Old times in Tennessee, with historical, personal, and political scraps and sketches, Part 30

Author: Guild, Jo. C. (Josephus Conn), 1802-1883
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Nashville, Tavel, Eastman & Howell
Number of Pages: 1012


USA > Tennessee > Old times in Tennessee, with historical, personal, and political scraps and sketches > Part 30


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).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45



326


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


the pewter plates, all bright and shining, off which the people ate their meals, and the pewter dishes, pans, and spoons, for in those days the table-ware was of the most primitive character. The women spun the cotton, flax, and wool, wove the cloth, and made the clothing for the family, a habit that was continued for many years after Tennessee became a populous and flourishing State. "Could there be happiness or comfort in such dwellings and in such a state of society?" asks Kendall. "To those who are accustomed to modern refinements, the truth appears like a fable. The early occupants of log cabins were among the most happy of mankind. Exercise and excitement gave them health ; they were practically equal; common danger made them mutu- ally dependent; brilliant hopes of future wealth and distinction led them on; and as there was ample room for all, and as each new-comer increased individual and general security, there was little room for that envy, jealousy, and hatred, which constitute a large portion of human misery in older societies. Never was the story, the joke, the song, and the laugh, better enjoyed than upon the hewed blocks or puncheon stools around the roaring log-fire of the early settler. The lyre of Apollo was not hailed with more delight in primitive Greece, than the advent of the first fiddler among the dwellers of the wilderness; and the pol- ished daughters of the East never enjoyed themselves half so well moving to the music of a full band, upon the polished floors of their ornamented ball-rooms, as did the daughters of the emi- grants, keeping time to a self-taught fiddler on the bare earth or puncheon floor of the primitive log-cabin."


THE SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.


The people of the frontier times and of the early days of the. present century were eminently social, hospitable, and they im- pressed this characteristic not only upon those who became their neighbors, but upon their descendants, and Tennessee hospitality carries with it a meaning to-day that reflects great credit upon our people. The patriotism of the pioneers-those who laid broad and deep the foundations of society and of a great State- was a principle, deep, strong, active, full of vitality and vigor, and they illustrated their love of country, and their regard for the welfare of their neighbors and their descendants, with a


327


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


courage as lofty as it was devoted, and with a sincerity as unsel- fish as was ever exhibited. Of proverbial honesty and the strict- est integrity, of simple and unostentatious habits and customs, and possessed of good common sense and strong convictions of right and justice, they so impressed these great qualities upon their descendants, that their benign influence in forming charac- ter is to be seen and felt even to-day. With such builders, it is not to be wondered that Tennessee became great in all the essen- tials that constitute a State. With them hospitality meant some- thing more than glittering show and conventional constraint; it carried with it a genial cheer that broke down all barriers to the freest and fullest social enjoyment; neighbor met neighbor upon the level of a common brotherhood, and in the true spirit of friendly and social intercourse, and "every house was an inn, where all were welcomed and feasted." Dr. J. G. M. Ramsey, "one of the first born sons of the State of Tennessee," bears strong testimony to the social traits of the early settlers of this State, the result mainly of personal observation and experience. "The new-comer, on his arrival in the settlements," he says, "was everywhere, and at all times, greeted with a cordial wel- come. Was he without a family ? he was at once taken in as a cropper or a farming hand, and found a home in the kind family of some settler. Had he a wife and children? they were all asked, in backwoods phrase, 'to camp with us till the neighbors can put up a cabin for you.' The invitation accepted, the family where he stops is duplicated, but this inconvenience is of short duration. The host goes around the neighborhood, mentions the arrival of the strangers, appoints a day, close at hand, for the . neighbors to meet and provide them a home. After the cabin is raised, and the new-comers are in it, every family, near at hand,- bring in something to give them a start. A pair of pigs, a cow and calf, a pair of all the domestic fowls-any supplies of the necessaries of life which they have-all are brought and pre- sented to the beginners. If they have come into the settlement in the spring, the neighbors make another frolic, and clear and fence a field for them. All these acts of kindness and benefi- cence are not only gratuitous, but are performed without osten- tation, and cordially. The strangers so appreciate them, and the first occasion that presents, they are ready, with a like spirit, to


328


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


extend similar kind offices to emigrants who come next. The performance of them thus becomes a usage and a characteristic of the frontier stage of society. Of other stamina in the char- acter of the Tennessee pioneer, a stern independence in thought, feeling, and action, attracts the notice and secures the respect of all who are pleased with simplicity, truth, and nature. To these may be added frankness, candor, sincerity, cordiality, and the inviolability of a private friendship. He that could be false or faithless to a friend, was frowned out of backwoods society, and could never again enter it. No perfidy was considered so base, so belittling, and was so seldom excused or forgiven, as the de- sertion of a friend or ingratitude to a benefactor. To say of an individual that he was not true, carried with it a stigma which, on the frontier, could never be wiped out. On the contrary, to say his heart was in its right place, secured to him fraternal re- gard and public confidence. Being in the simplest stage of so- ciety, wealth, station, office, family, were, of course, not essential to distinction or esteem. His own personal merits, in which the physique had its weight-his good feelings, his capacity to amuse and instruct, and his innate civility, gave the possessor a pass- port to the consideration and regard of the frontier man and his family. Indeed, without them, an emigrant was friendless and a stranger. To have it said of one, 'he cares for nobody,' was, itself, to exclude and drive him off. To say of one, 'he has no neighbors,' was sufficient, in those times of mutual wants and mutual benefactions, to make the churl infamous and execrable. A failure to ask a neighbor to a raising, a clearing, a chopping frolic, or his family to a quilting, was considered a high indig- nity ; such an one, too, as required to be explained or atoned for at the next muster or county court. Each settler was not only willing, but desirous to contribute his share to the general com- fort and public improvement, and felt aggrieved and insulted if the opportunity to do so were withheld. 'It is a poor dog that is not worth whistling for,' replied the indignant neighbor who was allowed to remain at home, at his own work, while a house- raising was going on in the neighborhood. 'What injury have I done that I am slighted so?' This beneficent and unselfish feeling is the charm of a new community, and has not yet (1853) forsaken the more rural districts of Tennessee. Long may it


329


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


be retained and venerated amongst the descendants of the pio- neers!"


BARRING OUT THE SCHOOL-MASTER.


The custom of "barring out the school-master" prevailed ex- tensively in the early days of this State, and afforded infinite amusement to the younger portion of the community; but, like many of the customs of our fathers, it is now a thing of the past, and but few of the men and women of to-day remember to have witnessed one of these exciting episodes. The following descrip- tion of the "barring-out of the master" was contributed to the Knoxville Argus about thirty-five years ago, and is a faithful pic- ture of that custom :


"Christmas is just upon us again," says the contributor to the Argus, "and its return will awaken in the recollection of many an old settler a melancholy reminiscence of the way it was kept in auld lang syne. What would you give, Mr. Editor, to see a real old-fashioned backwoods Christmas frolic? or a Christmas country dance ? or a Christmas quilting ? or best of all, a genu- ine Christmas wedding? I mistake you much if, with all your known appreciation of modern improvement, the bare mention of it has not excited your enthusiasm ; and he must have little veneration, indeed, who can think of it without emotion. Why, your town parties, and balls, and soirees, and all that, are nothing in comparison. There is no heart about them-there is still less of nature. But the contrast makes me sad, and I leave it. Who, in these times of modern degeneracy, ever hears of school-boys barring out the master ? That, in my early days on the frontier, was one of the regular observances of the Christmas holiday. Perhaps you don't understand even this custom of early times in Tennessee, and need to have it described. Well, then, if either you or your readers have so far wandered from the old paths trodden by our venerated fathers as to require it to be explained, let me do so by first saying that in the nomenclature of early times out here, school-boy was synonymous with your present pupil, scholar, student, academian, or collegian. The different grades of freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate and under graduate, bachelor and master of arts, were as little known as the secrets of astrology or the Metamorphoses of Ovid. A country school had but two classes in it, viz: the big boys and


22


330


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


the little boys, and sometimes a third-the girls. Again, in the backwoods vocabulary, master was a synonym with your present teacher, preceptor, tutor, professor, principal, superintendent, rector, or president. Academy, institute, college, and university, were words not adapted to these parallels of latitude at all; and if you had spoken of a matriculation ticket, the employers and employees, parents, master and boys, would all have been as- tounded. They expressed the same idea by a simpler form : ' John Smith has signed the school article, and Jim will be here to-morrow.' The school-house was, in that day, a genuine bond fide log cabin, built of unhewn logs, cut from the forest in which it stood, near a spring, and was erected by the joint assistance of the 'neighbors.' The building was sexangular, the extreme points of the longest diameter subserving the double purpose of ends to the house and convenient appendages for commodious fire- places, as chimneys were most significantly and appropriately called in those days of simple convenience and comfort in archi- tecture. What did it matter if appertures at each end, as large as a barn door, did allow a rather free ingress to Boreas and the snows of winter? A neighboring wood furnished supplies of fuel without stint. Oh! who can forget the luxury of one of those old-fashioned school-house fires! I shiver this cold night to think I shall not again sit by and enjoy them. But barring out the master was effected thus: A school is a larger community in miniature, and a schoolmaster a monarch upon a small scale. Boys sometimes claim the right of self-government as inherent and divine, and, like older politicians, declare themselves, and especially about Christmas, to be free and equal; and if that declaration is not sanctioned by others, they claim the right of maintaining it even by revolution. The master, on the other hand, is as tenacious of his short-lived authority as the Autocrat of Russia, or any European legitimist ; and resists, at its incep- tion, the first invasion of his prerogative. A short time before the usual outbreak, a spirit of insubordination and greater fa- miliarity is manifested in the school. To repress this in the bud, the master assumes a sterner demeanor, becomes captious, arbi- trary, and tyrannical. His subjects, become, of course, less pa- tient of restraint, and call a convention. Some one, 'born to command,' proposes the bold measure of rebellion, and the de-


331


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


thronement of the despot. The proposition meets the general concurrence of the school, and Friday morning preceding Christ- mas is appointed as the time for carrying the purpose into execu- ยท tion. The plan is communicated to some congenial spirits in the neighborhood, who, sympathizing with the feelings of the youth- ful confederates, become their allies. At an early hour they take possession of the school house, kindle large fires in the chimneys, barricade the door, and wait, with shouts of defiance, for the ap- proach of the master. He arrives, and is denied entrance. He commands submission, asserts his authority, attempts to enter by force, but is repulsed. Sometimes he calls others to assist in re- establishing his authority, but the besieged refuse to surrender, unless upon terms of honorable capitulation-a treat and a week of holidays. Conferees of both parties are appointed to negotiate the treaty, the terms are arranged, and the belligerents are at peace. If the terms are not assented to by the master, negotia- tion is at an end, and the ultima ratio regum decides the contest. The benches are removed from the barricaded door, the besieged party sallies forth and captures the unaccommodating master. A prisoner in their hands, if he still continues obstinate a gentle kind of violence is threatened. His captors, though unacquainted with the laws of nations, feel that inter arma silent leyes, take their prisoner to the water and plunge him under it. The argu- ment of the cold bath in December succeeds; he yields to their demands; a messenger is started off for apples and cider, and sometimes for refreshments of a more stimulating kind. A gen- eral merriment and exhilaration follow, in which the victors and the vanquished unite in reciting with cordial glee both the tragic and comic of the siege. The holidays are spent in rural sports and manly amusements. The good wishes of the season obliter- ate all recollection of past differences between master and boys; and when, on next Monday, 'books' is called, each one quietly and cheerfully resumes his proper position in the school-house. The master's authority is recognized as legitimate-his instruc- tions duly valued ; the boys, late successful insurgents, have vol- untarily returned to their allegiance, and after a pleasant relaxa- tion from their studies, are again prosecuting them with profit and diligence. They continue studious and obedient until the approach of the next Christmas."


332


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


The following is a graphic description of one of these episodes by a man who was a "bully boy " on that occasion :


My early life was made miserable by one Mulberry Bangs, a gentleman of the old school, who devoted himself to reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the general use of a stick. Upon my head and other parts of my person he imprinted himself so positively that I can see him now as plainly as if we had parted but yesterday. He was a stout man, who made in his figure, when seen in profile, Hogarth's line of beauty, being round-shouldered and crooked in the legs. He was a blonde. The hair of his head had that sunny tinge so much admired to- day, and when rubbed down with a tallow candle, as was his wont to dress it, was so smooth and straight that the boys believed that the flies slipped down it and broke their legs. His eyes were dark and fierce, and, hid under the cavernous recesses made by his bushy red eyebrows, seemed to watch like evil spirits over his precious nose. The nose was a ruby uose, bottle in shape, and when Bangs was angry, which appeared to be all the time, it glowed like the headlight of a locomotive. His mouth was finished without lips, and resembled a slit in a piece of sole leather. My early experience gave me a distaste for the whips in schools. But I am far from siding with the sentimentalists of the present day, who advocate kindness and moral suasion. The easier teach- ings-not the best, but, in fact, the only ones-are those of the rod, that gave us a realizing sense of pain to the body, and drilled us into patience and self-denial. Boys are of two sorts-good little boys, who die young, and bully boys, who cannot be killed. As the last-named only live to be men, instead of being trans- planted into angels, it is well to discipline them through the only process known to animals, and that is the discipline of fear. The old adage is not far wrong that said, " When you meet a boy whale him-for if he has not been in mischief, he is going in." It was understood throughout the country that the boys were justifiable in barring out the master, and, if successful, were not only entitled to a week's recess, but the admiration and praise of their parents. Old Bangs was famous for his power of resist- ance, and boasted that no school of his had ever succeeded in conquering in such attempts. On the occasion to which I refer we had two big boys in school named Bill Henning and Bob


---


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE. 333


Strong. They were knotty-headed, broad-shouldered, and hard- fisted fellows, who worked through the summer for means to at- tend school during the winter. Each, in turn, had been unmerci- fully whipped by the master, and it was understood throughout the school that the barring out of Master Bangs was to be ac- complished, and old scores settled. The evening before the gen- eral engagement, Bill and Bob, our noble leaders, with a few con- federates, stole back to the school-house, armed with hickory poles. Breaking open the door, they whittled one end of these tough sapplings to a point, and then hardened the points in the fire. Then placing these in a corner ready for use, with a stout cord, they gave orders to the boys willing to take part in the fight to be on hand at the school-house before daylight next morning. At the time indicated nearly all the lads were in at- tendance. Some were pale and trembling, others were noisy and boastful; but I observed that the real leaders and reliable sol- diers were quiet -- so quiet, indeed, that one might doubt them. "Men are but boys of a larger growth," said Dryden; and that solemn pomp of a poet, Wordsworth, assures us that "the child is father to the man." In the animal propensities and tastes that sur- vive our boyhood this is undoubtedly true, and many and many a time since, in hours of peril, I have re-enacted the same exhibi- tions of character that occurred on that cold morning in Decem- ber among the boys.


Our first order was to cut and carry in enough wood to serve the garrison during a siege. This was promptly executed. Then the window shutters were pulled to and securely nailed, the door closed, and desks and benches piled against it. After two port- holes were opened by removing the chinks and daubing, and gath- ering about a roaring fire in the huge fireplace, we awaited the approach of the enemy. As the time approached for the mas- ter's coming a dread silence fell upon the little crowd, so that when he did come we could hear his heavy tread upon the crusted snow, and many a heart sunk and face whitened in terror. Our leaders sprung to their posts on each side of the door, and, on being ordered to surrender, boldly demanded a week's holiday and a treat of cider and apples. This was sternly refused. "Fire!" cried Bill and Bob, and two poles were thrust out with all the strength the stout arms could give them. They took the


334


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


indignant pedagogue in the sides with such force that, but for a thick flannel overcoat, holes might have been in his wicked body. As it was he staggered back, and for twenty minutes or more we saw him sitting upon a log catching his breath and rubbing his wounded sides. We gave no end of loud cheers, claiming for ourselves the first knock down, if not the first blood. At the end of twenty minutes the master arose. Digging a huge stone. from under the snow, he approached and threw it with great vio- lence against the door. The stout oak batting fairly shook under the blow, but held its own. Another and another followed amid jeers and laughter, encouraged by our noble leaders to keep up the courage of their followers. The fourth stone split the door, and the fifth broke the upper wooden hinge, and but for the bar- ricade within, the breach would have been available. The en- emy now, being aware of the defense within, suddenly dropped the stone and ran in at the door. We were not to be taken by surprise. Again were the sharp lances thrust out. One hit with decided effect in the commissary, vulgarly called stomach; the other, as he stooped doubled by the pain, in the face, inflicting an ugly wound from which the blood flowed in profusion. He retreated, and we saw him fairly dance with rage and pain. The more of this he indulged in, the wilder grew our delight, which we testified in screams of laughter. He soon ended this exhibi- tion and disappeared around the school-house, evidently on a re- connoisance. There was a dead silence, and we realized that which we have so often felt since, the unknown movement of a silent enemy. This was ended by a noise upon the roof, and soon volumes of smoke pouring into the room told us that strategy had taken the place of assault. We were to be smoked out. For a moment our leaders looked puzzled. Fortunately, in the ex- citement of the conflict, the fire had not been fed, and now only a few embers and chunks supplied the smoke. These were scat- tered upon the broad hearth, and water thrown in to extinguish the remainder. Then Bill and Bob, selecting four of the stoutest poles, thrust them up the chimney, and, at the word, we gave, to use our own phrase, "a bloody hist." The consequences were a rattling of falling boards, with the unmistakable thump of a heavier body upon the ground. We found afterward that the master had not only covered the chimney-top with boards, but


335


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


had seated himself upon them ; the sudden and unexpected "hist" had tumbled him off. We heard dismal groans and cries for re- lief from the enemy. Some were in favor of going at once to his assistance; others, more cautious, opposed such a merciful errand. "He's hollerin' too loud to be hurt much," said shrewd Bob.


We had a division in our council of war. This ended in a call for a volunteer to make a sortie and investigate. Jack Loder, one of the most daring and active among the younger boys, re- sponded. A shutter on the opposite side to the cries for help was opened quickly, and Jack thrust out. The result of this was not only a cessation of groaning, but a chase that we witnessed through the port-holes. Jack was a good runner, and when the two disappeared over the meadow into the willow thicket Jack was gaining on him, and we had good hopes of his escape. To our dismay and horror, in half an hour we saw the master re- turning with poor Jack in his grasp. He had a hostage, and was swift in his use of the advantage. Stopping before the house, be began whipping the poor fellow unmercifully. Jack's cries were piteous.


"Oh, let him in, boys; let him in, he's a killin' o' me," rung in our ears. There was a hurried consultation. The benches and desks were quietly removed from the door. A sortie had been determined on. The master stood at the side of the house South of the door, and as soon as the opening was made Bill un- closed a shutter and proposed a parley. The answer was a rush at the open window by the master, who began climbing in. Brave little Jack seized him by the legs, and before he could kick him off a dozen stout lads were clinging to them, while as many more held him on the inside. Bill seized the rope and attempted to pass the noose over his arms. In the hurry and confusion of the fight he succeeded only in getting it over his head. Pulling it as the boys did, there was a fair prospect of ending the useful labors of this teacher by strangulation. That he deserved it no one of us doubted; but Bob, having climbed over the master in the window, and with all the school pulling at the ends of old Bangs, was soon master of the situation; getting hold of the rope, and assisted by Bill, he succeeded in tying the arms of the almost exhausted man to his sides. He was then tumbled from the window as unceremoniously as a pig.


-


336


OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.


" Will you give up?" demanded our leader.


"No," gasped the master.


"Then we'll put you down the well, hanged if we don't!"


The brave old pedagogue still refusing, he was dragged, rolled, and tumbled to the well-curb.


" Will you give up, dern you ?" demanded Bob.


"No, I won't."


He was shoved inside of the bucket, and orders given to lower. But the weight proved too much for the lads, and, the crank of the windlass slipping from their grasp, the learning of our dis- trict went whirling to the bottom with a thundering noise befit- ting such an exit. This was more than we bargained for. Had we really murdered the master? Bob and Bill, assisted by the stoutest, began pulling up the unfortunate old fellow. It was hard work, and, tugging at the windlass, they just caught a glimpse of his blonde head when a wild cry of "fire!" caused them to let go, and again the venerable Bangs rattled down with a splash in the water. The school-house was on fire; the chunks pulled out by the boys had communicated to the floor, and the dry old concern was in a blaze. A few neighbors, who just then arrived, gave the alarm, and attempted to extinguish the flames. To do this they called for water, and the first bucket brought up contained the vanquished teacher of reading, writing, and arith- metic. He came up with his teeth chattering, and when lifted out and untied was too weak to stand or sit. The school-house burned down. The master was carried to a neighbor's house, and for weeks hung between life and death. We were regarded as heroes by the country side, and in the burning of our place of torture and the sickness of the master, we were the happiest set of little animals in the world.




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.