He journeyed
on horseback to Cincinnati and Philadelphia to buy goods,
transporting them overland by wagon from the closest navigable
point in the chain of rivers. His store came to be the trading
point and social center for miles around. He extended "store
credit" anywhere and everywhere, and it was universally
understood that Christmas Day was pay day. . .
In this environment, Grandpap started his family of four boys and
one girl. . . He had the first carriage and the first piano in
the county, even though Darter was the county seat and center of
culture and population.
His mother back in Kentucky signifying her desire to visit him in
his new home, he sent the carriage, the two older boys and three
"hands" back to bring her to Mahrug in State. The trip took over
two months, and she had to wait until the next summer to find
weather and roads suitable to make the return home. Back in
Kentucky, she advertised him and the new country so extensively
that two of her neighbors bought enough land of Grandpap that
Fall to make back to him all the expenses of her pilgrimage, and
then some.
In somewhat less than due time, considering his status as an
immigrant from another State, Grandpap got elected as a
Democratic member of the House, in the State Legislature.
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