RIDLEYS OF RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TENNESSEE.
505
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to send to her husband over the river, and I gladly accepted her offer. I
sewed up a sheet and packed what clothing I had upon the horse; then
went to a neighbor's to tarry for the night, and after a supper and break-
fast of opossum and sweet potatoes, with a lunch of the same food, I
started on my lonely journey with no companion but my faithful, intelli-
gent dog. I was in constant fear of being overtaken, and knowing I
must cross a long, dreary bottom, I rode to the door of Mr. Bartlett's
house and desired him to accompany me to the river, but he was afraid to
go; consequently I rode on till I came to a long bridge, when the horse
refused to go forward, and I was obliged to dismount and lead him a long
distance before I could find a place suitable to get on again. The day
was drawing to a close when I reached the river, and hailing the ferry-
man I soon found myself among acquaintances; thence pressing forward,
attended by some soldiers, I reached Waverly at dark, and found Colonel
Allen at the hotel; he knew my dog and came out to meet me." After
boarding at Waverly several months, Mrs. Allen went to the home of her
mother, near Smyrna Depot, and while at dinner on Christmas day, her
mother having made a feast, the Union army advanced, and the shot
and shell whistled around the house on every side. Colonel Allen, hav-
ing no good saddle, found a boy's saddle without stirrups, and without a
word of farewell escaped, leaving his wife without a dime in her pocket.
She then saw her mother's property destroyed and carried away, except
her money and a few things she had assisted in secreting. Her husband,
who had been employed in buying supplies for the Confederate army,
failed in health and retired from the service, took the oath of allegiance,
and, with his wife, went back to his old home near Huntingdon. Finding
their mansion very much in ruins, it was rented, and they commenced
house-keeping in one of the negro cabins. Mrs. Allen says: "A neighbor
let Colonel Allen have some bacon and meal, and we made out after a
fashion, by no means pleasant; but I put on my best face to keep up the
spirits of my husband; I reminded him that he was splendid at many
games of cards, when he remarked, wife, I'll try it. I think I'll win
some coffee to-day'; and sure enough he brought me sugar, coffee, and
candles that night. I felt that I was rich, and was proud that my hus-
band had learned to play cards. We soon moved into our house, and as
there was much traveling on the Rosser ferry-road, I took in travelers and
made a pretty good start by working myself almost to death; determined,
however, that my husband should not know how hard it was for me to be
poor." Her husband had resumed the practice of his profession, but fail-
ing in health by lapse of age, and broken down by misfortune, he did not
long survive, and Mrs. Allen is now a widow, with no property save a res-
idence at Waverly. She is now living with her sister in the city of Mur-
freesborough, Tenn. The author has devoted considerable space to this
article to show the heroism of a noble-hearted woman and devoted wife;
and to show the vicissitudes and misfortunes of war.
6
Mary-Jane Ridley (5), second daughter of Henry2 (1), was born in
Rutherford County, Tenn., Feb. 6, 1829; was married Nov. 8, 1855, to
Dr. James-Bromfield Ridley, of Jones County, Ga. (see "Ridleys of North
Carolina "), and has issue; she is now a widow.
Sallie-E. Ridley (4), youngest daughter of Henry2 (1), was born in
Rutherford County, Tenn., April 18, 1831; was married to her cousin,
Chamelius Huggins, a banker and lawyer in the city of Murfreesborough,
Tenn., and has several children. This family lives in affluence,
