e dear girl have passed away. Soon all who
personally knew of this story will be gone. A simple but appropriate
monument to the memory of the gallant Sherwood and the brave, true
soldier, who gave up his life to protect the precious body from
mutilation, was erected where they fell, and may still be standing
there, but that is all that remains to tell of this heartrending
incident of the bloody war with the Seminoles in the Everglades of
Florida.

_CHAPTER XVI._

From our pleasant home and work in Cincinnati we were called away by
the illness and death of Lieutenant C. C. Daveiss, a brother-in-law
and army associate of my husband, to whom he left the care of his
family and the settlement of his business. He had resigned his
commission in the army a few years before, and had settled on a large
plantation which he owned near La Grange, Missouri, and Daveiss
Prairie, as it was called, was our home for two years, during which
time we had some new experiences, and a fine opportunity to study a
class of people entirely different from any former associations. They
were mostly from what might be called the backwoods of Kentucky; were
ignorant, and had some very crude notions of the world at large.
Nearly all of them owned a few slaves, raised a great many hogs,
cultivated large fields of corn, and were content with a diet of corn
bread and bacon, varied, during their long summers, with vegetables,
melons and honey, all of which were very abundant. They had some cows
and sheep, and some fine horses, which enjoyed unlimited pasturage on
the succulent grasses of the prairies. They made their own clothing
from the wool, spun and woven at home, and were in a measure
independent of the world. They were religiously inclined, and had
preaching every Sabbath, at some accessible point, the Baptist,
Methodist, Presbyterian, and Campbellite preachers alternating, the
first named denomination being the most numerous. Among them was a
stalwart, _powerful_ preacher, who was also the owner of a fine farm
and a pretty strong force of negroes. He was held in high esteem for
his great natural gifts, and we can never forget the meed of praise
accorded him by his gentle, adoring wife, when, in speaking of this
mighty man, she said, with exultation: "Mr. L. is so gifted that he
never has to study his sermons. They come naturally to him. He hardly
ever looks at a book from Sunday till Saturday, not even the Bible!"
and we believed her.