REMINISCENCES OF THE OLD DRAPER HOUSE.

BY DORA RILEY.

ON opening the January number of the REGISTER, my attention was attracted by the frontispiece, as it represented the dear old Draper House, where many of my childhood days were spent. How long and lovingly I looked on that picture, and how many cherished recollections it brought before my mind; for I loved the dear old rambling structure, with everything in and around it.

It was in the month of April, 1863, that we first occupied this house on what was then known as the Dr. Jeremy Stimson estate. Our family consisted of father, mother, and three children, of whom I was the youngest. I remember distinctly how charmed I was with the apple orchard, consisting of about twenty trees, bearing large, juicy "Porters," as we called them. The orchard was surrounded by an old stone wall on which I often perched to view what seemed to my childish mind a grand stretch of country, and to listen to the musical strains of the Dedham Drum Corps, as it marched to the West Roxbury line, and across the three cornered lot of the late Myrick P. Sumner, to the old homestead. The music was a great treat to me; the fife more especially, which was played by Edward J. Bestwick, now janitor of the Dedham Public Library, and whom I considered in his line a veritable Paderewski.

Besides the orchard there was what appeared to me a fine flower garden, lilacs of different kinds and colors, besides many other species of garden culture. At the rear of the house stood an old open well, old indeed it must have been, for its wooden frame was a mere shell which caused my mother great anxiety at times, fearing some one of us might stray into it. One day the old oaken bucket fell down, and my brother Charles, who was always ready for an adventure, went after it, but the stones

that lined it were so loose and slippery that it was with considerable difficulty that he made his exit with the captured bucket.

In front of the house, strange to say, was the wood-shed, beyond this was an old gate consisting of long wooden bars, which could be lifted up at pleasure. To the left of the house was a large pasture, where Mr. Stimson had a number of cows grazing. Every evening his hired man, "Owen Moore" by name, would ride down on a gray mare to drive them home. In the middle of this pasture coursed a stream of limpid water which flowed from a delicious spring, where many poor wayfarers assuaged their thirst.

In a little cottage near Mother Brook, lived an old lady familiarly known as Nancy Mack. We children often visited her kitchen, and sat around the hearth where the peat fire burned cheerily, and listened with rapt attention to the stories of brave soldiers who had put up at the old house we then occupied. Mr. Myrick Sumner, too, was always very kind to the children. He had two bee-hives back of his house, and often entertained us by explaining the very interesting and to us mysterious process of honey making. Still further back of his house was a hill where several nut trees grew, which supplied food for the frolicsome little squirrels who made it a place of rendezvous. Mr. Benjamin Bullard, another friend of the children, lived in the house now occupied by Mr. Daly. I remember a lady once inquiring of my brother the way to the Tollgate. He showed her, and for his gallantry she gave him a three-cent postage stamp.

But have I not kept my readers too long out in the cold? Let us step inside and see if I remember anything of interest. Yes, I recognize the large rooms, two on each floor, with a great chimney running through the middle of the house, with an open fireplace containing two large andirons capable of holding immense logs of wood; then the old fashioned mantelpiece with a lion's head cut on each corner, which gave the room, it seemed to me, an air of grandeur. To the left was a room of equal size which we used as a kitchen. Underneath was a cellar, and the only means of access to it was from the outside.

The rooms upstairs were of the same size as those below, that is, if I remember rightly, the stairs leading up were very narrow and without banisters. I have reason to remember that we sometimes had very unwelcome visitors, especially at night; once I was suddenly awakened by something biting at my ear, calling lustily for my mother she arrived just in time to see a weasel jump from my bed.

I almost forgot to mention the long line of Barberry bushes which made such a fine show with their scarlet fruit, and which proved so great a boon to the German people who came to gather them. Also that between the house and Washington street was situated the Sanford Carroll lot. This lot, covered as it was with buttercups and sweet clover blossoms, seemed to me, after my own home, the dearest spot on earth.

DEDHAM IN THE REBELLION.

BY JOSEPH HENRY LATHROP.

(Continued from page 70.)

THE annual report of the Selectmen of the town of Dedham, issued after the close of the war, states that Dedham furnished 672 men to the army and navy during the War of the Rebellion. The foregoing list comprises 610 names, and of these men 56 re-enlisted, either in the same or other regiments. Each re-enlistment of course counted as another man. The small discrepancy in the figures can be easily accounted for by the incomplete state of the records, particularly so far as the navy is concerned, but this list of names is doubtless as near correct as it can be made at this late day. The writer would be glad to hear from any one who notes either errors or omissions in the list. The 610 names, by transfers, re-enlistment in other regiments, promotions, &c., show a record of 711 terms of service, the final disposition of which is as follows:

The greater proportion of the 73 names to which no final record is attached, is principally on account of their connection with the Veteran Reserve Corps, the regular army and navy, or in service with organizations outside of the Massachusetts troops. Assuming that a majority of these men served out their time, the record of the Dedham soldiers would show that just about one-half of those who enlisted, completed their term of service, while one-tenth were killed, or died from wounds and disease.

It will be noted that in the preceding list are seventy names of those who died in the service, while but 47 names are on the Memorial Hall tablets. These tablets are supposed to bear the names of those only who were of Dedham residence at the time of enlistment, while this printed list contains the names of all who were on Dedham's quota, whether residents of the town or not.

As before noted, the majority of the desertions and rejections came from the men who enlisted from other places on the Dedham quota, to secure the large bounties offered. But very few men of Dedham residence deserted during their term of service. That the Dedham soldiers did their duty to their country is shown by the list of those killed in battle or died from wounds. In addition, the records show that forty men received wounds which were not fatal, and sixteen men were taken prisoners. The town had its representatives in the greater part of the Massachusetts organizations as will be noted in the following table:

1

16th Unattached Co. Mass. Infantry, 100 days,

15