[ The Life of Rufus Putnam ] [ Florence Taylor's Poems ] [ "When Mother Wrote a Column" ] [ My Inspiration ] [ Home ]

Plans

Mother was waiting at the door of the farmhouse when the sled turned into the driveway. Sardine came from the barn to meet them, and the younger children, just home from school, rushed out of the house to hear the news.

Israel Stone turned to his wife with a reassuring smile. He patted her on the shoulder and answered at once the question he knew she was wanting to ask.

"I have not yet read the letter, Mother," he said as he handed the reins to Sardine. "I thought I'd better have your help with it. We'll get the chores out of the way, and then we can read the letter together after supper when there is nothing to hurry us and when we have time to talk it over quiet1y."

"Of course, Israel." said Mrs. Stone, and she went back to the house to hurry the preparations for their evening meal. By the time the chores were done and the farm animals had been made comfortable for the night, supper was on the table.

There were boiled beans and turnips and brown-crusted baked Indian pudding made of cornmeal and molasses and milk. Supper was eaten by the fading pink light which came through the western windows, and by the brighter glow from the fireplace.

Benjamin thought he had never been hungrier in his life and he started to say so. Then he chanced to look around the table and noticed that no one else was eating very much. Matilda's bow1 of pudding stood before her untouched, and even Sardine seemed to have lost his appetite.

It was a relief to every member of the family when the meal was finished and the chairs could be pushed back against the wall or forward toward the hearth.

From its place in the corner, Matilda brought the reading candle in its tall iron candlestand. She set it beside her father's chair. Then she kindled a splinter of wood at the open fire and lighted the candle.

Israel Stone took the letter out of his pocket and broke the seal very carefully to avoid tearing the paper He glanced quickly down the page and then he began to read aloud. Some of the long words were hard for Benjamin to understand, but the meaning of the letter was clear to all.

"Muskingum, November twentieth, D. 1788

Honored Friend:

I take this opportunity to inform you of the pleasant situation of our settlement. I think no country is flattered with more promising prospects than this. The Indian treaty making is about drawing to a close. The natives seem friendly disposed. We expect no further trouble from that quarter.

The proprietors of the Ohio Company have lately resolved that lots of one hundred acres each shall be given outright to settlers who may thereby be encouraged to cultivate the land and build themselves homes.

The land along the rivers is extremely fertile. The country back of us is broken with hills and gentle rises, covered with excellent soil. It is well watered with springs. Stony lands such as are found in New England cannot be found in the roughest part of this country.

Already there are thirty families settled here and well satisfied. We have a school and preaching every Sabbath."

General Putnam then offered to help Israel Stone adjust his business affairs so that be might be able to come West and take up land in the new country.

Like other soldiers of the Revolution, Benjamin's father had received little cash in payment for his services. Most of the pay had been in the form of certificates or promises to pay, and those certificates had had little value as ready money. Many of them the soldiers had been obliged to sell for a fraction of what they were supposed to be worth. General Putnam assured Father that such certificates could be used in payment for land in Ohio. Even if he had no certificates, Father could at least apply for one of the donation lots mentioned in the letter. Those lots, one hundred acres each, were given free to settlers who would clear the land and cultivate a portion of it within a given length of time.

Father laid the letter down and looked over at his wife. The children waited, eager to know what the decision would be.

"Well?" said Israel Stone. "Yes," Mother answered quietly. "I think we had better go."

"Hooray!" cried Jasper and young Israel. "Hooray!" shouted Columbus and Polly, though Benjamin was sure they were too little to know what it was all about.

The others did not shout. Their eyes were on their mother. Father raised his hand and quieted the hubbub.

"Wait!" he said. "There are many things to consider. Are you sure, Mother? It will mean leaving all your good friends here in Rutland and all your relatives."

"I know, Israel!" Mother's voice was steady and clear. "But something has to be done. We can't go on like this." Benjamin knew what she meant. Many a night he had gone to bed hungry because there was not enough porridge so that he could eat his fill.

"We can hardly be worse off in the new country than we are here," Mother went on, quietly. "General Putnam's word may be taken for the truth. There is no longer danger from Indians. Land is good and it is to be had almost for the asking. They have preaching on the Sabbath and there is a school. Why, Husband, it is better than I had dared to hope!"

"It will be a hard life," her husband reminded her, "but if you are sure you want to go-"

"I am sure," said Mother. "After all, we shall not be without friends in the new country. General Putnam and others from Rutland have gone there and Captain Miles has said that he will go if the report is favorable."

"Yes, and Joel Oakes will go," said Sardine. "Only today I heard, him say-" He was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. Father rose hastily and lifted the heavy oaken bar which had closed it for the night.

"Come in, neighbors, and welcome!" he said heartily "Come in! We were just speaking of you, and we have here a letter which might better be discussed by all of us together."

With a word of apology for the lateness of their call, Joel Oakes, Captain Miles, and Christopher Burlingame, the village hatter, stepped into the room and took their places beside the fire. There was another knock and then another. In a few minutes the room was crowded with friends and neighbors, all eager for word from Ohio.

As the number increased, Mother hurried the younger children away to bed, but already they knew that the matter had been decided. The family was to go to Ohio.

It was disappointing to Benjamin to know that they could not start the next day. Father would have to go first. He was unwilling to move Mother and all the family such a distance until he had a home ready for them.

"It may be only a crude cabin," he said, "but at least it will be a shelter. I must have a garden plot cleared and planted, too. Then I will come back for you or send for you to come to me. Meanwhile-"

It was when their elders began planning for the "meanwhile" that Columbus and Benjamin went off to bed. Before another night came, the plans were beginning to take shape. A strange new life would begin for the family as soon as Father had left. First of all, Sardine was to hire out to Dr. Frink by the month. The Reverend Mr. Buckminster would take young Israel into his home. Jasper was to live with Mr. Mead and help him about the farm and Columbus was to be taken in by Major White.

Betsy had lived with the Miles family for several years and would remain with them. Matilda would go to work for a family in the near-by town of Worcester. As for Benjamin himself, he was too small to be very useful to anyone. However, Christopher Burlingame, whose young wife was a daughter of General Putnam, offered to take care of him if he would run errands and help as he was bidden.

Augustus, Lydia, and Polly were to stay with Mother. She would move into a little house on the Frink farm. During the week the family would be separated. On Saturday nights, all the children might come to visit their mother and go to church with her on the Sabbath. But while Mother and the children were together, Father would be in Ohio, getting a new home ready for the family.

Chapter 4.. Father Goes to Ohio