Looking Back: An AutobiographyRichardson, Merrick Abner
History
Looking Back: An Autobiography
Richardson, Merrick Abner
Richardson, Merrick Abner, 1841-
Uncle John was captured and sent to Salisbury prison for nearly two
years. When he came out his mother said he looked like a monkey. He
only weighed seventy-nine pounds. Sylvester was shot in the thigh,
Edwin was shot through the lungs, and poor Edward; we have never heard
from him. Wasn't that an awful price for your family to pay for the
Union? Uncle said "that from 1,900 of us boys of that 22d New York
Heavy Artillery, over 600 were killed in half an hour, and at the next
roll call at Reams Station, only nineteen men of the regiment answered
the call."
Well, I can't write any more. Walton has already gone to bed and we
have got to start at four o'clock tomorrow morning. We expect to visit
Uncle Sherman at Rochester tomorrow. We are in the best of spirits,
and the way we have been going so far we ought to make Connecticut in
about twelve or thirteen days from Chicago.
Walton and I are awfully proud of father for winning the Century from
all the fast boys of the Cycling Club, but we don't pride ourselves on
these short spurts. Our specialty is thousand-mile affairs, and if he
wants to race us he has got to race the whole thousand. Good night.
Your loving son, Arthur.
Rochester, N. Y., June 21, 1896.
Dear Father:--
We called on our Uncle Sherman Richardson, and he was very proud of
us, introducing us to many of his friends, saying that the blood in
our veins was the same as ran in his, and that showed the kind of
stuff his family was made of. I received your letter at Cleveland,
telling us about your century run, and advising us to reserve our
strength until we reached your time of life. It naturally stiffened
our backbone for the remaining part of our ride.
Memphis, N. Y., June 24, 1896.
Dear Father:--
I must write just a word, for Walton has had a lucky escape. We were
pushing along sleepily today when a big Newfoundland dog came near
killing Walton. I looked around just in time to see Walton plunge over
an embankment into a snarl of milkweeds, briars and rocks, head down,
with his wheel on top of him. He said the dog barked so fiercely that
when he made the plunge he actually thought he felt the ugly beast's
breath on the seat of his pants. We soon discovered that the dog was
tied to a tree, so we went about to repair his wheel. The front wheel
must have been caught between two rocks, when Walton's weight on it
(for a frightened man weighs heavy) doubled up the forks like a jack
knife. We got a blacksmith to heat and hammer it out and now both
Walton and the wheel are in a good ridable condition, and we shall
light out again early in the morning. Are you getting my postals,
which I am sending back from every town? This is to prove to the club
boys that we rode to Connecticut on our wheels and not on the train.
Crystal Lake, Conn., June 28, 1896.
Dear Father:--
We arrived here this evening, having made the run, 1,017 miles, in
thirteen days and this is our record:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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