USA > New York > Erie County > Sardinia > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 12
USA > New York > Erie County > Collins > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 12
USA > New York > Erie County > Concord > History of the original town of Concord : being the present towns of Concord, Collins, N. Collins, and Sardinia, Erie County, New York > Part 12
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CARDING AND SPINNING.
126
THE OLD SPINNING WHEEL.
through the great gap of years to that fairy-land, "mother's kitchen, and her spinning-wheel," and do not the thoughts that linger around the old open fire-place, the glow of the embers, and the giant shadows of the revolving wheel upon the wall on those long Winter evenings, burn brighter in memory than aught else. This labor, like all the handicraft performed about the household in those days, was long and tedious. Just imagine the countless number of steps that would be required to form the warp and woof for ninety or one hundred yards of flannel. drawn out at a single thread at a time. But this was the only way the pioneer mothers had of protecting those who were dear and near to her from Winter's chilling reign, and the spinning was not the only work that had to be performed before it was ready for use. The yarn must be reeled from the spindle-the operator holding the thread with one hand while the other turned the reel, and the busy brain numbered the revolutions into " knots" and "skeins." The warp was then spooled on the " quill wheel." and the spools were placed in the " scam," and the yarn warped onto the " bars." From here the warp was wound or beamed onto the beam and then passed through the harnesses and then through the reed. The woof or filling was quilled on the same little wheels into bob- bins or quills, and was then ready for the shuttle and the weaver. From forty to fifty yards was the customary length of the webs. Perhaps the same hands that picked the wool performed the rest of the labor, and the fabric was termed " home-made," or " home-spun," a definition literally true.
THE OLD SPINNING WHEEL.
Broken, dismantled ! would that it were mine : I would not keep it in that dusty nook, Where tangled cobwebs cross and interwine, And grim old spiders from their corners look.
From distaff, band and polished rim, ere hung The dusty meshes. Black the spindle is, Crooked and rusty-a dead, silent tongue, That once made whirring music-there it lies.
Oh, dear to me is this forsaken thing ! I gaze upon it and my eyes grow dim ;
For I can see my mother, hear her sing, As winds the shining thread and whirls the rim.
127
THE FLAX INDUSTRY.
So sweet she sang ! her youngest on her knee-
Now a warble, now some fine old hyu.n,
Sublime, exultant, full of victory,
Triumphant as the songs of seraphim.
Sweet toiler ! through her life of crowded care, While grief came oft, and pain and weariness
Till swelled the anthem, still was breathed the prayer, Till death came clasping with his cold caress.
She sings no more ; beside the chimney wide No more she spins. Years come and go ; Above her grave upon the lone hill side The snow drifts lie, the summer grasses grow.
RAISING, DRESSING AND SPINNING FLAX.
Flax was an indispensible necessity to the pioneer, and its cultivation was observed by all. This commodity was never raised for commerce or barter by the pioneer, but its uses were purely domestic, supplying all the sewing thread and it took the place of cotton for all purposes that this staple article is used in to-day. It furnished a good share of the summer clothing of the family, and entered largely into the comforts and con- veniences of the household. Its cultivation was simple and easy, and required no more attention than the raising of oats or wheat, or the rest of the cereals save in its harvest. Instead of being reaped it was pulled up, the dirt shook out of the roots, and laid in " gavels." When sufficiently dry it was bound into bundles and " shocked," where it would remain until perfectly cured. Then it would pass to the threshing floor and be sub- ject to a severe "head-beating" that removed all the seeds from the "bell" or "heads." After this it was taken to some convenient grass plot and spread upon the ground in swaths and left to the action of the elements until the woody portion of the stalks had become thoroughly rotten and brittle. Then again it was bound into bundles and taken to the barn where it was ready for the brake. By the aid of this implement the operator would commence and continue the breaking process until the wooden substance of the stalk was broken or loosened from the outside fiber or bark. After passing through this process it is " swingled," by taking as much as you can conven- iently hold in the hand, hanging it across the sharp edge of a board fixed for the purpose, while with the other hand you beat
128
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.
it with a wooden knife some two feet long, this is done to remove all the "shieves." After it has been thoroughly swingled, it is taken to the "hetchel," where the silken fibers of the flax is combed into "hanks," with the same ease that one of our modern belle combs out her " switch," and this flax is ready for the " distaff." This is a very simple affair, gener- ally cut from the top of a little maple, not over half an inch in diameter with four little protruding branches, which are bent together and fastened at the top. This distaff is set in a socket, which allows it to turn, the flax is loosely bound around, a few of the fibers are attached to the spindle of the little wheel, the foot is placed upon the treadle and the spinning has com- menced, the thread that runs through the flyers to the spindle turns the distaff and supplies the spindle with flax. The tow was carded and spun as you would wool, on a big wheel.
THE BULL PLOW AND CROTCH DRAG.
In pioneer days, farming implements were of rude construc- tion and most of their parts were the works of the farmer's hands. The " bull plow" that was in common use sixty years ago was made mostly of wood. The plow-share and land-side were made by the blacksmith out of wrought iron, with the point laid with steel and all in one section. The mold-board was of wood and split out of a winding log or tree, and worked down to about one and one-half inches in thickness, and in size and shape similar to the mold-boards of cast-iron plows. The crotch-drag was almost entirely a natural production, and a description of which may be found in the article on milling, was used, only this drag must be furnished with nine or eleven teeth, some twelve inches in length and one inch in diameter. The capital " A " will give a good idea of this drag. One of the teeth is set in the apex, or point, where the draught is attached while each right and left arm is pierced by an equal number of teeth, which were of steel or iron.
The author, then a lad of some dozen years, has a vivid recollection of the practical workings of this drag upon a newly-burned fallow : how it would jerk and tip, hop and skip along until it would find something to fasten upon, when things would be brought up standing; then there would be a season
129
THE NEWLY-CLEARED LAND.
of tugging and lifting and hallowing, and the drag would be tided over the obstacle only to be lifted again and again to clear its teeth of roots, sods or brush, or to remove it again from its anchorage on some treacherous root or stump. In a few years the plowing of his ground must be performed, and that was a task which, to be fully appreciated, one must have had some practical experience, great patience, forbearance, and an unfaltering faith in a bountiful Providence. Oh, ye modern tillers of the soil who ride at careless ease upon your improved "sulky plows," could you have witnessed the breaking of this self-same sod by "Old Grimes" sixty or seventy years ago with that same old " bull plow," all your fine-spun theories of scientific farming and performing this work by inanimate force would have departed as "vanishes the dew before morning's sun !" And could you have heard the language employed by "Old Grimes " when that plow anchored under the big roots of a stump and he undertook to "gee" "them" steers and they " hawed," and in doing so, traveled on one of his corns, we fear that your faith in the native goodness of that old gentle- man would have been terribly shaken. Instances of the remark- able patience of Job under trying circumstances are given but it is not recorded anywhere that he ever dragged with a " crotch drag " or plowed with a bull plow among the roots and stumps on a newly-cleared piece of land.
" He that by his plow would thrive
Himself must either hold or drive,"
Is an adage that to-day would be questionable, but the pioneer not only was compelled to hold, but it was tug, lift, push and pull until every bone had its own peculiar ache. There are very few to-day who look upon the practical working of the machinery now employed in farming who have any just con- ception of the toils, trials and hardships that were endured by the pioneers who devoted their lives to making the country what it now is.
MILLING.
The first mill south of the reservation was built by Daniel Smith in 1805. It was of rude construction, built of logs 8
.
130
ADVENT OF THE GRIST MILL.
with wooden gearing and had a capacity of grinding only from five to six bushels of corn per day. This mill was located on a small stream in the Town of East Hamburg. The follow- ing year, John Cummings erected a grist mill on the Eighteen- Mile creek, a mile or so below Water Valley, in the Town of Hamburg. This was the first mill built, that did a general business of grinding, south of the Reservation.
In 1809, Joseph Yaw built a grist mill in the town of Boston. In 1812, Jacob Taylor erected another at Taylor Hollow, in the town of Collins, and in 1814 Benjamin Gardner built one in Springville. These mills supplied the pioneers for a few years with the necessary material for bread, and the task of doing the family milling was no slight one. The roads were
GOING TO MILL.
but little better than a bridle path, and sometimes three days would be consumed in coming and going where the pioneer lived remote. The task was performed in various ways. When the distance would allow, the head of the family would sling a grist across one shoulder, and by occasionally resting and shift- ing it was transported in this way; or again the grist would be placed upon the back of a horse and a boy set upon this and sent to mill : sometimes several boys would come to the same mill in this way on the same day, but more often where the distance was of any consideration, the "drag " was used. This conveyance was almost a natural production and called but little skill in its construction.
The first to be done was to select a tree that threw out two main branches, seven to eight inches in diameter and as many
131
CLOTHING OF THE PIONEER.
feet in length. These branches formed a " drag," or the letter V. Now champer the under side of the "drag" at the nose, where the draft is to be attached, upwards and to a point. This gives it the shape of a sled runner and allows it to slide over all obstacles without hindrance. Across the top of the dray place split planks and fasten them; affix two stakes at the rear to prevent the load from slipping off and you have it. This could be used in all seasons and was much more conveni- ent than the ox sled where the ways were different. On this the grist was put, the oxen attached, and the pioneer set out for the mill, almost through an unbroken wilderness. If the distance was great, rations for himself and team would be carried. Sometimes the drag would carry grists for the entire neighborhood and the milling would be done by turns.
THE MANUFACTURE OF CLOTHING, BOOTS AND SHOES.
A marked change has taken place in everything that apper- tains to the production of wearing apparel. Such a thing as ready-made clothing, or even boots and shoes was unknown sixty or seventy years ago. The good housewife received the cloth for the Winter's clothing (mostly, perhaps, the work of her own hands) from the fuller and dresser, and then she was ready for the tailoress, who came and remained until the garments for the family were cut and made. Their services were always in good demand during Fall and early Winter. These sewing girls ( usu- ally two worked in company) would cut and fit and baste and prepare, and then push forward the garments to final completion. They passed from home to home, and comfort and good cheer was sure to accompany them. The very nature of their calling afforded them opportunities of becoming well qualified to con- verse on all subjects of general interest, and rendered them agreeable and interesting company, and their advent in the family, was hailed, more especially by the younger members, with feelings akin to gratitude ; for perhaps it was their skilled fingers that were to improvise for the first time "those pants," and " that roundabout"with caudal appendage, that makes every boy feel that he has reached a certain stage where his impor- tance is recognized and acknowledged.
Pants and vests were made up for all the male. members of
132
BOOTS AND SHOES FOR THE WINTER.
the family old enough to wear them, and for the father and young men, these were fashioned according to the prevailing styles, " cutaways," or else high collared, straight bodied, or swallow-tailed coats, "all buttoned down before," with metal buttons which perhaps had done service for several years on one or more preceding coats. The boys were all provided with roundabouts of fulled cloth or Linsey-Wolsey, and fre- quently with cloth caps of various styles made at home.
And it was the custom in early times to have the itinerant shoemaker visit the pioneer homes and there to remain and labor until the family were supplied with boots and shoes. Generally the pioneer furnished his home for the Winter with beef of his own raising, and the skins of the animals were usually taken to the tanner and made into leather upon shares, and fur- nished the family with boots and shoes. The luxury of wearing boots was not often indulged in by the boys, but a compromise was effected and high shoes with knit leggings sufficed for all occasions, and when attired in these with "roundabout" and pants to correspond, there was just about as much importance done up in the small boy of sixty ot seventy years ago as there is to-day.
The women and girls were supplied with boots make of calf skin, while boots and shoes for men and boys were made of cow-hide. Sometimes the boots and shoes for the family would not be made up until after the snow had covered the ground for several weeks, and a few instances are mentioned when boys had neither boots or shoes and went without either all Winter, and even attended school barefooted.
MAKING BLACK SALTS.
In the early settlement of the Holland Purchase, as Western New York was called, "black salts" was one of the valuable productions of this portion of the country. As it was for the most part heavily timbered and the necessity of clearing up the land for farming purposes furnished wood ashes in abundance. These ashes were either sold at the ashery and there converted into potash or were worked up by the owners and made into "black salts." The ashes were carefully housed, protected from the wet and put into leaches, made in various ways as the
133
THE BLACK SALTS TRADE.
means at the command of the owner's permitted. By a con- tinuous liberal wetting with water soon the lye began to run, which was boiled down in iron kettles until it became a mass of black salts, which had a cash value at the nearest point where an ashery was located. The money thus obtained was very largely the only resources from which money could be had by the early settlers. And not only in the clearing of the farms was black salts manufactured, but very often, when other employ- ment was wanting, the new-comer, the mechanic and others, who
MAKING BLACK SALTS.
were not otherwise employed, would go to the nearest un -. claimed land, cut and burn timber for the ashes it would pro- duce and make black salts. The ashes from the elm were the best, sugar maple, beech, birch and other hard wood were next, while hemlock, pine and other soft wood was nearly useless. Black salts were manufactured into "pearl ash;" the ashes pur- chased at the ashery were manufactured into potash, which were commodities for export and enter largely into the numer- ous preparations of potash in use for medical and mechanical purposes at the present day. There was a great deal of laborious
1 34
THE MIRTHFUL HUSKING BEES.
work about this industry, as it took twenty bushels of ashes to produce 100 pounds of salts, and these when hauled to the market would bring only about $2.50 or at the highest $3.00 per cwt. Great care had to be used in boiling or evaporating this lye to the proper consistency lest it should be burned, but, as we said before, it was about the only industry that sold for cash and early pioneers were compelled to lay by a little money to satisfy the demands of the tax gatherer.
HUSKING BEES, APPLE BEES AND QUILTINGS.
When the ripened corn had been cut and marshalled into shocks, "husking bees" were common to the season. These gatherings like the other "bees" of pioneer days, were when the work performed was paramount, and when the honest, hearty good will of the participants entered largely into the joy of the occasion. These gatherings were participated in by nearly all. If the corn was to be husked in the field, prepara- tion would be made by drawing all the shocks that stood con- veniently near, around one common center. This formed the huskers' arena, and here they would assemble upon some moon- lit night designated, and strip the yellow corn of its covering :. meanwhile stories would be told, farming discussed and songs sung. After husking a sufficient amount the host would invite his guests to the house, where a collation awaited their coming, consisting of pumpkin pies, doughnuts, cider and cheese. After doing ample justice to these refreshments, the fragments would be picked up, chairs and tables would disappear, the en- livening strains of a violin would fall upon the ear, perhaps in the " Monnie Musk " or the " Opera Reel." As by instinct, a new life seemed to possess the huskers: the old forgot their years and the weary their toils; partners were chosen ; two columns stood facing across the old kitchen floor that were soon keeping step and time to those grand old melodies, and which would be kept up until near the hour of morning. If the husking was to be done indoors, the great threshing floor would be filled to overflowing with shocks of corn. Chairs would be furnished the aged and pumpkins sufficed for seats for the young, and the work would go on as " merry as a marriage ell," until the floor was cleared of its burden of shocks, and in
135
APPLE BEES AND QUILTINGS.
their place was a heap of golden corn. The old-fashioned tin lanterns were arranged along the great swing beam, and fur- nished the workers with light.
One of the first things that occupied the attention of the pioneer here was the planting of an orchard ; in a few years these orchards yielded an abundance, and "apple bees " were in order, and, like the huskings, they brought out a full house. The fruit would be stored conveniently near and brought into the old kitchen by the basketful, where an active, busy scene would be witnessed-some paring, some quartering and coring, some stringing and all talking, laughing and enjoying them- selves. Paring machines were not known, and this work was done with a knife the same as you would pare potatoes to-day. There is nothing but the stringing that needs an explanation. The stringer was armed with a long needle, most generally improvised out of a knitting needle, with an eye large enough to carry a strong string of linen twine. The needle was held in the right hand and the quarters were placed upon its sharp point with the left, and when it was full it was drawn through the apples, leaving them upon the string as you would string beads. This operation had to be repeated until the string was full ; then the ends were tied and it was ready to be hung up to dry. Most generally this work would continue until the walls or ceiling of the old kitchen were deeply festooned with the drying fruit. Then would follow the repast to be closed with playing or dancing and sometimes both.
Quiltings were fashionable at all times, and differed but very little from the rest of the merry makings save in this: the mat- rons and maidens would most generally meet in the afternoon and the " quilt " would be finished and taken from the frames before the swains put in an appearance. When this was the case the dance would commence at early candle light and be continued for three or four hours; then an intermission of half an hour or so for rest and refreshments; the latter would be passed around, and again on would go the dances, sometimes closing at midnight and sometimes not until the "dawning of the day." Sometimes these quiltings forestalled a wedding, and many of the spectacle-wearing grandames of this age, though for them the nightingale's song of love ceased long ago, and
136
THE PRIMITIVE SCHOOL-HOUSES.
the flowers of youth have faded and been swept away, yet with them still lingers some of the bright hopes of their sweet maiden years, and they will pause and ponder with fond recol- lection at the mere mention of these " merry-makings."
SCHOOLS.
It is a credit that is due to the early pioneer to say that he realized the benefits to be derived from an education that has been of vast importance to the succeeding generations, for whenever there were scholars enough to form a class a school was organized, a teacher secured and the Summers and Winters were devoted by the young to acquiring an education. This was the case in the earliest days of the settlement, and before a saw-mill had been built. Sometimes the pioneer's humble abode contained more space than was actually needed by the family, and this was used as a school room. Sometimes the log barn sufficed for the Summer's term, and sometimes several terms would be taught in this way before the building cf a school house or the organization of a school district, and per- haps in good time a central site would be secured, a day named when the whole neighborhood would turn out and the body of a log school house would rise, as by magic, and another day would witness the covering, and perhaps the labor of another day would be all that was required to fit it for occupation. Generally egress was had at one end, while the stick chimney and Dutch fire-place occupied the other. Two or three single windows (according to the size of the room) on a side admitted the light ; a single row of desks was arranged along the walls with benches to correspond. These were occupied by the older or more advanced scholars, while the inner circle was occupied by the juveniles on benches to correspond. Perhaps some patron would supply the teacher with a splint-bottomed chair, and he or she would keep ward and watch over the "young idea " from the center of the room.
These teachers were supposed to be proficient in the com- mon English branches and most all that our venerable ances- tors knew of these rudiments were acquired in these log school- rooms.
At times more pains would be taken in the erection of these
137
EARLY SCHOOL RECORDS.
buildings. The logs that were to form the walls were squared to the desired thickness by scoring and hewing, and when care was used in placing them into the walls they formed a very comfortable and substantial building. These were termed "block houses," and when adorned with brick chimneys and double windows they were quite imposing in appearance and spoke well of the public spirit and liberality of the patrons. Just as soon as sawed lumber could be procured the log school house was supplanted by the framed one. Those differed but very little from those of the present, save in the modern im- provements that have been made by the introduction of the box stove in heating and the patent desks and benches now used in the most of our schools.
The school fund at the time we speak was but a mere pit- tance, being less than thirty-seven cents per scholar, and most of the teachers' wages were raised by a rate-bill. The teachers were also required to board around among the patrons of the school, and the amount of board was regulated by the number of scholars sent by the several families, and the wood was also furnished for the school by the patrons in the same manner.
Unfortunately we have no records that extend farther back than 1832-3, and this record is not only worthy of preserva- tion, as a period in the history of our schools, but it gives us a true idea of the character and ability of the men who were the prominent actors of half a century ago. We give the report verbatim, dated 1833 :
" To the Commissioners of Common Schools of the Town of Concord: We the trustees of school district number five in said town in conformity with the statutes for the support of common schools, do certify and report, That the whole time any school has been kept in our district during the year ending on the date hereof, and since the date of the last report, such schools has been kept by teachers duly appointed and approved in all respects according to law, is seven months, that the amount of money received in our district from the commissioners of common schools during the said year and since said last report is twenty-nine dollars and fifteen cents, and that the same has been expended in paying the wages of teachers, who were duly appointed and approved
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