"LIVING WITHIN YOURSELF" 83 



exodus, roused the families. My grandfather at once ordered 

 that they should not be pursued. In the course of three 

 months there came a letter from the party, then in Canada, 

 begging that they be allowed to return. This he refused to 

 grant, saying that they had broken the bond that bound him 

 to look after them, and that he would have nothing further to 

 do with them. By threatening to " sell them South/' the ancient 

 threat which he never would have executed, he kept them from 

 returning. This was one of several sudden migrations from my 

 part of the country which were laid to the charge of " Under- 

 ground Railroad" people, and served to increase that irrita- 

 tion of the folk, which was furthered by the failure of sundry 

 efforts to have fugitive slaves returned by law. 



It was the custom of the large householders in the early days 

 of Kentucky to provide so far as possible for their needs by 

 domestic work. This plan of " living within yourself," as it was 

 called, was retained and carried very far by my grandfather, 

 so that very little money was spent for any provisions. Flour, 

 rice, soap, candles, most kinds of meat and all vegetables were 

 prepared in the house or sent in from the farms; so, too, the 

 cloth of various kinds, coarse cotton and linen, the woollen 

 goods known as jeans for every-day wear. My grandfather 

 even went so far as to undertake the manufacture of silk, hav- 

 ing brought in an Italian family for that purpose. At that time 

 some silkworms were grown in the neighborhood and the co- 

 coons were reeled, spun, and woven in a little factory. This 

 work was maintained up to about the time of his death with 

 such success that the women of the family rejoiced in an abun- 

 dance of excellent black silk. So good was it, indeed, that it 

 took the premium in the so-called World's Fair held in New 

 York about 1854. I recall my sense of importance when first 

 clad in a suit of silk from "the factory." All the domestic arts 

 attracted me much, especially the dipping of the candles, where 

 the wicks were set in a frame so that they were alternately low- 

 ered into the hot tallow and lifted up to cool. The growth of 



