USA > Pennsylvania > Bucks County > Local sketches and legends pertaining to Bucks and Montgomery counties, Pennsylvania > Part 5
USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Local sketches and legends pertaining to Bucks and Montgomery counties, Pennsylvania > Part 5
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time have proved beneficial in the dissemination of knowledge, and have now passed away so closely to- gether. At this humble place, near the beginning of his career, served a faithful teacher who was event- ually led through his persevering industry to distin- guished advancement, an example of what can be ac- complished by a farmer's son even under great disad- vantages when his efforts are properly directed.
Indian Cave.
On the north bank of the Tohickon creek, in Hay- cock township, Bucks county, is a remarkable relic be- lieved to be the work of the Indians, and formed some time prior to the first settlement of the whites in this section. The earliest knowledge respecting it was communicated in January, 1855, by Isaac Yerger and not long after by Isaiah Kramer, who both urged a visit as well worthy some notice. My residence at the time was twenty-seven miles distant, and in that immediate locality I was an entire stranger. After the long interval of thirty years it at last came to pass that I proceeded from Jenkintown, on the North Pennsyl- vania railroad, to Quakertown, from thence by a pri- vate conveyance to Mr. Kramer's residence, seven miles distant in an eastern direction.
As it was late in the afternoon when I arrived at my friend's, I remained with him over night and the fol- lowing morning (September 22, 1885), we went to visit this object of curiosity. ' The distance from his house being only a half mile, we went hither across the fields, it being on the farm of Franklin S. Sliver, his adjoining neighbor. It is in a retired place and cannot be readily observed until near the spot. Here
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a ledge of perpendicular rock about twelve feet in height, fronting the south and the stream, into which has been excavated a room in the manner of a cave. The entrance is ten feet high and nearly six feet in width, with a total length of twelve feet. The bottom or floor gradually ascends to the rear portion where it diminishes to five feet in height. In the east side near the top is an opening or window just large enough for a grown person to effect an entrance with a con- venient approach thereto over the rock on the outside.
The ledge is composed of a shelly or stratified slate of a purplish color, which will admit of being worked by detaching or loosening the fragments of which it is composed. The bottom or floor is also stone and plainly shows traces of fire having been kindled in it. Overhead were the remains of a pewee's nest that may have reared 'in this solitary retreat many a brood. That it has been artificially formed there is no doubt, as rock of this character is not known to be cavern- ous, and above all of so regular a form. It is about sixty feet from the stream, and no doubt in high water it may reach to near the front or main place of en- trance; even did it enter, the east opening near the top would readily permit escape to where no ordinary flood could reach. It is perfectly dry inside; no water can percolate or enter, from the character of its for- mation. A fringe of trees abound along the banks of the stream, the largest being ash, linden, buttonwood and oak, several being above two feet in diameter.
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INDIAN CAVE.
The existence of this curiosity, according to tradi- tion, has been . traced back to the earliest settlement by the descendants of several old families in the vi- cinity. Lands in this locality were originally taken up about 1734. John Chapman, deputy surveyor of Bucks county, by order of the proprietaries made a sur- vey, April 12, 1735, near this for the Trial Walk, and mentions " Stokes' meadow," which was not two miles distant, proving that one of the Stokes family had been already settled on it and made some improve- ments. In a deed of 1756, mention is made of "Joe Tuneam's run" in Haycock township. This estab- lishes the fact that Neepaheilomon, alias Joe Tuneam, must have resided in this vicinity. He was one of the Indians with " Tom, his brother-in-law" who was selected by the Delawares to attend and see that the famous Walk of September, 1737, be fairly performed. He is represented in the evidence thereon as being able " to speak English well." The top of the Hay- cock mountain is not two miles distant in a north di- rection which is denoted on Benjamin Eastburn's map of the Walk at said date, and on Lewis Evans' map of the Middle Colonies, published in 1749; thus show- ing that in said years this locality was tolerably well known. Joseph Dennis was appointed a tax collector of Haycock township in 1750, which would indicate that at that time it must have been somewhat settled.
The late Dr. Samuel C. Bradshaw, of Quakertown, informed me in March, 1859, that about the year 1832, in company with an aged hunter of the vicinity on a
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gunning excursion in the neighborhood he conducted him to the "Indian house," as he called it, and who pronounced it in his opinion as the work of human hands. At the distance of about half a mile the hunter took him to a fine spring of water, near which, beside a large rock, was shown a heap of small yellow flint chips or fragments that would have filled a peck measure, evidently the refuse of dressing arrow-heads, and also exhibited to him holes in the neighboring rocks where the Indians had formerly pounded their corn and boiled their fish through the agency of heated stones. Mr. Kramer and son, as well as his neighbors in the vicinity, have also frequently found darts, axes and pestles of stone whilst engaged in the cultivation of their fields. All these indications show that it must have been a favorite abode of the Indians.
The Haycock mountain is regarded as the highest elevation in Bucks county, and is chiefly composed of trap-rock of great weight and hardness, many ringing like an anvil on being struck with a hammer. Its area covers about 1700 acres of forest land, and from the rocky character of its surface cannot be brought under cultivation. It is decidedly the largest tract of wild land now in the county, and is still the abode of animals rarely found elsewhere for many miles. Among these may be mentioned the red fox, raccoon, four species of squirrel, the woodchuck or marmot, skunk, opossum and mink. Several lynxes have been shot within the last forty years, and the pheasant or ruffed grouse still abound. A gray fox was shot here by
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John Young in the summer of 1884, a species sup- posed to have become extinct.
This section is also still remarkable for the variety and abundance of its nuts and wild fruits, consisting of chestnuts, shellbarks, walnuts, butternuts, hazelnuts, grapes, native gooseberries, huckleberries, blackber- ries, raspberries, red plums, crab and May apples. The Tohickon creek has its source northwest of this about twelve miles, and must therefore have been sufficiently large in the spring for the ascent of shad and herring thus far at the period of the first settlement. It being on the south side of the mountain, too, must have helped to make it an attractive residence, especially during the inclemency of winter and the beginning of spring; while nowhere around could the natural food supply have been more abundant, as will impress every one who will visit this interesting section, though so little known on account of its secluded situation. No other name has been given this relic of the past by the residents of the vicinity than that of the "Indian house," which it has now borne from an indefinite period, but Indian cave in my opinion would be more appropriate.
As may be well supposed from its position and an- tiquity to the residents of its vicinity it has become associated with several supernatural occurrences on which, from my recent knowledge, I have as yet been only slightly informed, and hence will now briefly touch upon. For many years after twilight until near midnight, loud and peculiar sounds would be heard here resembling the cries of a human being in distress
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to the great terror of some of the neighboring inhab- itants. These, it was supposed, were occasioned by an Indian ghost whose haunt was here. Through this information I inquired how long the cries had ceased, and was told now for some eight or ten years. I next asked why it was that these sounds were no longer heard. The reply was, because the probationary term of the ghost had expired, and hence would no longer be seen or heard. For the time being these doleful cries had become so familiar as to make the most profound impression among the surrounding population, and the place in consequence became a source of dread even in the daytime to women and children and which some men would be careful to avoid at night, for if not proceeding from some un- usual cause, must at least be ominous or admonitory.
In seriousness I made additional inquiries so as to draw my informants fully out that I might be the bet- ter enabled thus to understand and account for it. Some I am aware look upon such matters as trivial or beneath notice, but to me it invested the Indian Cave with only the more interest, because founded on fact. From the information gleaned, I have reason to be- lieve that these nocturnal cries proceeded from one of our largest species of owl, who must, under the cir- cumstances, for a long period of time take up their abode in some hollow trunk of a tree that had flourish- ed here from a remote period beside the banks of the stream. Concerning the Indian Cave, I possess no knowledge of any account having heretofore appeared.
The Nockamixon Rocks.
These rocks are situated in the eastern part of Nockamixon township, about a mile below Kintners- ville and at the lower extremity of which is a hotel and a few houses, called Narrowsville. It is a cliff of red sandstone upwards of three-fourths of a mile in length, rising almost perpendicular from the brink of the Delaware to a height of from two to upwards of three hundred fect. From the summit westward, strange to say, is a vast table land; hence it affords from that direction an almost level approach. This im- mense wall of rock rising so abruptly from the river, as may be well supposed, presents from below or on the opposite shore of New Jersey an exceedingly striking and picturesque appearance. Near its base a narrow roadway extends the whole length, followed by the canal, which in their construction along here must have entailed considerable expense.
In a journey from Trenton over the Belvidere and Delaware railroad in September, 1879, I got off at Holland station, and was from there conveyed across the river in a boat to Narrowsville. After dining at the hotel, a path was pointed out to follow that would take me directly to Prospect Rock, the highest point
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of the cliff. From the instructions given me I had no doubt I could readily find the way, so I set forth alone. In the beginning the ascent was pretty steep for sev- eral hundred yards, chiefly over natural steps of rock. When I attained the table-land there was a very gra- dual rise, and my path lay altogether over cultivated grounds but following close to the edge of the preci- pice, between which nearly the whole distance trees and bushes intervened that somewhat obstructed the view of the opposite shore of the river. After I had proceeded about half a mile I attained the most ele- vated part, the path turned abruptly to the right or eastward, and a few yards more brought me to the highest portion of the rocky precipice.
Prospect Rock has been ascertained to be three hundred and sixty feet above the surface of the Del- aware and rises perpendicularly from the rocky road bed below. The trees here are not sufficiently nu- merous or large to interfere much with the view. Along the whole front there are found growing from out the crevices, tufts of bushes with occasional trees, and climbing vines that, with their green hues on the brown rock, forms a pleasing contrast and helps to heighten the general effect. Henry D. Rogers in his Geology of Pennsylvania, remarks that "there are few more attractive drives or walks by the river borders of Pennsylvania than this one at the foot of the Nockamixon Rocks." In an advertisement of the daily U. S. mail line of stages running from Easton to New Hope, in the spring of 1832, is this mention :
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"The towering rocks of Nockamixon are of themselves so grand and majestic as simply to repay the stranger for a ride of pleasure to see them."
As may be expected a splendid view is afforded from Prospect rock, on which I sat for fully half an hour contemplating the scene and noting down my observations. The views are the finest and most dis- tant towards the north and east. The country op- posite in New Jersey recedes gradually from the river to a considerable elevation, over which we see scat- tered numerous buildings and farms. The land ap- pears well cultivated, and some of the barns were so large and well finished that they would have been a credit to the very best part of Bucks or Montgomery counties. From this elevation the canal so far below appeared but a ditch of eight or ten feet in width, and the horses on the towing path the size of medium dogs. The Durham hills appeared to be pretty well covered with woods. The most distant and magnifi- cent prospect is that of the " Hexen Kopf" or Witche's Head, this side the Lehigh, about ten or twelve miles off, which from its beauty is a subject well worthy the landscape painter. The day was fine and clear, and having satisfied myself in sight-seeing returned by the path I came. I left with the reflection that I had now accomplished what had been on my mind from boy- hood, to behold a view from the top of Nockamixon rocks.
The proprietor of the hotel informed me that Pro- fessor Porter of Lafayette College was a frequent visi-
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tor here with students. The interstices of these bold . cliffs afford a home for several rare plants, hence possess an interest to the botanist. A lady relative. was desirous of seeing these rocks in the winter after a heavy fall of snow, when ice prevailed, for which purpose she came some distance. She passed in a sleigh on the public road near the base of the cliff, and reported that it presented from below an extraor- dinary sight, some of the huge icicles attached to the rocks being eighty feet in length and of considerable thickness. What are known as the Nockamixon falls is a descent in the river here of five feet in a distance of less than one-third of a mile. The name of narrows which is commonly applied to the river here is not appropriate, there being no cliffs on the New Jersey . side nor the channel materially contracted.
These towering rocks have long been a favorite re- sort for both the golden and the bald or white-headed cagle, who in the past no doubt have reared many a brood here, being partial to lofty and inaccessible cliffs, where their nests are generally built, under some jutting crag that shields it from the weather and tends the more to prevent approach or attack from either above or below. On such a rocky shelf, com- posed only of a few sticks and brambles, from two to three eggs are deposited on what is almost a bare surface. A love for fish aids to bring the bald cagle here in the spring. As the ledge fronts the east, it offers protection from northwestern storms that are so liable to happen during spring and summer, and
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also affords them secure retreats and roosts. Being a stranger in this vicinity I regretted when last here for not making inquiry when eagles were last known to have had nests here. As no houses are near and the road not much traveled, broods might have been re- peatedly raised here unknown to the people of the vicinity. How often may the watchful and keen-eyed bald eagle have sallied forth from this stronghold to plunder the fish-hawk of his prey from out the Dela- ware, or the golden eagle in quest of other and larger game. Respecting these raids numerous traditions are said to be still current among the descendants of the early settlers.
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Butchering Fifty Years Ago.
In a drive through the country on a rather cold morning in the beginning of December, 1881, and ob- serving in several directions the huge columns of smoke ascending from out-door fires, with hogs and sometimes beeves suspended by the heels, reminded me of the attending circumstances of my boyhood. It was thus I came to think of so novel and amusing but uninviting a subject. However, if found wanting in poetry I hope it will not in interest. From the pre- paration it requires, with the accompanying bustle and excitement, butchering tends for the time being to break completely into the monotony of the quiet pur- suits of rural life. It comes, however, generally but once a year, and that at its most appropriate time. The physical wants of mankind are an absolute necessity and have to be satisfied. A lady entering a market- house to purchase meat said to the butcher, "How can you be so cruel as to kill innocent lambs?" "Why, madam," replied he, "you would not want to eat them alive!" Neither could Dr. Franklin see harm in cat- ing fishes, when they devoured each other.
Butchering and whatever pertains thereto, like nearly everything else, has had its changes from the modes
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usually adopted forty and fifty years ago, a period within my memory, assisted partly by those still older. Tradition and recollection must now be my sole aids, for where else could I go for information? Though this has a history which some one in the future may more fully investigate. What could the pity of boy- hood avail to save the squealing swine, when followed 'by such dainties as home-manufactured sausage, scrap- ple, and mince pies? For this purpose I have in mind a large, old stone farm-house still standing, forty-two miles north of Philadelphia, which, with. its surround- ings, shall be the chief source where the occurrences happened upon which I intend to draw for my mate- rials. . On reflection I find that nearly all the actual participants are no longer living, thus sadly impress- ing one of the changes constantly occurring.
The general time for this undertaking would be in the latter end of November or the following month, clear and cold weather without wind being the most propitious. Short notice only need be given. When the day was set word was at once dispatched for neighboring help and preparations duly entered into for the purpose. Wood was then no object and plenty was hauled, large kettles if not on hand had to be bor- rowed, the heavy sled was dragged from its usual re- treat in the wagon house, a large barrel or hogshead placed slanting within its front, and, to better serve the purpose, partly sunk in the ground. Tools were hunted up, and the knives and axes sharpened and the other materials gotten in readiness.
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On the appointed day with early dawn the fires would be started, over which would be suspended huge kettles filled with water to be brought to the boiling point, and from which vast spiral columns of smoke and steam would be ascending, announcing that the work would soon begin in earnest. Break- fast dispatched the attack was made on the porkers by three or four stout men, but the loud squealing and desperate struggles from the fat and unwieldy animals could not save them. It seemed cruel when in their hitherto quiet pens they had to be stuck by the fatal knife, then turned out and made to walk up beside the sled to die. Next came the lifting to the platform, followed by the plunge into the scalding wa- ter of the barrel, and after a brief submergence with- drawn; then with shouts and a hearty good will the men procceded to scrape off and pull out the bristles. This operation would be repeated until from five to eight hogs were slaughtered, dressed, and suspended in one row on some stout pole or beam resting either on crotches, trees, or within the wagon-house. A pride was taken to have this performed before nine or ten o'clock, which was often accomplished with skill- ful help in those short days. Then there was gener- ally, too, a beef to be slaughtered.
The principal character on such occasions was George Fulmer, a farmer of the vicinity and a noted wag, overrunning with humor, the life of the party. His presence on such occasions was as welcome and animating as the morning's sun, a countenance radiant
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with smiles and beaming with good will. Though he died in 1839, I can almost fancy I see him yet in his element on such occasions, for convenience wear- ing on his head a red woolen cap, an apron, sleeves rolled up, and busily at work removing the bristles, his jokes eliciting shouts of laughter. He was a kind and obliging neighbor, ever ready to render assist- ance, particularly to those that were needy. Wher- ever he went his tackle, khives, axes, hooks, scrapers and other tools would follow to make up deficiencies. Himself and all his family were a working people, and while he did not strive to accumulate yet he was prompt in the payment of his debts.
After the pork and beef had become sufficiently cold it was taken down to be weighed, which involved another excitement, who could come nearest guessing the weight, after which followed the cutting up into suitable pieces. With night came the making of mince meat, no slight labor then for it had all to be done by hand with axes. In this our George from experience was an expert. The meat selected for this purpose was placed on a heavy elevated bench six or eight feet long, with three of its sides boarded up, be- fore which the aforesaid with an axe in each hand would work simultaneously keeping time to some merry whistled tune, while undergoing the too gen- erally tedious operation of being minced. More than once have I while a school-boy gone to sleep to the sound of this chopping noise as heard up in my bed- room. To perform this would sometimes take two
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persons three or four hours. Then came the mixing in of thyme, sage, marjoram, salt, pepper, allspice, cin- namon, cloves and what not, the grinding of which had kept the large kitchen fragrant nearly the whole afternoon. Next the making of sausage through a tin stuffer held against the breast. This operation was enough to make the puny folks of this generation of weak lungs wince. But to George with his stalwart arms and full broad chest it was nothing. On such occasions to help while away the time it was no un- usual thing for a few neighbors to be assembled and have the hilarity increased by the circulation of cider and apples.
Besides sausage there was the making of pudding, scrapple, tripe, mince pies, rollages, and the rendering of the lard and tallow. This involved also consider- able work on the women folks for several days, and from the number of articles required and used, ended in a general scouring and cleansing up of the kitchen. If the labor and duties attending it were somewhat in- convenient there were others compensating and pleas- ant. It supplied the family the greater part of the year with a considerable portion of pure and whole- some food of their own production. Many of our present families cannot say this, who are dependent on purchasing, and without any knowledge as to its previous manufacture. In the neighborhood I speak of, the larger portion of the people were of German descent, and the names of several of the articles were long retained for want of more suitable ones in the
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English. For instance, the name of scrapple was there unknown and was called pfanhaas, souse zitterly, and pudding leberwurst and puddlefleck, being all great German dishes, and through them now become as common as saurkraut, smearcase, waffles, dough- nuts and apple butter. When the operations connect- ed with butchering were all over it would do even a hungry man good to enter up into some of their cool lofts and garrets and behold the long array of sausage and pudding suspended on poles secured to rafters, as my boyhood's curiosity was more than once gratified as the result of the aforementioned labors.
Butchering to the boys also possessed an interest, for the labors required from them in doing errands, carry- ing wood and water, hunting up straws and shingles for the women's use, and for doing divers other chores, they would in consequence be permitted to stay from school. The bladders and the bristles would be their perquisites taken at the neighboring stores. The
former being then used to contain snuff. By this means did many a boy secure his first pocket knife or purchase candy or a toy book, thus sometimes lay- ing the foundation of a future fortune or the begin- ning of a way to eminence. Where it was some dis- tance to market, as where I allude, it was not custom- ary to go till after butchering, that some of the pork could be taken along and disposed of. Happy then was the boy that was permitted to accompany his father in the well-laden heavy two-horse wagon to dispose of his bladders, bristles and likely rabbits and
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