Brown County Stories

A collection of stories, as true as creative memory will allow, about some of the fun and interesting things that happened when I was growing up in Brown County, Indiana. These tales were told to my five daughters around campfires and at many bedtime story sessions as they were growing up. They requested that I tell them over and over again. They heard these stories, and many others like them, so many times they said they felt like they actually grew up with the characters. After many retellings, I was once obliged to let my youngest daughter know that I had told her everything I could remember, or even make up. Her immediate reply was, “OK then, just start over.”

 

 

Brown County, Indiana is a very unique place. High wooded hills dissected by deep stream cut valleys have gifted it with natural beauty. The gift also kept the pioneer settlers there isolated from the rest of the world for many years.

The first “outsiders” who came into the county were artists from Chicago and other big cities who were attracted to its colorful textures and the ethereal haze that hung over the hills and valleys. They found a native population that was friendly and tolerant of the strangers in their midst. The local folks were dirt poor farmers and their families who lived a hardscrabble existence on small, rocky farms. The artists provided a little gainful employment for the locals. They also bought some produce from farmers who had a little extra to sell. Under these conditions, everybody mostly got along with each other “good enough”.

With the physical isolation and dearth of material goods in pioneer Brown County, all people were obliged to be creative in order to survive. They had to “make do” with primitive materials and equipment. Young people in this sparse environment had to fashion their own play equipment, make up games for fun and organize special adventures. The stories in these books recall some of the creations and adventures of young people, and some adults who were young at heart, from two generations in the good old days of Brown County. Three more generations of my own children have experienced the events in these stories by hearing me tell them. They truly enjoyed looking through this window at pioneer life in Brown County, and they became concerned that other people might not have the opportunity to enjoy these stories unless they were published while I was still around to tell them or put them into writing. It has been a fun task. I often had to stop and laugh until tears appeared as I visualized the scenes I was writing about.