USA > North Carolina > Chowan County > Economic and social history of Chowan County, North Carolina, 1880-1915 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21
2II
THE CHURCH IN 1915
2II]
The conception of God as a potentate whose sole business throughout eternity will be to sit upon a great white throne and listen to the servile flattery and cajolery of His com- paratively small number of subjects saved by Him from a burning hell; and the conception of heaven as a place where there is nothing to do but sing the praises of a Saviour and idle one's time away in a material luxury far surpassing any- thing ever dreamed of by mortals-these conceptions of God and heaven are still the ones most generally current. There are, however, a few who have begun to ask themselves the question, " How could the citizens of any true republic or democracy ever have evolved such ideas of God and heaven?" Some have answered this by saying that it is impossible, since life philosophies arise out of life conditions, either mediate or immediate; and that such notions could have been conceived and brought forth only by a people afflicted with poverty, laziness, oppression, and slavery. That they are unsuited to the people and conditions of Chowan county today is becoming the conviction of an in- creasing number.
CHURCH LOSING IN COMPARATIVE SIGNIFICANCE
Causes Outside the Church .- The meetings of religious bodies, especially in the rural districts, still continue to be the most important social functions. It is to these that many go to see the latest styles and to display their own most recent wardrobe acquisitions. Such affairs as Sunday- school picnics, Methodist Conferences, and Baptist Unions and Associations are still the occasions for some of the larg- est gatherings that occur. For some years past, however, these meetings have been losing in relative significance. The closer proximity to city attractions due to the coming of the railroads, the big railroad excursions to certain towns, the increased means of communication, the increased percentage
212
CHOWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [212
of the population able to utilize these means of communica- tion, and the big public picnics by some of the fraternal orders-these have all tended to lessen the social import- ance of religious gatherings.
Causes Within the Church .- Two moves within the church itself have helped along the tendency. The first is the recently introduced custom of not serving dinner at the big revivals. The second is the action that has been taken against allowing anything to be sold on the church-grounds. Along in the eighties and nineties, whenever there was an all-day meeting, or series of meetings, numerous stands for the selling of such things as cold drinks, ice cream, confec- tionery, and cigars, would be erected on and around the church-grounds. These stands added greatly to the so- ciableness and enjoyableness of such occasions, without, ac- cording to the opinions of some of the most influential church members, detracting anything from the possible good effect of these occasions upon the community. Neverthe- less, this institution has been done away with by the whites (some of the, colored churches still retain it) " in the name of the Lord and on behalf of the moral and spiritual welfare of the general public." Some of the church members claim that this was done by the preachers because they thought the stands might get a nickel which otherwise would have found its way into their (the preachers') pockets. It was probably, however, a concession to those carping critics who feign'a superior devoutness to the great majority of people, and who affect to believe that anything which gives real pleasure, other than singing sacred songs, praying prayers, and preach- ing precepts, is fathered by a certain personage known to them as " His Satanic Majesty, the Devil."
CHAPTER XIX
SANITATION AND HYGIENE
CONDITIONS IN THE EIGHTIES
Flies .- The words " sanitation " and " hygiene " had little meaning, either in theory or in practice, to the people of Chowan in the eighties, barring a very few exceptions. There was probably not a person in the county who made any effort whatever to screen either the cook-room or dining- room against flies. Some had progressed sufficiently to con- sider flies an unnecessary evil that would have to be toler- ated, but many thought they were especially ordained by God to teach patience and forbearance to His erring chil- dren, or for some other purpose known only to Himself and which His creatures had no business to try to pry into. In summer the food was cooked amidst a swarm of flies. One ate comparatively few mouthfuls during the hot season that had not previously been inspected and sampled by flies. After the food was once on the table a few families of the higher economic classes had some one to stand by with a bunch of peacock feathers, or some other shooing ap- paratus, and keep the flies away while people ate. In most homes, however, one had to dispute possession with these death-laden pests as long as there was a morsel to be possessed.
The principal screening done against flies was that done for the babies against yellow- and other biting-flies. As for the house flies, the babies shared their attention with the grown-ups. Of course, when screening against biting flies, 213] 213
214
CHOW AN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [214
house flies were also excluded, but the former bothered only a few weeks in the year, while the latter were in great pro- fusion for seven or eight months in the year. In fact, the house fly was much like the poor-always on hand. Many a time have I seen infants lying sleeping with open mouths, in and out of which flies were swarming like bees in and out of a hive.
Mosquitoes .- As for mosquitoes, at certain times of the year they made life miserable at night. Some few tried to protect themselves with mosquito netting, but this never made anything but a very poor screen. It was delicate and easily torn, hence usually remained intact for a short time only. Another objection to the netting was that it seriously hindered the circulation of air. The usual method of pro- tection for the vast majority of people was to close all doors and windows to the sleeping apartments just before sunset-the time when the mosquitoes began to put in their appearance. After supper they would sit outside till bed- time, fighting the pests and dreading the hours between then and dawn. When they went to bed they had the choice of raising a window and continuing the battle till they grad- ually sunk into unconsciousness, or of sweltering in a close, stuffy room on a summer night in a southern clime. Many people were afraid of " night air," others were afraid of imaginary night prowlers, so the greater number chose - the latter alternative-shut up everything.
The fact, however, that the vast majority of the dwellings were not tightly built, being neither ceiled, papered, nor plastered, rendered conditions, as regards ventilation, less bad than at first might seem. Is it any wonder that a people thus environed should think of heaven as a place " where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest? " 1
1 A line in one of the church hymns.
215
SANITATION AND HYGIENE
215]
Unfenced Dwellings. - Comparatively few houses, pos- sibly one per cent, were paled off from the "lot " (barn- yard) or fields, hence the poultry littered the space around the dwellings, and not infrequently came inside to pick up the crumbs, and to share, along with the cats and dogs, the between-meal lunches passed out to the children. When the hogs were turned into the fields in the fall of the year, often they, too, were allowed to visit around the house and even to sleep under it. It hardly needs to be added that they rooted the yard full of great holes, which, after a rain, be- came stagnant pools.
Wells .- The well was simply an uncovered, shallow hole in the ground, from eight to fifteen feet deep. The curb, which usually extended all the way from the bottom up, was sometimes made by nailing boards on a square frame, but the more durable and artistic ones were those made from hollow cypresses. The water was almost invariably lifted by the fork-sweep-handpole method. Vessels used as buck- ets were of various sorts, such as coffee pots and small dinner pots that had already served their time in the kitchen, hollow cypress knees, square boxes, and a few first-class cypress or juniper buckets made in bucket shape.
Hard by the well stood the watering trough which was a dug-out log. To this came the horses, and sometime the cattle and hogs, the last named especially during the late fall and early winter months when they were picking the fields. Another accessory was a bench. Here the pickled herring were soaked and washed. Here also the clothing and vegtables frequently were washed and the water dumped. The water which drained off from the trough, fish bucket, and wash tub made a puddle beside the well much to the delight of the ducks and geese (also of the hogs, when they were in the field). The general aspect and odor were, to put it mildly, far from inviting. This is that type of well which has been immortalized by painters, poets, and musicians.
.
216
CHOWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [216
Ash-heaps .- The dish-water and other sewage from the kitchen, except what was carried to the hogs or dumped at the well, was deposited at the back door of the kitchen. A few of the more industrious farmers turned this into an asset by hauling a heap of dirt to catch the sewage, which in turn enriched the dirt, making several loads of manure. This was known as the " ash-heap," taking its name from the fact that some people also dumped their ashes here. This ash-heap could be kept comparatively decent by putting on a load or two of dirt every few days. In the summer time, however, when it needed attention most, everybody was busy with his crop, hence it received very little. And so, whether the sewage was utilized in making manure, or simply poured out on the ground at the back door of the kitchen, there was usually present a hideous cesspool. On hot sultry days the odor, which was one of the accompaniments to meals, was something terrific.
Privies .- Privies, like many other conveniences in the rural sections, were largely conspicuous by their absence. The women went out behind either the hen-house or the smoke-house, and the men behind either the barn or the stables, while the small children not infrequently utilized the chimney-lock.1 Outside of Edenton, possibly five per cent of the families had privies. From a sanitary standpoint, however, conditions were not infrequently about as bad where the privies were as where they were not, since many never disinfected them at all. Their chief advantage was privacy. These conditions, in connection with the fact that most children went barefooted for seven or eight months in the year, made for the spreading of the hook-worm and various other diseases.2
1 Many of the houses had their chimneys built on the outside. The angles made by such a chimney and the house were known as the chimney-locks.
2 See U. S. Farmers Bulletin No. 463.
217
SANITATION AND HYGIENE
217]
CONDITIONS IN 1915
Many conditions, in the case of most people, are much .the same now as they were three and a half decades ago. It will suffice in this section to note the direction in which the changes are taking place.
Screening .- During the past few years, thanks largely to some Government bulletins, two or three physicians, and a newspaper or two, a few people thruout the county have begun partially to realize what a menace to health are flies and mosquitoes. Within the past four or five years con- siderable screening has been done, and at present possibly fifty per cent of the families have made some attempt to screen against mosquitoes and flies in their living-apartments. Doubtless, however, their action has been prompted largely by the desire for immediate comfort and the feeling that screening is coming to be " the thing," rather than by any desire to preserve and improve health.
A fair beginning also has been made in screening against flies in the cooking and eating apartments. Probably twenty per cent of families now have their dining-rooms, and ten per cent their kitchens, screened. This leaves the vast majority, however, still cooking and eating amidst the flies. Even those who attempt to screen where they cook and eat, still have an appreciable quantity of these disease- spreaders.
Unenclosed Dwellings .- There are still only a compara- tively few rural dwellings, possibly two or three per cent. having permanent enclosures shielding them from the visi- tation of the poultry and other barnyard inhabitants.
Pumps .- For drinking purposes the driven well (or pump) has now largely taken the place of the open well described on page 215. Probably ninety-five per cent of the families now have access to driven wells. A prominent
218
CHOW AN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [218
physician 1 said to me in the summer of 1914, "Driven wells have done more to improve the health of Chowan county than any other one thing, screening not excepted."
Sewage Disposal .- Possibly five per cent of the rural families now have underground drains and another five per cent surface drains, which take the sewage off into the fields seventy-five or a hundred yards from the house. The kitchen back-yards of the other ninety per cent have been only slightly, if at all, improved from what they were in the eighties.
Privies .- Privies have now become the rule, being on the premises of probably ninety per cent of the families, but they are about as little sanitary now as they ever were. The dogs, chickens, and flies still have free access to most of them, and only a comparatively few people spread around them any sterilizing or germ-destroying material.
1 Dr. Richard Dillard, Edenton, N. C.
-
CHAPTER XX.
NECESSARIES, COMFORTS, AND LUXURIES IN THE EIGHTIES.
PHYSICAL COMFORTS.
If it were possible for one of the present age, knowing nothing of the past, to draw back the curtain and look upon conditions as they were in 1880, he would be amazed to see people with so few of the material things of the world extracting so much genuine pleasure out of life. Even those living now who were living then, are puzzled over the matter when they stop to think about it.
Buildings .- Take the dwellings. The majority of the people were housed in small, one-story structures-mere sheds-of from one to three rooms. Probably the most common model of the comparatively good-livers was the large one-room, single-story building, shedded on both sides. The back shed had two small rooms with an open hall- way between; the front shed had a small room on one end, while the remaining space served as a porch, and was known as the " piazza." This general style was frequently varied somewhat: a partition might run across the big room; only one side might be shedded; or the sheds might not be built when the big room was, but later on when the owner felt able, or his growing family reached such propor- tions as to demand more room. Only a very few were two- story, but many of them had stairways leading to the lofts, which were used for sleeping rooms.
Not only were the dwellings not tightly put together, but not more than four per cent of them in the country, nor twenty-five per cent in town were either ceiled or plastered. So scarce were painted two-story houses in the rural sec-
219]
219
220
CHOW AN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [220
tions that they served as prominent landmarks. Probably from ninety-five to ninety-eight per cent of the dwellings were frame structures, and the others log, there being but two brick dwellings in the county.
Tho only a small per cent of the dwellings were of logs in 1880, and few, if any, were erected after that date, in the rural districts probably sixty per cent of the kitchens and smoke-houses, and ninety per cent of the barns and stables were made of logs. Many doors were hung on wooden hinges and secured by wooden fastenings. These latter were of three types-the bar, the latch, and the lock. An inside bar could be used on all doors except those thru which first entry and final exit were made. The inside latch was on the front door of many dwellings. If it was desired to have these front doors so that none other than the owner could enter without some trouble, it was necessary to use locks. But many people never cared to have their doors locked when away, and so fas- tened them with an inside latch. This latch was no pro- tection whatever against thieves when the owner was away (probably few locks are), since it was operated by simply pulling a string which hung in plain view on the outside. It was, however, a certain protection to one's person, for when one was on the inside he could draw the string in after him, and then no one could enter without forcing the door. But there was little fear of crime against either one's person or property. The principal reason why most people closed their doors was to keep out dogs, chickens, mosquitoes, cold, and "night air."1 For such purposes the wooden latch was of just as much value as the best of locks. If one who kept only a latch on his front
1 Most people were terribly afraid of "night air" and so shut their doors to keep it out, just as if one could breathe any sort of air at night except "night air."
22I
NECESSARIES, COMFORTS, AND LUXURIES
221]
door happened, on leaving home, to meet some one going to visit him, and he was not able to turn back, he would say something to this effect; " I can't go back now, but you go ahead. You'll find the latch-string on the outside o' the door ; just go in and make yourself at home till I return." From such conditions as are here typified, arose that ex- pression of cordial welcome, "For you the latch-string . always hangs on the outside." Many never locked their barns or smoke-houses, but some did ( feed and provisions were about the only things ever stolen), and here it was that the wooden lock was most frequently used. It is more difficult to pick than is the ordinary factory-made tumbler lock.
Nearly all dwellings, including the log cabins, were cov- ered with good hand-riven and hand-drawn shingles,1 while the outbuildings (such as barns, stables, and smoke-houses) were covered with rough boards,2 just as they were riven from bolts of timber. In other words, the boards were never drawn. Many dwellings had no windows other than wooden shutters, which, when closed, shut out all the light except what came in thru the cracks (rather numerous) and open doors.
Household Furnishings .- Few floors were burdened with those unsanitary contrivances known as rugs and car- pets. The neat housewife, after scouring the floor (some scoured every three or four weeks, or oftener) frequently
1 By " drawing " is meant the shaving down smooth with a drawing- knife. Before being drawn, a riven shingle is in reality nothing more than a short board. It has to be smoothed and tapered with the drawing-knife to become a shingle.
2 A "board" in this section is always riven, never sawed. Sawed boards are called plank. The board usually is about one-half inch thick, from four to eight inches wide, and from two and a half to five feet long. The length and width depend upon the ease and straightness with which a tree splits, together with the use to which the board is to be put.
222
CHOWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
[222
sprinkled clean, white sand over it. The few carpets there were, were mostly rag carpets. Garments no longer fit for service in their original capacity, were torn into strips of from one-half to an inch and a half wide, their ends tied together, and with a twisted cotton warp, woven into carpets.
The furnishings, both of most dwellings and kitchens, were scant, simple, and chiefly home-made. Modern con- veniences had only begun to make their appearance in a few homes. Not more than twenty-five per cent of the homes had any sort of timepieces in them. Thus it prob- ably came about that all the houses were built to square with the points of the compass, rather than with the public thoro- fares past them. When the sun shone straight in the doorway the housekeeper knew it was time to " blow up " the hands for dinner. When there was no sunshine, dinner- time was guessed at. Possibly three or four per cent of the families had sewing machines, tho the great mass of the people still did their sewing by hand; and it must be remembered that this was a time when ninety-five per cent of the clothing worn was made up in the home-not bought ready-made from the stores, as is most of it today.
Cooking and Cooking Utensils .- Possibly ten per cent of the families had cook-stoves. The others cooked on open fire-places. The principal cooking utensils, even of most of the best families, were a pot, a creeper 1 (a spider) or two, a long-handle frying-pan, a tea-kettle, a griddle, and two or three wornout hoes. Such food as beans, peas, greens (in fact practically all vegetables except sweet pota- toes), hominy, and much of the meat, was cooked by boiling in the pot. Some few had big ovens for baking sweet po- tatoes, and some were baked in creepers, but probably the
1 The creeper at this time was a heavy cast-iron pan some three or four inches .deep, covered with a lid, and stood on three legs about three inches high. The handle was from twelve to fifteen inches long.
223
NECESSARIES, COMFORTS, AND LUXURIES
223]
bigger half was roasted on the hearth before the fire, or when the fire was low, in the hot ashes. The old hoes were used for baking corn-bread on. The " hoe-cake "-a pone of corn-bread baked on a hoe that had already lived out its usefulness as a farm utensil-in Chowan had not yet passed into the realms of fiction. Many met it face to face three times a day. Much of the salt fish was broiled on the coals. As all cooks know, it takes quite a little grease to fry most fish. With the majority of families, grease was a rather scarce article, and so some method of cooking fish other than frying was necessary. In broiling, no grease at all is needed.1 Most baking, other than that previously men- tioned, was done in the creeper, while the frying was done either in the creeper or in the frying pan. To bake in the creeper, it was set on the fire and coals heaped on the lid. It was in this receptacle that was cooked that famous dys- pepsia-producing Southern dish known as "hot biscuit." The much-prized apple and peach "jacks " (kinds of pies -the New England " turnovers ") were cooked either in this or in the frying-pan.
Food .- The food of more than ninety per cent of the people consisted chiefly of corn-bread, salt herring, sweet potatoes, bacon, and yeopon - ranking in importance in the order named.2 In the summer and fall some vege- tables and fruits were eaten, but many had very little of either, since they put forth little or no effort towards having a garden or orchard. The art and custom of canning fruit and vegetables had not yet been introduced here, and the country stores handled neither canned goods nor dried- fruits ; so aside from the dried-fruits put up by the individ- ual housekeepers, there was neither vegetables nor fruits, except in season.
1 Cf. supra, footnote, p. 105.
2 Cf. supra, pp. 104, 105.
224
CHOW AN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA [224
There was very little fresh meat eaten, except around hog-killing time, and on special occasions, such as all-day religious gatherings.1 Now and then during the late sum- mer and fall someone would butcher a yearling, or a mis- chievous cow, and peddle out the beef among his neighbors. But even when such an opportunity for having fresh meat was offered, many could not take advantage of it for the simple reason that they had not the wherewithal to purchase. While most families raised some poultry, the major portion of this, together with the eggs, was either sold to carters, or toted off to the stores and there bartered for such articles as snuff, tobacco, sugar, coffee, and spool thread.2 When there was special company present, chickens and eggs were frequently served. The fact that most delicacies were usu- ally reserved for use when company was on hand, was doubtless the chief reason why children were so delighted to see visitors come. During the commercial fishing season, those near the beaches could have fresh fish after they be- came cheap. Everyone had a few messes of fresh fish when the supply for the year was being hauled in. There was also a little fishing with hook and line and small gill nets in the mill-ponds and streams during several months of the year. In the fall and winter many secured a little fresh meat by hunting. Hunting and fishing, other than that described in chapter vii, however, were followed more as diversions than as means of obtaining a livelihood. -
Sweetening of every sort was scarce. There was a little molasses made, some molasses and sugar bought, and now and then there was a person who kept a few bees.3 Yeopon tea, the principal hot drink for the majority of people, was usually served " straight" (with neither milk
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.