PREFACE 



This is the story of my old Lorraine home, and I tell 

 it, thinking it may be of interest to my children or to the 

 children of others of the family. I have not attempted 

 to give an elaborate family history, but have written of the 

 early times in the old homestead and of some of the things 

 that there took place, as I now remember them. 



If in this recital the personal pronoun occurs too often, 

 it must be remembered that I am talking, principally, of 

 my own recollections. Neither do I wish to convey the 

 impression that the writer did any more than his proper 

 share of the work or had more interesting experiences than 

 others of the family. Indeed, being the youngest of a 

 family of nine, it is more likely that he, ''the baby," had 

 the easiest time of any, and, if any favors were shown, he 

 got his full share. 



I intended to occupy but a few pages, but as I got into 



the subject I found more difficulty as to what I should 



omit than what to tell, and as material for volumes crowded 



my mind, I fully realized that the old live in the past, the 



young in the future. 



H. H. L. 



December 25, 1900. 



