Autobiography of Charles Clinton Nourse: Prepared for use of Members of the FamilyNourse, Charles Clinton
History
Autobiography of Charles Clinton Nourse: Prepared for use of Members of the Family
Nourse, Charles Clinton
Iowa -- Politics and government; Lawyers -- Iowa -- Biography; Nourse, Charles Clinton, 1829-
The same fall of 1859 I made a trip through Warren, Madison, Dallas,
Guthrie, and Union counties, at the request of the republican state
central committee. They furnished me with a covered buggy and pair of
horses, without any expense to myself, and loaded me down with a lot of
political campaign documents which I undertook to distribute, making
political speeches also at the county seats in each of the above named
counties.
In crossing from Winterset over to Redfield one afternoon I found the
road becoming very obscure, and a smoke arising from some burning
prairie northwest of me so darkened the way that I became apprehensive
of losing my road. There was no settlement in sight and no one from
whom I could inquire the way. While I was seriously pondering upon the
difficulty, a half dozen or more fine short horn cows crossed my path
ahead of my team and I thought the safest way out of the difficulty
would be to follow the cows, as they probably knew better than I where
we were going. I had not followed these cows more than a few hundred
yards before the owner of them appeared. He was a young Quaker about
thirty years of age, named Wilson. I told him who I was and what my
business was and he cordially invited me to go home with him. He lived
in a small board shanty, one large room and an attic, situated under
the hill. After sheltering his cows in a shed-barn covered with hay he
took me to his house. I thought the chances for accommodations rather
meager, but I noticed that he had a small yard fenced in front of his
house, with a path of flagstones from the gate to the door, and on
either side was planted quite a show of flowers and rose bushes. As we
neared the house a very handsome young Quaker woman, his wife, with a
little girl about three years of age, appeared at the door. Inside it
was neat and tidy. The little Quaker wife prepared us a supper of
snow-white biscuits and a plate of beautiful honey. She told me that
they had attended the county fair that day and had taken a premium upon
their honey. I spent a pleasant evening discussing politics with Mr.
Wilson and supplying him with political speeches and documents, which I
urged upon him to distribute among his neighbors. When bed-time came I
climbed a ladder to the attic in which there was just room enough under
the shingles for a clean sweet bed where I had a delightful night's
rest. After a good breakfast in the morning, Wilson accompanied me on
my way. We soon came to a well-beaten road and I found I was on what
was called "The Quaker Divide." Near a large Quaker meeting house we
met one of Mr. Wilson's relatives, a fine looking old fashioned Quaker
gentleman, to whom he introduced me, and I stated my business. I had an
interesting interview with the old Quaker and also supplied him with a
number of congressional speeches, and before I left him he looked at me
very earnestly and asked, how much pay I received for the work I was
doing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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