e hall
and was large enough to seat many guests. The kitchen was made of
canvas and led into the dining room. There were three fine windows in
the dining room, so it made a pleasant and cheerful place. Although
everything was of the plainest sort, the long table with the white
cloth and greens from the pine trees the boys had cut as they came
along, and the wild flowers we had gathered and placed in bowls to
grace the tables with the greens which were arranged tastefully in
wreaths and festoons, gave a homelike welcome to these men who for
months had not eaten a home dinner or enjoyed the society of women. As
the darkness came on, we lit up the room with candles, having no other
lights. We had not forgotten to bring our brass candlesticks among our
household effects. Mother could not part with them, so they were
carefully packed among our clothing in the trunks and served us
beautifully on this occasion. They got an extra polish of whiting from
sister and me, who were the decorators on this occasion, and we had to
attend to the tables while mother and the older sisters made the
cakes, pies and prepared the roasts and meat pies and other necessary
additions for a dinner of this kind. Father, mother and the older
sisters sat with the guests, and sister Sarah and I waited upon the
table. As young as I was, the impression was a lasting one. Some of
the gentlemen looked sad, some dignified, others joked and others
related stories of home and their experiences in different places
in California until the dinner was over and we adjourned to the
parlor.

[Illustration:

Richard Condy
Judge H.B. Underhill
Mary Jane Lloyd
Mrs. Anna Bowden-Shattuck
Lizzie Fisher
Carrie Heinemann
Mr. Schnable
Ellen Lloyd
Mrs. Taylor

ASSOCIATED MUSICIANS AND SINGERS

1853 to 1879]

The dinner made such an impression that before the guests departed
they had it all arranged that we were to take them all as boarders.
After such a feast of things they had longed for so many months, they
were not willing to go back to the old way of batching it, as they
termed it. We were young and used to housework and we wanted a home of
our own some day. Father consulted us and we agreed that on the
following Monday they might begin to come. We were assigned our parts,
and for two years we worked until we were able to secure our own
house, which stands today in Stockton as one of the earlier homes and
our homestead. While in this house there were times w