#SLEEPING DOGS LIE FULL#
The first box he had pried open was full of moth-eaten woolens, things that might be of interest to historians but not of much value. There were small boxes inside of bigger boxes, leather pouches with old shaving gear, an interesting pocket knife he slipped into his pocket, and packets of old circulars and letters. Printed material by the box full. Curious old calendars with bucolic scenes, or some patriotic and a very pretty one with all gardens.īetween sneezing and blowing his nose Harvey was getting tired of finding just “stuff”. No big find to bring in enough cash to really matter. He felt he was digging in a fairly worked out mine. That was how Harvey the fourth happened to be in the dusty stuffy attic. He was now looking to see what might be left up there of any value to sell or pawn or even trade. His hope was that one of the dusty ancient boxes stuffed under the eaves might contain an item or two which could appeal to a historian or collector of some sort. Harvey’s family was big on talk but not so big on solid action. They liked to maintain a facade of historic respectability but all of the dynamic leadership they were credited with currently was all smoke and no substance, it had petered out years ago.įor the last generation it seems, they could manage to produce enough resources to almost make it year to year but someone at one time or another started mining the attic for collectibles and antique things, selling a couple a year to keep up the facade of normal prosperity. It was just random bad luck that his ancestors settled here. It was where the single ox had given up and died that had been pulling his early family’s belongings going west. They lived in a tent like structure for two years trading with passing folks heading west for a new life. They traded furs from trapping and vegetables they grew. Eventually one of the offspring of Harvey Carpenter opened a forge nearby and the town was begun. The sign attached to the general store across the street read, “Carpenter’s Mercantile” established 1888. It stood on the corner of Main Street and Commerce Avenue. It was the first structure built at the crossroads and it was part general store, post office, police station, and a tiny corner housed a very limited library. He was Harvey Carpenter, the fourth, and he did live in Carpentersville, but he sure didn’t feel like a cornerstone of anything.Īs a kid growing up, he had lived in the white frame house, next to the church and across from the general store. His house was the biggest in town, but no one really lived in the second floor rooms and the attic was stuffed full of every imaginable thing the family had ever owned. The house interior needed serious repair, it was cold in the winter and hot in the summer, the plumbing leaked and banged and rattled, but one thing you could count on was it got scraped and painted every summer. It was a landmark house, the original home of the founding father of Carpentersville. We, as a family, needed to carry forth this leadership role and maintain the image. We, the collective family, were cornerstones in this community.
He now thinks “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie” is a good phrase to remember.Īs long as Harvey could remember, someone in his family was always dragging up the fact that his great grandfather or maybe it was his great great grandfather was the founding father of this town. A strong, brave, intelligent, forward thinking man who planned this town. He would build a business here. To provide the essentials for a community. He thought that community would lead to town, then city and eventually a place of value in the history of a great state. He was a true leader among men! He didn’t know this before, or at least he never consciously thought about it, but there are things better left alone. In other words don’t dig too deep or you may not like what you discover. (Write a story about someone who’s famous for something they never actually did.)
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