I will mention one little incident that occurred in 1840, showing the difficulties and hardships of those every early days.  Female hired help was not to be obtained.  I assisted my wife all I could - probably did as much house work as she did.  She was not strong and was unaccustomed to such work.  In July my son, Elisha, was born.  We had no help but had been looking for a girl for months.  Mrs. John Owens and Mrs. Ebenezer Cook, one living a mile above and the other a mile below our house, took turns in taking care of my wife and the child, one during the daytime and the other at night; but they had to neglect their own families to do so.  I knew this state of things could not last and determined to find help at any cost.  Having no clerk yet in my store I was obliged to lock it up and with the key in my pocket rode three days all over the county, in search of a girl. The first day I went up to LeClaire, canvassing Pleasant Valley thoroughly, but with no success.  The next day I rode through the southern part of the county and Blue Grass, as far as there was any settlement, but all in vain.  On this trip I was told there was a family in Walnut Grove where there were two grown daughters who, it was understood, sometimes went to nurse sick neighbors.  I determined to go there and, on leaving home the third day, told the ladies that if I did not get back that night they need not be alarmed, as I would not return without help.  When I reached Walnut Grove, at about 11:30 in the morning, I found the coziest and neatest farm house I had yet seen in the territory and Mrs. Heller, with two full-grown, healthy looking daughters, all as neat as wax.  The house was better furnished than any I had seen.  The window-curtains and bedspread were as white as the driven show.  The floors shone like silver.  I introduced myself and made known my business.  I told Mrs. Heller my situation was desperate - that I had come for one of her daughters and would not go away without one.  She said she would leave the matter altogether with their father, who was at work in the field,half a mile a way.  She invited me to sit down and wait until he came in to dinner, which would be in about half an hour.  But I said: "My business is too important to admit of delay.  I will go to the field."  I found Mr. Heller cradling wheat and not a stranger, as I supposed, for when we met we recognized each other, having been on a jury together a few months before.  I told my story in as few words as possible.  He hung his cradle on the fence and we went to the house, as it was about dinner time.  He said he would like to help me out of my trouble; that they were working hard to open a farm and he was not able to do much for his daughters, and whatever they earned they had to clothe themselves with; but they never had gone away from home except to help sick neighbors sometimes.  He knew from what he had seen of me that I would treat them well, and he would be glad to have one of them go with me to relieve me.  When we arrived at the house he told his daughters what I wanted and that it would please him if one of them would go with me.  The youngest one spoke up and said, "I will go," and I was happy.  She returned with me and lived in my family seven years, until she married.  My wife and myself always looked upon her as a sister or a child.  She married one of the most respectable men of the day, an owner of a good farm and a member of the state legislature.  They are both living in Davenpoort at the present time.  That young woman is now (in 1888) nearly seventy years old. The times were very hard then, and for some years after.  Our land had just been brought into the market by the government and all money in the country went into the land office.  Some of our best farmers paid fifty per cent for money to enter their lands and were kept poor for years paying interest.  Meanwhile they used all the money they could get hold of to break, fence and stock their farms, spending as little as they could with the merchant, and what trading they did was generally on a year's credit. No one can realize the difficulties of doing a produce business in those days.  We had no railroads.  Everything had to be moved by water and, of course, had to be held all winter.  To keep up with the rapid growth of the country and provide for the surplus required not only money and credit but, what in those days was more important than either, nerve. ~~~~~~~~~~ Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L