Now John and Priscilla Lemley had decided to set up
their homestead a few miles to the southwest of Kennamer Cove. They settled
atop a mountain that would ever afterwards be known as Lemley Mountain.
2 John, however, was not as interested in farming as
his wife’s family had been. He, along with his three eldest sons and nephew,
took advantage of the dense stand of red cedar trees that surrounded their
mountain. Every morning, John and the boys headed down the mountain with axes
and ropes in hand, and often worked until late in the evening. In fact, they
often didn’t return home until after the sun had set.
3 “Just push those logs down the mountain toward the
river,” John instructed the younger men. “Let them slide!” he shouted.
4 When they reached the base of the mountain, the boys
gathered the logs together and either carried or dragged them behind their
horses to the edge of the Paint Rock River. From there, they floated the logs
down to the Tennessee River. Then, the mighty Tennessee carried them on to
Huntsville where they were unloaded and sawn into planks or used as fence posts
on the surrounding farms and plantations.
5 At the time, it seemed like there would be an
endless supply of cedar trees. The mountains were covered in them. Even so,
within a few years, John and his sons had cleared large stands of mature cedar
trees, and his sons began to realize that they would not be able to depend on
their father’s business to make their own way in the world. As it turned out,
there was a finite number of cedars, buffaloes and passenger pigeons available
for harvest.
6 Nevertheless, John wanted to panel his and
Priscilla’s bedroom with cedar, but she protested. “I don’t like the smell of
it – it’s too strong,” she told him. “It will keep the bugs and worms away,” he
argued. “Then make me a chest out of it for our clothes,” she suggested. “But I
don’t want it hangin on my bedroom walls!” Frustrated by his wife’s
intransigence, John stomped out of the room and went to the barn.
7 Even so, after a few minutes of pacing and blowing
off some steam, he decided to make his wife the chest which she had suggested.
First, he used his homemade plane to smooth the surfaces of the rough-hewn
boards. Next, he constructed a rectangular box about four feet long and a
little less than two feet wide. It was also about two feet deep and had a
hinged lid on top.
8 “I love my cedar chest,” Priscilla told him. “It
will be the perfect place to store my quilts in the summer,” she continued.
“I’m glad you like it, but I still think that wood would’ve looked nice on the
walls,” he replied. “Well, you go right on thinkin that, but I love my chest!”
she declared.
9 “George will be wantin to marry soon,” she told him.
“Who?” her husband demanded. “Young Mary, have you not been payin attention?”
“I knew he was sweet on her, but I didn’t know he was thinkin bout nothing like
that!”
10 “That’s what happens – they grow up and start
families of their own,” she reminded him. “Yeah, well, pretty soon, I won’t
have anybody left to help me with my business,” he grumbled.
11 “Then it will just be the two of us,” Priscilla
teased. “What will you do then?” she demanded. “I guess I’ll spend more time in
the barn,” he told her with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. His wife laughed
aloud and walked over to where he was standing and planted a soft kiss on his
sunburned forehead.
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