Cora McCauley Palmer’s Memoirs (written for her son, Charles) continue:

“The next morning (after their wedding — see post about their wedding dated 4/15/17), we went to Edney’s home where Charlie had been living, and he hitched up his team to his old farm wagon and we went to Harg, where my father was living . . . He gave me my mother’s furniture, consisting of a bedstead and springs, bureau, as they were called then, and a big trunk — also some quilts and a feather bed and a wood heating stove — to set us up to housekeeping.

“Your Grandfather Palmer gave all his sons a horse, bridle and saddle, two sheep, one sow, one cow, and twelve hens when they went to housekeeping. He gave the daughters-in-law a cook stove and all the cooking vessels needed. In those days, you got more for your money. So, with my cookstove, I had one iron tea kettle, two iron pots, two iron skillets, iron muffin rounds, big six gallon kettle to set on the stove to heat water in, iron heater to set down on the stove to heat irons in, big cooking fork and spoon, two pie pans, coffee pot, a coffee mill to grind our coffee in, two tin lids for the skillets and two for the dinner pots. Then, your grandfather gave me a bedroom suite as my own wedding gift — not as a daughter-in-law — but a gift of appreciation. It consisted of bedstead and dresser with mirror (which I still have here in 1961) and a washstand. That was September 2, 1897.

Your father and I drove back to Columbia and met Robert there at Parker’s Furniture Store on North 8th Street. We bought four chairs (three of which I now have), and a dining table, a safe (they were called then to keep the dishes in), and also picked up my bedroom suite. Then we bought a few dishes to do us ’til we could get more. Then to Newman’s Hardware Store on Broadway to pick up our cook stove. It was late when we left Columbia. By the time we got to Hinkston Creek, it was dark. Robert had got ahead of us, and we just had to listen for the sound of his wagon ‘clicking’ along to follow him (we were to stay at their house that night). The farm your dad had rented for us to live on joined Robert’s farm . . . next morning, we all ‘hied’ over to the place where we were to live.”