Corn Silk Days Part 24

Chapter Forty-six: Sowing Corn and Thoughts.

It was the last week of April, the winter's frost was over and it was corn planting time in Iowa. Some farmers preferred to plant corn in mid-April, others by the first week of May. Alexander believed a lot depended on the winter weather and how frozen the ground had been and when it began to thaw. He would keep a close watch on the soil, and in all the years he had been planting crops, he found his timing was flawless. He could write the Old Farmer's Almanac if it came out in spring instead of fall.

Alexander had planted his acreage with spring wheat in mid-April for maximum yield. He leased out several other acres he owned for planting. He had been using a variety of spring wheat from Minnesota for the last three years which gave him a high yield of thirty or more bushels of wheat per acre. Due to his high output of wheat the other local farmers were happy to buy seed from him in hopes their fields would yield as well as his had been doing.

This Monday morning it was time to plant the corn fields at Silas and Elizabeth Jane's farm.

Elizabeth Jane had cooked up a hearty breakfast for Alexander, her father Daniel, her father-in-law Michael and three neighbor men and now the men were hard at work in the morning sun.

The ditches had been cleared and the ridges built up where needed and the horse-drawn corn planter was moving through the rows dropping seed into the furrow.

Daniel had stopped work to get a drink of water and was standing with Alexander watching the corn planter moving along the field, driven by one of the neighbor men who owned the machine.

"Boy that equipment sure beats a hoe from the old days," Daniel said. "Makes life much easier."

Alexander agreed. "It sure does. We could plant twenty acres a day with that machine. Maybe with a hoe we'd get one acre planted before the sun went down."

"That's right."

"How much you planting tomorrow?"

"Five acres this year. Catherine said that should do us with the cattle and pigs."

"No sense in making more work than you need," he said.

"I agree. Enough work without adding more we don't need. "

"How's it feel to have Madeline home again?"

"d.a.m.n good, Alex. When she's living close by it takes a lot of worry off my shoulders, and maybe even keeps my hair from turning all gray."

Alexander laughed. "It'll go gray, worry or not," he said. "Seems the lieutenant is a nice man. You like him?"

"Yeah, I do like him. I hope they can marry one day 'for long."

"They plan to stay around these parts?"

"I think so. Seems he wants to do some lawyering some day. And he said this area is as good as any to open a lawyer practice."

"Hmm, maybe he'll want to go into politics. Look at our President. Lincoln was a good lawyer man. And then politics caught his fancy."

"Well, we'll see what William wants to do but he's pretty sharp. I do wonder why he would have left the Union to join the Rebs, though. I don't know if I'd call that a wise choice."

"Must have had his reasons at that time. Seems n.o.body knew where this war was going back then."

Daniel nodded. "Right. And I still wonder where the h.e.l.l it's going. I think Lincoln will make re-election but will that end the fighting? I don't know."

"Hard to say, Daniel."

Chapter Forty-seven: Monday, the 13th Day of June 1864.

Morganzia Bend, Louisiana Dearly beloved companion, I seat myself this day under a tree to inform you that I am well at present and I hope these few lines find all of you enjoying good health and pleasure. A few weeks ago I took a violent cold and was under the weather considerably and I was hardly able to march. We marched so hard that I could not keep up all the way and the last night Bill Downes stayed with me and I tried to march on a ways but had to stop and lay down for the nigh. After we lay there an hour or two some cavalrymen came along and told us we had better not stay there long as we might get gobbled. We rested a while longer and then moved on to our destination and I got a little rest and I got better. I'm fine now.

We are at Morganzia Bend but word has it we will be going to Brashear City to guard that place and then to Baton Rouge for the summer.

Well Jane, we had a general review last Sat.u.r.day and it looked to me as though we had men enough here to whip the Western Confederacy combined if rightly managed. While on review a heavy shower of rain fell and wet us to the skin. That wasn't good if the old general got his a.s.s wet. It has rained since the first of June and how much longer it will rain I cannot tell. It does not rain steady but 3 to 6 showers through the day and then the sun comes out and shines hot enough to roast eggs. It seems to me to be the warmest weather I have ever seen or experienced. Some say it is not as hot this summer as it was last. But it is warmer than I like to see.

Corn looks well here. I have seen corn here at present that is two feet higher than my head. The greatest trouble with corn here is that it goes to stalk and the ears are very small but generally tolerable around the greater part of the corn. Here in the South I have seen a kind of flint corn.

A person can raise anything here in the South that they try unless it is wheat. I haven't seen wheat here and I don't think it would do well.

The Mississippi River is running down very fast since we have been here. The papers say that it is getting very low above. So it will take boats a long time to get up and down the river.

I understand there is to be a furlough given pretty soon.

I expect that Downes and Summers will be the next to go. I do not care anything about going until next fall. I don't want to go until the water is up so as I can go in a hurry. I could have had a furlough last spring from the island if I had wanted it and the captain told me that I could make it pay better by staying with the company at that time. Thirty days was too short a time for me. It would take several weeks for me to get my visit out for I am a great fellow to stay at home. I do not know whether I will get to go this summer or not but I do not care whether I get to go or not although I would like to see you. But it would cost considerable to go to Iowa and back. It will cost $40 or $50 dollars to make the trip and I expect it will be better for me to stay and send my money home. It takes several months for me to make that amount of money and it is well earned and too much for me to throw away without deriving some benefit from it. Several of the boys want to go home very bad and I expect they will be the ones that will get to first.

Jane, I want to know whether you got anything for the rent of our ground and what kind of a crop was raised on the ground and whether you got the mortgage paid off and everything square with it. I want to know how the neighbors are doing and how they are getting along.

It is sorrow to hear of it being so dry there. I fear it will be a great injury to the crops. If you had some of the rain up there that we have had here it would have been a great help to the crops.

I learn from your writing that you have a great deal of flash news concerning the army. I have had experience enough to know that it is a policy for a person to not believe all such news unless it is confirmed. You said news was afloat about the capture of the 23rd. That was all a hoax. We haven't lost a man of the 23rd since we have been up here. When we started up Red River, the superst.i.tion was two regiments had been captured trying to run past the batteries. Someone at the mouth of the river supposed we would be captured and the news went up the river aboard a transport as far as Cairo then it was telegraphed to the Northern States as rumors of such things. A great deal of such news is afloat and it creates excitement and uneasiness. I never let such news trouble my mind. I always wait for the officials and then I can rely upon it. We get some flying reports from Grant and Sherman but we just read it and talk over it until the officials come and then we set it down as true, but we get very little counterfeit news from Grant and Sherman. They are doing the thing up so nicely that counterfeiters have but little chance. I expect you get more flying reports than we do. Our communication is by water and yours by lightning.

I see that President Lincoln places all confidence in General Grant's success over Lee at Richmond. I think he is safe in doing so. I think without a doubt he will succeed in taking Richmond. The two great Generals of the United States have come together to try their skill in the turning point of the rebellion and I think Grant has out-generaled Lee. I think he is the man that can do it. He says all he wants is to take one hundred thousand men to take the place but according to the Reb's own report they are losing as many men as we are. I have no reason to doubt it as they have made as many charges on our men as we have on theirs.

And there is Sherman, another of this Republic's successes, and renown seems to crown his pathway and I hope it will remain so.

One thing has happened that I am well pleased with and that is the unanimous nomination of Lincoln for the Presidency. I think he is a man that should fill that place for the next four years. I do not believe a better man could be found in the United States at present. I do not say he is the smartest man in the United States but he has been tried in that place and he just suites the soldiers. We have other men as good as Lincoln and probably could fill the place as well but they are untried and we don't wish to try them at present. And there is Andy Johnson, one of the best men in the U.S. We find his name on the ticket for Vice Presidency and he is a man that should be supported by all loyal men. When his state seceded he said no, he would stay with the Union. If old John Fremont runs on or accepts the platform of the Cleveland Convention or accepts the hard-line Republican Radical nomination, I think it shows what feeling he has for the Union and her soldiers. I have my opinion on him or any man that supports him. I do not think they will accomplish anything. I want you to write what you and the rest of the people think of the nomination of Lincoln and how they are going for the Presidency, whether any goes for the Copperhead or the Radicals as I term it.

You wanted to know if I thought you used money foolishly. I cannot tell but I can say this much, I did not think you had as much money as you have. I am satisfied that you use very little money. The majority of women use very nigh all the money their men send to them. I like to see women use what they need and not be extravagant for we soldiers here in the army earn our money by the hardest work. I was not raised to be extravagant and I do not like to see it. I use some money but I generally get things that will do me some good. My tobacco cost me considerably. Tobacco costs very nigh five cents a chew and that runs into a person's pocket tolerably fast. I am going to send all the money home that I can and I want you to take care of it but I have seen enough of you to know that you will take care of money or anything else that is left in your charge.

I see by your letter that produce cost is high and that is hard on soldiers who have to buy everything their family uses when they get such small wages. I have heard some say that they cannot keep the family with the money they get. I expect it is true. Some families will use as much again as others but probably we can worry through it if nothing happens.

Well Janie, I expect when I get out of the service that I will have an inclination of living in a civilized country. I would almost as soon live in the South as to cross the mountains and live in the West. A majority of the people who have emigrated West have gone to escape justice. I would not live among them. If I should go any place I would rather go to Tennessee but I expect that I will be satisfied to stop in Iowa.

You said Denny is going to school this summer but I am fearing it will give him a dislike to study because he is still young. I want my children to have a good education so if he takes a liking to it and learns then let him go. If I should not get home I want you to give the children a good education if you live. Education is worth more to a man than a fortune in gold.

Yours as ever, Silas

Chapter Forty-eight: Tea and Biscuits.

It was a lazy "ladies" afternoon. Ch.o.r.es had been completed, lunch had been served, and it was biscuit and tea time in Elizabeth Jane's kitchen. Joining her at the table were Lucinda and Madeline, and Sadie was close by sitting on the carpet playing with young Katrina.

Their conversation had come about to the news that Elizabeth Jane had joined the Order of the Good Templers at the local lodge. She told them, "Silas told me in one of his last letters that he was surprised to hear I joined. But he said it did not offend him in any way and he said it should do me no harm."

Lucinda laughed. "Maybe it won't do you any good either." When Elizabeth Jane did not seem pleased with her comment, Lucinda quickly added, "Janie, I was only kidding. I didn't mean-"

Elizabeth Jane replied, "I know. It's okay. Silas wrote that it is nice anyone can belong to it but it never did suit his fancy, and said that was not any reason for me not to belong. He was in hopes the lodge would prosper and that I would enjoy it."

Lucinda said, "He's such a nice man, Janie. You're lucky he supports you in what you want to do. Not all men do that, you know."

Elizabeth Jane smiled. "You're right," she said. "I am lucky. But it would sure be good to have a husband here at home." She pa.s.sed the plate of biscuits and jam and then continued, "Silas said he has no interest in lodges and that some man is filling his pockets of the poorer cla.s.s of people but if someone wants to belong to lodges it is fine by him."

Madeline spoke up. "There always seems to be someone who fills his pockets at the expense of someone else. I had a husband who was good at that. He cheated people all the time yet he had so much respect and status in Virginia. I never could figure out why. Just ask Sadie. He was not a good man."

Sadie looked up from her play, smiled and nodded. "Sure was not a good man, that Mr. Taylor," she said.

Elizabeth Jane said, "Silas likes his whiskey too much to join the Templers. He told me it would not do for him to belong for they have been drawing their ration of whiskey at night while working on the forts."

"Guess they need a little pleasure, huh?" Madeline commented.

Elizabeth Jane nodded. "I would suppose so. I didn't tell Silas the real reason I joined was more than abstinence from liquor. I really like the Templer's stand on equality for women, and the sense of brotherhood for all."

Lucinda replied, "Me, too. That political rally you went to in Peoria changed your thinking on a lot of things, didn't it?"

Elizabeth Jane nodded. "Yes, it did, especially on women's suffrage. I see now why Silas was always so pa.s.sionate about politics. When I heard Jane Hunt, and especially Amelia Bloomer, speak on women's suffrage that did it for me. I had read some of Amelia's writings on women's rights but to actually hear her words it was exciting. Have either of you read her writing "Golden Rules for Wives?"

"No, but I heard about it," Lucinda said.

"Well, listen to this." Elizabeth Jane pulled a paper, The Lily, from the stack sitting in front of her at the table and began to read aloud: Faugh, on such twaddle! 'Golden rules for wives'-'duty of wives'-how sick we are at the sight of such paragraphs! Why don't our wise editors give us now and then some 'golden rules' for husbands, by the way of variety? Why not tell us of the promises men make at the altar, and of the injunction 'Husbands, love your wives as your own selves'? 'Implicit submission of a man to his wife is disgraceful to both, but implicit obedience of the wife to the will of the husband is what she promised at the altar.' So you say! What nonsense! What absurdity! What downright injustice! A disgrace for a man to yield to the wishes of his wife, but an honor for a wife to yield implicit obedience to the commands of her husband, be he good or bad, just or unjust, a kind husband or a tyrannical master! Oh! How much of sorrow, of shame and unhappiness have such teachings occasioned. Master and slave! Such they make the relationship existing between husband and wife; and oh, how fearfully has woman been made to feel that he who promised at the altar to love, cherish and protect her is but a legalized master and tyrant! We deny that it is any more her duty to make her husband's happiness her study than it is his business to study her happiness. We deny that it is a woman's duty to love and obey her husband, unless he prove himself worthy of her love and unless his requirements are just and reasonable. Marriage is a union of two intelligent, immortal beings in a life partnership, in which each should study the pleasure and the happiness of the other and they should mutually share the joys and bear the burdens of life.

Madeline applauded and said, "Good for her. I've been married to a tyrant and I know how bad it can be. Maybe I was lucky though that he never beat me."

"Well, I can talk about that. I've been there," Lucinda said. "So rather than focusing on alcohol abstinence you intend to focus on women's suffrage?"

"I sure am. Women need rights, all rights. We need to be able to vote. Even though our state legislature fiddles around with it now and then we need to get it right. And if it takes us women to do it then so be it."

Madeline said, "Amen."

Elizabeth Jane went through her papers again and pulled another one from the stack. "I recently read this about the Seneca Falls Convention ten years ago in New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton made her first major address to the New York legislature on behalf of a bill about divorce and women's property rights. And the New York legislature pa.s.sed a bill giving married women rights to their own wages and guardianship of their children. Isn't that great? She's been busy ever since, working on ending slavery with people like Lucretia Mott, Susan Anthony, Frederick Dougla.s.s, and others."

Madeline said, "Then there is the Negro woman, Sojourner Truth who has been working with the government in Washington and in Virginia with the free slaves. She is very outspoken on women's rights and slavery. Have you read about her, Janie?"

"Yes, I've read about her. I think it's exciting that women and some men are taking action to give us the vote, to make things equal, and to give the Negro their freedom. So that is why I decided to join the Templers to see what I can do for those causes."

"Maybe I'll think about joining," Madeline said. "I've been thinking about it, and now hearing all your enthusiasm, Janie, maybe I will next month."

"I hope so. That would be great. I want to plan a platform for the Fourth of July at the town picnic," Elizabeth Jane said. "How do you think that will go over?"

Lucinda laughed. "You know how it will be. As long as you give Mayor Hampton his time for his boring, boring speech, it will probably be just fine. Oh, they'll be a few who will complain but let them go for a walk to the outhouse at the time of your doings."

Elizabeth Jane laughed, enjoying Lucinda's humor. She said, "What I would like to do that day is concentrate on women's suffrage and other rights of equality. Maybe Pap will want to make a speech about slavery and the Union cause. He's good at that."

Sadie spoke up, "I be making some pies for the 4th celebration. Is that right, Miss's Madeline?"

Chapter Forty-nine: Sat.u.r.day, the 30th Day of July 1864.

St. Charles Arkansas Dear beloved wife, It is again I take the opportunity of writing you a few lines which will be in answer to two of your letters. I am well at present and I sincerely hope this finds all of you well and healthy. I was glad to hear that you enjoyed the 4th of July very much and saw many great things that were pleasing to you. I wish I had been there to hear you stand up and talk about suffrage and women's rights to come in the future times. The 4th of July calls to mind the many brave boys who have lost their lives and the great many to be lost yet to this world. I suppose you've seen those glorious stars and stripes and the proud eagle flying in the air and to then think that traitors are trying to trample it under foot and to make the eagle hit the dust. But the proud bird still keeps flying and begs them to come back and take shelter under her wings and claim protection of the government. But the traitors' answer is 'no we will trample you underfoot and make you give us our independence.' Why is it enough to make the stoutest heart quake to look on the Nation's banner and then to think that it must be cursed by such miserable traitors who inhabits our once peaceful but now distracted land? I cannot see how Copperheads can bear to look on the emblem of freedom and claim protection and at the same time a.s.sisting the South in every way they can to encourage them to go on with their vile corruption. I cannot see what they mean to stay where they are and claim protection of the government and at the same time their heart and hand is with the South. If I lived North and wanted to see the South victorious I would go down South and take a gun. I be a man or a mouse or a long tailed rat.

Well Jane, you may think I am pretty hard. So I am and I cannot help but inducements have been given them. They could have come back and saved themselves and their country from ruin which it is doing very fast. I believe in treating them very harsh until they come to some kind of terms. We have had the news in the Memphis Bulletin that the Rebels had sent peace commissioners to Washington purposing terms of peace. They proposed to come back in the Union providing the United States would pay the debt of both parties and they should keep what Negroes they have and the balance go free. Now if they consider just the North should pay the whole debt then I am opposed to that but if they would come back and pay their proportion I have nothing to say.

I am always anxious for the mail boat to come and then when the mail comes to the captain's office and he begins to call over the names the boys will all huddle around him to hear if he calls their names for letters from their loved ones left behind. If my name is called the thought strikes me that the letter is from one I so much love and nine times out of ten if I get but one letter it is written by you and in a short time I know what is in the letter.

I was sorry to hear that the chintz bugs had injured the wheat so much but I presume there will be wheat enough raised to do the people, and with some to spare.

We have had four men die in the regiment since we left Vicksburg. Two of them were recruits. The health of the regiment is good at present.

I did not get this mailed and it is now days later, this being the 8th. Last night we arrived at White River Landing. We will stay but a short time. We left St. Charles and went aboard the White Cloud. From what I can learn we will be going to Morganzia Bend.

Well Jane, I asked you about the Lincoln nomination and you did not answer my question at all. I think from your writing that you do not like it yourself.

Tell Denny to be a good boy and learn as fast as he can and his Pap will bring him a new book when he comes home.

I must close now as we have to get off the boat so as it can be cleaned and washed. I will write you when I get to our journey end if nothing happens.

Your loving husband, Silas

Chapter Fifty: Michael and His Sons.