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The Green

"Right here I will draw a picture of your old home. The house was one story painted white fronting on the Green with a small portico over the front door. The side door opened on the south near the well in which hung two buckets from which I have taken many a thirst quenching drink. In the rear of the house on the north side of the garden was a hen house, a pig pen, and what was usual in those days, Back House. The garden extended quite a ways to the west and was mostly planted with potatoes. The shoe shop was south of the well.

"As you entered it you came into a small room at the back of which was a rack full of lasts, over which your father made shoes for the neighbors. The main room in which your father worked was about 8 x 8 with a large window on the street side. Your father's bench or seat with his kit of tools was in the southeast corner. At the left of your father's bench was a board seat on which I have spent many an hour watching him make shoes, listening to his talk, and dodging his left hand when he pulled out the wax string. He had a long reach.

"I cannot describe the inside of the house. You can shut your eyes and think how it looked. I was only inside of it once. Your father was the Democratic Registrar of voters. I was the Republican. I called on him one evening on that matter and your mother informed me that he was in bed, and that I could go in there and see him. I found him in bed laying on his back, a candle on his chest, a clay pipe (I never saw him smoke any other) in his mouth, and a book in his hand reading."

(Symbols indicate names that are shown on old maps:)
x - ca 1855
o - 1890