USA > Indiana > Newton County > Newton County a collection of historical facts and personal recollections concerning Newton County, Indiana, from 1853 to 1911 > Part 12
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the light needed about the room. When ad- ditional light was needed a saucer or small tin pan was partially filled with lard or some other kind of grease, then a strip of rag was in- serted in the grease and lighted, and this rude lamp was carried to any place where addi- tional light was needed. After this came can- dles, which were started by cutting strips of wick twice the length of the intended candle, then doubling the wicks and stringing them on sticks, the ends being tied. There would be ten or twelve wicks on each stick. Dipping these wicks in melted tallow and taking them out to let them drip was continued until enough tallow had gathered around the wick to form a candle. These were known as "dipped" candles, and the making of candles by this process was an important duty in all well-managed households.
Following this process came the candle made in molds. There were usually six made in each mold. The wicks were first inserted, then the melted grease was poured in. When cool enough the candles were removed from
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PAST AND PRESENT
the molds, and you had a neater and more uni- form candle than the one made by the dipping process.
About 1857 the first coal-oil lamp was intro- duced in Jasper county by LaRue & Brother, of Rensselaer. The oil at that time was in the crude state and sold for one dollar and fifty cents per gallon. Very few people at that time were brave enough to light one of these lamps in the house. It was several years before the oil lamp came into use, superseding candles for lighting purposes.
The next great advance came with the adop- tion of electricity for lighting purposes. The first use made of electricity for illuminating purposes in Newton county was at Kentland on Friday evening, April 20, 1894, when the town was first lighted by electricity. A. T Presson and Henry V. Templeton were the owners of the power plant.
There has been a wonderful improvement in the modes and methods of transportation. Fifty years ago the man who owned a Chicago made wagon stood at the top of the list and a
21
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spring seat for the wagon was entirely un- known. The nearest approach to providing a seat was to have iron hooks, two on each side of the wagon body, front and rear. A small, tough pole was hung on these hooks, one on each side of the wagon bed. Boards were placed on these poles, crosswise, to serve as seats. A little relief would thus be given to passengers in crossing the rough places in the road. Several years afterward spring seats were added, when specially ordered, by the makers of the best styles in wagons. It was not until after the war that carriages and buggies made their first appearance and it was several years later before they may be said to have come into general use. Later on, almost every farm hand was the owner of a horse and buggy. At one time the bicycle seemed to take the place of horse and buggy among the young men, but it soon lost out, and the buggy again came to the front. Now, within the past five years the automobile has taken the place of all other vehicles. Distance is almost eliminated, and the facilities for business or pleasure have
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been increased almost ten fold by the use of the motor car.
The changes in the manner of dress, both as regards male and female attire, are equally marked. In the early days the clothing was almost universally home-made. This included not only the garments themselves, but the ma- terial from which they were manufactured. Most of the farmers who were able to do so kept a few sheep. Once a year the wool would be loaded up and a trip made to Yountsville, a point near Crawfordsville, where there was a woolen mill. Here they would trade their wool for jeans and linsey-the jeans for the male members of the family and the linsey for the female. Others spun the wool at home and did their own weaving. The women's bonnets were all home-made, and universally of a style known as "sun bonnets." The shoes were often home-made and had to last a year, or at least through that part of the year in which they were necessary. As a matter of fact, I have seen young women walk several miles to at- tend some public meeting, remaining bare-
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footed until they arrived in the neighborhood of the gathering. There they would put on their shoes, wear them during the services and when the meeting was over they would walk part of the way home, when they would re- move their shoes and walk the balance of the way barefooted. Now, with the fashion hints received from The Ladies' Home Journal and like publications, both male and female resi- dents of the country and small towns demand the latest styles in footwear, and I don't know of any one who has a better right to them.
As this was a prairie country the early meth- ods of farming were somewhat different from the methods adopted in the older and more settled parts of the state. The plows were much larger, for one thing. In breaking the raw prairie, oxen were used exclusively. Gen- erally, there were four or five yoke of oxen attached to each plow. There were several reasons for using oxen. One was the scarcity of feed necessary for horses. Oxen could be worked all day and then be turned out on the prairie where they would get plenty of grass
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and be ready for work again the next morning. Another reason was, that the "green head flies" were so thick and such a torment that it was almost impossible to use horses. And still an- other reason was, a team of oxen could be rigged out more cheaply than a team of horses. The plows were much larger than the ordinary plow of to-day and turned over a furrow eighteen to twenty-four inches wide.
The breaking of prairie would begin in the spring as soon as the grass would get big enough to furnish feed for the cattle. The early plowing would generally be planted in corn, by dropping the seed on the edge of every second or third furrow, depending on the size of the plow. The later breaking would be put into wheat in the fall. By this method they would usually get a fair crop of corn the first season.
As the land became older and the sod rotted away, the field was prepared for corn by first plowing it and then furrowing it, both ways, with a single shovel plow. The seed was dropped at the intersections of these furrows.
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The planter usually consisted of a small boy, although frequently it was the wife or daugh- ter of the farmer. The man of the farm fol- lowed along and covered the seed with a hoe.
Afterward a machine was invented for planting corn. This dispensed with the mark- ing except in one direction. Under the new method a boy rode on the machine, ahead of the driver, and when the spouts containing the seed crossed the furrows, he pulled a lever and that dropped the corn, and the wheels of the machine did the covering. This was a very great advance and enabled the farmer to plant many more acres than by the old system.
The next improvement was the check-rower which dispensed with the marking out and did the work that the boy did in handling the lever. Now one man can plant as much corn in a day and do it better than eight or ten men could under the old system.
In the work of harvesting the grain there has been a series of improvements. The orig- inal method of cutting grain was with the sickle. This was a slow, back-aching process
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but some men became very expert in the use of this tool. It is now, however, a lost art.
The first improvement along this line was the "cradle." While it was a great improve- ment over the sickle, it is now a back number. Many of our young people would get a wrong idea were they to hear the "cradle" spoken of as an implement of husbandry.
Next came the old McCormick reaper. This at first was a crude, heavy, cumbersome implement. A man had to rake the grain off the machine before it was bound. Then the self-rake was attached, which dispensed with the services of the man. Later, a machine was used upon which men rode and tied the grain in bundles, after which it was thrown off the machine to the shocker. The next move was the self-binder, first using wire, but, as this proved objectionable, twine was finally adopted. The twine binder is still in use.
Step by step the drudgery and hard labor of harvest time have been transferred from man to the machine.
After grain is harvested the next thing in
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order is the separation of grain from the straw and chaff. In this part of the farmer's work the changes are as great as any that have been mentioned. The original way of making this separation was by the use of the flail, or by tramping out the grain with horses. This lat- ter method, when there was no barn floor to operate on, was to clear a piece of ground as clean as possible, spread the grain down in a circle, and then put the boys on as many horses as the owner of the grain could furnish. The boys would keep the horses going around and around until the grain was separated from the straw. The straw was then taken away and the grain run through the fanning-mill, if one was to be had. In the absence of the mill, the grain would be thrown up in the air and the wind would blow away the chaff, the grain falling down in a heap.
The first machine to do threshing, that I have any knowledge of, was by single horse- power-the horse on a tread-mill. The power so generated ran a small cylinder. Under this method, however, the grain had to be run
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through a fanning-mill to separate the grain from the chaff.
The next step in advance was the traveling threshing machine which got its power from gearing attached to the hind wheels of the ma- chine when in motion. When threshing from the shock, the driver would pass along by a row of shocks, and one or more men afoot would throw a sheaf from each shock as it passed. A man riding on a platform would feed the grain to the machine, the straw would be scattered behind the machine and the grain be caught in a large box under the cylinder. This machine was provided with a fan and the grain was made comparatively clean. There were generally four horses used on the ma- chine and sometimes six. When threshing from a stack, they would load some ten dozen sheaves on the platform, then drive around a circle large enough to thresh that amount of grain, and repeat the operation.
The next machine used was a long step in advance. This was stationary and got its power, generally, from eight horses hitched to
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long levers attached to a central cog wheel, and the power was transferred to the separator by shafting. This machine continued in use for many years and the same principle still continues, except that steam has taken the place of horses as a source of power, and the separator is much larger. Improvements have been made from time to time, until now much of the hard work formerly done by hand is done by the machine, especially in disposing of the straw.
IN CONCLUSION
A ND now, having briefly described some of the conditions existing years ago in New- ton county, and having narrated some of the events that have come under my observation since 1853, I am compelled to say that the great changes I have witnessed and the facts of history that I have helped to accomplish, seem to me more like a dream than a collec- tion of realities.
In my own case, I can hardly realize that all the changes affecting my family relations have really taken place.
When I came to Newton county in 1853, my family consisted of a wife and one child. Now, the wife has been taken and I am sur- rounded by grandchildren and great-grand- children. Then, this region was an unsettled waste; now nearly every remote corner is un-
3II
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der cultivation and the entire country is dotted with comfortable homes of a prosperous and happy people.
Then four millions of human beings were held in slavery and bought and sold as other chattels; now our land is in reality "the land of the free and the home of the brave."
Then Chicago was a city of less than twenty- five thousand ; now it claims two and one-half millions.
Then the north part of Lake county was an almost impassable swamp; now it is bristling with factories and contains a population of one hundred thousand.
Since that time we have passed from the slow plodding team of horses and oxen to the steam and electric trains running with almost lightning speed.
Telegraph and telephone lines now make our desires known to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Now instead of the tallow dip or the saucer of grease, we have the electric light.
Now, instead of the log school and meeting-
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houses, the handsome frame and brick build- ings have taken their places.
Now, instead of the men and women being clothed in home-made and home-spun cloth- ing, they are clothed both for comfort and adornment.
Now, instead of lumber wagons in which to make our pleasure trips we have the speedy automobiles.
Instead of the cradle for cutting the grain, we now have the self-binding reaper, while the separator measures the grain and stacks the straw.
Instead of the almost impassable roads in the spring of the year, we have the stone roads spreading a net-work over the country.
Notwithstanding the many changes above described, which would seem to cover nearly every phase of life, there is one thing, I am thankful to say, that has not changed in all these years. That is, the kindness and loving friendship of the citizens of Newton and ad- joining counties. In return, I think I can truthfully say, there is not one that I can not
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take by the hand, look him squarely in the face and say : "May God bless you and prosper you in all the walks of life!"
And now what of the future? To me it is a sealed book. I have called attention to some facts of our development. May we hope that future changes will be as startling as those wit- nessed during the last fifty years?
This much, I think, we can safely say. The men who have lived and worked in the past and up to the present have not exhausted the supply of improvements and discoveries to be made for the benefit of the human family. It seems to me, at this time, the changes and dis- coveries can not be as marked in the next sixty years as they have been in the past but the facts of life can not be revealed except as they come to us day after day. And as we are not in pos- session of the key which unlocks the future, we at this point close the book. Cas
س
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take by the hand, look him squarely in the face and say : "May God bless you and prosper you in all the walks of life !"
And now what of the future? To me it is a sealed book. I have called attention to some facts of our development. May we hope that future changes will be as startling as those wit- nessed during the last fifty years?
This much, I think, we can safely say. The men who have lived and worked in the past and up to the present have not exhausted the supply of improvements and discoveries to be made for the benefit of the human family. It seems to me, at this time, the changes and dis- coveries can not be as marked in the next sixty years as they have been in the past but the facts of life can not be revealed except as they come to us day after day. And as we are not in pos- session of the key which unlocks the future, we at this point close the book. C.
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