After the Chicago Fire, Hyman became a country peddler going from farm to farm

The farmers and their wives were always very kind to everybody. Their lives were lonely and they were glad when anybody came along. Often the good farmers were fooled by crooks. These crooks would play tricks on the farmers. I was staying at a farm house one Saturday, when a horse and buggy drove into the yard. Two men got out of the buggy and came into the kitchen. No one knocked on doors in those days. There were no door bells.

One man was well dressed. The other one looked like a hired man. The man with the good clothes said he was “Doctor O’Brien.” The other one was the driver. The “Doctor” wanted to know if he and the driver could get some dinner. They would pay any price. The “Doctor” wanted some fried chicken. He said he had not eaten fried spring chicken for a long time.

So the farmer’s wife said she would fix dinner for them. She went out to the yard and caught two fine spring chickens. She fixed them all up and started to fry them. While the woman was cooking the potatoes and the vegetables, the “Doctor” went out to the yard.

As soon as he was out of the kitchen, the driver told the woman that she should be careful when the “Doctor” paid for the dinners because he had counterfeit money.

When the dinner was ready, the driver called the “Doctor”. The two sat down and ate everything on the table. I never saw two men eat so much. After they each had three cups of coffee, the “Doctor” took out a big wallet and gave the woman ten dollars and asked for the change.

Well, the woman thought the money was counterfeit, so she said she had no change. The “Doctor” then said that he was driving to town, and he would leave the money at the general store if that was satisfactory. The farmer’s wife said it was all right and the two men left. Of course there was no money left at the general store. For months after this, every farm house that I came to, I heard the story of “Doctor O’Brien”. A couple of months later a farmer had him arrested for carrying counterfeit money. But his money was good. That was just a trick to get free meals.

I walked about with the pack on my back for two years. Then I bought a horse and wagon. Things were easier then. The next time I went to Chicago to buy goods, my uncle thought I should get married. Well, he introduced me to a girl, and the minute I saw her, I agreed with him. On my next trip to Chicago we were married. We furnished three rooms and a week later I went back to my peddling. Yes, rain or shine, hot or cold, I drove about in my covered wagon selling things that the farmers needed. I drove through the south. I drove through all the midwest states. During the fifty years that I carried a department store on my back and in my wagon, I made many friends.

One cold winter night I came to a farm house. I had not eaten since morning. I had been driving all day. When I walked into the house, the farmer said that God must have sent me. The farmer’s wife was ready to have a baby. He did not want to leave her. Would I drive ten miles to fetch a midwife? I forgot I was hungry. I told the farmer to feed my horse and put him in the stable. We hitched a horse to the farmer’s buggy and I started off. We came back in time. The rest of the night the farmer and I kept the stove going and heating water. When daylight began to show in the sky, we heard the baby crying. I could not help thinking that I was not home when my first son was born.

Business was good on that trip. I sold sheets and pillow cases. The farmer bought all the blankets I had. He was so happy that he bought all the baby things in my stock.

The farmers in those days had plenty of money. Before the civil war they used to get eight cents a bushel for wheat. Then when the war broke out, the government paid them a dollar and a quarter a bushel. They had saved their money and they had plenty of it.

While I traveled about the country, my wife was raising a fine family in Chicago. I would see my children when I got home for the Jewish holidays. I used to stay home for a week and then back again to the road. It was not an easy life. But I knew no other way of earning a living. I made the best of it.

Yes, the peddlers with packs on their backs served the lonely people on the farms. They made Marshall Field rich. The country peddler was put out of business by the mail order house. The mail order house is being put out of business by the automobile. And that’s the way it goes.

Adaptation c. 2004, Mike Peterson

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