Resuming our journey, we went from Warren County to the home of Mother’s uncle, Nathaniel Nichols, who lived on his farm near Troy, the county seat of Lincoln County. They were southern sympathizers but although they soon earned that we were Union refugees, they treated us very kindly and affectionately during the two or three days we remained at their home. While we were there, Father and one of my brothers took our two extra horses to Troy and soLd them to parties who were buying horses for the federal government. Uncle Nathaniel advised Father to sell the horses as much of the country through which we would have to travel was pro-confederate and our horses might be confiscated. As a matter of fact, however, we never saw any confederate troops nor were we ever molested in any way. Bidding Uncle Nathaniel and his family, two members of which, his sons Earl and Wright were intending to enlist in the Confederate Army, a sad farewell we resumed our journey. Mother felt that as her uncle was old and in feeble health, she would probably never see him again. As far as I know we never heard from them again during or after the war. After leaving the home of Mother’s uncle, we traveled two or three days through a fine section of Northeast Missouri and we arrived at Middletown in the north part of Montgomery County and stopped at the home of Grandfather William Stuart Slavens. We were all glad to see Grandfather, as none of Father’s children had ever seen him and as far as I know Mother had never seen him before, at least I had never heard her speak of visiting him. Father had often told us about Grandfather and about his mother who died when he was a small boy and we had all been anxious to see Grandfather and were glad of the opportunity to visit him while on our way to the North. Grandfather gave us a very cordial welcome to his home and seemed truly glad to see us, showing his appreciation of our visit in a very affectionate manner. He had no children living with him. They ware all married and most of them lived in the vicinity of Middletown but I do not remember seeing any of them while we were there. Some of them may have been there while I was out playing with other children. I am sure Father saw a number of his brothers and sisters and visited them at their homes. I heard him speak especially of visiting Uncle William who lived some distance from Middletown. I heard Father say after we left Middletown that all of his relatives there or in Northeast Missouri were Confederate sympathizers except Uncle William, who was a staunch Union man. They all knew, or at least they soon learned, that we were Unionists but they all treated us well as far as I know. I know that Grandfather did and he was an exceedingly kind and affectionate old man. At that time he was 72 years old. He was a medium sized man, had white hair and was clean shaven, and I think Father looked some like him, but more like Grandmother Slavens. At the time we were there Grandfather was living with his fifth wife. She was considerably younger than he and as well as I remember was a very nice loooking woman. I was not in the house very much while we were there. There were two small girls about my age there and I had a good time playing with them out of doors. They were Grandfather’s grandchildren but I do not know whether they lived with him or were there on a visit. One of them was named Ellen, but I have forgotten the name of the other girl, and I do not know what their surnames were or whether or not they were sisters. We stayed at Grandfather’s home a week or more and then we bid the dear old man goodbye It was a sad parting. With the dreadful war raging and the unusual uncertainty of life by reason thereof, and not knowing where our future lot in life might be, we realized that in all probability we would never see him again and he too was visibly affected in parting from us. We never did see him after our departure from his home although I think Father heard from him frequently during and after the war. He died in the year 1868, and we were grieved to hear of his death.

After leaving Middletown we traveled in a northeastern direction passing through Bowling Green, the county seat of Pike County and afterward well known as the home of Congressman Champ Clark. Then late in the afternoon we arrived at Louisiana, a large town in the same county, which for years had been a slave market where many Negroes were auctioned to the highest bidder like animals. This was the largest town I had ever seen and here for the first time I viewed the Mississippi River, which we crossed that afternoon in a large steam boat, landing in Pike County, Illinois. The next day or two we traveled through Pike and a part of Scott County, Illinois and arrived at our destination, the little town of Exeter in Scott County. There Father rented a small house and we were again domiciled, temporarily but in a strange land and among strange people, who however we soon learned were very kind and friendly. Soon after we stopped in Exeter, Dolph and Irene and baby Alice boarded the cars at Bluffs, a small station on the Illinois Central Railway about a mile from Exeter, and went to Indiana, stopping at the home of Aunt Sarah Slavens, widow of Hiram B. Slavens, one of Father’s uncles, who had been dead several years.

A short time after we become residents of Exeter some federal officers came there to solicit enlistments in the Federal Army and soon names of volunteers were being enrolled and a company was formed of these volunteers, among whom was my brother Thomas Franklin. When the organizations were completed by the election of officers, the chief being Captain Haggard, the company was ordered to Springfield, the State Capital, where many new regiments of federal soldiers were being formed. Brother Tom bid us all goodbye and went with his company in obedience to orders, the first duty of a soldier. Not long after arriving at the State Capital we learned Captain Haggard's company had become a part of the 61st Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry of which Colonel Frye was the commanding officer. Later that fall the regiment was transferred to St. Louis, Missouri and stationed at Benton Barracks. There were a great many newly recruited regiments of soldiers in training at St. Louis at that time.

Not very long after we located at Exeter a Mr. Anthony Lindsey, who was in the mercantile business in partnership with Mr. Milton Burch in Buffalo just before the Civil War, visited us. Father knew him well as a stalwart Union man and they had been good friends for several years, and he was glad to see him and to talk with him. Mother was not personally acquainted with him but any good friend of Father was always welcomed by her and treated well. Mr. Anthony Lindsey was the son of Mr. Amos Lindsey of Hickory County, a pioneer settler who resided near a small village then called Black Oak Point, later renamed Preston. He was a fairly well educated man for that day and seemed to be well informed on many subjects and especially about the war then in progress. He, too, had left Buffalo soon after the Wilson Creek Battle and as his father and family had lived near Exeter before emigrating to Missouri, he probably came there to visit old friends as well as for safety. I had been to his store a few times while we lived in Buffalo but he talked so loudly and ha ha’d so harshly I was afraid of him and always begged Mother to let me go to same other store to get thread or other small articles for her. But Burch and Lindsey’s store was near our home and Mother preferred for me to go to there. I remembered him very well when he came to visit us in Exeter and I did not go in the room where he and Father were for some time and I hoped he would not stay long with us. However, I finally got near enough to hear their conversation which was about the war and some happenings in Buffalo after we left there and I became a very much interested listener. He stayed a few days and went away.

It was not Father’s intention when we stopped at Exeter to remain there long and that was probably the reason I did not attend the public school that fall. I, therefore, had plenty of time to play. I also went with Father in the wagon a few times into the country and we hauled some card wood to our home that he bought of a farmer. After we got the wood I had constant employment every day cutting the wood into stove lengths for our heating stove and splitting some of it up for the cook stove. I remember going two or three times to the farm of Mr. Bell, who lived about half a mile from town, and got some apples. Mr. Bell had a fine orchard and he gave us all the apples we wanted to eat and to ccok we got acquainted with several families of very kind people in Exeter. Among these were Mr. Lyon and his family. He was the leading merchant of the town. I often went to their house and also to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Crisp, whose large residence was the finest one in the town. My visits to these homes were to get a bucket full of buttermilk. They gave us all the buttermilk we wanted and some sweet milk. The Crisp family had no children but at the Lyon’s home there were three; Charles, a boy about my age, and his sisters Lois and Fannie. They were nice children and always treated me very kindly. Charley was my chief playmate, and we had great sport playing in the afternoons after school and on Saturdays. Before we left Exeter that fall, it became real cold in November and the Movistar, a small creek near town, froze over and Charlie and I had great fun skating. He had a pair of skates, the first I had ever seen, and he let me use them some and I learned to skate a little but caught a good many hard falls on the ice. I do not remember going with Father in the wagon to any other town except once, when we went to Naples, a town on the Illinois River about seven miles from Exeter. There was no mill at Exeter and Father went to the large grist mill at Naples to get some wheat and corn ground into flour and meal. I also saw at that place the first distillery I had ever seen. It was a large building and I think they made whiskey, apple and peach brandy and other liquors. On the way to Naples we passed a very large farm one of many owned by Mr. Jacob Strong, said to be one at the wealthiest farmers in Illinois. On this farm near the public road there was a row of rail pens for about a half mile long. The pens were about ten feet high and were filled with yellow, husked corn. That was the most corn I ever saw at one tune.

Another one of our Exeter neighbors was Captain Gillette and his daughter, who lived next door to us. The Captain was a veteran of the Mexican War, and was an invalid, but was a very cheerful person and a fine conversationalist. I often went there to hear him tell about his strenuous experience in the war. His talks were very interesting and full of exciting incidents.

Another neighbor of ours in Exeter was Mr. William Mitchell, a carpenter, and his sister Miss Lydia. They lived near us and I often went to their home to see Mr. Mitchell work in his carpenter shop near their house. Miss Lydia was afflicted with a nervous disease called St. Vitas Dance, which appeared to affect her head and neck, which were always in constant motion while she was awake. I heard some persons who had seen her asleep say that she was then perfectly quiet. It was certainly a very annoying malady but did not appear to affect her general health, and she seemed to be an unusually jovial and very agreeable person.

Chapter six continued...