Monday, August 24, 2009

HIDDEN TREASURE?


I grew up in this old antebellum home dating back to the pre-Civil War years....Somehow Sherman missed it on his march through the South. It sits atop a hill overlooking the pasture land surrounding it and is surrounded itself by grand old towering pecan trees. (We used to have to pick up a bucket full of pecans every week round about November:). There is a huge magnolia tree on the front corner that beckons to all children to climb up and sit amongst its branches.



I've been told that one of the Confederate Generals stayed there one night. I've also been told that there is a hidden treasure under one of the two black walnut trees on the land. As a child, my brothers and sisters and I spent many hours digging for that "treasure". Supposedly the "treasure" is the silver that belonged to the family that lived there during the Civil War. They buried it so the "Yankees" wouldn't get it.



We never found it, but the story itself and the many hours of imaginative play it lent to my siblings and me (and later to our children) as we (and they) searched for the "trea-shu" is, I think, the real treasure!
There was also the story about a man who owned the house in the late 1800's or early 1900's who died - gasp! - IN the room where my parents had their bedroom. His name was Mr. Quarrels.....Late at night we just KNEW we heard him creaking down the big old dog-trot hallway....and up the narrow stairs leading to the attic bedrooms. When our friends would hear floor boards creaking in the night, we loved to bravely and calmly say, "Oh, It's just Mr. Quarrels. He won't bother you."

My mother still lives in the house (My father died last August). It still has the original doors and the old locks on the inside.
The narrow staircase is still there.
The big old hallway that runs from front door to back door is still there. Most of the pecan trees and, of course, the huge magnolia tree. There is an old "cannon" that sits in the front yard to "greet" visitors.....my father put an old pipe of some kind on a set of old wagon wheels that he found somewhere.....He liked the old Civil War effect.It's still there, too...and it really does look like an old canon:)








Treasures.....Memories, too, are treasures......They have helped to make us what we are....
Have a Lovely Treasure-Filled Day!
-Mug

6 comments:

  1. What a mysterious (very cool!) & BeaUtiFUL (as you would say :) - not to mention historical(!) place to grow up. WOW....

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  2. Hmmmm... so here's one of the enchating places I spoke about on my blog today. How odd.

    Lovely synopsis! So many stories. You could do a whole series on growing up here.

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  3. Oops! I just realized I spelled cannon wrong at the very end of the blog...HoRrOrs! Don't tell my students:o

    Of course, in the classroom I would use this as an example of why you need to proofread your work before you submit it to your teacher:)

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  4. after reading this blog, I had a dream that took place in an eerily similar house. I do so love that era of architecture it is simple and beautiful.

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  5. Hello Mug,
    What a beautiful house, built strong and solid. And what stories it could tell!
    How true, your remark about the "real" treasure.
    Please tell us more.

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  6. What a beautiful house to have grown up in! And all the stories... Isn't it wonderful when there's a certain history following a building?

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