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

222 ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
in various places say that in case of the secession of Kentucky
they would be ruined. We heard others talking of the possi-
bility of cannon being placed over on the lofty hills of the
Kentucky side, from which point of vantage Cincinnati could
easily be wiped out. Mother and I kept our nerve and made
our purchases. We went into a china store and selected my
dishes. She bought for me a full set of what was then new
ware and called stone china; it was pure white. There were
a dozen each of dinner, breakfast and pie plates, as we called
bread and butter plates, besides cups and saucers, sauce dishes,
meat platters, deep dishes, tureens, and all complete. The tea
cups were better than the ordinary, because they had handles.
Tinware, knives and forks, a set of plated spoons, and best
of all a shining britannia teapot were added to my outfit. At
the last mother took up the teapot, really handsome in design
and like polished silver, and asked me if I would like to have
that. I at once replied that I should be delighted, and so she
ordered it packed. How pleased I was; and though the polish
is gone and it shows wear, I cherish it yet, and recall that time
of youth when the hands of my dear mother held up its pretty,
silvered surface to catch the light, while outside the soldiers of
the Union were drilling in the streets. Little did we dream
what would be the fate of my wedding dishes selected so care-
fully that day in '6i. We also bought for my outfit muslin,
table cloths, towels, and sixteen rolls of cotton batting, the
latter for comforters.
When all our purchases were finished we found they
amounted to about fifty dollars, and oh, my young relatives,
I felt rich that day, and satisfied! The merchant had securely
packed my dishes in hay in a barrel and they and our other
purchases were loaded into the army wagon. It was just all
Brother Joe could do to keep the horses in the road; he held
the lines with all his might until we left behind the turmoil
of the city. It was evening when we drove through the front
gate into the orchard, where we were glad to unload. We
found that the dish packing had been a success and nothing
was broken.
After that trip to Cincinnati there was a busy time getting