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 Sketclies. 
 
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East Tennessee 
 
 Sketches. 
 
 BY 
 
 Jecile and Slbcrt 6havannc6. 
 
 ALBERT CHAVANNES. 
 
 Knoxville, Tenn. 
 
 1900. 
 
V-A^'- 
 
SKETCHES 
 
 BY 
 
 CECILE CHAVANNES. 
 
 CANVASSING THE DISTRICT page 1 
 ADAIR CREEK NOTES '' 35 
 
Jp^^^cte^ ^/^i^u^t:c.^.ta.cjz^ 
 
CANYASSING THE DISTRICT. 
 
 I. 
 
 It was in the fall of 1892 that Mr. Chavannes 
 and I started with horse and buggy, on our 
 canvassing tour, f a' the purpose of enlighten- 
 ing, and finally converting the people to the 
 aims and beliefs of our new party, but with 
 no expectation of gaining a seat in Congress. 
 So when once the canvass was over and the 
 votes counted, and Mr. Chavannes had been 
 left far behind in the race, we could say with 
 a good grace: ''Blessed are they who expect 
 nothing, for they shall not be disappointed." 
 
 However this is not what I started to write 
 about, but of a few incidents noted in my 
 memorandum book, during that never-to-be- 
 forgotten month of canvassing. 
 
 Mr. Chavannes was the speaker, I was the 
 speaker's faithful companion and went with 
 him in all these trips, to help him while away 
 the long hours of driving from one place to 
 
2 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 another, to assist at the often hasty toilet 
 before the speaking, and have a fresh collar 
 at hand, or a pair of clean dry socks after a 
 damp ride. The truth is that T was there 
 because it was pleasanter that T should drive 
 about with the candidate than remain behind, 
 even if not alone. 
 
 We generally started Monday mornings, 
 being gone all week, and returning home for 
 a change of clothes and rest on Sunday, after 
 which we were ready to begin again our jour- 
 neyings in another part of the district by 
 Monday morning of the following week. As 
 a matter of course we always stopped for 
 rest at noon, sometimes by a spring of clear 
 water, or by a babbling brook; and while Mr. 
 Chavannes unhitched our faithful mare and 
 fed her the shelled corn or oats we bad in 
 store for her, I spread the lap robe on the 
 grass, in the shade of a tree or in the genial 
 sunshine, according to the temperature of the 
 atmosphere, and laid out the lunch provided 
 for that day. "What have we got to eat?" 
 my companion would sometimes ask. "Bread 
 and chocolate and apples," might be my ans- 
 wer, or "cheese and crackers and those grapes 
 you bought." But when we were fresh from 
 home there was no need to ask, he knew we 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 3 
 
 would have sandwiches of home bread and 
 roast meat, with apple turnovers and perhaps 
 little cakes. 
 
 But whatever it was it tasted good, for our 
 appetites had been sharpened by a few hours 
 of jolting over sometimes very rough roads, 
 and we always enjoyed our noonings when 
 after having eaten, Albert would stretch him- 
 self full length for a nap while I took notes of 
 our doings and surroundings, or read another 
 chapter of the ever handy novel. Then when 
 our time was up, and old Kate had had a 
 drink as well as food, she was put back to 
 the buggy while I gathered our belongings, 
 and away we would start to stop no more 
 till evening. 
 
 At times we went to a hotel. Then again 
 when far away from any town and night 
 coming on, we had to beg to be received at 
 some farm house, and food and shelter be 
 provided for ourselves and our tired old Kate. 
 And it was at some of these stopping places 
 that many amusing incidents occurred which 
 I will relate. 
 
EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 II. 
 
 One afternoon we were on a mountain pla- 
 teau, the houses were far apart, and we de- 
 cided that as there was no hope of getting to 
 a hotel before night, we must ask for board 
 and lodging at some private house. Conse- 
 quently we stopped in front of the first res- 
 pectable looking farm house we came to, a 
 long, lojv building, surrounded by a garden, 
 and good barn and outhouses beyond. ''Hal- 
 loa !"called out Mr. Chavaniies after the south- 
 ern fashion. ''I^alloa!" answered an old man 
 showing himself on the front porch. '-Can we 
 put up with you for the night?" was the next 
 inquiry, while I wondered what sort of accom- 
 modations we would get. "I reckon you can," 
 was the old farmer's answer. "Get down and 
 come in," and as we did so he came and help- 
 ed carry our wraps and valise which were 
 deposited on the porch, where by that time 
 the lady of the house, in short cotton dress, 
 check apron, and little cape over her shoul- 
 ders, had made her appearance, and bade me 
 come in, while the two men went to care for 
 the mare. 
 
 The furniture was plain, that was to be 
 expected, but a bright fire burned in the wide 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTKICT. 5 
 
 old fashioned hearth, although it was not cold, 
 and gave cheerfulness to the otherwise sombre 
 appearance of the room, which was bed cham- 
 ber and sitting room in one. Two beds were 
 in it besides a lounge on which reclined a 
 young man, who we were told was half- 
 witted, though quite harmless. Nevertheless 
 I didn't like the way in which he piled old, 
 dry shingles on the fire, and laughed child- 
 ishly as he watched the sparks fly up. How- 
 ever it was no use to worry, so I took my 
 novel out of the grip and began to read, while 
 the old lady went to prepare supper with a 
 young woman living there, and the gentlemen 
 who had come in discussed the topics of the 
 day, that is, farming and politics. Among 
 otiier things that they talked about, Mr. Cha- 
 vannes asked the explanation of the presence 
 of a large pile of coal we had noticed in the 
 yard, and ^ ondered that they should use it 
 on the farm. But the old man said there was 
 so much coal all over that section of the 
 country, and sold at such low rates, that it 
 was easier and cheaper for him to haul coal 
 from a small mine close by, than to cut wood 
 from his own place. 
 
 Presently I heard the old farmer say: ' Well, 
 well, I thought you were travelling around 
 
6 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES* 
 
 with a young- wife !" "Oh ! no," answered my 
 husband. ''Why, how old do you suppose my 
 wife is? And how long do you think we have 
 been married?" But those were questions too 
 hard for the poor man to answer, for he made 
 no sign, only looked on expectant. "Why, 
 we've been married over thirty-five years and 
 we have grand children!" I exclaimed. But 
 at that he looked more incredulous than ever, 
 and we could not help but laugh at his comi- 
 cal expression. And then Mr. Chavannes told 
 him what he delights in telling on those oc- 
 casions: that if I look younger than my years 
 it is because I have such a good husband. 
 
 That pleased the old farmer so much that 
 he had to repeat it at the supper table, which 
 groaned under the weight of the eatables piled 
 upon it. Hog killing was just over at our 
 hosts' and we had pork in every shape; boil- 
 ed head, baked ribs, fried sausage, liver, and 
 I forget what else, but enough meats to have 
 appalled the most lenient vegetarian. How- 
 ever we were in no wise dismayed, but picked 
 out what suited us best, for there was some 
 accompaniments to the meats, and fared well 
 on such unusual diet. 
 
 But a greater experience was in store for us. 
 "When bed time arrived we wore told that the 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 7 
 
 bed at the further end of the sitting-room was 
 ours, while the old couple occupied the other, 
 and their half-witted son without bidding: 
 made himself comfortable on the lounge, where 
 indeed lie had laid most of the time. Here 
 was a situation! and an awkward one too. 
 Still I had expected that some time during 
 our canvass such a thing might happen as 
 our sharing somebody's sleeping room. And 
 now it had come to pass and we m.ust make 
 the best of it. As for the old people, it being 
 nothing new to them, they put out the light 
 and left the room for a while, leaving us to 
 go to bed by the glow of the fire, after which 
 they followed our example and all was quiet 
 for the night. No, not quiet through the night, 
 for the poor idiot kept groaning and mumbling 
 to himself, and often getting up to go to the 
 fire. 
 
 But after all he did no mischief and what 
 ■^ith some sleeping and a good deal of lying 
 awake, the night passed and before daylight 
 had fairly come the farmer was up building 
 the fire, and then he and his wife went out 
 to their different avocations and left us free 
 to proceed with our toilet, which under the 
 circumstances was very quickly done. 
 
 The family wash-bowl was on the porch. 
 
8 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 next to the pail of water and the towel on the 
 roller, and also a comb was at hand, so what 
 else could one want? Privacy, or rather the 
 lack of it, did not seem to trouble these good 
 people, so of course why should we care? 
 Wei] that couldn't be helped, but excuse me 
 from using combs and towels that are every- 
 body's property, so we used our own on the 
 sly and hurt nobody's feelings. And after 
 another meal composed mostly of meats, we 
 paid our bill and proceeded on our trip. 
 
 IIT. 
 
 Perhaps one of the most interesting and 
 pleasing incidents of our six weeks' trip, was 
 when we stopped at Major Howard's. We 
 reached his place, to Avhich we had been di- 
 rected by friends of the party, after sun down, 
 and I expressed my fears to Mr. Chavannes 
 that their supper hour was past and supper 
 over. "Oh ! well," he said, "they'll give us 
 something to eat all the same." I was sure 
 of that, and also that probably these hospi- 
 tably inclined people would deem it their duty, 
 even at the cost of considerable inconvenience 
 to themselves, to cook us another supper; 
 which turned out to be the case. 
 When we stopped in front of the house, whicli 
 
CANVASSING THE riSTKICT. 9 
 
 was a better building than most of them in 
 that part of the country, we inquired of some 
 boys out in the yard if Major Howard was at 
 home, and on being answ ered in tlie affirma- 
 tive, the Major was called, we introduced our- 
 selves, stated our errand, and were immedia- 
 tely warmly welcomed by our host, who was 
 a short dark man, rather quiet in manner, but 
 a thorough gentleman of the old school. 
 
 He invited us to come in and have no care 
 for our horse and baggage. ''The boys will see 
 to it, come in," he said. ''The boys will bring 
 in your things." . But I had a few apples and 
 lemons in the buggy which I did not mean 
 the boys should even know of, so I brought 
 them safely away in my hand bag. 
 
 We were ushered in a large room, where 
 in the spacious, old fashioned fire place burn- 
 ed a bright flre of logs. By the fire was the 
 Major's daughter in law with a baby in her 
 lap, son and heir of the young people. The 
 daughter of the house was there too, a good 
 looking girl of eighteen or twenty, rather bash- 
 ful, and quite willing to let the middle-aged 
 housekeeper do the honors, for the Major was 
 a widower. And last, though not least, were 
 two or three little darkies rolling on the 
 floor before the fire, and quite mixed up with 
 
10 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 as many dogs, all warming themselves and 
 taking it easy after the manner of southern 
 folks, and entirely unabashed l^y the entrance 
 of strangers. 
 
 That Major Howard looked upon these little 
 darkies iis j^art of his family, and as having 
 a right to a j)lace by his fireside was very 
 evident, and equally so that these colored 
 boys loved and respected him, children of 
 servants as they were. ''Here boys, make 
 room, make room," said the Major not un- 
 kindly, and boys and dogs rolled a little out 
 of the way toward the wall. "Have a seat, 
 Madam," he then said to me, bowing and 
 handing me a chair. ''You must be tired after 
 your long ride." But I told him I wa:- not 
 at all in a hurry to sit down then, having 
 done that all the afternoon, so after taking 
 off my wraps, I went over to the young mo- 
 ther and talked with her and admired the 
 baby, and the gentlemen talked politics. Then 
 the housekeeper went to the kitchen and very 
 soon it was evident that cooking was going 
 on, and the door being open into the next 
 room, I saw the table being set and "Oh ! dear, 
 I wonder if all that is on purpose for us, or 
 if the whole family hasn't yet eaten," was my 
 inward thought as I kept on talking. 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 11 
 
 But it turned out to be all on purpose for 
 Us, though host and housekeeper »at down to 
 do the honors of the table. And such a supper 
 as that was to be sure ! Three kinds of meat, 
 mostly fried, also fried potatoes, stewed fruit 
 and corn bread and hot biscuits, apple-butter 
 and preserves, pie and cake, coffee and milk. 
 Really one might have thought these good 
 folks expected us and meant to give us the 
 best they had. And we enjoyed the bountiful 
 repast, accompanied as it was by many ex- 
 cuses on the part of the housekeeper. ''I 
 could have done better if I'd knowed you was 
 coming," she said. "I just warmed the corn 
 bread thinking you might like it. The Major 
 he always wants it for his supper." And I 
 showed her I appreciated it too by helping 
 myself generously. 
 
 Supper over we returned to the sitting room, 
 the gentlemen still discussed politics, ways 
 and means of accomplishing all that our 
 party desired, and as the female portion of 
 the household seemed not much given to talk- 
 ing, I was rather silent myself. "All this is 
 not interesting to you, Mrs. Chavannes?" said 
 our host interrogatively. "Oh ! yes it is," I 
 answered. "I like to learn all I can about 
 the party." And Mr. Chavannes added : "My 
 
12 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 wife is used to hear me discuss, she always 
 accompanies me wlien I speak." 
 
 And all through the evening the boys rol- 
 led and played on the floor, being called upon 
 occasionally to put fresh logs on the fire, 
 until no longer able to hold out against sleep, 
 they suddenly yielded to the warm atmosphere 
 of the room, and laying their heads on the 
 sleeping dogs they lapsed into unconsciousness. 
 
 After a while, fearing that I might unwit- 
 tingly follow them in the land of dreams, for 
 by this time the evening was far spent, I asked 
 to be shown to our slee^jing room, and >«as 
 taken by the daughter to a large room across 
 the wide hall, opened country fasliion at both 
 ends. This room was evidently the parlor 
 though a bed was in it. Opposite the door 
 was a huge fire place in which a few pine 
 knots burning under and between an armful 
 of green wood, gave for a time the semblance 
 of a bright, warm fire. "What a nice room 
 this is!" I said to the girl. "Do you play?" 
 For there was not only one, but two organs 
 in the room. "Very little," she answered. 'T 
 am taking lessons." And I couldn't persuade 
 her to give me a sample of wliat she could 
 do. Then as I looked around the room I 
 iioticed the incongruity of some of its furnish- 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 13 
 
 ings. Aside from the organs the furniture 
 was very plain, the walls were nicely papered 
 but on them hung gg^udy colored chromos. A 
 rich lambrequin of &ilk adorned the mantel- 
 piece, on whicli were little plaster figures 
 among: paper flowers, pliotographs and home 
 made little ornaments, all out of keeping with 
 the lambrequin and organ covers. 
 
 And last of all, in my discoveries, was a 
 large and beautiful j hotograph album resting 
 of all places in the world, on the cuspidor 
 near the wall. "Well I declare! This beats 
 all I ever saw!" was my mental ejaculation. 
 But to the girl I praised all I could conscient- 
 iously praise, and she soon left me to my 
 reflections and investigations as to where the 
 washstand could be. But that was too hard 
 a problem to be solved that night and I left 
 it till morning. 
 
 By the time Mr. Chavannes joined me the 
 pine knots had burned themselves out with- 
 out doing any injury to the green wood. Our 
 host's thoughtfulness however was appreciated, 
 but as it was not cold we did not miss the 
 fire and soon were in oblivion of all our 
 surroundings. 
 
 Next morning there was nothing to do but 
 dress entirely and go out in quest of the 
 
14 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 family wash place, which was likely to be on 
 the back porch. Mr. Chavannes who was ready 
 first went out sayino^ confidently : ''I know I 
 can find all I need." "Well then, here is a 
 towel," said I, taking one from the grip, "only 
 please bring it back when you are done." 
 
 But before I could follow him there was a. 
 knock at the door and the bashful young 
 lady came in carrying a basin of water which 
 she deposited on a chair, and laid a clean 
 towel on the back of it. ''Oh ! thank you," I 
 exclaimed, "but J am sorry you took the 
 trouble, I could have gone on the porch." "It 
 is no trouble," she answered smiling, "do you 
 need anything else?" I assured her I did 
 not, feeling thankful that my handglass had 
 been put in my grip, for not a sign of a mir- 
 ror was there in the room, and how can one 
 fasten a breast pin, or put up their hair with- 
 out a bit of looking glass? 
 
 Well! as soon as ready I went to the sitting 
 room, where Mr. Chavannes, who as expected 
 had found all the necessaries for his toilet on 
 the back porch, had preceded me, and there 
 I also found most of the family assembled, 
 the Major with his back to the fire, talking 
 to my husband at the same time that he 
 combed his hair with a little tjl^ck comb. 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 16 
 
 "Good morning- Madam," said our host 
 making room for me by the fire. "Good mor- 
 ning, did you rest well?" ''Yes indeed," I 
 answered. "I slept very well and feel rested." 
 Then quite suddenly, handing me the comb 
 from which he had been wiping off the hair, 
 he said: "Will you have a comb?" T sup- 
 pressed a gasp and tried to answer naturally, 
 ''no thank you, T brought my combs." But dear 
 me I couldn't the man see that my hair was 
 freshly combed? 
 
 •'Perhaps," he continued, "you are like my 
 wife, she always took a comb with her when 
 she spent the night away from home, was 
 afraid of scalp disease." "Oh ! it isn't that," 
 I hastened to answer mendaciously. "But I 
 always carry with me those articles of toilet 
 whenever I travel." And Mr. Chavannes cor- 
 roborated what T said, not wishing to have 
 the old man's feelings hurt. "Oh ! it's all 
 right, it's all right," he rejoined, "and I think 
 my wife was right too." 
 
 And then came breakfast as bountiful as 
 the supper had been, and very soon after we 
 bade good by to our kind-hearted host and 
 his family, to whom it would have been an 
 insult to offer pay, and took our seat in the 
 l>^g§:y which as a matter of course stoo4 
 
16 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 ready at the front gate. Our good old mare, 
 refreshed by a good night's rest, good feed and 
 grooming, whinnied when she saw ns, and 
 soon we were on our way towards new scenes, 
 new people and new experiences. No matter 
 where we stopx^ed we were well received, but 
 nowhere, perhaps, with the same courtesy and 
 hospitality of the southern planter as at Major 
 Howard's. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Once during our canvassing tour we stopped 
 at a Methodist Minister's, without being aware 
 of the fact until we had been in the house 
 some little time. 
 
 It happened the day that Mr. Chavannes 
 by appointment spoke in the Court House at 
 Mary ville, where we stopped at noon, and in- 
 stead of our out door lunch had a substan- 
 tial dinner at the Jackson House. I did not 
 attend the speaking that time, as it seemed 
 not to be customary for ladies to go to the 
 Court House in that little place, but as com- 
 pensation I found some splendid reading in 
 the parlor of the hotel, magazines and perio- 
 dicals, and spent a very pleasant hour till it 
 was time to start again. 
 
 This afternoon driving was in a part of the 
 
CANVASSINa THE DISTKICT. 17 
 
 country entirely unk,nown to us. The roads 
 were good and the weather delightful, but no 
 matter how fast we might drive there was no 
 chance of our reaching our next place of meet- 
 ing that night. So we had to depend on the 
 kindness of some well-to-do farmer to take 
 us in. "And we'll have to be on the look out 
 early for a place to stop," said Mr. Chavannes, 
 "for it won't do to let darkness overtake us 
 in these unknown regions." (I should mention 
 that the houses were far apart.) 
 
 Accordingly before it. was fairly sundown, 
 we reined up in front of a large barn where 
 several men were engaged in examining pieces 
 of machinery. "Any chance of staying all 
 night with you?" inquired my. companion. 
 But the answer was not promptly forthcoming; 
 there was even surprise and doubt expressed 
 on the countenances of the men. Perhaps 
 they were wondering what kind of people we 
 were to be asking for hospitality. So Mr. 
 Chavannes went on to explain that we were 
 going from Maryville to Dandridge, and were 
 strangers in that part of the country, and 
 couldn't they take us in? "All right, I reckon 
 you can stay," drawled out the boss, a tall, 
 dark man, who probably by this time had 
 made up his mind that we were no runaway 
 
18 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 couple. "Drive on a bit," he added. So we 
 drove on in front of the house where some 
 flowers were still blooming, and mine host 
 himself came to take care of the horse. 
 
 Not long after, as we two sat on the porch 
 reading and looking about us, Albert exclaim- 
 ed, "Well! we are in for it. Here is a newspaper 
 which shows that our host won't agree with 
 us." "That is too bad, it comes of not knowing 
 just where to stop," was my answer. But Mr. 
 Chavann^s did not ca.re, "as we had stopped, 
 there we should stay. Whatever is, is best." 
 Our bit of conversation had been carried on 
 in French, to the amusement no doubt, of a 
 niece of our host, for she looked at us in- 
 quiringly with wide open eyes, saying plainly: 
 "What manner of folks are you?" But we 
 didn't enlighten her, and when the owner 
 came in he proved much more genial than 
 our first impression of him had led us to 
 believe. In the course of the evening he told 
 us of having been a circuit preacher for more 
 than twenty years, his wife sometimes accom- 
 panying him, and when not, spending her 
 time on the farm. 
 
 He also told us of having been in districts 
 where thore was sickness caused by milk 
 poisoning, and how by dint of much studying 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 19 
 
 and experimenting on such cases as he could 
 get hold of, he mastered the disease and be- 
 came famous among these people. 
 
 The supposition is that in certain localities 
 there exists a mineral poison which affects 
 the grass on which the cattle feed, and is 
 through the milk communicated to the people, 
 though the cows themselves do not seem to 
 suffer. The first thing to do was to isolate 
 these portions of the ground by building 
 fences around, and for the sufferers he urged 
 purgatives in the first place, and strong tonics 
 next. And when his directions were followed 
 the sick recovered. 
 
 So after all we spent a very pleasant eve- 
 ning with the Minister and his wife, and at 
 its close there was family prayers where the 
 blessing of God was invoked upon us as "the 
 strangers within our gates", which petition 
 might be favorable to us and certainly could 
 do us no barm. And the next morning Mr. 
 Lane took my husband over his farm, showed 
 him his improvements, stock, etc., while his 
 wife expatiated on the yield of the orchard, 
 and told me all she did with her fruit. 
 
 But at the time of starting we had a ge- 
 nuine surprise. When Mr. Chavannes inquired 
 of the preacher what our bill was, he made 
 
20 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 the answer: "Nothing at all, I never charge 
 candidates." For of course the object of our 
 trip had been mentioned, and he couldn't but 
 see that all the pamphlets and papers we had 
 in the buggy to be distributed on the way 
 meant some business. "Oh ! that's all right 
 when they belong to your party,'' exclaimed 
 Mr. Chavannes, "but it don't apply to me." 
 "Yes it does," rejoined Mr. Lane, "it is against 
 my principles to charge candidates. You are 
 welcome to what you have had." So with 
 many thanks we took leave of these kind 
 people and continued our journey. 
 
 But another time when we almost forced 
 ourselves on strangers for the night, they 
 turned out to bo warm and zealous members 
 of our new party, who entertained us royally 
 after their fashion. 
 
 We had been far away from liome, and were 
 on our return taking short cuts across hills 
 and valleys, where the roads were very rough 
 and where indeed we were not always sure 
 of being on the right track, and had to ask 
 directions, and also as to where there would 
 be a chance to stay all night. "You might 
 stop at Mr. Allen," we were told, "he has 
 plenty of room." "Accommodation for my 
 horse too?" inquired Mr. Chavannes who 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 21 
 
 would rather have inconvenienced himself 
 than to let our faithful quadruped suffer. *'Oh! 
 jes, plenty of room, and feed too," was the 
 cheery answer. But when we stopped with 
 our usual query in front of the Allen house, 
 the owner proved to be of a different opinion. 
 Was crowded, there was sickness, etc. "Well," 
 persisted my companion, "couldn't you just 
 give us a room? We'll board ourselves." No, 
 he couldn't do that. "Why, look here,'' at 
 last explained the man, "there's a woman 
 being confined in this house; you surely don't 
 want to impose yourself at such a time?" 
 "Oh! of course not," hastily answered Mr. 
 Chavannes, as I whispered to him: ''For 
 goodness' sake, Albert, don't urge it any more. 
 Let us go on, and if the worse comes to the 
 worst we can always camp out." But as that 
 wasn't the way in which Mr. Chavannes meant 
 we should spend the evening or night, al- 
 though it wouldn't have been the first time 
 for us, be still asked for information and di- 
 rections as to getting to the nearest house. 
 
 ^'Oh! there's Squire Sea.rle a little ways off," 
 said Mr. Allen, looking somewhat relieved 
 to find that we gave up trying to force our- 
 selves upon him. ''Ke'll take you in, I know, 
 has plenty of room and not much family." 
 
22 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 Indeed the champion of his own rights grew 
 quite enthusiastic over his neighbor's hospita- 
 lity, and from the way he urged us to go 
 and stop there, it was evident he wished to 
 get rid of us as soon as possible. 
 
 AJl this time we sat in the buggy, the main 
 highway far behind us, for we had taken a 
 private road through Mr. Allen's property to 
 reach his house. And now to help us to get 
 to our destination before night, he showed us 
 a nearer way through his fields, and we glad- 
 ly took it after apologizing for having troubled 
 him, but nevertheless grumbling a little at 
 having to lengthen our day's journey; espe- 
 cially as we had learned by experience that 
 "a little ways off" might mean one or even 
 two miles. It proved to be only one mile 
 this time but darkness had set in as we 
 reached the Squire's house, having been many 
 times delayed by the opening and shutting of 
 gates. We could hardly see each others' faces 
 as we talked to the woman who answered 
 o'lr call, and who hesitatingly permitted us 
 to stay. It was plain that if she could have 
 sent us onward she would have done so, but 
 the fast coming night was in our favor, and 
 Mr. Chavannes so bent on stopping anyhow, 
 that before a man could be summoned to 
 
CANVASSING TPIE DISTRICT. 23 
 
 Avait on us, he had taken Kate out of the 
 shafts and was leading her to the harn where 
 the woman had directed. 
 
 Very soon I found that the lady of the 
 house had spent the afternoon away from 
 home, and was only just back, and was doint^ 
 her work alone. So finding her nice and kind- 
 ly disposed, I volunteered to help her in the 
 kitchen where I had followed her. "I won't 
 have to cook much," she said, "there's plenty 
 of cold victuals," for I had begged her not to 
 put herself to any trouble on our account. 
 But the inevitable southern biscuits had to be 
 made and baked and brought smoking hot on 
 the table, which she had let me set in the 
 roomy kitchen. 
 
 There were several men in the Squirt's 
 household, and at supper the conversation was 
 on general topics, Mr. Chavannes being cau- 
 tious on the subject of politics, for not know- 
 ing to what party these people belonged, he 
 wouldn't have antagonized with them who, 
 for the time being, were putting a roof over 
 our heads. But quite unexpectedly our new 
 party was mentioned in a friendly manner by 
 one of the family — a somewhat unusual occur- 
 rence in those days — and this immediately 
 opened the way for better acquaintance on 
 
24 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 both sides. And when the Squire found where 
 Mr. Chavannes stood, and what doing, he was 
 delighted. "I'm real glad to have you here," 
 he said. "You're the very man we want; we 
 have been trying to send a speaker to Jones- 
 ville, but didn't know where to find him." 
 And then followed inquiries and statements 
 as to the feelings of the people of those re- 
 gions, and Mrs. Searle even neglected to milk 
 her cows, the longer to visit with us. "Let 
 me help you," I said to her. "I know how to 
 milk." But "no, no, the cows don't give much 
 milk and can wait, and I'm not needing it," 
 wa.s the answer. 
 
 So what awkwardness there had been at 
 first, in being uninvited guests among stran- 
 gers, passed away as we realized that- these 
 people were truly friendly. And the evening 
 was spent pleasantly, the men staying to talk 
 long after the ladies had retired for the night. 
 The next morning arrangements were made 
 for a speaking at Jonesville the following 
 week, and when we left those new-made 
 friends, who wouldn't hear to our paying our 
 bill, it was with pressing invitations to come 
 and visit them again. But time was short 
 and we couldn't go twice to the same place, 
 nor have we had occasion to see them since. 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 26 
 
 V. 
 
 Our trip to Jonesville was effected the week 
 following our visit to the Squire's, but we did 
 not reach our destination without experien- 
 cing some anxious moments. 
 
 We had left home early on Monday mor- 
 ning, late in October. Frost was on the ground 
 and in the air, making it doubly comfortable 
 to pull the heavy lap robe up and around us, ' 
 so as to keep in all the warmth we were ^^.^ 
 starting with. But in spite of the mist it was , 
 delightful to drive in that cool, bracing air 
 which strengthened us for the coming heat 
 of the day. For when the sun did pierce the 
 frosty atmosphere and dispelled the mist, we 
 realized that his rays had lost none of their 
 potency, and wondered that we could have 
 dreamed' of being cold when we first started. 
 
 At noon we stopped at the edge of a creek, 
 where was plenty of evidence that other 
 campers had been before us. The remnants . 
 of a fire were there, also some grains of corn 
 and oats were scattered about, and gave oc- 
 cupation to some little pigs who seemed to 
 be having a fine time, trying no doubt to see 
 which could find the most grains in tlie least 
 time, so busy did they show themselves. They 
 
28 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 even proposed to share Kate's dinner, and 
 though she might have made no remonstrance, 
 we strongly objected to it and kept the ob- 
 noxious litter at a safe distance, else our ovi^n 
 lunch would have gone the way of the grain. 
 
 The road to Jonesville lay past Oliver's 
 Brick House, a hotel at which we had stop- 
 ped on our wedding trip, many, many years 
 ago, and which I at least, had never seen 
 since. But so many changes had taken place 
 in the surrounding country that I never would 
 have recognized the place. And as it happen- 
 ed, we were just in time to see it once more, 
 for when a few days later we drove by on 
 our return, nothing was left of that old and 
 well-known building but a heap of ruins. It 
 had burned to the ground the night before, 
 and was still smoking when we went past. 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when we reach- 
 ed Oliver Spring, a little village insignificant 
 in itself, but of some importance as a rail- 
 road station in a mining district, and also for 
 being a summer resort on account of its mi- 
 neral waters. There Mr. Chavannes inquired 
 at a store how far yet to Jonesville, and was 
 told that it was five or six miles. What a 
 disappointment! For we had exi^ected that 
 two or three miles would bring us to our 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 27 
 
 destination. "If that is the case," said he 
 coming back to the buggy where I sat wait- 
 ing, "we have no time to lose. Old Kate is 
 tired and cannot travel very fast, but we 
 must be going on." And on we went facing 
 the sun, leaving the main thoroughfare and 
 turning to the left into a road by no means 
 smooth, and which soon took us to low lands 
 and a winding creek, that we had to cross 
 several times. That rather retarded our pro- 
 gress, but the shade from the trees bordering 
 the creek was too welcome for us to quarrel 
 with the unevenness of the road. 
 
 Although acting as if we still had a long 
 way to go, Mr. Chavannes had his doubts of 
 the correctness of the information, and we 
 had not gone far before he inquired of a far- 
 mer taking an airing in his front yard : "How 
 far do you call it to Jonesville?" "Oh! I 
 dunno, 'bout two miles, I reckon," was the 
 unexpected answer. '*I thought the other 
 man didn't get it right," said my companion, 
 "though this one perhaps errs in the opposite 
 direction, and we may yet be many miles 
 from our stopping place, so there must be no 
 loitering on the way." 
 
 Soon we left the low, shady road and came 
 to rising ground very rough, sometimes rocky, 
 
28 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 and gradually getting steeper, and of course 
 more trying to our faithful mare, who could 
 no longer stand whr?t she did in her youth, 
 and to whom we talked encouragingly, but 
 who had to stop once in a while for a breath- 
 ing spell. 
 
 It was still warm and Mr. Chavannes began 
 to be uneasy for her. '^'m afraid Kate can't 
 do it," he finally said, ''even if she holds out 
 she can't travel fast enough to take us to 
 Jonesville in time. We'll have to stop on 
 the way and get another horse." ''In that 
 case," I suggested, ''hadn't you better go on 
 horseback? Never mind me, I'll wait till you 
 come back." But it was easy to talk of get- 
 ling another horse, though not quite so easy 
 to find him, for houses began to be few and 
 far between. Though some of the land was 
 under culture, a great deal also lay waste, 
 and occasionally we went through a bit of 
 woodland, seeing or meeting no one. 
 
 At last when the sun went down the air 
 became cooler, the roads better, and old Kate 
 picked up a little energy. About that time 
 we had the chance of asking a man we met 
 on the road, how far it was to Jonesville? 
 "Oh! about three miles," was the discourag- 
 ing answer. (Wo liad certainly already tra- 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 29 
 
 veiled five miles since we left Oliver St rings.) 
 "Oh ! dear !" I exclaimed all out of heart. ''We 
 shall never get there in time." "I wouldn't 
 mind so much if the speaking hadn't been 
 given out," Mr. Chavannes said, '*but there's 
 no help for it; we must reach somewhere 
 to-night, whether I speak or not, but I don't 
 w^ant to disappoint the people if I can help it." 
 And so we went on driving and discussing 
 our chances of getting to Jonesville that eve- 
 ning, congratulating ourselves that we had 
 come to the end of those long steep hills", and 
 in every way trying to keep up our flaj>ging 
 spirits, when suddenly in the stillness of the 
 fast coming twilight, we heard the lowing of 
 cattle not far off. "Oh! good!". I exclaimed, 
 "we must be near some farm house, I'm sure, 
 and can't be far from Jonesville." And then 
 as we turned a corner in the road and dis- 
 cerned a barn at close proximity, we also 
 heard distinctly the ringing of a bell in the 
 distance. "What do you suppose that means?" 
 I inquired of my companion. "Well! I imagine 
 they are ringing to call the people to the 
 speaking," he answered rather confidently. 
 "And the speaker not there!" I exclaimed. 
 *'Did you ever!" "That shows they expect 
 him, and it's so far encouraging," rejoined 
 
30 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 Mr. Chavannes. "It is only to be hoped that 
 Mr. Ball lives not far from the Hall or school 
 house, or wherever I am to speak. Anyway 
 we'll soon get there. So hurry up Kate." By 
 this time we could discern lights ahead, and 
 in a little while we came to a knoll on which 
 was situated the school house, whose big 
 bell had not ceased ringing. 
 
 A crowd of men and boys were standing 
 around. Mr. Chavannes accosted them, ascer- 
 tained they were getting together for a speak- 
 ing, introduced himself as the speaker, and 
 then inquired the way to our friend Ball, that 
 a willing lad volunteered to show us. And 
 as we proceeded on our way, Mr. Chavannes 
 called out to the crowd: "Don't be discourag- 
 ed boys, as soon as I've put up my horse and 
 had a bite of supper, I'll come and speak to 
 you." "All right." "We'll wait," and "hur- 
 rah !" was heard from many mouths in a way 
 that proved the people were interested, and 
 was very comforting after the last hour or 
 two of anxiety we had gone through. And 
 when we finally reached our stopping place, 
 Mr. Ball who had just got back from a ten 
 miles trip made us heartily welcome. 
 
 He had two boys by a former marriage, 
 and they with their father and Mr. Chavannes 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. .31 
 
 went to the barn to care for the horses, leav- 
 ing me with Mrs. Ball and her baby. She was 
 a pleasant faced womai, with kindly manners, 
 but not a bit of style about her, nor much 
 education. But my! what proportions! I had 
 never since my young days seen such a re- 
 markable bust. She reminded me of the 
 Brazillian Donnas I had often seen in their 
 own country, and thought them wonders of 
 flesh and blood. The next morning when Mrs. 
 Ball was nursing her baby, I couldn't resist 
 saying to her that I thought she might share 
 her good things with those who were not so 
 well endowed by nature, which made her 
 blush and say shyly she "didn't know why 
 she was that way." 
 
 But this isn't writing of things in their pro- 
 per order. Mr. Chavannes had been expected, 
 but it wasn't known that I would come, and 
 some excuses were made about accommoda- 
 tions not being probably what I was used to. 
 "We are plain folks," explained Mr. Ball, 
 "live plain and do the work ourselves." This 
 was said as we went in the kitchen which 
 was dining room and store room as well, for 
 there, heaped up in a corner, were bushels 
 upon bushels of sweet potatoes, undergoing 
 their "sweat" before being put away for the 
 
32 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 winter; but I assured our host that we were 
 used to work too, and were not afraid of plain 
 living; and I think they became convinced, 
 before we left, of the truth of my assertions. 
 
 The supper was eaten somewhat hurriedly, 
 so as to be in good time at the school house. 
 All were going except Mrs. Ball and her baby. 
 "I had better take a lamp too," said Mr. Ball 
 as he lit the lantern before starting. "We 
 may need it over there." And sure enough 
 we did, and were glad of the light of that 
 extra lamp among the very few that were 
 there, brought by some thoughtful neighbors. 
 
 This school house in which Mr. Chavannes 
 was going to speak — by no means a stereo- 
 typed speech — was a log building, rough walls 
 inside and out, with a few windows to give 
 light in the day time, and at night the aud- 
 ience depended entirely upon the lamps and 
 lanterns of their members, if they didn't for- 
 get to bring them. Perhaps it often happened 
 that they did, as on that particular occasion,' 
 for the lanterns were few and far between that 
 hung on the walls, and many corners were 
 left in the darkness of shadows. But on a 
 raised platform was a little table on which 
 Mr. Ball set his lamp for the benefit of the 
 speaker. There was a fire in the stove which 
 
CANVASSING THE DISTRICT. 33 
 
 stood in the middle of the room, and I sat 
 according to my wont, at a little distance 
 where I could watch both the speaker and 
 the audience. This last was composed mo tly 
 of men, eager listeners, as I was glad to see. 
 Also some women, who had brought their 
 little children along rather than miss the 
 mild excitement a ''speaking^' brought in their 
 neighborhood. 
 
 This ¥as one of the occasions when Mr. 
 Chavannes had an unusually appreciative au- 
 dience, and at the end of his hour or hour 
 and a half of speaking, many crowded around 
 him for congratulations, explanations, etc.^ 
 And on our return to the Balls in company 
 with their neighbors I heard occasionally 
 such expressions as ''fine speaker!" "'Never 
 heard better." "That's what I call good prac- 
 tical advice," etc., which was all very grati- 
 fying, for Mr. Chavannes was in earnest about 
 enlightening the people, and it was a pleasure 
 to find he was appreciated. 
 
 Here again we had to share the same sleep- 
 ing room as our hosts, and as on a former 
 occasion we took it in turnabout having some 
 privacy about disrobing and getting into bed. 
 But unlike that other time \^ e slept soundly, 
 nn such a thick feather bed! and were hardly 
 
34 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 disturbed by the baby crying for his midnight 
 lunch. The next morning was a repetition 
 of former experiences which were no longer 
 new, and after a plain though substantial 
 breakfast, we bade goodby to our hosts, after 
 thanking them heartily for their kindness in 
 entertaining us, and went on to other ap- 
 pointments which were to close our canvassing 
 tour. 
 
ADAIE. CREEK NOTES. 
 I. 
 
 Dear friend: As you have expressed the 
 hope that you will visit us some time, I want 
 to tell you something: of our home and sur- 
 roundings, way of living, etc., for you will 
 find many things very different here in the 
 South to what they are in your Northern home. 
 Although we have lived in this part of the 
 country for over thirty years, yet after a six 
 years' stay in the North, we had to get used 
 again to a great deal that was like new to us, 
 though we had no trouble learning to enjoy 
 once more the mild, short winters. Why! 
 think how pleasant it is to go out, as we did 
 
 NOTE. "Adair Creek Notes" were written many years 
 ago as a contribution to Tlie Sociologist, a Monthly Ma- 
 gazine I was publishing at the time. They covered many 
 subjects, and were received with much favor by my sub- 
 scribers, and I hope that the few I reprint here will prove 
 as acceptable to our readers. Since they were written 
 Adair Creek has been absorbed by the growth of Knox- 
 ville, and the post-oflice of that name replaced by the 
 free delivery, while the turnpike is now a street and is 
 called Broadway. — Albert Chavannes. 
 
EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 yesterday, in midwinter, with a party of 
 friends, and put on no extra wraps — only our 
 hiats, that is, the ladies put on hats, and I 
 being- at home, wore my gingham bonnet. 
 
 Well! before I describe our home, I must 
 tell you how to get there. As you know, we 
 live on a farm a little more than two miles 
 north of Knoxville. As you leave the city 
 you travel on a turnpike, on both sides 
 of which are built pretty cottages, that are 
 for the most part one or two story frame 
 houses, the taste and means of the owners de- 
 ciding the shape, size and outside decorations; 
 a few assume the gothic style, and all look 
 neat and inviting. 
 
 As you leave the city in the distance, the 
 houses are further apart; we have seen the 
 building of most of them in the last twelve 
 years, for when we first returned from the 
 state of New York, some parts of the road 
 were so isolated that I would not let my 
 thirteen-year-old daughter make the trip 
 alone. 
 
 There are no telegraph wires on this road, 
 but we boast of a telephone in the neighbor- 
 hood, for the benefit of a gristmill that stands 
 on a creek, about a half mile from our house. 
 Over that creek is a good, high bridge, called 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 37 
 
 Long Bridge, not that it is particularly long, 
 but because on the same creek, further on, 
 are three more bridges, and this one being 
 longer than the others, was given the name 
 of Long Bridge. 
 
 Standing on it, on a bright sunshiny day, 
 one gets such a pretty view of the water-fall 
 and the pond beyond, on which skaters from 
 Knoxville have sometimes tried their skill, 
 such winters as the ice has been thick enough 
 to make skating safe. But that water-fall is 
 a pretty sight when the sun shines on it, for 
 the sheet of water is fifteen feet high, and 
 below it is a large rock which catches the 
 falling drops and sends them up again glit- 
 tering in the light; often have we stopped to 
 admire it on our way to and from town. 
 
 And right here is quite a picturesque bit 
 of scenery, especially noticeable as } ou walk 
 on beyond the bridge, and come to a little 
 knoll by the side of the road which has been 
 cut almost through, the hill; this last rises 
 abruptly on one side of the road, while down 
 on the other side is the mill-pond, which ex- 
 tends some distance along the turnpike, and 
 beyond that are the fields, and then wooded 
 hills or ridges; for we have left city lots be- 
 hind and come to cultivated farms. 
 
38 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 On the banks of the pond are some large 
 fine oak, elm and sycamore trees, and we 
 have many times watched fishermen and boys, 
 both white and black, sitting under their 
 shade and waiting patiently for the bite of 
 fish which would not be caught; when how- 
 ever patience did have its reward, it was in 
 the shape of small perches and suckers that 
 I have no doubt the fishing people enjoyed 
 taking home. 
 
 As you walk on, you will see in the dis- 
 tance, on the opposite side of the pond, the 
 district school house, built three years ago; 
 it sei-ves for day-school, Sunday-school and 
 occasionally for preaching; also for debates, 
 where the young and middle-aged bring forth 
 their powers of elocution, and sometimes oc- 
 casion such bursts of laughter as it would 
 please you to hear; we have also been present 
 at some good school exhibitions and concerts 
 given in that building. 
 
 And in connection with it, I must tell you 
 of a picnic we had on the occasion of choos- 
 ing the location for the school-house; there 
 were three lots offered, and it was hard to 
 decide which would be best, so this neighbor- 
 hood picnic was gotten up as an inducement 
 for the people to come out and help in the 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 39 
 
 decision. I remember that a few were very 
 much interested in the school business', but 
 the greater part had come to enjoy themselves, 
 roam about and have fun generally, and I 
 don't blame them; it was a beautiful day 
 and the place well chosen for a picnic. We had 
 no table, but just spread table-cloths on the 
 ground, and on them arranged an inviting 
 supper of cold meats, bread, cakes and pies, 
 and everything that one usually takes to a 
 picnic, and the party did ample justice to the 
 meal, and showed their appreciation of all 
 the good things which had been brought; the 
 water we had to carry from down the hill, 
 our springs being all in the valley, and not 
 as in New York state, on the hill-side. 
 
 Well! the school question was decided by 
 vote, and the land given by a resident in the 
 neighborhood, a gentleman from the North, 
 who came here many years ago and married 
 and settled here; his house on the hill, sur- 
 rounded a^ it is by tall trees, helps to make 
 up the picturesque scenery I was telling you of. 
 
 Now as we go on and leave the school-house 
 on the left, we come to a blacksmith shop 
 and another grist-mill, with sycamore and 
 cedar trees all around it. The creek runs just 
 behind it and in some places is almost hid 
 
40 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 from view by the trees and bushes, and as 
 it runs rapidly on its course, it makes num- 
 berless murmuring- cataracts; I have many 
 times gathered mosses and creepers along its 
 banks and stepped across the stream upon 
 rocking stones, and wished I might go bare- 
 foot like so many children, and not mind a 
 little wetting; but I must say there is a good 
 foot-bridge, three feet wide, to cross over to 
 the school-house, which is on high ground: 
 
 And now, here is the toll-gate, with its old 
 fashioned pole and office; the gate keeper's 
 house is but a step from it, on the other side 
 of the mill-race, over which a little private 
 bridge has been built. In summer both sides 
 of that bridge are lined with flower pots con- 
 taining blooming geraniums, fuchsias, begon- 
 ias and other flowers. Not far from the toll- 
 gate is the country store, where is sold a 
 little of everythidg, from the necessary groce- 
 ries to queensware, dry goods and notions; 
 we can even get fresh meats there in winter, 
 which is a great convenience to us who do 
 not go to the city every day. 
 
 Right here in the store is tlie Adair Creek 
 post-office, established only two years ago; it 
 stands as a center to about fifteen or twenty 
 houses, scattered within half a mile and 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 41 
 
 Which goes by the name of Adair Creek neigh- 
 borhood. They have nearly all been built 
 since we came to live here, so the people are 
 well known to us, and very pleasant friends 
 and neighbors they have always been; we 
 have occasional gatherings at the house of 
 one or the other, and although there are many 
 different opinions on most subjects, nothing 
 unpleasant occurs to mar the friendly inter- 
 course. 
 
 Our neighborhood is rather a mixed one; 
 some of the people have come from the North 
 and Eastern states, others from Ohio and 
 Missouri, many are the children and grand- 
 children of some of the first settlers in this 
 part of the country; some are farmers, a few 
 work in the mills, one is store-keeper and 
 post-master, several are day laborers, we also 
 have a doctor, but T am glad to say there is 
 not much need for his services. It is a healthy 
 neighborhood, the people work and enjoy them- 
 selves, and though there are no idle ones, nei- 
 ther are there any so bent on making money 
 that they cannot take pleasure along with the 
 work. You know that is the way we enjoy 
 the most, to have recreation alternate with 
 work, and I believe in first making work plea- 
 sant, so it won't be looked upon as a hard task. 
 
42 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 One of the few old houses is built of brick 
 on the other side of the creek, and has a 
 commanding- appearance with its high old- 
 fashioned windows and heavy pillars support- 
 ing the porches ; there are tall poplars around 
 the house and some large old cedars with low 
 spreading branches, and in the front yard are 
 more violets and myrtle than I ever saw any- 
 where else. The owner is a gentleman from 
 the North, he keeps a dairy and takes the 
 milk in Knoxville every day; in summer his 
 wife often takes his place and delivers the 
 milk that he may have more time to spend 
 on his farm. 
 
 T have taken you slowly along, dear friend, 
 that I might tell you of everything which 
 would interest you, but we are now very near 
 home ; there is, however, one more stream to 
 cross, very narrow this time, for it is only 
 the water from our spring, so there is no need 
 of a regular bridge ; two or three planks have 
 bee n raised on one side of the road and ans- 
 wer the purpose very well. 
 
 And now, on the right you can see our 
 house, but before we reach it we go by a place, 
 on the left, which we have thought to be one 
 of the prettiest this side of Knoxville. For 
 not many years ago it was our home, which 
 
ABAIK CREEK NOTES. 43 
 
 We had built and fashioned with our own 
 hands; it is there that we went to live when 
 we returned to this neighborhood, ^nd it was 
 a rather wild spot when we began to build 
 on it, so much so that when we selected the 
 location for the house, I had to gather my 
 skirts close to me so as not to leave any part 
 among the briars. But the place did not long 
 retain its wild looks, we worked and improved 
 it year after year as our time, strength and 
 means permitted, and when we exchanged it 
 for our present home we had built a pretty 
 cottage with a picket fence around it, made 
 winding gravel walks in the front yard, with 
 flower beds alongside, which it was my plea- 
 sure and my pride to care for, we had grape 
 vines and fruit trees, and had made a very 
 comfortable and pretty looking home, where 
 now lives the family with whom we exchang- 
 ed farms. There were many natural advan- 
 tages on the place, one attractive feature be- 
 ing the creek which runs at the back of it^ 
 and sT) many fine large trees scattered on its 
 rocky banks, but the graceful weeping-willow 
 near the house is one that we planted our- 
 selves a few years ago, and which has grown 
 so fast as to be now quite a large tree. 
 
44 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 11. 
 
 Dear friend: I will now tell you about 
 our home, the one where we are living now. 
 When \^e came to it three years ago, our 
 friends and relations raised quite an outcry, 
 and thought we were doing a foolish thing to 
 leave a place on which ^e were doing well 
 and come to one where all improvements and 
 embellishments had jet to be made; but we 
 begged them to remember that we had good 
 reasons for our doings, and not to pass judg- 
 ment until they had come to visit us in our 
 new home, for you see at that time we held 
 religious Sunday meetings, at regular inter- 
 vals, with our Swiss friends; and it was also 
 basket meeting, for each family would bring 
 their dinner, and we would put them all toge- 
 ther and have a picnic which we enjoyed very 
 much. 
 
 So the first time our friends came to this 
 place they quite changed their minds about 
 the farm, and about our doings, for although 
 the house was, and is not attractive, there are 
 many natural beauties around it in the shape 
 of fine old trees, a good, cold spring of lime 
 stone water, and running water in the pastures, 
 all of which advantages are not often found 
 
ADAIK CREEK NOTES. 45 
 
 on a farm so near the city, and as our inten- 
 tion in coming liere was to keep a dair^^ we 
 were glad to secure tiiese conveniences, and 
 at first put up with a little discomfort about 
 the house. 
 
 This farm joins one we owned during the 
 war, and which we sold long ago, and when 
 after my marriage I came to live in this 
 neighborhood, the place we now live on was 
 the property and home of an old widow lady 
 with a crippled son and three unmarried 
 daughters, themselves old ladies in my youth- 
 ful eyes; they were kind, hospitable people, 
 and much loved in the neighborhood. 
 
 The house they lived in was a large, old 
 log house, near it stood a loom house, further 
 off there was an old barn, and some out- 
 buildings, a spring house, etc., but everything 
 looked dilapidated and neglected. 
 
 There was at the back of the house an old- 
 fashioned garden, with old cedars along one 
 side of it, where the daughters raised what 
 vegetables the.y needed, also a little corn and 
 potatoes, etc., but it was hard work for them 
 and yet there was no help for it, At that 
 time fields were not so easily rented as they 
 are now, and as there was no one in the 
 family to take hold and manage affairs and 
 
46 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 work the farm, which was then very large, 
 everything was much neglected; the fences 
 were old and broken down, the fields were 
 overrun with sassafras and other sprouts, also 
 with broom-sedge, a kind of grass peculiar to 
 the South and which the cattle will not eat 
 except when it is tender and green. So you 
 see the good people had some trouble in 
 making both ends meet, and to help them 
 one year the neighbors got together to raise 
 a crop on the MacCampbell place, and they 
 worked it in turn through the summer until 
 the corn was gathered. 
 
 I have wanted to give you an idea of how 
 the place looked twenty-five years ago, when 
 we used to come to it often, the distance 
 between the two farms not being considerable 
 and the way mostly through shady woods, 
 which are now a thing of the past, for the 
 land is all under cultivation. But then it was 
 so pleasant to walk over to visit the old ladies 
 and have a quiet chat with them, at first 
 carrying our little baby daughter, then later 
 leading two little ones by the hand, and these 
 kind ladies always made us welcome. 
 
 I remember how Mrs. MacCampbell told us 
 of her mother hiding in the woods, with her 
 and other children, to keep out of the way 
 
A DA IK CKEEK NOTES. 47 
 
 of Indians, who about seventy-five years aj?o 
 were yet disturbing the first settlers in that 
 part of tlie country. 
 
 Well, Mrs. MacCampbell died soon after I 
 knew her, so that my acquaintanc.e was rather 
 with the daughters, who remained several 
 years on the farm before they sold it. Their 
 brother was crippled by paralysis, he could 
 just hobble along slowly with the help of a 
 stick, and would come to our house for a short 
 visit and to beg for some tobacco, which he 
 also asked from everybody he met, for chew- 
 ing was one of his few enjoyments, and he 
 was not able to gratify it. I could hardly 
 make out his talk, for his speech was also 
 affected by palsy. He was fond of children, 
 but was the terror of our little ones, for his 
 ways were none of the gentlest, and his voice 
 was deep and hoarse and frightened them. 
 He was a big, fat man, and entirely depen- 
 dent on his sisters for help in dressing, eat- 
 ing, etc., but they were patient and kind and 
 bore the self-imposed burden without a mur- 
 mur. Sometimes the old man had fits, of 
 what kind I don't know, but when the sisters 
 got frightened or needed help, they would 
 blow their tin-horn, used in those times as a 
 dinner-horn instead of a bell, and the near 
 
48 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 neighbors would come to assist, or advise, a? 
 the case might be. 
 
 Now, before I return to the present time, I 
 will add that the MacCarapbell sold their farm 
 during the war, and went to live in Knox- 
 ville. The new proprietor built a small frame 
 house and a stone spring house on this part 
 of the farm, near the old buildings, then di- 
 vided his land into small tracts which he 
 sold. This portion has had many proprietors 
 since that time, and each one has made some 
 change about the buildings, both putting up 
 new ones, or adding to what were there, or 
 tearing down the old ones, so that to-day not 
 a trace remains of what existed some years 
 ago. 
 
 Now you would think that a house which 
 has been built in so many different times 
 ought to be a convenient and comfortable 
 one, but we did not find it so. It was evident 
 that no woman had helped in the plan of the 
 house, and no wonder for several of the pro- 
 prietors were bachelors, who did not under- 
 stand much about conveniences in house-keep- 
 ing. There was no pantry, no shelves or cup- 
 boards, which are so necessary to a good 
 house-keeper, even if they do make so many 
 more corners to clean up. 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 49 
 
 So after waiting till we were able as to 
 time and means, we tried to improve the con- 
 dition of things by building a large dining 
 room, and a kitchen and pantry; that is the 
 kitchen and pantry are new, and the dining 
 room which used to be a kitchen separate 
 from the house, we have only added to so 
 as to bring it all under one roof, and now we 
 have a large, convenient living room, which 
 we calcimined and papered ourselves, and in 
 which we eat and work, and in winter do the 
 cooking. 
 
 The appearance of the house is long and 
 narrow, four rooms on the front, opening one 
 into the other and also on the porches, mak- 
 ing each room independent of the others; 
 first at the west end is the spare bed room, 
 sometimes occupied in summer by visitors or 
 boarders, then comes our bed room, next a 
 large, cool sitting room, and last on the east 
 side is our boy's little bed room. From the 
 sitting room we walk into the dining room, 
 and from that by a side door into the kitchen 
 and pantry, in which last there is a trap door 
 to go down cellar; so now I feel quite set up, 
 as the saying is, for besides these conveni- 
 ences we have a water tank in the kitchen, 
 with 9, pump to bring up the water. 
 
50 EAS'J' TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 I ought to have said at first that the house 
 stands on rising ground, some distance from 
 the pike; there are several large trees around 
 it, and it fronts a meadow along the whole 
 length of which runs in a serpentine way the 
 brook from our spring, and that brook is at 
 all seasons of the year covered with water- 
 cresses which look so fresh and green, and in 
 winter make a pretty contrast with the fallen 
 dead leaves and the dried grass in the meadow. 
 These cresses, cooked like greens or eaten as 
 salad a,re quite a treat for those who l?ke 
 them; we use them in early spring or in the 
 fall when there is a new growth. 
 
 Poor people come to gather these cresses 
 and sell them in Knoxville, and sometimes 
 there are as many as seven or eight women 
 and children scattered along the edge of the 
 stream, pulling and cutting away at the 
 cresses, which we let them take so they do 
 not come too near the house. Water-cresses 
 grow and spread so fast that we have some 
 trouble keeping them out of a little pond, 
 caused by an enlargement of the brook, or 
 branch, as we call it; this little pond is just 
 in front ;0f the house, and near it is the only 
 weeping-willow we found on the place, but 
 we have planted more all along the bropk. 
 
ADATR CEEEK NOTES. 51 
 
 III. 
 
 Dear friend: Now that I have somewhat 
 made you acquainted with our surrounding's, 
 I will tell you about ourselves and our doings 
 as I know that you take an interest in what 
 concerns us. T mentioned in my last letter 
 that in coming to this farm we intended to 
 keep a dairy, and we did carry out our plan 
 very much to our satisfaction. There was al- 
 ready a dairy business started on the place, 
 but the milk was sold in Knoxville every 
 day and we wanted to make butter and cheese, 
 for we knew by experience that it was as 
 profitable and less binding- than takin? the 
 milk to town every day, and even twice a 
 day in summer. So we began with twelve 
 cows, and only sold milk for a few weeks to 
 have time to get ready for cheese making, and 
 give customers a chance to engage milk else- 
 where, dairies being plentiful. 
 
 We had before hand engaged a cousin of 
 ours to come and milk and have the care of 
 the cows. This cousin had come from Switz- 
 erland when a young man, had bought a farm 
 in our neighborhood several years before the 
 war, had married an American girl and settled 
 here. He and his family were our fellow- 
 
62 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 travellers during the war, when we went north; 
 we lived together six months in Ohio, then 
 we went to the state of New York and they 
 to Illinois; after a time they came back to 
 Knoxville and bought a farm fifteen miles 
 away from here, having sold the other before 
 leaving Tennessee. A few years ago our cou- 
 sin's wife died leaving six children, but he 
 has taken another, and it was with her and 
 his four youngest children that he moved on 
 this farm some weeks before we did. He had 
 while a young man been on a farm in Ger- 
 many, where he had learned about the care 
 of cows, so milking was nothing new to him, 
 though it would be to most native farmers, 
 the milking of their one or two cows being 
 generally the work of women. 
 
 Our cousin's oldest boy here was thirteen 
 years old, and he helped his father take care 
 of the cows and milk, but when that was ac- 
 complished their share of the dairy work was 
 done and mine began. I had as help an Irish 
 girl we had befriended the year before, when 
 her fatlierless baby was born at a neighbor's; 
 she was young, strong and willing to work 
 and help us, if we would only give her and 
 her baby a home with us; she was already 
 here, having lived a few months with the 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 53 
 
 family who had just moved out, and I was 
 glad to secure her services, for I knew there 
 would be some heavy work to do in cleaning-, 
 which would be too much for me alone. 
 
 Now, when talking over our cheese-making 
 enterprise, we had planned a small house by 
 the branch so as to have plenty of water at 
 hand, and cool water too, to keep the milk 
 sweet in summer,, and we thought of churning 
 by water power, and have in fact a regular 
 dairy house, but when the time drew near 
 to start the cheese-making, we began to see 
 difficulties in the way. Having a separate 
 building was not going to be very convenient 
 for me, who was, and am, cook and also cham- 
 bermaid, as well as dairy woman, then also 
 water at any distance from the spring gets 
 warm very quickly in summer, and altogether 
 what had seemed to be just the thing at the 
 beginning, was not quite so feasible the nearer 
 we got to the time of trial. So we made up 
 our minds to begin right at home, in the kit- 
 chen, and a very good way it proved to be. 
 
 Again here in the manufacture of the cheese 
 our plans had to be changed ; we intended to 
 make rich cheese, that is, use new milk in 
 the morning, and skim but little the night's 
 milk, as is done in most cheese dairies, but 
 
64 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 we knew that it was a. little risky and trouble- 
 sonie to make and keep cheese in this climate. 
 
 Before the war we had engag'ed in cheese 
 manufacture, kept from thirty to forty cows, 
 and had a regular dairy-man who gave great 
 satisfaction; he loved his work and put his 
 heart in it and succeeded fully in his under- 
 taking, as was shown by our cheese receiving 
 the first premium at an East Tennessee Divi- 
 sion Fair. 
 
 But T remember ho^ difficult it was to keep 
 the cheese just right, neither too dry nor too 
 damp; a proper situation had to be chosen 
 for the cheese-house on the side of a wooded 
 hill, so as to have shade in summer, and keep 
 flies out; then a cellar had to be dug and the 
 cheese kept always at the same temperature, 
 and even v/ith all possible care some would 
 often decay, still as we were working on a 
 large scale we found profit in it. 
 
 But here we were going to work in a small 
 way, doing everything ourselves, and wanted 
 to make it as easy and convenient as possible, 
 and concluded to make skim-milk cheese, and 
 butter, and have been very much pleased and 
 encouraged in our undertaking; the cheese 
 keeps well, and butter commands a good price 
 in Knoxville. 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 65 
 
 Good butter can be made here just as well 
 as in the north or west; there are so many 
 springs all through the country that could be 
 made available to keep the milk and cream 
 cool durin^^ the warm weather, but the people 
 are as yet too careless or ig-norant to take any 
 pains to make good butter; and after all why 
 should they when their white, foamy butter 
 brings them sometimes as much money as 
 that which is firm and j^ellow? Yet there are 
 many townspeople who will pay an extra 
 price for really good butter. 
 
 I know by experience that good butter can 
 not be made if the cream is kept and churned 
 at a higher temperature than 60 or 65 degrees 
 according to the season of the year, and then 
 the butter must be worked over several hours 
 after churning and salting. That is one thing 
 the farmers' wives here cannot understand 
 why it should be, and will not do because it 
 is a little more trouble, yet it makes a vast 
 difference in the looks and taste of the butter. 
 I have to thank my northern friends for my 
 knowledge and improvement in that line, for 
 once I did no better than those we have 
 around us. 
 
 Well! now about cheese-making, we are 
 going on in the samo way wo began, in sum- 
 
56 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 mer the milk is kept in the spring-house, in 
 winter here in the house, to make the work 
 easier; every morning I skim the milk of the 
 day before, make the cheese and keep the 
 cream to be churned the next day when it is 
 soured. When the cheeses are sufficiently 
 pressed they are put in the cellar on a swing 
 shelf, and are turned every day, and sold 
 once a week after keeping twenty days at 
 least. 
 
 But though the cheese is made the same 
 way now as then, our help is not the same; 
 our cousin stayed with us only one year, and 
 went back on his farm where he is now dai- 
 rying, and our strong Irish girl left soon after 
 hoping to better herself. 
 
 It seemed to us when first one, then another 
 left, that we would have some difficulty in 
 going on by ourselves, still we did not feel 
 discouraged. Mr. Chavannes could spare more 
 time from the farm, our boy was getting strong 
 and able to help, and I had got used to the 
 work, so that our farming, dairy work and 
 house-keeping have gone on smoothly, with 
 the help of a hired man who lives on the 
 place with his family, and of a colored girl 
 in the house. 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 57 
 
 IV. 
 
 Bear friend: I had not thought when I be- 
 ^an to write about our home and work, that 
 there would be so much to say about it, yet 
 I find that I must take up the subject again 
 if I would tell you, not only what the work 
 of each one is, but in what spirit we do it. 
 
 In the first place, you must know that each 
 one of us has his own distinct department of 
 work, in which no one interferes. For instance, 
 Mr. Chavanues' department is the manage- 
 ment of the farm and of our Monthly Magazine. 
 Neither our boy or myself try to manage or 
 direct in this matter; if help or advice is de- 
 sired, it is asked for and willingly given, but 
 all the responsibility of this share of the work 
 rests upon him. In the same way, house- 
 keeping and the management of the dairy 
 business are my special work and care, and 
 I don't expect the others to plan and work 
 for me unless T need and ask for their help. 
 Our son also understands that in his depart- 
 ment he has some responsibility; part of his 
 work is a daily routine, and we" require him 
 to work so many hours each day, and during 
 that time to accomplish a certain amount of 
 work. 
 
68 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES, 
 
 We have been liberal with him as regards 
 time for the amount of work we require from 
 him, and, by steady application he often gains 
 two or three hours in the day, that are his 
 to spend as he pleases; sometimes he emploj'-s 
 his spare time working on the farm, liis father 
 having given him the use of a piece of ground 
 on which this year he is raising oats, and last 
 year he had wheat: Sometimes he goes out 
 hunting; last fall he bought a new breech - 
 loading shot gun, which he paid for himself, 
 all the profits of the occasional job printing 
 being his; thus we give him an incentive to 
 work, and try to miake him feel that he is a 
 part of our little community. Even our col- 
 ored girl knows that she has an interest in 
 doing lier work well and quickly; when her 
 usual task is done, she can then have time 
 for play or pleasure, but no one is going to 
 undertake her task for her. 
 
 Now I don't want you to think from what 
 I said that we are strict and indifferent to 
 one another's comfort for it is all the other 
 way. We have ever j? thing in common, our 
 plans for improvement of self and surroun- 
 dings, our pleasures and recreations, are all 
 made subjects of discussion at the table or 
 during evening liours, and we find that it is 
 
ADAIR CEEEK KOTES. 59 
 
 the easiest and pleasantest way in which to 
 work to the best advantage, that each one 
 should have his or her appointed task. 
 
 I may not be able to say as much about 
 the farm as I would about house work, but 
 will tell you that Mr. Chavannes cultivates 
 himself loart of the farm, and rents the re- 
 mainder to a man w^ho lives on the place, and 
 who also works for him when he needs help. 
 Sometimes Mr. Chavannes and our boy ex- 
 chang:e work, farming for type setting, or per- 
 haps while his father prints, our son drives 
 the wagon, always trying to so arrange things 
 that at no time either one should feel over- 
 tired with one kind of work; also keeping in 
 mind the rule that the work which suits one 
 person best, is the one which he or she is 
 the best fitted to do. 
 
 Mr. Chavannes also has a small broom shop, 
 for he has for many years engaged in a small 
 way in the broom business; it is perhaps the 
 only kind of work in which he does not get 
 help, though before we bought our printing 
 press, our boy sometimes helped his father 
 in the shop; it is convenient work for rainy 
 days, but Mr. Chavannes does less of it than 
 formerly. 
 
 I said before that our printing outfit, that 
 
eO EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 we use to print our Magazine, is in the din- 
 ing room, so we are thrown a great deal to- 
 gether during working hours, and I find it is 
 encouraging to be able to tell one another 
 how we are progressing during the day. There 
 is generally one of us setting type or distri- 
 buting it; our son is the quickest, while I 
 am rather made fun of for being so slow; 
 but I don't mind it, for every little helps the 
 work along. The work which we three always 
 do together is milking; very often when so 
 engaged we sing, and you have no idea how 
 much easier it seems to make the work. 
 
 Years ago, when our daughter was with us, 
 we used to sing a great deal, but since she 
 married and took away her organ we have 
 neglected our music very much, and only 
 lately have taken it up again on account of 
 our son who seems desirous to learn, and to 
 encourage him we have bought a new ins- 
 trument; and though I can play but little, 
 many of our friends are musicians and please 
 us with their music when they come. 
 
 I have not yet told you about my cheese- 
 making, so will tell you now, though the 
 process may not be new to you. As a rule I 
 make the cheese every morning; I skim when 
 ready to warm the milk, and to avoid heavy 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 61 
 
 lifting of the boiler, I only put in half the 
 milk in it and heat it more than necessary 
 and enough to bring the milk to 100 degrees 
 when the other half is added, after the boiler 
 has been placed on the floor. Then I put in 
 a few drops of cheese coloring, a vegetable 
 extract which we get at the drug store, and 
 lastly put in the rennet liquid, which I pre- 
 pare myself by soaking one rennet in a gallon 
 of water, salting and straining, and then put- 
 ting away ready for use; one cupful of this 
 liquor will curd twelve gallons of milk, and 
 it takes twenty minutes to do it. Then I cut 
 the curd with a wooden knife, and as fast as 
 the whey rises I dip it up and warm it in a 
 skillet so as t^ pour it back on the curd, for 
 it is necessary that the curd should be warm- 
 ed in order to separate it from the whey, and 
 that is the easiest way to do it. 
 
 While the milk is warming I go about my 
 other work, and also while it is curding, and 
 when comes the dipping up of the whey I get 
 help from the girl until it is time to salt and 
 break up the curd evenly with the hand, then 
 put it in a cloth and in a hoop under the press. 
 That finishes the cheese-making for that day, 
 except that it must be turned several times 
 in the following twelve hours. 
 
62 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 All this work is very interesting and pleas- 
 ing to me, for I like to T^^ork with the milk. 
 The butter making goes on at the same time, 
 but I hardly ever churn now, only get the 
 churning ready. This year it is done by a 
 daughter of our renter, who is paid with milk. 
 
 Many a time when 1 have planned to go 
 out visiting for a day and ch^^ese had to be 
 made, I have got up earlier than usual and 
 skimmed and warmed the milk before break- 
 fast, so it might be curding while we ate; 
 on such days I am excused from the milking. 
 Or it might be the cheese was made on re- 
 turning home after a day spent with friends, 
 and if it was late I alwaj^s received the help 
 I needed. All the cleaning up of utensils, I 
 am glad to say, I can leave to our little mu- 
 latto girl, but of course I superintend it. 
 
 As much as possible T keep my afternoons 
 for writing, sewing, visiting, magazine work, 
 etc., the morning being pretty much taken up 
 with the milk and housekeeping concerns, but 
 if things do not turn out as we would like, 
 we have learned, and are learning yet to 
 make the best of whatever happens, and take 
 life easy and have it pleasant for ourselves 
 and others, and not fret over that which can 
 not be helped. 
 
ADAIK CREEK NOTES. 68 
 
 V. 
 
 Dear friend: In my letters to you I have 
 been describing much of our life, associates, 
 surroundings, etc., and now I feel like having 
 a quiet ''talk" with you. I want to tell you 
 my thoughts and feelings on some subjects. 
 
 As you know, we lead a quiet, happy life 
 here in our little family, but I would not 
 have you believe that it is all chanc^ or good 
 luck, as so many who have told us so. No, 
 indeed, for not only is there no such thing as 
 luck, but there was a time when we did not 
 understand as much of the laws of nature 
 and of what is conducive to happiness as we 
 do now, so that our present' state of content- 
 ment is the result of our studying what would 
 make us happy and satisfied, and then putting 
 in practice as much as possible what we have 
 found would make us so. 
 
 And the first requisite to happiness is health, 
 for how can we enjoy and be glad if we suf- 
 fer? Now I am willing to acknowledge that 
 we have unusual good health, but we promote 
 it as much as possible by wearing sensible 
 clothing, eating and drinking what we find 
 suits us best, by sleeping as much as our sys- 
 tem requires, and by rest; yes, rest during 
 
64 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 the day, before we get so tired that we can 
 not enjoy even that. 
 
 Now, I don't mean by rest that we ait down 
 and do nothing, but a change of work is often 
 a rest. But in this matter of work I must 
 say that we have had to teach ourselves to 
 do only that amount of it that is actually 
 necessary, and leave the rest undone. Perhaps 
 it does not sound right for a housekeeper to 
 say this, but dear friend, have you not some- 
 times thought how much work is done unne- 
 cessarily, from habit, or because from child- 
 hood we have been taught that some things 
 must be done in a certain way, and that if 
 we failed to perform them just so, we failed 
 to accomplish our duty? I know that for my 
 part, I have too long worked, and worked hard 
 too, performing that which I considered ne- 
 cessary and was tiresome in body and mind, 
 and yet benefited no one. 
 
 It might have been the sweeping and dust- 
 ing of a room, so as to have it in extra good 
 order, or the ironing of clothes which it made 
 no difference to the wearer whether they were 
 ironed or merely folded smooth ; or the nicely 
 finishing up of some sewing that might have 
 been more plainly done. 
 
 In any of those things, and many more, that 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 65 
 
 are done from pride or as I said, habit, we 
 have had to learn to do every day only so 
 much as is necessary, so as to have some 
 time left for reading-, music, recreation, etc., 
 for you must know that work has by no means 
 diminished with us of late years, rather the 
 contrary, and if we did not act in this w^ay 
 which is so much more satisfactory, m e would, 
 like many we see around us, be overworked 
 and overtired ; and if you try it you will find 
 that it pays to "sift" our work. 
 
 Of course there is a large amount of it that 
 must be done; cows must be milked, meals 
 must be cooked, and beds made every day, 
 but a wife and mother is not always obliged 
 to milk, and the food might often be plainer 
 than it is, and if beds cannot be made in the 
 morning for lack of time, why, the afternoon 
 will do just as well. 
 
 Although I say this, do not imagine that 
 we have no order or system about our work. 
 If we did not we never could get along, but 
 we pay no attention to the established way 
 of doing things, and have organized our work 
 to suit ourselves. And that it is a good way 
 we know by the results, and also because many 
 friends who have staid w ith us have expres- 
 sed their surprise that we could accomplish 
 
66 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 so much in a day. And I will even own to 
 you that we are by no means early risers, 
 but when we do get up in the morning we 
 feel refreshed and ready to work, and it is 
 very seldom that night comes and does not 
 find us in good spirits, ready for reading or 
 music, a game of cards or backgammon, or 
 whatever we may wish to do. 
 
 Without boasting I will tell you that all 
 those who have lived with us, even for a 
 short time, have told us before they left that 
 they had been impressed by the feeling of 
 peace and contentment reigning in our home. 
 
 And here I want to tell you how I have 
 felt sorry for those poor women, farmers' 
 wives they mostly are, who write to the pa- 
 pers and tell of their hard lives, and how 
 they long for the emancipation of women and 
 welcome the efforts made in that direction, 
 and who cannot see that the needed change 
 is in themselves. It seems as though they 
 expected some great and sudden revolution 
 to set them free from bondage, when it is in 
 all the minor details of life that the change 
 must be made, and made through themselves. 
 
 I have no doubt you have experienced it 
 often that it is through little things that life 
 is made pleasant, or becomes a burden to us. 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 67 
 
 I am sure that if these poor tired women had 
 begun their married life on an equal footing 
 with their husbands, and limited their fami- 
 lies to only so many children as were welcome 
 and could properly be taken care of, and then 
 had taught their children to help themselves 
 and be independent from their early years, 
 the lives of both parents and children \\ould 
 have been much happier. 
 
 Another thing which is also necessary to 
 our happiness, and the truth of which we re- 
 alize more of late, is that we need change in 
 whatever shape we may get it; and however 
 small that change may be in the daily rou- 
 tine of our lives, it is sure to be beneficial to 
 us, for as T told you before, it is in pleasant 
 little things that our happiness consists. 
 
 As for ourselves we encourage all that can 
 make us so, and though our life is quiet, it 
 is by no means monotonous ; we have a good 
 deal of intercourse with those around us, and 
 also several persons on the place whom we 
 must see every day about one thing or an- 
 other; we also go to Knoxville quite often and 
 see our friends and relations there. Another 
 enjoyment is attending debates at the school 
 house, generally once in two weeks, when Mr. 
 Chavannes is always one of the speakers. 
 
(58 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 We Wave also entertained friends and rela- 
 tions several times during the year for a few 
 days or weeks, as the case might be, though 
 on account of our worli we have refused to 
 take summer boarders as we used to do All 
 this, as you understand, makes a diversion 
 in our life, by bringing us in contact with 
 others, exchanging thoughts, and giving us 
 an opportunity to learn as well as teach, 
 many things of interest. 
 
 Occasionally, once in a great while, we do 
 a little travelling, only one at a time, for we 
 cannot all be spared from home at present. 
 Mr. Chavannes went north last year, our son 
 went to the Louisville Exposition, and goes 
 every spring to visit his sister, and stays a 
 few weeks at her house, and I was there last 
 winter on the occasion of welcoming our first 
 grand-child. 
 
 Before I stop this letter, I must tell you 
 that a great source of enjoyment to us are 
 the many pleasant missives we receive from 
 subscribers to The Sociologist, they send \is 
 words of encoura'gement and cheer such as 
 we hardly expected to get, and it has been 
 the means of our getting acquainted with 
 many congenial spirits, and we look upon 
 them all as dear friends. 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Dear friend: Of late years, and especially 
 quite recently, there has been a ^reat deal 
 said and written about hygiene and improv- 
 ed modes of living, so as to secure better 
 health, but although these ideas are surely, 
 if slowly,,, spreading and taking firm root 
 in the people's mind, how many do you think 
 really understand what it means to ' takp 
 care of one's self"?. 
 
 Usually one thinks that in making a tho- 
 rough reform in one's ways of life a better 
 state of health will be attained, and conse- 
 quently more happiness be enjoyed. Some 
 try to stop working, or work as little a^ pos- 
 sible so as to not get tired, but they forget 
 that one gets tired doing nothing. Many try 
 hygienic food, but our observations have led 
 us to believe that they enjoy no better health 
 than those who indulge judiciously in what- 
 ever they desire to eat. Others again in their 
 endeavors to live right have taken to uncook- 
 ed food; of this last trial we have no exper- 
 ience, but we are sure of one thing, that as 
 the world never moves backward, so it will 
 not go back to a barbarous way of living. 
 
 Well! now you may wonder if after finding 
 
70 EAST tennp:ssee sketches. 
 
 fault with othe^ people's experiments, I have 
 any better method to bring forward. T think I 
 have and will tell you of it. 
 
 In the first place remember that I look upon 
 the body as a machine, so we learn from 
 those who have studied the subject. Now any 
 one who owns or works a piece of machinery, 
 wants to be thoroughly acquainted with all 
 its different parts, so as to use it with judg- 
 ment, and put no undue strain upon it. Take 
 for instance a sewing machine. A woman 
 who uses it constantly knows veil the neces- 
 sity of oiling it every day; it will not do to 
 neglect that performance and hear the ma- 
 chine squeak, and think to-morrow will do 
 as well to oil it, for to-morrow, for lack of 
 the oil that is needed to make it run smooth, 
 some parts of the machinery may be worn 
 out so that no amount of future oiling, or 
 rubbing and cleaning, will bring it back to 
 its former state. 
 
 And so it is with the body, if we are not 
 careful all the time, it will not long stand 
 the "wear and tear" that we are likely to 
 let come upon it. 
 
 This is our method: to work every day ac- 
 cording to our ability, but to intermingle our 
 work with plenty of rest. 1 have written this 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 71 
 
 to you before, and I say it again because I 
 find it of so much importance. A tired mind 
 and body cannot work advantageously. A 
 tired person worries and frets and cannot 
 enjoy or help the enjoyment of others. One 
 who feels continually tired is certainly run- 
 ning his or her machine without oil. What 
 then is this oil which is to work such won- 
 der in our feelings? It is Rest. When we 
 are rested we can accomp'ish so much more 
 than when we are tired ; the smile will come 
 to our face instead of the complaint to our 
 lips, and what may have seemed like moun- 
 tains of trouble will dwindle down to a very 
 small amount of labor. 
 
 Perhaps you think I write on this subject, 
 but have no experience in that direction. It 
 is not so. for I have tested the manv different 
 ways of working that are in vogue, and have 
 found none so satisfactory as our present one. 
 I will tell you something of how I came to 
 learn and change to my actual belief and 
 mode of action. 
 
 From a girl I was always fond of house- 
 keeping, but never had to exert myself much 
 in that line until I was fourteen, at which 
 time I was strong and well able to stand the 
 unusual strain of work brought upon us by 
 
72 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 adverse fortune. When 1 married I was, in a 
 small way, quite competent to manage my 
 household affairs, and took much pride and 
 pleasure in doing- the work, and as I had 
 plenty of leisure time and recreation, I did 
 not feel the need of putting a check on my 
 impulses of overdoing. 
 
 But when we went north, during the war, 
 ^rand settled in a small town where nearly 
 every woman was a noted housekeeper, I 
 found that I fell far short of being one my- 
 self, and set to work to deserve as good a 
 reputation as any of my lady friends. 
 
 What gave them the name of good and tho- 
 rough housekeepers was this, they did all 
 their work themselves. Papering and; white- 
 washing, house-cleaning, putting down carpets, 
 washing and ironing, baking, sewing, etc. In 
 fact there was nothing they could not do, and 
 if some had, to have hired, help they were 
 talked about as too nice to work, and T who 
 had been used to do that only which was 
 necessary, and take plenty of comfort in life, 
 began to think that my education had been 
 sadly neglected, and that it was time I should 
 learn all that a woman ought to know. 
 
 And I did learn, and with the knowledge 
 of thorough housekeeping, as it was looked 
 
ADAIR CREEK NOTES. 73 
 
 upon there, came at times a feeling of weari- 
 ness, and I was less ready to take enjoyment 
 when it was at hand, I was, without know- 
 ing it, sacrificing my health and also my com- 
 fort and that of my family to the demands 
 of King-Work. But then I had the satisfac- 
 tion (?) of knowing that in matters of house- 
 hold economy I could hold up my head with 
 any of my neighbors. 
 
 One intimate friend I had, who although 
 she was a help to me in many ways, also had 
 a baneful influence over me for many years. 
 Enjoyment, comfort, rest, only came with her 
 as secondary matters in life, and work was 
 everything. To be sure we had social gather- 
 ings, pleasant tea parties, etc., but they were 
 not enjoyed in the spirit they should have 
 been, for there was generally a lurking thought 
 as to whether the rooms were in perfect order, 
 or the supper table arranged as it should be, 
 and would everything come off in the approv- 
 ed style? 
 
 You see all that was in itself a burden to 
 carry when it should have been no burden at 
 all. But I did not know much then of the 
 laws of health and happiness. It was only 
 after our return to Tennessee, when we had 
 to make a new start as I called it, for there 
 
74 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 was land to clear, a house and barn to build, 
 prarden to make, etc., then the taking care of 
 a little baby, that I began to see that a change 
 must be made in the arrangement and quan- 
 tity of my work, and I had to learn to dis- 
 criminate between what it was actually ne- 
 cessary to do, and what was done merely for 
 show and through habit. 
 
 I assure you it went against the grain, as 
 the saying is, to have to leave undone what 
 I had learned must not be neglected, but my 
 health imperatively required it, for I had 
 been spending more strength than I could 
 spare and had to pay the penalty. Fortuna- 
 tely I learned a better way of managing be- 
 fore any serious trouble came upon me, and 
 it was very encouraging to find that although 
 I did not sweep, dust and mop and iron as 
 much as had been my wont, no' one felt the 
 difference, but we were all rather benefited 
 by a little more rest and reading at what 
 might seem odd times, and there was also 
 more cheerfulness and pleasant exchange of 
 thoughts, for mine were not always on work 
 or fretting for what I had not accomplished. 
 
 About that time I heard Mr. Chavannes 
 tell a friend who was inclined to overwork 
 herself, that if she had to carry a burden a 
 
A DA IK (REEK NOTES. 76 
 
 long distance, the best way to accomplish her 
 object would be to rest often on the ^ ay. 
 That gave me food for reflection, and I found 
 through experience that he was right. Of 
 course you know I do not mean that we should 
 stop every little while during our work, but 
 whenever we feel that what we are engaged 
 in is a tax upon our strength, our power of 
 thought, our sight, or any other of our facul- 
 ties, it is high time we changed our occupa- 
 tion and rested thoroughly. 
 
 In fact we ought never to wait until a dis- 
 like for exertion comes upon us, as that shows 
 that we already have done too much, and that 
 we must give our bodies a chance to recruit. 
 As I have said before, we can actually accom- 
 plish a larger task, and with greater ease, if 
 we rest often than if we work right along, 
 allowing ourselves no breathing spell in the 
 hope of being through quicker. We may in 
 that way accomplish a task a little sooner, 
 but we shall have to pay in impaired health 
 and contentment more than the work ever 
 was worth. 
 
 Now you will know that I can speak from 
 experience on the subject upon which I have 
 written to you. I am no longer over-particu- 
 lar in doing my work, and yet I claim to be 
 
76 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 neat and clean, and through a better system 
 of management I am accomplishing now a 
 greater variety of work than I did years ago. 
 
 The results of independence are also keenly 
 enjoyed now. As long as I entertained the 
 idea of duty, I felt obliged to give up all my 
 desires and thoughts of self to the accom- 
 plishment of whatever was set before me to 
 do. I have no doubt you have many times 
 acted as I did, and although it may have been 
 hard to obey the call of duty, yet there was 
 a sort of grim satisfaction in knowing that 
 we had acted right. (Though it really was 
 not right. ) 
 
 But I wish you would try as I did, not to 
 do anything that would not repay you in 
 some way. Let the trial be made gradually, 
 that you may feel sure that you are moving 
 in the right direction, but do not wait for a 
 more fitting time. There is no better time 
 than the present and our first duty is to our- 
 selves, and if each one of us will be true to 
 himself or herself, no one will suffer through 
 our independence. 
 
SlUNDEES' RAID ON ENOZYILLE. 
 
 In the summer of 1863, before Burnside came 
 to Knoxville, we were living in the city where 
 I was busy with some work connected with 
 the commissary department. One morning I 
 had occasion to go to the depot, and found 
 everything in turmoil and confusion. Upon 
 inquiry, T learned that a large force of Federal 
 cavalry had crossed over from Kentucky into 
 East Tennessee, and were 1 leading in this 
 direction, with the object, it was supposed, 
 to burn the railroad bridges at Loudon and 
 Strawberry Plains, and to destroy the large 
 military stores in Knoxville. As it was not 
 known whether the city could be successfully 
 defended, every available car was being load- 
 ed with government stores, ready to be sent 
 off toward Virginia at a moment's notice, if 
 it should become necessary. 
 
 All that afternoon active preparations were 
 made for the defense of the place; ths few 
 pieces of artillery in the city were put in 
 
78 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 position, the men working in the government 
 shops were organized into companies and ar- 
 med, and every measure was taken to present 
 the best possible front with the small force 
 available at that time. One of these mea- 
 sures was to issue a. call to the citizens to 
 volunteer, and at night, in answer to that 
 call, three young men who boarded at our 
 house and myself decided to join the citizens' 
 company. 
 
 It was dark when we started to look them 
 up, and it took us some time to locate them, 
 which we finally did at the extreme left of 
 our line of defense. Upon reporting to the 
 Captain, we were first sent to the Armory for 
 guns and ammunition, and on our return were 
 X-)laced last in the line, which extended all 
 along Summit Hill, above the railroad. A 
 little later, Captain MacCluno, the officer in 
 charge of the Armory, came up with his 
 employees and formed on our left, thus further 
 strengthening our position. 
 
 Nothing was known of the movements of 
 the raiders, except that they had reached the 
 railroad between Knoxville and Loudon, for 
 they had cut the wires between these two 
 places, and it was supposed that they would 
 follow the valley up to Knoxville. 
 
SAUNDERS' RAID ON KNOXVILLE. 79 
 
 The supposition proved to be correct, for 
 after waiting in perfect silence for about a 
 couple of hours, we suddenly heard in the 
 stillness of the night, a brisk but desultory 
 fire to the west of the city, in the direction 
 from which the Federals were expected. 
 
 I have been sufficiently tried to know that 
 while I am not specially brave, yet I am no 
 coward, but I shall never forget the effect 
 that the hearing of these few shots had upon 
 me. A cold shiver ran down my back, and 
 I felt very solemn for a little while. But the 
 feeling soon passed off never to come back, 
 and I am glad to say that the next day, in 
 the more serious fight which took place, my 
 only anxiety was that we should present a 
 brave front and beat off the enemy. 
 
 We all expected that these few shots would 
 prove the precursors of a night attack, but 
 everything quieted down, and the night pas- 
 sed without further alarm, the time being 
 spent in talking over our prospects of success- 
 ful resistance, or getting snatches of sleep 
 stretched on the bare ground. 
 
 In the morning we had the first reliable 
 news of the movements of the Federals. A 
 dispatch from Loudon — only thirty miles 
 distant — sent all the way round by Atlanta, 
 
80 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 and through North Carolina and Virginia, 
 then back to Knoxville, was published in 
 the morning papers, to the effect that a force 
 of Yankee cavalry under the command of 
 General Saunders, estimated to be two thou- 
 sand strong, had made a demonstration against 
 the railroad bridge at Loudon, but on finding 
 its approaches well fortified and guarded by 
 a regiment of Virginians, had turned in the 
 direction of Knoxville. 
 
 It was also rumored among us that the 
 Federals, when met by our scouts during the 
 night, had turned to the left, and were now 
 camped in the woods in front of us, and that 
 an attack might be expected at any time. 
 
 Soon after the circulation of these news, an 
 incident happened which goes to show what 
 nerve and decision will do in deciding the 
 fortunes of war. The position our company 
 occupied guarded the entrance into the city 
 through the Jacksboroui*-h pike, at that time 
 the only macadamized road leading into 
 Knoxville. We were on the side of a hill, 
 and below and in front of us was the railroad. 
 The pike ran straight in plain sight for seve- 
 ral hundred yards, then turned and was hid- 
 den from view by a large brick building, a 
 steam flour mill. 
 
SAUNEERS' RAID ON KNOXVILLE. 81 
 
 About that time three or four private citi- 
 zens started to ride up that pike to do a 
 little scouting on their own account, and were 
 soon lost to sight, hidden by the turn in the 
 road. A few minutes later, we heard some 
 shots in that direction, followed by a tremen- 
 dous clattering noise, as if a thousand horses 
 were coming toward us at full gallop on the 
 stone road. 
 
 We never doubted but that the enemy was 
 charging upon us, and quickly falling into 
 line, we got ready to give them a warm re- 
 ception, our Captain walking back and forth 
 repeating: -'Keep cool, gentlemen, do not fire 
 too soon, wait for the word of command", 
 when instead of the expected charge of ca- 
 valry, we saw first our scouts waving white 
 handkerchiefs, and right behind them, coming 
 as fast as their horses could gallop, four 
 pieces of artillery, escorted by a company of 
 Confederate soldiers. Cheer upon cheer rent 
 the air at the welcome sight of this unex- 
 pected reinforcement. 
 
 The explanation of this timely arrival was 
 this. That battery had been stationed near 
 Knoxville all summer, and at the first news 
 of the raid had been ordered out to the 
 Clinch river, some twenty miles off, to defend 
 
82 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 a ford where it was expected the Federals 
 would try to cross. When it was known that 
 the raiders had taken another road, a courier 
 was sent after them, with orders to come 
 back in haste to take part in the defense of 
 Knoxville. They had traA^elled all night, and 
 having no means of learning the movements 
 of the Federals, had when nearing the city 
 fallen right among them where they had es- 
 tablished their camping ground. 
 
 Happily they did not strike the Federals in 
 the centre of their position but at the extreme 
 right, and caused them as much surprise by 
 their unexpected arrival as it was to them 
 to find the enemy between them and the city. 
 Their Captain must have been a born soldier 
 and a man of decision, for without a moment 
 of hesitation, he ordered his men to dash at 
 full gallop down the road past the Federals, 
 who before they could realize what had hap- 
 pened, allowed them to pass harmlessly 
 through their midst and get beyond danger 
 of capture. They had then met our scouts, 
 who naturally had mistaken them for the 
 Federals, and fired some shots to give us the 
 alarm, but upon finding out their mistake, 
 had taken position at their head so as to pre- 
 vent their being fired upon from the city. The 
 
SAUJSDERS' RAID ON KNOXVILLE. 83 
 
 battery was sent at once to occupy a threat- 
 ened position, and did good service in the 
 fight which soon followed. 
 
 Probably one hour passed without anything 
 of importance taking place, and we had com- 
 menced to believe that there would be no 
 fight, when the Federals made a demonstra- 
 tion, and in so doing gave us the finest mil- 
 itary spectacle which it has ever been miy 
 luck to see. In front of us, some fifteen hun- 
 dred yards away, was a low flat ridge, along 
 the whole length of which Fifth Avenue is 
 now located. Then it was a piece of woodland, 
 the trees large and far apart, with the under- 
 brush cleared, and having very much the ap- 
 pearance of a park. 
 
 The Federals were encamped behind that 
 ridge, out of sight, and forming in companies, 
 suddenly rode up to the top in platoons, their 
 numbers being sufficient to extend from one 
 end of the hill to the other. Arrived at the 
 top they deployed fronting us and gave cheer 
 after cheer of defiance, to which we as defi- 
 antly responded. 
 
 It was a beautiful spectacle. The sky was 
 perfectly clear and of the deepest blue, the 
 trees covered with their green foliage, and 
 the Federals in their dark uniforms, as they 
 
84 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 rode up in sight with military precision, 
 seemed when flnaMy formed in a line on the 
 top of the hill, to have been drawn off for 
 our inspection. But it did not last very long. 
 No sooner had our cheers died away, when 
 our two pieces of artillerj^ nearest to our com- 
 pany opened upon them; the first shot went 
 wild, but the second hit fairly in the center 
 of one of the platoons, scattering men and 
 horses in all directions. Before the guns could 
 be reloaded the whole force wheeled back 
 and disappeared from our sight, their place 
 being taken by two light pieces of rifled ar- 
 tillery which they had brought with them. 
 
 The balance of the fight was an artillery 
 duel, with few casualties on either side, but 
 in which Knoxville lost one of its best citi- 
 zens. This was Captain MacClung, of whom 
 I have spoken as the officer in charge of the 
 Armory. We had spent the night close toge- 
 ther. I was the last man of the citizens' com- 
 pany, while Captain MacClung stood at the 
 head of his employees, who were next to us. 
 After the artillery fire had commenced, and 
 when there was no danger of a charge for 
 the time being, we stood together looking at 
 the firing. We could see the flash of the Fe- 
 deral guns, and following the whizzing of the 
 
SAUNDERS' RAID ON KNOXVILLE. 85 
 
 shells, watch where they struck. The first 
 went high over our men, and the next struck 
 as much too low. After looking- a m hile. Cap- 
 tain MacClung said tome: ''Mr. Chavannes, 
 I am going up there, where I can have a 
 better view of these fellows," and walked up 
 to our cannons, standing by their side fully 
 exposed. Unhappily for him about that time 
 the Federals got the right range, and the next 
 shell struck him, carrying oil both his legs. 
 He was taken to his home, and an effort was 
 made by the surgeons to save his life, but he 
 died a few hours after. 
 
 Until that time, our men had taken no ad- 
 vantage of the cotton bales which had been 
 placed for their protection, but I noticed that 
 after tliat, they would watch for the flash and 
 take refuge behind the bales until the danger 
 was past. 
 
 I do not know how long this duel lasted, 
 but to me it seemed very short. When the 
 Federals withdrew their pieces they kept out 
 of our sight, and as we had no means of know- 
 ing if they had left the vicinity for good, or 
 only retired to prepare for a more serious at- 
 tack, we spent the next hour or two in doing 
 what we could to strengthen our position. 
 Our compan;'-, which had stood exposed in full 
 
So KAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 sight, was drawn off behind a strong fence, 
 and retrenchments were built with a pile of 
 cord wood that was laying in a yard near by. 
 But the Federals had left for Strawberry 
 Plains, where they burned the railroad bridge, 
 and then started back for Yankee land. In 
 the afternoon, a j-trong body of Confederate 
 cavalry, which had been sent for, reached 
 Knoxville, and after a short rest followed in 
 the track of the Federals. They did not over- 
 take them, but managed to press them elo: e 
 enough so that they had to abandon their ar- 
 tillery, and make their way back to Kentucky 
 over the mountains, by difficult and danger- 
 ous paths, where no troops would travel unless 
 compelled by dire necessity 
 
COMmG HOME TO KNOZYILLE, 
 
 In 1896, after a prolonged stay in the East, 
 Mrs. Chavannes and myself returned to our 
 home in East Tennessee. It was in the leafy 
 month of June, when nature is at her best, 
 and the contrast between the sight of one of 
 the busiest streets of New York, and the 
 fresh colors of the landscape, made us doubly 
 susceptible to the beauty of the region we 
 traversed on our return journey. 
 
 Part of the country through which we tra- 
 velled has the distinction of bein^ the highest 
 farming region east of the Rocky mountains. 
 Within a distance of perhaps two hundred 
 miles, we successively crossed the James river, 
 which empties in the Chesapeake bay, the 
 Roanoke and the New River which flow east 
 through North Carolina, the KanaTah which 
 flows west to the Ohio river, and the Holston, 
 the main spring of the Tennessee river, which 
 runs south until below Chattanooga, where 
 it is turned to the west by a high spur of the 
 Cumberland mountains 
 
 Leaving Wasliington in the middle of the 
 
88 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 night, our first view of this picturesque region 
 was at Koanoke, a thriving little city at the 
 junction of the Shenandoah valley and of the 
 Norfolk and Western railroads. From Roan- 
 oke the land rises steadily, and the railroad 
 is built between and around a series of hills 
 called knobs in that section of the country, 
 and which I believe are not found elsewhere. 
 Those knobs are a succession of small, hills, 
 perhaps three or four hundred feet in height, 
 scattered over the land in perfect confusion, 
 presenting to the eye the same uneven appear- 
 ance as the surface of a basket of eggs. 
 
 The scenery they made was exceedingly 
 pleasant to look upon at that time of the year. 
 No abrupt lines offended the eye, but a suc- 
 cession of scenes small in extent, but all 
 graceful, cheered the sight of the traveller 
 with their ever changing curves, painted in 
 many shades of green against the blue sky. 
 
 As the cars wound in and out around these 
 numerous hills, vistas of miniature valleys 
 were passing before our eyes in quick succes- 
 sion, enlivened by glimpses of farm houses 
 usually set just beyond the gaps in the hills, 
 and which, Surrounded by ancient shade trees, 
 and framed in by fields and woods, formed 
 a very attractive rural picture. 
 
COMING HOME TO KNOXVILLE. 89 
 
 Not only has the country a special charm 
 of its own, but it is also true of the occupants 
 of the car who have some marked character- 
 istics, and differ from the citizens of other 
 parts of the United States. 
 
 I find my attention arrested by four young- 
 men who had come in together, and seem to 
 me true specimens of the best class of the 
 inhabitants of that reg-ion. They are all tall, 
 well built, and with well bred faces. One of 
 them, whom they call Doctor, comes nearer 
 than any of them to my idea of the Old 
 Virginian stock than any specimen I have 
 seen lately. A courtly demeanor even with 
 his friends, a careless expression as if life did 
 not have to be taken very seriously, a laugh- 
 ing eye and an honest face, are his chief 
 characteristics; and as he jokingly discus-es 
 with his friends the somewhat exciting topic 
 of the political situation, lie shows his true 
 descent from the easy-going slave owners who 
 were at one time the ruling power of that land. 
 In another respect they all show the persisten- 
 cy of inherited traits, for while divided in po- 
 litics, they are all agreed as to their contempt 
 for the '^nigger", and show more anxiety to 
 maintain the political supremacy of the white 
 man than to vote for silver or gold. 
 
90 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 After pullinjj: and puffing for two or three 
 hours, the locomotive taking us higher and 
 higher above the sea, we finally reach the 
 rich valley which forms the south western 
 part of Virginia. We have left the knobs be- 
 hind us, and find ourselves in a broad valley, 
 rich and well cultivated, and as we rush along 
 we see on each side the j^arallel chain of 
 mountains that form the Alleghany range. 
 We pass many thriving cities, and find our- 
 selves once more surrounded by evidences of 
 progress and prosperity. 
 
 At one of the stations the cars are invaded 
 by delegates to some Sunday school conven- 
 tion, and it is evidently looked upon as a 
 picnic, for women and children predominate. 
 The seat opposite to us is taken possession 
 of by a middle-aged gentleman, whose face 
 is a perfect fac-simile of that of an old En- 
 glish statesiTian of revolutionary times It is 
 not the face of a reformer or an idealist, but 
 it is the face of a man prone to judge and 
 advise his fellow-men, and is marred in my 
 eyes by the condescension which lurks in all 
 his actions. I take him to be a preacher, and 
 my opinion is strengthened by his success in 
 getting rid of the care of his infant son. His 
 wife not feeling well brought their two years 
 
COMING HOME TO KNOXVILLE. 1)1 
 
 old child for him to look after, but the task 
 evidently being an unpleasant one, he soon 
 manages to turn it over to a more humble, 
 but possibly more useful member of the pai'ty. 
 Another man, with black coat buttoned to the 
 chin, and white neck tie, has the face and 
 manners of a catholic anchorite, and seems out 
 of place in a protestant pleasure party. 
 
 About noon we reach Bristol, the twin city, 
 built partly on Virginian and partly on Ten- 
 nessee soil. The dividing line between the 
 states runs througli the main street, and the 
 city boasts of two mayors and two councils. 
 Bristol is the highest station on the railroad, 
 being nearly two thousand feet above the sea, 
 and from there to Knoxville the fall is over 
 one thousand feet. As we leave Bristol, there 
 is a curve in the road, and we see br( adside 
 to us the valley of East Tennessee, encased 
 between two high ranges of mountains which 
 frame it grandly all the way to Chattanooga. 
 
 The valley widens as we reach Morristown, 
 and we admire the broad fields and rich 
 farms which present themselves to our eyes. 
 But we have but little time to observe the 
 country. The train makes but few stops, and 
 speeds on at a rate that would do honor to 
 the fastest train at the West. 
 
»2 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 At Mossy Creek, our last stop and thirty- 
 three miles from Knoxville, I look at my 
 watch and find that we are due in that city 
 in thirty-five minutes, and expect that we will 
 be a little behind time, but we thunder along- 
 at such a rate that we soon reach a neighbor- 
 hood with which I feel well acquainted, and 
 though only five miles from the depot, we 
 have yet ten minutes to arrive at our desti- 
 nation. Soon the train slacks and we are no 
 longer whisked around the curves with a force 
 that makes you feel like holding on to your 
 seat, and as we reach the city limits we fall 
 in the prescribed speed, and glide in the de- 
 pot just on time. 
 
 A good horse and buggy are waiting for us, 
 and soon takes us back to our home and fa- 
 mily, and in a few days our long absence has 
 become a thing of the pa^t, and we fall back 
 naturally into our old life in our southern 
 country home. 
 
AN OLD REPROBATE. 
 
 During our late unpleasantness, in the fall 
 of 1862, I spent some months in buying cattle 
 in the mountains of East Tennessee, and made 
 the acquaintance of William MacLeod, or 
 Squire Mac as he was familiarly called, a na- 
 tive of the upper parts of the state, who had 
 drifted to Knoxville in search of a fortune. 
 Although born in the south, Squire Mac was 
 much given to trading, for which he was as 
 well qualified as any Yankee from the East. 
 He was glib of tongue, sharp at a trade, and 
 with a keen eye for a chance bargain, and had 
 left his native mountains to exercise his gifts 
 in more busy haunts of civilization. 
 
 But so far he had not met with any brilliant 
 success, probably because of his roving dispo- 
 sition and a fondness for mild forms of dis- 
 sipation. He used to deal a little in cattle, 
 and thus we were often thrown together, and 
 I was induced by him to make the trip on 
 which I met my old reprobate. 
 
 In coming to Knoxville, Squire Mac had 
 not brought all his possessions with him, but 
 
94 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 still owned an nn sal able farm some ten miles 
 south frpm Cumberland Gap. On this farm 
 lived his brother, and in his care the Squire 
 had placed his motherless little girl, and it 
 was because he wanted to see his child that 
 he persuaded me to take the trip with him. 
 At that time he had not been on his place 
 for several months, being afraid to return in 
 that vicinity on account of personal enemies 
 he had left behind. He was a Union maru, 
 while most of his neighbors were strong Se- 
 cessionists, and he was afraid that if he should 
 fall in the hands of the men he had angered, 
 but little quarter would be shown to him. 
 
 To show that his fears were well founded, 
 I may as well state here that later on, after 
 Biirnside had entered East Tennessee, and 
 Squire Mac had joined the Federal army, he 
 visited his home at a time when that section 
 was disputed ground between Burnside's and 
 Longstreet's commands, and having fallen in 
 the hands of the men he dreaded, when they 
 left the place where he had been overtaken, 
 his dead body was hanging to a tree. 
 
 But at the time of our trip there wa? a 
 little more respect for human life. Kirby 
 Smith was in command in East Tennessee, 
 and while civil authority had been entirely 
 
AN OLD REPROBATE. 95 
 
 superseded, martial law was enough respected 
 to protect the life of peaceable citizens. Ne- 
 vertheless Squire Mac had not been willing 
 to venture alone in that locality, and knowing 
 that I was a southern sympathizer, proposed 
 that we should together visit h's home. He 
 would see his child and attend to some bu- 
 siness matters, and I would likely be able to 
 buy some cattle in that neighborhood. 
 
 T gladly consented, and two days of horse- 
 back riding took us over the sixty odd miles 
 of mountainous country we had to traverse to 
 reach our destination. On the afternoon of 
 the second day, near sunset, we reached the 
 farm of Squire Mac's father-in-law, and the 
 first building we saw on the place was a small 
 still-house, a common sight at that time over 
 the mountains of East Tennessee. 
 
 As we neared the still-house, T noticed a 
 man lying at full length by the side of the 
 road. His hat had fallen off and rolled to one 
 side, and his bald head was fully exposed to 
 the rays of the setting sun. My first impres- 
 sion was that the man was dead, but Squire 
 Mac, with a passing glance of recognition 
 remarked: "That's old Fullerton, an old 
 drunkard, he is not dead, he is dead-drunk." 
 
 I paid but little further attention to the 
 
96 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 incident, for we were used to strange sights 
 in those days, but I recollect a feeling of 
 disgust passing over me when I realized the 
 true condition of the raan. He had evidently 
 fallen by the roadside; his head lay lower 
 than his feet, his arms were extended and 
 his white fringe of hair covered with mud; 
 a complete picture of utter prostration and 
 annihilation of self-respect. "An old reprobate," 
 I thought within myself, "and going to the 
 devil as fast as he can." 
 
 The next day it was arranged that while 
 Squire Mac attended to some private matters, 
 I would go and look at some cattle I was in- 
 formed were for sale in the neighborhood, and 
 that we were to meet for supper at the Squire's 
 father-in-law. I dispatched my business a 
 little quicker than I expected, and it was yet 
 early when I stepped on the porch at our 
 host's, and was cordially welcomed by the 
 ladies of the house and requested to take a. 
 chair and make myself at home until the ar- 
 rival of the gentlemen. Seated in a corner 
 of the porch was an old man who was pre- 
 sented to me as Mr. Fuller ton, and whom, to 
 my great astonishment, I recognized as the 
 drunkard of the preceding day. 
 
 But he looked like another person, for he 
 
AN OLD REPROBATE. 97 
 
 was sober, and I found him a man of mild 
 manners, modest behavior, and considerable 
 information. Instead of the disgust of the 
 preceding day, I found myself attracted tow- 
 ard him. There was something refined in his 
 appearance, in marked contrast with the usual 
 deportment of the mountaineers, who are more 
 noted for virile determination than for gent- 
 leness of behavior ; and the pathetic look in 
 his mild blue eyes had something appealing, 
 and well calculated to disarm the harsh jud- 
 gment I had passed upon him. 
 
 We gradually got into conversation, and I 
 learned there of some events in his life which 
 somewhat explained his conduct, and taught 
 me to be more charitable in my judgments 
 of my fellow-men. 
 
 After a few words about the weather and 
 the crops, I happened to mention the road 
 by which we had come the day before, when 
 he remarked that I must have seen him as 
 he lay by the road side. 
 
 "I was drunk then," he said in a matter of 
 fact voice, and just as if he had said "I am 
 sick," "but I am sober now." 
 
 "Yes," I answered, "and I thought you were 
 a sorry sight; you do not look to-day like the 
 same man." And with the rashness of youth 
 
98 1:aST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 I gave him a short lecture on the evils of 
 drinking. He heard patiently what I had to 
 say, and when I got through simply remarked: 
 
 "It is all true enough, what you have told 
 me, but what is a man to do if he cannot 
 keep from it? Ever since I lost my boys I 
 got drunk at times, and I do believe it is all 
 that kept me from going crazy. There are 
 times when I must forget myself, or it seems 
 to me I will lose my mind." 
 
 That was a new idea to me, and I was cer- 
 tainly not prepared with a satisfactory re- 
 ply. Mr. Fullerton was so different from all 
 other drunkards I had known that I was get- 
 ting interested. 
 
 "Are you all alone?" I asked. "Have you no 
 wife or child to help you keep sober?" 
 
 A look of deep dejection spread itself over 
 Jus countenance, and something very much 
 like a tear ehone in his eye. 
 
 ''My wife did not live very long after our 
 marriage," he answered. "I have been a wi- 
 dower more than thirty years. We had two 
 children, as fine boys as ever lived, but I saw 
 them both die not two weeks apart." 
 
 I had lost a darling little girl not many 
 months before, and my heart went out toward 
 the man who thus had been doubly afflicted. 
 
AN OLD REPROBATE. 99 
 
 "That was hard indeed, Mr. FuUerton." I 
 replied. "T have lost a child lately and can 
 sympathize with you. What was the matter 
 with your boys that they died so near to- 
 gether?" 
 
 "Smallpox is what killed them," he answered. 
 
 "Smallpox!" I exclaimed, well knowing the 
 dread in which that disease is held by these 
 mountaineers. ^'Smallpox! What a hard time 
 you must have had while they were sick! 
 Could you get any help? Would any of your 
 neighbors come and see you?" 
 
 "No, I was left all alone with them all the 
 time, and no one, not even a doctor was al- 
 lowed to come near us." 
 
 My curiosity being aroused, I plied the old 
 gentleman with questions, and here is the 
 substance of what he told me. 
 
 "This happened over twenty years ago," he 
 said, "and we were living in the same place 
 where I am now, but the country was not 
 nearly as much settled, and we were comple- 
 tely surrounded by the woods. There had 
 been no smallpox in these parts, but we heard 
 some talk of it over on the other side of the 
 Gap, but nothing to create a scare, or even 
 make us specially careful. 
 "Well Bill, that was the oldest, took a 
 
100 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 notion to visit some friends on the other side 
 of the mountain, and a few days after he 
 came back he began to complain, and finally 
 had to take to his bed. We had no women 
 folks staying with us at the time, a. kind of 
 keeping house by ourselves, and John and I 
 thought we could take care of him all right. 
 But he got worse, and I 'lowed I better go to 
 Tazewell and fetch a doctor to see him, and 
 the doctor he called it smallpox as soon as 
 he set his eyes upon him. 
 
 "That scared us bad, you may be sure, and 
 we knew well enough the neighbors would not 
 come nigh us. And so it was, for the doctor 
 he stopped as he ought to at the first house 
 to warn the people, and the news spread as 
 wild fire all over the country. 
 
 ' So the neighbors they met and talked over 
 what they had better do to keep it from 
 spreading, and the upshot of it was that the 
 next morning at break of day, Johnson cal- 
 led me, and when I stepped out he was stand- 
 ing at the edge of the woods, and he would 
 not come to the house or let me come near 
 him. He told me how the neighbors had 
 decided that we must not leave our yard, and 
 they would see to it that we lacked for no- 
 thing. Every morning they would bring food 
 
AN OLD REPROBATE. 101 
 
 and medicines and leave them where he stood, 
 but on no account was any of us to cross the 
 fence, for they were going to set guards, who 
 if we did would shoot us down like dogj. 
 
 '^Well Bill got worse and John helped me 
 take care of him, but he took sick himself 
 and I had them both to take care of. Oh ! it 
 was a dreadful time. Bill went out of his 
 head, and John got scared for he thought 
 they would certainly both die. And sure 
 enough Bill he died first, and the neighbors 
 would not come near and help me bury him, 
 but they dug a grave near the fence, and 
 brought a coffin and let it down into it, and 
 I carried Bill down in my arms and let him 
 down in the coffin and covered him. After 
 that John got worse and at times was so 
 violent I could hardly keep him in the bed. 
 But he got weaker and weaker, and soon fol- 
 lowed his brother, and I was left alone with 
 my dead. Oh! it was awful I" 
 
 And the old man's face worked and he co- 
 vered it with his hands, and I felt a deep 
 compassion for him in my heart as I realized 
 the mental sufferings he must have endured. 
 After a moment he continued: 
 
 '^I had to bury John the same way as Bill, 
 and then had to come back alone to my lonely 
 
102 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 cabin, and it was two weeks before I was 
 allowed to show myself among my neighbors." 
 
 "That was cruel," I remarked, "for surely 
 some other way could have been found to 
 destroy the danger of infection." 
 
 "No, it was not cruel," he replied. "They 
 did the best they could for us and knew of 
 no better way to keep the smallpox from 
 spreading. And it did it too. There was no 
 other person took it, but it drove me to drink. 
 I used to take a dram once in a while, but 
 never enough to get drunk. But I got so 
 lonely and broken down that I took to drink- 
 ing so as to forget my misery, and it has 
 stuck to me ever since, and will probably 
 hold me to the end." 
 
 I did not have the heart to say any more 
 about the evil habit of drinking, and it taught 
 me a lesson, for ever since I have been more 
 charitable in my judgments, and no longer 
 apply the term of old reprobate to every man 
 who succumbs to the influence of liquor. 
 
1 WAR EPISODE. 
 
 Early in the fall of 1863 the Confederates 
 under Buckner evacuated Knoxville, and a 
 few days after the Federals under Burnside 
 made their entrance in the place, and held 
 it till the end of the war. In November of 
 the same year the Confederates returned un- 
 der Longstreet, and driving Burnside into the 
 city, besieged him during three weeks, when 
 Bragg having been defeated at Missionary 
 Ridge, Sherman was detailed from Grant's 
 army and coming to Burnside's assistance, 
 compelled Longstreet to raise the siege. 
 
 However he did not go very far, but re- 
 treated to Strawberry Plain*!, where occupying 
 a strong position behind the river, he threat- 
 ened Knoxville all winter. His troops made 
 continual raids near the city, often carrying 
 off prisoners and cattle which were thought 
 safe within the Federal lines. 
 
 We were then living on a farm four miles 
 north of Knoxville, and very near the dispu- 
 ted portion of the country. We were within 
 the outer line of pickets, but surrounded by 
 
104 EAST tennp:ssee sketches. 
 
 camps, and subject to numerous visits from 
 stragglers and camp followers, who usually 
 came in search of food, and were not very 
 scrupulous as to their means of obtaining it. 
 We were known as southern sympathizers, 
 and thus more liable to depredations than 
 our neighbors who were mostly union people, 
 and in self defense had to hide our slender 
 stock of food, and use all kinds of stratagems 
 to prevent discovery. 
 
 We also had visits from the soldiers cam- 
 ped around us, but their behavior was very 
 different. They usually wanted some work 
 done, such as washing or cooking, and were 
 polite and willing to pay liberally for what 
 they >A anted. 
 
 JTor greater security we had sold most of 
 the product of our farm, and were reduced 
 to very plain living. My last remaining horse 
 had been stolen by a party of stragglers, and 
 our only domestic animal was a cow which 
 could find a scanty living in the open fields, 
 helped out with the refuse from our kitchen. 
 We had some wheat and corn hidden among 
 a pile of loose lumber, and some bacon stored 
 under the lining of the roof, and with some 
 help from the garden managed to have al- 
 ways enough of the necessaries of life. 
 
A WAR EPISODE. 105 
 
 Some two months after the arrival of the 
 Federals, reports beg-an to be circulated in 
 our neighborhood that some union soldiers 
 had been visiting several farms, and had 
 carried away boxes of chewing tobacco that 
 were stored on them, but it was not known 
 if it was done under military authority, or if 
 it was a case of unauthorized plundering. In 
 the latter days of the Confederacy, when 
 paper money was daily losing in value, chew- 
 ing tobacco in boxes, being compact and easy 
 to keep, became a favorite investment. 
 
 I had bought quite an amount, and the fact 
 was generally known, but the tobacco had 
 never been brought to my farm, for I stored 
 it in the city, and sometime before the ar- 
 rival of the Federals, I had disposed of it 
 for another investment that suited me better. 
 
 Under those circumstances, I was not sur- 
 prised to see one afternoon four mounted 
 soldiers ride in my front yard where I was 
 at work, and the leader introducing himself 
 as Captain Gale, said he had been pent to 
 search my house for tobacco, rebel flags and 
 arms. 
 
 In those days we did not ask such visitors 
 for their warrants; the loaded guns in the 
 hands of his soldiers were sufficient warrant 
 
106 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 for an^'thirig he might choose to do, so treat- 
 ing him politely, I answered that I had no 
 tobacco, flags or arms. 
 
 I judge that my manner satisfied him that 
 I spoke the truth, for he seemed disappoint- 
 ed, but after some hesitation he finally said 
 that his orders were to search my house, so 
 I piloted them, and they made a very super- 
 ficial examination, which would certainly 
 have failed to bring anything to light that I 
 would have cared to keep hidden. But T had 
 nothing of a contraband nature, unless a small 
 Reddington pistol and a sword cane could be 
 so considered. I could easily have concealed 
 them, but did not do so, for I felt confident 
 that there could be no objection to my keep- 
 ing them. 
 
 But I soon found that the cane had attrac- 
 ted the attention of Captain Gale, and that 
 he meant to carry it off with him. It was 
 quite a neat article, which I had bought 
 while I was travelling in Europe, and on my 
 return had given it to an older brother, who 
 had died a few years later when the cane 
 came back in my possession; and for these 
 reasons I valued it highly. 
 
 Captain Gale looked at it appreciatively, 
 and probably equally prompted by the desire 
 
A WAR EPISODE. 107 
 
 to possess it and to punish me for his disap- 
 pointment at finding no tobacco in my house, 
 finally said that I was not to be trusted with 
 such a weapon, and that he would carry it 
 away. 
 
 T first tried to argue with him that there 
 could be no special danger incurred to the 
 Union by my retaining possession of my cane, 
 and that failing represented to him why I so 
 highly valued it, but finding that what I 
 said had no effect upon him and that he was 
 bound to take away my cane, I changed my 
 tune and told him that he had better clearly 
 understand that I did not propose to let him 
 retain possession of it, and that if he carried 
 it off he would get himself into trouble. 
 
 His only answer was a derisive laugh, and 
 an intimation that as T was a rebel he 
 could do with my property i)retty much as 
 he pleased, and he and his men mounted 
 their horses and rode away. 
 
 I had in Knoxville a friend on whose as- 
 sistance I could rely, and who had sufficient 
 infiuence to secure attention from the Federal 
 authorities. I wrote to him a succint account 
 of the whole affair, and asked him to find 
 out if Captain Gale had acted upon authority, 
 or if he was doing business on his own ac- 
 
108 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 count, and also try and ascertain if we rebels, 
 who remained peaceably at home, had any 
 rights left that Federal soldiers were bound 
 to respect. 
 
 This letter had the desired effect. My friend 
 went to the officer in command in Knoxville, 
 and gave him my letter to read, vouching 
 for my character and reliability. It seems 
 that reports of Captain Gale's depredations 
 at other farms had already reached him, but 
 he had not been able to ascertain his name 
 or to what regiment he belonged. As my let- 
 ter furnished the needed information, he gave 
 orders at once to the Provost Marshall to 
 have him arrested and held for trial. 
 
 In pursuance of this order, my friend rode 
 up to my house the next day, a little before 
 sun down, in company of an officer whom 
 he introduced as the Captain of the military 
 police of Knoxville, and requested me to go 
 with them and identify the accused officer. 
 As I had no horse, I got up behind my friend, 
 and we rode to the camp where I knew Cap- 
 tain Gale was to be found. It was a camp 
 of Tennessee cavalry, made up of men who 
 had been Union refugees, and had returned 
 home when the Federals took possession of 
 East Tennessee: a class of men who were 
 
A WAR EPISODE. IQO 
 
 naturally very bitter and abusive against the 
 rebels,' and prone if they thought themselves 
 insulted, to take their vengeance into their 
 own hands. 
 
 It was nearly dusk when we reached the 
 camp, which being in a piece of woodland 
 bordering on the creek, was already in semi- 
 obscurity. The men were all busy building 
 their camp fires and feeding their horses. 
 
 We inquired after Captain Gale and found 
 him without diflBculty. When he presented 
 himself, the Police Captain asked me if that 
 was the man who had visited my house the 
 day before, and upon my affirmative answer 
 turned and said to him: "Captain Gale, con- 
 sider yourself under arrest and report to the 
 Provost Marshall office in Knoxville to-mor- 
 row morning at nine o'clock". 
 
 At first -Captain Gale looked dazed, as if 
 he did not clearly understand what had hap- 
 pened to him, but when he realized that I 
 had reported him, and that he had been put 
 under arrest^ his rage against me knew no 
 bounds. That he, a Federal officer, should 
 be arrested upon the denunciation of a rebel, 
 was something v^ hich passed his comprehen- 
 sion. 
 
 But his anger took an unexpected and prac- 
 
110 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 tical form which might have resulted disas- 
 trously for me. He launched at once and 
 effectually in a passionate appeal to the sol- 
 diers around him, denouncing me and urging 
 them to revenge. At the sound of his loud 
 and excited voice, soldiers came running 
 toward us from all parts of the camp, and I 
 soon found myself the center of a mob of 
 armed men, with Captain Gale pointing at 
 me and using all the power of his eloquence 
 to arouse them to acts of violence. 
 
 My friend and myself soon took in 'the 
 unexpected danger of the situation, and that 
 my only chance of safety lay in flight. Hap- 
 pily for us the Police officer stood between 
 us and Captain Gale, and as the horses had 
 just been fed none of the men were mounted; 
 nor had the soldiers yet had time to clearly 
 understand the drift of the situation, and 
 could at first only make out that an alterca- 
 tion was going on. Besides, the Police officer 
 who was trying to stop the torrent of words 
 which was issuing from Captain Gale's lips, 
 was in full uniform, which always commands 
 the respect of the soldiers. 
 
 Taking advantage of a moment when the 
 attention of the fast increasing crowd was 
 directed toward the Police officer by his 
 
A WAR EPISODE. m 
 
 efforts to stop the tumult, my friend slowly 
 and cautiously backed his horse free from 
 the gathering throng, and when clear of the 
 crowd turned him quickly around, and put 
 him at a sharp gallop which very soon 
 carried us out of sight and out of the camp. 
 About a thousand yards off were some dense 
 pine thickets with which I was well acquain- 
 ted, and once there, thanking my friend and 
 telling him I felt safe in the darkness and 
 knew I could elude all pursuit, I dismounted 
 and safely made my t. ay home. 
 
 My friend returned to the camp, and found 
 that during his absence things had come to 
 a crisis. Captain Gale, as soon as he found 
 that 1 was gone, had wanted to start with 
 his men in pursuit, but the Police officer, 
 drawing his pistol, had threatened to shoot 
 him down if he moved a step. Finding him- 
 self overmatched, and the soldiers unwilling 
 to support him against one in authorit3^ he 
 had submitted and promised to remain in 
 camp that night, and report in Knoxville the 
 next morning. 
 
 The next day, when he reported himself, 
 he was held for trial, and 1 was summoned 
 as a witness, but there was some delay, and 
 Longstreet's advance followed by the siege 
 
112 EAST TENNESSEE SKETCHES. 
 
 of Knoxville, and battles and important mi- 
 litary movements around the city, threw all 
 such things in the back ground, and so far 
 as I know he never was tried, nor did I ever 
 hear what became of him. 
 
 But the cane was handed to my friend by 
 the Police officer who had taken possession 
 of it the night of the arrest, and it finally 
 came back into my hands, and I still keep 
 it, not only for the memories with which it 
 was originally connected, but as a memento 
 of one of the numerous episodes of the war. 
 
 570 
 
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