Isaac Booco, An
Eccentric Old-Timer
What old-timer does not
vividly remember Isaac Booco? Isaac was what might properly be
called a "daisy," by birth, education and occupation.
His like was never produced before or since his demise. He came
to this country many years ago, settling in the south-eastern
part of Anderson township, where he remained until his death,
which occurred about fifteen years ago. H raised a large family
who did not always dwell in peace and harmony together, often
resorting to the courts to settle their difficulties.
Isaac's oldest son, William,
was the bane of his existence, and gave Isaac lots of trouble;
they were always at "outs" and at law. Isaac once declared
on the witness stand, in court before Judge Craven, that his son
William was a natural born d----d fool. This brought down the
house, court, jury and all. Booco became enraged at their laughing
at him, and came near cleaning out the house.
When A.C. Davis was deputy
sheriff he visited Isaac with a fee bill and levied it on some
property and advertised it for sale. Booco followed him to town
and marched up and down in front of the court house a half day
in a foaming rage, denouncing Davis and the whole sheriff's force
as d----d "malfeasers."
Every time Booco got sick
he thought he was going to die, no difference how trivial his
ailment. One time he had one of his periodical sick spells; he
thought his time had come. He sent for Isaac Clem, an old Dutch
neighbor, to make his will. Clem came prepared with with pen,
and ink and paper to perform his solemn task.
"Vell, Booco, did you
think you vas goin' to die?"
"Yes, Isaac, I think
my time has come"
"Vell, vat vas you
vant to do, Booco?"
"Well, there is my
son, Bill; he always was a d----d mean scoundrel. I don't want
him to have anything."
"Vell, vat next?"
"Well, I want to give
my wife and the balance of the family all of my property, personal
and real, equally."
Clem made out the will as
dictated by Booco, setting out all the items and bequests, and
read it over. It seemed to be satisfactory, and the old man turned
his face to the wall, and was ready to give up the ghost.
Clem thought the old man
was not seriously ill, so he broke in:
"Vell, Booco, I dink
dere vas someding vat you forgot."
"Oh, dear, Isaac, what
is it?"
"Vy, vashn't you goin'
to vill Shake Stanley your wind pipe for a flute?"
This had the effect of bringing
Booco back to life. He bounded out of bed like a rubber ball.
It took the whole family to keep him off of Clem, but he made
his escape. Booco got well and lived many years afterwards. It
is said that in Booco's early life in Ohio, he had some trouble
about a hive of bees that followed him home. This tale followed
him to Indiana. The boys used to get close to him, and "buzz,
buzz, buzz." This was all that was necessary to get him in
a rage, and the nearest man to him got knocked down, in he did
not immediately "get up and get."
Booco was a great coon hunter
and often had a grand hunt, calling on his neighbors to join.
One time he and Hutch Stanley, and a lot of fellows, were out
on a coon hunting expedition. The boys kept talking among themselves,
which very much annoyed the old man. He would whisper to the boys,
"Boys, be still; you'll scare off the coons." The boys
would subside for awhile, soon breaking out again, laughing and
talking loud.
Booco became enraged at
last, yelping out at the top of his voice, "Boys, boys, be
still. Don't you know that a coon is a h--l of a sly thing?"
He yelled so loud that if a coon had been within a mile of him,
it would have scared him to death. The boys laughed so heartily
tat it made Booco raging made and the hunting party was broken
up.
["Historical Sketches
and Reminiscences of Madison County, Indiana"; by John
L. Forkner and Byron H. Dyson; Anderson, IN 1897]
Copyright ©
1999 Shelley Booco-Barnes
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