Having decided to locate in Hernitage for the practice of law, early in April 1892, I leased the farm, had a public sale of some of our stock and farm implements, we moved to Hermitage, Hickory County and for a few months, occupied a hired house. Then I exchanged a team and buggy I had brought from the farm with Judge J. J. Ramsey for his residence, a four room frame house, assuming a mortgage on the property, which I subsequently paid in full. Finding the law business dull and obtaining very few clients, I accepted a clerical position in the County Clerk’s office for a short time and then in conjunction with Mr. W. U. Morton, bought The Index, the only newspaper published in the county then. And, thus, with our own home, and a fairly good business, we started, as it were, upon a new career. Some time during the next year or two, I have no exact data as to the time, I bought Mr. Morton's interest in The Index and assisted by Mr. Elmer Wilson, I continued the publication of the paper, doing the editorial work, and looking after items for the local columns, and occasionally setting a column of type but I never did became efficient as a compositor. However, Joe, our son, by that time was able to aid considerably in that department, having been since I had been in the newspaper business, when not in school, busily engaged in learning to be a compositor. But I encountered hard times by reason of the panic of 1893 and succeeding years and the profits of the business were barely sufficient to provide is a living, but by strict economy we succeeded in living within our income.

Then we had another addition to our family when our fourth daughter was born on the 5th day of February 1894. We named her Bernice Laura, the second name being for her Aunt Laura White. She was a fine, large baby with red hair, and very pretty brown eyes and her complexion was exceedingly fair. Bernice was a very active child, walked good when she was nine months old, and her mother had trouble in preventing her from climbing on top of the bureau and other furniture. She had an unusually good disposition and aside from her climbing propensity, was a very obedient child.

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