I made the eighth child--six girls and two boys. When I
was a little over three years old, father left Mt. Carmel to fill the
vacancy of the church in Jonesborough, Union county, Ill., in an
unsettled portion of the state, among good Christian people who had
begun to settle on farms and stock farms. Acres of grain and corn
fields stretched far and wide. Jonesborough was a very small town
where these people got their supplies in exchange for their produce.
The women wove their cloth and linen and spun their yarn and did the
dairy work, while the men cleared and planted and built log houses,
barns and cribs. We were heartily welcomed by these good, primitive
people. They had waited so long for a shepherd to lead them that many
of the congregation were in waiting and the elders and trustees were
on hand to see to the conveyance of the household goods, which were
quickly put in waiting wagons.
[Illustration: JEWEL WORN BY LADY BARBARA METZGER
Great-grandmother of Mrs. Blake-Alverson]
It was the Indian summer of the year. The foliage was bright and the
air crisp and cool. Although a child, the impression made upon me was
one that I have gone over in my mind many times, and I can see every
inch of the road, the kind people, the beautiful scenery, birds of
bright plumage, and rabbits darting across the road at the sound of
our wheels. It was late when the journey was ended, but we were made
welcome and comfortable by more pleasant faces and willing hands.
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