Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Nestled in a valley in the rolling hills of Tennessee is a small rural town called Briarsville.
Its a history rich town and the people who live there now, are descendants of people who settled the town.
The town has one grocery store owned by Mr. Bayon. The store has been in the Bayon family for over sixty years. It was a gathering place for the local men of the town and the surrounding area.
In nineteen and thirty Sedric Booth had been elected Sheriff of Briarsville. He was a well-liked man from the community and well known throughout the county as a fair and honest man. At the time of his election he was thirty years old.
Sheriff Booth chose as his Chief Deputy Bob Bellson. He also was a well-liked young man and people knew him to be a hard working, honest man. He and Sheriff Booth had known each other for years and had grown up together. Bob had just married his childhood sweetheart six months before the election. At that time he was twenty seven years old.
It was a very quiet town and very little happened until Mr. William Smitz came to the little town and bought some property to build a new house for his new bride to be. Then things really began to happen and the little town was never the same again.
The old mansion had been empty since the younger people in town could remember. Everybody knew it belonged to Wilburn Smitz. He was the only living relative of William Smitz, who had built the mansion back in the early nineteen and thirtys.
Some of the old timers in the little Tennessee town remembered when William had first come to Briarsville. He had arrived in a big black car and stopped at the only grocery store in town. This was unusual because few people in town owned a car and nobody had ever seen a fancy car like his.
He got out of his car, went into the store and asked if anybody knew of any property around there that was for sale. Mr. Bayon, the man who owned the store, told him that Mr. Bob Sawyer had quite a lot of property and he might sell some of it for the right price.
Where can I find this Mr. Bob Sawyer? asked the stranger.
He lives down that road about a mile or a little more, Mr. Bayon answered. Its the second house on the right. You wont have any trouble finding it.
The men at the store watched as the stranger got into his car and went in the direction of the Sawyers place.
The men at the store discussed how well the man was dressed in a black, three-piece business suit. His shoes were so shiny you could see yourself in them. He had a gold pocket watch in his vest pocket and a gold ring with a big diamond on his little finger of his left hand.
I wonder why a man like that wants to buy property a way off down here, one of the men said.
Guess hes got some money he wants to spend. From the looks of him he could buy the whole town, Mr. Bayon replied. You never know what a feller like that has on his mind.
They talked on for a little while longer about what they thought the man might do for a living and how rich he much be. They tried to guess what he wanted to buy land for in this little town. He looked like a big city man to them.
They didnt see the stranger anymore that day and they soon forgot about him. The price of corn had dropped again and that became their topic of conversation. Little did they know that later his name would be on every tongue in town.
As the stranger got back into his car he thought about the men at the store. He wondered if he would fit in with the people in the town, that is, if he could find the kind of place he was looking for.
He looked at the countryside as he rode along. It was mostly farmland surrounded by large trees. It looked to him as if none of the forests had ever had any of the timber cut at all. The trees were all very large, tall trees that appeared to be at least fifty years old, some even older. I wonder if these people realize what a gold mine they have in all of that timber, he wondered to himself. If he could only find a place with timber like that on it, he would buy it in a minute.
He knew that the Depression had a great effect on most of the people in the country. He had made sure that the Depression had not touched his wealth at all. He knew how to protect himself and his money.
As he saw the house that the man at the store had told him would be Mr. Sawyers place, he drove more slowly. He saw the driveway that led to the white farm house setting a little way back from the road. The place looked well kept with a large porch that had a swing and rocking chair.
He drove up to the house and turned off his car and got out. As he got out he noticed a man sitting in the swing on the porch.
Are you Mr. Sawyers, he asked?
Yes, sir, I am, the man on the porch replied. What can I do for you, mister?
My name is William Smitz, Mr. Sawyers and I wonder if you have a few minutes to talk with me? The man at the store in town, told me you might have some property you would be willing to sell for the right price.
Come on in and well talk about what youre looking for, Mr. Sawyers replied.
As Mr. Smitz stepped up on the porch Mr. Sawyers got up from the swing and the two men shook hands. Mr. Smitz sat down in one of the rocking chairs as Mr. Sawyers took his seat back in the swing.
The two men talked for a while about the weather, the town and finally they talked about the kind of property Mr. Smitz was interested in buying.
Mr. Smitz told him that he was a business man and had traveled some in Tennessee and thought it was a beautiful state. He had decided to see if he could find a person who was willing to sell some land out in the country. He thought the country side was so pretty in this part of the state.
The two men talked on for a while and then went to look at some property Mr. Sawyers owned just a little distance from Mr. Sawyers house.
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