388 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



his shop at New Martinsville. It was a cold day in late 

 fall. He had bought me a little plush cap with small red 

 spots on it. I tossed it up in the air at his suggestion and 

 shouted, ' ' Hurrah for Henry Clay. ' ' The cap at once be- 

 came my ' ' Henry Clay cap. ' ' A few days afterwards I 

 was parching corn on the top of the little cannon stove in 

 the shop when I took this cap and putting it against the 

 stove raked the corn into the cap with a small stick. The 

 cap caught fire and the whole side was burned out of it. 

 My father at once gave me a severe flogging so that the 

 circumstance was doubly impressed on my body and 

 mind ; and that is why I remember it so well after all these 

 years. 



Father, in his winter's work at New Martinsville, had 

 prepared a fine freestone monument for his mother, who 

 lies buried at Cadiz, Ohio. This monument he took out 

 in 1854 to Cadiz to set it up over grandmother's grave. I 

 went along with him and took my first long journey from 

 home. This monument was long after removed by Uncle 

 Robert, with the remains, to the new cemetery at Cadiz 

 where it now stands. The small monument at New Mar- 

 tinsville over my little sister's grave and the monument 

 at Oskaloosa over father's, mother's, and James's graves 

 are also the workmanship of my father. 



At Wheeling my father constantly discussed the project 

 of going West. Iowa was then attracting much attention 

 and one of our New Martinsville friends, John Morgan, 

 visited us on his return from the West and spoke of the 

 beauties and fertility of the new state. 



In the spring of 1855 we embarked on the Swallow, a 

 steamboat, at Wheeling, with passage paid to St. Louis. 

 It was a long and interesting journey and the boat was 

 loaded with emigrants mainly bound to Missouri, as the 

 Virginian generally preferred a slave state. 



We caught a glimpse of New Martinsville as we passed 



