The Turnbo Manuscripts
by Silas Claiborne Turnbo
1844-1925
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THEY MET IN THE CHIMNEY
By S. C. Turnbo
It is well known by a few of the older people of Ozark County, Mo. that
Hugh McClure lived on Little North Fork before the Civil War broke out.
Mr. McClure sympathized with the south when the heat of the war aroze he
left his old home and moved down into Marion County Ark. where he stopped
a while on Jimmies Creek. Bob Long an old friend of McClures also was staying
in that neighborhood. The house that McClure and his family occupied was
a log house with a side room attached to it to cook and eat in. To this
room was a big open mouth stick and dirt chimney that was made for the purpose
of doing the cooking. This chimney had room enough in the throat and stem
for a bear to climb up through and go out at the top. One night while McClure
lived on Jimmies Creek Mr. Long and his wife whose name was Eliza went to
McClures to remain all night and they slept on a bed in the side room. As
Long started disrobing to go to bed he remarked to his wife Lizy if the
Federals come tonight I will hide in that chimney saying it more for a joke
than reality. Along in the night Mr. Long fell asleep and was aroused by
a noise of some kind that he could never account for afterward. He said
the first thing he knew he rose quickly in his night clothes and started
for the fireplace. Being warm weather there was no fire in it and started
to go up. McClure who heard the same noise had leaped out of bed in his
shirt tail and had run out of doors and ran around to a ladder was setting
up against the room near the chimney to guard against the house talking
fire and climbs up the ladder and crawled down into the top of the chimney
to hide. He supposed it was a bunch of Federals and as he attempted to settle
down placing his toes in the cracks he stepped down and fell on his friend
Long and knocked him back into the fire place and McClure fell on top of
him. It was an exciting moment but fortunately it was not the enemy and
they returned back to bed. Mr. Long told this repeatedly for the truth and
no one as far as I knew disputed it.
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