The Condition of Samuel Wilder’s Will

Samuel Wilder owned most everything
And the things he didn’t own he held a claim
And down on Samuel Wilder’s roughest tract
Stood a crowded weathered beaten tenant shack

Daddy built it with the slabs from Samuel’s Mill
And we moved in there against my mommas will
It’s was blazing hot in the summers awful heat
And we nearly froze in the winters snow and sleet

Now the only time that Samuel came around
Was to raise the rent or cut the wages down
He gave us just enough pay to get by
And a place to bury loved ones when they die

I could tell that daddy couldn’t stand much more
He took to wine and just walked that cabin floor
Then he called for Samuel Wilder, and he came
And we laid him in a grave without a name

It was Sunday when the sheriff came riding out
He asked of Samuel Wilder’s whereabouts
One year later he was searching still
Said I guess we might as well just read the will

It said, To the family who worked for me
My entire place I do hereby bequeath
On condition that upon my grave they scrawl
Samuel Wilder was a good man after all