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

THE GREEN TREE TAVERN 175
at intervals. On one of his visits he found a Brother Isaac
Morris (we always knew each other as "brother" and "sister"
in the church fellowship of those days), who was a member of
the church at Clio. He lived fifteen miles away, but was at
church on preaching days and invited father home with him.
Brother Morris kept the Green Tree House at the crossroads
just in tlie edge of a settlement of Shakers; in fact, their land
joined his on the south. The Green Tree was on the direct
road to our place, something over a half day's drive, so father
was glad to avail himself of this invitation and to extend his
acquaintance among the people of the church. I cannot re-
call just how it all came about, but anyway Mr. Morris offered
their neighborhood school to William, and as soon as arrangements
could be made he was to begin. When father went to
his next appointment at Clio he took William over; our mother
went along that time, and it was thus our eldest, with his well-
filled trunk, set out to begin his life work as teacher.
When our parents returned it was to tell us how pleased
they were with William's location. They described the old-
fashioned brick house, a large square building with a wide hall
going through the center, with two rooms on either side of it.
This old tavern, they told us, was two stories high, with oaken
floors. Ah, I can yet hear the clatter and the echo of the
boys' heavy boots resounding on the uncarpeted floor of that
wide hall! More than fifty years have passed, bleaching the
hair once so abundant and dark and dulling the ears no longer
young, but still the echoes of the past ring out more clearly
than any sound of to-day.
On learning of all the interesting features of the Green
Tree, we three younger children were told that we might go to
see William in his new abode, and as I now recall, I think we
were to take up some things our mother had finished off^ for
him. It was the first time we children had ever gone visiting
at a distance without some of our elders. I am looking back
and thinking how we made plans for this visit and dreamed
day and night of it. The day before we started father made a
map of our journey, giving the directions of our course and
telling of the one diverging road where we would find a guide-