Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 9

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930

USA > Pennsylvania > Indiana County > Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I > Part 9

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).

THE HOUSE WARMING

I will proceed to state the usual manner of settling a young couple in the world.

their cabin. The fatigue party consisted of choppers, whose business it was to fell the trees and cut them off at proper lengths; a man with a team for hauling them to the place, and arranging them, properly assorted, at the sides and ends of the building; a car- penter, if such he might be called, whose busi- ness it was to search the woods for a proper tree for making clapboards for the roof. The tree for this purpose must be straight grained and from three to four feet in diameter. The boards were split four feet long, with a large frow, and as wide as the timber would allow. They were used without planing or shaving. Another division was employed in getting puncheons for the floor of the cabin; this was done by splitting trees, about eighteen inches in diameter, and hewing the faces of them with a broadaxe. They were half the length of the floor they were intended to make. The materials for the cabin were mostly prepared on the first day and some- times the foundation laid in the evening. The second day was allotted for the raising.

In the morning of the next day the neigh- bors collected for the raising. The first thing to be done was the election of four corner men, whose business it was to notch and place the logs. The rest of the company furnished them with the timbers. In the meantime the boards and puncheons were collecting for the floor and roof, so that by the time the cabin was a few rounds high the sleepers and floor began to be laid. The door was made by saw- ing or entting the logs in one side so as to make an opening about three feet wide. This opening was secured by upright pieces of timber about three inches thick, through which holes were bored into the ends of the logs for the purpose of pinning them fast, A similar opening, but wider, was at the end for the chimney. This was built of logs and made large to admit of a back and jambs of stone. At the square, two end logs projected a foot or eighteen inches beyond the wall to receive the butting poles, as they were called, against which the ends of the first row of clap- boards was supported. The roof was formed by making the end logs shorter until a single log formed the comb of the roof. On these logs the clapboards were placed, the ranges of them lapping some distance over those next below them and kept in their places by logs

A spot was selected on a piece of land of placed at proper distances upon them.

The roof and sometimes the floor were fin-

one of the parents, for their habitation. A day was appointed shortly after their mar- ished on the same day of the raising. A third

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

day was commonly spent by a few carpenters in leveling off the floor, making a clapboard door and a table. This last was made of a split slab and supported by four round legs set in auger holes. Some three-legged stools were made in the same manner. Some pins stuck in the logs at the back of the house sup- ported some clapboards which served for shelves for the table furniture. A single fork, placed with its lower end in a hole in the floor and the upper end fastened to a joist, served for a bedstead by placing a pole in the fork with one end through a crack between the logs of the wall. This front pole was crossed by a shorter one within the fork, with its outer end through another crack. From the front pole, through a crack between the logs of the end of the house, the boards were put on which formed the bottom of the bed. Sometimes other poles were pinned to the fork a little distance above these, for the purpose of supporting the front and foot of the bed, while the walls were the supports of its back and head. A few pegs around the walls for a display of the coats of the women, and hunt- ing shirts of the men, and two small forks or buck's horns to a joist for the rifle and shot pouch, completed the carpenter work.

In the meantime masons were at work. With the heart pieces of the timber of which the clapboards were made they made billets for chunking up the cracks between the logs of the cabin and chimney; a large bed of mortar was made for daubing up those cracks ; a few stones formed the back and jambs of the chimney.

The cabin being finished. the ceremony of house warming took place before the young couple were permitted to move into it. The house warming was a dance of a whole night's continuance, the company being made up of the relations of the bride and groom and their neighbors. On the day following the young couple took possession of their new mansion.

PIONEER LEGAL RELATIONS OF MAN AND WIFE

Up to and later than 1843, Pennsylvania was under the common law system of Eng- land. Under this law the wife had no legal separate existence. The husband had the right to whip her, and only in the event of her committing crimes had she a separate ex- istence from her husband. But if the crime was committed in her husband's presence, she was then presumed not guilty. Her condition of marriage settlement. was legally little, if any, better than that of a slave.

Under the common law, husband and wife were considered as one person, and on this principle all their civil duties and relations rested.

The wife could not sue in her own name, but only through her husband. If she suf- fered wrong in her person or property, she could, with her husband's aid and assistance, prosecute, but the husband had to be the plaintiff. For crimes without any presumed coercion of her husband, the wife could be prosecuted and punished, and for these mis- demeanors the punishments were severe.

The wife could make no contract with her husband. The husband and she could make a contract through the agency of trustees for the wife, the wife, though, being still under the protection of her husband.

All contracts made between husband and wife before marriage were void after the ceremony. The husband could in no wise convey lands or realty to his wife, only and except through a trustee. A husband at death could bequeath real estate to his wife.

Marriage gave the husband all right and title to his wife's property, whether real or personal, but he then became liable for all her debts and contracts, even those that were made before marriage, and after marriage he was so liable, except for "superfluities and extravagances."

If the wife died before the husband and left no children, the husband and his heirs inherited her real estate. But if there were children, the husband remained in possession of her land during the lifetime of the wife, and at his death the land went to the wife's heirs.

All debts due to the wife became after mar- riage the property of the husband, who be- came invested with power to sue on bond, note or any other obligation, to his own and ex- clusive use. The powers of discharge and assignment and change of securities were, of course, involved in the leading principle. If the husband died before the recovery of the money, or any change in the securities, the wife became entitled to these debts, etc., in her own right. All personal property of the wife, such as money, goods, movables and stocks, became absolutely the property of the husband upon marriage, and at his death went to his heirs.

Property could be given to a wife by deed

Property could be settled on the wife after marriage by the husband, provided he was

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

solvent at the time and the transfer not made moment. Here, again, the rashness of some with a view to defraud.

The wife could not sell her land, but any real estate settled upon her through a trustee she could bequeath.

The husband and wife could not be wit- nesses against each other in civil or criminal cases where the testimony could in the least favor or criminate either. One exception only existed to this rule, and that was that "the personal safety or the life of the wife gave her permission to testify for her protection."

LABOR AND ITS DISCOURAGEMENTS

The necessary labors of the farms along the frontiers were performed with every danger and difficulty imaginable. The whole pop- ulation of the frontiers huddled together in their little forts left the country with every appearance of a deserted region; and such would have been the opinion of a traveler concerning it, if he had not seen, here and there, some small fields of corn or other grain in a growing state.

It is easy to imagine what losses must have been sustained by our first settlers owing to this deserted state of their farms. It was not home. Public odium was the only punish- the full measure of their trouble that they ment for their laziness or cowardice. There was no compulsion in the performance of military duties, and no pecuniary reward when they were performed. risked and often lost their lives in subduing the forest, and turning it into fruitful fields ; but compelled to leave them in a deserted state during the summer season, a great part of the fruits of their labors was lost by this untoward circumstance. Their sheep and hogs were devonred by the wolves, panthers and bears. Ilorses and eattle were often let

into their fields, through breaches made in submitted to their directions with prompt and

their fences by the falling of trees, and fre- quently almost the whole of a erop of corn was destroyed by squirrels and racoons, so that many families, and after an hazardous and laborious spring and summer, had but little left for the comfort of the dreary winter.

The early settlers on the frontiers of this country were like Arabs of the desert of Africa, in at least two respects; every man was a soldier, and from early in the spring till late in the fall was almost continually in

Amusements are, in many instances, either arms. Their work was often carried on by imitations of the business of life, or, at least,

parties, each one of whom had his rifle and everything else belonging to his war dress. These were deposited in some central place in the field. A sentinel was stationed on the outside of the fence, so that on the least alarm the whole company repaired to their arms, and were ready for the combat in a

families proved a source of difficulty. In- stead of joining the working parties, they went out and attended to their farms by themselves, and in case of alarm an express was sent for them, and sometimes a party of men to guard them to the fort. These fami- lies, in some instances, could boast that they had better crops, and were every way better provided for the winter than their neighbors. In other instances their temerity cost them their lives.

In military affairs, when every one con- cerned is left to his own will, matters are sure to be but badly managed. The whole fron- tiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia presented a succession of military camps or forts. We had military officers, that is to say, captains and colonels, but they, in many respects, were only nominally such. They could advise but not command. Those who chose to follow their advice did so to such an extent as suited their fancy or interest. Others were refrac- tory and thereby gave much trouble. These officers would lead a scout or campaign. Those who thought proper to accompany them did so, those who did not remained at

It is but doing justice to the first settlers of this country to say that instances of dis- obedience of families and individuals to the advice of our officers were by no means numerous. The greater number cheerfully

faithful obedience.

GAMES AND DIVERSIONS

These were such as might be expected among a people who, owing to their eircum- stances as well as education, set a higher value on physical than on mental endowments, and on skill in hunting and bravery in war than on any polite accomplishments, or fine arts.

of some of its particular objects of pursnit ; on the part of young men belonging to nations in a state of warfare, many amusements are regarded as preparations for the military character which they are expected to sustain in future life. Thus, the war dance of sav- ages is a pantomime of their stratagems and

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

horrid deeds of cruelty in war, and the ex- would raise and obtain responses from a pack hibition prepares the minds of their young of wolves, so as to inform him of their neigh- men for a participation in the bloody trag- borhood. as well as guard him against their depredations. edies which they represent. Dancing, among civilized people, is regarded not only as an This imitative faculty was sometimes req- uisite as a measure of precaution in war. The Indians, when scattered about in a neighbor- hood, often collected together by imitating turkeys by day and wolves or owls by night. In similar situations our people did the same. An early and correct use of this imitative faculty was considered as an indication that its possessor would become in due time a good hunter and a valiant warrior. amusement suited to the youthful period of human life, but as a means of inducing urbanity of manners and good personal de- portment in public. Horse racing is regarded by the statesman as a preparation, in various ways, for the equestrian department of war- fare; it is said that the English government never possessed a good cavalry until, by the encouragement given to public races, their breed of horses was improved. Games, in which there is a mixture of chance and skill, are said to improve the understanding in mathematical and other calculations.

Many of the sports of the early settlers of this country were imitative of the exercises and stratagems of hunting and war. Boys were taught the use of the bow and arrow at an early age; but although they acquired con- siderable adroitness in the use of them, so as to kill a bird or squirrel sometimes, yet it appears that in the hands of the white peo- ple the bows and arrows could never be depended upon for warfare or hunting, unless made and managed in a different manner from any specimens of them which I ever saw. In ancient times the bow and arrow must have been deadly instruments in the hands of the barbarians of our country ; but I much doubt whether any of the present tribes of Indians could make much use of the flint arrowheads which must have been so gener- ally used by their forefathers.

Firearms, wherever they can be obtained, soon put an end to the use of the bow and arrow; but independent of this circum- stance, military as well as other arts some- times grow out of date and vanish from the world.

One important pastime of our boys was that of imitating the noise of every bird and beast in the woods. This faculty was not merely a pastime, but a very necessary part of education, on account of its utility in cer- tain circumstances. The imitations of the gobbling and other sounds of wild turkeys often brought those keen-eyed and ever watch- ful tenants of the forest with the reach of the rifle. The bleating of the fawn brought her dam to her death in the same way. The hunter often collected a company of mopish owls to the trees about his camp, and amused himself with their hoarse screaming; his howl

Throwing the tomahawk was another boy- ish sport, in which many acquired consider- able skill. The tomahawk with its handle of a certain length will make a given number of turns in a given distance. Say in five steps it will strike with the edge, the handle down- wards; at the distance of seven and a half, it will strike with the edge, the handle upwards, and so on. A little experience enabled the boy to measure the distance with his eye, when walking through the woods, and strike a tree with his tomahawk in any way he chose.

The athletic sports of running, jumping and wrestling were the pastimes of the boys, in common with the men. A well grown boy, at the age of twelve or thirteen years, was furnished with a small rifle and shot pouch. He then became a fort soldier, and had his porthole assigned him. Hunting squirrels, turkeys and raccoons soon made him expert in the use of his gun.

Dancing was the principal amusement of our young people of both sexes. Their dances, to be sure, were of the simplest forms, three- and four-handed reels and jigs. Contra dances, cotillions and minuets were unknown.

Shooting at marks was a common diversion among the men, when their stock of ammuni- tion would allow it; this, however, was far from being always the case. The present mode of shooting offhand was not then in practice. This mode was not considered as any trial of the value of a gun ; nor, indeed, as much of a test of the skill of a marksman. Their shooting was from a rest, and at as great distance as the length and weight of the barrel of the gun would throw a ball on a horizontal level. Such was their regard to accuracy, in these sportive trials of their rifles, and of their own skill in the use of them, that they often put moss, or some other soft substance, on the log or stump from which

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

they shot, for fear of having the bullet thrown cards, dice, backgammon and other games of from the mark, by the spring of the barrel. chance, they knew nothing about them. When the rifle was held to the side of a tree for a rest, it was pressed against it as lightly PIONEER EVENING FROLICS as possible, for the same reason.

Rifles of former times were different from those of modern date; few of them carried more than forty-five bullets to the pound. Bullets of smaller size were not thought suf- ficiently heavy for hunting or war.

In the pioneer days newspapers were few, dear, printed on coarse paper, and small. Books were scarce, there was only occasional preaching, no public lectures, and but few public meetings, excepting the annual Fourth of July celebration, when all the patriots as- sembled to hear the Declaration of Inde- pendence read. The pioneer and his family

Dramatic narrations, chiefly concerning Jack and the giant, furnished our young peo- ple with another source of amusement dur- ing their leisure hours. Many of these tales had to have fun. The common saying of that were lengthy, and embraced a considerable day was that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." As a rule, outside of the villages, everybody lived in log cabins, and people were bound together by mutual de- pendence and acts of neighborly kindness. At every cabin the latchstring was always out. The young ladies of the "upper ten" learned music, but it was the humming of to "knit and spin"; their piano was a loom, their sunshade a broom, and their novel a Bible. A young gentleman or lady was then as proud of his or her new suit, woven by a sister or a mother on her own loom, as proud could be, and these new suits or "best clothes" were always worn to evening frolics. Social parties among the young were called "kissing parties," because in all the plays, either as a penalty or as part of the play, all the girls who joined in the amusement had to be kissed by some one of the boys. To the boys and girls of that period- range of incident. Jack, always the hero of the story, after encountering many difficul- ties, and performing many great achieve- ments, came off conqueror of the giant. Many of these stories were tales of knight errantry, in which some captive virgin was released from captivity and restored to her lover. These dramatic narrations concerning Jack and the giant bore a strong resemblance to the poems of Ossian, the story of the Cyclops and Ulysses, in the Odyssey of Homer, and the tale of the giant and Greatheart, in the "Pilgrim's Progress." They were so ar- ranged, as to the different incidents of the narration, that they were easily committed to memory. They certainly have been handed down from generation to generation, from time immemorial. Civilization has, indeed, banished the use of those ancient tales of ro- mantic heroism; but what then ? it has sub- stituted in their place the novel and romance.

It is thus that in every state of society the imagination of man is eternally at war with reason and truth. That fiction should be ac- ceptable to au unenlightened people is not to be wondered at, as the treasures of truth have never been unfolded to their minds; but that a civilized people themselves should in so many instances, like barbarians, prefer the fairy regions of fiction to the august treasures of truth developed in the sciences of theology,

"The earth was like a garden then, And life seemed like a show, For the air was rife with fragrance, The sky was all rainbow, And the heart was warm and joyous; Each lad had native grace, Sly Cupid planted blushes then On every virgin's face."

history, natural and moral philosophy, is in the "pleasures of hope." while usually truly a sarcasm on human nature. It is as much as to say that it is essential to our amusement : that, for the time being, we must suspend the exercise of reason, and submit to a voluntary deception.

The plays were nearly all musical and vocal, and the boys lived and played them there sat in the corner of the cabin fireplace a granddad or a grandma smoking a stone or clay pipe, lighted with a live coal from the woodfire, living and smoking in the "pleas- ures of memory.'

Singing was another, but no very common, The plays were conducted somewhat in this way : amusement among our first settlers. Their tunes were rude enough, to be sure. Robin A popular play was for all the persons present to join hands and form a ring, with Ilood furnished a number of songs; the bal- ance were mostly tragical, these last denom- a dude of that time, in shirt of check and inated "love songs about murder." As to bear-greased hair, in the center. Then they

HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

circled round and round the center person, singing :

"King William was King James' son, And of that royal race he sprung ; He wore a star upon his breast, To show that he was royal best. Go choose your east, go choose your west, Go choose the one that you like best ; If he's not here to take your part, Go choose another with all your heart."

The boy in the center then chose a lady from the circle, and she stepped into the ring with him. Then the circling was resumed, and all sang to the parties inside,

"Down on this carpet you must kneel, Just as the grass grows in the field; Salute your bride with kisses sweet, And then rise up upon your feet."

The play went on in this manner until all the girls present were kissed.

Another popular play was to form a ring. A young lady would step into the circle, and all parties would join hands and sing.

"There's a lily in the garden For you, young man; There's a lily in the garden. Go pluck it if you can," etc.

The lady then selects a boy from the circle, who walks into the ring with her. He then kisses her and she goes out, when the rest all sing,

"There he stands, that great big booby, Who he is 1 do not know; Who will take him for his beanty ? Let her answer, yes or no."

This play goes on in this way until all the girls have been kissed. Another favorite play was:

"Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows; None so well as the farmer knows How oats, peas, beans, and barley grows; Thus the farmer sows his seed, Thus he stands to take his ease; He stamps his foot and claps his hands, And turns around to view his lands," etc.

Another great favorite was:

"Oh, sister Phoebe, how merry were we The night we sat under the juniper-tree, The juniper-tree, I, oh.

Take this hat on your head. keep your head warm, And take a sweet kiss, it will do you no harm,

But a great deal of good, I know," etc.

Another was:

" If I had as many lives As Solomon had wives, I'd be as old as Adam;

So rise to your feet And kiss the first you meet, Your humble servant, madam."

Another was :

"It's raining, it's hailing, it's cold, stormy weather; In comes the farmer drinking of his cider.

He's going a-reaping. he wants a binder. I've lost my true love, where shall I find her."

A live play was called "hurly-burly." "Two went round and gave each one, secretly, something to do. The girl was to pull a young man's hair; another to tweak an ear or nose, or trip some one, etc. When all had been told what to do, the master of ceremonies cried out, 'Hurly-burly.' Every one sprang up and hastened to do as instructed. This created a mixed scene of a ludicrous char- acter, and was most properly named 'hurly- burly.

THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION

The belief in witcheraft was prevalent among the early settlers of the western coun- try. To the witch was ascribed the tremen- dous power of inflicting strange and incurable diseases, particularly on children, of destroy- ing cattle by shooting them with hair balls, and a great variety of other means of de- struction, of inflicting spells and curses on guns and other things, and lastly of changing men into horses, and after bridling and sad- dling them riding them in full speed over hill and dale to their frolies and other places of rendezvous. More ample powers of mis- chief than these cannot well be imagined.

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.

Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 9

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 930

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930