Took on the arrival of a new sister, but I have been told the sister then four

Years of age was very proud of her new sister, I do not recall this. But in

About a year we moved to what was known as the Frank Hardy Sr. farm and is known

Today as the Frank Hardy Jr. farm northwest of Buckeye school house and

Cemetery.

We lived there four years, many things come to mind as we lived there, two

Years later another brother Joe was born of which I do not recall, I remember

My sister taking me along to the Buckeye school with her to play, I imagine she

Was very proud (maybe not) to take me there. This schoolhouse consisted of

Two rooms and two teachers, the large room for the larger boys and girls as you

Know in those times there were no High schools, attended country schools up to the ages of even twenty-one years sometimes, the small room for the smaller

Pupils registered there at one time. I think I was about five years old one

afternoon father ask my sister and I if we wanted to go to Aunt Nancy Rampleys

to stay over night. Of course we always wanted to go there, she was a dear

mother of some of that are present. And one of the dearest and best Aunts

anybody ever had, she had several children and when we went there we knew we

could dress up with all the clothes in the house, play all over the house, play

store and use all the buttons in the button box for money. I remember Minnie

at one time remarked that if aunt Nan was our mother and father, we would be

ok as the term is used now a days, for if we did some thing naughty and father

promised us alickin maybe he would forget all about it and if Mother promised

us one we were sure of it she never forget all about it and if mother promised

us one we were sure of it she never forget it if it was a week, but to get back

to the story, father came to Aunt Nans next morning to take us home and told us

we had a little brother. I remember that old wagon went pretty slow and when

we arrived at home Minnie and I jumped down on the hubs and was going up to

the door when it was opened by brother Joe and he say, "We got a baby brother,

we got a baby brother." I remember as I went in to look at him, he as I

remember was bald as he is now and his face as red but folks didn't get the

impression that he was always thatway for he had a heavy head of stubborn hair of which I tried to train and part on the side as they wore it those days. I

remember two parties given there one for the school children, on for young

folks. I think as a farewell before we moved. We then moved to the Robert

McCume farm three miles east of West Point. I was informed then I would have

the watch and care of this baby. Mother was washing one day and as she went to

hang up her clothes I think her tub of rinse water set on the walk between the

house and summer kitchen, I was told to watch the baby, I went on to my play

and when she came back there the baby, Loyd, stood in the tub holding to the

side stamping the water as high as his head. The baby was changed to dry

clothes and I had a reminder that when you were told to watch babies that was

just what it meant, nothing else. AsI was not of school age yet my sister took

me to school again, Climas School; I am afraid she wasn't very proud this

time, it was the last day I don't recall whether there was a picnic dinner or

not, but just before we went home we were called in and seated and a great

large dish of ice cream and the most delicious red strawberries were placed on

top. Now I had never seen any ice cream or strawberries at this time and I sat

and looked at the rest eating, finally l the teacher came and ask me to eat my

ice cream. I took my spoon and pushing those strawberries down into the ice

cream, and never ate a bite finally the teacher came again and said Honey won't

you eat your ice cream, but Honey sat there like a dummy and has always regretted that dish of ice cream was wasted.

Then came Christmas, we younger children said we would like to see Santa Claus,

one evening as we had never seen him, Brother George thought he would be a play

Santa Claus, pretty soon the bells begin to ring and the door opened, in came a

man dressed in white, big eyes, whiskers, and a sack on his back, then I got

the scare of my life. Mother was sitting on one of the old fashioned low cane

or bark bottom chairs with the rungs about that high from the floor and I

actually tried to crawl under that chair. We only lived there on year until

we moved a mile and al half south west of Denver known as the Harter farm later

as the James Thompson farm. A large house of nine rooms, a nice basement, two

halls and two porches. There was my first school, dear old Hazel Dell as I pass

down that road many memories come to me of Hazel Dell and the old Brick is

still standing. I think my first teacher was Mrs. Magggie Brickner latre Mrs.

A. Harter. I remember at one time six of us all attended this school at the

same time all except Loyd.

Here George and Ed became large enough to tease us smaller children and as the

folks went to spend the evening at the Harters and left us with them, there

were two large windows in the kitchen at the back of this house. They came in

and ask if we ever saw a ghost, so Minniesaid there isn't any ghost and they said well you came here and look and there was something white right at the

window, I don't recall who won the race as we run the length of three rooms

back to our beds. We found out afterwards that was pillows propped up.

I think Jim must have been a lover of the words as he often wandered. There

was lots of timber on this farm and he caught two pet squirrels and made a cage

for them, it consisted of two rooms, the larger two rooms was a box and he

covered the front with a large vine woven both ways, about an inch apart while

the back and smaller rooms were dark. the cage was on a box by the side of a

brick smoke house. He had straw and corn and feed all over the floor. One day

Joe and I thought this straw was too dirty and we went to get some matches and

set fire to the straw, immediately the squirrels disappeared into the back

room. Joe ran to give the alarm but I took in the situation that if I didn't

do something that brick smoke house would burn down, so I put my fingers into

those red hot fires and pulled the cage off the box, water was brought, not

much damage done to squirrels and cage as I remember but oh! how I remember

those fingers yet. Still Jim went to the woods and made all sorts of small

things. He would whittle with a knife, he had a violin, I always liked to

wonder up to that room and see the things he made. One day I went up and

actually there was a new fiddle box, I opened it up and looked in, nice polished fiddle and a few other things, I remember going up again to see into

the fiddle box, I couldn't get it open, it had a lock on it. He made a

secretary of walnut wood. I think you will find it in his home today, that I

thought was wonderful to make with only a pocket knife and a saw. I began to

think my big brother was going to be one of those large architects and I

believe yet he must have missed his calling, not that he made a good farmer

too. I still had the care of this baby I knew what it mean't when he sat up in

the morning and hollered Pearl, Pearl, tht was to come dress him and entertain

him. In those days we had the old large steam engine and they could thresh

your grain too, they pulled into our place one evening about dark, they stayed

all night with you and for breakfast, until your threshing job was done. Well,

this evening as kids will do, Joe, Loyd and I went out into the corner of the

yard to watch. The engineer pulled off a toot, toot, too, too. Loyd ran to me

and says Pearl, I shrade, I shrade, that biggy waggy.

Around this time we had some new neighbors move in, a man, woman and a tall

blonde son by the name of Wilkinson, which seemed to be real neighbors as the

folks thought anyway. They neighbored back and forth and the blonde came often

to play with the boys, but presently I begin to get my eyes open as I had

learned at school what a bean or a jell or my girl meant. (the term used now days is quite different). I begin to think my sister was having a beau as I

could see he didn't go outside to play marbles, dominoes, checkersor what ever

the game might be with the boys and when Christmas came I begin to think one of

the beaus or fellows wouldn't be so bad to have around, I think Jim was

beginning to be about 21 years old, when father bought him a new horse, her

name was queen, she was a beaut black with a white star in her face I think he

had a road cart for awhile and later he worked and bought a new buggy. About

that time George and Ed had a road cart, used their fathers horse and I think

had some girls on the string for we had two parties at that place and all three

boys brought a girl there, and still the blond beau kept coming.

Along in the winter our folks had bought our old home, still out here and we

were told we were to move in the spring. One morningin February as Joe and I

walked to school alone the roads were dry and dusty I noticed Jim, shining his

buggy up and Queen was brushed until she shone like the new buggy. We walked a

mile then we turned west to the old Hazel Dell, we saw him coming but he never

caught up with us before we turned. Jim went tot he home of his lady love,

still farther south and took her to Carthage. Ed, George and Minnie, after we

were gone, went the east road to Carthage where Jim and his present wife were

married. Next day we were kept home from school, told that we were to have company. Then we were told we were having a reception for Jim and his bride.

We were coming up here and Jim and his wife were to live there which they did

for six years. In March we moved on and I rmember as we came, two or three

loads Joe and I was on one load. Mother, Minnie and Loyd rode in the buggy.

As we came past our shool house Grape Vine, we were jerred at, Hello as Who are

you? Where are you going. but as we had been taught never to talk back to

smart alec's, we didn't, but afterwards as we went to school there we found

they were just joking and wasn't a bad sort at all. Many things of interest

happened in this our new home, one thing the measles as we heard none of us

ever had them. Still the blond beau kept coming and as he had been studying

all this while he had become a telegrapher and was staying in carthage now, not

nearly so far to come, in the fall the Hancock Co. fair was being held at the

same Fir grounds as now we had a lumber wagon in those days to ride in. (not

an automobile and we had two old sorrel horses each one had one good eye ws on

the outside. We were going to attend this fair, one day. When the blonde beau

appeared the night before to go with us. Mother had prepared cake, chicken,

and all the good things for our dinner and we arose, and went to the fair to

spend the day. I remember how it was then. After dinner my sister and her

beau ask me to go along with them and of course I accepted. I begin to think a

beau with lots of money was pretty nice anyway, as we watched the races and went thre and here from stand to stand you all know how it was, I knew better

by this time than to let ice cream to waste, bananas, peanuts, candy, and

lemonade, and as Grandfather Clampitt said when he hadn't had for awhile, and

as it was free, why not fill up, which I did and then mother came wanting us

to go home and says I , I'm sick and she engineered me around one of those

large art hall to relieve my stomach but just some, as we got into the wagon

going home, I leaned out over the wagon several times and home and to bed

thinking it wasn't so nice after all to have a beau like that. However, I will

never forget it and I learned a lesson as well. After awhile the blonde beau

faded out of the picture and a burnette appeared which my sister married. Then

when the beau's came , I thought I knew who they were coming to see, finally my

Prince charming came along, this is the end of my story and you all know the

rest.