Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 33

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318

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In the absence of these, it was sometimes necessary to go a mile or more, on a bitterly cold

morning, to some more fortunate neighbor and borrow some fire. Stoves were almost unknown as late as 1840.

It is but a step from the pioneer's hearth to his table, and here we note quite as marked a contrast from that of to-day. The menu was

WILLIAM PENN'S TEA SERVICE.

meagre enough, yet could it boast some things now most eagerly sought. Our ancestors were more familiar with the flavor of flesh from the forest and the stream than with that from the stall or the pen. Venison, bear-meat, quail and pheasant (ruffed grouse) and wild turkey were no rare treat ; while any one of the streams could furnish such a string of trout as the mod- ern disciples of Izaak Walton and Frank For- rester have dreamed of all their lives, and " died without the sight." Even the pork was largely a forest product,-a semi-transparent, greasy stuff, known as beech-nut pork. The pigs were turned into the woods in the autumn, where they subsisted on the mast for months, even when the snow was quite deep. Grist- mills were few and far between ; hence " hulled" corn, boiled wheat and boiled rye were among the dishes that graced that table. Ten miles was often the shortest distance to mill, and this journey must be made with oxen, or a horse that carried the grist on his back, guided by a man or boy, who found his way by marked trees. We have been told of going to Wilkes- Barre to mill in this manner, the trip requiring three days.

The only sugar known was obtained from

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the maples. Salt could not be had in exchange for grain or dairy products. That was a cash article, a term still in use, which has almost wholly lost its siguificance.

The word " browsing " has become sadly cor- rupted. To the average boy, nowadays, it sug- gests the idea of a school exercise, more stimu- lating than refreshing, while to the cattle of that early time it often meant the only alterna- tive of starvatiou. When the farmer of that day was out of feed for his stock, he was out ; no railroad brought him corn from beyond the Mississippi, and the chances were that every other man in the settlement was alike destitute of fodder. The writer, even as late as 1842, has seen his father start with his axe each morn- ing for the woods, while the cattle followed with hungry cries, eager to devour the twigs of the fallen maples, beeches and birches. Cut- ting timber for this purpose was sometimes facetiously called " uncapping a ninety-foot haystack." The maple "browse," on account of the sugar it containcd, was reckoned best, and cattle could subsist on it much better than would at first be supposed.

There was no Brussels carpet or upholstered furniture in the dwellings. The chairs were splint-bottoms,-that is, the seats were made of splints, split from ash or oak, or of bark strip- ped from an elm tree, while the broom was made of a yellow birch sapling. It would take too long to give a description of its manufac- ture ; so we just call it a splint-broom, and let it pass.

Passing to the wardrobe of our ancestors, we notice the same self-reliance, the same ability to live independent of the outside world, that dis- tinguished them in other matters. Nearly every article of clothing or bedding was fabri- cated in that same log mansion. For winter wcar the wool was carded, spun, dyed and woven by the light and warmth of that old stone fire- place, while summer clothing, sheets, ticking, towels and grain-bags were the product of the flax, grown ou the premises, pulled by the small boy of the period, at the expense of an aching back, rotted, subjected to a terrible punishment in a machine called a flax-break, and spun by " mother" on that funny little old wheel, with

its shrouded distaff, its gourd shell of water, in which she wetted her fingers every half- miuute, and the pedal which supplied the mo- tive-power for its musical hum. That little flax-wheel was the organ that furnished the music of the household in that distant day.

A single fact will convey an idea of what " store-clothes " meant. The writer's mother lias told him that the first dress her husband ever bought for her was a calico one, purchased

MAN

LADY'S FASHIONABLE HEAD-DRESS, 1776.

in Wilkes-Barre, at one dollar per yard. When it is remembered that the money for the pur- chasc came from the sale of choice pine boards, that were cut, sawed, hauled ten miles to the river, rafted and "run " to Marictta, and sold for four dollars per thousand, some notion may be formed of the value of a dress that her great- granddaughter would think hardly good enough to wear to school, though containing twice the material and of most elaborate architecture.

In passing, may be noted the fact that about the only way any money could be obtained was from the sale of pine, cherry or curled-maple lumber or oars. These last were split from white-ash trees, hewed and dressed,-that is, shaved ready for use on boats. Sometimes,

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

however, they were shipped in the rough. They were of different lengths, from ten to twenty- six feet. The oars werc sometimes loaded on a raft of lumber, at others on an "ark"-a rude boat of large size, specially made for carrying shingles, boards or oars. When spring came, the lumbermen watched for a rafting-fresh, as a freshet was called, and "went down the river." Sales were usually made at towns along the Lower Susquehanna ; if not, they hired a schooner to tow their stock around to Philadelphia. Thc homeward trip was made on foot.

For shoes and boots, in families that did not have some member who could make them, an itinerant shocmaker came once a year with his benchi and kit of tools and "shod up" the entire family. The sole-leather was imported; but very excellent upper-leather was made by placing calf-skins in a large trough, filled with hemlock bark crushed by pounding. In this bark, which was kept wet, the skins were allowed to remain a year, and then dressed with fresh butter in- stead of oil.

For lights, the usual thing was a tallow-dip. It was an all-day job for the matron of the house to "dip" candles. The usual number made at one batch was twenty dozen. The wicks were first prepared and hung on "candle- rods," a dozen on each rod. The tallow was melted in a large kettle nearly filled with water. Into the mass of tallow, floating on the hot water, the wicks on the rods were dipped, one rod after another,-we don't know how many times,-till the candles assumed the required proportions. Not unfrequently light was fur- nished by burning pine-knots or a saucerful of lard, on the margin of which a lighted rag was floating. No other light was needed in the kitchen when a roaring fire was burning. Some- how, we know not why, the strongest, yet ten- derest, of all our memories cluster and linger about that old stone fire-place, and we have a sort of pity for those children who grow up by stoves, and never sit on the hearth and watch the big coals fall from behind the "fore-stick," and the ever-changing pictures on them.

The farming-tools were neither numerous nor far-fetched. The grain was cut with a sickle, forged by the local blacksmith, as was, also, the

hoe, that had an "eye" in which to insert a handle. Forks came from the same shop, while the plow was a monstrous engine, the product of the joint labors of the smith and the carpenter- its mould-board of wood, its point of wrought- iron, which from time to time was sharpened. Around that old log house the honey-suckles and many-hued morning-glorys clambered, while all the old-fashioned flowers bloomed in pro- fusion near the door, in company with the well- known herbs that were grown for their medicinal virtues. Doctors' visits were like those of angels are supposed to be.

A peachi-stone buried beside a stump would, in three or four years, bear fair fruit, and as there was no communication with markets abroad, this fruit was sometimes so plentiful that it could hardly be given away and was left to rot on the ground. The protection afforded by the forests had, doubtless, something to do with this abundance of peaches, which, with the forests, is a thing of the past.

In those early days the sheep had to be gath- ered, each night, into an inclosure that was proof against wolves; to leave them out meant certainty of their destruction before morning. Every neighborhood in the county has its own store of local traditions of ficrce encounters with wolves, bears, wild-cats and panthers. The rifle, with its flint-lock, was a necessary piece of furniture.

The history of the world's heroism has never been written and never can be. In a million instances, all through the world's history, deeds have been enacted in humble life yet never chronicled, that would put to blush the boasted achievements of those

"Whose distant footsteps echo through the corridors of Time."

That mother, who, surrounded by a half- dozen children, none of them more than twelve years old, spent the winter months with them, while her husband was miles away in the "shingle-woods," with no neighbor nearer than a mile, and wolves howling in the door-yard every night, had a courage that would not suffer in comparison with Queen Elizabeth or the Maid of Orleans, and a nobleness of soul that can scarcely be measured.

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MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

Passing to the social habits in those old times, we cannot fail to notice a contrast from those of to-day. There was no caste based on wealth when all were alike poor ; no arrogant independ- ence, when all were mutually dependent; no exclusion from society on the grounds of fash- ion in dress, when all were clad so nearly alike. Growing out of mutual dependence, perhaps, was a spirit of mutual helpfulness unknown in older communities.

Logging " bees," stone " bees " and huskings were among the most common gatherings, in which both sexes mingled-the women to cook and serve the food, and it was a good wether that would furnish meat and "pot-pie " for dinner and supper, to say nothing of the pump- kin pies and Indian pudding. Nearly every man had a "fallow " each year. Quiltings came later, to which all the elder and younger dames gathered, not more to help a neighbor than to visit with each other. Possibly the young men came in the evening to see their best girls home, or to engage in the invigorating and fascinating exercise of "snap and catchi 'em." At rare intervals a ball was given, and, if at some distance, a gallant young knight would mount a steed that, for spirit and fleet- ness, might vie with Don Quixote's Rozinante, and take his fair one up behind him on a " pil- lion." Thus mounted, they would thread the sombre niazes of the forest to the appointed place of rendezvous. And then the visits, pure and simple visits, made for the sake of vis- iting. With all their isolation and lack of means of conveyance and roads, there was un- questionably more social intercourse among the farmers of this county sixty years ago than there is now. Development of material resources and growth in wealth have brought many ad- vantages for personal comfort and intellectual culture, but they have imposed conditions on us which fetter friendly intercourse and have well- nigh crushed out all social feeling. No such free and unrestrained visits now as when one family started out in the morning with oxen and sled, stopped at each house for reinforce- ments till the load contained a round dozen, who would rush in on some unsuspecting house- hold and make them a surprise party that was

not a donation, and of which the host was not apprised in advance.

We have been with the pioneer at his fireside, at his table, in the field and the forest, and among his neighbors. His splendid work in the attempt to educate his children under ad- verse circumstances will be reviewed by another, than whom none is better fitted for the task. It remains for us only to consider him in that highest outcome of our human nature-his re- ligious life. And just here we would fain lay down our pen, for it may be difficult to make the young reader understand the zeal, the earn- estness, the charity and the hospitality of those old-time Christians.

It is not for us to discuss the cause or its moral significance, but the fact is that the con- gregations that assemble at public worship are not as large as they were when the population was less than half what it now is. This volume might easily be filled with the records of mis- sionary work performed by the ministers of all denominations. The itinerant Methodist, whose circuit extended from Wyoming Valley to Cen- tral New York, holding service every day or night in some house, or barn, or grove, is but an example of the work done by all the prcacli- ers of that day.

"They felt that they were fellow-men, They felt they were a band Sustained here in the wilderness

By Heaven's upholding hand."

Many of the settlers from Connecticut were Episcopalians, and wherever a sufficient num- ber of them had settled near enough together to erect a house of worship, there was always one church festival in the year, so fraught to us with pleasant memories, that we cannot resist the prompting to give it mention. We mean the decoration and "illumination" of the church for the Christmas-eve services. For a week or more previous to Christmas, the young people, and some of the old ones, worked with a will to fill the edifice with decorations of evergreens -hemlock, pine, the two varieties of laurel, and that exquisite little creeper, the running ground- pine-till every pillar was wreathed, every win- dow draped, the walls festooned and every baluster in the chancel entwined. Over the

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

pulpit, in large capitals wrought in evergreens, these words formed an archi : "For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him," while a transparency in the form of a five-pointed star shone below the arch. Im- mense chandeliers hung from the ceiling, impro- vised of narrow boards framed into successive circles one above another, forming a cone, with holes bored to receive the candles. Two, at least, of similar construction, except that they were semicircular, were sprung from the casings of each window, while two seven-branched can- dlesticks shed light upon the pulpit. At either corner of the chancel stood a pine tree a dozen feet in height. Through these, too, candles were generously scattered. When all the candles were lighted, it was a scene not soon to be for- gotten by the children of a day when such scenes were unusual. To witness it and join in the services, the entire population for miles around gathered. A dozen ox-teams stood around the church while the white-robed priest within was telling to the assembled people the old, old story of those other cattle that ate at the manger in Bethlehem, where the child was cradled at whose feet the wise men came to worship.

"Time rolls his ceaseless course, the race of yore Who danced our infancy upon their knee,

And taught our marveling boyhood legends store

Of their strange ventures, happ'ed by land or sea, How are they blotted from the things that be.

" How few, all weak and withered, of their force Wait on the verge of dark eternity,

Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse Shall sweep them from our sight. Time rolls his ceaseless course."

All honor to the pioneer fathers and mothers of Susquehanna County. They had hearts of oak, but those hearts were warm and tender and true. It well becomes us, who are reaping so richly the harvest which they planted with such infinite toil and pain, to stand with heads un- covered in their presence. We feel satisfied with having prepared this imperfect sketch, if it shall do aught to render their labors honored and keep their memory green.

CHAPTER XIV.

1 TEMPERANCE.

Temperance in Susquehanna County-Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

THE early settlers of the county were mainly industrious, prudent, eminently social and temperate, as the word temperate was then used ; but the use of spirituous liquors was common among all classes of the people. Drunkenness was not approved, but preachers and church members used spirituous liquors as a beverage, and at all special gatherings some form of liquor was an important appendage.

New England rum, New Orleans molasses and Bibles, with the many other articles in a country-store, were grouped together in ad- vertisements in the public prints. Cider was made in large quantities and freely drank.

As in other States, so here in these early days, occasional addresses and sermons were delivered upon the evils of strong drink ; yet, but little was accomplished; the people con- tinued the use of stimulants. From 1835 to 1840, and after that time, efforts were made to secure "total abstinence," and pledges for that purpose were presented to the people, with some immediate success.

The early advocates of total abstinence met with bitter opposition, and in cases resort was had to denunciation, locking-out of churches, and an occasional use of the mob's missile, rotten eggs ; but truth and patience, with Christian fidelity, produced a change in sentiment which gradually spread, until the churches were brought to acknowledge the wrong in any use of spirit- uous liquors, including beer, wine and cider, as beverages; and several churches added a pledge to the church covenant, to abstain from their use.

In 1841-44 large and enthusiastic meetings, or conventions, were held in Montrose for the promotion of temperance, and to devise means whereby the license and sale of intoxicat- ing beverages might be lessened and finally abolished. Many of the public and prominent business men, and clergy of the county, were

1 Written by Rev. W. C. Tilden.

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TEMPERANCE.

active in these gatherings ; and the speeches made and resolutions adopted, strongly con- demned the use of such beverages; also claimed the right and necessity of restraint by legal enaetment. The thought of Prohibitory Laws is not of recent origin ; the fathers saw, with a degree of elearness, the necessity for public safety and personal prosperity. A stirring ap- peal was adopted and sent to licensed dealers in hotels and other places, urging the evil and wrong in the business ; pleading in behalf of helpless women and children, and fallen man- hood ; that they continue no longer in this work of destruction. Good results followed these efforts. Many were saved from intoxication ; a sentiment was implanted that has borne fruit in after-years, even earnest men and women for the temperance work. From 1860 to 1870 a number of Good Templar lodges were formed, and for a time were influential in holding in check the evil of strong drink.

The blue ribbon or Murphy movement came in its time, and aroused many ; saving some from the evil into which they had fallen; awakening others to new or firmer resolves to contend for total abstinence.

For a few of the years just past the work of the Constitutional Amendment Associations, of which a number were formed, of the Women's Christian Temperance Unions, of the political Temperance party-each and all have added much to the strict temperance sentiment of the county. While the vote of the Temperance party had not been large, yet the influence was felt ; and on the issues taken by the Prohibi- tion party, with the efforts made to inform the public of the situation and necessities now pressing upon the great interests of our country, many have come to feel that prohibition of the manufacture and sale of all intoxicating liquors, as a beverage, is necessary to the safety of the . family, society, business and the welfare and security of State and nation.

The large majority in favor of No-License in 1873, with the indignation when the Local Option Law was repealed, testified to the generally correct sentiment of the people ; and the vote with the Prohibition party in 1886, with the manifest fecling in the old partics con-

cerning the submission of a prohibitory clause to our State Constitution to a vote of the people, indicate very clearly that a large majority of the people would rejoice in the success of such a measure.

1 THE WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION IN SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY .- In sym- pathy with the movement started in Hillsboro', O., by Mrs. Judge Thompson, and deeply im- pressed with the feeling that the liquor traffic was becoming a power of destruction to all that was good and pure upon earth, woman, true to her nature, rallied to the rescue; nor were the women too soon in the crusade movement ; not only peril of home and friends seemed im- minent, but self-government itself, in the hands of men weakened by dissipation, seemed upon the verge of ruin. In Pennsylvania the organ- ization of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was first made by Congressional Dis- tricts, and the Fifteenth District, comprising the counties of Bradford, Wayne, Susquehanna and Wyoming, were for eight years organized to- gether ; afterwards each county was organized separately.

The first Union in the Fifteenth Congres- sional District was organized in Montrose July 10, 1874. The first officers were Mrs. G. H. Drake, president ; Mrs. William Cox, vice- president ; William Euphrasia Keeler, secretary ; Miss E. C. Blackman, corresponding secretary ; Mrs. Fanny Lathrop, treasurer. There were a large number interested in the work, and the names of Mrs. Eleanor Post for eleven years president, Miss E. C. Blackman, county super- intendent of jail work, Mrs. Edwin Lathrop, whose devotion was a worthy example, Dr. Ellen Mitchell, now in Burmah, and many others might be mentioned. A Band of Hope for the children was sustained for years under the direction of Mrs. Euphrasia Keeler. Weekly prayer-meetings, with few exceptions, have been kept until the present date. Most of the work of organizing for the district was done by the women of Susquehanna County. Mrs. Cook, of Susquehanna County, president of the Congressional District, Mrs. S. B. Chase,

1 Contributed by Mrs. Henry D. Warner.

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

and Mrs. Henry Warner, of Great Bend, Mrs. Dr. L. A. Smith and Mrs. John Hayden, of New Milford, assisted and sustained by many others equally interested, spared neither time, effort nor means to give character and influence to the work. New Milford was organized April 6, 1876. The first officers were Mrs. H. L. Hewitt, president; Mrs. M. R. Gibson, vice- president ; Mrs. H. G. Smith, corresponding secretary ; Mrs. L. A. Smith, recording secre- tary. The names of Mrs. C. B. Arnold, Mrs. L. J. Barlow, Mrs. M. E. Hayden and many others are given as interested in the work. Unions were organized in Gibson and Thom- son. Lawsville and other towns which have not regularly-organized Unions have been iden- tified with the work.

For many years the work was purely a gos- pel work, and often in churches stirring meet- ings were conducted by the pastors, many per- sons signing the pledge. Lately, the distribu- tion of temperance literature became an impor- tant part of the work.

Great Bend organized July 30, 1874. The first officers were Mrs. James B. Jolinson, presi- dent; Mrs. R. B. Thomas, vice-president ; Mrs. C. E. Baldwin, secretary ; and Mrs. George Baldwin, treasurer.

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has for many years sustained a monthly Union meeting on the first Saturday evening of each month, the pastors of the different churches as- sisting in the services.

In the winter of 1887 a grand temperance revival occurred, which resulted in the organiz- ing of a Law and Order League. Mr. J. Will McConnell labored with great success, and many signed the pledge.

Great Bend is a railroad town, with no Sab- batlı, irregular meals and sleep, subjecting men to very unnatural ways of living, and to great temptations. Railroad companies will be held responsible in a great degree for the ruin of many, although there are men of sufficient will- power to stand for the right under all circum- stances. Mrs. S. B. Chase, of Great Bend, and Mrs. Judge Cook, of Susquehanna, were delegates to the first National Convention, at Cleveland, O., November 16, 1874.

Circulating petitions to influence State legis- lation has been one important branch of work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Susquehanna; and although not always as successful as they hoped, it showed their inter- est and willingness to work in every possible way to do away with the license systeni.

The Scientific Instruction Bill was passed March 31, 1885. Mrs. Hunt, the author and national champion of the bill, assisted by Mrs. J. D. Weeks, Pennsylvania State superinten- dent, pressed the bill strongly, and urged the women of the State to do their best for it, and of the 102,581 signatures presented in favor of the bill, Susquehanna County contributed her share. The women of Pennsylvania have rea- son to respect Governor Pattison for his consid- eration of and prompt signature to the bill, causing it to become a law. Scientific instruc- tion is now taught in the public schools in Susquehanna County, and from an intelligent education of the young, good results are hoped for in the near future.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 33

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848- Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck Number of Pages: 1318

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318