Barry County Missouri - My Early life in the Ozarks" by Captain George Reeves King MY EARLY LIFE IN THE OZARKS by Captain George Reeves King 1842 - 1932 Submitted By: Carol Hattrup There is a pleasant valley in the quiet Ozark Hills Where all my early childhood days were spent Beneath the vine-clad elms, by sparkling rippling hills, with the charm of summer breezes freely lent. It was there with childish glee and joyous songs I made the hills and woodlands sing, While hunting nests and gathering flowers, Or soaring high on a grapevine swing. It was there, beneath the spreading oaks, the old log school house stood With open doors, inviting me within. With old time blue-backed speller, on benches of split wood The dreaded task of learning to begin. It was there beneath blue summer skies Long rows of corn were tilled, And in the cooler evening hours The potato vines were hilled. And in the long cold winter eves The blazing logs wet piled, Whose glittering sparks and mellow light The evening hours beguiled. It was there with trusty rifle I learned to chase the deer, And row my boat or gently float with angler's rod or spear. And trap the wily , cunning fox and otter, mink or coon, And shoot wild turkeys on the trees By the light of the silvery moon. It was there my parents were laid to rest Beneath the cold damp sod, To await the assembling of the blessed In the city of our God. It was there I answered to the call of Lincoln, "That Noble Man", When he called for patriotic men to come and save our land. I left my peaceful quiet home to hear the cannons roar, And tread over many a battle field made red with human gore. But when the white winged Dove of Peace came back to bless our land, I returned again to that dear old home to claim the plighted hand Of her, who in days gone by, had promised to be true And await the coming back again of her lover boy in blue. It was there I learned the golden truth first preached in Galilee, And afterward in all the world, that truth that makes men free. And there I obeyed the "Gospel Form" (death, burial, and resurrection), And arose to live, a Christian man, and seek God's strong protection. But I have wandered far from that cherished place, Yet it's memory lingers near. And oft, down the furrows of my time worn face, Silently steals the unhidden tear. For many years have come and gone since those happy days of yore. My hair is gray, my heart is sad when I think of them once more. I have climbed the rugged hill of life, I have passed it's summit o'er, I am sliding down on the other side to that golden sunset shore. And I often wonder why it is, that I must travel down The hill of life, on the shady side, o'er strange and untried ground, And not return the road I came, all strewn with hopes and fears, And meet again the dear old friends I knew in bygone years. But though the memory of earlier years must fade with my setting sun, A hallowed light from the other shore still beckons the traveler on. Return to Online Data Index <../barry.htm>Return to Barry County © 1999 Susan Tortorelli All Rights Reserved