In 1848 he and Grandmother came to live near us. He had a severe
fit of illness that year. I remember we caught a fat coon for him.
He was fond of game. I was there one morning when they entertained
a colored minister overnight, probably a fugitive slave. He
prayed--how lustily he prayed!

I have heard Grandfather tell how, when he was a boy in Connecticut,
he once put his hand in a bluebird's nest and felt, as he said,
"something comical"; he drew out his hand, which was followed by the
head and neck of a black snake; he took to his heels, and the black
snake after him. (I rather think that's a myth.) He said his uncle,
who was ploughing, came after the black snake with a whip, and the
snake slunk away. He thought he remembered that. It may be a black
snake might pursue one, but I doubt it.


[Mr. Burroughs's ingrained tendency to question reports of improbable
things in nature shows even in these reminiscences of his grandfather.
His instinct for the truth is always on the qui vive.--C. B.]


Grandmother Kelly lived to be past eighty. She was a big woman--
thrifty and domestic--big enough to take "Granther" up in her arms
and walk off with him. She did more to bring up her family than he
did; was a practical housewife, and prolific. She had ten children
and made every one of them toe the mark. I don't know whether she
ever took "Granther" across her knee or not, but he probably deserved
it. She was quite uneducated. Her maiden name was Lavinia Minot.
I don't know where her people came from, or whether she had any
brothers and sisters. They lived in Red Kill mostly, in the eastern