Lieutenant John Holbrook, Sergeant John Wheeler

by Laszlo Endrody

  I found the sheriff and asked him if he’d check on the priest. He told me, “You and your priest have no business going out to the Wilson’s farm. Just where in the hell did you come from anyway?”

  I told him, “I am from Pennsylvania. This is my home.”

  The sheriff shook his head and chuckled. He then said in a sarcastic tone, “Have a nice day, mister.”

  I had to get the U.S. Army out here to straighten this place out, along with that sheriff. I worked out a message and I planned on sending it as soon as we got to Paradise. After talking to the sheriff, I decided that I wanted Miller to stay with the Quaker to keep an eye on things while I was gone. I didn’t trust anyone.

  I left for Paradise at 4:00 a.m. the next morning. I wanted to get there early so I could get back home while it was daylight still. I traveled at a good speed and let the horse go and make his own speed. When I stopped at a creek to let my horse drink, I spotted someone following me. I went behind some bushes and let them come to me. He had a Confederate jacket on. I pulled out my Spencer and shot him off of his horse. When I got up to the man, I could tell by the markings on his jacket that he was a lieutenant. I checked to see if he was alive, but he wasn’t, he was dead. I noticed that his horse was branded with Miller’s brand. I remembered Miller telling me earlier that his brand was his father’s, and the man that I shot was definitely not Miller’s dad. I went through the lieutenant’s pockets and found 20 pieces of gold and some confederate money. I took the gold but left the confederate money. I went on and took Miller’s horse with me.

  When I arrived in Paradise I went to the Wells Fargo and sent off the message. I sent it to the commanding officer of the U.S. Army in Gettysburg, and it was received. Before I started home, I stopped at the bakery and got five buns. After I ate the buns, I headed home.

  When I got close to where the lieutenant I had just shot lay, I spotted a sheriff, a confederate sergeant major, and one other man standing over his body. They draped the lieutenant’s body over the sergeant major’s horse, and then he got on the back of the other man’s horse and they rode off toward Lancaster, but the sheriff continued on towards Paradise. The sheriff was coming right toward me, so I hid in some trees and watched waited until he got in close. As soon as the other two riders were completely out of sight, I shot the sheriff and he fell off his horse, and his horse rode on.

  When I got home, I gave the Miller the horse with his father’s brand on it. I told him to take it out to his father since it was obviously his horse.

  When he arrived at his father’s farm, his father and two of his brothers were in the yard. He turned the horse loose and it went down to them. He lifted his hat to them and one of his brothers lifted his arm and waved. Miller then turned around and headed home.

  When Miller got back he asked, “Did anything new happen while I was gone?”

  “No. But we may get a visit. It’s obvious that the lieutenant I shot was following me for a reason.” I then told him about the sheriff and the two other men I saw. I said, “On the way back, I found the sheriff, a sergeant major, and another man loading the lieutenant’s body on a horse. The sergeant major jumped behind the other man on his horse and they rode toward Lancaster with the lieutenant’s body.”

  About four hours later, a confederate major, along with five other five men came up to the house. The major then ordered me to come outside. I got my Spencer and shot him dead center; Miller shot the sergeant major, and the Quaker shot a third man down. Two shots sounded and two more men fell to the ground. Two of Miller’s brothers had ridden out to the farm, and they led away some of the dead men’s horses. One of his brothers raised his hat to us as they rode back to their farm. The remaining horses went towards town and probably went home.

  The sheriff’s deputy came out and started going through the men’s pockets, but he was too late. The Quaker corporal had already checked all of their pockets and took a money belt off of the sergeant major.

  The next day the priest was back. He came over and I told him, “They wanted me dead, so I shot the sergeant major. I guess that sergeant major wanted me to come out so they could waste a bullet. Half of those men were riding stolen horses.”

  The priest told me that somebody had brought the sheriff in to the doctor. The sheriff was there for four days and then he went home. We heard later on that the sheriff ended up quitting his job.

  The army sent out a lieutenant and 12 men to my farm. Some of the wounded men left, but four stayed to take care of the horses. They were looking for the major, but he was dead and so was his sergeant major and his lieutenant. All they had were the four wounded soldiers.

  One of the major’s daughters came in to see the priest. She told him that we could plow up all of the acres that we wanted. She said that they had seven plows and there were two two-bottom plows for heavy horses. They wanted 900 dollars for the plows, and would sell the pair of heavy Amish horses for 500 dollars, for a total of 1,400 dollars cash. They were taking the other horses with them. They had four big wagons and were loading them up to go to Pittsburg, to the major’s wife’s parents’ property. They would come back for another load, and after that, they would be gone for good so that we could take over.

  I bought the plows and two horses from them and the priest had ten boys for me to work with. We picked up a big field, about 500 acres, and started the plowing. The Quaker corporal was put in charge. We used Miller’s buckboard for a chuck wagon, and fed the boys out on the job three times a day. The boys stayed in the bunkhouse. There was a lot of hay in the barn, so they did not need to cut the pasture.

  One of Miller’s brothers came by to see him. We told him that if they needed hay, he could go ahead and cut it and put it up. He told Miller that their mother had asked for him to come out to see her.

  That next Sunday afternoon the three of us, in our good clothes, went to visit. His father asked me who was riding their horse that had been stolen.

  I told him, “It was a Confederate lieutenant.”

  “What happened to him?” he asked.

  “He fell off the horse and was killed,” I replied.

  “Well, I’m glad the horse is back. We are farmers and we need our horses. My boy Kyle is having a rough time. He has four kids and is very short on food,” he stated.

  When we got home, Miller took his buckboard and loaded up some sacks of food to take to his brother, Kyle. He loaded two different kinds of beans, flour, cornmeal, oatmeal, rice, sugar, salt, peas, potatoes, carrots, six slabs of bacon, and some ham. When he finished loading everything, he took it all out to Kyle’s place. His wife was the only one there and she asked him who he was.

  He told her, “I am Uncle John. Kyle is my brother. I brought you out some food. Where do you want me to put the sacks?”

  Her face lit up and she smiled at him. She invited him inside, pointed to the store room, and said, “You can put everything right in here, Uncle John.” All of the kids came out to see what was going on and she told them said, “This is your Uncle John.”

  “Hi, Uncle John,” the kids all chimed.

  “Hi kids,” he replied.

  After he carried in all of the food and said, “I forgot the syrup.” He went out to grab it and also saw that he forgot the ham, so he grabbed them both and took them inside.

  “I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry, but I hope to see you again,” he told him. On his way out, he kissed his sister-in-law’s hand and she thanked him for the food.

  Chapter Three

  The plowing went on day after day and all of the boys had a team. They all worked hard and Betty cooked delicious food for them. They all loved her. The horses had oats while they waited to get back to plowing. While the wagon was there, they took the team and harrowed.

  I went to Gettysburg and bought an 8-foot wide grain drill and ordered ten tons of wheat for seed. As soon as we could, we got our wagon team on the grain drill and started seeding the field. The next spring, we would get
the corn planter. We would have 400 acres of corn, some peas, and some beans.

  The kids plowed until it froze. They could still harrow for a while, but once it snowed and they stopped. All of the horses went in to the corral. The girls cleaned the big house for a month. The house we bought in town went to the homeless girls, and the priest helped manage it. The girls could cook and had sacks of food. Betty used some of the girls to clean the big house. The servant’s room had two beds, so Betty had two girls stay with her for steady help. We had a mess of chickens, so every morning the girls got the eggs and made coffee. Both girls also helped with breakfast.

  I asked Miller who the best wagon builder was. He told me it was Kaufman, but he was Amish. We needed four big wagons for hay and harvest.

  He told me, “Have my dad go with you and order the wagons. He has a good relationship with the Amish.”

  The equipment dealer in Harrisburg was a Quaker. I ordered the corn planter, and he told me that they would have mowers and rakes in soon.

  “We need more milk cows. Who can I ask to get us four?” I asked the equipment dealer.

  “The main store in town,” he stated. “It’s Amish, but the owner knows who has milk cows and horses for sale. If an Amish farmer wants to sell a horse, he tells him and gets an Amish man to buy it. He will do business with others too, sometimes.”

  “It would be a good thing to buy the wagons and cows from the Amish sine we have to fit in with the community. We are the biggest farm in this county. Our seed is coming from the Quakers in New York. We have to order the oats and corn from them as well,” I explained to him.

  “How many acres of oats do you want?” Miller’s father asked me.

  “We will have to start plowing in March, as soon as the ground is ready. We will plant the oats in April, and then in May we will plant the corn. We will also plant potatoes; so we can feed everybody. We will have to plant the potatoes by hand and can use some of the homeless girls to help. Once we make the windrows with the corn planter, the girls can plant the potatoes. I would like to plant about eighty acres in potatoes, but it will have to be done in May,” I told him.

  “Let’s go by that Amish store and see if we can buy some milk cows,” he stated.

  Miller’s father and I went to the store. I asked the grocer if they had any milk cows for sale and told him that I needed four. He said that he would check.

  “How about some heavy Amish horses, any good buys?” I asked him.

  “The best buy is two bred mares. They both have one colt, so they should foal without help. They are four and five years old, both priced at eighty dollars; and that’s cheap for big horses,” he replied.

  “How about geldings to go with them?” I asked.

  “I can get some young studs, but no geldings. You can raise the studs and have the geldings later on.”

  “How much for the studs?”

  “They are worth one hundred, but I will find out what the farmer wants for them,” he stated.

  “I have a house in town near the Catholic church,” I told a girl who was helping out the grocer. “The priest put a bunch of homeless girls in there. When the grocer finds out the information I am looking for, you can let one of those girls know and they will pass it along to me.” I then handed her a dollar and said, “This will be for your trouble, miss.” She was more than happy to help.

  Two days later one of the homeless girls told me that the grocer wanted us to come in. He had two mares and two cows. I got the buckboard ready and Betty came with me to the store.

  When we got there, I looked the cows and the mares over; everything seemed fine. The cows had been milked before, so I loaded them, along with their calves, onboard the wagon. Betty did some shopping while we were there. She bought four wrap-around aprons, as well as some pots and pans. She also bought ten pounds of coffee and two sacks of rice. She asked the grocer if he knew anyone who sold bathtubs, and he told her that he could her one from Philadelphia. “I usually get three at a time, they come by railroad,” the grocer told her.

  I looked at the mares. They were big horses, young, but big. They would probably foal in about five months, and that was fine by me. In five months it will be spring and good weather, I hoped. The grocer told me that he could get me two studs, either a two-and-a-half-year-old for 100 dollars or another big three-year-old for 120 dollars. I just wanted one, and I figured I put him in with the four big mares that I had when they were ready to breed again. I would not use him on the other horses though; I would have to get a Morgan for them. But all of that could wait.

  After we paid, we left and went by our house in town. We left one cow and calf there, and Betty gave the girls a sack of rice. They would be able to milk the cow every evening, and the calf would get the rest. The priest was so happy to have that house for those girls. He got the girls two pigs and they would be big enough to butcher for Christmas.

  When I paid for the farm, Miller gave me 1,200 dollars. Our agreement was that we would brand all of our animals with just one brand, and all of the horses would be needed on the farm no matter who owned them. We were still plowing and needed all of the horses. Miller’s dad went with me to the wagon builder and I ordered four big wagons for haying. We only had three miles to go to the trash machine, so that wasn’t too bad. Two of Miller’s brothers came over. They were dragging their plow and went to work with the boys. I told Miller that it was fine for them to come over, and that they would get paid or supplied with food for their families. What we really needed was help cutting the grain, and young men that could cut it and stay with it. We could also hire girls and loaders and people driving wagons behind them; then the wagons would take it to the trash machine. We would have four wagons, and all four would be for hauling.

  We ordered the wagons, but they wouldn’t be done until winter. After that, we went to the equipment dealer and picked up the corn planter and towed it home behind our buckboard. While we were there, we looked at a mowing machine and a rake that raked in windrows.

  As the boys were coming in from the fields, I went into the corral. One of the boys, Nick Jason, got a pitchfork-full of hay ended getting bit by a copperhead snake just below his left knee. He fed the hay to the horses and then started to feel real lightheaded and dizzy, so he sat down. The Quaker corporal noticed him holding his head in his hands, so he went over to check on him. The corporal asked him if he was already and the boy told him that he had just been bitten by a snake. A couple minutes later, Nick fell over and lay on the ground. All of the other boys were getting hay, so the corporal got shovel and killed the snake. It was in the barn where the boys were getting the hay. Miller’s two brothers came over and said they were leaving their horses and would work again tomorrow. They asked why Nick was lying on the ground. Miller’s brother, Pete, said that he had been bitten by a copperhead once; but it was not too bad and he got over it in four days. He said that his leg was swollen and he felt sick, that’s all. “You better take him to the doctor,” Pete suggested.

  We hitched up to the buckboard, and we picked him up and laid him on a blanket. We then went in to town to the doctors. The doc came out and we carried Nick inside. We laid him on the examining table then the doctor gave him a glass of water and with some kind of powder in it; Nick drink it all. Nick was only semiconscious. The doc said that some people are very allergic to different things and can react badly. He told me to leave Nick there because he needed to sleep for a while. I told him that the boy was an orphan and that I would tell the priest to come by for him. I then paid him 20 dollars gold and told him that I didn’t want to lose that boy.

  I went by the Catholic Church and told the priest what had happened. He headed over to the doctor’s and he stayed with Nick all night.

  I got there the next morning and Nick was conscious and talking to the priest. The doctor told me that he could go home and I asked him if they had any kind of medicine against snake poison. He told me that they had nothing, except getting r
id of the snakes. We helped Nick out to the buckboard and headed over to the church and dropped the priest off. Then we went home and I put Nick on the couch and told one of the young ladies helping Betty to look after him.

  I said, “Help him if he needs help, and get him whatever he wants,” I instructed. “It is recommended that he has soup.” Betty told me that she would make a nice pot of soup. I told her that I was going back in to town because I saw that there was a nice buckboard for sale at the store and I wanted to see if I could buy it so that she could have a nice way to get around. She told me that she would go with me.

  We went in and the buckboard was still there, so I asked how much it was going for. He told me it was 130 dollars, but that price also included two mules and a set of mule harnesses. I paid for it and turned it over to Betty and told her to stop at the house in town. We stopped there and put the mules in the corral. I told Betty that I did not want to put the mules in with the horses at home, and they would have to stay in town. We would have to give them food and I would take care of it.

  Two cows that we ordered were arriving at the store the next day and we would pick them up. They had a milk cow and two mules at the house in town and we could separate them. I did not want the calf kicked; so the cow was in the covered half, and the mules were in the open part. I asked the girls how the milking went and they told me everything was just fine. When the calf got a little bigger she would use more milk. The small buckboard stayed there too.

  We went home and I told Betty that we would have to get a light team for the buckboard and sell the mules.

  The following day, I went to see the butcher and I asked for a couple of big hogs to clean up the snakes around the corrals and barns. I saw several times where hogs had ripped snakes to pieces and ate them, so I thought getting a few would be a good idea. I remembered when I was in Texas that the sidewinders were the most poisonous rattlers in America; we had to watch for them every night when we camped out.