November 30, 1986
Our ride -
George and myself left at 2 p.m. and went northwest. Charles had a cold and stayed home. We went north and west of Norwood to Otter Creek Park. It is a nice place and is being developed more each year. We came back through Liberty Center and east to Southeast Warren School, then south and east to Lacona. Hawks were in abundance everywhere, but other life was not in evidence. On winding roads, you can get turned around as to direction, especially with no sun. At one point, I thought we were going north and we were heading west. The words cohesive and adhesive were the ones we discussed. Arrived back at 5 p.m. and it was dark.
This is a humorous true story. It took place around 1910 in Lucas County. The lady didn’t want her name used, nor the other names of the ones in the story. Therefore, we shall call the man John, and the lady involved Tillie, and the Justice of the Peace, Bart. John and Bart were both very hard of hearing and were friends of a sort, and often did some shrewd trading of a horse or a cow. This could happen before church, after church, or on the main street at any time. Because of their loud talk, gestures, and seeming anger with each other, it always drew a crowd. The lady who told me this story said very little was ever traded and the two men seemed to enjoy every minute of it.
John was a bachelor and Tillie was a maiden gal. Both in their fifties, they lived in the country about eighty rods from each other. According to my source, they were sparking each other, and had been for some time. It seems Tillie had been talking about marriage to John. He was lukewarm about the whole thing and avoided talking about it. The time was spring and crop planting time. It seems since it was too wet in the field, Tillie got the idea they would go over to Bart’s and have him marry them. John didn’t get all the conversation, but did hear the word Bart and that they were going over there. He sensed a trade, and took a can of money along in the buggy. When John drove up to pick up Tillie, she thought of a little chore she wanted him to do. While he was busy, she went back in to the house for a moment. While both were gone, the hound dog ate the picnic lunch Tillie had prepared. Another lunch was prepared, and they took off.
Bart lived about three miles away. They were stuck in the mud three times, and John wanted to go back. He still did not get the real point of the trip, and could not see why Tillie was so set on going. They finally arrived, and Bart came out to greet them. Of course, Bart did not know of Tillie’s idea either. He spotted the can of money and sensed a trade of livestock.
An old nag was tied to a tree in the yard. John went to look at the horse, and while he was gone, Tillie got across to Bart why they had come. When John came back to the buggy, he spied Bart holding the Bible. John was beside himself to think Bart would want either of them to use the Bible to swear upon.
John was so angry that he got back into the buggy ready to go home. Tillie wrote the word marriage on a piece of paper. John thought Bart was going to be married and said he wouldn’t be there. Tillie shook her head and pointed to herself and to John. He said, “You want us to be married?” She nodded and he said, “Why didn’t you say so?” He wouldn’t get out of the buggy so the marriage took place right there. Bart charged them nothing, and gave them the old nag as a wedding present.
Story had it that they lived in Lucas County another thirty years, then moved to Kentucky where they seem to have gotten lost in the hills as nothing was heard from them. I had two things to ask my source. What did they do about a witness, and where did she get this “story” It seems Bart’s sister was there visiting and Tillie in later years told the whole thing to her.
For several years, I have been jotting down words and phrases that I have always heard, but never fully knew what they meant. For instance, a game called hot butter and blue beans. It involved a paddle and a safe circle marked on the ground. All hid from sight and one person hid the paddle. When the paddle was found, the person who hid the paddle had to get to the safe circle or he got paddled.
Another phrase was sorghum pork. I had heard it used years ago. It seems that people used to home butcher and occasionally they would get a hog that wasn’t just right for butchering. It would have a piggy taste, due to the sow being too close to farrowing time. In this case, a small amount of sorghum gave it a more palatable taste. I have never tasted such pork, with or without the sorghum cure. The trouble could not be detected until it was cooked.
Another true mouse story -
Last fall I saw a mouse track in my kitchen. I have never been bothered but realized that with some foundation work going on the mouse had slipped in. I set two traps and went upstairs to bed. I had just gotten there when I heard the trap go off. I decided to leave it until morning. However, I kept hearing a noise from downstairs. I came down and discovered the trap had caught the mouse by the end of the tail. I noticed at once that it was a field mouse, and not a common house mouse. The length of the tail and the big ears told me this at once. I put on leather gloves and picked up trap and mouse. Immediately I noticed it was a female about to have little ones. I took it over to the neighbors’ wood pile where I had seen field mice before. I suppose this story could be called a “tail.”
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