recollection of my 
 father was when he was about sixty years old. He was 
 a strong, sturdy man of about 180 pounds weight. The 
 top of his head was bald with a fringe of white hair 
 beneath. He wore, if I remember correctly, a No. 
 7 1-2 hat. When dressed for church the hat was a tall 
 one. He wore a stock about his neck, and a blue 
 swallow-tailed coat with brass buttons. He was a fine 
 appearing man. 
 
 The following story will illustrate my father's high 
 sense of honor. I sold a colt to a neighbor for $100 and 
 the man came for the horse, as agreed. My father met 
 him at the gate and said: "Mr. Low, Emory tells me 
 that he has sold the colt to you for $100." Mr. Low re 
 plied that it was so. "I do not think the colt worth as 
 much as that, and you may have it for $80," said my 
 father. I protested that I would not sell it for that 
 price, and Mr. Low paid the $100 and took the colt. 
 I, perhaps, had a better knowledge of what the animal 
 was worth than my father had, although I was but six 
 teen years old at the time. But this incident serves to 
 illustrate the honorable character of my father. It was 
 his custom every morning to read a chapter in the 
 Bible and have family prayers. He always repeated 
 the same prayer. When I was a lad I tried hard to 
 learn that prayer, but some way was never able to com- 
 
346 REMINISCENCES 
 
 mit it to memory. At the beginning of each meal he 
 also asked a blessing, and it was worded the same, but 
 that blessing I was never able to repeat. In spite of 
 this custom of praying it seemed to me that the re 
 ligious convictions of my father did not run very deep. 
 I think that his father my grandfather Stephen 
 Skinner, of whom I have but a faint recollection, as 
 he died when I was about nine years old, was an Epis 
 copalian, and that my father was brought up in that 
 faith, but became a Methodist after his marriage to 
 my mother. She had become converted after her mar 
 riage and became very religious. She was somewhat 
 noted in the neighborhood for her ability to make an 
 eloquent prayer. My father told me that she was a 
 very handsome girl when he married her. As I re 
 member her, she was quite stout, weighing perhaps 160 
 pounds. She did not exceed 5 feet 6 inches in height. 
 She had long, coal black hair, which retained its color 
 up to the time of her death, and it was her custom to 
 wear a lace cap over it. She had sharp, black eyes, 
 long eyebrows, a strong nose, high cheeked bones and a 
 brunette complexion. She was but fifteen years old 
 when married, my father being six years older. This 
 was in 1802. She was the mother of fifteen children, 
 of which I was the youngest. My parents both lived 
 to be over ninety years of age. They would have cele- 
 ebrated their diamond wedding anniversary had my 
 father lived a year longer. Considering the number of 
 children my mother had to care for, she was very kind 
 to us all. She had a failing of bursting into tears at 
 the slightest censure. 
 
 I have seen nothing in recent educational methods 
 that seems equal to the country schools (of our local- 
 
RECAPITULATION 34:7 
 
 ity) in my youth. They seldom taught anything ex 
 cept the common branches of education, but the chil 
 dren were taught very thoroughly in reading, writing, 
 arithmetic and geography. A child, if he tried, could 
 get a good practical education in these schools, and for 
 those who desired higher, there was the academy, then 
 a feature of nearly every village. 
 
 In my own school work the study in which I ex 
 celled was geography, and it has only been in later years 
 that I would fail if any part of the earth were men 
 tioned to tell where it was located. 
 
 When I was a little chap I spent much of the time 
 in the house with my mother, her daughters having all 
 married and left home. My mother and the "hired 
 girl" did not tease me as did my older brothers. I 
 remember many things which my mother told me about 
 her own father in those days ; she had great respect and 
 admiration for his memory. He was born in Francis- 
 town, N. H., in 1765. According to American Ar 
 chives, Vol. 6, p. 1120, he enlisted from that place May 
 7th, 1782, in Captain Isaac Frye's Company of the 
 First New Hampshire Regiment, commanded by Lieu 
 tenant-Colonel Henry Dearborn. At Newburgh, N. 
 Y., June 16, 1783, he was transferred to the Comman- 
 der-in-Chief s Guard, assigned the special duty of 
 guarding the person of General Washington and his 
 personal baggage and papers. On September 5th, 1783, 
 Lieutenant Bezaleel Howe was detached from the New 
 Hampshire Battalion and assigned to the command of 
 the Commander-in-Chief's Guard. In November of 
 that year Washington issued the following letter of in 
 structions to Captain Howe with respect to the delivery 
 of his papers and baggage at his home at Mount Yer- 
 
348 REMINISCENCES 
 
 non, Virginia, "to deliver the baggage at nay house, ten 
 miles below Alexandria. As you know, they contain 
 all of my papers, which are of immense value to me. 
 I am sure it is unnecessary to request your particular 
 attention to them, but as you will have several ferries 
 to pass, some of them wide, particularly the Susque- 
 hanna and Potomac, I must caution you against 
 crossing these if the wind should be high or there is, 
 in your opinion or in the judgment of others, the least 
 danger. The waggons should never be without a sen 
 tinel over them, always locked, and the keys in your 
 possession." Corporal Holt was assigned to the posi 
 tion of wagon-master to his excellency's baggage. The 
 guard was composed of twelve mounted infantrymen, 
 of which my grandfather, Ebenezer C'oston, then only 
 eighteen years of age, was one. After the return of 
 this expedition he was honorably discharged at West 
 Point, K Y., December 20th, 1783. He died at Ly- 
 sander, K Y., February 17th, 1814. These facts 
 about my grandfather's military career are taken from 
 Dr. Godfrey's History of the Commander-in-Chief's 
 Guard, published by Stevenson-Smith Company, Wash 
 ington, D. C., in 1904. 
 
 My mother was born at Greenfield, N. H., June 26, 
 1786. My grandfather removed to Litchfield, Oneida 
 county, !N". Y., some time before 1800 I am unable to 
 give the exact date and became captain of a militia 
 company located in the neighborhood. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief's Guard was drilled by 
 Baron Steuben of Revolutionary fame. He was said 
 to have been a very strict drill-master, a martinet, who 
 had received his military education under the rough 
 and rugged discipline of Frederick the Great, of 
 
RECAPITULATION 34:9 
 
 Prussia. I have heard my mother say that the mem 
 bers of his company upon drilling days would come 
 to the house before light and fire of? their guns to 
 warn him of the impending muster. He would then 
 set out for them a jug of whiskey with which to keep 
 themselves warm until time to drill. 
 
 It was the custom when I was a lad for militia to 
 have training days during the summer months, and 
 in the fall of the year to have a general training, com 
 posed of the regiment. Two of my brothers, Sidney 
 Mills and Dan Barnes, were captains of militia com 
 panies. These military days gradually became occa 
 sions of drunken rioting, of the humorous sort, until 
 they were finally abolished by the legislature, some 
 ten years or more before the civil war. The officers of 
 the companies were unable to control their men, and 
 training day was nothing more than a time of drunken 
 carousal. It was the custom in those days to have 
 wrestling matches. My brother, Barnes, was quite an 
 athlete and had a reputation as a wrestler. He was 
 nearly six feet in height, of athletic build, with very 
 piercing black eyes and straight black hair, and my 
 mother said that he looked very much like her father; 
 I think he was a favorite with her on account of that 
 resemblance. My mother frequently told me that 
 Goffe, the regicide, was my ancestor, which I believed, 
 until perhaps twenty years ago. In reading of the 
 three regicides who fled to New England, I found that 
 Goffe never brought his family to America ; so if there 
 is any of GofiVs blood in my veins it comes through 
 the blood of some dusky aborigine. The story is told 
 that during an attack of the Indians on the meeting 
 house while church service was being held, that GofTe 
 
350 REMINISCENCES 
 
 appeared and took command of the defense, repulsed 
 the Indians and immediately afterwards disappeared. 
 The emisaries of Charles the Second searched for 
 him for many years, that he might be carried back to 
 England and beheaded, 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 IN CONCLUSION. 
 
 For certain reasons I desire to express my opinion on 
 religious subjects, in order that I may not be misquoted 
 or misunderstood in the future. With this object in 
 view I introduce the subjects herein presented. 
 
 Every man creates a God of his own, or has some 
 one create a God for him, and the characteristics of his 
 God will be the characteristics of his own nature. The 
 superstitions of man incline him to believe in some 
 kind of deity. It is natural for every one to accept 
 the fact of a Higher Power which has "created the 
 heavens and the earth and all that in them is." If 
 we knew more about this Being it might be better for 
 us; however, if the Creator thought it well for us to 
 know more than we do, it was within His power to have 
 enlightened us. Man by his intellect has discovered 
 many natural laws, the recognition of which has made 
 apparent many things which in his previous ignorance 
 and superstition he had believed to be unnatural and 
 attributable to supernatural causes. nc roft Library 
 
 In the early days of the world, monarchs obtained 
 their right to rule over their brothers by "divine right," 
 by what was regarded as the sanction of God, delivered 
 by human hands. People suffered great wrongs and 
 injustice under cruel and inhuman rulers, and believed 
 that they had no right to resist. Human slavery was 
 upheld by religion. Probably most of the evils which 
 
 351 
 
352 REMINISCENCES 
 
 have seriously affected mankind have resulted from 
 the teachings of some religion which rendered the per 
 son believing it impervious to reason or argument. 
 Gathered from the ancient Jewish writings of law 
 givers and prophets is a compilation known as the 
 Bible. In this is given a circumstantial account of the 
 creation of the world. I recollect in my boyhood days 
 learning a piece of doggerel which ran as follows: 
 
 "The world was made in six days, and finished on the 
 
 seventh ; 
 According to the contract it should have been the 
 
 'leventh. 
 The carpenters got drunk, and the masons wouldn't 
 
 work, 
 And the quickest way to finish it was to fill it up with 
 
 dirt." 
 
 This account of the creation is as circumstantial, 
 reliable and truthful as the one given in Genesis. There 
 are certain books in the Bible giving an account of the 
 lives and wanderings of the descendants of Abraham. 
 The Jews claim to be the beloved of God in preference 
 to any other tribes or races of men. They have gen 
 erally been a very unpopular people, though many of 
 them have been talented, wise and of remarkable abil- 
 ity. 
 
 During the first four centuries of the Christian era 
 many histories were written concerning Jesus Christ, 
 who claimed to be the Son of God. From these nu 
 merous writings were selected those which form the 
 books of the New Testament, and these added to the 
 ancient religious and historical writings of the Jews 
 form the modern Bible. This book is the foundation 
 
IN CONCLUSION 353 
 
 of most of the religions taught in civilized countries 
 today, and the followers believe it to be without in 
 vestigation or proof inspired by God Himself. 
 
 Jesus Christ taught His disciples and mankind gen 
 erally to "love one another/' and to "do unto others as 
 ye would have others do to you," yet the priests of this 
 new religion of Jesus Christ raised themselves, step by 
 step, in earthly power and attempted to dominate the 
 world. They became careless of His precepts and 
 sought for pomp and glory, and employed all the ad 
 vantages of their high places to gain power and con 
 trol over their fellow men. Eighteen centuries have 
 followed of cruelty and crime, done in the name of 
 Christianity, and claimed to be in accordance with the 
 teachings of Jesus Christ. The masses of the believers 
 in the Christian religion were ignorant and unlearned, 
 while the learned among them grew more domineering 
 and crafty in order that they might enjoy supreme 
 earthly power. 
 
 One purpose of most religions has been to invent a 
 scheme by which a few could live in luxury at the ex 
 pense of the many. It has been the object and pur 
 pose of most sects to force great numbers of persons 
 into their belief and control them by injustice and 
 cruelty. Great wrongs have been inflicted in the name 
 of religion, and the severest tortures have been en 
 dured by many who refuse to believe in some particu 
 lar creed. What the nature of God is no man knows. 
 We do know, however, that the more humane and in 
 telligent a nation is, the better it is for its people. The 
 honest beliefs of an individual, if he does not attempt 
 to force them upon others, and if he advocates only 
 what is virtuous, honest and merciful, can do no 
 
354 REMINISCENCES 
 
 serious injury and must tend to the betterment of man 
 kind. What the future has in store for us, where we 
 are to go, what we are to do or be, is entirely unknown 
 to us. Shakespeare speaks of death as : 
 
 "That undiscovered country, from whose bourne 
 No traveler returns." 
 
 So far it has been idle to attempt to penetrate the 
 veil. We know that the heavens are full of worlds 
 and planets, that they are of area so vast that all who 
 have dwelt on the earth from its dawn to the present 
 time might live upon them. The suggestive mind of 
 man can easily imagine what might be our future, but 
 that we can have any real knowledge upon this point 
 is not at all probable. The intense curiosity of man 
 leads him to conjecture and resolve schemes of exist 
 ence which he tries to foist upon mankind as being the 
 will and purpose of the Creator Himself. 
 
 I remember when I was a boy, I was told that God 
 kept constant care over me, that He even counted the 
 hairs of my head, and that He kept a diary in which 
 were recorded all my good and bad acts; all my good 
 and bad thoughts; and at that time I was not very 
 well able to distinguish the good from the bad. 
 
 Faith is the ability to believe a lie, there being no 
 evidence to prove its truth. Somehow I appear to 
 lack that faculty. I always desire some substantial 
 evidence of the truth of anything. I am not easily 
 convinced of the truth of things which I cannot see, 
 hear, or prove by some sort of reasoning, especially if 
 the things themselves appear to be against reason. 
 Many possess the faculty of faith, but believing a 
 thing does not make it true, for believing is simply a 
 
IN CONCLUSION 355 
 
 confession of ignorance. We may believe a thing is 
 so and not know it is so. Knowledge is very different 
 from belief; one must have evidence to substantiate 
 knowledge, but belief is simply an opinion. Belief 18 
 something like seeing an alkali flat in a desert and 
 thinking that it is a lake. 
 
 Religious beliefs are usually more prevalent among 
 the unlearned than among the educated classes of hu 
 manity. Every creed which is not founded on the dog 
 mas which teach immortality of the soul and everlast 
 ing rewards and punishments, is unsuccessful. Such 
 dogmas were unknown to the Jews, therefore Judaism^ 
 far from being supported by Providence, was an un 
 successful doctrine. It is necessary for a religion to 
 take hold on the minds of the followers so they will 
 have a hope of reward and a fear of punishment con 
 stantly before their mental vision. 
 
 I recollect, when a boy, of living a short time with a 
 family in which there was an aged and infirm gentle 
 man, who made agonizing prayers and appeals, twice 
 daily, to his Presbyterian God. He impressed me as 
 one having an intense fear of death. He would ac 
 cuse himself of being a terrible sinner, unworthy of 
 any consideration by his Maker, and would implore in 
 a most pathetic manner, forgiveness for wrongdoing. 
 In my youthful imagination I used to wonder what the 
 terrible crimes might have been of which he had been 
 guilty. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian church, 
 a polite and lovable man, respected by everyone who 
 knew him, yet the fear with which he regarded death, 
 was appalling. 
 
 The child's faith in the fiction told it by grown-up 
 people, of the rabbits which lay painted eggs, for which 
 
356 REMINISCENCES 
 
 they search Easter morning, is about equal to the faith 
 of their elders in the dogmas of their religion, which 
 has no more foundation for its assumption than the 
 other. 
 
 The clergy has a great influence on the mind of the 
 public, and it is not always exercised with wisdom. It 
 was the excitable sentiments uttered from the pulpits 
 of the north against the south, and in the southern 
 churches against the north which engendered an ani 
 mosity, culminating in one of the most terrible and 
 bloody wars of modern times. I do not believe that the 
 result of this fearful cost will be of benefit to those for 
 whom it was fought. The negro of today is a different 
 creature from the slave of 1860. At that time he was 
 generally a docile and kind-hearted attendant to his 
 master. After the close of the war the clergy again led 
 northern public sentiment into the foolish step of de 
 manding franchise for the slave class, holding that polit 
 ical equality with the whites would serve as a protec 
 tion for the weaker. This was granted and served as 
 a menace to one-third of our country ever since, and 
 with all the loss to our own people it did not help or 
 satisfy the negroes, whose master ambition is for social 
 equality rather than political, or commercial. But the 
 white can not concede this if he would, as necessarily it 
 means the lowering of the white to the level of the 
 negro, who is disqualified from meeting the higher 
 conditions. 
 
 It is quite probable that the next part of the country 
 to suffer from this folly and egotism of the negro will 
 be the north ; the freedom and latitude given the blacks 
 will eventually meet a rebuff in some form of bitter 
 war of the races. Again the clergy, as leaders of public 
 
IN CONCLUSION 357 
 
 sentiment, will be heavily responsible, and it is likely 
 that the curses will come home to roost which have been 
 uttered against the south, whose experience of three 
 centuries with the negro makes it better fitted to meet 
 the problem, than any other. 
 
 The motives of the clergy in all of these mistakes may 
 be of the purest kind, but their pursuits and occupations 
 disqualify them from understanding such drastic meas 
 ures as are required in certain extremes of business and 
 politics. 
 
 When at times I realize some of the ignorance ex 
 pressing itself everywhere about us, I am impressed 
 with the thought of what a terrible state of ignorance 
 there must have been in the period following the crea 
 tion. The first thunder storm, or earthquake; the first 
 sight of birth or death, without the knowledge that it 
 must be borne by millions of others ; not even to know 
 the reason why the sun rose or set! As man becomes 
 more intelligent, his ignorance in a measure disappears. 
 It may be for the benefit of the human being that 
 theories are constructed with regard to future existence, 
 of which he can know nothing, but in my opinion it is 
 a doubtful exercise of the imagination. 
 
 I believe the Deity to be the concentration of All- 
 Knowledge. He is the acme of all mechanism. The 
 construction, organization and individuality of the hu 
 man structure is so marvelous that the mind is para 
 lyzed in its efforts to comprehend it; and the mortal 
 mind approaches the Creator the nearest when it excels 
 in the construction, invention and operation of applied 
 mechanics. I have never been so happy in any pursuit 
 as when I was building a mill, and contriving to make 
 all the parts work together. 
 
358 BEMINISCENCES 
 
 I believe that God is omniscient but not necessarily 
 omnipresent In the construction of a mechanical in 
 vention, its highest perfection would be proved by its 
 ability to work on without supervision. 
 
 It is self evident that the Deity has given us no 
 knowledge of Himself or of His purposes, only such as 
 we are able to read from the laws of Nature, but we 
 see that the human body partakes of food, in that 
 manner supplying its own materials to maintain exist 
 ence until the organism wears out through an over stren 
 uous life or from the decay of old age. 
 
 Man comes into the world against his wish, and he 
 departs from it in the same way. Today he is and to 
 morrow he is not. Why he comes and why he goes, are 
 equal mysteries; however, death has no sting, but such 
 as we give it