| Show I For Our Youth AJT ATHLETIC YOUIf G FOREFATHER How Governor John Cotton Smith Came from Tale to Spend Thanksgivings BY HELEN EVERTSON SMITH Young John Cotton Smith afterward governor of Connecticut was a lineal de and of Rev Incrase Mather This story is edited by his great granddaughter cendant of Rev John Cotton of Boston from details found in his unpublished papers pa-pers I was not yet fifteen years old when I entered college in September 1779 so it already seemed to me that I had been away from home a long time when I received permission to go home to attend Thanksgiving That was the expressionthat we all Used thenattend Thanksgiving and it meant a great deal to us Our Thanksgiving was no empty phrase It was a sacred day Though a day of feasting it was a solemn feast unto the Lord On that dayas on the Sabbath Itselfall servile labor and vain reCreation re-Creation were Hby law forbidden We all attended divine service in the sanctuary and the dinner which followed fol-lowed wasIn a sensebut the prolongation pro-longation of that service It was a family festival and it was considered hardly proper to invite the presence of any but the family unless it might be some of the poorour dear Lords best friends as my father called them Yet it must not be imagined that Thanksgiving was a sad or formal occasion oc-casion We were very happy and merry mer-ry enjoying friends good cheer and whatever happiness the Lord had seen fit to bestow upon us But on this solemn feast day in 1779 if i we had chosen to look upon the dark side we might have found reasoi enough for fasting rather than feasting All the beautiful coasts of our little fathers parishioners and go on horseback horse-back In those days no one traveled in any sort of vehicle without taking along saddles It was nearly dark before be-fore we reached Litchfield where we were to pass the night with Judge Tapping Reeve Five years later than this I was one of the first students in Judge Reeves law school since so famous as the best in our country and from which have graduated some of our most distinguished distin-guished lawyers It was on this delightful evening when we were all seated around the blazing fire in the broad fireplace of Mr Reeves pleasant sitting room while I listened to the conversation of Squire Reeve and my father that I made up my mind that the law should be my profession My father and the Squire fully agreed especially in wishing to supercede super-cede by a better that portion of the old English common law which takes away all property rights from married mar-ried women Both of them had shown their faith by their works Both my mother and Mrs Reeve had inherited small fortunes for-tunes and had been allowed by their husbands to retain control of their property a thing almost unheard of at that time in cases where no ante nuptial settlements had been made The views of both men as I heard them stated at this time were afterwards after-wards set forth by Judge Reeve in his celebrated pamphlet on The Domestic Relations This was the first voice ever publicly raised in our country in behalf of the property rights of married mar-ried women Judge Reeve stood almost alone upon this point among the lawyers law-yers of his day but in his school he made many disciples Mrs Reeve also took a part in the discussion and fully vindicated her right to do so by the intellectual ability abil-ity she manifested She was a sister to Colonel Aaron Burr and possessed all his wonderful charm of intellect and personal attraction without one of his faults I see her now as she appeared that L1IiSU C A4 l L 4 s r i Ii i L r SEATED AROUND THE BLAZING FIRE f f state had been harried during the past summer Our resistance to British authority I au-thority had cost us heavily in lives I and there was not one of us from oldest i old-est to youngest who had not felt the I pressure in the lack of many comforts But we did not look on that side We fi remembered that our countrys skies I r were brighter than the year before that France had declared war against f Great Britain and sent her fleets and q irmies to our rescue r Perhaps being but a boy I did not f > think so much about duties and grati Z ude as I should have done but T was gust as fierce a patriot as my Lher wass I and that was as much as could be said even of our great commanderinchlef i When we were gathered around our tables my father rmarked there were certainly enqugb of us to make I a joyful noise unto the Lord My own father and mother their ii own seen children and seven orphaned or-phaned ones whom they had taken r Inward to care for during the war besides be-sides several uncles aunts and cons i ins and six young men who were studying for the ministry under my t fathers tuItionthere were no divinity divin-ity schools thenfilled two long tables in the great dining room of the stone a house I At the one of these tables which was nearest the great fireplace wherein i half a cord of noble eightfoot hickory hick-ory logs were blazing it soon became uncomfortably hot while at the other oth-er table it was not warm enough So whenever the plates were changed all of us except those at the heads of the tables got up and changed places that the cool ones might be warmed and the warm ones might be cooled As for the meal there was plenty and to spare The red deer were still occasionally to be found on our hills and we had a haunch of venison upon i up-on our table This was balanced by i a huge chine of roast pork on the other oth-er table On each table was also a I roast turkey a roast goose and a big chicken pasty There was an abundance I abun-dance of good vegetables including celery which had been introduced into in-to this country from England by unCle I un-Cle Dr Simeon Smith just before the war and was therefore a great rarity rari-ty I The mince pies were > ot as good as they might have been because we had r a few spices and only homedried fruits But the pumpkin pies apple lana and baked Indian puddings d lacked for nothing The wine had all been devoted to the sick and wounded long before and tea and coffee were almost forgotten Hut there was plenty of good sweet cider ci-der There was no plum pudding fort for-t e same reason that our mince pies z were a failure but we had a boiled su > pudding stirred thick with dried apples plums and cherries which we r children ate with a fine relisa und called call-ed by the old English name West India sugar was reserved for the use of the older people but mapie sunar ias plenty and we children liked it better After Thanksgiving came two days of pleasure and visiting among our L neighbors The Saturday evening we L then kept as a part of the Sabbath On Sunday there were two services There was no hesitation in preaching political sermons in those days Ministers Min-isters would have deemed themselves to have failed of their duty had they not expressed their views in regard t9 what was right and wrong on public t pub-lic questions My father had served one campaign j as chaplain to Colonel Himnans regiment regi-ment of Connecticut troops and returned re-turned invalided but he worked hard both in his own harvest fields and in those of nis parishioners to raise grain for the armies he cared for the families fam-ilies of those who were at the front and he helped to keep the fire of patriotism pa-triotism glowing at home t The sleighing had already been good for a fortnight and the snow was falling fall-ing when we set out for my return to college very early on Monday morning my father and Iin our big box sleigh well wrapped in robes of long wooled sheepskins and drawn by two pretty fair horses not the best because be-cause the best had gone to the army > Fine as the sleighing was in Sharon AVC soon found the roads badly drifted 7 and only six miles from home we had to leave our sleighs with one of my > 0 I p I night She was still a young matron I in the full flush of a beauty that was less l of feature than of expression I I I thought then and I think now that Mrs Reeve was one of those women to whom it is an honor to any man I to bow in deference She had inherited inher-ited the powers of clear logic which I distinguished her grandfather Jonathan I Jona-than Edwards and the persuasive grace of her father the Rev Dr Burr I of Princeton She was small Burri slight with a dazzling complexion gray eyes that under any intellectual excitement became brilliant and the smile of her delicate mouth was irresistible irre-sistible During the night the violent storm increased In the morning it was impossible im-possible to see many feet from the door doof on account of the whirling masses of a snow so hard powdery and dry that it i cut into the face like iron filings To go on was clearly impossible Neither mail nor beast could have long l endured the intense cold and the friction of the icy snow even if it had been possible to keep the right direction I direc-tion In traversing the short distance from the house to the barn to attend to I the wants of our horses hardly more than twenty yards and partly sheltered shel-tered by the wood shed we were almost al-most blinded and bewildered All that day and far into the night of Tuesday we piled logs upon the kitchen fire for in that room alone 1 1 WITH SNOW SHOES was possible to mai niatmahtrnwAl was it possible to maintain warmth The next day the sun rose bright and clear over a dazzling desert of snow The lower windows and doors of most of the houses were hidden by great piles of drift In some Seven S-even the second story windows were hidden We could see no trace of a road 1 Fences and all small shrubs were obliterated ob-literated Trees looking like mounds of snow arose here and there In the village only the rising wreaths of smoke told of life in the half burled ft houses The meetinghouse the great house for the reception of th military stores on North street and the army workshops where blacksmiths gunsmiths gun-smiths and the makers of saddles and harness were constantly working for the troops were the ohly buildings large enough to serve as landmarks under this bewildering confusion of snow The military guard stationed to protect pro-tect these buildings on this day omitted drills to take their places in the shovel brigade to help dig out the inhabitants The vast desert of snow was found to be five feet in depth and everywhere covered with a frozen crust My dear boy said Mrs Reeve giving me a kindly look you will not get back to your classes this week My father settled the matter by asking ask-ing i if our host could not get us each a pair of snow shoes The habit of using snow shoes adopted from the Indians had already nearly disappeared But my father 1 a slight but sinewy and athletic man had spent two or three years of his early life as teacher in a school for the instruction Indians in Stockbrldge Mass and there had joined in all the athletic sports of the natives gaining I great influence among them by his I prowess in running leaping and wrestling wrest-ling The marks reached by my father I when a student in Yale in running and standing leaps were kept as the highest attained by any student on the college campus No one else had been able to reach the same until I was able to do so in my senior years It was amoiig the Indians that myst father had learned to use the snowshoes snow-shoes with skill and as much grace as I the unwieldy things will permit but I could never see him wear them without with-out an inclination to laugh Forsee ing that there might be some occasions occa-sions on Which the accomplishment might prove of service my father had taught me also to become moderately expert in their use Fortunately Judge Reeve had two pairs stored away in his garret as curiosities and 9 oclock on Wednesday Wednes-day morning we climbed out of an upper up-per window upon the hard crust of frozen snow and started off for New Haven with cumbersome snow shoes attached to our feet and with each of us a small roll knapsack fashion on his back I was a boy of unusual strength and I my father although a parson was remarkable re-markable for his vigor but I can assure as-sure you we were both thankful when at nightfall we reached the little town of Bethlehem Although the distance is little more than ten miles as the crow flies the devious paths we had been obliged to take made it a long journey I had never been so tired before On Thursday the roads impassable we could not abandon the snow shoes The air was of a clear still severe cold It was nightfall when we reached Woodbury another place for the collection col-lection and storage of supplies for the patriotic armies Here we found he streets running each way from the meeting house piled high on either side for a hundred yards or more with barrels and hogsheads hogs-heads of pork beef lard and flour besides great quantities of blankets tents and clothing for the troops Almost Al-most all the ablebodied male inhabitants I inhabi-tants over sixteen years of age were enrolled in the armies so this work was carried on by the women and children and a few old men Many shoes were made here for th I troops Parson Benedict at whose house we stopped had learned to make them that he might assist On this evening the women of the family were paring apples to dry for the armys use and as my father and I could not assist Mr Benedict and the menservants in shoemaking we took our part in the apple paring Friday morning was warmer and by the time we had accomplished the first five or six miles of our journey toward New Haven we found ourselves in an evil case for the snow was getting wet and soft and held the fourfoot length of snow shoe so that at every step it became hard to lift our feet Glad enough were we when we reached an inn where we could hire horses to rideFrom From this point the snow was not near so deep and we had but little trouble in making by eight in the even ing the eighteen miles to the house of the Rev Dr Daggett the venerable expresident of Yale college which house was always a second home to usTired Tired as I had been the day before I was still more so tonight but my father would not allow me to complain Nevertheless I observed that my father was himself very lame the next few days and by no means in such haste to start for home again as he would otherwise have been I never regretted the experience since no harm save a few days of stiff joints and sore bones came of Itbut I think that my mothers remark when she heard of it showed much commonsense common-sense senseA HA week or two more or less wouldnt have spoiled our Johnnys prospects and a lung fever might have destroyed both of your lives I say leave Indian ways to Indian folk BAGGING A BEAR A rireHunt on the XHtIe Red I The homes of the Duncans and Tay lors were situated near the Little Red a swift stream that flowed through a region but little opened as yet and still inhabited by the animals of the west Indeed bear roamed at will through the dense canebrakes and not infrequently infre-quently made reprisals on the scattered scat-tered settlers Wolves too abounded in the region and in winter their long dismal howling made the cold nights hideous The Duncan and the Taylor boys Roy and Philhad been companions from chlldhdod and when their parents par-ents settled in the new country they were in their element as they could roam the woods or paddle down the Little Red every now and then picking pick-ing up a bear or turkey with their trusty rifles It was not long before they became known as the best young Nimrods in the whole district and whenever they started on a hunt it was taken for granted that they would return with a wellfilled bag One of their favorite methods of bagging bag-ging wild game was by the firehunt and these adventures generally took place on the river They would set up their torches in the canoe and while paddling up stream or floating with the current would by its light see the eyes of bear or deer on shore and a shot was pretty sure to bring down the fascinated targets I The night before Thanksgiving Phil Taylor strolled over to the Duncan homestead with a proposition amost II sure to find favor with his young companion com-panion I This was nothing less than a fire I hunt on the river for the purpose of as Bill expressed it bagging a Thanksgiving bear We can float past the big brakes near the bend said he as he laid his proposition before Roy Tom Hun ter who came through there the other day saw lots of fresh signs and we may be able to get a big one for tomorrows to-morrows feast Taken with the prospect of some exciting ex-citing adventure Roy at once acquIesced ac-quIesced and the two boys began to prepare for the firehunt The canoe was dragged forth and the pineknots for the torch gathered and made ready A torch of pine knots if fashioned properly will throw a fierce glare for many rods over the water and animals will come to the shore and gaze at it fascinated as It were until the unerring bullet of the hunter in the canoe terminates their Careers The young hunters of the Little Red waited with some impatience for night fall and when the hour came they launched the canoe and sprang into it The torch had been placed In the stern of the boat and Phil wno was to have the first shot took his seat underneath it in such a position that the light streaming over him and from behind would throw its radiance long the shore thus revealing the gleaming eyes of wolf or bear but without the glare dazzling his own eyes In some places the river was dangErous danger-ous on account of unseen rocks over which the waters boiled like a cauldron cauld-ron while in others canoeing was per ectly safe but the boys knew the stream well and had paddled it on many occasions after dark Taking the paddles Roy with a sharp lookout along the shore drove the light bark into the middle of the rIver while Phil under the torch watched the tall canes that lined the dge and tried to catch the first sight of game The night was calmly beautiful and the paddles made no noise in the water as the canoe swept down stream As hey neared the bend where they expected ex-pected to catch sight of a Jiving tar j get Phil and Roy increased their watchfulness All at once the pad Ues in Roys supple sup-ple hands seemed to rest and he glanced at his companion Phil at the same time had seen what had caught Hoys eye On the right where the tall canes seemed to seek the solitude cf the stars gleamed a pair of intense eyes very close together and near the gr und It is old Ephraim whispered Phil as he moved his rifle and leaned forward for-ward for a better look We have found our Thanksgiving bear at last The canoe had reached a quiet place in the current and Roy had brought it to anchor there Dont miss him he said to Phil In all my life I never saw eyes shine so I believe I can make out the outlines out-lines of the bears head Slowly with a cool hunters deliberation deliber-ation Phil lifted the rifle to his shoulder and while he watched the shining eyes Roy seemed to hold hjs breath The crack of the weapon awoke the echoes along shore and as the smoke lifted both boys leaned forward with eagerness and looked toward the shore You missed him cried Roy No Look yonder The old fellow has tumbled into the water and is in the death struggle Quick row toward to-ward him before the Pddy sucks him in We shall lose the bear if we are not careful Roy needed no urging to force the canoe through the water toward the spot where something was splashing among the rocks and Phil who had reloaded was watching for another shot as he saw that the bear was desparately wounded though not yet quite conquered As the canoe neared the spot there was a sudden plunge on the part of the animal and the huge bulk vanished van-ished for a moment Lost exclaimed Roy disappointedly disappoint-edly Before Phil could reply something dark and wet rosealmost underneath the frail canoe and the next moment th he saw the taffrail in the grip of a bear = k The great paws looking doubly formidable for-midable In the unsteady light of the torch with the weight of the bear threatened to overturn the boat and the ugly head with the wide mouth bleeding from the boys shot was enough to send chills of terror to the Nimrods hearts t Back off cried Phil as he saw that the canoe was almost among the rocks and liable to be capsized by their foe foeRoy sprang anew to the paddles and as Phil arose in the boat to thrust the rifle into the bears face and terminate ter-minate the contest the animal made a desperate effort to climb aboard The situation was now full of peril and the rocking of the boat in the swift waters caused the torch to scatter scat-ter a rain of fire over the devoted boys and the bear but the beast only blinked hisr little eyes and redoubled his efforts r to scale the fragile rampart ram-part Finding that he could not get a shot iIh iJ If 1 MLL 4 1 THE CANOE CAPSIZ3D at the bear as Roy backed the boat off Phil struck with all his might with the gun bringing the heavy stock down upon the huge head He shattered I shat-tered the weapon by the blow while he apparently left the skull of his antagonist an-tagonist uninjured In another moment the bear lunged forward again and the canoe at the same striking a rock was capsized spilling its occupants into the water and putting out the torch All this happened in a second as it seemed and the boys thus thrown into the stream and at the mercy of bear and current struggled to right the canoe ca-noe and clamber in again After awhile they succeeded and Roy who was fortunate enogh to retain re-tain otie paddle pushed the boat from the rocks and sent it out into the river where it was caught in a swift current and carried along like a feather This Is better than drowning among the rocksor being eaten up by the bear said Phil as he looked back But weve lost our Thanksgiving bear steak r guess Lost the bear cried Roy sharply as his face whitened Look yonder He is still clinging to the stern of the J boat This was true as could be seen by the moonlight which at that particular particu-lar place fell through the trees upon the eddying waters The two boys stared at the homely head lifted above the tide and at the sharp claws that seemed to dig their way into the woodwork wood-work at stern The bear held on with a death grip as the current bore the canoe and the young Nimrods rapidly down stream now narrowly missing some half sunken sun-ken tree and now nearly apsizing again as Roy tried to escape a hidden rockWhat What shall we do cried Phil at last as lie iurtied a frightened face 4 toward his companion The bear is determiried to prove our Jonah and in a short time we shall reach the fallsCut Cut him loose said Roy You have your knife havent you Phil hailed the suggestion with a cry of joy and brought from the depths of I his pocket a big jackknife and in another moment he leaned toward the bear in their wake Instead of striking at the throat which was exposed he drove the keen blade into one of the feet near the root of the claws and drew it toward him The bear growled savagely but Phil bravely faced the beast and severed the other foot likewise 4 A tree a tree rang out Roys voice at this moment and before Phil could duck his head the canoe struck the obstacle in the middle of the Little Red and in a jIffy they were in the water again and struggling to grasp the limbs of the lodged tree In this they were successful and when they had drawn themselves up among the branches they looked at one another with grim smiles They knew that they were destined to pass the night in the tree which they did and when day came they found themselves near a plantation By dint of shouting until they were hoarse they made themselves heard and were rescued by several plantation planta-tion hands one of whom discovered the bear lodged in another tree a little farther down the river The animal was dead and when he was drawn ashore the boys related their thrilling experience with his bear ship the night before A wagon was procured and the homeward journey began and in ample season for dinner the boys arrived ar-rived with the Thanksgiving bear The canoe which had been swept I underneath the tree was never found but Phil and Roy were willing to lose it since they had saved themselves and the wellwon body of Old Eph raim but the next Thanksgiving and the next they were careful to provide I I kI 7T A Ig 7afV 1 Ii 7 i I lWI A I iii i l e lfl p 4 I J Jt1 c4 t 1 THE THANKSGIVING BEAR I for by daylight for their thrilling fire hunt on the Little Red was not soon I forgotten |
