Chapter XIII
Lucas county
must have had some special magnetism to have drawn to herself, men and women of
the mettle and fiber that shaped her early history. The men and women who came here were largely
from the countries of northern Europe where the driving force within them was
the unquenchable yearning for freedom – a chance to pursue their own happiness
and build for the future according to their abilities and ambition.
They brought
high ideals, talents and skills, but most of all, they brought high integrity
and the willingness to contribute their best toward not only their own success
but also to the building of this new land so that others who came after them
might also enjoy that freedom which they knew was more precious than life itself. Human nature being what it is, there must
have been a few rogues and miscreants among them but they were few and didn’t
stay long.
As one delves
into the life stories of these early pioneers, one inevitably recalls the great
characters depicted by the 18th and 19th century English
poets and novelists – Dickens, Goldsmith, Tennyson and others. Indeed, one feels that these writers must
have known personally such stalwarts as those who came to America to join the
march of history on this side of the Atlantic.
As for the women of that valiant, hopeful train, there is the Biblical phrase,
“Lillies among brambles” from the Song of Solomon.
One of the
stalwarts was Mr. William Parry, grandfather of the brothers Miles and Gerald
Foster, born in Lucas County and now residing in Chariton. Mr. Parry was born in Monmouthshire, England
in 1829. At age 20 he came to America as
far as Ohio where he lived tow years then moved to Illinois, settling at the
old steamboat landing, ‘The Shock of Corn’ on the Mississippi River across from
Burlington, which at that time had a population of slightly more than
2,000. The river was narrow at this
point and could be crossed easier when frozen over, so they often timed their
westward crossing with this consideration.
Mr. Parry knew
that the new world was for him and soon made the final move, located in Liberty
township where, almost at his door was the pioneer village of Paola, one of the
earliest villages in the county. It had
a store, a blacksmith shop and a sawmill – three requisites to pioneer
life. He then sent for his parents, his
brother, sister and a niece who later became Mrs. William (Rip) Van Winkle.
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Photographs
show Mr. Parry to be a gentleman of resolute will and considered opinions. Although denied educational opportunities in
his native land, he had his full share of mental ability, perspicacity and
insight. He received his certificate of
Naturalization April 8, 1857, now yellow with age. Its cost is marked on the back - $2.00. In the renunciation paragraph is penned the
words, “Victoria, Queen of Great Britain” the reigning monarch at that time.
The certificate
was his most prized possession. It
secured his freedom – the kind that neither he nor his fellow countrymen had
ever known. It guaranteed that he could
now shape his own destiny. He was
generous to good causes and to his fellowmen.
He acquired
several hundred acres of land and with his family enjoyed the good life of that
day. His grandchildren remember him as
always wearing a white shirt, black hat, Quaker style, and trimmed white
whiskers. He was an Episcopalian.
There was a
primitive crossing of Whitebreast at Paola which, much later, was bridged and
was called the Ramsey Bridge. It was a
high steel structure. Miles tells how he
and other boys loved to dive off that high bridge, especially when the creek
was high. The greater the danger, the
greater the fun – as boys have always done, then they grow up, look back and
wonder how they failed to kill themselves.
They also fished there. In the
1929’s the road was straightened, the old high bridge was torn down and the
present Whitebreast bridge was built.
The adjacent area was the Ramsey farm and the old Ramsey residence is
still there, though unoccupied.
Before
the big bridge was built, there was an occasion when the father, Mr. Frank
Foster, son Miles, his sister and their mother must make a trip out to
grandfather’s home. The father hired one
of the two-cylinder automobiles of the day for three silver dollars to take
them as far as the Ramsey bridge, which had been torn out and the new one was
not up yet. They had to walk he rest of
the way and it was winter time.
Gerald
remembers vividly his mother and grandmother describing grandfather’s wild
turkey trap. It was made in the shape of
a rectangle and with split walnut rails. and with more rails laced over the
top. The turkeys walked in alright but
never knew how to get out. The trap was
baited with corn and it never failed.
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Miles and
Gerald foster, grandsons of Mr. and Mrs. William Parry have shown rare items
brought from England – all in excellent state of preservation. Foremost among these cherished possessions is
a cord or peg bed, hand made of Maple, not a nail or screw in it. The rails are beautiful maple poles, four
inches in diameter, threaded left and right into the head and foot boards –
quite tricky to set up. The whole unit
is hand rubbed and polished, even to the pegs which hold the original rope
springs. The rope is unlike any seen
today. A small whole oil lantern made of
solid brass bears this inscription: “Made by John Mills of Newcastle on the Tyne
River”. This being a Foster heirloom, the
family used the picture of it on their Christmas cards one year.
There is
a beautifully woven serape of fine English wool in lovely colors. Mrs. William Parry (grandmother) is wearing
it gracefully draped over her shoulders in a tintype photo.
As Mr.
Parry looked forward to the inevitable, he selected oak trees on his own farm,
had them sawed, seasoned and made into a casket by Mr. William Schreiber, long
time wagon and carriage maker of Chariton.
It was also specified that the rough box be made on the farm. The body was interred in the Newbern
cemetery. Mr. R. D. Piper, brother of
the late Joe L. Piper and close friend, wrote the obituary. Following is an excerpt from that tribute: “Mr.
Parry had a high sense of personal honor and I have heard him appeal to young
men to be honest and to make their word as good as their bond.”
This then, is
the saga of all that is known of another of Lucas County’s early builders.
Raveling out
the threads of Lucas County’s historical tapestry is high adventure. The brilliant threads are so intricately
interwoven with the more somber background of the commonplace and the humdrum of
everyday living that the duller threads sometimes become the brilliant ones
because of their human interest value.
The earliest “weavers” are gone.
None remain today whose experiences came down to us in the folklore we
so enjoy, but there are a few who recall their parents’ reminiscence of those
bygone days. Such a one is the story of “Blackberry
Time.”
The late Joe L.
Piper, father of Bob Piper, operated a grocery store at Oakley in a very early
day. Raspberries, blackberries and other
dainties grew in abundance all around.
Each seasons distant families would load up their spring wagons with
supplies for themselves and their horses, their little oil stoves for cooking,
pails to pick berries in, jars to can them in, and they would come and camp for
perhaps a week, while all hands would attack the berry patches. Eating a luscious bubbling blackberry pie is
a consummation devoutly to be wished and one can imagine the mother encouraging
her children with visions and promise of plenty for their school lunch pails.
Some camped
along Whitebreast Creek. There was wood
all about if they wanted a camp fire. At
the end of their sojourn, they had had a close to nature outing and could go
home with their canned fruit and a profitable vacation. “As beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” so
is joy, peace and contentment in the heart of him who feels it. Nature scattered her gifts lavishly over
Lucas county. Wild fruit of all kinds
grew in abundance.
Mr. and Mrs. John Stierwalt remember the wealth of wild edibles of their childhood – dew berries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, chestnuts and hazel nuts, wild crabapples and down by Wheeler’s Bridge there was a climb of horse radish.
Don Mikesell
tells of the time when people came to dig its fiery roots to make a little jar
of the pungent condiment and, says Don, “It tasted mighty good on a piece of
fried salt pork.” Many people will
agree. There were partridges and plovers
and flocks of quail. Some of the wild
fruits are still to be found but alas, the bull dozer was invented.
Many of Nature’s
gifts have been destroyed altogether.
Raspberries and blackberries are still to be found but they have
retreated into corners here and there.
However, while the berries are disappointingly scarce there is still
ample compensation in the fringe benefits of “going blackberrying” even
today. Making one’s way through grass
and canes, one communes with Nature in her varied language. Here are the aristocratic leaves of the small
hickory tree – thick, glassy and of graceful shape along stems bearing tiny,
emerging nuts in Nature’s appointed places along the stems.
Across the
meadow, a lone tree of great beauty reminds one of an excerpt from a long-ago
serman: “When God wanted to provide soothing shade for his creation, he didn’t
make canvases 40,000 feet square. He
just made tree’s with myriads of little leaves.”
Pages 48-53
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