Ohio History Journal

THE RAREY MANSION BY SARA LOWE BROWN Dear old mansion, crowning the hill, Sweetest of memories cling to you still, Memories of the Rareys brave and good, Who cleared the acres dense with wood. They gathered brush from the wilderness wide And, wearying home at eveningtide, The mansion built at the edge of the wood Where a lowly cabin once had stood. They tilled the soil and sowed the grain, They chopped the logs to burn under the crane; Spinning and weaving by candle-light, They labored late in the winter night. O folk of the "covered-wagon" days, To you how much we owe of praise! How little we of the hardships know That were borne by you of the long ago! The mansion, inn-like, welcome gave Alike to white and Indian brave; And here Tecumseh, gaily dressed, Oft stopped for food and drink, or rest. (565)

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566       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications In later years here Rarey stood, Master and friend of the Equine brood, And far and wide, in training school, Taught that through kindness man must rule. And here lived Cruiser, noble steed, To prove the worth of Rarey's creed; Here, filled with fame the countryside And in a peaceful old age died. The airship and the motor-car May carry people fast and far, But Cruiser's memory lives to prove That no machine can stir man's love. Yon is the town the Rareys made, Groveport, once prosperous with trade; Its once filled warehouses now gone, Like the canal they stood upon. Gone are the folk that I loved best To that far bourne of peace and rest, And stranger forms of other kin Live in the Rarey Mansion-Inn. The ripples in the sunshine play, As Little Walnut winds its way, And my sad heart with memories fill Of my birthplace upon the Hill.

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