18513 Home Town 



River. The "East Coy" apparently came by its 

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

 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" 

 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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