USA > Indiana > Grant County > Centennial history of Grant County, Indiana, 1812 to 1912 : compiled from records of the Grant county historical society, archives of the county, data of personal interviews, and other authentic sources of local information > Part 53
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While the annual reunion is a little hard on the old time custom of family visiting, relatives do meet each other once a year and the aunmal recurrence is a pleasant prospect in many households. Many families meet on anniversary occasions-the birthday of the senior relative, and meetings are held where it best suits the older members sometimes at old family homesteads surrounded by all the family traditions, even though in some instances strangers live there. The organized family is a miniature historical society, the historian and correspondent discover ing many "ties that bind," and every child has a right to know its lineal descent-to be well born. The importance of fortunate parentage and of right surroundings in the home are beyond exaggeration, and upon this institution have been concentrated the wisest and strongest efforts of the church and of all reformatory organizations. "The family as an actual institution is a social group consisting of a man, his wife (or wives) and their children, with an outer circle of kindred of unver- tain extent. In some cases the conception is wider, including pious reference to former generations, and a consideration of generations yet. to come," and greater than the family is society, the community, the state-the family the component part of all.
A pioneer would not trace his ancestry, saying he might be descended from a toad, and when his son first heard the theory of evolution he admitted: "You may be descended from an ape, but I am not, " and thus people know too little of their own origin unless they meet together and thus discover "Who's who" for themselves. Macaulay says: 2.1 people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendants," and Emerson declares: "Biography is the only true history." It is and ought to be a reproach not to know one's family history, and one thing taught by the Revolutionary Sons and Daughters is pride in ancestry-many an unmarked grave having been discovered in an effort to enroll as a patriot.
Maybe some are unduly proud of their lineage-Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and one trouble with some people of good families is their constant fear that others will forget about it unless frequently reminded of it. They are not very secure in their family traditions. Why should a family be more concerned about its ancestry than its posterity ? Why should the social structure be builded so high that the man of humble birth cannot mount it ? Why should not all rise to the top of it ? There are stratas of birth, privilege, prejudice and tradition, and family rela- tion does not overcome all. This is the country of self made men, although some cannot carry their families with them in the ascent of the Jadder of prosperity. Why should their families drag them to lower levels? Is there any eall for one American being ashamed of another?
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Human nature changes but little as the centuries go by, and some families boast while others are modest-both heredity and environment entering into the consideration.
History may be clothed in figure and the reader grasp the facts most readily, and while there may be skeletons in many closets there is no call for parading them. Things best not put into print happen in every community, and the family circle is a saered precinet. While some families are as oil and water-will not mix, others are a unit in every- thing. Perhaps like other fads, family reunions will have their day will run their course-but they have served an excellent purpose in that relatives know more about each other. They have picked up articles from the dinner table that have been returned the next year to the owners. and all have had good times together. When people were debt-ridden, and were still paying for their homes, they had little inclination socially, and did not meet offen together. While anniversaries have always been family affairs, the social reunion has not been an element of community life only within the present century.
The county fair used to serve a similar purpose- was the social opportunity for all, when farmers would come in wagons and bring their dinners, and cared less for pumpkins always than for sering cach other. Transportation was an agency in the change, and people come together easily now. The fairs are different -not the social event of the past. For years there was no fair, and family reunions sprang into existence to fill the social need-loyalty to relationship. When there was nowhere else to go all went to the fairs and appreciated them. Since cursory study need not mean profane history, this delving into family origin becomes saered research and while affinity does not always mean family, there is such a thing as felicity in the marriage relation. There are love marriages, and there are economic adjustments marry for money and sentiment takes care of itself, and it is often easier to work for riches and keep the fortune in the family is the plan sometimes. The buteher, the baker and the candlestickmaker of the past who were such a composite family support have entered into the world combines- every- thing a trust, and through manipulation some of them have accumulated wealth, but the family remains an independent structure, although its "housban" may have passed from the reahn of literature -who knows of the butcher, the baker and the candlestickmaker today !
While families were poor and in debt they did not plan many pleas- ures, Imt as their fortunes have been better they have inclined to sociabil- ity. Who said anything about old-fashioned hospitality ? Is the old time happy family-father, mother and a dozen children-passing in pano- rama and leaving nothing in place of it? In the course of nature there is such a thing as a happy old age, and these ammal family gatherings usually do honor to some patriarch in the family circle. On account of association reunions in old homesteads may mean more to old persons, but the public park offers inducements-is a public utility. Family customs change and families are different. Time was when a death occurred obituary notices in black borders were printed and left at every door, but the daily paper and telephone have rendered that custom obsolete. and the card of thanks is seldom published as it was a willing service always returned in due time in every community. The bell used to toll, and before it was done ringing people inquired who was passing from earth, but now that isolation has been overcome by the forward strides in civilization that doleful sound is seldom heard only as the cortege is arriving and leaving the church, and in time the toll of the bell will no longer be associated with that sad hour in every family history. The genealogy of the family should be known to all and family records are
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not accidentally preserved-are the result of knowledge and careful forethought.
There is system in many families in preserving records and perpetuat . ing family history. The Carey family, which lays claim to priority in park reunions in Grant county, met first August 25, 1902, on the birth- day anniversary of its oldest member, Dr. Isaac Carey, who was born in 1812, and the James annual family gathering was in the same year and perhaps no other Grant county family has as complete a record and system of showing blood lines in the relationship. If the organized family is the very foundation of good government, then the Grant county hosts mean much in political economy. Carey, James. Overman, Bradford, Collins, Thomas, Doyle, Boller, Pulley, Farr, Hays, Renbarger, Bechtol, Stevens, Jay-Jones, Holloway, Nelson, Ferguson, Rennaker, Creviston, Williams, Boxell, Love. Pence, Richards, Leach. Havens, Nottingham, Palmer, Ray. Edgerton, Dooley, Ham, Woodmansee, Haines- Whiteneck, Starbuck, Duling, Winger.
While the organized family is a factor, the organized community is also to be reckoned with-influences reaching beyond immediate family cireles. The Adams County Buckeyes hold annual reunions, people com- ing together in Matter Park who never knew each other among the Ohio hills, and the North Carolinians-they are as the promised seed of Mara- ham in Grant county. The Virginians frequently rally forces, and the Xenia Exiles are Marion families hailing from Converse who meet in ammal reunion. The Big Four -- Baldwin, Bogne, Hill. Wilson family is so interwoven with other well known families that it means a large company assembled in annual reunion, and considerable history has been the result of the family association. The Octogenarian Chib and Golden Wedding Circle-Old Folks' day-is when all are attracted to the most- ings. as there are no limitations, the old people having friends of all ages who enjoy seeing them together, and the Kieffer Class reunions, although meeting in the country, in the vicinity of its activities along in the seventies, when its members sang together, attracts a great many visitors. The organized family and the organized community have had their place in local affairs since the advent of the twentieth century and none Forget the day of the annual meeting.
LV. ANTEBELLI'M SOCIETY IN GRANT COUNTY
By Mrs. Lydia Frazier Sugar
Explanatory word. In the chapter : "The Farm and the House" in "Three Farms," John Matter's latest book. is the line: "The man who built this house and lived therein until he died has left something of his personality. He was a friendly man, I think, for the house has for me the face of a friend. Through a long acquaintance it has tranquilly preserved its friendliness. The years have come and gone and I with them, but the stamp of the builder to me still is present and unblurred. Hle wrought better than his times. Sixty years ago Indiana was not the pleasant garden of today. The log cabins and rail fences of the pioneer period are vanishing: the swamps are drained. the fields filled, the encumbering timber cleared away-Alas! where at the walnut trees of yesterday ? Along the pikes are telephone poles; within the barus stand improved tools of intricate parts and diverse functions; anto- mobiles pass the rural delivery postman ; cement and silos, alfalfa and the markets of Chicago are discussed. Throughout this change my
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friend, the country house has remained unchanged, " and because it was the birthplace of the woman whose name stands at the head of the chapter, it seems irresistible -why not use the quotation ?
Nathan Way Frazier was a Grant county pioneer, and in 1813 he began building the brick house on the Frazier farm adjoining Matter Park. As he could afford it he added rooms during a period of thirty years until in 1873 it was completed as it now stands -a very unusual country house for the time. Mrs. Sergar was born in this house in 1911. when it had only one finished room, her mother, Martha Boots, being the second wife of Mr. Frazier, whose name will always live in conter- tion with the house he built. In his book Mr. Matter says: "We have known each other for long years, this reticent house and 1. As a boy I often sat on the stone steps and looked across the fields to the thickets bordering the Mississinewa, " and because the old-fashioned house built to accommodate a large pioneer family has not all been used by tenants since the Frazier farm has been owned by Philip Matter, and the Frazier parlor has been the Matter granary, the following line from the book is opportune. "Upon the floor in the center bags of seed wheat and a trickle of kernels from a rent sack; upon the wrecked hearth, nothing. No andirons, no split wood; nothing save a thin of gray ash. Once a parlor this room was now a granary. My heart ran more easily when I closed the door and hastened into the sun light. That room suffered, I was sure. It desired the guests of winter nights when apples were handed around, when cider pitchers went bottoms up many times, and the jokes that only the neighborhood was capable of understanding." and all this serves to introduce " Antebellum Society, " as remembered by one horn in this house now famous in story.
No longer young and not addicted to writing, Mrs. Scogar reflects the community life while she lived at this old farm as follows: Health, wealth and duty-this is life. In looking over the past and recounting its ups and downs. we realize the many advantages we have today. If we could only recall those days when we had so many good times, meeting at one another's houses and spending the day, how we would all enjoy it. We realize that there are many better ways of living than we knew in the past, and yet we enjoyed it.
Then were busy, strenuous days and ways. The one goal before the early settler was his home in the wilderness-the new country. People then helped one another to do as you would be done by, helped their neighbors and in doing so helped themselves, and honesty was always the best policy. There was more said about honesty that long ago. Our forefathers taught us the power of endurance. In the strenuous, labori- ons life they lived, they endured all kinds of privations. They taught their children the value of honesty, industry, virtue, love and sobriety.
Society in the country in the early fifties was very different from what it is to-day with the telephone, the electric cars, the free delivery of mail, automobiles as common as in the city with improvements generally. In those days the men and women enjoyed their clubs-they did not say clubs, but their entertainments, their teas, their parties, and their sew- ing societies, and they gained much pleasure from them.
The men's clubs-they clubbed together rolling logs in great heaps to clear the land and make it possible to farm it and make homes. Another frequent gathering was at a sick neighbor's or a widow woman's home with their teams and implements (this idea has been carried over to the present day in Grant county ), to take care of the crop and provide wood that they might have provision and keep from freezing in the long winters. Another neighborhood diversion-the men would all meet and eut, hew and put up a log house for a newcomer and neighbor. How
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many times I have seen that done in Grant county. There was such a fine neighborly spirit-such hospitality.
Another great event was the barn raising of heavy timbers requiring thirty or forty strong men to put them in place. No modern society gathering of to-day has a better time, more real pleasure or more good things to satisfy the inner man than were provided by the good wives and daughters who were always included in the invitation. If any one were left out, no society lady of to-day could feel it more keenly. The younger ones came in for the most interesting part in the evenings, when the tallow candles or the sperm off lamps were lighted, and all gathered around the blazing log fire to enjoy one another's society.
Still another society event was the husking bre, and the one husking the most corn in a given time got the prize, consisting of hearing his praises sung, and consequently having his choice of the prettiest girl, to his thinking-choose ber himself. Not many farmers had barns and the corn was husked under straw sheds, and the men knew when not to smoke -- not so many smoked then. All had a good time together. The quilting bee was another society event. Two or more quilts were put into the big, square frames and every woman for miles around was invited to come on a certain day. Twenty-five or thirty women could get around these quilts, and the side ready to roll first got the prize -- honor only.
One of the most important features of these gatherings was the group of picked cooks in the kitchen. It was always known who were the best cooks in the neighborhood, and they were sent to cook the dinner. a bountiful diner for all, including children. While the children always had to wait, none waited hungry. It was nothing uncommon to have a joint of meat boiled with potatoes and cabbage with three or four kinds of pie for "trimmings, " and there were no nervous women. While my mother always had a cook stove, many of her friends cooked before the tire, and prepared everything that way. The husbands all came for sup- per and spent the evenings, staying until bed time, relating their ex- periences, giving and taking wholesome advice and imparting a knowl- edge of their ancestry, then all vieing with each other as to what family should be permitted to have the next gathering.
The wool picking was another great event in society. Many fleeces fresh clipped from the sheep would occupy the center of the big living room-often the only room in the house-and every woman and child would vie with each other as to who could pile up the billowy wool in greatest quantity, picked and pulled with every particle of dirt taken out of it. The one getting the most in the best condition got the prize, hearing her praises sung, having the honored place at the bountiful din- ner, or carving the largest cake-affording as much pleasure as a eut glass dish or a piece of hand-painted china in these days. When we were children mother used to bring in a sheet full of wool, and we had tasks to do -so much wool to be picked in a day. Many a time I have fallen asleep picking wool, and mother would send us out to play, then call us, as we must pick our amount that day. Children all had tasks.
The apple cuttings, when tubs and baskets of the best apples would be prepared, knives sharpened and the young people far and near be invited to come, peel and core the apples ready for drying for future use in winter. I have seen barrels and barrels of apples prepared in this way. Very much amusement was derived from these apple cuttings, counting the seeds, etc., and all in a hurry to get done. Then came the old-time party, when all kinds of innocent games were played, cake and eider were served and a general good time all round, affording as much pleasure and being as big an event as a Beta or Phi Delta Kappa dance at the Commercial or Country Club to-day. This always ended by the
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fellows taking their best girls home-perhaps on horseback, the girl sit- ting behind and of course the fellow must hold her hand to keep her from slipping off.
People in the country were very busy during the week in those days. They made much of the material for their clothing, cut and made all of their apparel without the aid of sewing machines, and the hum of the spiming wheel was the music they enjoyed, as it was the sound of pros- perity. They did most of their visiting on Sunday, when father, mother and all the younger children would go to church, traveling many miles in the big wagon over corduroy roads, and very seldom a family went home alone. They would exchange visits, three or four families going to one home or another and enjoying a plain but bountiful dinner together, gotten up by all helping and served from such wholesome productions as the farm afforded, never wanting in quality or quantity. The children were always included in the invitation, being under the watchful care and guidance of their fathers and mothers, but admonished always that older people came tirst for consideration, and obedience was one of the greatest virtues. In this one phase of life, probably one sees the most of change, as in many homes now the children are wout to die- tate and decide what is etiquette for the parents.
The singing schools of those days were a great diversion among the young people. In these they gained much needed knowledge and a great deal of pleasure, besides throwing off the timidity of their quiet lives and the opportunity of mixing with others, and many times these were the culmination of the greatest of blessing true love.
[ From the Coggeshall diary. | In line with this Antebellum Society chapter is the diary left by the late Nathan Coggeshall, who in his time was a well known citizen, and he had much to do with carly day local affairs. Ilis ancestry left England on account of perscention and came to Nantucket Island, where Quakers were allowed freedom to worship God, and while Mr. Coggeshall was a married man when he came to Grant county, his story of the rural school should have a place in history.
"In my early life school advantages were very poor. We generally had school about three months in a year. I was the oldest and did not get to go very much. We paid $1.50 a scholar for the term, and there would be from twenty-five to thirty subscribed. This amount made up the teacher's salary. He expected nothing more than what he received in that way, except that he boarded around with the scholars, which was to him the same as additional salary.
"It a teacher was welt educated he stood high in the community, and commanded a better salary by being able to get a larger school. Our schoolhouses were log cabins. They were made with a fireplace in one end about six feet wide, so we could roll in a big log and fill in with smaller pieces, and how the fire would crackle. The seats consisted of benches made ont of slabs, and when we got too cold we had to stand by the fire and warm one side a while and then the other. For windows we generally had a log out out and oiled paper put in. We were limited in our books. I never saw a geography until I bought one for my own children. About the only subjects taught were arithmetic, spelling and reading, but spelling was the main study, and when any of the scholars got as high as the double rule of three in the arithmetic they were con- sidered well advanced. Some few studied grammar.
"We would have spelling matches, where we would spell for head. Sometimes there would be two classes, the big class and the little class, and it was considered a great accomplishment to be able to stand at the head. We did not have any recess until noon, when we played town ball, which was about the same as base ball to-day. Sometimes the
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scholars needed punishment, and as a general rule they were governed by the understanding that if they misbehaved the whip would be used, and it was used quite freely. When the country was new we lived in log cabins, usually of only one room with occasionally a log partition making two rooms. There was a fireplace at one end, and if it was a large house the opening was about eight feet wide, so that when the jambs were in it would accommodate about a six foot log. It was cook, eat, drink, smoke and sleep in the same room. Some houses had a toft and a ladder, with the beds in the loft.
"We had an abundance to eat, the best corn pone, butter, milk and hominy, and sometimes venison. We did not have fresh meat then like we have now, as we did not have any ice to keep it through the summer. About the New Year we killed our beef and hogs. We pickled about three hundred pounds of beef, and salted about six hundred or eight hundred pounds of pork and made bacon of it, which would have to last until the next hog killing time. Our rules at the table were to quietly and secretly return thanks for material blessings. The people were very hospitable and fed everybody that came along. It was a great deal bet ter in this country seventy years ago than now about hospitality, but we never had tramps. We did not have a regular time for family wor- ship, and the young people were not taught the Scriptures as now. Christ was very seldom mentioned, but the people went as far as they had light and tried to do His will. The feeling between parents and children was about the same as now. My mother was my teacher in all religious matters.
"Seventy-five or eighty years ago it was considered the right thing to have some liquor in the house to use as medicine, and every individual took it more or less without any conscientious seruples against it. We had liquor at our home, which my father would give us to drink. We thought it was all right, but mother said never to take any except what was just enough for medicine. Only onee in a while would we see a drunk man, as the liquor was so much better-was not poison as it is now. Friends were very striet about their furniture. I have known them to get np in meeting and preach against mecessary and expensive furniture, turned bed posts as an example, which were considered superfluous, and plain ones would do just as well. It was not thought advisable to have gaudy or flashy colors, such as striped carpets and clothing. or flowered and Hashy tea ware. Neckties and buttons on the coat behind were very objectionable, and if a young man had a handkerchief around his neck he was talked about, and at some places il a boy wore a cap instead of a hat he was not allowed to go to school. I have known the preacher to go to church without any coat or vest and some friends to go to meeting bare-footed, while some of the young women, when they had quite a distance to walk to meeting. would carry their shoes and put them on when they got close to the meeting house. As a general ยท rule we made our own clothing, and when a young woman could afford a calico dress instead of a home-made one to wear to meeting, it was considered quite a fine outfit and was well taken care of, but they had to wear plain bonnets or they were brought under censure.
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