14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



without a regular supply of some kind of spirituous 

 liquors. Although we had an overment of home- 

 grown foods, I have mentioned these purchases to 

 leave on record the fact that the New York pio- 

 neers were most bountifully fed a great factor 

 in the upbuilding of a vigorous people. 



As to the desirability of whiskey as a beverage, 

 my earliest experience as well as my later ones 

 lead me to an unfavorable opinion; for, on the 

 morning I was born, the hired woman helped her- 

 self to the whiskey and before breakfast time she 

 was unable to perform her duties. This left all 

 the housework for a family consisting of an invalid 

 mother, five children and some half dozen harvest 

 hands, to be done by my eldest sister Caroline 

 (who was only twelve years of age), with such 

 assistance as the other children could render. 



I imagine, therefore, that I was an inopportune 

 if not an unwelcome visitor, especially as I came 

 for a long stay, with no idea of entertaining my- 

 self. But, in spite of such a beginning, I have 

 thought myself fortunate in being nearly the mid- 

 dle child of parents who were themselves middle 

 children; and I am sure that I was fortunate in 

 being born in the great Empire State and in its 

 most fertile and beautiful section, by the shores of 



