Washington Township

Washington Township

gton, the oldest of the townships, lies in the southwest corner of Putnam County, and is composed of township 13 and the north half of township 12. range 5. It is bounded on the north by Madison Town ship, on the east by Warren and Cloverdale townships, on the south by ('lay and Owen counties, and on the west by Clay County. The surface of the country in this township is rough and broken. There is a great, deal of excellent bottom land along the streams, finely adapted to the cultivation of corn and other cereals. It was originally covered with the same character of timber as was found throughout the county, consisting principally of white oak. walnut, poplar, beech, hard maple, ash, hickory and sycamore.

Among the early settlers now deceased were James A they, the first settler of the county, John Reel, John Horton, William Roberts, John M. Coleman, Thomas II. Clark, William K. Matkins, Dr. Lenox N. Knight,

The riot house in the township, that of James Athey, erected in the winter of 1818- '19, stood very near the. site of Robert Huffman's residence. The first mill in the township Mas that of Luther Webster. It stood on Deer Creek, about one-fourth of a mile south -of Manhattan. Lloyd B, Harris kept the first hotel in the township, at Manhattan. Thomas II. Clark was the first postmaster. The first shoemaker was Thomas Lewis. The honor of carrying on the first blacksmithshop belongs to John ITooton. Esquires Bu&ick and Athey were among the first justices of the peace in the township. It is worthy of note that Thomas McCullongh was the tallest man that ever lived in the township. He was almost seven feet high, symmetrically proportioned, and of a great physical power.

The first church organized in the township was the Predestinarian Baptist, commonly called "Hard-Shell Baptist," It was organized at Manhattan, in the year 1828, by Rev. Isaac Denman, who continued to preach for the congregation for a period of two decades. A house of worship was built at an early day, which continued to be occupied by the original owners until theyearl802,whenitwas sold to the Missionary Baptists. They in turn sold it, in the year 1875, to the Methodists, who formed a congregation there- about that time. The Methodists erected a new house

The Christian church was established in Manhattan, in the year 1838, by Elder John Harris, and it has ever since had a eonm-egation at that place.

Manhattan is the oldest village in the township, having been laid out in the year 1829, on the National Road, by John M. Coleman and Thomas II. Clark. The first merchant there was Wilson Devore. Dr. Lenox X. Knight was the first practicing physician. Mrs. Judge Clark taught the first school. The first justice of the peace at that place was Lloyd Harris.

Old 'Squire Boone, brother to Daniel Boone, now living in the township, once lived in a house w^hich stood on the ground now occupied by that in which Simeon Stoner lives. On the 3d day of July, 1837, his house was struck by lightning, by which two of his children were killed. Three years later his wife presented him with twin boys, whom he named Tip and Tyler. Some time after that, in the same house, two of his daughters were married on the same day.

History Of Putnam Munty

HE early settlers of Putnam County mostly came from older States, as Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina. where their prospects fur even a competency were very poor. They found those States good - to emigrate from. Their entire stuck of furniture, implements and family necessities were easily stored in one wagon, and sometimes a cart was their only vehicle.

Ie Log Cabin

After arriving and selecting a suitable location, the next thing to do was to build a loo- cabin, a description of which may be interesting to many of our younger readers, as in some sections these old-time structures are no more to be seen. Trees of uniform size were chosen and cut into logs of the desired length, generally twelve to fifteen feet, and hauled to the spot selected for the future dwelling. On an appointed day the few neighbors who were available would assemble and have a " house-raising." Each end ol every log was saddled and notched so that they would lie as close down as possible; the next day the proprietor would proceed to " chink and daub " the cabin to keep out the rain, wind and cold. The house had to be re-daubed every tall, as the rains of the intervening time would wash out a great part oi the mortar. The usual height of the house was seven or eight feet. The gables were formed by shortening the logs gradually at each end of the building near the top. The roof was made by laying very straight small logs or stout poles, suitable distances apart, generally about two and a half feet from gable to gable, and on these poles were laid the -- clapboards " after the manner of shingling, showing about two and a half feet to the weather. These clapboards were fastened to their place by '-weight poles," corresponding in place with the joists just described, and these again were held in their place by runs" or -'knees," which were chunks of wood about eighteen or twenty inches long fitted between them near the ends. Clapboards were made from the nicest oaks in the vicinity, by chopping or sawing tlteiu into four-foot blocks arid- riving these with a fro w, -which' was a simple blade fixed at right angles to its handle."' This was driven into the blocks ol wood by a mallet. As the frow was wrenched down through the wood, the latter was turned alternately over from side to side, one end being held by a forked piece of timber.*

The chimney to the Western pioneer's cabin was made by leaving" in the original building n large open space in one wall, or by Cutting one after the structure was up, and by building on the outside from the ground up,1 a stone column, or a column' bf sticks and mud, the sticks 'being' laid up cob-house fashion." The lire-place thus made "was often large enough to receive firewood six £dr eight feet long. Sometimes this wood, especially the "back-log;"' would be nearly' as large as a saw-log. The more rapidly' the pioneer could burn up the wood in his vicinity the sooner he had his little farm cleared and ready for cultivation. For a window, a piece about two feet long was cut out of one of the wall logs, and the' hole closed sometimes by glass, but generally with greased' paper. Even greased deer-hide was sometimes used. A doorway was cut through one of the walls if a saw was to be had; otherwise the door would be left by shortened logs in the original building. The door was made1 by pinning clapboards to two or three wood bars, and was hung on wooden hinges. A wooden latch, with catch, then finished the door, and the latch was raised by any one on the outside by pulling a leather string. For security at night this latch-string was drawn in; but for friends and neighbors, and even strangers, the " latch-string was always hanging out " as a welcome. In the interior, over the fire-place, would be a shelf, called " the mantel," on which stood the candlestick or

I an old clock, and * other articles; in the fireplace would be thC'Crane, sometimes of iron, sometimes of wood: on it the pots were hung for cooking; over the door, in forked cleats, hung the ever trustful rifle and powder-horn; in one corner stood the larger bed' for the "old-folks," and under it the trundle-bed for

; few cups and saucers and blue-edged plates, -standing- singly pit-: their edges against the back, to make the display of table furniture more conspicuous, while around the room were scattered a few splint-bottomed or "Windsor chairs and two or three stools.

: always welcome, although how they Were disposed of at night the reader might not easily imatnne,; for. as described, a single room was made to answer for kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room, bed-room and parlor, and many while the family disposed of themselves in another corner of the room, or in the " loft." When several guests were on hand at once, thjy were sometimes kept oyer night in the following manner: When bed-time came the men were requested to step out of doors while the women spread out a broad bed upon the middle floor, and put themselves to bed in the center; the signal was given and the men came in, and each, husband took his place in bed next his own wife, and the single men outside them again. They were generally so crowded that they had to lie " spoon " fashion, and when any one wished to turn over he would say " Spoon,'' and the whole company of sleepers would turn over at once. This was the only way they could all keep in bed.

To witness the various processes of cooking in those days would alike surprise &,nd amuse those who have grown up since cooking stoves and ranges came into use. Kettles were hung over the large lire, suspended with pothooks, iron or wooden, on the crane, or on poles, one end of which would rest upon a chair. The long-handled frying-pan was used for cooking meat. It was either held over the blaze by hand or set down upon coals drawn out upon the hearth. This pan was also used for baking pancakes, also called "flap-jacks," " batter-cakes," etc. A better article for this, however, was the cast-iron spider or Dutch skillet. The best thing for baking bread in those days, and possibly even yet in these later days, was the flat-bottomed bake-kettle, of greater depth, with closely fitting cast-iron cover, and commonly known as the " Dutch oven," With coals over and under it, bread and biscuit would quickly and nicely bake. Turkey and spare-ribs were sometimes roasted before the. fire, suspended

Hominy and samp were very much used. The hominy, however, was generally hulled corn - boiled corn from which the hull, or bran, had been taken by hot ]je\ hence sometimes called " lye hominy." True hominy and samp were made of pounded corn. A popular method of making this, as well as real meal for bread, was to cut out or burn a large hole in the top of a huge stump, in the shape of a mortar, and pounding the corn in this by. a maul or beetle suspended on the end of a swing pole, like a well-sweep. This and the well-sweep consisted of a pole twenty to thirty feet long fixed in an upright fork so that it could be worked " teeter " fashion. It was a rapid and simple way of drawing water. When the samp was sufficiently pounded it was taken out, the bran floated oif,and the delicious grain boiled like rice.

The chief articles of diet in early days were corn bread, hominy, or samp, venison, pork, honey, beans, pumpkin (dried pumpkin for more than half the year), turkey, prairie chicken, squirrel and some other game, with a few additional vegetables a portion of the year. Wheat bread, tea, coffee and fruit were luxuries not to be indulged in except on special occasions, as when visitors were present.

Besides cooking in the manner described, the women had many other arduous duties to perform, one of the chief of which was spinning. The " big wheel " was used for spinning yarn and the " little wheel " for spinning flax. These stringed instruments furnished the principal music of the family, and were operated by our mothers and grandmothers with great skill, attained without pecuniary expense and with far less practice than is necessary for the girls of our period to acquire a skillful use of their costly and elegant instruments. But those wheels, indispensable a few years ago, are all now superseded by the mighty factories which overspread the country, furnishing cloth of all kinds at an expense ton times less than would be incurred now by the old system.

The loom was not less necessary than the wheel, tliougli they were not needed in so great numbers. Not every house had a loom; one loom hud a capacity for the needs of several families. Settlers, having succeeded in spite of the wolves in raising sheep, commenced the manufacture of woolen cloth; | purchased it from the merchants. The white wool was carded and made into rolls by hand blanket coat, known as the cajpot, was the ferent epochs. The Indians themselves are credited by Charlevoix with being " very laborious " - raising poultry, spinning the wool of the buffalo, and manufacturing garments therefrom. These must have been, however, more than usually favorable representatives of their race.

"The working and voyaging dress of the French masses,*' says Reynolds, -' was simple and primitive. The French were like the lilies of the valley [the Old Hanger was not always exact in his quotations] - they neither spun nor wove any of their clothing, but.

sometimes need ("or spinning and twisting stocking yarn. They are turned with the hand, and with such velocity that it will run itself while the nimble worker, by her backward step, draws out and twists her thread nearly the whole' length of the cabin. A common article woven on the loom was linsey, or linsey-woolsey, the chain being linen and the filling woolen. This cloth was used.

--In the house, and hi, good weather, it hung behind, a cape to the blanket coat. The reason that I know these coats so well is that I have worn many in my youth, and a- working man never wore a better garment. Dressed deer-skins and blue cloth were worn commonly in the winter for pantaloons. Th,e blue handkerchief and the deer-skin moccasins covered the head and feet generfor dresses for the women and girls. Nearly | ally of t'qe French Creoles. In 1800 scarcely all the cL>-:is worn by the men were also a man thought himself clothed unless he had home-mac. ; rarely was a farmer or his son j a belt tied round his blanket coat, and on one seen in a" coat made of any other. If, occa- i side was hung the dressed skin of a polecat sionally, a young man appeared in a suit of [ filled with tobacco, pipe, flint and steel. On "boiighten" clothes, he was suspected of j the other side was fastened, under the belt, the butcher knife. A Creole in this dress felt like Tarn O'Shanter filled with usquebaugh; he could face the devil. Checked calico shirts were then common, but in winter flannel was frequently worn. In the so much light upon their conditions and | summer the laboring men and. the voyages limitations that in order better to show the j often took their shirts off in hard work and circumstances surrounding the people of the j hot weather, and turned out the naked back- State, we will give a short exposition of the ! to the air and sun.'' manner of life of our Indiana people at dif- | « Among the Americans," he adds, "home- made wool hats were the common wear. Fur I "The blue linsey hunting-shirt, with red or hats were not common, and scarcely a boot ! white fringe, had given place to the cloth was seen. The covering of the feet in win- coat. [Jeans would be more like the fact.] ter was chiefly moccasins made of deer-skins i The raccoon cap, with the tail of the animal and shoe-packs of tanned leather. Some wore ! dangling down behind, had been thrown aside shoes, but not common in very early times.' | for hats of wool or fur. Boots and shoes had In the summer the greater portion of the | supplanted the deer-skin moccasins; and the young people, male and female, and many of I leather breeches, strapped tight around the the old, went barefoot. The substantial and I ankle, had disappeared before unmentionables universal outside wear was the blue linsey ; of a more modern material. The female sex had hunting shirt. This is an excellent garment, | made still greater progress in dress. The and I have never felt so happy and healthy * old sort of cotton or woolen frocks, spun, since I laid it off. It is made of wide sleeves, i woven and made with their own fair hands, open before, with ample size so as to envelop j and striped and cross-barred with blue dye the body almost twice around. Sometimes I and Turkey red, had given place to gowns of it had a. large cape, which answers well to save the shoulders from the rain. A belt is mostly 'used to keep the garment close around the person, and, nevertheless, there is nothing tight about it to hamper the body. It is often fringed, and at times the fringe is composed of red, and other gay colors. The silk and calico. The feet, before in a state of nudity, now charmed in shoes of calf-skin or slippers of kid; and the head, formerly unbonneted, but covered with a cotton handkerchief, now displayed the charms of the female face under many forms of bonnets of straw, silk and Leghorn. The young ladies, insteadbelt, frequently, is sewed -to the hunting ; of walking a mile c«? two to church on Sunshirt. The vest was mostly made of striped day, carrying their shoes and stockings in linsey. The colors were made often with ' their hands until within a hundred yards- of alum, copperas and madder, boiled with the j the place of worship, as formerly, now came bark of trees, in such a manner and propor- -j forth arrayed complete in all the pride of tion as the old ladies prescribed. The; pan- j dress, mounted on tine horses and attended taloons of the masses were generally made of j by their male admirers." deer-skin and linsey. Coarse blue cloth was j The last half century has doubtless witsometimes made into pantaloons. j nessed changes quite as great as those set "Linsey, neat and fine, manufactured at forth by our Illinois historian. The ehronhome, composed generally the outside gar- j icier of to-day, looking back to the goldeir ments of the females as well as the males,, j days of 1830 to 1840, and comparing them The ladies had linsey colored and woven to with the present, must be struck with the suit their fancy. A bonnet, composed of j tendency of an almost monotonous uniformity calico, or some gay goods, was. worn on the head when they were in the. open air. Jewelry on the pioneer ladies was uncommon; a gold ring was am ornament not often seen."

in dress and manners that comes from the easy inter-communication afforded by steamer, railway, telegraph and newspaper. Home manufactures have been driven from the

In 1820 a change of dress began to take ' household by the lower-priced fabrics of displace, and before 1830, according to Ford, taut mills, the Kentucky jeans, and the most of the pioneer costume had disappeared, j copperas-colored clothing of home manufac- ture, so familiar a few years ago, having- given place to the cassimere and cloths of noted factories. The ready-made clothing stores, like a touch of nature, made the whole world kin, and may drape tlte charcoal man in a dress-coat and a stove-pipe hat. The prints and silks of England and France give a variety of choice and an assortment of colors and shades such as the pioneer women could hardly have dreamed of. Godey and Demorest and Harper's Bazar are found in our modern farm-houses, and the latest fashions of Paris are nut uncommon.

Family Worship

The Methodists were generally first on the ground in pioneer settlements, and at that early day they seemed more demonstrative in their devotions than at the present time. In those days, too, pulpit oratory was generally more eloquent and effective, while the grammatical dress arid other -"Worldly" accomplishments were not so assiduously cultivated as at present. i'ut in the manner of conducting public worship there has probably not been so much change as in that of family worship, or "family prayers." as it was often called. We had then most emphatically an American edition of that pious old Scotch practice so eloquently described in Burns' " (.'otter's Saturday Night: "

Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide; He wales a portion with judicious care, And " let us worship God," he says with solemn air.

Compared with these, Italian trills are tame; i The tickled ear no heart-felt raptures raise; Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise.

Once or twice a day, in the morning just before breakfast, or in the evening just before retiring to rest, the head of the family would cull those around him to order, read a chapter in the Bible, announce the hymn and tune by commencing to sing if, when all would join; then lie would deliver a most fervent prayer. If a pious guest was present he would be called upon to take the lead in all the exercises of the evening; and if in those days a person who prayed in the family or in public did not pray as if it were his very last on earth, his piety was thought to be defective.

The familiar tunes of that day are remembered by the surviving old settlers as beinomore spiritual and inspiring than those of the present day, such as Bourbon, Consolation, China, Canaan, Conquering Soldier, Condescension, Devotion, Davis. Fidncia, Funeral Thought, Florida, Golden Hill, Greenfields, Ganges, Idumea, Imandra, Kentucky, Lenox, Leander, Mear, New Orleans, Northfield, New Salem, New Durham. Olney, Primrose, Pisgah, Pleyel's Hymn, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Reflection, Supplication, Salvation, St. Thomas, Salem, Tender Thought, Windham, Greenville, etc., as they are named in the " Missouri Harmony."

Hist011Y Of Putnam County

Members of other orthodox denominations also had their family prayers in which, however, the phraseology of the prayer was somewhat different and the vuice not so loud as characterized the real Methodists, United Brethren, etc.

Hospitality

The traveler always found a welcome at the pioneer's cabin. It was never full. Although there might be already a guest for every puncheon, there was still " room for one more," and a wider circle would be made for the new-comer at the log fire. If the stranger was in search of land, he was doubly welcome, and his host Mould volunteer to show him ail the " fir.st-rate claims in this neck of the vvoods£" going with him for days, showing the corners ami advantages of every u Congress tract " within a dozen miles of his own cabin.

To his neighbors the pioneer was equally Hberal. If a deer was killed, thechoieest bits were sent to his nearest neighbor, a halfdozen miles away, perhaps. When a k4 shoat" was butchered, the same custom prevailed. If a new-comer came in too late for " cropping," the neighbors would supply his table with just the same luxuries they themselves enjoyed, and in as liberal quantity, until a crop could be raised. When a new-comer had located his claim, the neighbors for miles around would assemble at the site of the new-comer's proposed cabin and aid him in >w gittin'" it up. One party with axes wonld cut down the trees and hew the logs; another with teams would haul the logs to the ground; another party would the cabin; while several of the old men would k* rive the clapboards " for the roof. By night the little f >st domicile would be up and ready for a " nouse- warming," which was the dedicatory occupation of the house, when music and

An instance of primitive hospitable manners will be in place here. A traveling Methodist preacher arrived in a distant neighborhood to fill an appointment. The house where services were to be held did not ! belong to a church member, but no matter j for that. Boards were raked up from all ; quarters with which to make temporary seats, one of the neighbors volunteering to lead off I in the work, while the man of the house, j with the faithful rifle on his shoulder, sallied ! forth in quest of meat, for this truly was a i " ground-hog " case, the preacher coming and j no meat in the house. The host ceased not i to chase until he found the meat, in the j shape of a deer; returning, he sent a boy out ! after it, with directions on what "pint" to ' find it. After services, which had been ! listened to with rapt attention by all the ! audience, mine host said to his wife, " Old | woman, I reckon thin 'ere preacher is pretty j hungry and you must get him a bite to eat." I ""What shall 1 git him?" asked the wife, who | had not seen the deer; '- thar's nnthin' in the : house to eat." - Why, look thar," returned ' he; thar's a deer, and thar's plenty of corn in - the field; you git sonu- corn and grate it | while 1 skin the deer, and we'll have a good I supper for him." It is needless to add that ! venison and corn bread made a supper fit for ! any pioneer preacher, and was thankfully ; eaten.

Trade

In pioneer times the transactions of comj merce were generally carried on by neigh bor- | hood exchanges. Now and then a farmer ! would load a fiat-boat with beeswax, honey, i tallow and peltries, witli perhaps a few 1 bushels of wheat or corn or a few hundred \ clapboards, and float down the rivers into the Ohio and thence to New Orleans, where : the letter had not been bronirht 500 miles in he would exchange hi.s produce for substan- a day or two, as is the case now-a-days, but tials in the shape of groceries and a little had probably been weeks on the route, and ready money, with which he would return by the mail was delivered at the pioneer's postsome one of the two or three steamboats office, several mile? distant from his resithen running. Betimes there appeared at dence, only once in a week or two. All the the best steamboat landings a number of mail would be carried by a lone horseman, "middle men " engaged in the " commission Instances are related illustrating how misand forwarding" business, buying up the representation would be resorted to in order farmers' produce and the trophies of the chase j to elicit the sympathies of some one who was and the trap, and. sending them to the various i known to have "two bits" (25 cents) of distant markets. Their winter's accumula- money with him, and procure the required tions would be shipped in the spring, and the Governmental fee for a letter. manufactured goods of the tar East or distant Peltries came nearer being monev than South would come back in return: and in all anything else, as it came to be custom to these transactions scarcely any money was estimate the value of everything in peltries. seen or used. Goods were sold on a year's Such an article was worth so many peltries. time to the farmers, and payment made from Even some tax collectors and postmasters the proceeds of the ensuing crops. When were known to take peltries and exchange tne crops were sold and the merchant satisfied, them for the money required by the ( roverntlie surplus was paid out in orders on the ment.

-> tliey generally supposed that their a working man, his employer would ask. ban! struggle would be principally <-wr after "Well, what store do you want your order the first year; but alas! they often loot sd on?" The answer being given, the order for "easier times next year" tbr many years was written and always cheerfully accepted, before realizing them, and then the} came in so slily as to be almost imperceptible. The sturdy pioneer thus learned to bear hard- Money was an article little known and sel- ships, privation and hard living as tfood dom seen among the earlier settlers. Indeed, j soldiers do. As the facilities for makimr they had but little use for it, as they could money were not great, they lived prett\ well transact all their business about as well with- j satisiied in an atmosphere of good, social, out it, on the "barter" system, wherein great : friendly feeling, and thought themselves as ingenuity was sometimes displayed. When good as those they had left behind in the it failed in any instance, long credits con- East. But among the early settler.- who tributed to the convenience of the citizen,-., came; to this State were many who. accus- But i'oi- taxes and postage neither the barter tomed to the advantages of an older civilizanor the credit system would answer, and ! tion, to churches, schools and society, became often letters were suffered to remain a long speedily home-sick and dissatisfied. They time in the postoftice for the want of the 25 would remain perhaps one summer, or at cents demanded by the Government. With most two, then staling whatever claim with all this high price on postage, by the way, its improvements they had made, would re,- turn to the older States, spreading- reports of the hardships endured by the settlers here, and the disadvantages which they had found or imagined they had found in the country. These weaklings were not an unmitigated curse. The slight improvements they had j made were sold to men of sterner stuff, who were the sooner able to surround themselves with the necessities of life, while their unfavorable report deterred other weal: lings from corning. The men who stayed, who were willing to endure privations, belonged j to a different guild; they were heroes, every one, - men to whom hardships were things \ to be overcome, and present privations things to he endured for the sake of posterity, and " they never shrank from this duty. It is to these hardy pioneers who could endure, that we to-day owe the wonderful improvement we have made, and the development, almost miraculous, that has brought our State in the past sixty years from a wilderness to the front rank among the States of this great nation. I

Milling

Not the least of the hardships of the pioneers was the procuring of bread. The first j settlers must be supplied at least one year from other sources than their own lands: | but the first crops, however abundant, gave j only partial relief, there being no mills to j grind the grain. Hence the necessity of. grinding by hand-power, and ninny families were poorly provided with means for doing this. Another way was to grate the corn. A grater was made from a piece of tin, sometimes taken from an old, worn-out tin bucket | or other vessel. It was thickly perforated, j bent into a semi-circular form, rough side upward, on a board. The corn was taken in the ear, and grated before it got dry and hard. Corn, however, was eaten in various :

Soon after the country became more generally settled, enterprising men were readyto embark in the milling business. Sites along the streams were selected for waterpower. A person looking for a mill-site would follow up and down the stream for a desirable location, and when found he would go before the authorities and secure a writ of ad quod damnum. This would enable the miller to have the adjoining land officially examined, and the amount of damage by making a dam was named. Mills being so great a public necessity, they were permitted to be located upon any person's land where the miller thought the site desirable.

Ag Kig C Ltubal Implements

The agricultural implements used by the first farmers in this State would in this age of improvement be great curiosities. The plow used was called the " bar-share" plow; the iron point consisted of a bar of iron about two feet long, and a broad share of iron welded to it. At the extreme point was a coulter that passed through a beam six or .-even feet long, to which were attached handles of corresponding length. The moldboard was a wooden one. split out of windingtimber, or hewed into a winding shape, in order to turn the soil over. Sown seed was brushed in by dragging over the ground a sapling with a bushy top. In harvesting the change is most striking. Instead of the reapers and mowers of to-day, the sickle and cradle were used. The grain was threshed with a flail, or trodden out by horses or oxen.

Bog Killing

Hogs were always dressed before they were taken to market. The farmer, if forehanded, would call in his neighbors some bright fall or winter morning to help -v kill hogs." Immense kettles of water were heated; a sled or two, covered with loose hoards or plank, con- | almost every merchant had, at the rear end stitnted the platform on which the hog was of his place of business or at some eonveneleaned, and was placed near an inclined ient building. a « pork-house," and would buy hogshead in which the scalding was done; I the pork of his customers and of such others a quilt was thrown over the top of the latter as would sell to him, and cut it for the marto retain the heat: from a crotch of some j ket. This gave employment to a large numconvenient tree a projecting polo was rigged ber of hands in every village, who would cut to hold the animals for disemboweling and and pack pork all winter. The haulin<>- of all thorough cleaning. When everything was this to the river would also give employment arranged, the best shot of the neighborhood to a large number of teams, and the raanuloaded his rifle, and the work of killing was facture of pork ban-els would keep many commenced. It was considered a disgrace coopers employed.

to make a hog -squeal" by bad shooting or Allowing for the difference of currency and by a "shoulder stick,'' thai is, running the manner of marketing the price of pork was not point of the butcher-knife into the shoulder so high in those days us at present. Now, instead of the cavity of the breast. As each while calico and muslin are 10 cents a yard, hog fell, the -sticker" mounted him and pork- is 2 to 4 cents a pound; then, while calico plunged the butcher-knife, long and well and muslin were 23 cents a yard, pork was sharpened; into bis throat ; two persons would 1 to 2 cents a p >und. When, as the country then catch him by the hind legs, draw him grew older amj communications easier beup to the scalding tub, which had just been tween the seaboard and the great West, filled v.ith boiling hot water with a shovelful prices went up to 2! and o cents a pound, of good green wood ashes thrown in; in this the farmers though! they would always be the carcass was plunged and moved around a content to raise pork at such a price; but minute or so, that is, until the hair would times have changed, even contrary to the slip oft' easily, then placed on the platform, j current-cy.

where the cleaners would pitch into him with ! There was one feature in this method of all their might and clean him as quickly as \ marketing pork that made the country a oarpossible, with knives and other sharp-edged adise for the poor man in the winter time, implements; then two stout fellows would take j Spare-ribs, tenderloins, pigs' heads and pigs' him up between them, and with a third man feet were not considered of anv value, and to manage the " gambrel " (which was a stout were freely give!! to all who could use them, stick about two feet long, sharpened at both If a barrel was taken to any pork-house ends, to be inserted between the muscles of and salt furnished, the barrel would, be tilled the bond legs at or near the hock joint), and salted down with tenderloins and sparethe animal would be elevated to the pole, ribs gratuitously. So great in many cases where the work of cleaning was finished. was the quantity of .-pan-rib-, etc., to be dis-

After the slaughter was over and the hogs posed of, that they would be hauled away had had time to cool, such as were intended in wagon-loads and dumped in the woods out for domestic use were cut up, the lard " tried " of town.

out by the women of the household, and tla^ In those early times much wheat was marsurplus hogs taken to market, while the keted at 25 to 50 cents a bushel, oars the weather was cold, if possible. In those days same or less, and corn 10 cents a bushel. A good young milch-cow could be bought for I and the whole panorama unceasingly changed $5 to $10, and that payable in work. i like the dissolving views of a magic lantern,

Those might truly he called " close times," | or like the aurora borealis. Language canvet the citizens of the country Mere accom- j not convey, words cannot express, the faintmodating, and but very little suffering for est idea of the splendor and grandeur of snch the actual necessities of life was ever known j a conflagration at night. It was as if the to exist. pale queen of night, disdaining to take her

Fires, set out by Indians or settlers, some- j patched myriads upon myriads of messengers times purposely and sometimes permitted j to light their torches at the altar of the setthrough carelessness, would visit the prairies ; ting sun until all had flashed into one long every autumn, and sometimes the forests, I and continuous blaze.

either in autumn or spring, and settlers could The following graphic description of not always succeed in defending themselves j prairie fires was written by a traveler through against the destroying element. Many In- this region in 1S49: teresting incidents are related. Often a fire | '-Soon the fires began to kindle wider and was started to bewilder game, or to bare a I rise higher from the long grass; the gentle piece of around for the early grazing of stock breeze increased to stronger currents, and soon the ensuing spring, and it would get away fanned the small, flickering blaze into fierce under a wind, and soon be beyond control, torrent dames, which curled up and leaped Violent winds would often arise and drive along in resistless splendor; and like quickly the flames with snch rapidity that riders on raising the dark curtain from the luminous the fleetest steeds could scarcely escape. On stage, the scenes before me were suddenly the approach of a prairie fire the farmer ! changed, as if by the magician's wand, into one would immediately set about "cutting off I boundless amphitheatre blazing from earth supplies'' for the devouring enemy by a j to heaven and sweeping the horizon round - "back lire." Thus, by starting a small fire j columns of lurid flames sportively mounting near the bare ground about his premises, and ; up the zenith, and dark clouds of crimson keeping it under control next his property, smoke curling away and aloft until they he would burn off a strip around him and i nearly obscured stars and moon, while the prevent the attack of the on-coming flames, i rushing, crashing sounds, like roaring cata- A few furrows or a ditch around the farm racts mingled with distant thunders, were alconstituted a help in the work of protection, most deafening; danger, death, glared all An original prairie of tall and exuberant around; it screamed for victims; yet, notgrass on fire, especially at night, was a mag withstanding the imminent peril of prairie nificent spectacle, enjoyed only by the fires, one is loth, irresolute, almost unable to pioneer. Here is an instance where the j withdraw or seek refuge." frontiersman, proverbially deprived of the sights and pleasures of an old community, is privileged tar beyond the people of the pres- ! When the earliest pioneer reached this ent day in this country. One could scarcely j Western wilderness, game was his principal tire of beholding the scene, as its awe-inspir- j food until he had conquered a farm from the ing features seemed constantly to increase, I forest or prairie rarely, then, from the latter. As the country settled game grew ' dressed a division was made, every farmer scarce, and by 1850 lie who would live by his getting more meat than enough, for his wmrifle would have had but a precarious subsist- j tor's supply. Like energetic measures were ence had it not been for ,b wild hogs." These ' resorted to in other townships, so that in two animals, left by home-sick immigrants whom , or three years the breed of wild hoes became the chills or fever and ague had driven out, j extinct.

multiply in a wild state. The woods each j The principal wild animals found in the fall were full of acorns, walnuts, hazelnuts, - State by the early settlers were the deer, and on these hogs would grow fat and multi- j wolf, bear, wild-cat, fox, otter, raccoon, genply at a wonderful rale in the bottoms and i e rally called "coon," woodehuck, or ground along the bluffs. The second and third im- j hog, skunk, mink, weasel, muskrat, opossum, migration to the country found these wild j rabbit and squirrel; and the nrincipal feathhogs an entailing source of meat supply up : ered game were the quail, prairie chicken to that period when they had in the town- j and wild turkey. Hawks, turkey buzzards, ships contiguous to the river become so I crows, blackbirds, were also very abundant. numerous as to be an evil, breaking in herds ; Several of these animals furnished meat for into the fanner's corn-fields or toling their I the settlers; but their principal meat did not domestic swine into their retreats, where j long consist of game; pork and poultry were they too became in a season as wild as those j raised in abundance. The wolf was the most in the woods. In 1838 or '39, in a certain j troublesome animal,, it being the common township, a meeting was called of citizens of | enemy of the sheep, and sometimes attackthe township to take steps to get rid of wild ing other domestic animals, and even human hogs. At this meeting, which was held in beings. But their hideous bowlings at night the spring, the people of the township were j were so constant and terrifying that they notified to turn out eit ruassi on a certain almost seemed to do more mischief by that day and engage in the work of catching, annoyance than by direct attack. They trimming and branding wild hogs, which j would keep everybody and every animal were to be turned loose, and the next winter about the farm-house awake and frightened, were to be hunted and killed by the people : and set all the dogs in the neighborhood to of the township, the meat to be divided pro j barking. As one man described it: "Suprata among the citizens y>i' the township. ; pose six boys, having six ^h>^ tied, whipped This plan was fully carried into effect, two or | them all at the same time, and you would hear three days being spent in the exciting work j such music as two wolves would make." in the spring. To effect the destruction of these animals

In the early part of the ensuing winter the i the county authorities offered a bounty for settlers again turned out, supplied at con- j their scalps; and, besides, big hunts were venient points in the bottom with large ' common, kettles and barrels for scalding, and while j wolf hunts.

the hunters were engaged in killing, others J In early days more mischief was done by with horses dragged the carcasses to the wolves than by any other wild animal, and scalding platforms, where they were dressed; : no small part of their mischief consisted in and when all that could be were killed and , their almost constant barking at night, which always seemed so menacing and frightful to the settlers. Like mosquitoes, the noise they made appeared to i>e about as dreadful sis the real depredations they committed, the most effectual, as well as the most exciting, method of ridding" the country of these hateful pests was that known as "the '-circular wolf hunt," by which all the men and hoys would turn out on an appointed day, in a kind of circle comprising many square miles of territory, with horses and dogs, and then close up -toward the center of their held of operation, gathering not only wolves, hut also deer and many smaller l< varmint." Five, ten or more wolves by this means would sometimes be killed in a single day. The men would be organized with as much system as a lit th; army, every one being well posted in the meaning of every signal and the application of every rule, duns were scarcely ever allowed to be brought on such occasions, as their use would be unavoidably dangerous. The dogs were depended on for the final slaughter. The dogs, by the way, had all to be held in check by a cord in the hands of their keepers until the final signal was given to let them loose, when away they would go to the center of battle, and a more exciting scene would follow than can be easily described.

Bee Hunting

This wild recreation was a peculiar one. and many sturdy backwoodsmen gloried in excelling in this art. He would carefully watch a bee as it tilled itself with the sweet product of some flower or leaf-bud. and notice particularly the direction taken by it as it struck a "bee-line" for its home, which when found would be generally high up in the hollow of a tree. The tree would be marked, and in September a party would go and cut down the tree and capture the honey as quickly as they could before it wasted j In some districts the resorts of bees would j be so plentiful that all the available hollow | trees would be occupied and many colonies \ of bees would be found at work in crevices in the rock and holes in the ground. A con- I siderable quantity of honey has even been | taken from such places.

In pioneer times snakes w^rc numerous, | such as the rattlesnake, viper, adder, blood snake and many varieties of large blue and <j;vv<-r, snakes, milk snakes, garter and water snakes, black snakes, etc., etc. If, on meeting one of these, you would retreat, they would chase you, very fiercely; but if you ! would turn and give them battle, they would I immediately crawl away with all possible I speed, hide in the grass and weeds, and wait I for a "greener" customer. These really harmless snakes served to put people on their guard against the more dangerous and venomous kinds.

Jt was the practice of some sections of the ! country to turn out in companies, with j spades, mattocks and crow-bars, attack the ! principal snake dens and slay large numbers j of them. In early spring the snakes were ! somewhat torpid and easily captured. Scores ( of rattlesnakes were sometimes frightened I out of a single den, which, as soon as they l showed their heads through the crevices of could plug the entrance to the den when the sort of collision, threshing°maclnneor*jarringsnakes were all out sunning themselves, machine, and came out not killed, but next the -chilis and lever." -fever and ague," them, your ears, especially after taking quior -shakes." as it was variously called. It nine, |md too much roar in then,. :md%onr wasa terror to new-comers; in the fall of the whole body and soul wore entirely woeyear almost everybody was afflicted with it. begone, disconsolate, sad. poor and o-ood for

It was no respecter of persons; everybody nothing. You didn't mink much of vourlooked pale and sallow as though he were self, an.d didn't believe that other people did country of rank soil like that of the North- |iappeil to knock either the maladv or yourwest. The impurities continue to be ab- solf oat of existence. You imagined that sorbed from day to day, and from week to even the dogs looked at you with a kind of week, until the whole body corporate became i self-complacencv. You thought the sun had saturated with it as with electricity, and then a kind of sickly shine about it the shock came; and the shock was a regular About this time you came* to the conclusion orally on alternate days, with a regularity and means, you picked up Hannah and' the that was surprising. After the shake came I baby, and your traps, and went hack -wander" than the first.'' It was a burning-hot fever, | 0r -- Ponnsylvany." and lasted for hours. When you had the chill you couldn't get warm, and when you "And to-day the swallows flitting

The above id not a mere picture of the imagination. It is simply recounting in quaint phrase what actually occurred in thousands of cases. Whole families would sometimes be sick at one time and not one- member scarcely able to wait on another. Labor or exercise always aggravated the malady, and it took General Laziness a long time to thrash the enemy out. And those were the days for swallowing all sorts of roots and "yarbs," and whisky, etc-., with some faint hope of relief. And finally, when the case wore out, the last remedy taken got the credit of the cure.

Education

Though struggling through the pressure of poverty and privation, the early settlors planted among them the school-house at the earliest practical period. So important an object as the education of their children they did not defer until they could build more comely and convenient houses. They were for a time content with such as corresponded with their rude dwellings, but soon better buildings and accommodations were provided. As may readily be supposed, the accommodations of the earliest schools were not good. Sometimes school was taught in a room of a large or a double log cabin, but oftener in a log house built for the purpose. Stoves and such heating apparatus as arc now in use were then unknown. A mud-and-stick chimney in one end of the building, with earthen hearth and a fire-place wide and deep enough to receive a four to six-foot back-log, and smaller wood to match, served for warming purposes in winter and a kind of conservatory in summer. For windows, part of a log was cut out in two sides of the building, and may be a few lights of eight by ten glass set in, or the aperture might be covered over with greased paper. Writing desks consisted of heavy oak plank or a hewed slab laid upon j wooden pins driven into the wall. The four- ; legged slab benches were in front of these, I and the pupils when not writing wotdd sit | with their backs against the sharp edge of | the writing-desks. The floor was also made | out of the slabs, or " puncheons," laid upon j log sleepers. Everything was rude and i plain; but many of America's greatest men ! have gone out from just such school-houses to grapple with the world and make names I for themselves and reflect honor upon their - country. Among these we can name Abra- I ham Lincoln, our martyred President, one of j the noblest men known to the world's his- : tory. Stephen A. Douglas, one of the great- ! est statesmen of the age, began his career in Illinois teaching in one of these primitive | school-houses. Joseph A. Wright and several other.- of Indiana's great statesmen have . also graduated from the log school-house into ; political eminence. S<^ with many of her i most eloquent and efficient preachers.

Imagine such a house with the children I seated around, and the teacher seated on one end of a bench, with no more desk at his j hand than any other pupil has. and you have I in view the whole scene. The -schoolmaster ' | has called "Books! books!" at the door, and the ! "scholars" have just run in almost out of ! breath from vigorous play, have taken their ! seats, and are for the moment " saying over | their lessons" to themselves with all their ; might, that is, in as loud a whisper as possi- ; ble. While they are thus engaged the teacher j is perhaps sharpening a few quill pens for the ! pupils, for no other kind of pen had been { thought of as yet. In a few minutes he calls up an urchin to say his a he's; the little boy stands beside the teacher, perhaps partially leaning on his lap; the teacher with his penknife points to the letter and asks what it is; the little fellow remains silent, for he does not know what to say; "A," says the teacher; the boy the second or third reader class would be called, who would stand in a row in front of the teacher, « toeing the mark,'" which was actually a chalk or charcoal mark drawn on the floor, and commencing at one end of the class, one would read the first " verse," the echoes "A; "the teacher poiuts to the next and | next the second, and so on around, taking the asks what it is; the boy is silent again; "13," j paragraphs in the order as they occur in the says the teacher; «B," echoes the little urchin; | book. Whenever a pupil hesitated at a word and so it goes through the exercise, at the con- j the teacher would pronounce it for him. And elusion of which the teacher tells the little: this was all there was of the reading exercise. " Major " to go back to his seat and study his j Those studying arithmetic were but little letters,andwhen he comes, to a letter he doesn't j classified, and they were therefore generally know, to come to him and he will tell him. He | called forward singly and interviewed, or the obediently goes to his seat, looks on his book j teacher simply visited them at their seats. A a little while, and then goes trudging across | lesson containing several " sums " would be the puncheon floor again in his bare feet, to i given for the next day. Whenever the learner the teacher, and points to a letter, probably i came to a sum he couldn't do he would goto outside of his lesson, and asks what it is. j the teacher with it. who would willingly and The teacher kindly tells him that that is not in \ patiently, if he had time, do it for him. his lesson, that he need not study that or look j In geography no wall maps were used, no at it now; he will come to that some other | drawing required, and the studying and redday, and then he will learn what it is. The i tation comprised onlv the to his seat seat, again. 1 tut why he smiled j recitation proceeded like this: Teacher-- he has no definite idea. '"Where is Norfolk?" Pupil - "In the the lower corner, every pupil was expected to j " What bay between Maryland and Virkeepa"thnmb paper" under his thumb as j ginia? " Pupil - « Chesapeake." he holds the book; even then the books I When the hour for writing arrived the were soiled and worn out at this place in a time was announced by the master, and every few weeks, so that a part of many lessons pupil practicing this art would turn his feet were gone. Consequently the request was j over to the back of his seat, thus throwing often made, "Master, may I borrow Jimmy's j them under the writing desk already debook to get my lesson in? mine haint in my J scribed, and proceed to "follow copy," which book: it's tore out." It was also customary | was invariably set by the teacher, not by to use book-pointers, to point out the letters j rule, but by as nice a stroke of the pen as he or words in study as well as in recitation. | could make. The first copies for each pupil The black stem of the maiden-hair fern was a J would be letters, and the second kind and last very popular material from which pointers j consisted of maxims. Blue ink on white were made. : paper, or black ink on blue paper, were com-

About bull- past ten o'clock the master would announce, "Sehool may go out:," which meant "little play-time," in the children's parlance, called nowadays recess or intermission. Often the practice was to have the boys and girls go out separately, in which case the teacher would first say. " The girls may go out," and after they had been out about ten minutes the boys were allowed a similar privilege in the same way. in calling the children in from the play-ground, the teacher would invariably stand near the door of the school-house and call out "Books! books!" Between play-times the request-, "Teacher, may I go out?" was often iterated to the annoyance of the teacher and the disturbance of the school.

At about half-past eleven o'clock the teacher would announce, " Scholars may now got their spelling lessons," and they would all pitch in with their characteristic loud whisper and " say over " their lessons with that vigor which characterizes the movements of those who have just learned that the dinner hour and " big play-time " is near at hand. A few minutes before twelve the *k little spelling-class would recite, then the " big spelling-class." The latter woul '. c unprise the larger scholars and the major pa i of the school. The classes would stand in a row, either toeing the mark in the midst of the floor, or straggling along next an unoeeuoied portion of the wail. One end of the class was the " head," the other the " foot." and when a pupil spelled a word correctly, which had been missed by one or more, he would "go up " and take his station above all that had missed the word; this was called " turning them down." At the conclusion of the recitation, the head pupil would go to the foot, to have another opportunity of turning them all down. The class would number, and before taking their seats the teacher would say. "School is dismissed,"1 winch was the signal of every child rushing for his dinner and having the " big play-time."

The chief text-books in which the "scholars " got their lessons were Webster's or some other elementary spelling-book, an arithmetic, maybe Pike's, Dilworth's, Daboll's, Smiley's or Adams', MeGuffey's or the old English reader, and Itoswell C. Smith's geography and atlas. Very few at the earliest day, however, got so far along as to study geography. Nowadays, in contrast with the above, look at the "ographies" and "ologies!" Grammar and composition were scarcely thonorht of until Indiana was a quarter of a century old, and they were introduced in such a way that their utility was always questioned. First, old Murray's then Kirkham's grammar were the text-books on this subject. "Book larnin'," instead of practical oral instruction, was the only thing supposed to be attained in the primitive log school-house days. But writing was generally taught with fair diligence.

This phrase had its origin in the practice of pioneer schools winch used Webster's Elementary Spelling Book. Toward the back part of that time-honored text-book was a series of seven or eight pictures, illustrating morals, and after these again were a few more spelling exercises of a peculiar kind. When a scholar got over into these he was said to be " past the pictures," and was looked up to as being smarter and more learned than most other people ever hoped to

Pioneer Life Spelling-Schools

The chief public evening entertainment for the first thirty or forty years of Indiana's existence was the celebrated ik spellingschool." Both young people and old looked forward to the next spelling-school with as much anticipation and anxiety as we nowadays look forward to a general Eourth-of- July celebration; and when the time arrived tiie whole neighborhood, yea, and sometimes several neighborhoods, would flock together to the scene of academical combat, where the excitement was often more intense than had been expected. It was far better, of course, when there was good sleighing; then the young folks would turn out in high glee and be fairly beside themselves. The jollity is scarcely equaled at the present day by anything in vogne.

"When the appointed hour arrived, the usual plan of commencing battle was for two of the young people who might agree to play against each other, or who might be selected to do so by the school-teacher of the neighborhood, to -' choose sides," that is, each contestant, or "captain"' as lie was generally called, would choose the best. speller from the assembled crowd. Each one choosing alternately, the ultimate strength of the respective parties would be about equal. When all were chosen who could be made to serve, each side would "number," so as to ascertain whether amid the confusion one captain had more spellers than the other. In case he had, some compromise would be made by the aid of the teacher, the master of ceremonies, and then the plan of conducting the campaign, or counting the misspelled words, would be canvassed for a moment by the captains, sometimes by the aid of the teacher and others. There were many ways of concluding the contest and keeping tally. Every section of the country had several favorite methods, and all or most of these were different from what other communities had. At one time they would commence spelling at the head, at another time at the foot; at one time they would - spell across/' that is, the first on one side would spell the first word, then the first on the other side; next the second in the line on each side, alternately, down to the. other end of each line. The question who would spell the first word was determined by the captains guessing what page the teacher would have before him in a partially opened book at a distance; the captain guessing the nearest would spell the first word pronounced. When a word was missed, it would be re-pronounced, or passed along without re-pronouncing (as some teachers strictly followed the rule never to re-pronounce a word), until it was spelled correctly. If a speller on the opposite side finally spelled the missed word correctly, it was counted a gain of one to that side; if the word was finally corrected by some speller on the same side on which it was originated as a missed word, it was " saved," and no tally mark was made.

Another popular method was to commence at one end of the line of spellers and go directly around, and the missed words caught up quickly and corrected by il word-catchers," appointed by the captains from among their best spellers. These word-catchers would attempt to correct all the words missed on his opponent's side, and failing to dv this, the catcher on the other side would catch him up with a peculiar zest, and then there was fun.

word-catcher would go to the foot of the adversary's line, and every time he " patched " a word he went up one, thus " turning them down " in regular spelling-class style, When one catcher in this way turned all down on the opposing side, his own party was victorious by as many as the opposing catcher was behind. This method required no slate or blackboard tally to be kept.

One turn, by either of the foregoing or other methods, would occupy forty minutes to an hour, and by this time an intermission or recess was had, when the buzzing, cackling and hurrahing that ensued for ten or fifteen minutes were beyond description.

Coming to order again, the next style of battle to be illustrated was to "spell down," by which process it was ascertained who were the best spellers and could continue standing as a soldier the longest. But very often good spellers would inadvertently miss a word in an early stage of the contest and would have to sit down, humiliated, while a comparatively poor speller would often stand till nearly or quite the last, amid the cheers of the assemblage. Sometimes the two parties first --'chosen up'" in the evening would retake their places after recess, so that by the "spelling-down" process there would virtually be another race, in another form; sometimes there would be a new " choosing up " for the "spelling-down" contest; and sometimes the spelling would be conducted without any party lines being made. It would occasionally happen that two or three very good spellers would retain the floor so. long that the exercises would become monotonous, when a few outlandish words like " chevauxde-frise," " Otnpompanoosuc " or " Baughnaugh-claugh-ber," as they used to spell it sometimes, would create a little ripple of excitement to close with. Sometimes these words would decide the contest, but generally when two or three good spellers kept the floor until the exercises- became monotonous, the teacher would declare the race closed and the standing spellers acquitted with a '-drawn game/''

The audience dismissed, the next thing was to go home," very often by a roundabout way, "a-sleighing with the girls," which, of course, was with many the most interesting part of the evening's performances, sometimes, however, too rough to be commended, as the boys were often inclined to be somewhat rowdyish.

Next to the night spelling-school the j singing-school was an occasion of much jol- | lity, wherein it was difficult for the average I singing-master to preserve order, as many i went more for fun than for music. This i species of evening entertainment, in its in- ; troduction to the West, was later than the ! spelling-school, and served, as it were, as the second step toward the more modern civilization. Good sleighing weather was of course '. almost a necessity for the success of these i schools, but how many of them have been prevented by mud and rain ! Perhaps a j greater part of the time from November to ] April the roads would be muddy and often I half frozen, which would have a very dampen- I ing and freezing effect upon the souls as well as the bodies of the young people who longed s for a good time on such occasions.

the West was from the South, and the notes, from their peculiar shape, were denominated " patent " or " buckwheat " notes. They were four, of which the round one was always called sol, the square one la, the triangular one fa, and the " diamond shaped " one mi, pronounced me, and the diatonic scale, or "gamut," as it was called then, ran thus: fa, sol, la, fa, sol, la, mi, fa. The part of a tune nuw-a-days called "treble," or " soprano," was then called " tenor;" the part now called " tenor" was called "treble," and what is now "alto" was then "counter," and when sung according to the oldest rule, was sung by a female an octave higher than marked, and still on the " chest register." The "old" "Missouri Harmony" and Mason's "Sacred Harp" were the principal books used with this style of musical notation.

About 1S50 the "round-note" system began to "come around," being introduced by the Yankee singing-master. The scale was do, re, mi, fa, sol. la, si, do; and for many years thereafter there was much more do-remi-ing than is practiced at the present day, when a musical instrument is always under the hand. The " Carmina Sacra " was the pioneer round-note book, in which the tunes partook more of the German or Puritan character, and were generally regarded by the old folks as being far more spiritless than the old " Pisgah," " Fiducia," "Tender Thought," " New Durham," " Windsor," " Mount Sion," " Devotion," etc., of the old "Missouri Harmony "and tradition.

Guarding Against Indians

The fashion of carrying tire-arms was made necessary by the presence of roving bauds of Indians, most of whom were ostensibly friendly, but like Indians in all times, treacherous and unreliable. An Indian war was at any time probable, and all the old settlers still retain vivid recollections of Indian massacres, murders, plunder, and frightful rumors of intended raids. While target practice was much indulged in as an amusement, it was also necessary at times to carry their guns with them to their daily field work.

As au illustration of the painstaking which characterized pioneer life, we quote the folj lowing from Zebulon Collings, who lived about six miles from the scene of massacre in the Pigeon Roost settlement: "The manner in which I used to work in those perilous times was as follows: On all occasions I carried my rifle, tomahawk and butcherknife, with a loaded pistol in my belt. When I went to plow I laid my gun on the plowed ground, "and stuck up a stick by it for a mark, so that I could get it quick in case it was j wanted. I had two good dogs; I took one I into the house, leaving the other out. The j one outside was expected to give the alarm, ! which would cause the one inside to bark, by which I would be awakened, having my arms always loaded. I kept my horse in a | stable close to the house, having a port-hole j so that I could shoot to the stable door. j During two years I never went from home | with any certainty of returning, not knowing 1 the minute I might receive a ball from an ! unknown hand."

The Bright Side

The history of pioneer life generally presents the dark side of the picture; but the toils and privations of the early settlers were j not a series of unmitigated sufferings. No; for while the fathers and mothers toiled hard, they were not averse to a little relaxation, and had their seasons of fun and enjoyment. Thev contrived to do something to break the monotony of their daily life and furnish them a good hearty laugh. Among the more general forms of amusement were the "quiltingbee ," " corn -husking," '- apple-paring," "log-rolling-" and "house-raising." Our a description of these forms of amusement, when labor was made to afford fun and enjoyment to all participating. The " quiltingbee," as its name implies, was when the industrious qualities of the busy little insect \ that "improves each shining hour" were; exemplified in the manufacture of quilts for the household. In the afternoon ladies for miles around gathered at an appointed place, j and while their tongues would not cease to play, the hands were as busily engaged in j making the quilt; and desire was always j manifested to get it out as quickly as possi- I ble, for then the fun would begin. - In the evening the gentlemen came, and the hours would then pass swiftly by in playing games : <n* dancing. " Com-huskings " were when both sexes united in the work. They assem- ! bled in a large barn, which was arranged for the occasion; and when each gentleman had j selected a lady partner the husking began, j When a lady found a red ear she was entitled to a kiss from every gentleman present; when i a gentleman found one he was allowed to kiss I every lady present. After the corn was all husked a good supper was served; then the I " old folks " would leave, and the remainder of the evening was spent in the dance and in j having a general good time. The recreation afforded to the young people on the annual recurrence of these festive occasions was as highly enjoyed, and quite as innocent, as the amusements of the present boasted age of ; refinement and culture. ]

The amusements of the pioneers were j peculiar to themselves. Saturday afternoon ! was a holiday in which no man was expected j to work. A load of produce might be taken j to " town " for sale or traffic without violence to custom, but no more serious labor could be tolerated. When on Saturday afternoon the town was reached " fun commenced." Had two neighbors business to transact, here it was done. Horses were "swapped." Difficulties settled and free lights indulged in. Blue and red ribbons were not worn in those 'lays, and whisky was as free as water; twelve and a half cents would buy a quart, and thirty-live or forty cents a gallon, and at such prices enormous quantities were consumed Go to any town in the county and ask the first pioneer you meet, and he will tell you of notable Saturday afternoon tights, either of which to-day would ill! a column of the Police News, with elaborate engravings

We cleared land, roiled logs, burned brush, blazed out paths from one neighbor's cabin to another and from one settlement to another, made and used hand-mills and hominy mortars, hunted deer, turkey, otter and raccoons, caught fish, dug ginseng, hunted bees and the like, and - lived on the fat of the land. We read of a land of "corn and wine,"' and another " flowing with milk and honey," but 1 rather think, in a temporal point of view, taking into account the richness of the soil, timber, stone, wild game and other advantages, that the Sugar Creek country would come up to any of them, if not surpass them.

I once cut cord -wood, continues Mr. Cox, at 314 cents per cord, and walked a mile and a half night and morning, where the first frame college was built northwest of town (Crawford sville). Prof. Curry, the lawyer, would sometimes come down and help for an hour or two at a time, by way of amusement, as there was little or no law business in the town or country at that time. Reader, what would you think of going six to eight miles to help roll logs or raise a cabin* or ten to thirteen miles to mill, and wait throe or four days and nights for your grist? as many had to do in the first settlement of this country. Such things were of frequent occurrence then, and there was but little grumbling about it. It was a grand sight to see the log heaps and brush piles burning in the night on a clearing of ten or fifteen acres. A Democratic torch-light procession, or a midnight march of the Sons of Malta with their grand Gyasticutus in the center bearing the grand jewel of the order, would be no where in comparison witli the log heaps and brush piles in a blaze.

But it may be asked, Had you any social amusements, or manly pastimes, to recreate and enliven the dwellers in the wilderness? We had. In the social line we had our meetings and our singing-schools, sugar-boilings and weddi ever came oil" in any country, new or old; and if our youngsters did not "trip the light fantastic toe ?1 under a professor of the Terpsichorean art or expert French dancing-master, they had many a good -- hoe-down " on puncheon floors, and were not annoyed by bad whisky. And as for manly sports, requiring mettle and muscle, there were lots of wild hogs running in the cat-tail swamps on Lye Creek and Mill Creek, and among them many large boars that Ossian's heroes and Homer's model soldiers, such as Achilles, Hector and Ajax, would have delighted to give chase to. The boys and men of those days had quite as much sport, and made more money and health by their hunting excursions than our city gents nowadays playing chess by telegraph where the players are more than seventy miles apart.

Indiana is a grand State, in many respects second to none in the Union, and in almost everything that goes to make a live, prosperous community, not far behind the best. Beneath her fertile soil is coal enough, to supply the State for generations; her harvests are bountiful; she has a medium climate, and many other things, that make her people I contented, prosperous and happy; but she j owes much to those who opened np these avenues that have led to her present condition I and happy surroundings. Unremitting toil and labor have driven off the sickly miasmas that brooded over swampy prairies. Energy and perseverance have peopled every section of her wild lands, and changed them from wastes and deserts to gardens of beauty and profit. Where but a few years ago bark - j ing wolves made the night hideous with their ; wild shrieks and howls, now is heard only i the lowing and bleating- of domestic animals. | Only a half century ago the wild whoop of ! the Indian rent the air where now are I heard the engine and rum1 ling trains of cars, j bearing away to markets the products of our ! labor and soil. Then the savage built his rude huts on the spot where now rise the I dwellings and school-houses and church spires of civilized life. How great the transforma- ! Hon! This change has been brought about ! by the incessant toil and aggregated labor of thousands (it* tired hands and anxious hearts, and the noble aspirations of such men and women as make any country great. What will another half century accomplish? There are few, very few, of these old pioneers yet linoorin"- on the shores of time as connecting links of the past with the present. What must their thoughts be as with their dim eyes they view the scenes that surround them? We often hear people talk about the old fogy ideas and fosrv ways, and want of enterprise on the part of the old men who have gone through the experiences of pioneer life. Sometimes, perhaps, such re-marks are just, but, considering the experiences, education and entire life of such men, such remarks are better unsaid. They have had their trials, misfortunes, hardships and adventures, and shall we now, as they are passing tar down the western declivity of life, and many of them gene, point to them the linger of derision and laugh and sneer at the simplicity of their ways? Let ns rather cheer them up, revere and respect them, for beneath those rough exteriors beat Hearts as noble as ever throbbed in the human breast. These veterans have been compelled to live for weeks upon hominy and, if bread at all, it was made from corn ground in hand-mills, or pounded up with mortars. Their children have been destitute of shoes during the winter; their families had no clothing except what was carded, spun, wove and made into garments by their own hands; schools they had none; churches they had none; afflicted with sickness incident to all new countries, sometimes the entire family at once; luxuries of life they had none; the auxiliaries, improvements, inventions and labor-saving machinery of to-day they had not; and what they possessed they obtained by the hardest of labor and individual exertions, yet they bore these hardships and privations without murmuring, hoping for better times to come, and often, too, with but little prospect of realization.

As before mentioned, the changes written on every hand are most wonderful. It has bee;] but three-score years since the white man began to exercise dominion over this region, lirst the home of the red men, yet the visitor of to-day, ignorant of the past of the country, could scarcely be made to realize that within these years there has grown up a population of 2,000,000 people, who, in all

I the accomplishments of life, are as far adi vanced as are the inhabitants of the older | States, Schools, churches, colleges, palatial dwellings, beautiful grounds, large, well-cultivated and productive farms, as well as cities, towns and busy manufactories, have grown up, and occupy the hunting grounds and camping places of the Indians, and in every direction there are evidences oi wealth, comfort and luxury. There is but little left of the old land-marks. Advanced civilization and the progressive demands of revolving years leave obliterated all traces of Indian occupancy, until they are only remembered in name.

In closing this section we again would impress upon the mind-- of our readers the I fact that they owe a debt of gratitude to those who pioneered this State, which can be but partially repaid. Never grow unmindful of the peril and adventure, fortitude, self-sacrifice and heroic devotion so prominently displayed in their lives. As time sweeps on in : its ceaseless flight, may the cherished memories <>f them lose none of their greenness, but ! may the future generations alike cherish and ; perpetuate them with a just devotion to i gratitude.