Many years ago, in or around the early nineteen hundreds, A large number of people were moving west to get away from crowded cities and to start a new life. As they moved west, they would come to places where they thought they would like to live. They would apply for a homestead on the land and have to work hard to make a living.
One family of new comers, named Peabody, were among the first to settle in this part of the country. The name of the place was un-necessary to mention as they were found no matter where you were. The Peabody family was the father, mother three boys and the youngest was a very young daughter. As the years passed, they Were getting established and it looked like they made a good selection of where to live, There were other families around the country, but none closer than twenty miles.
Old man Peabody wanted to dig a well and was told that there would be no water to be found on his property. But he selected a spot and they started to dig, Weeks went by, then months which turned to a year, and no water was found. But the old man kept saying there was water there, they just had to dig deeper, They spent less time digging. But every so often they would dig a few more feet. The hole was almost fifty feet down in the ground, Over the next several months they were a little over sixty feet deep and it was getting damp they were working in mud.
Late that night, the old man got up and was out digging in the well, when water started to come into the well. He hardly had time to make it to the top as water was coming so fast. It flowed over the top and was draining away. Old man Peabody rushed into the house and got everyone out of bed and he was so excited no one could understand what he was saying.
The family stood there and watched the hen house wash away, then the Pig pen went and on down the low lands the water went. They followed it for miles and still water was flowing. By noon the next day, people had come from miles around to see this water flowing from the well.
It took several days before it cleared enough to drink. It was the best tasting water around and was so cool, No water as pure as this could be found anywhere in the country, The stream went for maybe twenty mils winding around before it came to a natural basin and a lake had started to appear. Where the water went from there, no one appeared to know, But the well just kept on flowing. The water was so good that people came from miles in all directions to get some water. Old man Peabody said anyone that wanted some of the water could come and get at no charge. People were coming from so far away, they had to spend a night and start home the next day. Peabody was thinking, if he added a few rooms to his house, he could rent them to people, then they would need food to eat and the kitchen was enlarged and a large dining room was added.
Then old Peabody thought to himself. If he opened a general store where these people could buy a few things they needed, he could make more money. That was the starting of a small community, A church was build and a small school house, A post office was added to the general store and the store was selling everything.
Then International Harvester built a branch to their implement company, and soon after a feed and seed branch opened with a county agent. Tiny Town now had twenty or so residents living there. With all the farms around, the community would be close to maybe eighty people. Now all these people would come to town on Sunday, to attend church. That turned into a community picnic and a social time, after church in
One family of new comers, named Peabody, were among the first to settle in this part of the country. The name of the place was un-necessary to mention as they were found no matter where you were. The Peabody family was the father, mother three boys and the youngest was a very young daughter. As the years passed, they Were getting established and it looked like they made a good selection of where to live, There were other families around the country, but none closer than twenty miles.
Old man Peabody wanted to dig a well and was told that there would be no water to be found on his property. But he selected a spot and they started to dig, Weeks went by, then months which turned to a year, and no water was found. But the old man kept saying there was water there, they just had to dig deeper, They spent less time digging. But every so often they would dig a few more feet. The hole was almost fifty feet down in the ground, Over the next several months they were a little over sixty feet deep and it was getting damp they were working in mud.
Late that night, the old man got up and was out digging in the well, when water started to come into the well. He hardly had time to make it to the top as water was coming so fast. It flowed over the top and was draining away. Old man Peabody rushed into the house and got everyone out of bed and he was so excited no one could understand what he was saying.
The family stood there and watched the hen house wash away, then the Pig pen went and on down the low lands the water went. They followed it for miles and still water was flowing. By noon the next day, people had come from miles around to see this water flowing from the well.
It took several days before it cleared enough to drink. It was the best tasting water around and was so cool, No water as pure as this could be found anywhere in the country, The stream went for maybe twenty mils winding around before it came to a natural basin and a lake had started to appear. Where the water went from there, no one appeared to know, But the well just kept on flowing. The water was so good that people came from miles in all directions to get some water. Old man Peabody said anyone that wanted some of the water could come and get at no charge. People were coming from so far away, they had to spend a night and start home the next day. Peabody was thinking, if he added a few rooms to his house, he could rent them to people, then they would need food to eat and the kitchen was enlarged and a large dining room was added.
Then old Peabody thought to himself. If he opened a general store where these people could buy a few things they needed, he could make more money. That was the starting of a small community, A church was build and a small school house, A post office was added to the general store and the store was selling everything.
Then International Harvester built a branch to their implement company, and soon after a feed and seed branch opened with a county agent. Tiny Town now had twenty or so residents living there. With all the farms around, the community would be close to maybe eighty people. Now all these people would come to town on Sunday, to attend church. That turned into a community picnic and a social time, after church in
the summer months.
There was always a ball game later in the afternoon. There were hardly enough people to play, and get two full teams. So not having nine people on a team, they would play with six or seven people, young , old, girls and boys. One team would be called by one name and the other by another. These names were often changed as the players desired, but the same people always seemed to play on the same team.
On this Sunday, it would be the “Cats versus the Coons” They always asked for someone to volunteer to be the umpire. This Sunday, the Minister volunteered . Each team had six players. A catcher, the pitcher, a first baseman and a short stop between second and third, a man in left field, a man in right field.
The “Coons” had one big heavy guy who was a slow runner, but when he hit a ball it went way out of the ball field. He was Peabody’s eldest son. Where the ball field ended, a corn field begin, When ever this heavy hitter came up to bat, the ball would always go way out into the Corn Field and the game would have to stop until the ball was found.
Sometimes, the pitcher for the “Cats” would stall and not pitch the ball to the big guy, until the sun was shining in his eyes, them the big guy couldn’t see it coming and miss the ball and be call out on three strikes. But the umpire told the pitcher not to do that anymore.
The little guy, that played right field for the “Cats”, was the youngest of the three sons of Peabody’s. This young guy argued with the umpire, if it was fair to let the big guy hit a ball out into the corn field and call it a home run, then as the right fielder, he should to be able to play out in the corn field when the big guy was to bat. The umpire agreed.
The following week, when the big guy batted, the right fielder played way out in the corn field. Then when the ball went out into the corn field, the right fielder would come running out of the corn field with the ball in his glove, saying I got it, I got it, and the batter would be called out. This happened over and over, each time the ball was hit into the corn field.
The summer ended and things were back to normal again. It was that time of the year for the corn field to be plowed under and Peabody sent his oldest son out with a tractor to do the job, The son made several passes across the field and thought he saw something in one of the rows. The next time around, he stopped, he found a box, he opened it, it was full of balls. He was thinking to himself, why would there be a box full of balls out in that field, and at supper that night, he was telling the family about it. The youngest son (the right fielder) excused himself and left the room.
By: Ben R.
Feb. 8, 2011
There was always a ball game later in the afternoon. There were hardly enough people to play, and get two full teams. So not having nine people on a team, they would play with six or seven people, young , old, girls and boys. One team would be called by one name and the other by another. These names were often changed as the players desired, but the same people always seemed to play on the same team.
On this Sunday, it would be the “Cats versus the Coons” They always asked for someone to volunteer to be the umpire. This Sunday, the Minister volunteered . Each team had six players. A catcher, the pitcher, a first baseman and a short stop between second and third, a man in left field, a man in right field.
The “Coons” had one big heavy guy who was a slow runner, but when he hit a ball it went way out of the ball field. He was Peabody’s eldest son. Where the ball field ended, a corn field begin, When ever this heavy hitter came up to bat, the ball would always go way out into the Corn Field and the game would have to stop until the ball was found.
Sometimes, the pitcher for the “Cats” would stall and not pitch the ball to the big guy, until the sun was shining in his eyes, them the big guy couldn’t see it coming and miss the ball and be call out on three strikes. But the umpire told the pitcher not to do that anymore.
The little guy, that played right field for the “Cats”, was the youngest of the three sons of Peabody’s. This young guy argued with the umpire, if it was fair to let the big guy hit a ball out into the corn field and call it a home run, then as the right fielder, he should to be able to play out in the corn field when the big guy was to bat. The umpire agreed.
The following week, when the big guy batted, the right fielder played way out in the corn field. Then when the ball went out into the corn field, the right fielder would come running out of the corn field with the ball in his glove, saying I got it, I got it, and the batter would be called out. This happened over and over, each time the ball was hit into the corn field.
The summer ended and things were back to normal again. It was that time of the year for the corn field to be plowed under and Peabody sent his oldest son out with a tractor to do the job, The son made several passes across the field and thought he saw something in one of the rows. The next time around, he stopped, he found a box, he opened it, it was full of balls. He was thinking to himself, why would there be a box full of balls out in that field, and at supper that night, he was telling the family about it. The youngest son (the right fielder) excused himself and left the room.
By: Ben R.
Feb. 8, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment