Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

SCHOOL AND COLLEGE DAYS 153
in a little marsh near by, where many frogs dispensed their
music from early spring until the pond froze over in the winter
and became a sliding place, which made a lot of fine fun for us
all. One summer day, when the windows were all open and
Bill Roebuck's dinner basket was setting carelessly in the
window, along came old Mother Hog and, quietly taking the
handle of Bill's basket in her mouth, she rushed off in great
haste. In this emergency the teacher gave us all permission
to give chase, which we embraced with alacrity. Bill leading
in hot haste. The whole school ran pell-mell, until the hog
dropped the basket to gain time. The dinner was spoiled,
but enough sympathy was created to cause the other children
to contribute toward Bill's dinner, and he nor we did not
leave our dinner baskets in the window again.
Some one gave us a nice, large, strong rope, from which we
made a swing that was a never-failing source of amusement.
I do not remember that anyone ever quarreled over this swing.
The locust tree from which it was suspended was one of the
kind said by many to attract lightning. It is true that it was
struck several times and the top badly broken, but the great,
strong limb where our swing hung, and which leaned over the
bank, remained intact, so we used it after the beautiful top was
denuded.
This church and schoolhouse combined must have been
built about 1838, and did service for some eighteen years,
when the hill began to settle and the foundations gave way, so
that a great crack appeared which continued to widen until
it became necessary to place a heavy brace and wide board
against the corner for support. Later, and after we had left
Ohio, the building was taken down and the bricks were used to
erect a smaller church on the level place in front of the old
building — the spot which had once been our playground.
The rebuilding of the free church was the work of the combined
community. Another schoolhouse for our district had been
built before, however, where we too attended school. The
district bought an acre of land at the north end of father's
farm and built a neat frame building there. A son of old
Mr. Cummings had the contract for this new building. Young