1851] Home Town 



River. The "East Coy" apparently came by its 

 name in a curious way. Six miles to the south, and Creek 

 for some distance parallel to it, runs a sister stream 

 bearing the alleged Indian name of "Wiscoy," 

 which, naturally suggesting "West Coy," by im- 

 plication made our creek the "East Coy." Above 

 the town this was dammed to form a mill pond, in 

 which I used to swim and fish for bullheads. Below 

 the town and down through the woods trout were 

 always plenty, a fact the world at large has been 

 slow to discover, for whenever I revisit the region, 

 I still find big ones abundant under the bridge on - 

 the road to East Pike. Other kinds sunfishes, 

 darters, minnows, and suckers are also common 

 there, notably the speckled "Johnny Darter" and 

 the slim, low-backed, pirate-rigged fantail darter, 

 charming, tiny creatures which interested me in 

 my youth and have been near to my heart ever 

 since. 



Ordinarily the stream could be waded almost any- 

 where by an enterprising boy, though at intervals 

 there were deep holes for swimming and for washing 

 sheep. In the spring, however, it often became a 

 raging torrent, flooding the neighboring fields and 

 sometimes carrying away the bridges. 



The village or, as we called it, "the Creek" Games- 

 counted five or six hundred people, the only " foreign " ville 

 element being a considerable group of farmers from 

 the North of England. At the junction of the 

 two main streets stood the "Female Seminary"; 

 adjoining it rose the three principal churches, Con- 

 gregationalist, Methodist, and Universalist. Archi- 

 tecturally of the usual New England order, with 

 tall, sharp spires, they were painted white and 



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