OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - The Ohio Hunter [Chapter 24] ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Sara Grimes McBeth saramcb@socket.net June 22, 2005 ************************************************************************** CHAPTER XXIV. MISFORTUNE ATTENDS US -- BURNING OF HOUSE AND ALL OUR EFFECTS -- WE ARE LEFT SHELTER- LESS IN MID-WINTER--ALMOST DISHEARTENED-- KINDNESS OF FRIENDS-~A TRIBUTE OF THANKS. IN the year 1861, I was living in Monroe Township, Henry County, Ohio, and was promising to myself once more a few years of comfort; having again entered a new tract of land, and brought it into a condition to support my family, when my prospects were again, suddenly blighted. This time it was not the prop that sustained my house that was taken, but my house itself. True this affliction is not to be compared to one I have narrated on a previous occasion; but it did lead me at that time to murmur at what seemed to me the injustice of God. It seemed that whenever I promised to myself peace and comfort, and better days, then the upbraidings of providence would fall upon me most heavily. I was at that time the owner of a quarter sec- LOSS BY FIRE 223 tion of land, with a very nice two story hewed-log house with framed kitchen, and all liberally supplied with whatever is useful in domestic life. My family numbered thirteen, and the need of house room, warm beds and clothing, was not small. It was mid-winter, and not one of a. half dozen beds was left unappropriated. Morpheus held the entire house- hold securely in his embrace. The first sound slumbers of the night were unbroken. We had all eaten a plentiful supper, and laid down to quiet, peaceful rest, having warmed ourselves by the fire that had for many years been such a true and faithful servant. Little dreamed we that it was about to usurp such uncontrollable power over us. But when we awoke, it encompassed us in one sheet of flame. At such a time, thinking and acting are simultaneous, I was the first one to awake and it required less time to examine every bed and arouse the sleeping ones, than it takes me to write it, Entering the chamber, which was by this time a sea of flame and smoke, I found three of my sons still fast asleep. Many of the family were slightly injured by the flames, and one fatally. When our personal safety was secured, our next recollection was that we were almost garmentless, every article of clothing, except such as we wore from our beds, having perished in the flames. But kind neighbors and friends very soon attended to our wants in this respect, and we were 224 THE OHIO HUNTER before morning all supplied with temporary homes. To such of my readers as have never experienced a similar misfortune, it will be impossible for me to paint the emotions of that hour. Few of us know how strongly we are attached to earth, until some ruthless hand removes our possessions. To see the labors of a lifetime consumed in one hour, your children's bread, food for the devouring element--the relics of by-gone years, and the treasures of the household, all lie in mouldering ruins beneath your feet; if there remains one root of bitterness in the heart, it will at such a time spring up and bring forth evil fruit. I was for a time so thoroughly disheartened, that I knew not where to commence. My grain for the corning year, and meat that was to sustain my family, some money, and many things valuable, part for their intrinsic worth; and part for the associations connected with them---all formed one common ruin A letter was sent to my brethren at Gilboa and in less than a week, a mammouth sleigh with provisions and clothing of every description was sent for our relief. This revived my courage and I went to work; and four weeks from the night our house burned, we lodged in a new one of very comfortable dimensions. The exposures of that eventful night cost my wife a year of ill health, and the life of one of my children But we are very thankful that nothing more valuable than earthly goods were yielded WANTS SUPPLIED 225 to the devouring flames, and should this ever meet the eye of any of my friends from Gilboa, or others who so generously contributed to our relief in that time of extreme necessity, they will please accept our most earnest thanks for the invaluable services rendered to our temporal wants, and ever believe that this act of Christian charity forms a bright link in the chain of recollections, around which the memory will ever linger.