Washington County, Indiana - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 3 of those read), 1916 (part 3 of 3)

Long before daylight the fire was started. Butcher knives had been ground and whetted sharp for the occasion. If the hogs were in a closed pen they were knock-d in the head with an ax ; if they were in a lot they w'-e shot with the rifle. Neighbors usually helped each other with this work. As fast as the hogs were killed and dressed they were strung up on a long pole to cool. It was a busy day for the women, who had to look after the cleaning of entrails and the saving of fat to be rendered into lard. The day following the killing the hogs were properly cut up and salted down in a big trough made for that purpose. After taking salt, which required several weeks' time in winter weather, the meat was then hung up in the smoke-house and subjected to the usual curing and preserving process. The hog killing of modern times differs very little from methods practiced in early days, except in the better facilities for handling the porkers and methods of curing meats.

Friendly Rivalry

In many instances in olden times the "sign" had to be just right when the work was done, otherwise the meat was not first class and was much more liable to be damaged by "skippers.'' When one farmer killed hogs, a nice set of backbones and spare-ribs, or some choice sausage was sent to near neighbors, who in turn sent back as good as they had received, if not a little better. They vied with each other to see who could be most neighborly, and got more pleasure from giving than receiving.

Table Furnishings

Tables, like all other furniture about the log cabin, were rude and imsightly. They frequently consisted of hewed "juggles," pinned together, with a leg stuck in each corner. An old Scotchman named Cluny was among the first cabinetmakers in the county. He lived in the southern part of the county and furnished many settlers with tables, chairs and beds; in many instances the first respectable furniture they ever owned. John Reyman supplied many people in Salem, as well as in the surrounding country, with their nicest furniture after 1810. A man named Bowman had a cabinet shop four miles north of Salem, and about 1820 made some very handsome pieces of niahogau}' \'encer work, such as bureaus and side- txiards. A few of his spacious sideboards are still in use in the county, and are artistic in design, and will last for several more centuries, no doubt. The veneering was laid upon wild cherry, which was least liable of all woods to shrink and swell whei exix^sed to extreme dampness or dryness. A table cloth was a luxury that few people could afford in early times. Some families ^kept one for company, a product of the home loom, of course; but it savored too much of extravagance to think of using it at every meal. Emigrants usually brought with them a short supply of dishes, and in a few instances some nice pieces of china were packed up so they withstood the rough and tumble to which they were exposed on the long journey across the mountains. They were never used on the table after reaching this country, but served as an ornament on the mantle, and were greatly admired. A few of the old blue teapots and trays are yet treasured by the descendants of early settlers.

Pewter plates and spoons were used more than earthenware. They would not break, and a few dents did not keep them from being serviceable. Besides, when a piece was worn out it could be recast and made new again, as there was always someone in the settlement who had moulds of different styles and patterns. Pewter was one of the items kept for sale in the store, coming in bars, very much like the lead bars, out of which bullets were moulded. Knives and forks were scarce. Wooden forks were often whittled out of a hard piece of hickory or white oak, while the butcher knife or the hunting knife was passed around the table so that each in turn might use it as necessity required. Blacksmiths would put in much of their spare time fashioning knives and forks, spoons and ladles, and the supply never exceeded the demand. Knife and fork handles were frequently made of staghorn jwints, with the cmok turned so it would fit the hand.

An Old-Time China Closet

The first cupboards were made "three-cornered," so they would fit in the corner of the room and thus be out of the way. If the owner could afford glass doors in the upper part, great pains were taken to displav the teapots and dishes to all guests and visitors.

If there was a distinguished guest for supper a cup of tea was usually served, sweetened with the genuine old "loaf sugar" of the dav. It was the only white sugar made at that time, and came done up in blue paper, the loaf being moulded in the shape and about the size of an old tin quart cup - considerably larger at the bottom than the top. For safekecpmg the sugar loaf was kept suspended from the loft joists, out of reach of the small boy. As he grew up the sugar would vanish, and no one ever knew what became of it, unless it was gradually dispelled by some mysterious process of evaporation. Where the head of the house was handy with the gouge and scraper, wooden plates were made for bread, potatoes and the like, and were quite serviceable. Pots and pans would be moulded out of clay and burned in the fireplace, and were useful in many ways.

Cider Making

After orchards came into bearing much of- the fruit was made into cider. The old seedling apple made good clear cider, and that was about all it was fit for. It partook of the nature of the crab, its great-grandparent, and seedling trees were long-lived, some of them standing for over a century and measuring three feet in diameter. The cider mills, as made and used almost a century ago, were immense machines and cumbersome to make as well as to operate. The mill was constructed of hard wood, usually white oak, as it was most durable. The rollers were turned round, about eighteen inches in diameter, one three feet long, the other eight. These rolls were set upright, and on top of the long one a sweep was made fast by mortise and wedges. At the lower end journals were turned and fitted into a large framework, with wedges so adjusted that the rolls could be held together securely as a horse, hitched to the sweep, turned them round and crushed the apples. At the top of the short roll wooden cogs were set in, which meshed in corresponding mortises in the long roll. A hopper was attached to one side of the machine to receive the apples ; a huge trough underneath the framework received the crushed fruit. With this mill apples could be crushed about as fast as one man could pour them into the hopper.

The press was also a huge ai¥air. It consisted of a heavy table, usually made of hewn timbers, and a log some twelve inches in diameter and thirty feet long. The table was set against a big tree, sometimes an apple, and about eight feet from the grovmd a large mortise was made through the body, into which was fitted loosely a tenon on the large end of the timber. At the small end a mortise was made through the timber to receive a sort of flat post, usuallv a flat rail, with holes bored through it about every six inches. With a lever resting on pins inserted in the holes through tlie upright the lieam was raised, ready for jiressing the crushed fruit. On the platform Ijeside the tree, and by means of a rye straw rope about the size of a man's arm, a round vat was made to receive the crushed apples. Afi the vat was built up apples were poured in, and m.ashed down as tightly as possible with a maul. The vat was built up about two feet high, and would probably be tv/o ind a half feet across. When filled, boards and j^anks were placed on top, and the timber let down gradually when the cider poured out in a stream. Grooves were cut on the sides of the platform so as to direct the cider into the receptacle prepared to receivr it. The straw tub or vat served as a strainer and kept pomace out of the cider, which was as fine as human ever drank.

A Help To Hospitality

To reserve cider for winter use and keep it from souring, three gallons were boiled down into one. A few barrels were filled for vinegar, and After the owner's wants were supplied, his neighbors were invited to make free use of his fruit and his mill till they, too, had all they cared for. \\'hen neighbors lived near each other it was the custom to make frequent evening visits back and forth, when a4)ples, cider or something good to eat or dnnk v/as always passed arouiid. The women and children would gather on one side of the ample fireplace, while the men would occupy the other, thus spending the evening very pleasantly in social confabulations.

Roads And By-Ways

The pioneer fathers, who first penetrated the primeval forests of this county, found numerous trails leading in all directions, and terminating at points where there were still to be found Indian villages, or places where Indians had dwelt in former times in considerable numbers, judging from the piles of burned and blackened stone scattered about where their wigwams had once stood and where the camp fire had once shone brightly. These trails usually lay along the most convenient and least toilsome routes to be found between stopping places, and in many instances they afterwards became leading highways for the wiiite ad\-enturer and permanent settler as well. Possibly one of the largest Indian towns that ever flourished in what is now the confines of Washington county was at Beck's Spring, judging from the cleared lands and the trails that centered there from all points of the compass. The Indian did not "blaze" his way as did the white man; lie seemed to possess a sort of .intuition, like a wild beast, which told him whure he desired to go. and the most direct route to get there. It was almost an impossibihty to lose a red man, no matter how dense the forest, or how far from his village his wanderings led him. This was possibly more an acquired habit than an inbred one, as many white men who spent most of their lives hunting and trapping became as proficient in wood lore as the wiliest savage.

Royse's Lick was the main country seat in these wilds from 1805 ^i^^ 1 8 14, when Salem became the county seat. As new settlers came in they "blazed" trails from their cabins to the "Lick,"' as here they had to go for salt and such supplies as Doctor Lamb kept in his little store - the first one in all these parts. Trails were gradually widened into wagon ways. These first roads were laid out regardless of section lines or party divisions of lands. They wound around hills and swamps, and even big trees, as it was easier to wind about a little than it was to fell a huge tree and get it out of the path. In opening up roads every man in the settlement lent a helping hand. They were opened up just wide enough for a wagon to pass through, and stumps were cut low to be out of the way of either sleds or wagons. Where the ground was boggy and miry at certain seasons of the year, a corduroy was constructed of poles laid as closely together as possible, over which some earth was thrown to hold them in place and ease. up the jolt as wagons passed over them.

Location Of Kari.Y Routes

A roadway to the Ohio Falls was made soon after the first settlers located here, as everyone had to go there for supplies. When Beck's Mill was started in 1808, all roads in the whole country led to that point, but they were miserably rough and sometimes impassable for teams, most of the milling being carried on horseback. Even then detours had to be made quite frequently around the worst places, where there was danger of floundering the horse. When Salem was located and the county organized among the first matters to receive consideration was the laying out of roads to different parts of the county. There was no attempt made to bridge creeks, grade up or drain highways. They considered themselves very fortunate if they got them established and the timber out of the way. As roads were chopped out they presented the appearance of an alley-way with a huge brush fence on both sides. The roads as first established have remained \er\- nearly on their original lines, excepting a ])lace here and there where farmers succeeded in getting minor changes made to square up their fields.

roads out from Salem in several directions. The Salem and Millport road was first to be put on foot, as a good many flatboats had gone down the river successfully from Millport, which then served to be the most convenient outlet for Washington county products to the southern market, which was all the market this whole western country then had. Xearly -everyone thought the investment would be a paying one, and the necessary stock to complete the road was soon made up. The county subscribed one thousand five hundred dollars. The road began at the present corporation limits of Salem on the north, and in the main followed the pike as it ullw is. In going down the knobs many of the hollows were bridged with heavy hewn timbers, instead of making short turns and winding around the heads -of the hollows, as the road now does. The way was graded and surfaced with poplar and oak boards ten feet long, one foot wide and two inches thick. Most of the planks used were yellow poplar, and were cut at the Millport saw-mill. There were three toll gates established, one at each end of the road, and another about a mile south of Kossuth. This road was kept up in good shape about ten ye.irs, but stockholders ne\'er received any dividends, it taking all the earnings to keep it in repair. In 1858 it was surrendered to the county and abandoned. It was practically along this grade that the first turnpike was built in the county at public expense, in 1897 ^"d 1898.

The Turnpike Companies

The first turnpike road built in the county was from Xew Albanv to Vincennes. A company was granted a charter in January, 1830. to build the road at least twenty-five feet in width, surfacing it with "wood, stone, gravel or other proper or convenient materials." good bridges to be built all streams, except the two ^^'hite rivers. The road was to run from New Albany, through Greenville. Paoli. Mt. Pleasant, Washington, and to terminate at Vincennes. The road was surveved its entire length, but it was never completed further than Paoli. In 1837 and 1838 the state set apart funds to build a road from Xew Albany to Salem. The road was graded most of its entire length, and ran through Pekin and Borden, then called New Prox'idence Stone was quarried and hauled to the creek banks for a l>ridge across Blue river just southeast of town, but the whole project was abandoned two years after the construction work was begun. The road was ever after known as the "Old Grade." The Jefifersonville and Crawfordsville Turnpike Company started a road at one time through this same and some work was done in the wav of clearing up the right of way and grubbing out stumps, when lack of funds to continue the work caused it to be abandoned. A hard surface road was at one time projected through the northeast part of the county, to run from Chariest own to Brownstown, but no work was done upon it in this county. An effort was made to build a toll road from Harristown to Brownstown, but the project failed because stock could not be sold. This venture contemplated a road that was to lead from Brownstown to New Albany, as nearly as possible on a direct line, but in leaving out Salem very few persons in this county encouraged the enterprise.

Back in the forties a road one hundred feet wide was projected from Indianapolis to the Ohio river. This road was to run through the western part of this county, and here trees were cut down and grubbed up for several miles, when the building of railroads was begun, which caused the enterprise to be abandoned. Indianapolis was to furnish the money for the completion of this road in order to get a direct route to the southern markets. Quite a number of persons made trips back east on horseback as the country was being settled up. If it was winter time the traveler carefully protected himself with leggings and overcoat made from animal hides. In a bulging pair of saddle-bags he carried his clothes and other articles indispensable to a traveler.

Log Cabin Days

Log cabin days began in this country in 1607, more than three hundred years ago, one hundred years after De Leon threw up a log fort and called the land he had discovered "Florida," in honor of its flowers. The story of America is written in log cabins, and her greatest men whom one hundred and forty years of American independence have produced, were born, reared and matured in cabin homes, without the silver spoon. Some one very pointedly says that "Poverty seems to have been the step-mother of genius," in this country. When adventurers had satisfied their appetites for voyage and discovery, they began to form permanent settlements, and each colony was an assemblage of cabins. All down the past through centuries, the log house has marked the outpost of civilization. Deeper and deeper into the heart of the new continent pressed the woodman's ax. Farther and farther extended the line of huts as the years sped by. Soon log cabins were dotted 'along the Ohio river, just as they had been planted along the Hudson and the James. They were not long in striking the old trail of DeSoto on the Mississippi, when plains and prairies, "the great American desert," inter- vened. Still the course of empire pressed onward until the mountains rose skyward. But the log cabin never stopped until myriad miles of ocean, the great Pacific, barred the way. The log house is branded deep into the story of American liberty and American men.

It was from the log cabin that patriots went forth to fight for and establish that immortal declaration that "all men are created free and equal." It was from this same primitive home that the greatest men of the nation have come forth, forever annihilating the standard that once measured a man by the luxury of his home. "It has been the mission of the United States," wrote the historian Ridpath, "to ennoble toil and lionor the toiler. In other lands to labor has been considered the lot of serfs and peasants; to gather the fruits and consume them in luxury and ease, the business of the great. To be a nobleman was to be distinguished from the people; to be one of the people was to be forever debarred from nobility. Thus has been set on human industry the perpetual stigma of disgrace. It is the genius of American institutions, in the fullness of time, to wipe out the last opprobrious stain from the brow of toil, and to crown the toiler with the dignity, luster and honor of a full and perfect manhood." The heritage of every American boy is his opportunity. His birthright is his country .md her priceless privileges. He is not handicapped because he is poor. The same opportunities, the same privileges that have raised American kings from cabin floors, are his if he is able to grasp them.

Noted Men Who Came From Humble Homes

In colonial days there were a few leaders of men who were born into comforts and luxuries. Washington was far from penniless, yet the most momentous months of his existence were "log cabin days." Never did the immortal commander face darker hours, never did his cause seem drearier than during the winter at Valley Forge. Sufferings beyond the power of pen to describe were endured. But it was only by the erection of log cabins for the failing hosts of liberty that the remnant of an army was kept alive. And so the story of America goes on, always written in log cabins.

John Adams, the first vice-president, with the assistance of a devoted father, received a liberal education, but he had to fight his way from poverty to prominence. Patrick Henry was an uneducated moimtaineer, but when he PS])oused the cause of liberty and left his humble home, he startled the world, and made the mighty George III quake upon his throne by his elo- qiience and boldness. Benjamin Franklin was designed by his humble parents to become a manufacturer of soap and candles, but he seized his opportunity, rose triumphantly and was known to two hemispheres ere he passed away. Alexander Hamilton, as a boy, was familiar with poverty and misfortune, but he rose to the pinnacle of fame and always gloried in the homeliness of his birth. Andrew Jackson, fatherless, and with a destitute mother, received his early training in the house of logs, but in the brief space of half a century won his way triumphantly to the sacred precmcts of the White House. Soon after came William Henry Harrison, who was elected to the presidency by a "log cabin campaign." In honor of his labors for the country on the frontiers of the Northwest Territory the log cabin was adopted as his political emblem. He had built and lived in a very "elaborate log mansion" at his home, six miles west of Corydon.

Other great minds of that day were conceived in lowly homes. Henry Clay was born and raised on the farm and was familiar with the log cabin. Daniel Webster was 1)orn in a log house. John C. Calhoun was a farmer boy of the backwoods country and Millard Fillmore was apprenticed to a clothier. Zachary Taylor came into the world on the frontiers of Kentucky when there were then few houses better than the cabin. The character and personality of all these mighty men was moulded in the atmosphere of the cabin home. Most striking in the tale of his career are the scenes (jf the humble birth and youth of Abraham Lincoln. Born in a log cabin in Kentucky, reared in a pole cabin in Indiana, he here acquired the vigorous honesty and many sterling qualities of character which placed him at the head of the nation during its darkest days. His vice-president, who .succeeded him in the White House, was apprenticed to a tailor.

U. S. Grant was born with meager advantages, and during tlje days when he earned his living in the tan-yard, or by hauling wood to St. Louis, lived in a two-room log house of primitive pattern. James A. Garfield's early days were spent in a log house on the farm, where he spent much of his time cutting brush for fences, grubbing up stumps, harvesting crops and working on a canal boat. Robert Fulton. Samuel Morse and Eli Whitney, the great inventors of the age were self-made men, starting at the bottom of the ladder. Many of the able men now in both branches of Congress are "log-cabin" statesmen. Thus, from the first permanent settlement at Jamestown, in dreary 1607, down to the present day. the story of America is the story of the house of logs.

Coming down to our own Washington county, we see our first settlers. more than a century ago, building their log huts. The tirst year after the founding of Salem there was to be seen nothing but a cluster of log cabins and a few log stores, very much alike, some being only a little more pretentious than others. And upon every spot selected by the pioneer to carve out a home in the wilderness, the log hut was in evidence. Here the leading lights in the country's development were located, and here were reared the men and women who in after years figured prominently in all public matters, not a few of whom emigrating to other parts of the realm, won even national fame and reputation. Not only were the homes of rustic pattern, but the school houses and churches for the first half century of the county's existence were fashioned of logs. Then truthfully may it be said that the first century's history of this part of the country is a story of the log cabin.

Native Sons Who Have Become Famous

From a historical standpoint Salem is one of the most notable towns in the state. It can truthfully claim to be the birth-place, or home for a time, of some of the most eminent men of the state and nation. Shortly after the town of Salem was laid out, Christopher Harrison located here and was afterward lieutenant-governor and served several years as circuit judge. He, it is said, selected the site of Indianapolis as the capital of the state. Gen. Walter Q. Gresham, who won laurels in the Civil War, and who was secretary of state under Grover Cleveland, was partly reared and received most of his education at the old Washington county seminary at the time when Salem was called the "Athens of the West." John Hay, secretary of state under President Garfield and President Roosevelt, was born and received a good part of his education in Salem. Governor W. T. Durbin was born in Washington county and grew to manhood at New Philadelphia, a tanner by trade. Gov. Newton P.ooth. of California, and afterwards United States senator from that state, was a native of .Salem, and got his education at the old seminary. Thomas Rodman, the inventor of a gun that bore his name. and which was considered the leading piece of field artillery during the Ci\ il War, was born and bred on Washington county soil. Robert Bonner, who rose to great distinction in New York as an editor and publisher, spent most of his boyhood days in Salem. Volney T. Malott, one of the greatest finan- ciers of the state and for several years president of the Vandaha railroad, was brought up in Salem. John I. Morrison, one time state treasurer, together with James G. May, conducted the Washington county Seminary for many years. John M. Bloss, a Washington county production, was a noted educator and for several years was state superintendent of public instruction. Col. John C. Lawler and Warder W. Stevens were each selected at different dates, candidates for lieutenant-governor, upon thenparty's ticket.

Washington C. DePauw, for whom DePauw University was named, got his financial start in Washington county and was county clerk for two terms.- Dr. Benjamin F, Trueblood, a lecturer of national repute upon the subject of world-wide peace, and for a great many years secretary of the Peace Society of Boston, was born and reared in this county. Judge M. B. Hottle, judge of the state appellate court for several terms, was indigenous to Washington county soil. Cyrus L. Dunham, one time secretary of state,^ and acknowledged to be one of the greatest orators that ever addressed a jury or political assembly in southern Indiana, made his start in Salem and it was his home for many years. Barnabus C. Hobbs, one of the most noted educators of the state, was a native of old Washington county. So was- Joseph Moore, who was for several years president of Earlham College. Isaac Blackford was first clerk and recorder of the county, afterwards a noted lawyer, and reporter of the supreme court, and compiled a number of the first reports which bear his name. James A. Cravens, a farmer boy, won distinction in the Mexican War, was afterward state agent for several years and was twice elected to Congress. Col. Dick Thompson taught school in this county, studied law, was called "the young lawyer with fiery tongue," and in after years was sent to Congress, and then served his time as secretary of war. Many other native and adopted sons of Washington county have gone forth into the world and won fame and reputation, duringthe past "log-cabin century."

Home Of The Mountaineer

In some out-of-the-way places the log cabm is still being built, but the box house is fast crowding it out in all of this part of the country. A few of the old-time huts are vet to be found here and there, but generally irl a dilapidated condition. In the mountain ranges of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee these little homes are in use almost exclusively, as logs are in most cases the most convenient and cheapest material that is available for home building. The habits of these mountain dwellers aje still very primitive, the most so of any people in the United States. They still spin and weave in the home, and wear their homespun, happy and content with the ^ifts the gods provide, tven if luxuries of life seldom come their way. They are as conveniently and comfortably situated as their neighbors, a that makes people content the world over.

Building The Log Cabin

In the matter of construction the log cabins varied principally in size and in the hewing of the logs, sometimes leaving them in their natural state. The first settler in any neighborhood had no outside help and made his cabin of small poles that two or three men, or the members of his family could handle conveniently. The full kit of tools usually carried by the early emigrant consisted of a chopping ax, a broad-ax, a crosscut saw, iron wedge, drawing knife, one inch and two-inch auger and a frow. If the homeseeker -came through on horse-back a common chopping ax was about the only tool carried and with it alone a fairly good pole cabin could be put up, covering same with boughs, reeds and wild grasses. Th°e regulation cabin of early time was a one-room house, made of hewn logs and stick chimney, sometimes, if the settler was real full-handed, two rooms were made, the pens being set about four feet apart, thus giving room between them for a double fire-place. One room then served for kitchen and dining room, also containing a bed or two, the other being used when company came ; a sort of parlor.

Hewing And Placing The Logs

When a cabin was to be built the first thing was to hew the logs. Trees -of an even size, and as straight as possible, were cut down, and cut ofif even Jengths according to the size of room wanted. The bark was scalped ofif, near the top of the log on lx)th sides, so the timber could be "lined" for hewing. This marking was usually done with a line that had been soaked in water and powdered charcoal. Standing on top of the log a man with a chopping ax cut notches alx)ut two feet apart into the stick and up near the line. The wood between these notches was split out coming off in slabs, called "juggles," and they called this "juggling" the log. When both sides of the timber had been "juggled," it was then "scored." or lightly hacked all along to expedite the work of hewing. A broad-ax, with blade some ten inches across gave the finishing touch to the log. They "hewed to the line" exactly if a nice set of timbers was provided. When finished the hewn log was seven or eignt inches through, the depth up and aown being regulated by the size of. the tree. The two sills were hewn upon three sides, the third side being put uppermost to receive the sleepers upon which the floor was laid. Upon each end of the sills a "saddle" was made by notching and cutting off blocks, the center of the "saddle" coming up to the top of the logs, with a downward slope on either side. The next log. was notched so as to fit this "saddle," and on up the logs were fitted, so they wotild barely touch each other, or leave a small crack between. Where rafters were used to support the roof the plates, or two top logs on each side, were hewn square.

Method Of Finishing The Roof

If the builder was short of nails, as was the case for inany years after this country was settled, the top of the house was "ribbed" to make a support for the board roof. In "ribbing" the gable ends were finished with hewn logs the same as used in the body of the building. The first end log was laid upon the plates, and beginning back about two feet fi^om each end the top was chamfered, or chipped off, so the timber came to a feather end where it rested on the plate. Upon these end logs, two feet from the plate, a rib was notched in, extending clear across the building, and out a foot or so beyond the gable. Another and a shorter log was laid upon these ribs, and it was chamfered down as lifers, and so on to the "comb" wh^n a "ridge pole" completed the roof support.

To make boards or "shakes" for roof a nice white or red oak was cut down and cuts were sawed off about three feet long. These cuts were split up into "bolts," using about eight inches of the outside of the log for board making. After the bolts had been split out with maul and wedge, the frow was used in the riving, or splitting of the boards, which were about onehalf inch thick. These boards were then laid upon the ribs in a double course, the top ones being laid so as to break joints with the lo\yer one. The next course was laid so the lower ends lapped over the course first laid about six or eight inches and the courses were continued until the roof was finished. If there were no nails to fasten the boards to the ribs, "binding poles" were laid upon the loose boards, the lower pole being fastened to the plate, while the ones above were held in place by "spacers," or knees cut of proper length to reach from one pole to another. The spaces between the legs that formed the walls of the building were "chinked" as tightly as pos- ^11) sible and then daubed with clay mortar. The first cabins had puncheon floors, trees being split in halves, the flat side hewn quite smooth, and laid upon the ground, bark side down. Not unfrequently the loft was covered with puncheons.

Fireplace And Chimney

At one end of the room a hole was cut or sawed out, about six feet wide and nearly as high as a man's head. This was for the chimney. A log pen was constructed outside, joining the house at either side of the opening made for the fireplace. This pen was lined inside with rock laid in plaster or mud, the "jams" extending into the room flush with the inside wall. Sometimes an arch of stone was turned inside to protect the logs above the fireplace from burning. On the outside, above the log pen, the chimney was built up of sticks and clay, plastered on the inside with mud t9 prevent the sticks from catching fire. The sticks ordinarily used in building up the chimney were rived out of short pieces of timber and looked something like laths. Fireplaces were made large, because considerable heat was needed to keep the room warm in winter time, and wood was no object - it was to be had at the very door simply for the cutting.

An opening for a door was usually cut on the south side of the cabin and beside it a small space for a window. To support the ends of the logs where the door was made, and to provide a place to hang the shutter, a sappling about six inches through was flattened on both sides and pinned on the ends of the logs. A sort of window frame was made in the same manner. The door was made of rough, flat pieces split from logs, and pinned to battens which extended out on one side about six inches and through these projections holes were bored, through which wooden pins fastened the door to stubs let into the side logs, thus making a very strong and durable hinge, but a mighty squeaky one when not kept well soaped. A wooden latch was arranged inside, with a string or piece of rawhide, reaching out through a small hole in the door, by the pulling of which the latch w as raised. When the "latch string was out" it was a sign that the visitor was a welcome guest. Nearly all ra1>ins built liy the earliest settlers had port holes arranged on all sides of the house, as a means of self-protection in case the inmates should be attacked by Indians.

The Hearth The Center Ok Home Life

A large hearth was always pro\ ided in fnmt of the lireiilace. ukkIc of flat stones imbedded in mortar and upon iliis hearth the coal> were raked out upon which the spit, trying pans and bread ovens were placed in preparing meals. Tea kettles and pots for boiling were held above the fire by "cranes" or "pot-trammels," the former swinging out from one side of the fireplace, the latter extending down from a log just above the chimney arch. Boards and flooring cut out by means of the whip saw, superceded the puncheons and hewn slabs used in cabin construction. With sawed flooring, lofts overhead were u.sed for sleeping quarters for the boys. The loft was reached by scaling a ladder, or ]50st by means of pegs inserted into the same. The first addition built on to the primitive cabin was usually a "lean to" for the loom which was indispensable in every well-regulated backwoods homestead. After the log stable was up, for the protection of the team and cow, a meat house was the next necessary improvement. As a rule the site selected for the house was near a spring, but the word "near ' might mean a hundred yards or a quarter of a mile, and all water for household use had to be carried in buckets, for wells were unknown. Most frequently a steep hill had to be cbmbed in returning from the spring to the house, which usually stood on high ground. Hickory withes and wooden pins were used where annealed wire and nails are now employed. When cut nails came into general use, pole rafters were used instead of "ribs" in roofing farm buildings. Sheeting instead of being sawed was rived out of a stick of timber that .split easily.

Pioneer Style Of Furniture

In the home of the pioneer the furniture was as rough and crude as the surroundings. Three-legged stools took the place of chairs, and benches, hewn out of logs, served for seats at the table. Often a hollow tree was shaped into a chair with high back, rather a cumbersome affair, but made a very comfortable seat beside the firejilace. The back log that was carried in evenings for the morning fire, was utilized for a seat, the occupant having the wall to lean against. Tables were made of hewn boards, two or three pieces being l>attened together, holes being bored in each corner into which legs were inserted. Reds were fashioned in many styles. .\ sort of foundation mattress was often made by fastening small poles to a cross bar at each end. This mattress rested u])on four blocks, or upon pins extending out from the wall. Evergreen boughs were ])laced upon the poles, and upon these was a sort of hedtick, filled with leaves, straw or grass, and altogether it was not an uncomfortable bed. Skins of animals were often used for bedding. Several skins sewe;l together made a comfortable bedspreafl in cold weather.

Early Hospitality

When there were visitors over night- - and it was not considered a visit unless the guest rema'ned over night - the men were requested to step out of doors, while the women put themselves to bed, when the men were cSHied; in, the fire was covered up so there would be a fine bed of coals next morning, and all would soon be slumbering in a room somewhat crowded, but supplied with an abundance of pure fresh air.

Efforts At Ornamentation

. A mantle, of some sort, was an indispensable adjunct to the log cabin. In many instances it was simply a shelf, a single board resting on pins set high above the fireplace. On this stood a candle-stick or grease lamp, some pewter ware, possibly a clock, and perhaps a family bible and a few books. In summer time a box or crock containing morning glories, or some wild vine, would ornament this mantle and the fireplace would be filled with blooming shrubs from the forest snch as dogwood, redbud, crab-apple or brancnes of cedar. This spirit of adornment would crop out among the female pioneers in some way, no matter how crude the house and its surroundings might be. Those cabins were inhabited by a kind and truehearted people, and the great men and women who came forth from these humble homes have made our nation the freest on earth, the greatest asylum for down-trodden peoples, from all parts of the globe.

Ride out across the country in most any direction and you will still find an occasional primitive homestead: places that were once inviting and around which pleasant recollections still sling. It is with a feeling of sadness and regret that we look upon these old, neglected places and very naturally ask why it is that men whose boyhood days were s])ent in those rural homes, ana who now occupy prominent positions among their fellow men, will allow the old farmstead to fall into such dilapidated and desolate conditions. There are many reasonable arguments, no doubt, which might be presented to give answer to this inquiry, but the task will not be attempted here.

Days That Live In Memory

These old homes, besides being the birthplaces of many successful men and women who have gone out into the world, have been cne scenes of stirring events in days gone by. They tell of hardships and selfdenials borne by the sturdy pioneer ; they speak of long nights of suspense when at any moment the wily savage was expected to make his raid, and with tomahawk and firebrand leave a .^cene of carnage and devastation behind. They sent forth gallant defenders of home, fireside and country at duty's call, many of whom today occupy forgotten graves - on distant battlefields. Here, too, stood the blushing bride, giving into the keeping of some worthy man her young life, her beauty and her happiness, her lips uttering fearlessly the vow then held sacred "for better or for worse" while life should last. Here rang the peal of merry laughter that bespoke the innocence of childhood. Here fond mothers' hearts beat quicker as baby lips first uttered that heaven-lxjrn name; lips that in manhood's years were destined to move men's souls and help to shape the destiny of state and nation ; names that will go down the corridors of time and live in history in centuries to come. And in many of these old homes were once heard the voices of faithful followers of the great Master, chanting doleful hymns and exhorting sinners to repentance.

A Golden Heritage

These old homes represent all this, more, for they have done much to give to our country its noblest heritage - that priceless gift, in the safeguarding of which depends the stability of our government, the preservation of its institutions and the prosperity and welfare of our people - the highest type of citizenship. Gifted indeed would be the tongue, mighty the pen, that could do justice to the memory of the pioneers of our land. To the lofty character of these noble men, who, with one hand on the plow and the other on the rifle, first established our log-cabin homes, most of which have long since gone to ruin and decay, our country owes much of its greatness. Their influence has been felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, from generation to generation. Wherever their children have gone forth, progress has followed their footsteps. The great region of the M^est owes its social, material and industrial development, in a good measure, to the thrift and energy of young and vigorous men who left this state to keep abreast of the advancing tide of civilization.

A Second Generation Of Pioneers

To this vast army of adventurers Washington county has contributed der full quota of able, progressive men and women, and we can hardly visit a community in all the vast region of the West without finding some of theni engaged in the active pursuits of life. With their characteristic courage and hardiness they began at an early day to push out upon the boundless {>raifies, and even across the Rocky mountains, enduring all kinds ol hardships, in many instances battling a savage and relentless foe, to found and develop new territories and states to add to the strength and possibilities of our great commonwealth. The pioneer homes were ever the source from which our country has, in her development, called forth men at the hour of need; and they were even ready to respond to that call, in peace or in war. Truly may it be said of them, "They deserve well of the Republic."

In locating a claim- in the first settling up of the country, one of tlie indispensable adjuncts was a good sugar grove of rock or hard maple. A bountiful supply of sugar and molasses meant almost half a living for the backwoodsman and his family. Outside of the "barrens," or open country that lay in the southwest part of the county, there was ever} where an abundance of hard maple, in some places the trees were four feet in diameter, and many of the larger trees were of the curly variety, used in the manufacture of furniture. A luxuriant growth of sugar trees also indicated a fine, rich soil, not readily exhausted, an item not overlooked by the homeseeker. They considered land that was not rich enough to grow sugar trees was not worth bothering with.

Around every Indian village in the county, or wiiere villages had formerly been located, the first settlers found indications where the red men, or rather the red squaw, had tapped the sugar tree and boiled down the sap into molasses. They notched the trees and inserted reeds or a piece of chip into the lower corner of the cut to conduct the sap into some vessel below. The sap was boiled down by dropping hot stones into it. Sand stone was always used, as it could be cooled and reheated any number of times without crumbling and falling to pieces. In some cases they allowed the liquid to freeze, and by throwing out the ice considerable water was removed, which was a great help in reducing the sap to sugar.

In pioneer days maple sugar was manufactured as a household necessity, and not as a luxury. "Boughten sugar" was not used to any great extent, on account of its high price. Probably nine-tenths of the early farmers had their "sugar camp," and with the breaking up of winter, they went down into the wood to "open up the camp." One of the earliest methods of tapping was to box the trees. This was done with the ax, chopping out a notch as wide as the blade of the ax, the notch slanting down so as to catch and hold the sap. An auger hole was then bored just below the notch and slanting upwards into the notch. Into this hole an elder spile was inserted to, convey the sap to the trough. For catching the drip, troughs were most commonly used. They were made by cutting logs about a foot in diameter into lengths of about two and one-half feet, splitting them in halves, and chopping out the middle portion, thus making a receptacle that would hold from three to four gallons. At the close of the season these troughs were turned bottom side up, when they were left till the next season, or the careful sugar maker would drag them to the camp and put them under some sort of shelter. Basswcod or poplar were used generally in making troughs.

The sap was conveyed to the boiling place in buckets that were homemade. These buckets were hung to either end of a yoke made to fit a man's shoulders, and the task of gathering in the sap was very laborious. If the camp was a large one a barrel would be put on a sled and by the use of a horse the work of collecting the sap was not so hard. Extra barrels were kept at the boiling place to store sap in. The sap was boiled down in huge iron kettles holding from forty to sixty gallons. A forked stick was set into the ground, upon which was placed a pole fifteen or twenty feet long, one end of which protruded a few feet beyond the stake and upon this end was hung the kettle, much like the bucket at the end of an old-fashioned well-sweep. The long end of the pole was weighted down to hold the kettle in the desired position. Into this kettle was poured the sap with its accumulation of leaves, twigs and dirt, some of which was skimmed ofi with a small gourd after the kettle boiled. When several kettles were used they were usually set in a row in a sort of furnace, made of rock and mud. If the camp was a large one a considerable amount of surplus sugar was manufactured, which always found a ready market at Salem, or the village store.

sap woiild vary in its saccharine qualities, that produced by trees in a forest not being as sweet as that produced in an open grove. The sap first secured from trees wass also sweeter than that gathered later in the season. The opening ot the sugar sea -on varied considerably from year to year. Some years favorable sugar weaiher began early in February, if the season was iatP It would often be Match b<^fore there was any good sugar weather. A suodeh thaw after a sharp freeze was sure to bring work in the sugar camp. A dry, continuous warm spell, with wind, after trees were opened, dried up the sap rapidly, often making a fresh tapping of the trees necessary.

An Important Social Event

They often made a sugar called "maple drip" that commanded an extra price. It was made by packing the lumps of sugar in kegs or wooden buckets with holes in the bottom to allow the uncongealed sap to pass away, 'making the sugar drier and whiter. Old-time "sugaring-off" parties were once a very common sport for the youngsters, and in every camp there was at least one of these gatherings of neighborhood lads and lasses durine the season.

About i860 there was a change in the process of sugar making through the adoption of an iron pan in place of the old kettle. This pan was about thirty inches wide, eight feet long, with wooden sides six inches high. This pan was set upon a furnace made of stone or brick, when a small amount of fire would do a great deal of boiling. Some time about 1870 the regular evaporator came into use, and with it a much better grade of syrup and sugar.

A Declining Industry

Unless new plantations of trees are started the sugar camp will soon be a thing of the past. There is today not more than one good camp to be found, where there were a hundred a century ago. While the product derived from the sugar tree was once a necessity and used more or less in every family, now it is a luxury and is only to be obtained a few weeks in the year. Where lands were susceptible to cultivation, they have long since been cleared, the only sugar groves remaining being now found on rocky hillsides that are worth but little except for the timber that trrows wild thereon.

Civil War Causes A Scarcity Of Sug.Ar

Sorghum was introduced into the country during the Civil War. The supply of cane sugar from the South was cut oft as soon as hostilities began.

and the government took the matter in hand of substituting sorghum instead. There were no iron mills to be had to grind up the cane, so the first grinders were home-made. Rolls were turned out of hard oak, about eighteen inches in diameter, and these were boxed in a heavy frame. One roll extended up some seven feet high, upon the top of which was fastened a sweep by means of which a horse propelled the mill. Its squeaking could be heard for miles around in spite of all the soft soap and grease that could be applied. A little later on iron mills were made, one of which was to be found in every neighborhood, and this was kept busy for several weeks every fall, together with an evaporator, manufacturing syrup for all who were within reach. The sorghum first made in kettles was rather a poor substitute for molasses, but it was used extensively, for there was little else to be had in the way of sweets, as sugar was very limited in supply and the price was almost prohibitive. Maple sugar again came in very conveniently, and every place in the country where there were trees enough to open a camp was run for all there was in it.

Primitive Mills

The pioneers" chief articles of diet were bread and nieat. The meat could be had most any time for the shooting, but the bread problem was more difficult to solve. When tlie mill was situated ten, fifteen or twenty miles away the supply of breadstuff frequently ran short, and then all sorts of artifices were resorted to in the effort to get corn cracked up so it could be made into pone or go into the mush-pot. Flour was almost out of the question, and it was only the very well-to-do folks who could afford wheat biscuit for Sunday morning breakfast or when company came. For a few weeks in the fall of the year, before the corn got too hard, the "grater" was used to make meal. This was made by taking a piece of tin or sheet iron six or seven inches wide and a foot long, and with some small, sharppointed instrument punch it full of holes, not more than one-quarter of an inch apart. This tin or iron was then bent round and tacked to a board four inches wide and some longer than the grater, rough side out, and with this mill it was surprising how little time it took to grate enough meal for a mush-and-milk supper. Sometimes when the meal supply was exhausted the dry corn in the ear was soaked in water a few minutes, when it was taken out and allowed to soften or swell up, when it could be grated very successfully.

were operated by both hand and water power. The mortar was made out a log, black gum usually, al)0ut three and one-half feet long and eighteen inches in diameter, (^ne end of this log was chiseled or burned out till there was a cup-shaped hile that would hold about one-half bushel or more. In this about one-half gallon of corn or wheat was put to be subjected to the "grinding" process. If operated by hand, a pestle was made by splitting a peeled stick alxmt the size of a man's wrist, and after banding the same an iron wedge was inserted, allowing the larger end of the wedge to e.xtend an inch or so beyond the end of the ?tick. This made a pestle about two feet long.

First Power Mill

In some instances hea\'ier pestles were made to be operated ])y water power. It didn't require a very large stream of water to run a mill of this kind, but there had to be considerable fall to get the necessary i)ower. A race having been provided, two forks were set u]) about ten feet fmm the falling water and in front of it, and about six feet apart. .\ g(.)()d strong pole was placed in these forks. To this axle another larger pole was attached, ajjout twenty feet long, and in the end of this reaching liack to the waterfall a tight box was hxed. and on the other end the ])estle. To <jperate this mill the lio.x end of the beam was turned under the water fall, and when the trough was filled it descended and raised the pestle. There was a valve in the bottom of the box which, on striking a pin, opened and allowed the water to rush out and, thus l)eing released, the pestle fell on the grain in the mortar. This Avas rather a slow process, but it worked day and night till the grist was pounded up as fine as desired.

A mill unlike an} thing else that was e\ er used in the county for cracking corn and wheat was that made l)y John Knight, who Ii\ed northwest of Salem on Twin creek. Comitig to town one day, he was met l>\- Xathan Trueblood, who told him his cart wheels needed grease to stop their squeaking. Knight told him it was his portal ile mill he heard and then showed him that his cart wheels were not turning at all, that a key fastened the wheels to the axle, which turned with the wheels. I'pon this rexolving axle were cogs or gears attached to ijther cogs that turned a small bar fastened up in the body of the cart. He could thus grind whenexer the cart was in motion. If he wished to use the cart for any other purpijse he remo\-ed the key and the wheels then turned upon the spindle the same as any other wagon wheel. He could grind a bushel of com in going from his home to Salem, which he would exchange for groceries and other necessaries. The mill-stones had been made by his father, Andrew Knight, in North Carolina, who was a millwright by trade. The Knights were all very ingenious, made their own plows, wagons and farming tools of all kinds. It was a descendant of this Knight family that during the past few years won fame and fortune by inventing a sleeve-valve automobile engine that is used extensively all over the world.

Ihe "stump mill" was among the earliest patterns. These were built in parts of the country where there was no water power available, and one of these mills was preserved and used up to 1900, on a farm about one mile south of South Boston. These mills were built upon a stump, hence the name. In choosing a mill site an oak or walnut tree was selected about two and one-half feet in diameter. The tree was sawed down, leaving a stump, with a level top, about a foot high. A circle was struck on top of this stump and it was made exactly round, and on the side cogs were mortised out, made good and strong. A larger wheel was framed together, about four feet in diameter, upon the side of which there were cog gears made to match those in the stump. This large wheel was geared again into a small pinion, which extended up into the mill house and upon which the mill buhrs were fastened that did the grinding.

The mill was framed and set upon a sort of tripod, one point resting on a pivot in the center of the stump, the other two points being supported by wooden wheels, with six-inch face, possibly sawed off the tree that had been cut down to get the stump. A track made of hewn timbers extended around the mill upon which the two wheel supports ran when the mill was operated. A mill sweep was attached to the mill frame timbers, to which two horses were hitched to furnish the power necessary to operate the mill. When the mill was in operation everything about it, horses and all, went round and round, except the stump. The mill stones were about two feet in diameter, and were capable of turning out from twenty to twenty-five bushels of meal a day. when two shifts or more of teams were used. It was the rule for each customer to furnish a team to do his own grinding, paying toll to the mill owner for the use of the mill. A sort of wheat and rye flour was made upon these mills, a kind of reel being attached to the machinery that took out the coarse bran, which was considered quite an improvement on the whole wheat meal or flour of that day.

Other Horse-Power Mills

Horse mills were, of two kinds, one operated with a sweep to which a team or teams were attached, the other was a tread power. To construct the former a good stroiiJ? frame building was erected about twenty feet square, with a loft overhead about eight feet from the ground A huge drive wheel was made, some twelve feet in diameter, with cog gears on the outside. This wheel was raised up just under the loft floor and mounted on a large eight-sided spindle, some ten inches through. About three feet from the ground a hole was mortised through the spindle to receive the sweep, which extended out near the wall of the building, just so the team would have room to circle around. Meshed into the cogs of the large drive-wheel was a small pinion which extended up into the loft, and was attached to the grinding buhr. The face of the cogs on both drive-wheel and pinion were five or six inches broad, thus giving the mill strength and endurance. These cogs were lubricated with soft soap to prevent squeaking and wear, as well as to lighten draft. Steps were provided outside the building to facilitate the carrying of the grain up to the mill. The meal dropped down into a bin in one corner of the mill house. Those who patronized these mills always brought a team along to turn the mill. Sometimes two sweeps would be attached to the drive-shaft and, with four horses grinding, could be rushed along quite rapidly.

The tread-mill, in which both horses and oxen were used to give power, consisted of an immense wheel, aljout t\venty-ii\e or thirty feet in diameter, with a solid surface, braced underneath so as to support securely the horses or cattle that "tread" thereon. This wheel was attached to a spindle in the center, from the top of which a bevel gear was arranged to operate the mill buhr. One side of the tread wheel was elevated to an angle of about twenty degrees, and as the horses climbed up the side the wheel was set in motion by force of gravity. The larger the wheel and the more weight that was put upon it, the more power was generated.

Crude But Convenient

These primitive mills wx-rt kept in repair and operated as late as 1850, some still later. Before any of these were built the early settlers in this county had to go to the Ohio Falls for their meal and flour, usually exchanging pelts 'jr same. This was a four-day trip, and it took a good team to make it in this time, as the roads were stumpy and rocky and in the rainy season very nmddy.