Joyce Wilson
Contributing Columnist
CHAPTER 14 — Part Two
Mary Ann had just brought their fine team of horses and hid them in the deep wooded ravine. Now she must hurry back and help her father hide more livestock. They must make hast for as the news of the whereabouts of the raiders had been brought the raiders would be traveling to and might be even now very near.
Lois Ann and Candace were sent to Williams’ and Hemphills’ and Davis’ their very near neighbors, to tell the news. Soon everyone was alerted and livestock was being hurried out of sight.
John, never strong since his serious illness with fever, was exhausted. With the help of Eleanor Ann and the children, he put their cow and pretty bay mare and her colt in the woods where they had repaired the fence. This farm was all level and did not afford the natural hiding places of most farms of The Ridge. The oxen had best be left in the lot by the barn, they decided. They figured if raiders saw them, they would not look further for horses.
By early morning the next day word reached The Ridge that the raiders were headed this way and were not many miles distant. Soon the clatter of horses’ hooves could be heard very faintly by the alerted listeners. Every ear was strained for any sound of halt, but steadily they pounded on.
At worship that night John Wickerham led in singing a version of the 107 Psalm.
O praise the Lord for He is good; His mercies lasting be.
Let God’s redeemed say so, whom He from powers of foes set free.
Their weary soul within them faints, When thirst and hunger press.
In trouble then they cried to God, He frees them from distress.
The storm is changed into a calm, At His command and will,
And so, the waves which rage before, Now quiet are and still.
The next morning several men rode cautiously into Locust Grove. They found the Raiders had halted but not for long, as they knew they were being pursued.
One historical record gives the number as about eight hundred men and officers by the time they reached this point, though Morgan had started with some two thousand. At that, they appeared to the people of Locust Grove to be a vast army.
Systematically they were placed among the villagers and nearby farmers. The Joseph Davis family, who were Covenanters, lived on a farm near the village. Their house was large but there were not beds enough to accommodate those assigned to them. The large parlor, carpeted over a padding of straw, was soon spotted. Here the remainder of the men slept for the few hours they tarried.
The officers in charge were very polite and assured Mrs. Davis (Nancy Glasgow (Ralston) Davis) (1836-1908) that no one would be harmed but that they must be fed.
All the horses they could find were taken but some travel-exhausted ones left behind proved very good when rested.
If there was any wanton destruction, I never heard of it, unless taking bolts of silk from stores and using them as saddle blankets could be classed as such.
In a few days, word came that Morgan and his men had been captured as they attempted to re-cross the Ohio River.
The War had been very close and though the immediate danger to homes was passed, a feeling of sympathy for all in the vicinity of action, whether North or South, prevailed. Morgan had proved a gentleman. They knew in many places the non-combatants had not fared so well.
Written circa late 1950s and early 1960s by Lena McCoy Mathews (1893-1988) and transcribed for The Defender by Joyce Wilson. Look for more history in future issues of The People’s Defender.
