Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer by Peter Hardeman Burnett, first published in 1880, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

A young man on the eve of his departure for Florida in the 1880’s would be met with something like the following from his elders: “Well, ye prob’ly won’t git back. Them there bad men’ll kill ye, er the ‘gators’ll eat ye, er the skeeters’ll give ye malary an’ that’ll kill ye.” Undaunted, and lured by the vast realm of unexplored territory to the south of him, Ellis Connel May struck out with the same resolve that had prompted his forefathers to pioneer the West a century before. He was twenty-four years old when he first arrived in Citrus County, there to begin a career which took him in successive stages from work as a common laborer to the legal profession, culminating finally in his election to the Florida House of Representatives. All the courage, the humor and the romance of pioneer days come to life in these tales. They are told with a vividness of detail and a warm gusto that carries the reader along. For every American who would know the glory of our country’s heritage, here is a flavorful slice of authentic American folklore. “Most interesting. One who has spent so many years in public life...will have many interesting incidents to relate and colorful situations to describe. Such books have always invited the interest and attention of a wide circle of readers.”—R. A. GRAY, Secretary of State, Tallahassee, Florida “Judge May is a respected patriarch of his profession and a dean of Florida judiciary. I can think of no one better qualified to draw on the richness of his personal experience in relating recollections of a pioneer judge...An interesting contribution to this field of literature.”—JACK F. WHITE, County Judge, Pinellas County, Clearwater, Florida “It is most gratifying to me and to thousands of others that Judge Ellis C. May has written this book....This volume may be read from the standpoint of history, sociology and genealogy.”—GEORGE A. DAME, M.D., Director, Florida State Board of Health

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"Called to go with the Swiss company to settle the "Dixieland" region of southern Utah - a hot, dry, inhospitable land - Mary Ann's family lived in thatch, dugout, and adobe houses they built themselves. While still hardly more than a child, Mary Ann cut wheat with a sickle, gleaned cotton fields, made braided straw hats for barter, and spun and dyed cloth for her dresses. Always sustained by her faith in the church, she took part in a millenarian scheme that failed - a communal order - and entered a polygamous marriage, raising almost single-handedly a large family.".

A crystal clear evocation of another time and place and a compelling meditation on hope and loss

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In the summer of 1860 the author of these recollections, Mary Ann Stucki, then six years old, walked beside her parents' handcart from Florence (Omaha), Nebraska, to Salt Lake City, Utah. The family, converts to Mormonism, had left their comfortable home near Bern, Switzerland, to make the long journey to the Mormon Zion. Nearly eighty years later, Mary Ann Hafen published this account of her life, giving us an unparalleled, candid, inside view of the Mormon woman's world. Called to go with the Swiss company to settle the "Dixieland" region of southern Utah --a hot, dry, inhospitable land--Mary Ann's family lived in thatch, dugout, and adobe houses they built themselves. While still hardly more than a child, Mary Ann cut wheat with a sickle, gleaned cotton fields, made braided straw hats for barter, and spun and dyed cloth for her dresses. Always sustained by her faith in the church, she took part in a millenarian scheme that failed--a communal order--and entered a polygamous marriage, raising almost single-handedly a large family. Mary Ann Hafen has left an authentic, matter-of-fact record of poverty, incredibly hard work, and loss of loved ones, but also of pleasures great and small. It is a unique document of a little-known way of life.