by Webster, Emma C. Stanton.

See previous entry: Little Home Histories, Part 69 -- Smith Stories.

The log house of note here was built by Jesse Bailey Sr. about the year 1812. Eli Stanton bought the log house from him about the year 1856 or 1857. Eli Stanton married Mary P. Bundy 12th month 9th, 1857 -- a daughter of John and Ruth Patten Bundy -- and set up housekeeping in this log house.

Here their three children were born. William Henry, 8th month 2nd 1860, Sarah B. 11th month 23rd 1861, and Emma C. 10th month 5th 1864

When the house was nearly sixty years old, there was moss on the north side of the roof, the big chimney was cracked and ragged, and part of the cellar wall had fallen down. But it was a home for a happy family -- father and mother Eli and Mary, and a boy and his two sisters full of life and joy -- such as the following recollections will show you.

On October 5th 1864, a little girl came to the home of Eli and Mary P. Stanton -- the old log house among the sun-kissed hills of Belmont County, Ohio. There I lived and grew for four years -- there I learned to walk and talk and take a place in the happy family life. I had one brother and one sister.

The house being old and cold did not bother us. We had a one-story kitchen. In one end was a large old-fashioned open fireplace where the wood was laid on stone. But even if I do remember seeing the sun rise as I looked between the logs, where the chinking had fallen out, I only remember the big red sun, not the cold and frosty mornings.

That fireplace afforded other memories. It was there that I remember getting my hand burned. We had come inside to warm. Aunt Lizzie (Bundy) Frame was with us. I was at one edge and thought it would be warmer if I moved to the other side, by the kitchen stove. Forgetting my manners, I walked between the others and the fire. Someone stepped back and losing my balance, I fell with one hand into the ashes. Mother or someone wrapped it up and I went into the room to cry it out. As I lay there on the floor in the Sunshine, I remember seeing the colors of the rainbow flash as the tears dropped on the carpet. Later we wanted to climb the ladder to the loft, over the woodshed to get grapes, and me being a "cripple", I had to be helped.

Probably the same fall, we all had the itch -- a real disgrace. One day when Mother had extra men for dinner, we children -- who had received a thorough application of lard and sulphur -- were hustled to the loft over the kitchen by the back stairway, with instructions to remain until after dinner. One would think most of my life was spent in that old kitchen, but that is where my memories seem to center. The floor was in the cellar. The foundation stones were out of place and probably the door was open or off its hinges, letting in the light.

I have been told that we had an old door for a slide, with one end laid up on the banister around the old porch and a stone at the bottom. Sister Sadie and I climbed up to slide down, no care or thought being given to shoe soles. In some manner, we tipped back and fell on a large stone jar placed under the eaves to catch rain water. We each emerged some the worse for our experience with badly bumped heads.

The next spring when mother was able to care for me, she found some unusual bumps on my chest which they decided had come from cracked or broken ribs, and accounted for my having complained of my chest during the winter.

It seems to me the house was torn down and removed in the spring of 1869. One bright warm spring morning we children went down to watch the men at work. Thus, at four and a half years of age, all had passed out of my sight and only vague memories remain.

Source: Written by: Emma C. (Stanton) Webster; Contributed by her granddaughter, Yvonne Ardel Dearing (9 years old)

See next entry: Little Home Histories, Part 71 -- Eli Stanton's Sorghum Mill.

For the table of contents and first entry in this series, please see: Little Home Histories, Part 01 -- Table of Contents and Introduction.

This entry is adapted from Little Home Histories in Our Early Homes, Belmont County, Ohio, which was published in 1942. Its publication was coordinated by Robert D. and Beulah Patten McDonald. This entry has been reedited for inclusion in the Pierian Press Fulltext eBooks database, and is included on the Stratton House Inn Website by special permission. This entry is licensed for use ONLY on this Website. It may be used for educational purposes and personal pleasure under fair-use provisions via this Website. Please note that the Stratton House Inn iteration of this entry does NOT include the subject headings assigned each chapter for use in the Fulltext eBooks database.

CO-AUTHOR: Dearing, Yvonne Ardel.

DATABASE: Fulltext eBooks: Copyright (c) 2002 The Pierian Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ENTRY NUMBER: EBK30013770