(Excerpted from the original, which can be found at Buck’s Store Museum in Bena. Paul Brown dedicated this work to the memory of his parents, Alton and Lela Brown.)

In the spring of 1808, my friend and I take a ride to Guinea in a horse and buggy.

Names have changed since that early 19th century buggy ride. Let’s use the 1990 names and locations. Let’s start at Bill Smith’s Corner and proceed east. We must be careful, as the road is narrow, full of ruts and very muddy after a spring rain.

We pass a large plantation. The fertile soil seems to burst forth the shoots of new plants. The cattle are now in the pasture after their morning milking, and the sheep are busy grazing. Everyone seems to be busy on this spring morning. We chat as we bump along in our buggy. What a well-run plantation. Everything is in order, even the wash seems to be placed there in precision.

As we come to a fork in the road (known to late 1990 arrivals as Bena) we pass on by and see a beautiful stand o...