USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 26
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28.4
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
EARLY AND MODERN CONDITIONS OF AGRICULTURE.
In the early history of the county swamps, marshes and ponds abounded where fertile and cultivated fields are the prevailing conditions at the present time. Settlers avoided the low and marshy tracts for the higher grounds. not only on account of the ever-present water, but for health purposes. The shack or cabin was generally constructed at or near a spring, and convenience alone was the prime purpose in the location of other structures. The corn- crib was as likely to be in close proximity to the front door as to be placed in the rear of the habitation. The latter was built of logs; the logs were usually "undressed." In most localities a fence enclosing the pioneer posses- sions was unknown; but at a late period the "worm" fence was erected to enclose the holding.
FARMING CONDITIONS IN THE TWENTIES.
Oliver H. Smith in his "Trials and Sketches of Early Indiana," presents a vivid picture of agricultural conditions as existed in Fayette county in the twenties. Since he was an actual resident of the county during that decade and was actually engaged in farming, his description of the conditions of that time merit inclusion in this chapter. To quote verbatim :
The finest farms around Connersville, in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, cleared, with orchards and common, were five and ten dollars per acre. I bought the fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres, adjoining Connersville, the same now (1857) the residence of Hon. Samuel W. Parker, of John Adair, of Brookville, for nine dollars per acre, in three annual installments without interest. The brick two-story dwelling in which I lived when I was elected to Congress, in the heart of Connersville, twenty-six feet front, well finished, with back kitchen, lot twenty-six by one hundred and eighty feet, good stable, I bought of Sydnor Dale for three hundred and twenty-five dollars-which was considered a high price at that time. The excellent farm over the hill below the town I bought of William Denman for five dollars per acre, in payments. There was very little money in the country, and produce was equally low in proportion. I bought the finest qualities of stall-fed beef and corn-fed hogs, for family use, at a cent and a half a pound; corn, ten cents; wheat. twenty-five cents per bushel; wood delivered and cut short at the door at a dollar per cord: boarding at common houses, with lodging, from a dollar to two dollars a week, and at the very best hotels at two dollars and a half. The first year I traveled the circuit my fees fell short of two hundred dollars, and the second, when they increased to three hundred, I felt as safe as a Stephen Girard. All of my wants were supplied. I owed nothing and had money in my pocket. No white man had settled more than five miles west of Connersville at that time.
EVIDENCES OF PROSPERITY.
285
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
FARMED ONLY FOR HOME REQUIREMENTS.
The soil was new and productive, but for a considerable number of years · the crops were not extensive. With markets placed at long distances, the pioneer was contented to produce for home requirements. Yet, his remote- ness from points where indispensable supplies were to be obtained, was a matter of no little concern to him. As the ground was cleared and the crops increased, the question of marketing became more acute, and the difficulty of getting the produce to the nearest market-then Cincinnati,-sixty miles dis- tant, was embarrassing. The crops had to be hauled over hill and through dale, the way being frequently impassable, as the roads were mere apologies for paths, with logs and underbrush cut away. Many days were consumed in making the journey and the farmer had little inducement to increase the output of his land beyond the home and immediate district demand. Writing of travel over those primitive roads, an early pioneer of Fayette county recorded the following :
Nothing was more common than to find by the wayside, at nearly every place where good water could be had, a camping ground where the weary wagoner had camped, as also had the emigrant and his family. They generally tied their horses to the wagon-tongue on which was fastened a feed-trough, which, when traveling. they carried swung to the hind-gate of their wagon, for the purpose of feeding their horses. They would build a fire by which to cook their scanty meal and. if night had overtaken them, the ground was their bed and the star-decked heaven their canopy. and fortunate would they consider themselves if they had a small bundle for a pillow.
The hoe or mattock was brought in service in the preparation of the ground for crops. The mattock, as some styled it, was a tool about two feet long, one end of which was a blade three inches wide, with a sharp steel edge. the other end being brought to a sharp edge intended to be used as an ax. Occasionally a field would be sown to produce what was termed "sick wheat." The latter has been described as being little different from wheat grown in later years, except in the appearance of a red spot on the grain, or an indication of sprouting. The cause for the wheat being so named has been attributed to the excess of vegetable matter in this locality, producing a surplus of straw and not unfrequently a kind of rot or blight in many of the wheat grains, which rendered it unfit for use, and was so named from the result on the stomach of one eating it.
Bacon sold at 21/2 cents per pound ; corn, 20 to 25 cents per bushel ; but there was a season of great scarcity when it sold for $1.25 per bushel. Butter for a long time sold for 3. 4 and 6 cents per pound. While produce was so
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286
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
low, the farmer had to pay 50 cents per yard for muslin, that later could be bought for 8 or 10 cents. Calicoes cost 371/2 cents per yard. The foregoing prices prevailed between 1810 and 1820. In the latter year oats sold at 8 cents per bushel. Doctor Mason, an early settler in the county, wrote on the foregoing subject as follows :
Corn was often sold at 6 cents a bushel and wheat at 25 cents; and it was difficult to get money at that, and then only in small amounts. Salt was frequently as high as $2.50 and $3 per bushel. When the farmer could sell his pork on foot at the rate of $1.50 per hundred, net weight, he felt rich and began to thrive.
. FARMING IMPLEMENTS OF PIONEER DAYS.
In pioneer days farming implements were few and of rude and simple construction, and could be made by an ordinary blacksmith. The plows used were the bar-share and the shovel. The iron part of the former 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 which passed through a beam six or seven feet long, to which were attached handles of equal length. The mould board was a wooden one split out of winding timber, or hewed into a winding shape in order to turn the soil over. The whole length of the plow was eight or ten feet. On this subject the following is gathered from the writing of a pioneer :
The old bar-share plow, with a coulter and wooden mould-board, was the best plow then in use, though by far the greater number used the shovel plow. . .. . The gearing or harness used by a majority of the pioneers was so novel in its construction that I must describe it. The bridle for the horse was an iron bit. the, balance being of small rope. The collar was made of shucks-the husks of corn. The hames were shaped out of a crooked oak or a hickory root, fastened at the top with a cord and at the bottom in the same way. The traces were of rope, the backbands being of tow cloth. The whiffletree or single tree was of wood with a notch on each end; the trace was hitched by a loop over the whiffletree and to the hames through a hole. The whiffletree was attached to the doubletree by a hickory withe, and sometimes by a wooden clevis made of two pieces of tough wood with wooden pin: the doubletree fastened to the end of the plowbeam by the same wooden form of clevis, and sometimes an iron one. To the rope bridle was attached a cord, called a single line. by which the horse was driven. By far the largest number of plow teams was only with a single horse, geared as before described and hitched to the shovel plow; the ground broken up, crossed off and tended by the same plow and horse.
In the early history of this section the land was much better adapted to corn than small grain, especially wheat, owing to the excess of vegetable mat- ter in the soil. When the ground had become cleared of roots and other obstacles, the land admitted of the harrow, which implement was triangular in form, resembling the letter A: the teeth were as heavy again as those in
287
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
later use in order to withstand the effects of collision with roots and stumps. The introduction of the cast-iron plow was slow; the harrow was improved, the cultivator invented; drills for sowing and planting came into use, as did other labor-saving implements, and the whole aspect of farming transformed.
STRIKING CONTRAST TO PRESENT METHODS.
For cutting grain the sickle was first used, and was succeeded by a larger implement-the cradle-which came into use about 1825. The cradle was gradually superseded by the reaper, and mowers took the place of the scythe. The first reaping machines merely cut the grain; a rake was necessary to gather the grain into sheaves, ready for the binder. Self-raking machines soon followed, and about 1878 self-binding machines were introduced. Grain was threshed with a flail, which, in its rudest form, was made of a hickory sapling about two inches thick and seven feet long. The grain was then beaten on the ground, if there was no barn floor. Another of the old-fash- ioned methods of threshing the grain, and the most common, was by tramping it out with horses.' There were no fanning-mills to separate the grain from the chaff. To raise the wind a linen sheet was held at the corners by two men, and by a semi-rotary motion the chaff was driven from the falling grain, the pure wheat lying in a pile, ready to be garnered. The sheet process was at length succeeded by the fanning-mill. This slow method of separating the grain has passed into oblivion, and the steam-power threshing machine took its place, by which the grain is not only separated from the chaff, but the latter is carried off and the straw borne to the. stack at the same time. single machine now receives the sheaves and delivers the cleaned grain at the rate of several hundred bushels a day. How wonderfully striking is the change. A lad of ten years can mow up to one hundred acres of meadow in an ordinary haying season, and the hay is all raked during the same time by a single hand.
Our forefathers followed their agricultural pursuits on foot and all the labor was done by hand. the results being small and the physical exhaustion much. Nowadays, all farm work is done by machinery-plowing, planting. cutting, husking and tying. . Potatoes are now planted by a sower and dug by machinery, as are also sown the plants from which springs the succulent tomato. In short, present-day labor-saving devices operated on farms enable work to be performed in much less than half the time devoted to the same work fifty years ago. Persons familiar with the modern gasoline tractor, are aware of its value in farming operations: the tractor was unknown twenty
288
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
years ago. Haybaling, shredding of fodder and storage of ensilage have made it possible for the farmer to utilize to the best advantage all of his for- age crops.
The development of the canning industry led to the cultivation of the tomato on a larger scale, to meet growing public demand for that edible. The farmer, who formerly cultivated perhaps two dozen tomato plants in his garden, is now devoting anything from a half-acre to three acres to the pro- duction of this fruit, which is in demand on every breakfast table. In like manner, the invention of the cream separator has revolutionized the dairy industry, and has induced the farmer to increase his cattle stock for milk purposes, being always assured that milk supplies will be received at the local creamery, or find a ready market in the cities.
CATTLE.
Many early immigrants to Fayette county brought cattle with them ; especially did those coming from Ohio and Kentucky, bring a cow or two. Cattle were also brought from various other quarters, and though of common class, in every way sufficed the wants and answered the purposes of pioneer times. The cattle of the early farmers were suffered to roam at large, and they went through the woods and uncultivated grounds, browsing for their living, and by this means some of the native grasses were extirpated by being trampled down and cropped off early in the season, before giving the seeds time to form. Few buildings sheltered the herds from the cold and piercing winds, the deep snows and chilling rains of the winters. They hovered around the stacks of wheat straw, which served the double purpose of shelter and subsistence. After corn husking in the fall, they were given these fields to forage for food, and occasionally unhusked corn was thrown to them, the ground being the feeding trough.
An improved breed of cattle was brought at an early day to Fayette county from Kentucky and Ohio. Early in the history of southwestern Ohio the Shakers at Union village, in Warren county, were in possession of some of the first descendants of the Kentucky importation of English cattle, and to that locality importations of thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle direct from Scot- land were made in 1854. Cattle from Union village were brought to Fayette county, but at what date there is no evidence to show. Newton Claypool. Gen. William Caldwell and William Daily, about the year . 1838, purchased in Kentucky three heifers and one bull, which they brought to Fayette county, and which were descendants of the Shorthorn cattle of 1837. The bull was in
ACME FATTO
CATTLE ON THE EDWIN M. STONE. FARM.
S
A GROUP OF THOROUGHBREDS.
PRIZE CORN.
CAJA
MORTGAGE LIFTERS.
289
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
joint ownership of the three men, and there being but one Democrat in the number, he insisted on naming the animal, which was consented to, and the bull was christened "Van Buren." At a time subsequent to the purchase just mentioned, the man of whom the cattle were bought, brought a large drove of the same Shorthorn breed to this locality, and at a still later period the Hon. W. W. Thrasher purchased a Shorthorn bull and two cows from one Cunningham, who resided near Lexington, Kentucky, and brought them to Fayette county. In 1853 Isaac B. Loder, James McCollem and Mr. Train brought from near Lexington, Kentucky, several thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle, and with them was the bull named "Bellmont." The Shorthorn breed is now to be found in almost every locality.
In the seventies Jersey cattle were introduced, and this breed is in favor with many, owing to the richness of the milk and its properties for butter- making. At a former day the Devon breed were raised to some extent in this county, but were not very popular, being wanting in size for beef cattle, and they never became numerous.
HORSES.
Fayette county has a just claim for a high grade in horse-flesh. How- ever, in the early days of the county's history, oxen were more in use for agricultural work than was the horse, the sustaining qualities of the ox prov- ing more valuable in the heavy labor of clearing the ground for tillage.
Among some of the early breeds of horses in the county was "Kentucky Whip," a blood bay horse, with black legs, mane and tail; this animal was advertised in Connersville in 1829. In 1832 Merril Williams advertised "Hilander," an iron-gray, standing sixteen hands high. About the same period was introduced into the county a horse styled "Comet," and "Top Gallant" was another of the early horses at Connersville. The latter was in charge of John and Lot Abraham, and was described as "a dark chestnut sor- rel, sixteen hands high, lofty carriage and a good mover." He was first brought from Georgia to Butler county, Ohio, by a Mr. Titsworth; was sired by the imported horse, "Matchless Bob"; his dam by the imported horse, "Mast," and his granddam by the imported horse, "Diamond." The im- provements in the horse are largely due to the infusion of the blood of the thoroughbred ; the strains of blood have not been kept distinct, but the tend- ency has been to blend it with the stock already in use.
Towards the late forties, the Norman and Clydesdale stocks were intro- (19)
290
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
duced into Fayette county, A report issued in 1852 by the state board of agriculture, showed that there were upwards of six thousand horses in the county at that date; that the quality all round was excellent, and the prices high-ranging from one hundred to two hundred dollars for good geldings, and mares in proportion.
HOGS.
Referring to the quality of the hogs of the early settlers, a writer of the period gives the following description :
They were long and slim, long-snouted and long-legged, with an arched back and bristles erect from the back of the head to the tail, slab-sided, active and healthy. The "sapling-splitter" and "razor-hack," as he was called, was ever in search for food, and quick to take alarm. He was capable of making a heavy hog, bnt required two years or more to mature; and until a short time before butchering or marketing was suffered to run at large, subsisting mainly as a forager, and in the fall fattening on the "mast."
Probably no change wrought in the stock of the farmer is so marked as in this animal. Those of today mature early and are almost the reverse of the "razor-back," having a small head, small ear, short neck, with a long body and hams, and in general shape are almost square, and are capable of taking on two hundred and fifty pounds of flesh in eight or ten months.
It is thought that one Jeremiah May was the first to introduce the breed of hog known as "Poland-China" into Fayette county about the year 1832, and with little exception this breed has been the most extensively raised in this section ever since. Matthew R. Hull, a resident of the county in 1851, gave the following description of this breed :
The Poland, crossed upon the Byfield and Russian, exceed all others for beauty, size and profit. They are a good grass hog, and are sufficiently lively and industrious to make a good living off good pasture. They mature early, have a small head, small ears, short neck, thick shoulder, long body aud long ham, and are capable of bearing more fat than any other kind we have had among us. They are familiarly known as the "Warren county hog." Some of these hogs turn the scale at four hundred and ten pounds.
There was a belief expressed in 1872 that the word "Poland" as applied to these hogs was a misnomer. It is believed to have originated from the fact that a Polander residing in Hamilton county, purchased some of the breed many years ago and disposed of them to purchasers who named them Poland or Polander hogs. The national convention of swine breeders of 1872 re- tained this misnomer for the reason that the great mass of breeders had been
291
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
so calling them for several years prior to the date of convention, and to change a name generally used is difficult.
Thousands of hogs were annually slaughtered and packed, and quite an extensive pork market was carried on at Connersville for many years. The report of the state board of agriculture for 1852 states :
Twenty-two thousand hogs have been slaughtered and packed at Connersville dur- ing the past season, which will average two hundred and twenty pounds per head, for which the average price paid was $5.50 per hundred.
The hog-packing industry has not been active in Connersville for many years. The 1916 report of the county assessor showed a total of 25,138 hogs in the county at that time. With the price of hogs around ten cents a pound during 1916, the farmers find hog raising more profitable than ever before.
SHEEP.
In the decade between 1830 and 1840, W. W. Thrasher, who lived on the western edge of Fayette county, brought some fine sheep to that section from near Lexington, Kentucky, of the breed known as "Cotswold," which were among the first fine-wool sheep introduced into the county. For a long period Mr. Thrasher continued to breed this variety and raised and sold thousands.
In 1852 the total number of sheep in the county was estimated at fifteen thousand. At that time much interest was manifested in the growing of wool, and an encouraging number of valnable breeds had been imported and propa- gated. The price of the common breeds was from one dollar to one dollar and fifty cents per head. For 1870 there were reported eight thousand one hundred and five head of sheep in the county, and for 1877 only three thou- sand nine hundred and eighty-nine head. In 1878 the Fayette County Agri- cultural Society reported that the wool-growing interest of the county "was on the wane."
Undoubtedly the decrease in the number of sheep in the county is largely due to the disappearance of the local woolen factories. While sixty years ago there were fifteen thousand sheep in the county, the county assessor's report for 1916 shows a total of only 2,476, a fourth of which (589) were credited to Posey township alone. These figures indicate that there are only about one-seventh as many sheep at the present time in the county as there were in the days when the local woolen mills were in operation. It may safely be said that the abandonment of the mills, together with the fact that the farmers found that other live stock was more profitable or
292
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
that the land used for sheep-raising purposes would yield a greater return under tillage, fully explains the heavy decrease in the number of sheep now raised in the county.
REPORT OF COUNTY ASSESSOR FOR YEAR ENDING JUNE, 1916.
Farms. Horses.
Cattle.
Sheep.
Hogs.
Autos.
Connersville city
240
6
6
285
Connersville township
II4
659
1,333
190
3,568
45
Jennings
80
475
654
307
2,446
44
Jackson
106
605
I,II7
188
2,746
30
Columbia
75
350
614
94
1,696
21
Orange
85
513
735
182
1,990
3I
Harrison
II2
662
1,287
5II
4,468
53
Posey
IIO
657
841
589
4,014
51
Waterloo
1
1
70
327
714
I77
1,714
23
Fairview
74
398
537
228
2,458
3I
East Connersville.
38
18
5
I5
Connersville ( Harrison
township)
15
25I
I
8
Total
826
4,939
1,857
2,476
25,138
643
1
REGISTERED FARM NAMES.
One of the innovations of recent years in agricultural circles is the registration of farm names. The Legislature in 1913 passed a law which provided "That any owner of a farm in the State of Indiana may have the name of his farm, together with a description of his lands to which said name applies, recorded in a register kept for that purpose in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the said farm is located." For the privilege of having this official recognition the farmer must pay one dollar.
Since this law has been passed nineteen farmers of Fayette county have taken advantage of its provisions, the last registration being dated October II, 1916. The complete list of registrations follows:
August 28, 1913-Katherine F. Bailey, "The Pines."
August 28, 1913-Orris S. Ludlow, "Cosey Lawn."
August 28, 1913-T. C. McBurney, "Summit Farm."
August 28, 1913-J. H. Fearis, "Meadow Brook Farm."
1
I
293
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
August 28, 1913-Effie B. Trusler, "Spring Dale."
August 28, 1913-Prof. John C. Bush, "Glen Bush."
September 5, 1913-Emery A. Scholl, "Pleasant View Farm."
September 5, 1913-George Ostheimer, "Park Place."
October 6, 1913-Mary Coin, "Sunny Side."
November 8, 1913-Theodore E. Murphy, "Maple Lawn."
June 14, 1914-William C. Basse, "Bassdale."
August 4, 1914-Peter Fiant, "Maple Grove."
October 22, 1914-Charles Newland, "Grand View."
November 23, 1914-John J. Henwood, "Hill Crest Fruit Farm."
January 8, 1916-Martha H. Ludlow, "Whispering Pines."
March 23, 1916-Buell J. Thomas Estate, "Brookdale."
July 3, 1916-A. Wildridge, "Spring Valley."
July 22, 1916-Elisha Williams, "Pine Lawn Stock Farm."
October 11, 1916-Anna Henry, "Highland Farm."
COUNTY AGENT.
One of the latest innovations in agricultural affairs is the establishment of an office whose duties are concerned altogether with the farmers. The General Assembly of Indiana, by the act of February 22, 1913, provided for an official to be known as the county agent. The law provided that the state would guarantee a part of the salary of the office, while the counties should raise the remainder by public subscription. Furthermore, the official must be recommended by the agricultural department of Purdue University before he can be elected by the county board of education. After this recom- mendation by Purdue the local authorities have the right to accept or reject the man proposed. Many counties of the state have taken advantage of the law and employed county agents and the experience of the past three years of those counties which have employed county agents indicates that the work of the agent is being appreciated by the farmers.
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