Tales Of The Years

-- We spend our years as a tale that is told --

Psalms, XC-IX

"DON'T FENCE ME IN."
     Scene -- The Collett-McKay picnic grounds on the Gurneyville-New Burlington pike.
     Time -- "The second Saturday in August."
     Characters (In order of their appearance.)
     "Grandpa Dusty" maverick to the clan as a chicken-gizzard specialist, speaks: "You kids know anything about that fence -- the crooked one along the side road? Let's go look at it."
     Robert Miller, who bears his great-grandfather Collett's name speaks: "Oh, I know -- that's a rail fence; (a grin in his eyes) did Abraham Lincoln split the rails?"
     Grandpa -- "No, but he was alive when somebody split them -- they are over 100 years old"
     Jane Collett (Robert's first-and-third cousin; a pretty red-headed twig on the family tree,) speaks: "Tell us about it."
     The patriach, rusty at teaching after a lapse of near half a century, resumes: "Your grandfather told me about these rails several years ago. They are the original rails: many of them are over 100 years old. Look how good they are yet! The paint folks say: "Save the surface and you save all, but Mother Nature knows some tricks about saving surfaces, too. See the crust on the rails? Inside they are hard as iron, if you should try to chop them in two with an axe or cut them into fuel with a bucksaw...."
     Robert -- "What's a "bucksaw"?"
     Grandpa -- "It's what you can hardly saw an old fence rail with" (Continues with the fence lesson) "They call this a 'worm' fence. In the days when that was the only kind of fence, there were men who were expert at laying 'the worm,' like there were experts in 'grading' a ditch so the water would run off right."
     Jane -- "You said 'stake-and-rider' fence -- what's that?"
     Grandpa -- "Oh, that's the way the farmers made the fences higher and harder for a 'breechy' horse to jump."
     Robert -- "What's a 'breechy' horse -- anything like a 'bay' horse?"
     Grandpa -- "Could be a 'bay' horse or a 'roan' horse. A 'breechy' horse was the first to carry the tune of 'Don't Fence Me In.' He found he could lope over a fence, and loping over fences after that was his favorite outdoor sport, until his owner put a yoke around his neck with sharp stickers that disturbed him no end when he went into his loping act. . . . The 'stake-and-rider' was done by setting two stakes in each corner of the 'worm' and laying a rail in the crotch." (He illustrates the method.)
     Robert -- "Grandpa Collett said they quit building rail fences when wire came along."
     Grandpa, (the patriarch) --"Yes, but before that they built 'post-and-rail' fences. They set a post in the ground, cut slots in it and shaved the ends of the rails to fit in the slots. But as soon as wire came along, the fence-builders began to tack the rails to the posts, using wire and staples to form a loop to hold the end of each rail."
     Jane -- "What is 'bobwire?"
     Grandpa -- " "Bob wire' -- I guess most everybody calls it that, is 'barbed wire' -- the kind that has stickers on it; there's one on that fence across the road, see? A horse or cow soon learns to have great respect for a barbed wire. They say once a western steer tries to go through a barbed-wire fence, never again can he be driven through between two fence posts, even if there is no wire on the posts -- he remembers what happened when he didn't see the sharp stickers."
     Robert -- "There are different kinds of wire fence?
     Grandpa -- "Oh, yes, from 'chicken mesh' to heavy net -- pig tight, borse high, and bull strong, the manufacturers guarantee."
     Robert -- "You said something about a 'slip-gap -- what's that?"
     Grandpa -- "Oh, that was a sort of temporary gate at a place in the fence where a gate wasn't needed very often. Short pieces of rails were put in between the rails at the corner, and then the rails at be slid out and opened wide enough to let a wagon or a sled through; and then the 'slip gap' could be closed again."
     Grandpa -- (With an eye on the tables under the trees and with a whiff of fried chicken in his nostrils) -- "Your grandfather Collett used to tell how Horace Smith worried because his sons wouldn't have any timber to build fences. . . . You've both heard of Charles Franklin Kettering -- Oh, of course, Robert was born in Loudonville, and so was 'Boss Kett' -- Well, 'Boss Kett' says nobody should ever worry about what future generations are going to do about not having the things their parents had, for they won't need such things, because they will have better things."

Mrs. Smith Finds Data on McKay Family

     All descendants of Moses McKay, the first McKay to settle in Ohio are Americans of royal descent, Mrs. Harley H. Smith of New Burlington, born Sarah McKay, has discovered in her research on the family.
     The royal blood line is established through Moses McKay's grandmother, Patience Job McKay whose mother was Elizabeth Vernon Job of royal ancestry. This line traces to many of the early kings and queens of western European countries.
     The maternal great-grandfather of Abigail Shinn McKay, the wife of Moses McKay, was Silas Crispin who came to America on the, ship, "Welcome," with William Penn, who was his first cousin. Their mothers were Ann and Margaret Jaspar, daughters of William Jaspar, a merchant of Amsterdam.
     Mrs. McKay placed this established information on the McKay chart at the annual Collett and McKay picnic this summer.
     More interesting information on Moses McKay traces his ancestry to the first of the family who came to America, Robert McKay Sr., a Scotch immigrant who located first at Freehold, N. J. later he moved to what was then Chester county, Pa., but is now Cecil county, Md. He was living in Nottingham meeting in 1726.
     In 1731-32 he was one of the Joist Hite Expedition to the Shenandoah Valley, Va. He leased 828 acres of land on the western side of the Shenandoah river, on both sides of Crooked run to be in a county called Orange.
     This imigrant's son, Robert Jr., elder son and heir, lived his entire life on that tract of land and a large part of the 828 acres is still held by descendants of the Scotch immigrant. Andrew, Robert Jr.'s son; was the father of Moses McKay.

191 Register at Collett-McKay Annual Picnic

     One hundred and ninety-one persons registered at the annual Collett-McKay reunion Saturday at the picnic grounds near New Burlington. Once again the weather man smiled on the meeting and the day was without rain, although there was high wind much of the time, members reported. The picnic never has been completely rained out, a most unusual circumstance in 90 years of meeting.
     Of interest to all those present was a table full of old pictures and mementoes of other days. The oldest picture was one of the group taken at the 1885 picnic.
     Those attending from out of state were Mrs. William Vandenberg and children of Milan, Mich.; Dr. and Mrs. Wendell G. Farr of Oskaloosa, Ia.; Mr. and Mrs. John Lewis and family of Tulsa, Okla.
     Representatives were present from all parts of Ohio and a large group from this vicinity, where the two families were pioneer settlers.

I Remember: 25 Years Ago

     More than one mile of fence row on the farm of Edward Duncan, Vernon township, was burned over and spread into pastures, burning over sev eral acres. Many grass fires were reported in the county, due to drought conditions.
     The 65th annual Collett-McKay picnic was held at the family pienie grounds in Chester township, More than 300 members of the pioneer families attended.
     Mrs. W. B. Kirk and son, Charles, of Washington, D. C., who were visiting relatives in Wilmington, were dinner guests of Judge and Mrs. Frank M. Clevenger at the Shreve Hotel.
     Benjamin Terrell, sophomore at New Vienna high school, produced a ton litter of pigs, making him eligible for the ton litter class.
     Mayor C. Q. Hildebrant was in San Francisco, Calif., representing the local Fraternal Order of Eagles.

90th Collett-McKay Picnic to Be Saturday

     Nintieth annual Collett-McKay picnic will be held Saturday at the picnic grounds near New Burlington and descendents of these two pioneer families are expected in from many parts of the United States.
     Last year, for the first time in the memory of the oldest person present, rain was falling early on reunion day, but it cleared before noon and the basket dinner, was placed on the long tables as usual.