Free Raintree County by Ross Lockridge

referred for purposes that Johnny had never understood. Now, Johnny picked up the ledger and read on the outside
    BOOK OF MISCELLANIES
T. D. SHAWNESSY
    Inside, Johnny found many strange things. The whole first part of the book contained recipes for the Botanical Medicines. One read:
    An Indian Remmady. Cure for Ague Cakes.
    Take of the bark of black Haw Root Wild Cherry Root Bitter Sweet Root and Skunk Root of each one hand full put in one gallon of soft water and boil down to one quart. To be drank in one day, and so continue making and drinking for severl days if necessary.
    Another:

    All made fine well mixed and formed into pills with butternut syrup. Dose—take one every hour—until they purg or take 4 and they will puke.
    There followed many testimonials of people who had been cured by the Botanical Medicines. One read:
    This may certify to all whome it may concern that I David Farnsworth of the County of Raintree in the State of Indiana have ben for years subject to repeted attacts of the pleurecy and have ben brought (as I and others have thought) very near the gates of death.
In April of 1822 I had another attact of this distressing and painful complaint. I was taken on Satterday with cold chills and flashes of heat with pains in my bones and headach and a severe pain in myleft side, with other disagreeable symtoms which continued until monday with increasing rapidity, when I sent for T. D. Shawnessy to cum and bring with him sum medicines and when he had examened me he stated that I had better be taken through a corse of medicine without delay. Prepperation was made and I began to drink of the hot medicine to rase the internel heat. I was then steemed, and an emettic of Labelia with its appendents was afterwards administered and then steemed again and showered with cold water and vinnegar then wiped off dry and put to bed with a warm rock to my feet still drinking of the warm teas to keep up a perspiration and by the blessing of kind providence through the means of those medicines administered and good nursing I was soon restored to health, and will further add that I never was cured in so short a time of so vilent atact of this complaint. My family has also used his medicine in other complaints and find them to answer the purpose in all cases and are so well convinced of their suppererorety over those used by the medical docters that they seek for no other then the Botanical Medicines.
    D ANIEL F ARNSWORTH
E LIZABETH F ARNSWORTH
    August 5th, 1822
    Farther over in the book were some original poems—hymns and moral diatribes. One poem, inserted on a separate sheet of paper, had been written in purple ink, and although it was in T. D.’s hand, the letters were more carefully formed than usual and the capitals had ornamental flourishes. It seemed to Johnny perhaps a hymn—but a strange one.
    It was a morning in the Spring.
    Beneeth a hawthorn tree we lade,
    Drunk with the od’rous blosoming,
    Togather, kissing in the shade.
    Heaven! how lustily we played!
    It was a day of frollic wind.
    We heard the insecks drone and buz.
    God’s purest angle would have sinned
    And i, no angle, did becaus
    My God! how bewtifull she was!
    It was a morning in the prime.
    I struv the bewteus prize to win,
    And if our gaming was a crime,
    And if our luving was a sin,
    Dear Jesus! let me err agin!
    On a few pages in the back of the book were recorded some baffling particulars about the Shawnessy family tree. One entry read:
    Eliza Shawnessy, mother of Timothy Duff Shawnessy, came from Scotland to the State of Delaware in 1805 and departed this life in 1820 at the age of forty-six.
    Fair from my natif place
    A strainger in this Land was I.
    I go to my eturnel rest
    And shall live no more to die.
    From Scottish earth I came to this.
    From here I go to endless bliss.
    There was no mention of a Grandfather Shawnessy. Johnny knew that T. D. had come over from Scotland with his mother when he was a boy. T. D. would say