U.S. Data Repository -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (pages 121-146) Chapter VII Homes and Homelife To make a happy fireside clime To weans and wife覧 That's the true pathos and sublime, Of human life. 覧Robert Barns. It is a far cry from the cabins of our pioneer ancestors to the palatial homes of the present generation. The first houses built in this sec- tion had but one room, and were made of un- hewn logs from which the bark had not been removed. The chinks were daubed with clay, and the roof was thatched with long grass or pine branches. In the later and better class of dwellings the logs were hewn square so as to need no chinkings, or a frame was made of heavy oak timbers well cut and braced to- gether. The sides were covered with split oak clapboards and the roof with split cedar shingles, fastened down by means of wooden pegs, and weighted with poles. At the end of the house was a clay or stone chimney, reaching above the gable roof. The construc- tion of this chimney was similar to that of the log house itself, split sticks being placed across each other覧"laid up"覧and plastered inside with clay daubing to prevent the chimney from catching on fire. The fireplaces were immense, being built for the accommodation of huge back logs which were drawn into the house by horses. One of these tree trunks often lasted a week. The floors were made of split logs held down by wooden pins. The small open- ings which answered the purpose of windows were covered with greased paper and protected by heavy wooden shutters which were closed to resist attack and to prevent wild animals from gaining entrance to the cabin. The heavy oaken doors were securely fastened at night with wooden crossbars. The room was rarely 7 feet high, but was usually surmounted by a "loft" or upper half story, reached by a ladder from the outside, this upper part often project- ing over the lower as a means of defense. The first homes were not even supplied with ladders, but at bedtime the younger members of the family "cooned up" the wall覧to use the homely expression of the time覧to their beds on the rough boards. It was not a difficult matter to construct one of these houses. It is told that Jack Pyle, a stonemason, having some disagree- ment with the man for whom he was working, hunted a new location, built himself a home and moved into it, all within 24 hours. The furniture was extremely simple. There were always two posted beds in the room, be- sides a trundle bed, a rude table and a few home-made stools and, less frequently, home- made chairs. Generally the beds were built in the corners of the room, thus necessitating but one post for each. The indispensable "small wheel" and "big wheel" were always there, as well as a loom, reel and swift, for all the set- tlers spun and wove their own cloth. The later homes often contained a carpet loom, but the first settlers did not have rag carpets. Articles of wearing apparel hung about the walls, and bunches of herbs and strings of dried apples were suspended from the rafters. The facilities for bathing were primitive. Often the hardy settler broke the ice in the watering trough or the creek in order to wash his face. When Oliver Manley came to this locality during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, he found that the settlers had few imported articles覧rifles and iron pots being all that were brought from the East. Mr. Manley brought with him Colonial chairs, bedding and other household articles, together with the first tea and coffee ever brought into this county. Mrs. Mary Manley Holbert remembered that in the home of her grandparents were high posted beds with curtain draperies, brass candlesticks, good chairs, pictures, pewter dishes and覧the acme of luxury 覧large sea shells and oyster shells upon the mantel! She often asked where this or that strange article came from, and the unvarying re- ply was "Down below," an expression meaning "from the East." In the later and better homes, which contained more than one room, a wooden clock with wooden works stood in one corner, and a high-backed wooden settle and a dresser set with the cherished pewter dishes, or even pieces of china brought from Virginia or the colonies farther north, were important articles of furniture. The bedding for the old-fash- ioned corded bedsteads consisted of two ticks of hand-woven twilled linen, one filled with oat straw and the other with goose feathers, and homemade blankets and counterpanes and the inevitable patchwork quilts覧for the first sewing a girl was taught to do was to piece a quilt. Miss Ellen Prickett has a part of the first quilt her mother pieced, of linen woven by her elder sister, and precious bits of calico, the work being done in 1812. Sometimes particularly thrifty housewives put feather tick on top of feather tick and even used one for covering. Many of the old hand-woven counterpanes were beauti- ful in color and design. It was late before sheeting was introduced, and it is told that the first woman who owned a pair of bought sheets in this county made them into a counterpane by quilting cotton batting between them and embroidering them with a fancy design. At night people lighted their houses in various ways. Some hollowed out turnips, filled them with tallow and put rags in them for wicks, while some used a saucer filled with lard instead of the turnip and tallow, both devices being sub- stitutes for candles, which were home-made and not always plentiful. The homes of Thomas Fleming serve as ex- cellent examples of the better types of homes for the periods in which they were constructed. In 1789 he and his mother, Anne Hudson Flem- ing, crossed the mountains and settled on Bell Run, about two miles from the present town of Fairmont. The log cabin he built for their occupancy consisted, as was usual, of one room with a loft overhead, but differed from the or- dinary cabin in that it had a "lean-to," or shed, built at one side, which was used as a kitchen and dining room. This house had corded beds, a drop leaf table, and split-bottom chairs, all the work of the owner. In 1804 Thomas Fleming married Anna Wood, of Harrison County, and built a larger home for his bride not far from the old cabin. This house was a palatial residence for the time. It was, of course, built of logs, but it was a story and a half high. On the first floor, in addition to the living-room, were two small bedrooms. Above the large open fireplace was a high mantel, carved by the owner himself. There were two large windows in the living- room and one in each of the smaller rooms, all having glass windowpanes, which were very uncommon in that period. A special feature of the living-room was a large press, built into the wall and extending from the floor to the ceiling. A little log house containing one room, erected about 20 feet from the main building, was used as a kitchen and dining room until some time later, when two rooms were added to the larger house. The upstairs of the large house, which consisted of a long hall with two bedrooms opening into it, was not reached by a ladder from the outside, but by stairs which circled around the chimney. The furniture consisted of a drop leaf table and split-bottom chairs, made by the owner, and corded beds, besides stands and a bureau. This household owned home-spun tablecloths, woolen blankets woven in red and blue stripes, and rag carpets. In the yard a pear tree is still standing which the Flemings brought from Delaware in 1798. The home was in the hands of the family for over a century覧three brides being brought there by successive owners of the property, each of whom resided in the homestead until her death. Table etiquette was simple in this backwoods settlement. Huge joints of meat were brought to the table on wooden trenchers and, in the earliest times, hunting knives were used for carv- ing. The ordinary table knife had a broad blade which was sometimes turned up at the end to form a scoop, the knife being used in those days to convey food to the mouth. Table forks had but two prongs. Spoons were ordi- narily of wood or pewter, but sometimes, when a prosperous couple desired a more elaborate table service, they took silver dollars to a silver- smith who hammered them into spoons. Dishes were of the most primitive type; pewter plates, wooden bowls, crocks and clay utensils graced the shelves of grandmother's great-grandmother's cupboard. In her collection there may have been a few choice pieces of china, such as Thomas and Anna Fleming had, which were used only on the Sabbath day and when com- pany came. When coffee, or a substitute for coffee, was served it was always poured into a saucer to cool, sometimes small plates being placed on the table in which to set the cups. When our many times great-grandmother first went to housekeeping she did not strike a match, turn on the gas and have a blaze ready at a moment's notice. If her wood fire went out she had to strike sparks from a flint or go to a neighbor's house and borrow hickory em- bers, bringing them home on a shovel, and often- times this entailed a journey of one or two miles. Jacob Bunner, who had to go two miles for fire one morning, accidentally dropped it into the creek in front of his home on his return and had to go back to the neighbor's for more. These two trips entailed a journey of eight miles before a fire could be had to get breakfast. Matches were not used extensively in Marion County before 1852. Miss Ellen Prickett tells us that she was more afraid to light a match in her early days than people were to light gas when it first came into use. One day the fire went out while Ellen's father and mother were away from home, but although there were matches in the house she had never struck one. She knew that her father made a fire by placing tow and powder on a metal lid which he struck with a sickle, so she did the same, using a match instead of a sickle. The tow blazed up, burning her severely. At this time the settlers did not know that coal was inflammable, and the mineral wealth which has made this section one of the foremost industrial regions in the whole world was lying untouched in practically inexhaustible quantities at their very doors. In 1775 the Nuzum family migrated from the great anthracite regions of Pennsylvania to Marion County, in order to have the wood necessary for cooking and heating purposes. Grandmother's great-grandmother's meals were devoured with voracious appetites. The men were engaged in clearing the timber from the land, tending the crops and hunting game 覧work which required an abundance of energy. Animals furnished the greater part of the food, and if game was scarce the family was threat- ened with starvation. Not all the animals killed were used as food, however; the ones chiefly hunted for that purpose were buffaloes, which at one time ranged this section, elk, deer and bear; and the smaller animals, such as squirrels, raccoons and rabbits. Deer licks were made by putting salt in hollow trees or sus- pending bags of it in bushes. The rains dis- solved it, saturating the ground underneath, thereby attracting the animals. Wild fowl覧 turkey, pheasant, quail, woodcock, grouse, duck and pigeon覧were brought down by the unerring aim of the hunter, and used to vary the monotonous bill of fare, for vegetables, with the exception of the coarser varieties, were scarce. In the forest was another food much esteemed as a delicacy. Swarms of wild bees made their homes in the cavities of forest trees and were spied out by ever watchful eyes. The cutting of a bee tree, which occurred at night, was an event of importance. Often when the settlers cut the timber for their houses they dis- covered the hidden hollows where for many years the little busybodies had lived, storing pounds of honey. This the farmer took for his own use, and the bees, if he could secure them, he placed in hives at home. One summer day a swarm of bees leisurely settled upon a wide straw hat covering the head of Mr. James Cochran, who was working in his field. After completing his day's work, Mr. Cochran quietly walked home and put the unsuspecting insects into a hive. There were many varieties of fruits growing wild that might be had for the picking. Berries of all kinds, including strawberries, huckle- berries, gooseberries and mulberries, which are not so plentiful now, were to be had in abun- dance then. The woods were full of plums, grapes, black and red haws, pawpaws and crab apples, as well as nuts of all kinds, including some edible acorns and highly prized hazel nuts. The streams were filled with fish覧pike, salmon, catfish, bass, perch and suckers were swept into the nets cast for them, or rose to the tempting lure of the fisherman's bait. The pioneer, with his game over his shoulder, or his string of fish, carried the result of his day's labor to the expectant housewife. In winter, when the streams were frozen over, the fisher- man pounded on the ice with an ax, stunning the fish so that they could be easily captured. Imagine a meal of corn bread, milk, fish, wild game, vegetables (cabbage and turnips), fruit and wild honey! Surely it would appease the most ravenous appetite. The large, open fireplace was the scene of the olden time cookery. It is interesting to note the way in which grandmother's great-grand- mother roasted her turkey. She hung the dressed fowl up by the feet and caught the grease, with which she basted it, in a vessel placed before the fire on the hearth. As the string turned, the different parts were exposed to the heat of the blaze, and the turkey became a most appetizing brown. She baked her bread on the hearth in a skillet or Dutch oven, which she covered with a lid over which she placed hot coals. Soon after settlements were made corn was planted, and corn pone, hoecake and flapjacks were the earliest forms of bread. After a time small crops of wheat, rye and barley were grown in the fields formerly used only for corn. Bread made from these grains was called cake, and only the sickly and the circuit preacher were given such a delicacy. In the Prickett home the Sunday breakfast consisted of wheat bread, and "coffee" made of burnt wheat. Grandmother's great-grandmother made cakes, commonly called "water johnnies," with cornmeal, water and salt, which she mixed and molded into the shape of a bowl. This dough she placed on a board which she put down in the ashes, turning the cake when one side was brown. If she were quite well-to-do, and great- great-great-grandfather provided her with a home a little better than the ordinary one, she may have possessed a clay oven. We may be sure, however, that she had very few utensils to cook with, and she was very fortunate, in- deed, if she possessed a kettle which held 3 or 4 gallons, a skillet and a lid. James Burns brought the first stove into Marion County on a return trip from Pittsburgh in 1838. This object resembled two steps more than a stove of the present day, the oven being under the upper section. It was three feet wide and three feet high, and was such a novelty that everyone who came to Fairmont made it a point to see Mr. Burns' wonderful apparatus for cooking. Every family had a "hominy block" made from a huge log or an old stump. In the top of the block a hole was cut, in which the corn was placed. The corn was pounded with a wooden maul, then removed, and the finest parts were used in making corn bread, while the larger particles were called hominy. Some- times ashes were placed in a large wooden bowl and water was poured over them. The lye thus formed seeped through perforations that had been made in the bowl and was used to cook corn. After the corn became soft it was emptied into a churn full of clear water and churned until all the lye had been washed out of it. Then it was put away to dry. Mush was a favorite dish for supper, and when milk was scarce, as was often the case, it was sweetened with molasses or eaten with bear's oil. Scorched bread crumbs and browned chestnuts and rye and wheat grains took the place of coffee berries, while "store tea" was unknown for many years, spicewood and sassa- fras being excellent substitutes. It is said that one of the early cattlemen was asked by a waiter in a restaurant in Baltimore what kind of tea he preferred. "Why, store tea, of course," answered the man from the frontier. "Do you think I would come all the way East to get sas- safras?" When the settlement grew older, every other year John O. Manley took a pack-train load of raw furs and pelts to Washington, Alexandria, or Winchester, and returned with rice, sugar, coffee, tea, and other articles of luxury. As soon as the pack-train arrived, the neighbors gathered for the distribution, but Mr. Manley always kept aside a small amount of tea and coffee. These were hoarded until the next baby was born in the neighborhood, and then they were hurried to the fortunate home where all the women in the country round assembled and drank to the health and long life of the new- comer. Grandmother's great-grandmother made "apple leather" by spreading cooked apples out on a board to dry. The object in doing this was to save sugar that would necessarily be used in making the apples into butter. During the winter the "leather" was cooked a little at a time, as it was needed. Fruits and berries of all kinds were dried and put away for winter use, the making of preserves and jellies being unknown. Sausage making was a laborious process in the days before sausage grinders were invented. We have a description of a gathering which as- sembled for this purpose in 1828, in which we are told that the men of the party laid the meat on a wooden bench and chopped it into small pieces with hatchets called cleavers. After it had been seasoned with sage, salt and pepper, it was smoked and hung on the rafters to be used during the winter months. Pie was the favorite pastry of the early times, being served to guests on all occasions. It took the place of afternoon tea, as well as the elaborate refreshments now served at recep- tions. At harvest time breakfast was served at 9 o'clock and dinner at noon; and in order that the reapers might take advantage of every hour of daylight before stopping for supper, apple pie was served in the fields about 5 o'clock. The top crust was removed from the immense piece of pastry (which had been baked in a skillet) and the apples covered with cream, after which the crust was replaced. Small sugar cakes and pound cakes were made with maple sugar. It was comparatively late before desserts were served, the first of which we have been able to learn being a custard known as "float." Pickled eggs, colored with beet juice, were much esteemed as a delicacy in this later period. Grandmother's great-grandmother saved the rinds and fat from her dripping pan for use in making soap. When she had prepared lye by the same method she used in making hominy she boiled her rinds and the fat in the strong liquid until, as she expressed it, they were "eaten up." The jelly-like substance was placed on boards to cool, and was allowed to stand four weeks before it was used. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -