Jasper Co. IAGenWeb
Past and Present of Jasper Co.

Chapter XXXIX
INTERESTING REMINISCENCES

Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa
B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912


The following reminiscences have been furnished by local writers and extracted from the writings of men who have passed from earthly scenes and who in their day and generation were men of influence and wrote truly and accurately concerning pioneer events, which they themselves had witnessed either as men or youth. Perhaps there will be found treasured here much of interest to both the present and oncoming generations.

THE GREAT INDIAN SCARE

Ballinger Aydelotte, who was one of Jasper county's earliest justices of the peace, a hardy pioneer, and a man of considerable ability as a descriptive and historic writer, at various times for numerous publications gave the facts as herein narrated, concerning the great Indian scare in Jasper and adjoining counties away back in the days when the Indian was about to be removed forever from this, his once happy hunting and fishing ground, to be occupied by the white race:

"The Indians were moved from this country in 1846 by the government to western Kansas, except a few who were left on the reservation in Tama County. A great many of them did not want to go, and the dragoons gathered them to Fort Des Moines with a four-mule government team. We could see a squad of dragoons with mule teams every day for two weeks hunting Indians, catching them every day and hauling them to Des Moines. Most of them were willing to go, and would pilot the dragoons and help catch those who did not want to go. Those they did not find gathered on the reservation in Tama County and stayed there as the soldiers were sent to the war in Mexico.

"Quite a number straggled back in the fall of 1848. They said: 'Masquakie heap sick out there; all die if they stay there.' In June 1849, they came in gangs of thirties and forties. They were sullen and would not talk or give the settlers any satisfaction, but went on to their reservation on Iowa River in Tama County. By the Fourth of July they had all passed on. About this time it began to be talked among the settlers that the Indians were going to drive the whites out or kill them. This was talked of for a few days; stories began to fly thick and fast of what the Indians were going to do. None of these stories lost anything, but were generally enlarged, until nothing else was talked of but Indians and their massacres. Everybody was excited or scared. I saw men talk Indian till their teeth would chatter and their knees knock together. The women and children were worse scared, if possible than the men. Pretty soon some of the men took their families and left. This started the tide, and they went thick and fast for a few days. All went from some neighborhoods. They went to Mahaska, Jefferson and Lee Counties. One company from the Clear Creek settlement came to town and camped in the old courthouse, that stood on the northwest corner of the square. It was then new. They had one or two-horse teams, the rest were oxen. There were seven or eight families. Some time the next night the horses got scared, commenced to snort, and rattled their chains. Some one yelled, 'The Indians are coming!' This started the screams of the women and children. Wash. Logdon's wife fainted. This made matters worse, and such a tumult as they had! T'was a time long to be remembered. Over half of the settlers in the county this side of Skunk River left. We felt lonesome after so many had gone. Some contended an the time that there was no danger; but when the larger part of the settlers got scared and believed the reports, there was no reasoning with them. Those who stayed would gather at some house in the neighborhood at night. When they did not meet at my house I would take my wife and little six-year-old boy to the place where they were to meet, and go back home myself and get a good night's rest. I was no braver than other men, but I did not believe there was any danger. I felt as secure as I do today. The Indians were seen every day by the settlers in small hunting parties, and fishing, and sometimes called at the houses to beg for something to eat. Three of them called when I was away from home. They walked in without speaking, frightening my little boy so he crawled under the bed, and my wife could not speak. She was one of the scared ones from the first. Finally she asked if the Indians were going to war with the whites. The old Indian could not talk English, and he said. 'Yes.' Then my wife said, 'You won't kin the innocent. will you?' 'Yes, we will.' he said. Then the little boy began to yell and cry. She then asked if there were more Indians coming. He said, 'Yes, heap Musquakie comin' drunk.' Then she thought sure she would be scalped in a few minutes. She then said, 'White man come and kill Indian.' Then the Indians were scared as bad as she was; they ran out of the house, jumped on their ponies, and went off whipping and looking back as if they expected to see the white men after them. They did not come to my house any more that summer or fall. As soon as they were out of sight my wife and little boy hurried to the nearest neighbors as fast as they could, expecting to see the drunken Indians any time. When she told what the Indians said, the neighbors were badly scared and supposed they had got drunk to begin their butchering. The news flew all over the settlement that the Indians had been to Aydelotte's house and threatened to kill his wife and child, and scared her so bad that she was not expected to live. Men came in from all over the settlement to learn the truth. There were no drunken Indians seen or heard of. I suppose the old Indian saw she was frightened and said what he did to frighten her worse. There were no more Indians seen in our neighborhood during the scare, but the talk and excitement went on, and several log forts were built around some houses in the settlement, where women and children were taken until the scare was over. In our settlement, after they had built their fort and got their women and children in three or four days, two of the women got into a quarrel over an old iron spoon. They then broke up and went home.

"On Clear creek they built a fort around old Joe Hint's house. He was one who believed there was no danger. He went on plowing corn and working on his farm as usual, while the neighbors built the fort. They threatened to tie and keep him in the house. He told them they were welcome to build the fort and bring their families there and stay as long as they pleased, but he must plow corn and take care of his own farm, for there was no danger from the Indians. So the excitement went on. There was a committee of five appointed to go to the Indian village on Iowa River and find out, if they could, whether the Indians were going to break out or not. Dr. Rodgers, Joab Bennett. Brock Hammick, William Richie and Silas Dooley were the committee who went. They came back and reported that they had been to the Indian camp, and seen the Indians at their homes, and they seemed very friendly and sociable, and they gave no signs of hostility, and thought there was no danger. In the meantime several petitions had been gotten up in the different settlements and sent to the Governor at Iowa City, requesting him to send militia and drive away the Indians. Finally the Governor got so many of the petitions and found that the settlers were so excited and neglecting their work that he sent an officer with a squad of men and an interpreter. They went and had a talk with the Indians. They found them perfectly ignorant of the scare among the whites; they knew something was wrong, but they thought that the whites were going to war among themselves. When they found out what was the matter they were as badly scared as the whites had been. They were afraid the government would drive them back to Kansas, and that they would as soon die as go back there. From that time on, they were very friendly to the whites. They committed no depredations that were heard of. The worst they did was in scaring my wife and son. The Governor sent out a statement that he had investigated the matter and found the Indians peaceable and wanting to live at peace with the whites, and there were no good grounds for the scare. This settled it, and in a short time those who had left began to return, by one and twos. We had a good deal of fun wanting to know when they would get their land warrants for services in the "Indian War," and what they would take for them. Thus ended the big Indian scare of 1849."

MEMORABLE WINTER OF 1848-49

Among the numerous historic items written at various times by that trustworthy pioneer, Ballinger Aydelotte, the following is worthy of perpetual preservation in the county's annals:

"It was in the year 1848-49 that we had the 'deep snow,' so-called because it was the deepest ever known up to or after that winter. The snow began falling early in December, and on Christmas morning it measured forty inches on the level all over the country. As there had been no wind, there were no drifts. About the 27th there came a thaw and a fog and a crust formed. A few neighbors made paths from one house to another, but they were so far apart that most of the traveling was done on snowshoes for three months. We had no good houses. All were small log cabins, with cracks chinked and daubed with mud. The roofs and doors were made of clap boards, with puncheon floors, so they did not lack ventilation. There were no stoves in this country at that time. We had no mail for three months, therefore no news from the outside world. It was impossible to get to the Oskaloosa mills. A few had their milling done, but they were soon out of breadstuff, and those who had none borrowed until it was all gone. So all were soon on an equality. The rule was to divide everything we had to eat as long as it lasted. Several attempts were made to get to mill in February but all failed, and it was not until the last of March that we got through with ox teams. So we had bread again, after living on browning and boiling corn and grating for over two months.

"After the crust formed on the snow, a man on snowshoes could catch a deer in a short time, as the deer would go through the crusted snow every jump it made, and after a few jumps would give up. The wolves, being able to run on the crust, caught a great many deer. One was started near William Springer's house; it tried to run into the house, but the dogs caught it and killed it in the yard. By the first of March deer got so poor one would not kill them for meat and many starved.

"The Indians lost hundreds of ponies that winter by starving. The snow that fell after the crust was formed was very light and every hard wind the air was filled with snow so one could scarce see their hand before them. At such times the snow would drift through the clapboard roof. And it was no fun jumping out of bed some mornings with snow two or three inches deep all over the house. After the hard blizzards the fine snow would blow off from the prairies into the hollows, making some of the drifts thirty and forty feet deep. I lived on Elk creek that winter."

HARD WINTER OF 1856-57

All true Iowans have experienced, or heard their parents tell of, the terrible winter of 1856-57, when the snow, on a dead level, measured fully thirty inches deep, and, when the thermometer stood from ten to thirty-four degrees below zero for weeks at a time. In November 1856, it commenced snowing and during that night it fell to the depth of eight inches. The regular rule that winter was five days of snowing and blowing and two days fair and very cold. Humanity and the poor half-starved animal kingdom suffered greatly during that never-to-be-forgotten winter. This state of affairs extended throughout the entire western country. Reader, imagine yourself the head of a family, located three miles or more out on the prairie, where no fuel could be procured, save by hauling a few logs at a time, over the snow, from some timber ravine, and cutting it up for stove wood to keep your family from perishing. This was the lot of hundreds who had sought out a new home in the wilds of Jasper and other Iowa counties.

REMINISCENCES OF THE OLD COURT HOUSE
By J. H. Fugard

There was once great rejoicing over the completion of a certain great building, but some of the people wept when they remembered the glories of the former house, Vie are now made glad by the completion of our splendid new courthouse, but are not unmindful of the more modest structure that once occupied its place. The old building stood for so many years in the most prominent place in the county, and was such a familiar object, that to many its destruction came like a personal loss; and the world almost seemed like a lonesome place without it. It cost much less than the present one. But land was then cheap and the people were poor. So that relatively it was more expensive than the new building. Its architecture was of no mean order, and before it was marred by ugly alterations and by the hand of time, it was really a handsome building. When we were children some of us thought that it was the grandest building in all the world. Its lofty dome seemed to us almost to reach the sky, and when brave Joe Bowker, the painter, once climbed upon it, and standing erect waved Old Glory to the breeze our enthusiasm knew no bounds. But the crowning glory of our former house consisted not in its stately columns and its classic frieze, but in wealth of its history. Many of the principal happenings of the county in its earlier years were connected with it, and much of our grand war history centers there. A multitude of thrilling scenes, patriotic and pathetic, humorous and sensational, have occurred within and around it. Many notable cases were tried there, and from its witness stand have been told tales of the unraveling crime that were equal to the detective stories that are told of Sherlock Holmes. Many worthy men there rendered faithful service during their best years, and the lives of some of them doubtless were shortened by its unhealthy atmosphere. Many an exciting political convention was held there. And many a good man met his Waterloo, because of lack of sufficient votes. Rival parties and contending factions have there met and harmonized their differences, and like the wolf and the lamb have lain down together, one of them inside the other. Those who tremble for the safety of the country, because of the deadly breach between the progressives and the standpatters, should remember the big pow-wow when the fierce "stalwarts" and the "mugwumps" ceased their defying war whoops and together smoked the pipe of peace.

Not only was it a favorite place for local speakers to exercise their talents but many state spellbinders, and not a few of national reputation have there held forth. With what delight we have heard the eloquence of some of them, both on the rostrum and at the bars, with vigor of thought and splendor of diction they have striven to convince or instruct or inspire their hearers. As I have listened to their well-chosen words and well-rounded sentences, I have thought that I would rather be an orator than a king.

The courtroom was for many years the largest assembly hall in the county, and was the natural meeting place for large public gatherings. It was often used for religious services. And in early days a number of funerals were held there, among them that of Capt. Thomas H. Miller, who was mortally wounded at Pittsburg Landing. His was the first soldier's funeral ever held in Newton, and was largely attended by people from all parts of the county. Memorial services were also held there for our first martyr President, whom the people loved to call "Father Abraham." A great sanitary fair was held during the war to raise money to buy supplies for the sick and wounded soldiers. It lasted for several days, and many hundred dollars were raised. People poured out their money lavishly for the good cause, and paid fabulous prices for trifling articles, often handing them back to be sold over again.

It seems incredible that men's better natures should be stirred by patriotism that they would be willing to leave their families and business, and go away for years and incur the dangers and hardships of war. By such devotion, however, the Union was saved and we are enabled to enjoy many of our present blessings. The old court house figured prominently in the days of the war, as many rallies were held there, and most of the volunteers started from there for the front. Many heartbreaking scenes occurred as the families and friends of the brave men gathered about them to bid them what in many cases proved to be their last goodbye.

Upon the breaking out of the rebellion, a number of our citizens expressed a willingness to help put it down. Among them was Samuel Chapman, the town jeweler, who had seen service with Scott in Mexico, and who was urged to take the lead in trying to get up a company. And a meeting was called at the courthouse to discuss it. Earnest speeches were made by several of the volunteers and others. Among the speakers was a young Newton law student named S. H. M. Byers, now a prominent citizens of Des Moines. He told in a manly way that he thought it was every man's duty to be willing to obey his country's call, and that he had decided to offer his services. And he closed by saying "Rome was once a mighty nation, and so was Carthage. Rome fell and so did Carthage; but shall these great United States of America fall? Never, never, never." Afterwards while confined in a rebel prison, he wrote a little poem entitled "Sherman's March to the Sea," and sent it home concealed in a wooden leg of a returning fellow prisoner. And when he himself came home, he found that it had been set to music and had made him famous.

Let me try to describe another rally, which was typical of all. It was on a summer afternoon in 1862, in the darkest days of the war. Dr. Ault had received a commission authorizing him to raise what was afterwards Company C of the Twenty-second Iowa, and this meeting was for the purpose of assisting him. Some one read the President's latest proclamation, calling for three hundred thousand more troops. And a statement was made as to the number that would be required from Iowa and from Jasper County. People's hearts sank, far it seemed as if not another man could be spared, and the number of black dresses to be seen told plainly what had been the fate of many who had gone. Several citizens made brief remarks in regard to the needs of the country. Then it was announced that those who wished to volunteer could do so; and sixteen young men, mostly from Newton and from the flower of our youth, went up to the judge's desk and signed the enlistment paper, amid a silence broken only by the sobs of their parents and friends. Among them were Jackson F. Newell and Thomas M. Rodgers, the youthful editors of the Monitor, our first daily paper. Than Townsend, Ray Allum and Milt McCord were also of the number; but the last named was afterward transferred to his brother's company in the Twenty-eighth Iowa.

During the next few years these sixteen young men had an opportunity to learn the horrors of war and about half of them never returned. On the bloody 22nd day of May 1863, they were in that long line of blue that swept up the heights at Vicksburg and was hurled back in defeat from the rebel works, and men went dawn like grass before the mower. Among those that fell that day were the Bair brothers and Jackson Newell and Johnny Green.

A HOME COMING

It was a glad night in the old building when the boys of Company B, Thirteenth Iowa, came home together on a furlough. The drums beat loudly, and everybody shouted for joy as the sturdy veterans marched proudly into the courtroom, and were seated at long tables laden with a royal feast. Those were stirring times.

And many a fistfight occurred on the streets over discussions growing out of the war. While a jollification was being held at the south front of the courthouse, celebrating the victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg, the audience suddenly left their seats and ran to watch an angry crowd thump a big fellow for having spoken disrespectfully of the government. There were times when it seemed as if the seat of war was about to be transferred from the cotton fields of the south to the cornfields of the north. A riot occurred at a political meeting at Peoria in Mahaska County and many shots were fired, and a returned soldier named Alloway was killed. The news, in a greatly magnified form, reached here while a rally was in progress at the courthouse and caused a great sensation. Many a cheek turned pale when it was reported that a battle had been fought on this side of Oskaloosa, and that two thousand rebels were marching towards Newton. At another time the community was thrown into excitement over the news that the draft was being resisted in Poweshiek County, and that two United States Marshals had been ambushed and shot in the public highway. And again the long roll sounded from the east steps calling out the home guards, like the minutemen of old, for immediate service.

Jasper County did its full part in standing loyally by the government in those trying times. And it furnished far more men than the quota required of it. At the first war meeting, before mentioned, a hope was expressed that eighty-four men could be secured so that they could form their own organization. But several expressed doubts as to whether so many could be raised in such a thinly settled county. But Captain Chapman afterwards had the joy of marching out of the courtyard at the head of his Jasper Grays, a hundred strong. And later on six more full companies were sent and enough parts of companies and recruits to bring the whole number up to about fifteen hundred men. And these citizen soldiers, unused to war's alarms, served with great credit. Many of them saw active service, and some of them witnessed struggles as terrific and slaughter as terrible as were experienced by the veterans who followed the leadership of the First Napoleon.

EARLY TIMES IN MOUND PRAIRIE

The following reminiscence was written about a dozen years ago by Seth W. Macy, who was a lad of thirteen summers when his parents settled in Mound Prairie Township, as it is now known among the civil sub-divisions of the county:

On the 15th day of September 1854, Jonathan W. Macy started from Kingston, Indiana, with all his worldly goods, to move to Iowa. His effects were loaded into two wagons, each drawn by a pair of horses. They arrived at Tool's Point October 5th. We drove on three and a half miles to the Col. S. B. Shellady farm, then owned by Mr. Smart, and after father explained what we wanted, he proceeded at once to empty the best room in the house for us, What we needed for use in the house we unloaded and put in order that night. The remainder of the goods were stored in the barn except the large and well-filled tool chest, which was left in the wagon. The first night in Jasper County was very agreeably spent, and we had everything necessary to our comfort. The next day, after dinner, father and I started for our land, and to locate the spot where the first cabin was to be built on the northwest corner of section 19. We then drove on to the upper end of Slaughter's Grove, where there were two log cabins eight feet apart, the space between roofed and enclosed. These cabins were occupied by John and Edward Thomas, brothers. The cabins were of logs with the bark left on. They were chinked and daubed with mud, and each had a stick-and-mud fireplace. Each brother had a wife and three children, two beds and trundle beds, so that each had a spare bed for travelers. We secured bed and board with Ed Thomas until we could build our cabin. The next day we went down into the timber for our first load of logs for our new cabin. Father cut the logs and loaded them and I hauled them out and unloaded them. I was then but thirteen years old, and of necessity had to play the part of a man. Six weeks later we moved into a very neat and comfortable hewed log house, fourteen by sixteen feet, with a sawed oak floor.

Now we have the cabin built, we will look around and see who lives in Prairie Mound Township. In passing up from Tool's Point over the old Indian trail, we entered the township by coming onto section 33 from the south. On the northeast quarter of this section lived E. R. Peck, who afterward became very well known by taking a great deal of interest in other people's property. Just north of the Peck property, on the southeast quarter of section 28, was another claim and cabin occupied by a Mr. Thomas. These were all the improvements on the south side of the township.

On the east half of the northwest quarter of section 19, there was a small cabin built the year before by Riley Van Scoyac, who occupied the same until 1857, when he sold to Isaiah Coomes who lived there for many years and died on the farm. On this farm Mr. Coomes made the first crockery in this portion of the country. Mr. Van Scoyac's father lived south on the east half of the southwest quarter of the same section, and sold about the same time as his son to Daniel Shepherd. All of these places mentioned thus far were so new that they had no grain or produce to sell. The Thomas brothers of whom we have spoken lived on section 12, in what is now Washington Township. Joseph Slaughter, who lived on section 5, was the first settler in what is now Mound Prairie Township. He came here in 1845, erected a cabin, went back east and returned with his family in the spring of 1846 and had a good farm in cultivation when we came and plenty of grain and stock.

Samuel K. Parker settled on section 4 in 1847. This was at the river crossing, now the Ross farm. Mr. Parker had a sawmill on the river forty rods below the river bridge, which was then run by Robert Warner, who we still have with us one mile south of Colfax. In 1853 John Sumpter settled on section 7, on what is now known as the Hartley farm. Mr. Sumpter was the first justice of the peace in the township, and no better or truer man could be found either then or now for the place. This was all the permanent settlers in the township except a few on the east side of the river, now known as the Metz Corner, where some very excellent people settled at an early date, among them the two Miller families, George W. and brother. The first was L. D. Simms, who came in 1849, then his son, S. S., in 1851. James, John and G. W. Miller came in 1853. These are all that we know settled in Mound Prairie Township prior to 1854.

In every new country there are always quite a number of comers and goers of a migratory disposition. They were here, but as I was a small boy I don't remember any of them.

Now we will look around a little, our post office was at Tool's Point, our grist mill at Red Rock, our corn cracker at Indian Creek, northeast of Colfax, and all the merchandise had to be hauled in wagons from the Mississippi River. What would you think of paying seven dollars per barrel for salt and fifteen cents per pound for nails, and all other articles in proportion?

In the spring of 1856, an eastern Indiana farmer came out to look at the country. He arrived at Fort Des Moines in the evening, and took a little walk on Second Street where the business was nearly all done. Seeing some salt barrels in front of a grocery, he inquired the price, and was told seven dollars per barrel. "What! Seven dollars for a barrel of salt?" "Yes," responded the grocer. "Well, no country can be settled where salt costs seven dollars per barrel." He took the first stage for Keokuk and returned home as soon as possible. Those that remained here, however, have seen the Hawkeye State grow and develop until it is the grandest state in the Union.

A few years later, we are informed this same Indiana farmer heard of the famous rock salt beds in Kansas, moved there and prospered.

The first grain cut with a machine was in 1857. It was a Rugg machine bought by William Jordan, who owned a part of what was afterwards the Jesse Long farm. Jonathan W. Macy afterward bought the machine and cut the grain in the township that harvest.

In 1856 Mr. Macy bought some registered shorthorn cattle of Milton Wilson, who went through here from Wayne County, Indiana, to Madison County, Iowa. Jonathan W. Macy was the originator of the Macy potato, later called the White Meshanoc, and of the potato industry, which has made the Prairie City famous. He was a pattern maker and millwright by trade, and one of the most skilled and perfect mechanics that could be found in any country. He built the first pile driver ever used in Jasper County. This machine was fully half a century in advance of the age in which it was built. See what J. R. Rodgers has to say of this machine. He helped drive the first piles that were driven in the county with it.

Mr. Macy made a set of carpenter's tools before his arrival here, such as planes, bit stalks, screw clamps and a wooden bench vise, that would puzzle the modern mechanic to construct and equal to many of those now made by machinery, most of which are now in my possession.

"THE KNOW NOTHING" POLITICAL PARTY

The present generation knows but little, if indeed anything, of what was of political significance in the fifties in the way of a political party known as the "Know Nothings." It was represented from one end of the country to the other and its chief principle was that it forbade the holding of office by other than American-born citizens, all foreigners being excluded from holding any office, either in county, state or nation. Naturally, a party advocating these principles must soon go down in a country like this.

In Jasper County such a party had an existence for a season or more, and has been well described by "Old Shady" (Joseph Arnold) in one of his reminiscential stories which runs thus:

In I855-6 there was organized in nearly every state in the Union a party known as the Know Nothing Party, the object of which was to keep all foreigners from holding office or taking any part whatsoever in the government of the United States. The meetings and lodges were held in secret, with armed force if need be, to prevent any foreigners from entering or to know of the business transacted.

This gave a favorable opportunity for crafty office seekers to manipulate plans for their own elevation to office. A. T. Alt, the treasurer of the county, whose first term was about to expire, wished to be elected for another term. This he thought an opportunity to immortalize his name and secure his election for a second term. He attended meetings in an adjoining county, which was headquarters for Know Nothings and got the appointment to organize lodges in Jasper County. He set a time and place and notified the leading voters and foreigner haters that he would be down in Lynn Grove and organize a lodge and fit them up to do business. At that time there was a log cabin in the midst of the woods located on section 3, one-half mile north of the home of John R. Sparks. In conformity with previous arrangements, Sir Alt came down from Newton with the appliances to organize the American Party of Know Nothings. About sunset there was a large gathering of the voters of the township up in the woods near Sparks. About dark we wended our way to the cabin. Alt called the house to order. The first thing done was to place sentinels out to see that no foreigners should know of the business or purpose of the meeting. All being ready, Alt unfurled the Stars and Stripes, which made a fine display in that dark and forlorn place. In an elaborate speech he told us of the danger that the United States was in from the foreign element. After getting us fully awakened, he proceeded to initiate us as members of this mystic organization. The initiation fee was nominal, not exceeding one dollar for each one initiated. I well remember the password, "Have you seen Sam?" The sign was to take hold of your coat on the right side with all of your hand except the index finger, which should be pointed straight out. Then the arm in a natural movement to be brought toward the left side, the index finger placed on the left breast near the region of the heart.

After a general hand shaking this meeting closed about ten o'clock without benediction. A. T. Alt was defeated, and soon the Know Nothing Party in all the states, was a thing of the past. This meeting was on Saturday night.

On Sunday morning I went to our little Quaker meeting and saw as soon as I got into the yard, Jarvis Johnson. True to his trust, he gave me the sign by taking hold of his shadbelly Quaker coat with his right hand, bringing his index finger near the region of the heart. I, true to my pledge, returned the sign. We both saw we were brethren and no foreigner could have our support, for we were full-fledged Know Nothings, and the government still stands.

Transcribed by Ernie Braida in July 2003