The rest of the journey was made without any startling incidents. The second day we passed through Glasco, the county seat of Barren county. The third day we passed through Bolingreen, which afterwards became famous in the civil war. The third {fourth?}day took us through Hartford. I finaly became very footsore, and one afternoon I climed into the back end of the wagon, to rest and get a little sleep, but I had hardly got well settled till they found me and ordered me out, and I felt quite disgraced, and my chagrin stuck to me the balance of the journey. The evening of the fourth day we reached Ownsboro, on the Ohio river, and I was again priveleged to look upon that great waterway, down which I had passed 9 years before. On the morning of the 5{th day} we crossed the river into Indiana, which placed us within a days journey of our future home, but did not reach it till the evning of the 6{th} day out. We had traveled about 135 miles, which was prety good, concidering our travling equipment. We were not long in securing a home. My mother was ever vigilent in that direction, and she never failed to find helping hands in procuring one. Lemuel Carter, a cusin of my father, had a vacant house on his farm, that he removed and reerected for us. My mothers perverbial timiditiy again interveaned, and she had the house erected on the back part of the farm, when she could have had it put up on the public road. Lem as he was called hired me at $75.00 a year, which I considered monopolus in comparison to my wages up to this time, as I would earn as much in one year as I had in three years in Kentucky. About the first of January, {Lem}Carter thought that I had better go to school the bal{ance} of the term, two months, and agreed that I might make up the time. However this apparent generosity had in it a streak of selfishness. the corn had all been gathered, and there was very little proffiable work for me to do, and by letting me off the most of my time would be put in throgh the crop season, but myself and mother accepted the apparent favor on his part. In fact the idea of going to school at theis time I considered the greatest event of my life, and I could see nothing but generous impulces on the part of anybody. I had passed my 15{th} birth day, and had never been in a school but three weeks in my life. When on the first of Jan 1850 I started to school, I do not think that any boy ever entered the old log schoolhouse with a prouder step. My books consisted of Daveys third part of arrithmatic, a spelling book, and a copy of the U S history. I was known as the "poor widow womans boy", but throgh my mothers influence I had the respect, and encouragement of the entire school. Four of the boys of my size, who had gone well over into compound numbers concluded that they would go back and come up with the widow womans son. I may remark here that in those days there were no primary textbooks as now. In the two months, I made prety good headway and my class got well into compound numbers. I used all of the spare time that I could during the summer in reviewing what I had gone over, and possibly advanced a little in other studies. The next winter I got in nearley three months. I commenced with my class at the beginning in arrithmatic, and were soon up to where we left off the previous year. Nearing decimal fractions, my classmates became discouraged, and wanted to review, but I said to them that I would never go over that ground again. They turned back and my recolection is that they never got any further in arriuthmatic. I perseviered, and made fare headway. My progress at school was so rapid that I attracted considerable notice, especially amoung the old people, who refered their boys to me for an example of what a boy could do if he tried. During the winter my mother was able to get work for me for a very excellent man by the name of Baker. He was a bachelor, but lived on his fathers farm, and provided for the family. I received $12.00 per month and was treated as one of the family. In fact that I was able to relieve my muther from many hardships, was a source of great satisfaction and pride to me. I used most of my leisure time in reviewing my studies. In the fall of this year I met with an accident, in being thrown from a horse, which resulted in no other injury than the fracture of one bone of the right fore arm, which practicaly threw me out of work for the coming winter, but improved my time in school, and {I} was able to make radical advancement. I took up grammer, astronomy, and philosophy. Gramar was very easy for me, and I was soon at the head of the school in that study, but mathamatics was always somehting of a puzzel for me, and I onley suceeded by the closest application. I continued to work the summer, and attend school through the winter, till my 20{th} year. I now considered that I had acquired about all that I could get in the public school and seriously thought of going to seminary, or college, but I never got farther than a serious consideration of the possibilities in that direction. I found that I could not go forward without a serious inconvenience to the family, and that, I could not get the consent of my mind to do. In the fall of my 19{th} year I had taken a lease of 20 acres of heavy timbred land for 5 years, from which I had to remove the timber - {a}foot {in diameter} and under - for the use of it. While I recognized the fact that I had undertaken a hurculan job for a boy, I believed that I would be able to accomplish it, and went at it with a detirmination that I believed would carry me throgh. The first winter I was able to clear, and inclose ten acres, and put it in cultivation the next summer, and raised a crop of tobacco and corn. Of course I had to have some kind of a team, and was able to buy a yoke of oxen, for which I was to pay $60.00 in a years time, giving a note with security which I redeemed when due out of the proceeds of my tobacco crop. Besids the incouragement that I received from my mother, I was urged on by inordiante desire, and detirmanation to be my own boss, and have a business of my own. I believed that evry man should have a business of some kind, that would provide the necesities of life. To me the idea of working for somebody, year in and year out was the gaul of bitterness to me, which I considered little better than abject slavery. I believed that there was a place, or opertunity provided for evry one that is born into the world, to do and to dare individualy for themselvs, and I was detirmined to fill my place if it was in the bounds of possibility. The acquiring of a yoke of oxen was onley an available means to an end. This kind of locomotion was entirly too slow for my ideas of "get there eli", and I was full of plans to acquire horses. I think that my ideals in this direction was just a little to high for my perminent advancement. I just couldent wait for them to come as they could, economicaly, but I must force them along. Having acquired the oxen, the next move was a wagon, and I got that it onley stimulated me to get the horses, which I did by trading the oxen for one, and buying another, going in debt for the wagon, and extra horse. My belief in my ability to pay for all that I bought, was to say the least of it rather extravigent. That I did pay for evrything that I bought stands to my credit, but I had a hard scuffle of it. Most of my indebtedness had to be met just before the war broke out, which was the hardest monitary collapse that the country ever saw. If one could look just a little into the future, the human family would be saved from many hardships, and yet there are conditions that follow in the wake of our mistakes that we would not change if we could, and I suppose that it is this that is responsible for the doctrine of "fatalism" or what is to be will be inspite any effort on our part to change or controll our course in life. I came up up to the middle of my 23{rd} year without any serious intentions in the direction. I will not deny that I had an abiding willingness in the direction of matrimony. I will not deny that I had an abiding willingness in that direction, but recognizing the responsibilities that married life would entail. I had been content to wait till I had acquired enough money, or property to mete them comfortably. Sometimes unexpected events confront us in a way that our whole course of life, as laid out by us is changed, which hapened to me in a way that I could not resist the responsibility of going forward in the pathe that was suggested. While in school a very warm attachment had sprung up between myself and one of the female schollars, which eventualy developed in to a bad case of, what is termed love. She was six years younger than I was, but she was developed beyond her age. We had fully agreed to marry when I should be able to provide a home for us. Her mother had been an invalid for several years, and we knew that she could not live, coincidently the two families had ample time to prepare for the inevitable. Her death occured in March of 1859. In passing I will say that Mrs Brown and my mother were fast friends. They were intimately in harmony in religious matters, and in fact in all relations of life. It was expected that the old man would marry again as soon as decency would permit. The oldest daughter Mary was to be married in a short time, and that would leave Nannie and a little girl in the home, and Mary was not willing for them to assume that responsibility, and insisted that we Marry when she did and remaine with the old gentleman till he should make some arraingements for the future. Mary was to marry a very rich man, and Nannie a very poor one, but most radical changes, financialy occured in after life. On the 27{th} day of April 1859, a double wedding occured at the residence of Dannie H. Brown. On account of the recent death of the mother, the weding was a verry quiet affare, no one being present but the preacher, and his wife, and the members of the two families. It was six oclock PM when the momentous event occurred; an event that entirely changed the trend of our lives, and started us four young people on a carear of matrimonial partnership, that while not conspicuous for great accomplishments as the world would call it, there was great change in conditions, and for us, places of residence. We were sometimes in at the floodtime of events and many times far out with the tide. B.P. Lewis died when he was about 60 years of age, and his wife Mary still survives, but is wholly dependent upon friends for support, and maintenance. We onley made a mistake in that I was not financialy prepared for the responsibilities of a married life, and my wife was too young and inexperienced to assume maternal responcibilities, but having an intuitive disposition, she rapidly acquired what she should have know{n} beforehand. But I now think that it was alright anyway. Inspite of all of the visisituds, and disappointments we have both lived to a good old age, and that is more than most of our friends have done, who started with us on lifes fitful journey To be continued. SCKY Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=south-central-kentucky Barren Co Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=kybarren GGP: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/