Just Folks, Yarns and Legends
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JUST fOLKS yarns and Legends FROM 1840 TO 1940 Manuel Conrad Elmer - 1 9 7 0 - Copy right, 1970, by Manuel Conrad Elmer All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS Page I Introduction..........................................................................................5 Early Visits With Old Settlers II Background Stories...........................................................................10 Once Upon A Time Brumbach First Trip To The Alps The Little Cowboy A Box Of Letters The Berg-Stoss III To America 1849............................................................................26 Galena - New Glarus - Sugar River Valleys IV War Touches The Little Valley.........................................................37 What We Remember The Civil War Camp Randall And The South The Water Tank Trenches A Soldier On Wings The Spanish-American War Fort Riley-1917 V Mysteries..........................................................................................57 The Lime Kiln An Old Shoe Gold The Haunted House An Unmarked Barrel Josie Arlington Timber Shadows VI Wolves - Dogs – Horses................................................................85 Wolf Hunters: 1837 Wm. K. Smith -1837 Reuben Fulsom - 1850 Nick Bieri - 1885 Little Ameal A Day's Chase The Panther Scare Tiger Benemandictum Horses And Neighbor Pacing Fanny Dandy — My First Horse- 1890 Flicker — My Last Horse VII Valley Doctors...............................................................................105 Early Doctors And Epidemics Home Remedies Life Goes On Doctor Dodge "A Steep Doctor" An Accident Small Pox - Vaccination A New Era Dr. Dwight Flower VIII Just Folks....................................................................................120 The Little Old Woman Micheal's Wedding Atmosphere The Charivari A Man Who Never Argued Rudy A Woodsman Philosopher IX. The Bells Are Ringing.................................................................135 At The Sound Of The Bell People Are Living: All's Well In The World The Church Bell It Called - And Directed Within Sound Of The Bell The New York Tribune A Shocked Congregation Sunday School Conflict Of Culture A Tragedy Comic Relief A Busy Cheesemaker Book Agent Social Reformers Camp Meeting - Side Issues The Gang Assembles Indian Turnips Family Picnic Feast Casual Business Deals Gossip X Getting An Education.....................................................................150 John Addams School 1856 Public Schools Early Teachers A Personal Experience 1902-1904 The Teacher And The Community XI Growing Up....................................................................................161 The Panic of 1893 Peddlers – Arabut Ludlow Solomon Levitan Driving Cattle The Orphans Silent Treatment Keeping Pets Muskeag XII Filosophy - Facts – Fun...............................................................182 A Mule Named Peet Praying Cattle Baby Sitters A Top Sergeant Frogs A Shotgun The Old Red Rooster Preacher Sam Tomatoes And Beans My First Automobile Experts INTRODUCTION The yarns one hears in each community are often found repeated in many other communities. Sometimes there are minor differences and modifications which are in line with the people, the activities, and social life of the different areas. In part, this is true because the same story is made to fit into different situations, but it is equally true that human beings living together react to each other in much the same way and consequently humorous situations, ludicrous reactions, and pathetic events are reiterated wherever groups of people live together. The result is that a person may hear a story told which sounds familiar to him. You have known of a similar occurrence. The story you heard was not one that had been handed down but was the occurrence of a situation which was duplicated, by people living together. It is because we have a feeling of familiarity with certain parts of a story that we like it. It brings to our mind a situation or event that was almost forgotten and our emotional reaction towards the new variation adds something to it which would be lacking if all aspects of it were entirely new. Many of the stories told are based upon historical events, but this is not a series of historical facts. The stories repeated in a community, and told as belonging to the community may also be heard and attributed to other communities and persons, but in their general essence, they are true to the particular area, if not to the specific person and locale. Many of the yarns told about Abraham Lincoln, may never have occurred to the man Lincoln, however, they do represent the period of Lincoln. They had the homely philosophy of the prairie country, and the manner of thinking found in the early - woodsman, farmer, hunter - corner store commentator of the period. The same general facts will be repeated when people gather time and again. Even the story of Faust was not only repeated many times but actually written and published a score of times. I recently read Alexander Dumas' account of Journeys through Switzerland, in which he repeats the often told story of the Devil's Bridge, and the price the Mayor of the town had to pay for it, was the first soul crossing it when finished. Because of the swift current all attempt to build the bridge failed. Finally the Mayor of the town took the offer from the Devil to build the bridge. The story varied in its details, but the end was how the Mayor tricked the Devil. Dumas gives the version of a dog with a pan tied to his tail being chased across the finished bridge to furnish the Soul to the waiting Devil. 5 I like my grandfathers version better, instead of a dog, it was a long whiskered goat, with a tasseled knitted cap (zittle koeppli) on his head, a coat over his shoulders, and buttoned down in front under his chin, to hide his legs, and to add to the deception, a Buntner Knoppfli ( a fancy pipe) in his mouth. To this was added the anger and eruption of the Devil when he was aware of how he had been fooled. In short, the form the story takes depends on the artistry of the teller and the audience. The same story will vary from one telling and the next, depending on the atmosphere and the occasion. An artist will paint the same mountain peak again and again, each picture varying as the light, shadows, cloud effects and atmosphere varied. I have heard a story, with all of the essential items the same, told to four groups: a group of men drinking together, a group of older men at a club, a cocktail party and a formal dinner party. The teller was an artist at story telling, and each time it was a perfect story with the details modified for the time, place and company. My Grandfather would sometimes take a trip of several days, on which he would take me along. He had an open buggy, called a Road Wagon, and drove a beautiful black horse called Nancy. In his big satchel, he would put extra clothes for me, and some crackers and Swiss cheese for an emergency lunch. Usually we did not need the lunch, as we were generally at some farmhouse where we got a good meal, but he never failed to be prepared. He would tell how, when hunting Chamois in the Alps, it was always well to be on the safe side. Then he would tell of disasters which happened when travelers, failed to carry emergency food, -forgot their Alpine Stock, wore a shoe that rubbed a blister, forgot to check the hobnails on their shoes, neglected to properly pack and fasten their "rucksack", and a multitude of other things, each one illustrated by an example of a story he had lived, or had heard repeated. Most of the happenings he related have long been forgotten, but some of them come to mind when the situation re-occurs. There was one part of those trips, that remains very clearly in mind. Perhaps because of being repeated again and again, by different persons, varying in each case to some degree, but with the same general plot. As a consequence, when I repeat these stories, they will not be attributed to any person. They are yarns, told to illustrate a point of view, get a laugh, shock the audience or merely pass the time in quiet leisure. Sometimes a story is the end product of half a dozen stories, partly legend, partly historical fact with an adequate amount of embroidery to deaden the monotony of bare utility. Just like the fictitious old Aunt, who surrounded by her little nephews and nieces, anxiously waiting for a forthcoming story, "took out her tatting and began to tatt", so, after one more little background explanation we will be ready to begin telling our stories and start to talk. 6 On these trips, there were a number of old regulars. Each had his own characteristics, and gave his own interpretation to each event, story, argument or wisdom. For example, there was old Antone Baumgartner. A very dignified man, who never made a quick decision, and even if asked which direction was north, would hesitate, and then profoundly inform one, the generally accepted direction of north was in a direction toward which he indicated, and that it was approximately in the direction of the North Star, or the location of the Sun at exactly its highest mid-day point. But, the true north varied somewhat, and there was a slight variation from year to year, but that for any purpose which the inquirer might be called upon to need the position of North, the direction was as he had indicated. Because of his quiet dignity, one usually felt he had given a good and correct answer. Then there was Martin Zum Brunnen. I remember him chiefly as a jolly old man in over sized trousers. He was, however, also a keen thinker. Whenever a rather tense situation arose, where difference of opinion ran toward a fever pitch, grandfather would get old Martin Zum Brunnen in on the discussion, because he could make fun of the extreme views on both sides, and then suddenly pop up a compromise procedure which would end the tension, save face of both sides, and get something done.