USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > Jackson in Sullivan County > The history of Jackson Township, Sullivan County, Indiana > Part 2
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New Hampshire, Concord On the Connecticut River New Hampshire, Concord On the Connecticut River. No. 4.
Massachusetts, Boston On the Boston Harbor
Massachusetts, Boston
On the Boston Harbor. No. 5.
Rhode Island has two capitals Providence and Newport Rhode Island has two capitals Providence and Newport.
In the evenings after school we often had spelling matches, literar- ies, debates, and singing schools at the school house. The song books we used in those days were very un- like those used today. The notes of the scale were all made in a differ- ent manner. For instance, we did not have to know the key or the po- sition of a note to know its name. No two notes of the scale were shaped alike, so that the name of a note could easily be determined by its shape. This rendered our note reading much easier than yours.
The social affairs I have mention- ed were not however all the social life we had. There were log-rollings and quiltings. These usually came in the spring before corn-planting time. Each man would clear a tract of timber land on his farm during the winter, and in the spring he would invite in his neighbors, peo- ple who lived within a radius of five or six miles, to help him roll the logs together to burn. It seems to you now that this was a terrible waste of valuable timber, yet you must remember that timber was ev- erywhere then. Walnut and other valuable trees were often made into rails and no one at that time ever
dreamed that the time would come when those same rails, if they had been preserved, would bring a fabu- lous price. This proves the old ad- age, that the wealth of one genera- tion is often the poverty of the next.
It was at these log-rollings and also at house-raisings that the men showed their feats of strength. In Ralph Conner's "Doctor", there is a good description of the same ex- hibitions of strength that we had in the olden time. The women came with the men to these gatherings. They prepared dinner and in the af- ternoon they quilted.
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What would you who ride in auto- mobiles think if I should tell you that the first ride I remember tak- ing was behind an ox-team. Oxen were often used when I was a girl but their place was soon taken by horses. When I was grown, almost every one rode horseback. Each member of the family had a saddle and a horse. The girls rode on side- saddles and over their dresses wore long riding skirts. A buggy in those days was as unusual a sight as an aeroplane is today. However. each farmer owned a wagon, a home- made one, that is, one made by a wagon maker of the neighborhood. The harness was also home-made.
You might be interested to know just how we kept busy throughout the different seasons. In January we began work with the flax which had been pulled the summer before while in bloom. We now spread it on the ground to rot the stalk so that we could get the lint. When well rotted, we gathered it up on a dry day and took it through the process of "breaking" to remove the stalk. It was then "swingled" or "scotched" to take out parts of the broken stalk, leaving only the pure flax. We then took it through a coarse hackle to get out the coarsest "tow," then through a fine hackle to get out the fine tow. What was left. which was the pure flax. was then twisted into "hanks" and made rea- dy for spinning.
To prepare for spinning. the flax was first wound upon a distaff. From this it was spun into several differ-
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ent sized threads, upon what was then known as the "little wheel," the "blg wheel" being used for spinning woolen yarns. The threads according to sizes were woven into linen cloths for tablecloths, towels, sheets and cloth for men's summer trousers. After a piece of linen was taken from the loom it was placed in the dew after night until it was bleached white.
Some of the flax was spun into very fine threads which were dou- bled and twisted again for sewing thread. These were dyed into the colors needed. The tow, after be- ing spun was woven into cloth for towels, sacks and ticking for straw mattresses.
In February and March came the sugar making. Then all the family who were old enough turned out to camp and helped to make both sugar and syrup to last through the year. We never saw any granulated sugar in those days so we had to make sufficient maple sugar to last until the next season.
Later in the spring came the soap- making time. Then we made soap to last throughout the year. During the winter we placed the ashes from the big fireplace into a hopper for - was made in the following way. A the purpose and kept them moist and under cover to rot them. In the spring we poured water over these ashes, and caught the lye which came from them at the base of the hopper. We then filled a huge iron kettle full of lye and put with it meat cracklings or grease of suffi- cient quantity, about two gallons to twelve of lye, and boiled the mix- ture until it was thick enough to make soft soap when cooled. ' Into some of the mixture we put salt to make the soap hard when cold. This we cut into cakes and put into a dry - an hour or more. It was then taken place. The air acted upon it in such a way as to render it less strong than the liquid soap. This was our toilet soap.
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About the middle of May came the sheep-shearing. As soon as the wool was sheared it was washed in warm water, without soap. many times until it was perfectly clean. Then all the burrs and trash were
removed. It was then sent to the carding mill and made into rolls about two and one-half feet long and one-half inch thick. These were spun on the "big wheel" into yarns of different sizes. For the warp of the flannels, we made the yarns fine and hard twisted, but for the woof they were made soft and coarser. For the soft, fluffy blankets, we spun coarse, soft yarns. Sometimes, how- ever, the blankets were woven on cotton warp. The jeans for men's clothing was also made on cotton warp. We usually spun about one hundred pounds of wool during the summer. This took us all summer long. I do. not like to remember those long days and my tired feet. You girls of today know nothing about hard work as we knew it in those days.
With the exception of wool used for mixed jeans, all of it was col- ored after it was spun. For the red dye we purchased madder; for the black, logwood; and for the yellow, copperas and alum. But for other colors we made our dyes, with the exception of the indigo we used with the blue dye. The blue dye, used for coloring both wool and linen,
material known as blue dye yeast which was kept from year to year, was put in a quantity of water suf- ficient to make enough dye for the materials to be colored. Into this was put weak lye and wheat bran and the mixture was kept in a warm place for several days, until the yeast had acted upon it. Then in- digo was added until the right shade of coloring was obtained. It was then ready for use. Six or eight skeins of the yarn or thread was then put into this dye and left for out and dried to see the shade of coloring. It was dipped several times a day for several days. At night, the yarn was hung out in the air and more indigo placed in the dye mix- ture. Day after day this was re- peated until the desired shade of blue was obtained. After the dyeing was finished, a quart of the mixture was taken out and kept until the
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dyeing season for the next year. This was known as blue dye yeast.
The brown dye was made from
walnut bark. It was gathered in the summer while green and chopped into small pieces. It was then put into a barrel and covered with wa- ter and weighted down to keep it under the water. Here it stood for nine days. The water was then poured off and used as dye. Into this the yarn was dipped until it was the shade of brown wanted. To color the thread or yarn green, we first colored it pale blue and then dipped it into a dye made by boiling peach tree leaves in water.
The mixed jeans mentioned above was dyed before spinning. The wool which was to be used was first washed thoroughly and dyed a dark blue color. A small quantity of
white wool was then mixed with this blue wool. It was then spun into yarn and woven into a beauti- ful mixed blue cloth called jeans which was very fashionable at that time for men's clothing. There were very few tailors at that time, so ev- ery housewife made the clothing for the men of the family.
There were no sewing machines at that time so all the garments for the family were made by hand. I was a woman grown before we pur- chased our first sewing machine. It was a Howe.
^ We not only made cloth for clo- thing but also braids for hats. Be- fore harvest time we took the un- ripe wheat and rye straw and wet and braided it. This braid we stitched into shape for men's sum- mer hats. The women . wore slit bonnets for every day, but on Sun- days they wore braid hats trimmed with artificials. This word may have no meaning for the girl of to- day but it was freighted with mean- ing then, for artificials often had to do with religion itself. Some people at that time were as inconsistent as they are today. A great deal was sald abont wearing artificials upon women's bonnets, yet the men wore hypocrites which were equally as great a sham. A hypocrite was a white shirt front with a collar fas-
tened to it. A man could put on a hypocrite over his every day shirt, put his coat over it and feel very much "dressed up." A certain min- ister who wore one of these bypo- crites was once preaching before a crowded house. He took off his coat and went on preaching and did not understand until the close of the sermon just why his eloquence brought forth so many smiles.
Each winter the men cleared a tract of land for the next year's corn crop. Here also the men showed their feats of strength and skill. The man who could split the most rails was in great demand by the land owners of the neighborhood. Some of the best rail-splitters at that time could cut down the timber and split from one hundred fifty to two hundred rails a day. For this work they received one dollar a day. This was an excellent wage at that time for the ordinary hand required only fifty cents a day.
In the spring after the logs had been burned. the ground was. brok- en up. harrowed. and crossed off both ways in rows three feet apart. The corn was then planted by hand, usually by the boys and girls in the family who were not of sufficient size to perform heavier tasks. Mx feet ache yet when I think of it. Yon may talk about "spring fever" now with impunity but we were not al- lowed time in which to catch it.
Besides corn, the farmers raised wheat. buckwheat, rye. and oats. The wheat was first cut with a reap hook. but later a scythe and cradle was used. An excellent reaper could cut from three to five acres a day with a scythe and cradle. For this work he received the fabulous wage of from one dollar to one dol- lar and a half a day.
At first the wheat was threshed by a fail but later it was tramped out by horses and at a still later date it was threshed by a "ground hob" thresher run by horses. This left both wheat and chaff so that it was necessary to take it to a fan mill in order to separate the wheat from the chaff. Then came the sepa- rator drawn by ten horses.
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The men at that time made all their own barrels. To do this they rove staves of oak and let them season. They then trimmed them into shape, making them wide in the middle and narrow at each end. This was done in order to make the barrel wider in the middle. The staves were then listed or cut so that the inner edge of the stave was narrower than the outer edge. They were then put together and by means of a tress hoop they were drawn into shape, and hickory hoops put on. In order to draw them into shape a small fire of shavings was built inside the barrel. When the staves were steaming hot they were drawn into shape and the hoops fas- tened. Around the upper and lower edges of these staves chines were cut in which . were_ fitted the head and bottom of the barrel.
The land in those days was un- fenced, excepting the cleared fields where grain was raised. Since the farms were so far apart, this left great tracts of unbroken forest. The hogs. cattle, and sheep belonging to the different farmers were branded and left free to roam over the coun- try and feed upon the grass and nuts. In the fall each farmer would round up his stock. The hogs grew fat upon the nuts or the mast as it was called. and needed very little corn to make them ready for meat.
During the winter the men spent a great deal of time in hunting deer, turkey, and other game which also furnished meat for the table. They also hunted for sport for in those days there were no greater sports than the fox chase, the coon hunt, and the 'possum hunt.
In the early days before much of the land had been cleared there was a great deal of sickness, especially chills and fevers. They were caused by the mosquitos from the swamps but we did not know it then. Doc- tors were few and far between so that each family made its own medi- cine and prescribed for its patients. During the autumn months house- wives gathered the . roots of the snake-root, alicampane, rhubarb, bearvine. comfrey. ginseng. wahoo.
blood-root and yellow-root; the seeds of mustard and flax; the leaves of thyme, sage, tansy, cammomile, inint, hops, horehound, catnip, pen- nyroyal, and mullen; and the bark of prickley ash, dog-wood, cherry. willow, quakenasp, and sarsaparilla. From these they made teas, bitters, poultices, and what not, that cured all the ills incident to pioneer Ilfe. From the hops they made not only medicine but also yeast. To make the yeast they boiled the hops and strained the tea. They then scalded a little flour and put in some yeast. This was mixed with meal and rolled into cakes and dried .-
I have pictured to you some things of the long ago, some of its joys, and some its hardships. We who lived in those times have long ago forgotten much of the hardships and it is well that we have. While there was much of physical labor in those days, there was less of care and wor- ry than now, yet life is very much the same, whether lived in the long ago or now. For life is very much as we make it.
The following is a partial list of the soldiers who have at some time lived in this township:
Revolutionary War
Hinkle, Nathan, Sr., deceased. The War of 1812.
Asbury, Landman, deceased. Mexican and Civil Wars.
Pierson, H. T., deceased. The Civil War.
Asbury, Squire W.
Asbury, Joseph'
Asbury, A. P.
Barcus, Joel M.
Barcus, Sol G., deceased.
Brock, Elijah.
Barcus, Thomas G.
Baldridge, D. L. Barnhart, Henry
"Bemis, Ezra, deceased Bridwell, Benjamin Cochran, Nicholas H. Denton, Robert Dell, Milton C. Duckworth, Geo. T.
Engle, Mason, deceased.
Ford, Lyman, deceased
Ford. John, deceased
Gilman. Wm., ileceased
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Gilman, Ichabod Gorby, Pierce, deceased Hamilton, Alexander Hinkle, Nathan Hughes, Henry M. Heck, John Harvey, W. W. Johnson, W. E. Johnson, Jas., deceased
Lyons, Thomas Lyons, Wm. H., deceased Marshall, Singleton McAnally, Cary J. McAnally, John
Mahan, John R. Mahan, Jno. J. McAnally, Thos. J. Nead, John, deceased
Nead, Jacob, deceased
Nead, Uriah, deceased Nead, John W .. deceased Nicholson. S. H.
Nelson, John Payne, Joseph
Payne, James A.
Payne, Mosback
Patton, Samuel
Ring, Noah, deceased
Sink, L. D. Spear, Jno. A.
Snowden, John
Swift, Richard K., deceased
Sills, Wm. H., deceased
Screen, John
Tipton, John
Worth, John. deceased
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17: .6
Chapter 2. District No. 1.
TCc Givens 6375
L Pigg 83 30
V Bastos
JAAAKI
Person
L P,99 2470
MJStarke 2 2
5
OM Boston 3220
E Powell
1
18
J Reno 47
P Russel 41.38
Chas Coltrin 5120
E Powell
- 52 10
A Worley 49 85
Ellsworth Criss 2/52
Wm Barnes 41.50
5/80
7 4%
Annafriss 33
6 W Bemus 60
Dalbert Freeze 60
Burnett Boston 80
Ches Col2210 40
33.50
Grover Biggs 45
Nancy B199S
Martha Biggs
Mary Miller
DW Kamp 40
DW Kemp
20
August Stall 24
Guy l'orale
35
Lucu Stewart 30 79
Yes Manan 40
Ann Curry 40
20
PINOT S. H Walter Asbury 60
Burnett Boston 40
Pearl Criss 39 1
- 14.76
90
GIL Coleman L. Coleman 29.45 40
E Cries 30 + J
1569
A. M. Grew 40
Delbert France 3 8
Chas McCasa 12 Wes Mahon 6 George Matar
160
W Goodman 80
CRAAUS av . .
PB Stout 38.7/
UM. Hamilton 3.8
T Warts 40
UM Freeze 51
Wm Rhemal
20
ECriss 40
Dan Biertas 2
kehmel /333
District No. 1 is located in the ex- treme northeast part of the town- ship. The land is broken and not very well adapted to farming, al- though this is the principal industry of the district. There is, however, a slope mine located in the south- eastern part of the district. It was sunk about 1865, by James Kennedy. The old mine fell in and a new one was sunk in 1911. -
One of the first residents of this district was Isaac Pierson who en- tered land here about 1835. He later owned a distillery which was located on the farm which is now owned by Mrs. Burnette Boston. Mr. Pierson made a great deal of whis- key which he sold for twenty-five
cents per gallon. The liquor made at that time was a much better quality than is made today and the people were more temperate in the use of it. Some of the people who later came to this district were Geo. Biggs, Jesse Boston, James and Bil- ly Stout, and Dave Sills.
The first school house in this dis- trict was a log one built about 1850. It was located near the center of the southwest section of the district. It was built as all of the first school houses were built of which a des- cription is given elsewhere in this - history. Some of the first teachers who taught here were John Watson, Robert Baldridge, Wesley Barnes, Clabron Woods, Margaret Sills, and Helen Flood.
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8Zimmerme 16
20
A McGraw
20
20
20
E. For! 1382
Edwin Wise
Samuel Strahle 80
Howard L Hyatt
.
,
Some of the first students who at- tended here were John W. Boston, James M. Boston, Preston Sills, Louis Brown, Nancy Pierson, Saralı Pierson, Jack Watts, Elizabeth Sills, Squire W. Asbury, William H. H. Asbury, Mary Jane Asbury, Joseph Asbury, Mary Ann Pierson and John Brown. Some who came a lit- tle later were William Heady, Pres- ton Stout, Eugene Heady, Taylor Watts, Lucy Asbury, Elizabeth As- bury, Geo. Mahan, John Mahan, Lemuel Mahan, Anna Mahan, Helen Mahan, Winfield Stewart, Louisa Smith, Mandy Smith, Eliza Ann Smith, Joseph Freeze, Mary Anne Stout, Dora Stout, Joseph Stout, Steven McHaffy, Agnes McHaffy, Alec Canoy, Rebecca Canoy, Matt Duckworth, Benj. Mahan, Mary Stout, Wesley Mahan and Howard Mahan.
The second schoo! building was a frame structure built about 1874. It was situated where the present brick house stands. Some of the teach- ers who taught here were John Mc- Donald, William Grant, Ves Bald- ridge, Thomas Kennedy, ' Thomas Berlien, Mandy Gritton and Clid Sills.
The present brick building was erected in 1894 and the teachers and students who have been associ- ated with this building are well known to every one in the township. About 1870 a brick kiln was owned and operated by David Mc- Grew. It was located on the Mc- Grew farm, near Mt. Pleasant Ceme- tery and the ruins of the kiln are still discernible.
There is one rock road in this dis- trict which extends along the east and south sides of the northwest section of the district. The road is 3 miles in length and was built in 1906.
There are a few buildings of the town of Lewis that are located in this district. They are the Masonic Hall and the dwelling houses belong- ing to John Scott, John Boston, Dr. Cruikshank, Mrs. Woodrow and Mrs. Pierson.
Some of the soldiers who enlisted from this district when the Civil
War broke out were Geo. Duck- worth, William Sills, and Welman Stewart, all of whom are dead.
Mount Pleasant Church.
Mount Pleasant, a former church of Missionary Baptist denomination, was situated near the center of sec- tion eleven, District No. 1. The church was organized about 1844. Some of the charter members were Harvey Crist and wife, Geo. Crist and wife, Jackson Duckworth, Nan- cy and Sarah Duckworth and Geo. Biggs and wife. The only charter member living is Mrs. Sarah Duck- worth Biggs who at present lives near Pierson Station, Illinois.
Some early additions to the church were Samuel Stout, John Pierson, Henry Pierson, James Stout, David Sills, Elizabeth Sills, Addison Mary- mee, Peter Buskirk and wife. Wm. Asa Mahan and wife, Abner Crist and wife, Asa Branson and wife, Nancy Liston, Eunice Pierson, James Curry and wife, A. Curry, Martha A. Curry Biggs, Martha Crist, . Louis Marymee and wife, Geo. T. Duck- worth, John Duckworth and wife, William Sills and wife, Preston Sills and wife, Sarah Crist, James - Mc- Cammon and wife. Samuel Sills and wife, Sarah McCammon, Josephine McCammon, Charlotte Marymee, Mary Sills, Elizabeth Marymee. Thos Stark and wife, William H. Asbury, Alex Shepherd and Jerry Strahley.
Some of the early ministers were Samuel Sparks, Daniel Starks. Win. Stancel. William Eldridge, Abraham Starks and Geo. Crist. Others were Thomas Cuppy, Geo. Marlow, James Turner, James William Stark, Sam- uel Slavens and James Barr.
This church belonged to the Cur- ry's Prairie Association and was ac- tive and in good condition until 1880, . At this time occurred the death of Geo. C. Biggs, one of the foremost members of the church. A number of other members had moved away and gone into other denomi- " nations and the church attendance fell away until services were discon- tinued. In 1882 the Association sent Rev. Allen and Isaac McGrew to meet with the members and make arrange- ments to continue services but they
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did not succeed and soon the church was disbanded. The building was sold to Chas. Stewart who moved it to Vigo county and built a house of it. It may be of interest to those who used to attend this church to know that the seats used at this church were first taken to old Hy- mera Baptist church and then to the Coalmont Baptist church and are now being used at that place.
Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
The Mt. Pleasant Cemetery was formerly a part of Elijah Pierson's farm in the southwest section of No. 1. This land was given by him as a location for a cemetery and a church The earliest grave now remembered was that of Ellen Buckellew, in 1850 The names of the people buried here are:
William Criss, Samuel Simons, Philip Fritz, Burley E. Tilley, Marie Tilley, David Clark and two children, Henry Dalton, Barnette Clark, John Mahan, Peter Burk, Martha Tilley, two Ward children, Elizabeth Grif- fith and two children, Byron Mahan, Katherine Hatz, Nancy Sills, William Sills, John Mattox, Mary Mattox, Mary Kitchell, Emery Albrooke, Everett Kitchell, Herbert Mahan, Wm. Lenard and one child, Samuel Freeze, Elizabeth Sills, Soloman Day and wife, Eliza Sabin, Malinda Crist, Louis Mattox and wife, Mary Miller, Albert Fritz, Abigail McHaffy, Vora Stevens, Lola Stevens, Simpson Starke, Ellen Ford, John Ford, Sarah Ford, Sarah Buckellew, Mary Pierson, Nancy Branson, Asa Bran- son, Charles Mahan, Elizabeth Bo- gard, Susan Sills, Mary Sills, Daniel Sills, David Sills, Louisa Cochran, Anna Cochran, . Charles Cochran, Wallace Cochran, William H. H. Cochran, Wicklife Cochran, John Billings, Matilda Day, Charles Watts Ora Griffith, Marion Mackaye, Mary Starke, James Starke, P. Y. Buskirk and three children, two daughters of A. J. Watts, Martha E. Crist, W. P. Akers, Dr. J. Tichnor, Dorothulia Starke. Dr. O. P. Starke, Harvey Jones, Caroline Holbert, Eugene Kitchell, Jennie Kitchell, J. E. . Kitchell, Francis Ingrani.
The names of the soldiers buried here are given below:
Philip Fritz, Burley E. Tilley, James Clark, William Sills, John Mattox, Simpson Starke, William Buckellew, Charles Cochran, John! Billings, Harvey Jones.
Some of the oldest residents of the district are Mrs. James Biggs, Mrs. James M. Boston, Mrs. Jesse Boston and Mrs. Henry Plerson. Their biographies together with their husbands', are given below.
Mr. and Mrs. James W. Biggs.
James W. Biggs, the only son of George C. and Nancy A. Biggs, was born near Centerville in Vigo coun- ty, July 2, 1840. Mr. Biggs's father entered the land upon which they lived, having obtained a land war- rant from the government. The Patent Office at that time was located at Vincennes and since there were no railroads, he made the trip on horseback. On this land he con- structed a hewed log house of which a part is still standing. A year later the family moved to District No. 1.
James Biggs was married Dec. 24, 1862, to Martha A. Curry, daughter. of J. P. and Margaret A. Curry. She was born Sept. 8, 1839 in District No. 2, Jackson township. They be- gan their married life in a very sim- ple and modest way, with very little household goods. Their first dining table was a walnut chest which had . once belonged to Mr. Biggs's great- aunt.
They lived for a few months just north of Mr. Biggs's father's farm but later moved to his farm where they lived until Feb. 19, 1913, when they moved to Lewis where Mr. Biggs died Feb. 23, 1914.
There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Biggs six children of whom three are still living. At present Mrs. Biggs is making her home with her two daughters in Jasonville.
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