“By 1900, R.D (Deckster) CHENEY had taken over the CHENEY farm from his father Ogden. The CHENEY’s had two sons and a daughter. The sons being Maurice and Walter, the daughter Doris. Maurice O. CHENEY lost his life while serving in Europe in World War I. A few years later Mr. CHENEY sold the farm to Donald MCLEOD, and moved to Mountain where he operated a flour and feed business.”
“The CHENEY front gate was long an important point for young folk.”“The gate was at the end of the board sidewalk that started at the center of the village. On most evenings, but especially Saturday and Sunday, after the farm boys arrived from the surrounding country, this particular stretch of walk saw heavy traffic. In those days many young folk found little else to do in the evening other than assemble in groups and couples and parade up and down the streets like geese. Experience allowed me to know it was a good spot to pick up a girl and join the walk.
There are several other reasons why the stretch of sidewalk, between the DILLABOUGH-CHENEY boundary line to the end of the walk made the area special. First, there were no houses from which spying eyes could hide behind a blind. Second, the CHENEY section had a fence along the road, close to the sidewalk, made of boards extending lengthwise, but most important was that the top board was lying flat and formed a comfortable seat that could be reached with little difficulty. Then as a sort of extra plus, a row of fine maples had at one time been planted so they were growing just inside the fence anxiously to have fancy initials and artistic figures carved into the bark. Some of the carvings were a work of art and must have taken many evenings of work to complete. I was satisfied to leave a few “JAM” gems along the way, but forgotten the number. An interesting spot developed on the walk opposite the path to the DILLABOUGH house, where a large elm tree stood where the sidewalk should go. Too large, beautiful, and costly to remove, the builder of the sidewalk resolved the problem by building a short piece of walk on both sides of the tree, thus providing double traffic.”