Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1885 — “Unkl’ Isom’s Joke.” [ARTICLE]

“Unkl’ Isom’s Joke.”

Ole Unkl’ Isom an’ de oberseer dun , had sum tnxbbl’ an’ ole Unkl’ Isom wus hot, I kin tell yer —hot ez luv in de summer time; an’ ebry nite ■when he ■went ter pray he go way down by de far hoss-lot under’n a big oak tree fur ter pray, an’ he pray an’ wrastle in prar, an’ al’ays win’ up sayin’: "Good Lawd, pleeze, Massa Lawd, trow down big rock an’ kill all’n de white people, let po’ nigger go free. ” An’ wun nite de oberseer he hear *bout’n it, an’ he up'n took heself down dar ’fore dark an’ clam up’n de oak tree wid a big ruck in he han’, a mons’ous big rook dat he ’scasely made out to tote, an’ dar he sot an’ sot lak one ole tukky-buazard, waitin’ fur ole Unkl’ Isom. .< Putty goon here cum ole Unkl’ Isom, madders eber, madder’n a hornick—he jis rar’ an’ pitch an* he flop down on he man ar-bono an’ pray loud. “Oh, good-God-a’mity, pleeze, good Massa Lawd, trow down big rock quick an’ kill all de white fokes, spechul dat dam oberseer, an* let po’ nigger go free—— 1 Blam—bi —am —bam kum de big rock a bouncin’ an’ a rattlin’, an’ a raisin’ merry Cain, nigh onto ole Unkl’ Isom’s skull Be jis’riz up an’ let out fur homo yellin’ an’ screechin’: “Joky, Lawd! joky (joking) ebry ting po’ nigger say. Lawd tak’ him fur troo, troo."— Detroit Free Press. A publishkp portrait of Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., one of .the early settlers of Ohio, leads to an odd reminiscence in the Hartford Courant; His father was a resident of Middletown,

and his singular name originated thus: In the early history of Middletown, Mr. Jonathan Meigs asked a lady to become his wife. She refused him. and Meigs felt so .badlv that he left her house* weeping. She, observing his grief, cried out to him when he was a few rods from her, “Return, Jonathan Meigs.” He went back, she accepted him, and they were married. He declared that the words uttered by the young woman gave him more comfort than any other that he ever heard. Therefore, wishing to express his gratitude, he named his first child Return Jonathan Meigs. The son became Postmaster General of the United States and Governor of Ohio.