History of Kane County, Ill. Volume I, Part 6

Author: Joslyn, R. Waite (Rodolphus Waite), b. 1866
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1292

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KANE COUNTY HISTORY

end of the chimney, the chimney proper ran up above the roof, gradually growing smaller to assist the draft. This fireplace and chimney was com- monly built of twigs and sticks and clay ; the clay hardened, forming the chim- ney, the sticks holding it well together. On one side of the room would have been seen a low couch or bed built of logs and with a top of boards upon which lay quilts of different colors made by hand, and skins of deer, wolves and bears, and here and there a buffalo skin. The bed was usually hidden by a blanket or skins suspended to do service as a partition.

The bed had neither head nor foot, but in many cases comprised merely a flat wooden frame on four rough cut wooden legs, the whole held together by wooden pegs driven into prepared holes. Sometimes rope was strung across in lieu of springs.

Not far from the bed a table would be noted; an oblong wooden frame. or probably a rough hewn board about two feet wide and six or eight feet long, set on posts. Near this the chairs or stools would stand, crudely built of a piece of board and three legs forced into holes bored in the seat. In a few cabins a rocking chair brought from the East would be seen. Rugs of skin and home-made carpets were in some cabins spread upon the floor.

A hole in one corner of the ceiling afforded entrance to the gable room above, used for sleeping and store room purposes. To mount to this upper floor required the agility of a squirrel, for, in many cases the only means of getting aloft was a series of pegs about two inches in diameter driven into holes bored in the logs. The pegs were usually two or three feet long and extended out from the wall, forming a ladder. More prosperous families would build a crude flight of steps at an angle of about sixty degrees, but economy of space did not usually warrant that luxury. All about the walls would also be seen pegs projecting out from six inches to a foot. Upon these garments, utensils, implements and weapons were hung in profusion, while the ceiling was well provided with the same supports, from which hung corn and seed of every description, as well as apples and fruits hung up to dry. An old settler remarks that he has seen ceilings so thickly hung with different things as to quite hide the logs. A window, a foot or two square, one on each side and sometimes one in front, built five or six feet from the ground, let in such light as the pioneer enjoyed. Glass was unseen, its place being taken by trans- parent skins stretched across a wooden frame hung on wooden hinges in the opening. A small window in the gable sometimes dimly lighted the upper room. If the pioneer gained time and prosperity enough to build a log cabin of two rooms his home was the envy of all his neighbors, for two rooms was a convenience seldom enjoyed in the early days, when the time was required for toil-toil in attending to growing crops, hunting, and going fifty miles to mill and to market.

At the rear of the room about the fireplace and on the mantel that was usually built above it (a board six to eight feet long and a foot or two wide) were the implements of cooking suspended on pegs in the logs, or on a work table set against the wall. About the center of the roof of the fireplace would be seen an iron hook. Upon this were suspended the kettles for the cooking of food; a kettle hung on this hook coming well over the fire beneath, which was

Group of Elgin Pioneers, 1866.

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

made up of green logs cut in the woods near by. In many instances logs of large size would last for hours once well ignited. A support for the logs was usually set in the middle of the fireplace, upon which one end of the log was set to allow the air to circulate under and between the timbers. By the side of this open grate the family gathered after the work of the winter's day, its virtue as a heat dispenser being much impaired, however, by the fact that it warmed but one side of the body at a time.

Of pictures, books and the evidences of culture, taste and refinement common to the modern home the settlers possessed little or nothing. A copy of the Bible. a singing book and an occasional literary work of a religious trend comprised the average library. To cultivate the soil, look after the stock. provide shelter and fuel, maintain a clear conscience by the performance of religious service, and on occasion attend a wedding, dance or spelling school at the log schoolhouse or church, made up the pioneer's life.

Having erected his log home, and often before, he would construct a rude shack for horses and cattle. Poles were driven into the ground with logs laid across the top and covered with grass and branches of trees, the sides made up of brush, trees and grass packed together for walls. In this shed cattle were kept with fair comfort. Near by an improvised chicken coop and pig pen would soon be seen.

Much of the spare time of the earlier settlers was employed in "splitting rails" for use in making fences. Many cut rails and sold them to others. Mile upon mile of these fences may still be seen in northern Indiana and Illi- nois, but have largely disappeared in Kane county, giving place to the more modern wire fences.

There existed no roads in the modern sense. Paths ran through the woods, circling around hills, through valleys and over the forks of rivers. There were few fences to interfere. The soil was soft and the heavy wagons would sink into the soft earth, making a trip of ten miles a day's work.

Prairie fires wers expected every fall as the tall prairie grass dried. At places the grass remained uncut for many years and became thick and high. Once well started in a good wind, a prairie fire would travel as fast as horses could run and would destroy everything in its path. Many devices were employed by the settlers to protect their lives and property from these dreaded visitors, which in the fall of the year could be seen like a fiery snake creeping across the prairie three or four miles away. It was customary for all the farmers to plow the earth all around their buildings and land to be protected. Usually a space fifteen to twenty feet wide would be turned as a bunker for the oncoming flames. But often in a high wind the flames would jump the plowed space and ignite material on the other side. The more effective method of combating the prairie fire was what was known as "back-firing." This was done by burning the grass away ahead of the approaching fire. Often the entire population of the neighborhood would "back-fire" and by leaving a large burned space in advance of the flames check their progress. Nothing was more feared by the pioneer than these fires that came like a thief in the night and left behind destruction and ruin. With the cultivation of the prairies and the replacing of the tall prairie grass by cultivated products these fires disappeared.

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

The food staples of the pioneer were rye bread and corn bread. The flour was made in the earlier days by grinding the grain upon a hollowed out stone with a stone pestle, much after the primitive style of the Indian. Meat such as was obtainable was raised or hunted. Fish, with which the rivers fur- nished abundant supply, were caught with hook and seine and salted in large quantities by the individual families. Fishing "bees" were customary. The owner of a seine would loan it to a number of men, the price being three or four dollars for a day's rental. They would seine in company and divide the "catch." Beef, pork and mutton were common meats. Apple, cherry, pie plant, custard, pumpkin, egg and mince pie were among the delicacies. Mince pies were made and allowed to freeze. They were then warmed up by steaming in a "colander" over the kettle in which potatoes were boiling. There were no stoves in that day of beginnings, and for a time everything was cooked in the open fireplace. Later the old brick oven was invented by some pioneer and for years served the purpose of the modern range. This brick oven was built outside the house or near it. Rough stones and earth were so piled up as to leave a space about five feet long and four feet wide. This space was lined with brick and an arch was made of mortar, the top being covered with earth. A hole was left at the far end for draft and smoke. A crude door was built in front. The method of using this brick oven was to fill the space full of wood, which was ignited and allowed to burn until the bricks were red hot. The wood and burned material was then pulled out. Meats, pies, etc., were then put into the heated interior and the door closed. Pioneers claim that no modern stove cooks as did this brick oven. No such rich pies, no such juicy meats are to be had by modern methods as came from this early device, now forgotten.

The clothing of the settlers was likewise largely home-made of what was known as "homespun" material, it being rare that a pioneer possessed store- made clothes. Wool from the sheep, or flax, were the materials used. The sheep's fleece was washed by the women, who were the makers of clothes in that day, to remove the grease. It was then "carded," i. e., made up into long rough rolls about two feet long and an inch across. This roll was then placed in the old-fashioned spinning wheel and spun into a yarn, which was wound upon rough spindles. This yarn was then worked up into cloth upon the home-made loom, with which most log houses were provided, and which the housewife worked by hand and foot. A housewife could average a yard or two each day and do her housework.

Shoes were supplied the family by a traveling shoemaker. This itinerant cobbler would put up at a settler's house for a week or longer and make up shoes, usually of heavy calf leather, for the entire family. The leather was either furnished by the farmer or bought at the tannery by the cobbler, who was repaid for the raw material but charged only for his labor as reward to himself. These boots and shoes would ordinarily last a year.

Hats were usually made by the women of the family by weaving them from rice and wheat straw. For winter wear they were made of skins, coonskins being mostly used.

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

Linen was little used about the household, although a tablecloth of linen was usually kept in exclusion for use in case "company" came.

For lighting purposes, to supplement the fireplace, home-made candles were universally employed. Kerosene lamps, which were considered as great an invention at that time as Edison's electric light is now, came into use in the '50s. Before that time and long after the women "dipped" their own candles. Cotton strings were hung on a stick, the threads being tied on the stick at intervals of two or three inches and six or a dozen on the stick. The threads as they hung down loose being about a foot long, were dipped together into a (leep receptacle filled with melted tallow. A small portion of the tallow would adhere to the suspended string. The stick was then lifted out and hung up until the tallow hardened. It was then dipped again and again, each time accumulating an additional amount of tallow. When the tallow was about an inch in diameter the candle was complete for use. For use the string was ignited and by absorbing the melting tallow oil maintained a light that would last several hours.

A device more crude than this was made by placing a string in a saucer- shaped vessel and filling the vessel with tallow or other oil. By igniting the string a crude candle was realized. Gas was not used until after the Civil war, and electric light was unknown in 1880.

SOCIAL LIFE.

Social events among those who first came to the West was like the coming of a circus for a small boy, rare but welcome facts. With a wilderness to conquer and a home to build without other assistance than the primitive imple- ments, men and women had no more time for social affairs than has the modern workman who, when the day's toil is ended, is well pleased to rest and recuper- ate. But among the younger people the neighborhood gatherings were not infrequent. Spelling schools and exhibitions, quilting bees, husking bees, etc., furnished many opportunities for the settlers to gather together for mutual help and amusement. Spelling schools were popular, sometimes three or four occur- ring the same week at different schools, the entertainment moving from school to school. Often the contestants and visitors would come ten or fifteen miles to attend.

The news of such an event was communicated from house to house by those passing-whoever knew of the event being supposed to acquaint any he might see with the coming exhibition. Ordinarily a competition would be arranged between different schools or localities. The country teacher was usually in charge of the affair. All who were to spell stood up in two rows, one on each side of the room, the spectators occupying the seats between. The teachers (mostly men) would sometimes assist their sides. A word would be given the first one in the line. If he or she missed she sat down. Then the word if missed was given to the first of the other side. Whoever missed sat down. The side first all down were defeated. Sometimes in place of a com- petition sides would be chosen and a "general" spell indulged in. After the "spell down" a visiting interval was had, then speaking, and the evening closed with a second "spell down."

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

Not the least enjoyable part of these events was the coming and going. Being usually during the winter season, a sleigh was provided in which a dozen or fifteen couple would be stowed away and a merry time had.

Dancing parties occurred about every two weeks, being held, in the early days, in the settlers' houses. The Virginia reel, "duck dive" and round dance were usual. The waltz and two-step now customary would have been an undreamed of pleasure on the rough board floor of the log cabin. The charge per couple was usually one dollar. A fiddler sat at the end of the room on a box or table; sometimes two fiddlers. Often the dance was given in the barn, which was larger than the house. The dance would begin at nine or ten and end at daylight. The "boys" would drive up to the cabin of the young lady he desired as "company" at the dance, and although she had no prior notice she was usually ready in ten or fifteen minutes.

The various "bees" that were held from time to time afforded the early settlers amusement and at the same time accomplished useful work. Here the entire neighborhood would gather at one house and all make quilts, or pare. cut and string apples, or husk corn, as the occasion required. And there were house-raising bees, in which a new settler having cut his logs would be assisted by all in the erection of his home. Prizes were usually presented to winners at husking, paring, etc.

In addition to these events Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July were always occasions for special doings. The enthusiasm and patriotism of the pioneers on the Fourth of July can scarcely be conceived by the modern citizen who thinks of it mostly as a day for a picnic or for the production of as much noise as possible.

Then, too, there were church events, which, among a people so many of whom were devout religionists, were of large importance. Everyone attended church. Meetings were held in the schoolhouses before churches were built, and in the cabins before there were schools; prayer meetings weekly. Nearly all the modern denominations were represented. Presbyterians of Scotch descent and Methodists being most numerous. There being no regular preachers. the pulpits were filled by the old-time circuit preachers, who came with fiery and earnest messages, and moved on to the next place. His compensation seems to have been such material comfort as the settlers provided and the consciousness of serving his God.

Of the other side of pioneer life-the criminal and vicious-there is also evidence. Horse stealing was always to be guarded against and was usually punished with the severity usual where horses are rare possessions. Over- indulgence in intoxicants was not infrequent, particularly at public events, and owing to the absence of well established government often resulted in a general town fight between elements from different parts. In Kane county all large affairs usually occurred at St. Charles, where many such melees are said to have occurred. Claim jumping was a universal evil, so extensive in fact that committees were appointed to judge such cases. Many stories are told of such contests from Dundee to Aurora. The decision of such a decision is still in existence, the following cut being photographic copy. In this case, as appears from reading the letter of James C. Hanks, Hanks, to whom the land

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

was finally given, got into a controversy with a Thos. Deweese, and to end the affair Deweese knocked Hanks down with a stone.

Wetter undersigned committee being called from to setthe the difficulty and desperte between farms Hawks 2 That Querase invitation to two cloud of timber being the same which the said Howto made and pearsha ?- after having the testimony The adjudged away that thanks is the oldest claiment, and weare the same to hear agreeable to his original lines- Jany 30" 1834 -

Joseph Mitoulf Jefer & Mille U. ct. truntillol) CoWarton Sänker

JUDGMENT OF A "CLAIM JUMPERS COMMITTEE."

In Dundee township this same Deweese had trouble over land he claimed there. Jesse C. Kellogg wrote in 1885 of the measures taken by the settlers to protect their lands, as follows :

" 'In those days, there being no king in Israel, every man did that which seemed right in his own eyes.' The size of claims, therefore, varied from two eighties of prairie and one of timber to a half section of timber and a tract of prairie two miles square. Some assumed the right to make and hold claims by proxy, being thereunto duly authorized by some brother, sister, uncle, cousin, aunt or friend. Meanwhile new settlers poured in apace, astonished to find the choice timber and prairie 'blazed' and 'furrowed' into claims, whose ample acres the claimant with all his children, uncles, aunts and cousins to the third and fourth generation' would never be able to till or occupy. The new settler, perplexed, baffled and becoming more and more desperate on finding 'God's green earth' thus monopolized, would approach his more fortunate neighbor with the spirit of Abraham to Lot: 'Now, I have come a great way to get some of this timber and prairie and one thing is certain, I am going to have some. There is enough for you and me and our boys. Now don't let us

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

quarrel. You turn to the right and I will turn to the left, or vice versa.' Sometimes this good Scripture and consequently good common sense logic would win, but in other cases the grasping spirit of the borderer would stave off all kind of division or compromise, and laying his hand upon his rifle he would bluster and threaten in 'great swelling words' and drive away the stranger from his right. Hereupon arose innumerable disputes and wrangles concerning the size, tenure and boundaries of claims. The more reflecting among the settlers saw a dark cloud, big with the elements of strife and social disorder. gathering in the not very distant horizon, whose tornado blasts threatened soon to lay waste all that was of value in the rising com- munity. There was no municipal law reaching these cases and if there had been the settlers probably would have been none the better for it. for it is believed that at this period there was neither a justice nor a statute book north of the Illinois river and west of Fort Dearborn, unless we except Ottawa and Chicago. Wrongs and outrages for which there was no known legal redress were being multiplied. Blackened eyes, bloody noses and chewed ears were living realities, while the dirk, pistol, rifle, with something like 'cold lead,' were significantly talked of as likely to bring about some 'realities' which might not be 'living.' What could be done to insure domestic tran- quillity, promote the general welfare and secure to each settler his right? Evidently but one thing. Happily some had seen something in the New Testament about those who are without law unto themselves. and settlers found themselves in this fix exactly. It was, therefore, apparent both from Scripture and reason that the settlers must become 'a law unto themselves' and 'where there was a will there was a way.' 'A settlers' meeting' at a given time and place therefore came to be the watchword from shanty to wagon until all were alarmed. Pursuant to this proclamation a heap of law and order loving American citizens convened on September 5. 1835. at the shanty of Harmon Miller. standing on the east bank of the Kishwaukee, nearly oppo- site the present residence of William A. Miller in the town of Kingston. Happily the best possible spirit prevailed. The Hoosier from the Wabash, the Buckeye from Ohio. the hunter from Kentucky, the calculating Yankee. brother Jonathan's 'first born' and the 'beginning of his strength,' impelled by a sense of mutual danger. hereby sat down in grave council to dictate laws to Kishwaukee 'and the region lying around about through all the coasts thereof.' Hon. Levi Lee, now chairman of a committee to report on petitions for the 'Maine law' in the legislature of Wisconsin, was chosen to preside over this august assemblage, where the three great departments of free governments. the executive, the legislative and the judicial, were most happily united. and Captain Eli Barnes was appointed secretary. Gently glided the sometimes turbid waters of the 'ancient river.' the sonorous Kishwaukee, as speech after speech setting forth the woes and wants of the settlers, the kind of legislation demanded by the crisis, went the rounds. Even those who were not 'used to talkin' much afore folks' evinced their cordial approbation and readiness to cooperate by doing up an amount of encoring which, no doubt, really did 'astonish the natives.' At last, ripe for immediate action. a com- mittee was selected to draft and present to the meeting a constitution and

OLD FORDING PLACE USED BEFORE BRIDGE WAS BUILT, ELGIN.

KANE COUNTY HISTORY

by-laws by which the 'settlers upon the public lands' should be governed. After some little deliberation back of the shanty, around the stump of a big white oak, which served as a writing desk, said committee reported a pre- amble, constitution and by-laws, which for simplicity and brevity and adapta- tion to necessity it would be hard for any modern legislation to beat. The self-evident truths proclaimed by Jefferson in the immortal declaration, it is believed, were the first time reiterated on the banks of the Kishwaukee, and had there been a little more time for reflection and preparation the top of some settlers' wagons would have been converted into the 'Star Spangled Banner' and thrown to the breezes of heaven from the tallest tree top in the grove. The common sense, law and logic, as well as patriotism. contained in this constitution and by-laws were instantaneously recognized to be the very things demanded by the crisis and were adopted with unparalleled enthusiasm, each subscribing his name thereto with his own hand, thereby pledging his 'life,' 'fortune' and 'sacred honor' to carry out the provisions of the code. It is not known that a copy of this singularly unique document is now extant. As nearly as can be recollected its provisions were somewhat as follows: A prudential committee were to be then and there chosen, whose duty it should be 'to examine into, hear and finally determine all disputes and differences then existing or which thereafter might arise between settlers in relation to their claims,' and whose decisions with certain salutary checks were to be binding upon all parties and to be carried out at all hazards by the three departments of government consolidated in aid of the executive, in what jurists sometimes dominate the 'posse comitatus.' Each settler was solemnly pledged to protect every other settler in the association in the peace- able enjoyment of 'his or her claim as aforesaid,' and further, whoever throughout all Kishwaukee or the suburbs or coasts thereof should refuse to recognize the authority of the aforesaid association and render due obedience to the laws enacted by the same from time to time 'to promote the general welfare' should be deemed a heathen, a publican and an outlaw, with whom they were pledged to have no communication or fellowship. Thus was a wall affording protection to honest settlers built in troublous times. The thing worked like a charm and the value of these associations in northern Illinois to the infant settlements has never been overestimated. Similar associations were formed and maintained in Somonauk and other portions of the county. until the lands came into market. This event took place in Chicago in 1843. when the land was sold to the highest bidder ; that is, so far as 'terra firma' is concerned. The moral as well as the physical power of 'settlers' associations' was so great that if a speculator presumed to bid on a settler's claim he was certain to find himself 'knocked down and dragged out,' and had the land officer shown the least sympathy or favor to the 'rascal' there can be no doubt but what an indignant and outraged yeomanry would have literally torn the land office to fragments 'in no time.'"

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History of Kane County, Ill. Volume I, Part 6

Author: Joslyn, R. Waite (Rodolphus Waite), b. 1866 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1292

Author: Joslyn, R. Waite (Rodolphus Waite), b. 1866
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1292