Carbondale Free Press from Carbondale, Illinois • Page 9

RECONp; SECTION OJJ 6ARBONDALE FREE PRESS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1947 VOLUME NO, 96 TAGES SIX The historical background this story was furnished by John Allen, acting Director of the Museum at Soulhern Illinois university. The story has been supplemented by a visit to the house, Priscilla lived and an in-i terview with Mrs. Scott McGlasson who knew her personally. This is but one instance of the songs stories that make up thc folklore of this- section. To save such bits of history for future jjeneration.s, The Illinois Folklore has been formed.

If you know a bit of lore worth preserving, Mr. Allen will be glad to have it, either university or at his home in Carbondale. The address is 403 Washington Avenue. By Mirion Home -Her name was Priscilla. And, slit'had green thumb, It secmery wherever the child 1 turned she could make plants bloom, but her favorites wore the hollyhocks that bloomed in her master's yard red" they were, and smaller ordinary hollyhock.

They and swayed with a sliffish rustle in the North Carolina breeze, Priscilla was a slave girl. A j-uadroon, and the story goes that she was intelligent child and i very pretty. She was twelve years old or thereabouts when Basil Silkwood came visiting her muster. Does the name sound familiar to you? No wonder. The Siikwood is well thought of here in Illinois, and Basil is one of the reasons why.

He was a kind man, a good man, and his generous heart had a- ready ally in his well-lined pockets, A pioneer in developing this section of the state, he settled near the present clay Mul- Aeytown. His house became an overnight stop for tarvelers of the Shawnee Trail who treked from Old Shawnee to St. Louis. That house became known as Silkwood Tavern or Half-Way House, and sundown would find the yard overflowing with the cattle and pigs of farmers who were driving them to market. OOD had an enjoyable visit with his.

friends who owned the- North Carolina plantation. arid, according to the custom of the made a rather lengthy visit. During that time he came to know the slaves' not only by sight, but by name, and since ho was opposed to slavery, he must have at times been deeply grieved over thc lot of the men and women who received even such THE OLD'SHAWNEE TRAIL HALF-WAY HOUSE HOLDS HISTORIC MEMORIES i BATAVIA POPULATION PUT AT Batavia, Java This capital of the Dutch East Indies now has a more than l.QOaoOO. the 'Chinese daily Sin Po. reported recent survey.

Sin Po estimates that. now has living in it 300,000 130,000 Chinese: 60,000 Europeans anu Americans, and 10,000 persons othei-na- tionalities. Plans are underway for an oCi- cial census, according to the paper. There 'are 'more than 16.000 barn fires even- year. Here is the trail over which the early settlers went as they drove their livestock to market, scene is looking.westward toward St.

Louis. This and cncampted on a creek. Misery was the common lot'. Many died. Somebody took Priscilla into Jonesboi'o.

There in the sea oE unfamiliar faces one shone through like a beacon of hope. Timidly the child 'spoke. The man turned and looked, fit her. Who was the child who spoke his When Basil Silk-wood had hoard her story out, his spirit was deeply touched by the young girl's plight. He drove a bargain with her owners.

Legend; has it he paid $1,000 the little girl. Priscilla's THE SILKWOOD BURIAL PLOT I' Located about half way between Shawneetown and St. Louis this house was called Half-Way House. Here people halted as they drove'their livestock to St. Louis for market, the bricks were being removed, H.

C. Eer- The farm fire loss is estimated treK was slavery over. 1'he child became, a member 'of 'SilkwoocL family and Basil Silkwood and his wife cherished the girl as if she had been When the winds whispered to Priscilla that It was planting time, YVUIIICJI vr'iis jvt.v,*.x-v. vr i kind care as we hope his friend her- hands lifted the hollyhock gave them There may have been seed from- their hiding place, a Mammie in the kitchen and a dropped then) in the moist, cool Sam to wait table in the evening when the dining room was lighted with candles. Maybe Priscilla was assigned the job of keeping one of the fans waving to keep the flies But even a delightful visit must end.

Basil Silkwood -said goodbye his friend and started back to Illinois. Not much later he re-' word that his North Carolina host had died. The man's property, presumably to be divided among his descendants, was sold the house, the fields, and the men and women who Priscilla been his servants. among them. MANY MUST have been the memories those people took with of days sppnt in Ihc fields, fir in the Big House making ready for fine company like Mr.

Silkwood. But Priscilla took with her poignant memory than njost. Before the sale she slipped out to say goodbye to the hollyhocks, and her young, loving Jiands slipped among the. leaves, gathering little seeds. She dropped them in the pocket of- her apron, and perhaps, overcome by grief at leaving this place She called home, fled back to her quarters.

The next day she was sold to a -Cherokee Indian chief, -So it VMS' "oodbye to the beautiful Big House and hello to the chieftains cabin. If the past life at times 'seemed a dream, she had only to "touch the crisp browness of the drying seed, the season was she planted them. And soon the hollyhocks sentinels stand- thc cabin door Tears of The white man's Govern-. CAME Trail I C-tJ-l rnent had decreed thc red man ih'ouW be removed to other territory The Indian and the little fluadroon faced a rigorous ordeal. Priscilla found comfort only she slipped her hand into iTer dress pocket and the disturbed seed again whispered to of happier days and sunnier market.

earth, and tamped the loam gently over them. Year after year the green.gpikes grew. Year after year the red flowers were bright with memories and brighter still with promise for the future, They were happy years. Priscilla never married, but lived out her life at the Silkwood She became a member of the Christian Church. The.whole town knew and loved her.

And when she became an old and tired little lady, she died. They buried her in the Silkwood family lot where a soapstone marker identifies Priscilla Silkwood, green' fingered. little girl and beloved old lady. A spray of wild yellow flowers flings a caressing hand across the weathered stone' and trails along the ground. Thc hollyhocks died witty the drouth this year, but thc seeds were gathered by a sympathetic hand, and next year the brave green shoots will again pierce the earth.

THE WOMAN who understood about the flowers is Mrs, Scott McGlasson, formerly Flora She is thc grand-niece, of Basil Silkwood, and she knew Priscilla. She knows much else too of thc days of Silkwood Tavern. You see, she lives in the house. Silkwood bought 700 acres of land under the Bit Act many year an acre is not a bad price to pay for virgin land!) First he built a barn with timber cleared from his own land. supposedly around the early 1820's he built a log cabin which was to become the inn for folks who traveled the Shawnee Trail Louis.

Later the house had a second story-and a chimney added to it to accommodate the increasing number of visitors to the place. Sunset would find the yard overflowing with cattle and pigs tree's'svduid offer roosting space to the turkeys the farmers were driving to through the bleak, raw and comfortless nights ot trek away from That must have been a busy scene in the house's heydey. For in addition to its many guests, there she knew i were always 'many of children, winter of 1837-38, and Although Silkwood was twice V- ndu band of Charokees way ar Jonflaboro ned, he never had cMdxan ot his own, but ha reaed ie orphans each of iton 40 acres of latld a Simple soapstone marker indicates the spot where Priscilla Silkwood is buried in the plot of ground where sleeps her-benefactor, Basil Silkwood, (Staff Photos.) TURKEY ROOST they found one marked 1828, so ills a pretty good indication of the' age of the house Mrs. McGlasson thinks. The house stands in.

a beautiful' setting of old trees and well-tended lawn, and even now glows with a kind of quiet- hospitality. FURTHER down the Shawnee Trail is'a cemetery, the Reid cemetery and there in a quiet corner' rests all that is earthly of Basil. Silkwood, A fine, but not preten- tiou obelisk his resting place, and on his left and right the graves two who 'gladdened. days. Priscilla lies' next to them.

-is quiet and shady, filters but selv thiough the. trees, and on lainy afteinodn globrii settles over a giasbhopper sets the grass-'-' a'- tre'mble with his whirring flight Oi a tiny, spotted gray lizard streaks across an- equally gray gianite maiker. It hard to think the'girl the green 'thumb sleeps sweetly here. And who knows, when the moon is full and the evening when the air -is bursting with living, growing things if Piisulla -does not visit the hollyhock and smile to see them glowing rosy in the moonlight? LUTlEllS" WILL MEET AT JACOB Carbondale, secretary; W. Kircher, Marion, member at large; and Rev.

R. Moeller, West Frankfort, spiritual adviser. DOG OF A NEIGHBOR PROMISES NOT TO BARK 385,000,000 annually. A certified Stockholm (AP) public accountant living in the peaceful suburb of was mad. He went to the police to complain that his neighbor's puppy woke him up at seven every morning by his barking.

'To get even" the OPA. barked back. Now, was that the proper thing to do? wondered the police. the- dog always barked first," the man explained. The police asked both the CPA KIDNEYS MUST REMOVE EXCESS ACIDS Help IS Miles of Kidney Flush Out Waste If you havcan excess otacids in your blood, y'our 16 miles of kidney tubes may be over- worked: Thesetiny filters and tubca are work- i inff day and niftht to help Nature rid your system of excess acids and poisonous waste.

When disorder of kidney function poisonous matter to teraain in your blood, it may cause backache, rbeumaticpalns, Jeg pains, loss of pep and cnerftv, fretting Up nJffhts. swelling, under the eyes, headaches and dizziness. Frequent of scanty, passives with smarting and'burning acme-' times shows there is something wrong: with your kidneys or bladder, i Kidaeys may nocd help-thje'eome an bojr- the-morning. lions for over 60 years. Doan's give happy will hcjp the' 15 miles of kidner Do you always hnvi- :Sur.d- i ance of that luxurious hot water? l)ocs plant function with si of attention? Do you comfort and fuci sa-tug storm sash and doors briiitE? your house insulated against winter's cold? These comforts can be and you can pay for too- in a comfortable way.

With an FH A-insured loan, you can make practically property You reside or reroof your honv: y. install gutters repaint and redecorate repay in monthly installments- over periods of up to three FHA rates arc dii- count per $100 per year. up to 3 years; no Let us explain further 201 Vl West' Main St. Carboudaie, 111. Phone 925 OE -326 These venerable old locust trees once the roost for of the earlier days of Southern Illinois.

Today thex offer stiade by summer, and in the spring the air is sweetened hy their blossoms. McGlasson remembers too thestate of mind; it was a level df ac- story of John, a Negro boy Mr. ition. Silkwood bought at the same time he acquired Priscilla. When John was 21, Mr.

Silkwood gave him a horse, a saddle, Never a slave in the Silkwoqd home, the- boy whom they had raised was now a propertied man with a. chance to make his own way in the world. The, Silkwood anti- About.25 'ago Mr-, and, Scott McGlasson decided to! buy. the Silkwood place. The heirs were contacted, a and' the" plact bbught.

"The jpugh loes, 'today, art covered 'cwith neat Herbert Knopp Knopp, Nashville, district, manager of the international Accounting Society; will be the principal speaker at a meeting of Lutheran men and their guests from Southern Illinois at Christ Lutheran Church, at Jacob, 111., Friday, October 3, at 3 p. according to an announcement, by the Jacob Lutheran as- today. The meeting will consider the ayman's task in the church and lis responsibility for the spiritual influence in his community. An open forum discussion will be by WilliaVn C. Boese, Murphysboro.

has' spoke on Lutheran laymen's seminar p'ro- in many principal cities -of the nation, wiD speak on the topic, "A Public Relations Program for the Church." Under the auspices of the Lutheran Laymen's. league such seminars are held in'cities throughout the United States and Canada. They are open forum meetings in which today's problems of the 7 church are presented by outstanding leaders and then, discussed in town-hall '-fashion. The devotions at the 'meeting will be led by the Rev. H.

Paul Boehne Iiamami'el Lutheran when the ioiise story, has been -torn out." When? Murptysbdfo. Ti.6 committee in charge of arrangements for the meeting includes William C. Boese, "Mur- tubes flush out poiaonoua -waste from your Nero used rose perfume, valued single banquet. at $150,000 at WOOOUSJUIWTS VITAMIN Be ahead with D-irkee's for too! Dufkee's hs'jiicb energy valu and 15,000 units of Vitamin A pound: It's made with rich vegetable oils churned pasteurized skiai milk. Be ahead in enjoyment! Tuste Dwkfce's country-fresh flavor on your toast! A delicious spread! Enjoy Durkee's hi all foods its restful seasoning, its ap'peiiz- ing flaVor.

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