Boys of Summer

By Lucien N. Plante

In the Darkness, Mike slid over the side of the ship and in to the water, without knowing direction swam away from the ship into the darkness hoping not to hear the sound of a rifle or the pain of its report. Without knowing where he was Mike hoped he was swimming for shore, hoping he would not end up as fish food. He had escaped the Yankees.

This is a story of how our Country grew and how we grow. A story of hard work, hard thinking and true love. Some time before the Civil War two families grow together and become part the that eras American dream. The book will show them loving living and celebrating. It will also show the sadness of separation and death. The unforgettable pain of not knowing where someone is or what happened to them. But worst the wrenching pain of not being able to help someone you love.

Witness the lives of two families become one. Witness the boys of summer, sun and youth enter the turbulence of lives winter. No not that they should grow old in years. Life has a winter for all and for some it comes early and is brutal. Hope is down the road we know or least wise believe there will be spring. The sun will warm us and all will be well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Sep 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491704561

Lucien N. Plante

Lucien Plante is a marine veteran and retired engineer. He married his high school sweetheart, and they have four children and sixteen grandchildren. Besides his family, he loves history and the great outdoors. He spent many days, maybe years, of his life roaming the woods and mountains of the Adirondacks.

Book preview

Copyright © 2006, 2013 by Lucien N. Plante.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0455-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-0456-1 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013915055

iUniverse rev. date: 09/25/2013

Contents

Introduction

Boys of Summer

1857

1859

1860

1861

1862

1863

1864

1865

At Belle of the Woods

The Author

Dedicated to

My Mom Esther Plante and my wife Connie.

For them being them.

Introduction

It was a dandy day and the catfish should be biting. Work was caught up and Pa said the boys could go to the creek fishing. They didn’t need to be invited twice. Not today not ever.

They really looked forward to setting back and letting the breeze keep the bugs off them. It was also a good time for casual conversation. Maybe their good friend Mike from down the road apiece would be by. And the three of them normally did pass time together at the creek.

The boys on a regular bases had conversations around being bigger farmers then their Dads. They thought it must be nice to live as some of the plantation owners did. Big house nice carriages and workers to help them in the field. Maybe just maybe someday they would be in that spot.

Today the conversation entered into by the boys would be a little different. It would include the possibility of succession. After all that is what the talk of the town was. Heck the talk of the whole damn country was of the possible succession of the South from the Union.

The year was 1855 and the South was an industrial giant in the farm world. Be it rice, cotton, tobacco or indigo. Yes I did say rice and indigo. There was money in growing crops and there some that were good at growing them. Still there were others that wanted a bigger piece of the action.

Robby and Brian Philips were the sons of a farmer who raised tobacco and cotton. The cotton crop was their primary cash crop. Their friend Mike came from the same type of farm down the road away. Robby was sixteen years of age; Brian and Mike were fifteen.

The boys had been working the fields with their father’s sense they were big enough to walk or so it seemed. Ok maybe not working maybe just walking along at first. For certain they dragged water from the well to the field. For a while it was for Ma and Pa but now they were in the field with Pa and Ma would fetch them water.

They were third generation Tennesseans, the descendants of hard working, God fearing stock from North Carolina. Their line of people only landed on the coast they never lived there. No sir they were in a hurry to see some of this new land they called home and moved inland. The first couple generations were hard working and managed to scratch a living from whatever. Things like dirt farming, hunting and trapping.

This settling down was short lived and soon they were on the move. This was spurred on when they found out there was lots of land up for grabs in Tennessee. Not to mention the trapping was rumored to good. Beavers.

Grand Pa came here for fur as much as he did the land and the prospects of farming. As a matter of fact the Grand Pa’s of the Phillips boys and Mike were best of friends. They came here together to catch there fortune in beaver hides. They were young men with a dream and they were tough.

Now understand it wasn’t a walk in the park as trapping was a tough job and yes there were Indians that didn’t always believe all these white people should have a run of the place. Still the boys did well.

Once this was completed they would get land and seed with the fur money and settle down. That is how they ended up being neighbors. Heck for several miles in any direction most all were related to one family or the other and some were related to both.

They were not the stereo types of farmers in the South. The people in the North thought the whole South was made up of plantations. Yes plantations, you know what I’m talking about. Big white homes, large barns, long drives going to the house lined with white oak trees draped with Spanish moss.

Oh ya, let’s not forget the little shacks in the background for the slaves. Yep their own little slave town. Then of course you have to put in the picture, plantation owners riding around dressed in white linen.

Not these people they come from hard working stock. Oh the boys didn’t disagree with slavery just they could not afford such a luxury. Most any money generated on their farms was used for seed and supplies.

Never seemed to have any left, least that’s what their Pa’s said. Just the same the farms they worked today were much larger than Grand Pa started out with. And the boys thought there was still room for some growth.

Please don’t miss understand me they weren’t just poor old dirt farmers. They didn’t bounce around looking for work. Hell they even had boots to wear when they worked the fields and when they went to school and when they went to church meetings. Granted it was the same pair of boots worn to all.

And these Boys of Summer if they had their way would see the farm grow larger much larger.

Boys of Summer

Its July 1855 in Henderson Tennessee and the South is hot, hot with politics and with telltale signs of summer. So we find Robby and Brian Philips and Mike Doran completing another week’s work on their family farms.

When Robby and Brian’s dad said it’s a day, they needed to hear no more. The boys weren’t long getting out of the field and getting hold of what was needed to possibly catch a couple of catfish.

The walk to the creek took about fifteen minutes in the warmth of the late afternoon sun. On getting there, the boys parked themselves under their favorite white oak tree, Spanish moss and all. It was a picture of a place. Well to the boys it was a picture of a place.

With their lines in the water their conversation turned to why they were there, catfish for supper. Speaking of supper, man oh man Ma could cook up a mean plate of catfish. Ma could cook a mean plate of anything she set at.

Rolling it in cornmeal then cooking it in bacon drippings. Mister you put this in a plate with some greens and corn bread and you have one heck of a meal. If they didn’t work so hard they would have had to been rolled to the creek from eating such food.

Today was Saturday and they always cut out of work early on Saturday. Pa would see to that, he would say A boy needs a little time to spend dreaming and a creek was the best place for that sort of thing. Robby always thought no matter what Pa said it was the catfish they would catch that Pa was concerned about.

It was interesting because Mike’s Pa shared the same philosophy on young men and life. Then their fathers were good friends that shared much time together as they grew up. As a matter of fact they were more like brothers.

The fathers of their fathers, which would be their grand pa’s came here together, settled as neighbors and raised their families as if they were all part of one family. Because of all this they knew unless something was up Mike would be by shortly with his cane poll.

The wait was not long before their good friend Mike was perching himself on the bank next to them. The time they spent fishing together was great. It was personal time, it was their time. Their time to be boys working to be young men.

The boys shared what each family was doing. They would also repeated the gossip from around their dining room table. And yes other things they had heard their Ma and Pa talk about such as church, weather and politics.

It would involve everything from wall papering the walls to politics. It was more likely than not the very thoughts their parents shared. One thing you could be sure of was in time they would without a doubt hold these very same values and ideas as their own. Oh yes and Robby was sure to ask how Mike’s sister Clara was doing.

For now they would talk the talk of boys on their way to being young men. A mere reflection of their parents in their ideals.

The top of their conversation would be the political scene of the South. The unrest that would divide a country and pit friend against friend and brother against brother.

Oh yes, it was in there future and the future of millions of others. A nation would be tore apart and many lives would be surrendered for a cause. A cause, yes to keep together the greatest nation the earth would ever know.

The boys talked about succession and thought their fellow countrymen were right. They agreed if the South in fact was so different from the North, then it should have the right to succeed from the Union.

Was this truly their feelings or just another reflection of what they had heard at home? Their conversation led them into the dark abyss of succession. The rise of a new country.

The conversation was interrupted with the catch of the first catfish. It would also be the last fish for a long enough period to create some restlessness.

So as was the case on most occasions they decided to take a short cut, plus have some fun. It took but a few seconds and the boys were stripped down and buck-naked.

They were going to do some hand fishing. It by all means was quicker and for sure a heap of fun.

Slowly and methodical the boys proceeded down the creek. Hands searching, checking under the creek banks, rocks and dead falls lying in the water. Searching for the big boys resting on the bottom, waiting for food to float by.

It was kind of ere feeling sometimes with water near in your face, and hands groping the creeks mucky bottom and crevasses for fish. A fish large enough you could stick a fist in his mouth. Yes, they also came bigger than that, heck some folks say hound dogs have been swallowed up by some of the big uns.

If this sport wasn’t enough excitement for you some of the boys would hand snatch snapping turtles. It’s been said they were great eating and if you weren’t careful they would dine on you.

Always at harvest gatherings you would hear stories how someone lost a finger or two trying to snatch one. It was always hear say and someone from not next door.

It was these stories that kept the boys just a fishing for fish. Though some of the fish would run twenty to twenty-five pounds most nice cats went three to five pounds.

From these, every now and then you would get a scraped finger or a thorn jab. A turtle on the other hand could put a real hurt on them little things called fingers.

Still every now and then if one of the boy’s thought they touched one under a muddy over hang or in a hole you would hear a yelp. Oh ya and some splashing, as they would try to make some distance. Distance and back up the bank.

After forty-five minutes of probing under banks, overhangs, rocks and dead falls the boys had landed seven nice catfish. They knew this was plenty for dinner at both homes and left overs enough for breakfast if their Ma’s didn’t have something else in mind.

They waded their way back up stream a ways then up the bank to dry off in what was left of the sun before dressing. This was a weekly ritual for them and one they very rarely missed.

That is until it cooled off and they found themselves in the midst of hunting squirrels. For now they were without a doubt boys of summer.

Drying off was mostly a good idea or maybe one should say an idea with good intention. They wouldn’t wait for the sun to dry them off they never did and so they dressed.

Putting their clothes on went slower than it came off. Being wet made it a bit of a struggle getting their britches on. That was only part of the problem now there was the discomfort of dirt in their britches.

Dirt dragged into their britches by their wet feet. Their socks would have had to be screwed onto their wet feet and the effort just wasn’t worth it so they were tucked into a pocket.

Now with britches and boots on and shirts carried in their hands the boys divided the fish said their good-byes and headed home. Worst case they would not see each other until next Saturday. But more than not someone from one family or the other would be passing by the others house.

Once home the fish were cleaned and turned over to ma. Robby and Brian had split the catch with Mike this gave both families’ four fish. Each of the four fish weighing three or so pounds, gave each a pretty good catch of fish, much more then would be consumed at a single meal.

The Philips family consisted of the boys and their parents and the Doran’s were also a family of four, Mike had a sister. A sister (Clara) who was sweet on Robby she thought he was just the most handsome young man. Her parents felt a closeness to Robby also. It was as if they were next ta kin.

Of course Clara knew all the neighboring young men. These were the same young men she had went to school with. The young men whose fathers and mothers knew each other and would work from farm to farm were needed during harvest season.

It must be said there were a couple other young men who thought Clara would make a handsome catch. That is someday she would make a nice catch for someone who didn’t live next door.

Clara was a little more than a year older then her brother Mike who was fifteen. Robby was also the older of the two in his family and shared near the same age with Clara. They were kind of looking at each other but nothing was ever said.

When school started in the fall it would be the last year for Robby, Clara had finished up a year earlier. That is unless he was to go onto college, which wouldn’t happen, as he was anxious to stake a claim on life.

Still this same scene would be repeated each weekend of the summer but not always would they have as nice a catch of fish for supper. Fall would come and their interest would turn to hunting, oh yes and let’s not forget school.

The boys though not geniuses were pretty good in school. Which was good for them, it just so happened there fathers thought it was also important. The mothers of the house made sure everyone understood it was from their side of the families. That is their said for all the smarts.

It would be during the short school year the three young men of the Philips and Doran families would learn more about what was happening in this great country of theirs. They would receive all the latest news on what was happening in the Nation’s Capital and the Capitals of the Southern States.

At this time in the United States and its territories a lot of information was passed along in places like schools, mercantile and churches. The info would pass from school, church or mercantile to home.

The mercantile was probably the most up to date source of information, as supplies would come in from different parts of the country on a regular base. Any way you look at it, there was an interesting network for information to travel.

So time would go and they would find themselves passing from one season (hunting) to another. Robby found his biological clock starting to catch up to Clara’s. (Men folks are a little slow figuring them things Clara’s ma would say.) Don’t misunderstand me girl they know pretty, they just don’t know what to do about it. And she would laugh.

Now he’d not want to spend every weekend running around the hills with Mike and Brian. No, it seemed he now looked for reasons to give Clara’s family a hand when not needed at home. He also wanted to do more on the family farm, wanted more responsibility. He wanted a piece of the action.

It goes without mention his Ma and Pa were also pleased with this sudden interest in the farm. Maybe more so Ma, as Pa always knew his sons would someday take part in what the last two generations built or so he hoped.

Ma on the other hand thought the boys were old enough and should take a bigger part in what supported the family. Oh she too very much hoped the boys would stay around. Her boys, her babies oh they may get big and even grow old but they would always be her babies.

It wasn’t as if they were still knee high young uns that didn’t understand, heck they were near ready to go out on their own. Heck when their Grand Pa came to Tennessee to trap he was their age. Pa wanted them to fall in love with the land and the life not just to experience it.

Robby’s fathers concern was to keep it interesting as his Pa had done for him. Now it seemed the dream was about to come true, least wise he was on his way to being half-right. Pa also realized Clara was playing a big part in this dream realized. Go girl.

So the school year passed and the season of young hearts was taking up some of the space that used to be spent on hunting and fishing seasons. Yes sir Robby was on his way.

By schools end, which was also planting season Robby was wanting to get started on the new piece of ground he and Pa had cleared during the winter. They were going to put it into corn, which was a new cash crop for them.

This field was going to be Robby’s personal project it was his idea to plant the corn and he would manage it. He would well do most of the work. It was his gamble his future he was ready to impress his Ma and Pa or was it Clara. My vote goes to Clara. She was a cute thing and Robby wanted to make sure she was thinking of him long term. In his mind there was competition but that was only in his mind as Clara pretty much had hers made up.

It was not a big field by many standards two and a half maybe three acres. There were still a few stumps in it he’d have to work around. One of which was from a mighty old white oak.

During the coming winter he would work on the stumps he now planted around. The mighty oak may take more than the coming winter to chop and pull from the earth. Maybe even a fire or two would be used to reduce it.

It was during the school year he’d got the idea from some literature his teacher Mr. Drake had gotten for him. It was to do with rotating crops and planting supplemental crops. These supplemental crops would help carry you over should your main crop have a bad year.

It was supposed to be a better way to make use of the acreage one had. It would also be an opportunity to start something for himself. After all he and Clara would want to set up a life of their own and they needed something to start with. Oh ya he would work and work he did.

Pa could have done this type of thing before but he never was very demanding of the boys. For him it was mostly money for the planting season next year. It seemed the big push was for food on the table and wood to heat with all else was for enjoyment. So for his situation cotton and tobacco was plenty. After all he was but one man.

With Robby out of school and making a full time job of the farm Pa was sure he would see an improvement in cash flow. Now on the other hand Brian and Mike still had a year of school and their plan was to make the best of it. Both now and when they graduated.

Still it was not the same with one of the group not willing or able to go off on hunting or fishing jaunts. So it was all three boys ended up spending more time on the farms. Which made farm life in general more productive, easier and eventually more profitable.

Brian of course spent more time on the family farm so he could be with his brother and to be a part of it all. Mike spent more time on his family’s farm and on many occasions found himself working with his good friend Brian on the Philips farm.

On the other hand Robby who now had enlisted the help of his brother Brian and friend Mike to help out with the corn. This extra help would allow him more time to spend on the Doran farm. It was a tradeoff for the most part.

Robby said he was there to help Mr. Doran as Mike was spending time on the Philips farm. So he said, but all knew it was Clara. Even though he didn’t want to make it obvious, small chance of that. He talked to her little as he wasn’t sure what he should say. He mostly grinned a lot when she was present.

When Ma and Clara were alone Ma would be sure to remind her daughter, see I told you men weren’t too sharp in ways of the heart. Just the same Clara was smitten by the good looks and presence of Robby.

So the summer of 1856 went, working the fields and watching their future grow before their eyes. I guess if one was to look back, as an adult one would probably say the summer of 1855 was there last true summer as boys. As boys doing as boys do.

Just the same it was 1856 and there would be less fishing not because their Pa put an end to it, but their interest were changing. Mike and Brian became very interested in what Robby was doing.

This interest in the new crop would spread over to the farm in general.

Over the next couple summers they would find themselves doing even less fishing if any and taking on more responsibilities of the farm. This was pretty pleasing to both sets of parents and it showed on the farms.

They did some serious daydreaming as their crops did well in the fields and caused some premature excitement of what harvest would bring. Yes there most certainly a positive cash flow. Both farms were doing well.

By the time school was out for the summer of 1856 things were heating up pretty good throughout the state capitals of the south. Not to mention all that was happening at our nation’s capital.

It would be this same summer, the summer of 1856 the three boys started getting involved in conversations with their Pa’s on the politics of the South. This was in part their being more a part of the adult world.

This summer they mostly listened