When I think back to childhood days I remember how different those years were than the time in which we now live. I could scarcely remember any war except the Spanish American War in early 1900's and probably that would have made no impression except that Vertie Wadsworth (Louise Beaver's father) was in it. I remember them having a new baby while he was gone and wondering how that could be with the father not at home. Grandpa had served in the Civil War, enlisting when he was only sixteen and serving two years. Was discharged in 1865. I have his discharge and it is a treasured memento. I heard him tell of some of his experiences in the army and knew he drew a pension that helped them have a little more income. I have a list of battles in which he was engaged.

We were an average family I suppose. I remember the big threshing dinners when there were almost as many women and children as men. We had cows on pasture in the woods where Kincaids lived across from the Manship place and we used to go after them in the evening and drive them home. Sometimes they were turned out to eat the grass along the road and we children watched then and kept them from wandering too far. There were no cars to watch then, only an occasional horse and buggy. One in the herd wore a cow bell that tinkled and told you where they were when in a wooded area. I drove a horse to the hay fork when hay was pulled up into the barn and made a little money that way. I never forgave Uncle Walter (Shelby's father) for promising to pay for that work at his place and then never doing it. We used to have a large potato patch. The potatoes were cut around the eyes, dropped into the furrow, later bugged and finally dug and picked up by hand. We all helped on all the phases. We had a large orchard east of the house where the Messersmiths now live and Clintons had a large one across the road from their house. Bushels of apples dropped and wasted as nearly everyone then had large orchards and no one needed apples even when they were given away. Speaking of Clintons I remember so well when the Clinton house across the road from our house was built. It had lovely woodwork, two fireplaces, and open stairway and in that day was quite a showplace. A row of peonies along the drive and flowers surrounding the porch added to the well kept lawn made it quite a place.

Mr & Mrs Clinton had three boys, two older than Nitha, the younger one about the age of Glen and Girstle. They drove a surrey to school and we went to Fishers with them until Glen was old enough to drive.

          end of part five

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