Many people familiar with the early history of La Farge know about a poem/song written by Mrs. Abby Payne titled, “The Fatal Oak”. That poem described the agonizing loss of three young Kickapoo Valley lads from Seelyburg who perished in a raft accident on the Wisconsin River. Mrs. Payne’s poem, that was later made into a song and sung to a variety of tunes, told of the 1870 rafting accident that claimed the lives of Jim Roberts, George Lawton and Aaron Hatfield.
Recently as I was doing some research on La Farge’s beginnings, I came across another poem that Abby Payne had written after the death of a close friend in another accident that occurred in 1873. This second poem again shows the talent of Mrs. Payne as a writer, but also the deep emotional investment about the loss of a dear friend. She was the voice of the community at that time.
When I say community, it is important to remember that the 1870s are the very beginnings of what would become the village of La Farge. Dred Bean has built his farm buildings and opened his blacksmith shop by that time at the location that is now Bean Park. But, Thomas DeJean is still two years away in 1873 from building his general store (which is now the hardware store in town) that would establish “The Corners” as the center of the town.
Community in the 1870s included the entire rural area around what would become La Farge. Mrs. Payne and her husband Truman lived on North Bear Creek and were neighbors to the Shattuck’s, who suffered the fatal accident. But, Abby Payne writes her eulogy about her friend Eliza Shattuck for all of the neighbors of the northern Kickapoo Valley. That neighborhood stretches from West Lima to the Lawton District, from South Bear Creek to Fairview Ridge, from Otter Creek to White City, from Seelyburg to Rockton and on to Valley. All those neighbors mourned the loss of Eliza Shattuck and Abby Payne’s words were felt deeply in many hearts.
Eliza Shattuck was the wife of George W. Shattuck, who was known as Colonel Shattuck. He had fought in the Civil War with two units from the state of Ohio, where he lived. He was a natural leader in the military, was wounded in two different battles and was mustered out of the service after the war holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. For the rest of his life he would be known as Col. Shattuck.
Shortly after the war, he married Eliza Little, who was born in Ireland, but lived near George in Ohio. In 1870, the Shattuck’s moved to Vernon County and bought a farm on North Bear Creek. (When I was growing up in the 1950s that farm was known as the Brewer place and was located to the road now known as Canyon Avenue.) In 1873, George and Eliza Shattuck had five children.
For the 4thof July that year, the family was going to Rockton to celebrate Independence Day. Eliza had prepared food for a dinner in Rockton at the celebration and the family was dressed in their finest clothes. They probably rode their horse-drawn wagon up Canyon Avenue onto Morningstar Ridge and then took that road west to where it intersects with Compton Road. Then they headed north on that road towards Jug Creek, which would lead them over to Rockton.
At this point on the ridge (where the Theron Moore farm is now located), a ferocious thunderstorm overtook the Shattuck’s wagon while they were traveling down a heavily wooded hill. Soon the gusty winds blew a tree over that struck the Shattuck’s wagon. All of the family members were thrown from the wagon and injured, but none as seriously as mother Eliza. The children and Col. Shattuck would all recover from their injuries, but Eliza did not. She was taken to a neighboring farmhouse, where she passed away on July 21stfrom her injuries. She was 32 years old.
Although Abby Payne’s poems were quite well known for that time, her poem about her friend Eliza apparently was not known too much outside of the Bear Creek area. In her book, Looking At Bear Creek, (1995), Trixie Larson has several pages on the Shattuck families that lived on Bear Creek, including Abby Payne’s poem. In introducing the poem, Trixie mentions that Alta Todd had once found a copy of the poem/ballad. It was printed on the back of a paper flour sack and had been handed down through the Todd family for generations. Here then, is that poem:
The Song of Mrs. Shattuck
By Abby Payne
Farewell my dear husband and children farewell,
How I feel to leave thee there is no one can tell.
We all enjoyed all the pleasures this earth can afford.
And now I must leave you and dwell with my Lord.
In my richest attire on the fourth of July,
How little we knew that death was so nigh.
My whole family circle, my husband and me,
Came nigh getting killed by the limb of a tree.
While passing through the greenwoods and down a long hill,
A storm was fast approaching, my blood seemed to chill.
My soul was filled with horror, but all done was no good.
It was bound to overtake us while passing through the wood.
The storm came on quickly, the wind it did blow,
The lightning did flash and the thunder did roll.
The trees were fast falling, the limbs all around,
One fell on our wagon and swept us to the ground.
We were picked up insensible in all our sad fate,
And carried to the neighbors, our destiny to wait.
But when I survived from the wounds I received,
The state of my family caused my spirit to grieve.
But I have no time to murmur for soon I must go
I must leave my dear family and friends here below.
But your Master has told you that you can come to me,
For I must go forever and cannot come to thee.
My thanks to the Grangers for their kindness to me,
There’s a lodge up in Heaven for thee and for me.
The Savior is our President, our pass word is prayer,
We can gain the last victory when we all get up there.
Farewell, Christian friends the whole world around,
I shall sleep in the grave till the trumpet shall sound.
Then my Master will call me and bid me arise,
To meet you in glory in yonder bright skies.
Farewell, my dear husband, for you I do love,
Prepare to meet me in Heaven above.
We will celebrate a day far better at last,
Where the storm and the tempest of this life is past.
Farewell my dear children, I bid you adieu,
The time is fast approaching when I must leave you.
But your father will love you as he has done before.
Prepare to meet me on Cannan’s bright shore.
My family is surviving and free from all pain,
They’ve all gotten better and they’ve gone home again.
But oh how lonesome and lonely it will be,
For that bright and happy home is no longer for me.
Farewell my dear mother, I can no longer wait.
You will come to see me, but it will be too late.
For I will be buried beneath the cold clay,
Come visit the spot and see where I lay.
She flapped her bright wings and we see her no more.
We think we now see her on Cannan’s bright shore.
Where the angels are waiting to welcome her home.
Where the storm and the tempest never more will roam.
The grave of Eliza Little Shattuck is located in the Bear Creek Cemetery. On the Shattuck family tombstone are these words dedicated to who she was:
She died as she lived
At peace with all.
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