“Benjamin”: And the “Fredrickson Girls”

By Roger M. Hart

After the close of the American Civil War men went back to
what had been home. For many of them it meant starting over
to rebuild a new life. Such was the case with Benjamin Franklin
Harris an eighteen year old boy turned into a man.
Traveling, or in his case walking, west with a group of exwar
friends God directed him to an immigrant German farmer
who wanted nothing more than to be a good American and
see his daughters married. Hans and Bessie Fredrickson took
Benjamin into their home and became his new family

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483600833

Roger M. Hart

I am married to my wife Joan. We have two married sons, Warren and Christopher and six grandsons who all reside in Ohio. In my retirement I have time to reflect on my past, sleep late and write about a life that might have been.

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Copyright © 2013 by Roger M. Hart.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Opinions or observations reflected in this book are those of the author and not necessarily those of the publisher. It is my hope and prayer this story will touch your heart in a very meaningful way.

Rev. date: 03/18/2013

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Contents

Chapter One. Rolling Hills of Missouri

Chapter Two. What About Tomorrow

Chapter Three. To The Work To The Work

Chapter Four. Rabbit In A Thicket

Chapter Five. Girls Clothes

Chapter Six. A Soddy House

Chapter Seven. The Limonia Picnic

Chapter Eight. The Sister & The Bride

Chapter Nine. The Store Keeper’s Son

Chapter Ten. Georgie Porgie

Chapter Eleven. A Broken Dinner Date

Chapter Twelve. Suitor or Mama’s Boy

Chapter Thirteen. A String of Pearls

Chapter Fourteen. John’s Privy or What?

Chapter Fifteen. The Pauley Family

Chapter Sixteen. Father Christmas

Chapter Seventeen. New Toys

Chapter Eighteen. Benji and Althea Toot Gezer

Chapter Nineteen. Epilogue

A new series titled:

Little House By The Edge of The Woods

Book One

About The Series

Benjamin and the Fredrickson Girls is the first in a series that tells of a family who had dwindled to one young man Benjamin Franklin Harris. Benjamin survived sickness at home and the Civil War then moved west where he homesteaded unclaimed land to start a new life.

He built the little house at the edge of the woods for his bride and they became its first occupants. For the next one hundred years a descending family member started their married life in the little house he built.

From the time the first farmers settled in the area of Northeast Missouri the tone was set for it to remain a rural small farm community. Normally each farmer grew on his eighty to one hundred and sixty acre farm all that his family needed to survive and grow into the next generation. Benjamin doubled the normal acreage and became a leader in his community.

Statesmen, lawyers, judges and doctors all came from this rural area but unlike Abraham Lincoln did not go on to be the President of the United States. They were farmers and farmers they remained until the early 1950’s.

It was not unusual for a mother to have all of her children in her own home as was the case with the fictional Harris family in this story.

If the details seem to be unrealistic or too simplistic, think again. People of that era didn’t fall far from the tree, change came slowly. They were satisfied with their lot in life but time was marching on, change was coming, even if it came at a snail’s pace it eventually got there.

Almost everyone who was born by or before 1940 could take you to the house, or location of a house and say, Here is where I was born. With pride people would point to an old farmhouse that consisted of not more than three or four small rooms and with a hint of pride in their voice tell their listener,

Here is where I was born, here is where I once lived. I used to play down in that creek yonder, or I used to help mother carry water from that well over there.

Usually their comments ended with some recollection of their mother and dad that might be followed by a tear drop running down over their face just as I have as I sit here at my computer writing this page.

The author has such a place that he has gone back to over the years that brings a peace and comfort to his soul. It’s a place where he can remember where he came from and the simple life of a young country boy. He calls this place the Little House By The Edge Of The woods.

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Benjamin Franklin Harris

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Benjamin Franklin Harris discharged from the Civil War at Keokuk, Iowa the sixteenth day of September 1864.

Chapter One

Rolling Hills of Missouri

September 15, 1869

It was late afternoon the sun was in their eyes. The group of ex-Civil War veterans was travel weary they had been on the road since the first of June it was now the middle of September. Their wagons moved slowly up and down the Missouri hills as some were being drawn by oxen, the sun was blinding at this time of day. The group stayed together though their allegiance to each other had been proven strong in their time of war duty in the Union Army.

They pushed on following the path others had made, anxious to see what was on the other side of those continuous rolling hills. Someone had likened the rolling hills of Missouri to the rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean, crest one hill only to nose down the other side then start the climb up again. If only the ridges were running east and west they could stay on top of the hills and save their animals energy. But there wasn’t any consistent pattern to their direction rolling first one way then another.

The group had crossed the Mississippi River by ferry boat fifteen days earlier and were traveling west across Northeast Missouri, on good days averaging ten miles a day. The men came home from the Civil War and found nothing but destruction now they were looking for a new beginning. Most of them had lived in Adams County that surrounded Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. They came home to find the gruesome destruction left behind by the invasion of Lee’s Confederate Army. Five years after the War this group of farmers decided to move on west in hopes of homesteading property in the newer states owned by the U. S. Government.

The rolling hills of Missouri were different than the hills in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania hills were longer, larger hills, not rolling but just the same they were hills. While crossing the Mississippi River bottom land in Illinois their unanimous sentiment was,

You couldn’t pay me to live here. I wouldn’t have this land if it was given to me.

They all agreed, Give me some hilly land any day over this flat river bottom land.

So they moved on to cross the wide river and were happy to see hills on the other side. There were too many people already living along the river to suit their taste and regrouped their wagons after everyone was safely across.

Wagons Ho, was the cry that came from all the men.

One young man, Benjamin Franklin Harris, single, just twenty three years old walked with the wagons. All he had to his name was his Union Army uniform, his rifle and mustering out pay. He didn’t own a horse or wagon and had walked from Pennsylvania carrying a pack. His rifle was heavy to carry so he asked permission to lay it in one of the wagons. He didn’t expect to need it except to shoot a rabbit or squirrel for supper which he could do later in the day. He could easily walk the speed of the oxen and sometimes sat down on top of a hill to wait for all the wagons to pass him by before moving on.

As he sat waiting one day he began listening to the Meadow Larks and the Red Winged Blackbirds, he could hear an occasional call of a lonesome quail looking for its family. A melancholy feeling overcame him as he looked about and wondered if he wasn’t close to home.

He was born in Greece County, Penn. October 25th, 1846 before his parents moved to Adams County near Gettysburg. Some years before the war John Nelson Harris with his wife Francis Vance Harris moved their family west to the state of Iowa. Benjamin enlisted in the Iowa Infantry May 17th, 1864 and was discharged one hundred days later. He served in the Union Army near Memphis, Tennessee then received his discharge on September 16th, 1864.

With General Grant as supreme commander of all the Union Army it wasn’t long before General Lee’s surrender of the Confederate Army in Virginia. An end of the war came in April 1865 and these, as many other men who had fought, went home to find their homes destroyed.

After his discharge he went back to Pennsylvania to visit the few remaining friends and family still living. Five years passed working for whoever needed him to help rebuild their farms after the war. He had thought he might like to stay and make it his home but in the spring of 1869 when this group of families started west he decided to go along.

His parents, John and Frances Harris had unexpectedly passed on before he joined the army leaving young Benjamin to start his life alone. After the time spent in Pennsylvania all ties with his family were gone, he never saw any of his relatives again, even his two sisters in Iowa.

Five years had passed already since his discharge and he was still carrying his mustering out money. All the money he had was the $13.00 a month payment given him that totaled $43.50 for the one hundred days he served his country and another one hundred dollars from his last five years work.

On the fifteenth day after crossing the Mississippi River they crossed the Chariton River near the lively little town of Limonia, Missouri. They were glad to see a bridge had been built and didn’t have to swim the river. As they passed through town they saw a railroad track, blacksmith shop and various other businesses with Limonia General Store displayed on the front of the most prominent looking building in town.

They made camp north of town that day and Benjamin took stock of the beauty of the rolling hills. A tint of red and yellow among the tree’s leaves, the lush grass land, the river and nearby creek had home written all over it.

The next morning when the wagons were hitched he told his friends that he wasn’t going any further.

I’m going to find a place here by a creek that I can homestead and call home, he told them. I’ve walked as far as I’m going.

He bid the others good-bye and good luck in finding a new home then started off alone looking for that special place. When he saw Spring Creek’s sparkling clear cool water he knew he was getting close. As he walked along the creek bank he saw up ahead a clearing of the land. An open meadow lay out before him and he knew this was home, home for the rest of his life and generations of family to follow.

His first order of business was to go back to Limonia and locate the land office. He had to make a property claim and get it staked off. Under the Homestead Act of 1862 he qualified to homestead one hundred and sixty acres at a cost of ten dollars. He was over twenty one years old, a U. S. citizen and veteran of more than fourteen days. He qualified to stake a property claim so he anxiously found the land office to make sure the land he wanted wasn’t already claimed then paid the ten dollars.

To keep the land he had to live on the land and make improvements but that wasn’t a problem for him, he wanted to live on it and build houses and barns. He wanted to farm the land, raise cattle and have a family some day. All of the timber that he would ever want or need was right at his back door. There was Spring Creeks ever running clean water, fields to plow and pasture land for cattle, he couldn’t want for anything more that this new land wouldn’t provide. To get started he needed to buy a team of horses and asked where he might buy such. The land office clerk informed him there was a horse dealer in town,

But be careful dealing with him, he’s a crooked horse dealer. He’ll try to sell you a worthless plug and tell you it’s a great horse.

Thanks for the warning, Benjamin said and started out to find the horse dealer. He wasn’t hard to find once he had his mind set on finding him, the smell led him to a barn where he found the owner and a couple of seedy looking boys pitching manure.

I’m looking for a good work team, he told the man.

You’ve come to the right place then, the horse trader assured Benjamin and stuck out his hand to shake hands. Benjamin cordially complied and shook his hand.

I’ve got a team of mules out there that will out work any team of horses in the country.

Is that right? Benjamin responded with seemingly genuine interest.

How much do you want for them?

I’ll sell them to you cheap, because I like you, the man went on talking. Only seventy five dollars for you but don’t tell anyone that I sold them this cheap. I even have their harness hanging right here in the barn that I’ll throw in.

That sounds a little high to me, what if they won’t pull? Benjamin asked. I know mules can be stubborn.

In that case I’ll make you a better deal than the first one. The trader spoke from the corner of his mouth as if he didn’t want to be over heard. If these mules won’t pull I’ll sell them to you for half that much.

I’ll have to see them work before I give you any money.

Boys! the man hollered out to his two seedy looking boys pitching manure. Bring those mules inta the barn to get harnessed.

The boys grinned at each other as they went outside. One said, The old man is doing it again, reckon how much he’ll get this time?

Benjamin couldn’t hear the boy’s remark but he wasn’t ignorant of the ways of mules. He knew some were good work animals but he also knew that some mules would balk for no reason and not want to pull against a load. He had seen a trick used one time on a team of balking mules and wondered if this man might try the same thing.

The trader threw some harness on the mules that could have been better and Benjamin doubted the mules and harness ever went together. They were led out to an empty wagon to hitch to but Benjamin interrupted with his own deal.

Now I’ll make you a deal, if these mules won’t pull a heavy load you sell them and the harness to me for ten dollars. If they will pull a heavy load then I’ll give you sixty five dollars.

This time Benjamin stuck out his hand to shake on the deal. The horse trader was hesitant to shake hands this time but then grinned confidently and said, It’s a deal.

Instead of this wagon though, Benjamin said, hitch them to that sled loaded with logs.

Boys, the man called again and Benjamin wondered if they had any other name. You know what to do.

Again they led the mules to the sled and Benjamin noticed how they kept leading the mules instead of driving them to be hitched. He also noticed both of the young men slip something in the mule’s mouth before they moved. He smiled to himself watching the charade these three were putting on in an effort to cheat him out of his money. When the mules were hitched and ready the older man took the reins and motioned the young men to go stand in front of the mules. They stopped about four feet in front of each mule and held out their hand for the mules to see. Just before the trader called to the mules Benjamin hollered;

Stop, you’re going to run over those two young men. Come over here with me, he told them, I want to see if these mules will move that sled.

The seedy boys didn’t know what to do; they hadn’t ever been caught in this situation before and were waiting for their dad’s instruction when Benjamin said to them again,

Come on over here with me, those mules can’t pull with you in front of them.

They started to move but the older man told them to stand still.

The mules just need a little encouraging, they haven’t worked regular and the boys help me get’um started.

That wasn’t part of the deal, Benjamin reminded him. They will either pull or not pull, without any help.

The man then motioned the boys to step aside after they gave the mules a pat on the nose and slipped an apple into their mouth. The trader hoped this might last long enough to take their mind off of pulling the heavy load. With the boys standing aside now he called out,

Getty up Jack, getty up Jennie, and slapped their back with the reins. The mules took two steps then felt the pull on the sled and stopped. The man began to holler and curse at the mules.

Get up Jack, get up Jennie, and with the loose ends of the reins was ready to start whipping Jack’s back.

Stop, Benjamin hollered out again, I don’t beat my animals.

What do you mean your animals? The man was definitely not happy about the way things were going. These are my mules until you pay me for them.

All right, here is the ten dollars we agreed on. Now they are mine, write me a bill of sale.

The horse trader looked at the money Benjamin held in his hand, he had been beat at one of his own tricks.

Wouldn’t you rather have a team of horses? he asked, instead of these stubborn mules, I’ve gotten used to having them around. I have a good team of horses I’ll let you have for sixty five dollars.

All right, Benjamin agreed, let’s see if they’ll pull this sled.

If they will pull this sled around without any help I’ll trade you back this pair of mules for twenty dollars and give you fourty five dollars to boot.

Again he stuck out his hand to shake on the deal. When the trader balked at his offer he was quick to remind him that their previous hand shake had sealed the deal on the mules and he was now their owner. The man thought about it and smiled.

You are a good horse trader young man. What did you say your name was?

I didn’t say but it’s Benjamin, Benjamin Franklin Harris.

When the team of horses was brought in the harness was taken off the mules and placed on the horses. They looked much better to Benjamin than the mules, the harness even looked better on them. He made sure the neck collars were fitting good so they wouldn’t rub sores, with no liniment he didn’t want them to get a sore neck from the collar not fitting. The horses were brought