USA > Indiana > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Indiana > Part 23
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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.
MILLING.
Not the least of the hardships of the pioneers was the procur- ing of bread. The first settlers must be supplied at least one year from other sources than their own lands; but the first crops, how- ever abundant, gave only partial relief, there being no mills to grind the grain. Hence the necessity of grinding by hand-power, and many 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, bent into. a semicircular form, and nailed, 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 ways.
Soon after the country became more generally settled, enter- prising men were ready to embark in the milling business. Sites along the streams were selected for water-power. A person looking for a mill-site would follow up and down the stream for a desired 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 per- son's land where the miller thought the site desirable.
AGRICULTURAL 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 con- sisted 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 seven feet long, to which were attached handles of corresponding length. The mold-board was a wooden one split out of winding timber, 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 harvest-
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ing the change is most striking. Instead of the reapers and mow- ers of to-day, the sickle and cradle were used. The grain was threshed with a flail, or trodden out by horses or oxen.
HOG 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 "kill hogs." Immense kettles of water were heated; a sled or two, covered with loose boards or plank, con- stituted the platform on which the hog was cleaned, and was placed near an inclined hogshead in which the scalding was done; a quilt was thrown over the top of the latter to retain the heat; from a crotch of some convenient tree a projecting pole was rigged to hold the animals for disemboweling and thorough cleaning. When everything was arranged, the best shot of the neighborhood loaded his rifle, and the work of killing was commenced. It was consid- ered a disgrace to make a hog "squeal" by bad shooting or by a "shoulder stick," that is running the point of the butcher-knife into the shoulder instead of the cavity of the beast. As each hog fell, the "sticker" mounted him and plunged the butcher-knife, long and well sharpened, into his throat; two persons would then catch him by the hind legs, draw him up to the scalding tub, which had just been filled with boiling-hot water with a shovelful of good green wood ashes thrown in; in this the carcass was plunged and moved around a minute or so, that is, until the hair would slip off easily, then placed on the platform where the cleaners would pitch into him with all their might and clean him as quickly as possible, with knives and other sharp-edged implements; then two stout fellows would take him up between them, and a third man to manage the "gambrel" (which was a stout stick about two feet long, sharpened at both ends, to be inserted between the muscles of the hind legs at or near the hock joint), the animal would be elevated to the pole, where the work of cleaning was finished.
After the slaughter was over and the hogs had had time to cool, such as were intended for domestic use were cut up, the lard "tried" out by the women of the household, and the surplus hogs taken to market, while the weather was cold, if possible. In those days almost every merchant had, at the rear end of his place of
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business or at some convenient building, a " pork-house," and would buy the pork of his customers and of such others as would sell to him, and cut it for the market. This gave employment to a large number of hands in every village, who would cut and pack pork all winter. The hanling of all this to the river would also give employment to a large number of teams, and the manufacture of pork barrels would keep many coopers employed.
Allowing for the difference of currency and manner of market- ing, the price of pork was not so high in those days as at present. Now, while calico and muslin are eight cents a yard and pork is tive and six cents a pound, then, while calico and musliu were twenty-five cents a yard pork was one to two cents a pound. When, as the country grew older and communications easier between the seaboard and the great West, priccs went up to two and a half and three cents a pound, the farmers thought they would always be content to raise pork at such a price; but times have changed, even con- trary to the current-cy.
There was one feature in this method of marketing pork that made the country a paradise for the poor man in the winter time. Spare-ribs, tenderloins, pigs' heads and pigs' feet were not con- sidered of any value, and were freely given to all who could use them. If a barrel was taken to any pork-house and salt furnished, the barrel would be filled and salted down with tenderloins and spare-ribs gratuitously. So great in many cases was the quantity of spareribs, etc., to be disposed of, that they would be hauled away in wagon-loads and dumped in the woods out of town.
In those early times much wheat was marketed at twenty-five to fifty cents a bushel, oats the same or less, and corn ten cents a bushel. A good young milch-cow could be bought for $5 to $10, and that payable in work.
Those might truly be called "close times," yet the citizens of the country were accommodating, and but very little suffering for the actual necessities of life was ever known to exist.
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PRAIRIE FIRES.
Fires, set ont by Indians or settlers, sometimes purposely and sometimes permitted through carelessness, would visit the prairies every autumn, and sometimes the forests, either in autumn or spring, and settlers could not always succeed in defending them- selves against the destroying element. Many interesting incidents are related. Often a fire was started to bewilder game, or to bare
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a piece of ground for the early grazing of stock the ensuing spring, and it would get away under a wind, and soon be beyond control. Violent winds would often arise and drive the flames with such rapidity that riders on the fleetest steeds could scarcely escape. On the approach of a prairie fire the farmer would immediately set about "cutting off supplies " for the devouring enemy by a " back fire." Thus, by starting a small fire near the bare ground about his premises, and keeping it under control next his property, he would burn off a strip around him and prevent the attack of the on-coming flames. A few furrows or a ditch around the farm con- stituted a help in the work of protection.
An original prairie of tall and exuberant grass on fire, especially at night, was a magnificent spectacle, enjoyed only by the pioneer. Here is an instance where the frontiersman, proverbially deprived of the sights and pleasures of an old community, is privileged far beyond the people of the present day in this country. One could scarcely tire of beholding the scene, as its awe-inspiring features seemed constantly to increase, and the whole panorama unceasingly changed like the dissolving views of a magic lantern, or like the aurora borealis. Language cannot convey, words cannot express, the faintest idea of the splendor and grandeur of such a conflagra- tion at night. It was as if the pale queen of night, disdaining to take her accustomed place in the heavens, had dispatched myriads upon myriads of messengers to light their torches at the altar of the setting sun until all had flashed into one long and continuous blaze.
The following graphic description of prairie fires was written by a traveler through this region in 1849:
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"Soon the fires began to kindle wider and rise higher from the long grass; the gentle breeze increased to stronger currents, and soon fanned the small, flickering blaze into fierce torrent flames, which curled up and leaped along in resistless splendor; and like quickly raising the dark curtain from the luminous stage, the scenes before me were suddenly changed, as if by the magician's wand, into one boundless amphitheatre, blazing from earth to heaven and sweeping the horizon round,-columns of lurid flames sportively mounting up to the zenith, and dark clouds of crimson smoke curling away and aloft till they nearly obscured stars and moon, while the rush- ing, crashing sounds, like roaring cataracts mingled with distant thunders, were almost deafening; danger, death, glared all around; it screamed for victims; yet, notwithstanding the imminent peril
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of prairie fires, one is loth, irresolute, almost unable to withdraw or seek refuge."
WILD HOGS.
When the earliest pioneer reached this Western wilderness, game was his principal food until he had conquered a farm from the forest or prairie,-rarely, then, from the latter. As the country settled game grew scarce, and by 1850 he who would live by his rifle would have had but a precarious subsistence had it not been for "wild hogs." These animals, left by home-sick immigrants whom the chills or fever and ague had driven out, had strayed into the woods, and began to multiply in a wild state. The woods each fall were full of acorns, walnuts, hazelnuts, and these hogs would grow fat and multiply at a wonderful rate in the bottoms and along the bluffs. The second and third immigration to the country found these wild hogs an unfailing source of meat supply up to that period when they had in the townships contiguous to the river be- come so numerous as to be an evil, breaking in herds into the farmer's corn-fields or toling their domestic swine into their retreats, where they too became in a season as wild as those in the woods.' In 1838 or '39, in a certain township, a meeting was called of citizens of the township to take steps to get rid of wild hogs. At this meeting, which was held in the spring, the people of the town- ship were notified to turn out en masse on a certain day and engage in the work of catching, trimming and branding wild hogs, which were to be turned loose, and the next winter were to be hunted and killed by the people of the township, the meat to be divided pro rata among the citizens of the township. This plan was fully carried into effect, two or three days being spent in the exciting work in the spring.
In the early part of the ensuing winter the settlers again turned out, supplied at convenient points in the bottom with large kettles and barrels for scalding, and while the hunters were engaged in killing, others with horses dragged the carcasses to the scalding platforms where they were dressed; and when all that could be were killed and dressed a division was made, every farmer getting more meat than enough, for his winter's supply. Like energetic measures were resorted to in other townships, so that in two or three years the breed of wild hogs became extinct.
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NATIVE ANIMALS.
The principal wild animals found in the State by the early set- tler were the deer, wolf, bear, wild-cat, fox, otter, raccoon, generally called "coon," woodchuck, or ground hog, skunk, mink, weasel, muskrat, opossum, rabbit and squirrel; and the principal feathered game were the quail, prairie chicken and wild turkey. Hawks, turkey buzzards, crows, blackbirds were also very abundant. Sev- eral of these animals furnished meat for the settlers; but their principal meat did not long consist of game; pork and poultry were raised in abundance. The wolf was the most troublesome animal, it being the common enemy of the sheep, and sometimes attacking other domestic animals and even human beings. But their hideons howlings at night were so constant and terrifying that they almost seemed to do more mischief by that annoyance than by direct attack. They would keep everbody and every ani- mal about the farm-house awake and frightened, and set all the dogs in the neighborhood to barking. As one man described it: "Sup- pose six boys, having six dogs tied, whipped them all at the same time, and you would hear such music as two wolves would make."
To effect the destruction of these animals the county authorities offered a bounty for their scalps; and, besides, big hunts were common.
WOLF HUNTS.
In early days more mischief was done by wolves than by any other wild animal, and no small part of their mischief consisted in their almost constant barking at night, which always seemed so menacing and frightful to the settlers. Like mosquitoes, the noise they made appeared to be about as dreadful as the real depre- dations 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 boys would turn out on an appointed day, in a kind of circle com- prising many square miles of territory, with horses and dogs, and then close up toward the center of their field of operation, gather- ing not only wolves, but also deer and many smaller " 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 little army, every one being well posted in the meaning of every signal and the application of every rule. Guns were scarcely ever allowed to be brought on such occasions, as their use
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would be unavoidably dangerous. The dogs were depended upon 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 all 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 back- woodsmen gloried in excelling in this art. He would carefully watch a bee as it filled 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 away through the broken walls in which it had been so carefully stowed away by the little busy bee. Several gallons would often be thus taken from a single tree, and by a very little work, and pleas- ant at that, the early settlers could keep themselves in honey the year round. By the time the honey was a year old, or before, it would turn white and granulate, yet be as good and healthful as when fresh. This was by some called " candid " honey.
In some districts, the resorts of bees would 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 considerable quantity of honey has even been taken from such places.
SNAKES.
In pioneer times snakes were numerous, such as the rattlesnake, viper, adder, blood snake and many varieties of large blue and green snakes, milk snake, 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 immediately crawi away with all possible speed, hide in the grass and weeds, and wait for a "greener " customer. These really harmless snakes served to put people on their guard against the more dangerous and venomous kinds.
It was the practice in some sections of the country to turn out in companies, with spades, mattocks and crow-bars, attack the princi- pal snake dens and slay large numbers of them. In early spring
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the snakes were somewhat torpid and easily captured. Scores of rattlesnakes were sometimes frightened out of a single den, which, as soon as they showed their heads through the crevices of the rocks, were dispatched, and left to be devoured by the numerous wild hogs of that day. Some of the fattest of these snakes were taken to the house and oil extracted from them, and their glittering skins were saved as specifics for rheumatism.
Another method was to so fix a heavy stick over the door of their dens, with a long grape-vine attached, that one at a distance could plug the entrance to the den when the snakes were all out sunning themselves. Then a large company of the citizens, on hand by ap- pointment, could kill scores of the reptiles in a few minutes.
SHAKES.
One of the greatest obstacles to the early settlement and pros- perity of this State was the "chills and fever," " fever and ague," or "shakes," as it was variously called. It was a terror to new- comers; in the fall of the year almost everybody was afflicted with it. It was no respecter of persons; everybody looked pale and sallow as though he were frost-bitten. It was not contagious, but derived from impure water and air, which are always developed in the opening up of a new country of rank soil like that of the North west. The impurities continue to be absorbed from day to day, and from week to week, until the whole body corporate became saturated with it as with electricity, and then the shock came; and the shock was a regular shake, with a fixed beginning and ending, coming on in some cases each day but generally on alternate days, with a regu- larity that was surprising. After the shake came the fever, and this " last estate was worse than the first." It was a burning-hot fever, and lasted for hours. When you had the chill you couldn't get warm, and when you had the fever you couldn't get cool. It was exceedingly awkward in this respect; indeed it was. Nor would it stop for any sort of contingency; not even a wedding in the family would stop it. It was imperative and tyrannical. When the ap- pointed time came around, everything else had to be stopped to at- tend to its demands. It didn't even have any Sundays or holidays; after the fever went down you still didn't feel much better. You felt as though you had gone through some sort . of collision,. thrashing-machine or jarring-machine, and came out not killed, but next thing to it. You felt weak, as though you had run too far after something, and then didn't catch it. You felt languid, stupid and
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sore, and was down in the mouth and heel and partially raveled out. Your back was out of fix, your head ached and your appetite crazy. Your eyes had too much white in them, your ears, especially after taking quinine, had too much roar in them, and your whole body and soul were entirely woe-begone, disconsolate, sad, poor and good for nothing. Yon didn't think much of yourself, and didn't believe that other people did, either; and you didn't care. You didn't quite make up your mind to commit suicide, but sometimes wished some accident would happen to knock either the malady or yourself out of existence. You imagined that even the dogs looked at you with a kind of self-complacency. You thought the sun had a kind of sickiy shine about it.
About this time you came to the conclusion that you would not accept the whole Western country as a gift; and if you had the strength and means, you picked up Hannah and the baby, and your traps, and went back "yander " to "Old Virginny," the " Jar- seys," Maryland or " Pennsylvany."
" And to-day the swallows flitting Round my cabin see me sitting Moodily within the sunshine, Just inside my silent door, Waiting for the ' Ager,' seeming
Like a man forever dreaming; And the sunlight on me streaming Throws no shadow on the floor;
For I am too thin and sallow To make shadows on the floor- Nary shadow any more!"
The above is not a mere picture of the imagination. It is sim- ply 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 upon another. Labor or exercise always aggravated the malady, and it took General Lazi- ness 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 priva- tion, the early settlers planted among them the school-house at the earliest practical period. So important an object as the education
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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 build- ings and accommodations were provided. As may readily be sup- posed, 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 are 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 aper- ture might be covered over with greased paper. Writing desks consisted of heavy oak plank or a hewed slab laid upon wooden pins driven into the wall. The four-legged slab benches were in front of these, and the pupils when not writing would sit with their backs against the front, sharp edge of the writing-desks. The floor was also made out of these slabs, .or "puncheons," laid upon log sleepers. Everything was rude and plain; but many of America's greatest men have gone out from just such school-houses to grapple with the world and make names for themselves and re- flect honor upon their country. Among these we can name Abra- ham Lincoln, our martyred president, one of the noblest men known to the world's history. Stephen A. Douglas, one of the greatest statesmen of the age, began his career in Illinois teaching in one of these primitive school-houses. Joseph A. Wright, and several other statesmen of the Northwest have also graduated from the log school-house into political eminence. So with many of her most eloquent and efficient preachers.
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SPELLING-SCHOOLS.
The chief public evening entertainment for the first 30 or 40 years of Western pioneering was the celebrated "spelling-school." 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 Fourth-of-July celebration; and when the time arrived the whole neighborhood, yea, and sometimes several neigh- borhoods, would flock together to the scene of academical combat, where the excitement was often more intense than had been expect- ed. 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 vogue.
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 con- testant, or "captain," as he was generally called, would choose the best speller from the assembled crowd. Each one choosing alter- nately, 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 conducting 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 should 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
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