History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents, Part 16

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Publication date: 1880
Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages:

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HISTORY OF WYOMING COUNTY, NEW YORK.

This room, thus furnished, served all the purposes of kitchen, drawing room, sitting room, parlor, and bed room; and not unfrequently workshop also, for temporary benches were erected, and sleds, ox yokes, and many other farming utensils were made and repaired there during stormy days or evenings. The light for such evening work was furnished by the blazing fire, or sometimes by a "slut," which was made by placing a rag for a wick in a dish of "coon's oil," or the fat of some other wild animal.

Here also, as time went on, were heard the raking of the hand cards and the wirr of the spinning wheel; for in those days the cloth for both the summer and winter clothing of the family was homemade, and all the technicalities of the process, from picking the wool to "taking out the piece," were as familiar to every member of the family as any house- hold word.

At first, before the establishment of cloth dressing mills, the dyeing or coloring, even of all the " woolen cloth, was done by the pioneer wives; and after clotheries made their appearance, everything except " fulled cloth" was colored at home. The properties and the proper method of coni- pounding for different colors, of Nicaragua or Nic. wood, log wood, fustic, indigo, madder, copperas, alum, vitriol, etc., as well as all the various indigenous barks and plants, were known to every housewife. The old dye tub, which is still remembered by the older inhabitants, had its place at the side of every hearth, where it was frequently used as a seat for children in cases of emergency, or when the increase of the family was more rapid than that of chairs. Peter Par- ley (Mr. Goodrich) calls it "the institution of the dye tub, which, when the night had waned and the family had re- tired, frequently became the anxious seat of the lover, who was permitted to carry on his courtship, the object of his addresses sitting demurely in the opposite corner."

The flax brake, swingling knife and board, and hatchel are never seen now; and one of the present generation would be utterly unable to guess their uses were they shown to him. Then the pulling and rotting and all the details of dressing flax were known to every child; and the process of spinning the flax and tow, weaving and bleaching the dif- ferent qualities of cloth, and making the thread for all the family sewing, was a part of the education of every girl. Then cotton cloth was only to a slight extent manufactured in this country, and it was practically beyond the reach of most farmers. Woolen goods, other than those of domestic manufacture, were seldom seen. A " broadcloth coat" was an evidence either of unpardonable vanity or of unusual prosperity.

It is hardly necessary to speak of the ordinary food of the first settlers, such as hasty pudding, Johnny cakes, or corn pones, the meal for which was ground in a pioneer mill or wooden mortar; or of the dainties, such as shortcakes, mixed with the lye of cob ashes and baked in ashes on the hearth, that were set before company. The simple and sub- stantial diet of the people then was adopted because cir- cumstances would permit no other. They were too poor to pamper their children with sweetmeats, or to stimulate them with tea and coffee: and the incidental result was a degree of robust health such as the children in later times do not acquire.

It must not be inferred that all the settlers in this region were subjected to severe privations. The kind of fare

spoken of was not looked upon as hard, for it was the best the country then afforded. There were instances where people were compelled to go into the woods and gather leeks for a dinner: but these were perhaps as rare as are cases of extreme destitution now. The condition of the country was such that these habits and methods of living were necessary, and they were not regarded as hardships.

The agriculture of those times, if agriculture it may be termed, was such as is never seen now. Very few at the present day have witnessed the process of preparing the virgin soil for the first crop. The timber was often girdled in advance, so that when felled, as it often was, in what were termed wind rows, much of it would burn as it lay, being partially or wholly dried, by kindling the fire at the windward end of these rows. After the first burn some of the remaining fragments were "niggered " into pieces that could be easily moved, and the whole was drawn together with oxen and "logged up " for the final burning. Many in the neighborhood usually joined in this work, and the "log- ging bees " were at the same time occasions when work was done and social intercourse enjoyed. When the burning was completed and the ashes collected the ground was sometimes made ready for the seed by harrowing with a three cornered harrow, which was often hewed from a crotched tree, with either large wooden pins set at intervals, or very large and strong iron teeth. Such a harrow was drawn over the ground among the stumps to fit the soil for its first crop when the roots'were not sufficiently decayed to permit the use of a plow. In using this primitive harrow in these clearings the driver found it necessary to keep always at a respectful distance, for it often bounded from side to side in a manner not compatible with safety at close quarters. In cases where plowing could be done the old bull plow was used. This was an uncouth implement, with wrought iron share and a wooden moldboard, such as is now scarcely ever seen even among relics of the past. In rare cases a wooden plow, hewn out of a crotched tree, was used.

The wheat sown or corn planted in ground prepared in this rude way often gave good returns, such was the fertility of the soil before it was exhausted by repeated cropping. When the crop was grown and ripened, it was cut with sickles, a handful at a time. Sickles may occasionally be seen at the present day; but there are few who ever saw them used. For harvesting grain among the stumps of the first clearings the sickle was best adapted of all instruments, and no other was known; but when these stumps had de- cayed, and the grain cradle had been introduced, many looked on it as a pernicious invention, by the use of which more than sufficient grain would be wasted to pay for the labor of harvesting, and some insisted that more could be harvested in the same time with the sickle-so strongly are people attached to old customs.

The grain was first threshed with the flail on the ground, and partially separated from the chaff by pouring it from a height in the wind and afterwards dextrously manipulating it in a "corn fan," a description of which would be quite difficult. For many years after barns were erected on all farms the flail and the feet of horses were the only thresh- ing machines, but fanning-mills superseded the old corn fan.

Hay was cut with the old fashioned scythe, which has

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PRIMITIVE IMPLEMENTS AND INDUSTRIES.

changed but very little, and the hand rake only was used to gather it. Among the stumps and stones in early times these were the most available tools, but their use continued long after improved implements were available, and after such implements had been invented.

In those days the conveyance most in use was the ox-cart. It was made available for almost everything, from hauling manure to going to meeting, or to balls and weddings. Its use was thus universal because it was, like the other tools spoken of, adapted to existing conditions. The rough and stumpy roads almost forbade the use of four-wheeled con- veyances.

It seems hardly necessary to call attention to the wagons, ploughs, harrows, threshing-machines, harvesters, mowers, wheel-rakes, etc., etc., of the present day, and contrast them with the awkward and uncouth implements of former times; but if this is done the adaptation of these to their existing circumstances should be remembered, and the additional fact should be borne in mind that the improved tools of the present day would not then have been available.

During some years after the first settlement of this region trade was carried on in a manner quite different from the way in which it is now conducted. Now all produce has a cash market and a cash value; and all the necessaries or superfluities that are purchased are reckoned according to the same standard. Then there was not sufficient money in the country to be made the medium of exchange, and trade was carried on almost wholly by what was termed barter. About the only article that sold for cash was the crude pot- ash, or black salts, manufactured from the ashes into which the forests were burned. By reason of this nearly exclusive exchange trade, mercantile establishments were quite unlike those of the present time. Then, every store was a sort of commercial microcosm. In it was kept everything that the inhabitants required. As one who lived in those times says: "Every merchant kept dry goods, groceries, crockery, glass- ware, hardware, dye stuffs, iron, nails, paints, oil, window- glass, school books, stationery, rum, brandy, gin, whiskey, drugs and medicines, ending with a string of etceteras, or every other article usually kept in a country store. Things were sometimes curiously grouped; as, for example, silks and iron, laces and fish, pins and crowbars, pork and tea, molas- ses and tar, cotton yarn and log chains, wheel heads and hoes, cards and pitchforks, scythes and fur hats." In ex- change for these, the pioneer merchant received almost every article of country produce. Coarse grain was con- verted into spirits at his distillery, or that of some one in the vicinity, for distilleries sprung up early. Pork was " packed," feathers, butter, cheese, etc., etc., were received in exchange for goods and sent, at first by teams, sometimes over bad roads, to Albany, where they were exchanged for the goods which these teams brought back; and so the barter trade was kept up. This expensive method of transportation necessarily rendered the price of goods high, and that of produce low; and this condition of things continued up to the time of the completion of the Erie Canal, which, by af- fording better facilities for transportation, cheapened mer- chandise and enhanced the price of produce.

Gradually, since that time, has trade changed till it has reached a cash basis, and along with this change has come another important one-the "division of business." Now dry goods, groceries, hardware, books, drugs, liquors, etc.,

etc., are separate branches of business; and produce dealing is separated from all of them.

A no less marked contrast is to be seen in the manufac- tures of those times and the present. Then almost every ar- ticle and utensil that was used was either " homemade," or manufactured at the shops which sprung up to supply the wants of the early settlers. Then, as has been stated, the cloth in which every one was clad was of domestic manu- facture. The spinning wheel and the loom were portions of the furniture of almost every house, and clothieries, or wool carding and cloth dressing establishments, were as common as grist-mills. Almost every hamlet had its tailor's shop, where the knight of the shears cut the clothing for the peo- .ple of the vicinity, and, to avoid the responsibility of misfits, warranted "to fit if properly made up." This clothing was made up by tailoresses, or, as the tailors sometimes termed them, "she tailors." The trade of a tailoress was reckoned a very good one; for she received for her skilled labor two shillings (as currency was then talked) per day; while the price of housework help was six shillings per week.

Shoemakers' shops were abundant also, though there were itinerant shoemakers who "whipped the cat," as going from house to house with their "kits " was termed. After the es- fablishment of tanneries, the people were in the habit of having the hides of their slaughtered animals tanned on shares, and the leather thus obtained was worked up by these circulating disciples of St. Crispin.

The ubiquitous tailor shop has entirely disappeared, and only here and there is to be seen a solitary cobbler's sign. Every village has its shoe stores, and the descendants of Abraham vie with each other in supplying the gentiles with clothing "ferry sheap."

Very early it wasa portion of the business of every black- smith to make the nails that were required where wooden pins could not be used. Now an old fashioned wrought nail is a curious relic of the past; and even the rivets, bolts, and horse shoe nails that were formerly made upon every anvil are now made by machinery, and furnished more cheaply than they can be hammered out by the vulcans or their ap- prentices.

So of almost everything. Where joiners formerly took lumber "in the rough " and did all the work of building a house, now houses are almost, like Byron's critics, "ready made; " for little is required but to put together the parts that are made by machinery.

The wheelbarrows, carts and wagons, and even the cradles and coffins, that were formerly made in the shops that sprang up when the country was first settled are now made by ma- chinery, and sold at rates far lower than those at which hand- made work can be afforded; and the old hand manufactories have gone to decay or degenerated into simple repair shops.

The question has often arisen whether the invention of labor saving machinery, which has led to this centralization and cheapening of manufactures, has been beneficial or other- wise to the country. It is claimed by many that these inven- tions are detrimental to the best interests of the country, because, though they cheapen manufactured articles to con- sumers, they throw out of employment and reduce to poverty large numbers of skilled artisans.

To this it is answered that the utilization of natural forces always adds to the wealth of a country; and that those who are thus deprived of employment are in the end benefited,

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HISTORY OF WYOMING COUNTY, NEW YORK.

because they are driven into more profitable avenues of in- dustry, raised above their former condition, and made par- takers of the increased general prosperity.

In early times, wild animals, especially bears and wolves, were great sources of annoyance. It is not known that any person ever became a victim to the rapacity of these ani- mals, but many cases are recorded of terrible frights. Many swine that were permitted to roam and feed in the woods were destroyed by bears, and great care was necessary to protect sheep against the wolves. For years the slumbers of people were interrupted and night was made hideous by the howling of the latter.

The record of the proceedings of the first board of super- visors of Genesee county, of which Wyoming then (1805) constituted a part, contains the following:

"The board, after considering the necessity and utility of destroying wolves, passed a vote to allow a bounty of five dollars apiece for the scalp and ears of each wolf taken and killed in the county aforesaid since its organization."

The board of 1804 "resolved that certificates given to Indians for wolf scalps shall be certified in the presence of a white person of suitable age, who shall attest the same."

The price paid for the scalps of wolves in different years ranged from $5 to $45 per head for grown ones, and from $2 to $20 for whelps. Between 1803 and 1821, when the payment of bounties was discontinued, an aggregate of $6,782 was paid for 793 wolves and 8 panthers. It was thought that the large bounties offered here induced people to capture wolves elsewhere, bring them into this county and kill them, and obtain the price of their scalps; and this may have led to a discontinuance of the bounties.

Subsequent to 1821 these animals were occasionally seen, and slight depredations were sometimes committed by them; but they have long since ceased to visit this region.

CHAPTER

EARLY SCHOOLS THE ORIGIN OF TEACHERS' INSTITUTES- CHARACTER OF THE PIONEERS.

T must not be supposed that while the pioneers who settled the hills and valleys of " the Genesee · country " were busy reclaiming the wilderness, and surrounding themselves with domestic com- forts, they forgot to plant the seeds of those insti- tutions in the midst of which they had been reared, and which by New Englanders and their descendants are considered of paramount importance. As soon as a sufficient number of children could be gathered the school- house made its first appearance, rude at first like the prim- itive houses of the settlers, but adapted to the circumstances of the people in those times.

Pioneer school-houses, like pioneer dwellings, were usually log structures, and were warmed in winter from fire-places similar to those in these dwellings. The desks were slant- ing shelves of slabs or boards, supported by long pins driven into auger holes in the logs, with the ends sustained by braces from the logs below. In front of these were

benches made of split and hewed slabs, or, where there were saw-mills in the vicinity, of sawed slabs. These were for the "big scholars." A row of similar benches stood in front of these, on which the smaller ones sat.

The course of instruction was limited to reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, and sometimes geography and grammar. The text books then in use were quite different from those of the present time. Among the primary books in use were the United States Speller, the first reading.lesson in which was:

" My son, do no ill, Go not in the way of bad men, For bad men go to the pit: O, my son ! run not in the way of ain ;"

followed by " Fear God and honor the king;" and Webster's Spelling-book, in which the first exercise was :.

" No man may put off the law of God; My joy is in his law all the day."

At the same time that they taught the children reading they inculcated morality, and even loyalty. The whole science of orthography was taught in three or four pages of the " fore part of the spelling book." Morse's, and afterward Woodbridge's, Geography (if any), telling very briefly what was known of the earth, were used; and Dilworth's, Pike's and Daboll's Arithmetics, with their condensed rules and no demonstrations, and in which if the "single rule of three " was reached in one term it was considered remarkable pro- gress. The Columbian Orator, American Preceptor and English Reader were the reading books in use, and Lindley Murray's Grammar was studied by some. The practice with this last was to first commit to memory the "coarse print," then "go through " and learn the "fine print," and when these tasks were accomplished the pupil knew, if possible, less of grammar than when he commenced. These books were well adapted to the capacities of those who had mas- tered the branches of which they treated, but not to those of beginners. . The curriculum of study in those days was, with many, limited to reading, writing and cyphering.

Schools were not conducted then as at present. The Puritans and their descendants were reared with full faith in the maxim " Spare the rod and you spoil the child." Their teachers were usually anxious that pupils should not spoil on their hands, and many old men retain a vivid recollec- tion of what school discipline was in their boyhood.

An account of the exercises during a half-day of school in those days would be amusing, though it is a question whether, in some respects, modern customs are great im- provements.

Many can remember that when word was passed around " Master's comin'!" a general scramble for seats took place, so that every one was found in his place and order prevailed when the august dispenser of wisdom entered; and if, for any reason, he remained at the house during the intermission at noon it was necessary that he should walk a short dis- tance away and then retrace his steps, in order that he might be " comin'." On entering he took off his hat and bowed to the scholars, a compliment which they arose and returned. He then walked majestically across the room, hung his hat on its accustomed peg, turned around and an- nounced "School's begun!" Then, taking up his . book, he called, " First class in the English Reader! arise!' at- tention!" At the word, which was often contracted to. "rise," the boys of the class on one side of the room, and

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THE OLD-TIME DISTRICT SCHOOL-TEACHERS' INSTITUTES.

the girls on the other, arose as one; and when "'tention " or " "beesance " (obeisance) was called, the boys bowed and the girls " curchied." If these motions were not properly made a short drill ensued. When they had been executed with sufficient precision the reading was proceeded with. The members of the class arose in their places, one by one, and each read his or her verse, prompted or corrected by the master, who, as occasion required, called to inattentive ones, "Look over!" and to the one reading, "Read louder!" or, "Mind the pauses!" or occasionally to the school. "Less noise!" When the class had "read round," at the word "Class dissmissed" they laid aside their books, faced about, and such as chose to do so drew their writing books from under the desk and engaged for a time in a writing exercise; though there was no stated time for this. Writing was then done with quill pens on coarse, unruled paper. Be- ginners were permitted to rule their paper, which they did with leaden "plummels" and wooden "rulers; " but after a time they were to acquire the art of writing "straight," without ruling. The master wrote or " set " all the copies; and it is a notable fact that when printed copies and ruled paper were first introduced they were looked upon with the utmost contempt. At first only "coarse hand " was per- mitted, which, as the learner became more proficient, was gradually brought down to "fine hand;" then ruling was dispensed with. Strange as it may appear to those who are in- structed according to modern system, a majority of pupils in those days acquired a very good chirography. Next in order. the second class was called. The teacher was usually able to hear this class and at the same time respond to the frequent calls to "mend my pen." Then followed the other classes in order, ending with the children that were called one at a time to the side of the teacher and asked: "What's that?" " A-uh!" "What's that?" "B-uh!" etc. Then followed "Boys mer gwout!" and after they were recalled by vigorous rapping on the window the girls were given a similar recess. Next came the recitations in geography and grammar-if any-one at a time, for there were then no classes except in reading and spelling, and blackboards were unknown. Next came (in the afternoon) parsing, if there were any advanced grammar scholars. Then followed the spelling classes, beginning with the lowest and concluding with the first class. Stated times were set apart for studying the spelling lessons, and the practice of " going up " was adopted by all; and those who were " at the head " the greatest number of times were rewarded with prizes. During all this time the teacher was frequently called to respond to the questions: " M'I speak?" "M'I gwout?" "M'I git some drink?" "Show me how ter do this sum?" " M'I go t' the fire?" "Where does the Mis- sippy rise?" etc., etc. Of course the exercises were varied as emergencies arose by practical illustrations of moral sua- sion-as then practiced-with the ferule and rod. When the scholars filed out of the house at night, after those who were designated to "hand round the things " had discharged that duty, each was required to turn around at the door, make a bow or "curchy," and say, "Good afternoon, sir," which was soon shortened to "'Dart noon sir." Then chil- dren were required in going to and returning from school to raise their hats and bow to older persons when they met them. If such a custom were prevalent now the manners of people would not be the worse for it.

It must be admitted that, notwithstanding the miserable text-books then in use, and the-in many respects-awkward methods of teaching which prevailed the schools of that period furnished some excellent scholars; perhaps almost as large a proportion as those of the present time. The early establishment of an efficient common school system in this State was due in a great measure to the eager demand for such a system by New England immigrants.

In 1858 an act was passed by the Legislature dividing the county of Wyoming, which is a single Assembly district, into two districts for the election of school commissioners. The towns of Sheldon, Bennington, Orangeville, Attica, Warsaw, Middlebury, Covington and Perry constitute number 1 of these districts; and the towns of Arcade, Genesee Falls, Java, Eagle, Wethersfield, Pike, Gainesville and Castile, number 2.

It is hardly necessary to call attention to the measures which have been adopted to give greater efficiency to the common schools of the State. In every instance Wyoming county has been among the first to make available the facil- ities which have been thus provided. In 1835 was passed the first act making provision for school district libraries. About the year 1843, for the purpose of elevating the stand- ard of qualification among teachers, two sagacious men con- ceived the plan of holding teachers' institutes .. These men were the late judges A. S. Stevens, of Attica, and Jacob S. Denman, of Ithaca, Tompkins county, each of whom was in his own county the first county superintendent appointed under the law of 1842. It is a singular fact that each of these men conceived the plan of holding an institute in his own county, and held such institute the same month, without any knowledge of the doings of the other.

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History of Wyoming County, N.Y., with Illustrations, Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Some Pioneers and Prominent Residents, Part 16

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co. Number of Pages:

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: F.W. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: