USA > Tennessee > Old times; or, Tennessee history, for Tennessee boys and girls > Part 12
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Bat in the midst of much present prosperity, and the fair hopes of increasing success and aggrandizement, there was still loft mne coure : of disquiet to the people of Tennessee, which continued to annoy them for several years
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longer. This was the uncertainty of land- titles in some sections of the State, and the difficulties with the Federal Government. arising from that cause. It has been stated before that the people living south of the French Broad, were on land that had not been ceded by the Cherokees, except to the State of Franklin, whose anthority had been set aside. In addition to this, North Carolina had granted lands, (and those lands had been actually settled,) that were Indian territory. according to the treaty of Holston, made by authority of the United States.
After the adoption of the Federal Constitu- tion, there was no authority to make treaties with the Indians, except the President and Congress of the United States. The occupants of the unceded lands were liable, at any mo- ment, to be removed from their homes by cifi- cers and soldiers of the United State-, some of' whom were stationed in the country for the purpose of keeping pesce with the Iod'ans, and taking care that the whites dit not intru le upon the lands reserved to them by treaty. This state of things gave rise to mech anyry discussion, and loud complaints were uttered against the Government, with General Wash-
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276 OLD TIMES; OR,
ington at its head, because they did not at once procure an extinguishment of the Indian title. This was at length accomplished, but, in the meantime, it required much prudence on the part of the Federal officers, and all the intlu- ence of Sevier and Robertson, and other discreet citizens, to prevent a hostile collision between the people and the troops of the Government.
CHAPTER XI.
EXTENT OF THE SETTLEMENTS-AGRICULTURE AND TRADE IN 1796.
WITH the organization of the State Govern- ment, we propose that this history shall come to an end. To give even a sketch of eveuts up to the present time would swell this little book to a size inconvenient for the purpose it is mainly intended to serve. Besides, we should have necessarily to deal more with matters of legida- tion and politics than would be suitable to the design of this work, or to the taste and capacity of young readers. Another reason for stopping here is, that from the time of the establishment of the State Goverment. the current of public affairs soon began to run in the same channel as at present, and an account of themu would he less interesting to persons in general than that of the very peculiar circumstances attend. ing the commencement and carly progress of the settlement and population of the country.
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So singular, indeed, were these circumstances, as to give rise for awhile to a very uncommon state of society, which perhaps has never had a parallel, except in the neighboring State of Kentucky about the same time. Our readers, we think, will not be displeased, if, before closing our work, we devote a fen pages to some des ription of the contlition of the country and people, as they were in 1796. And it may be here remarked that, as the condition of things was then, it continued, with slight and gradual changes, for many years after. It was not until steam navigation and the culture of cotton had produced an active and gainful commerce, that the old pioneer character and backwoods habits began to lisappear.
At the time when the State of Tennessee was admitted into the Union. the actual settlements covered less than one-third of the area within her present limits. In East Tennessee, they exten led as far west as the Tirt !. Tonnoes e. on the south of the Holton; on the north side of that river, a little west of Knoxville. The Middle Tennessee, or Cumberland colony. had spread over the surface included in the present counties of Davidson. Cheatham, Mount romery. Robert.on, Sumner, WOgon, and WPlom-on.
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and in these there were wide intervals without a cabin or a clearing. West Tennessee was an unbroken wilderness, unless we might except & trading post at the Chickasaw Bluff's, on the Mississippi.
In the older portions of the settlements, suffi- cient land had now been cleared to enable the occupants to raise plentiful crops of Indian corn, not only for their own use, but also to supply the large number of emigrants contini- ually coming into the country. Tobacco was cultivated to some extent, and little patches of' cotton for domestic use. But wheat and other small grain were scarcely ever seen; indeed, the land generally was too rich for this kind of erops. cven if there had been enough of it cleared to allow a part to be employed in that way.
The trade of the country was very nearly none at all. Emigrants from the old States would consume a portion of the surplus corn and meat; but they were seldom able to pay for these articles in money. The usual moue with them was to obtain a year's supply for a few months' labor, which increased the proude- tion for the next year. Corn could not be taken across the mountains to the old States. and the practice of driving fat hogs to Virginia,
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and North and South Carolina, was then hardly begun, on account of the small demand in those places. As to taking mules to the Southi, which has since become so eommon and so profitable, "it must be remembered that Ala- bama and Mississippi were not then settled; be-iles, there were no mules in Tennessee, per- haps in : a hundred in the United States.
Occasionally a boat-load of peltries, bacon, honey, ( gathered from the forest-trees, ) and other similar products, would go down the Tennessee, the Cumberland, the Ohio, and the Mississippi, to Natchez and New Orleans. After selling out for what they could get -- usually little enough -the boat was abandoned, or sold for firewood, and the boatmen had the frolic of walking back home, unless any of them should prefer to lay out his share of the profits in & Choctaw pony. Though such trips brought very little money into the country, yet it was a favorite > adventure with the bold young back woods en of that day, and they seldom faint to come back several inches taller than they went. Louisiana was a foreign country, and a trip to New Orleans then answered in place of's "cour through Europe," now so fi-hionalle among young gentlemen.
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Dry goods, so far as there were any consumed, except those manufactured in families, were brought from Baltimore and Philadelphia, in wagons, either all the way, or to Pittsburgh, and then by water down the Ohio and up the Ten- nessee and Cumberland. In those days a girl who could get a calico dress for her wedding was at least as fine as her neighbors, and there- fore well satisfied. The small quantity of gro- ceries used in the country were mostly brought up the Mississippi in keel-boats, a kind of river eraft that could be propelled up stream more easily than the flat-bottoms. A pound of eoffee could generally be had for about the price of a barrel of corn, and other imported groceries in proportion. Whisky was made at home in the greatest abundance, and it is not to be denied that it was used with a corresponding liberality.
A few mechanics had, by this time, found their way into Tennessee, but in very few places could any of them fin.l constant employment in their tra-les. They usually made crops, en l worked at their special business occasionally arconling to the demand. Blacksmiths cante fret, because most wanted. Rough expense- and shoe-makers followed, but there was no cal! fir brick-lavers, stone-masons. painters, and the
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many other workmen who now find regular and profitable employment throughout the land. If there was a tailor in all Tennessee, he no doubt had ample leisure for bee-hunting. Hat- ters and saddlers could do a better business. A few water-mills for grinding corn, some iron- works on a small scale, and two or three small manuin tories of gunpowder, will perhaps com- plete the list of such improvements, as matters were in 1796.
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CHAPTER XII.
SOCIAL, INTERCOURSE AND AMUSEMENTS.
Ar the present time, Tennessee is among the foremost States of the Union in the production of Indian corn; but sixty years ago, it was much easier to raise large crops of that grain than it is now. The soil was more fertile, and required less work than farmers are now accus- tomed to bestow on it. The working season lasted about two months, and the crop could be gathered at any time from October to April. As scarcely any other kind of erop was, or could be, cultivated, the consequence was that the men were afflicted with a great deal of leis- ure, which they endeavored to relicve by a variety of vecunations and amendements. As in all similar cases, while some of these were equally innocent and manly, some others were less to be commended.
Que characteristic of the times Was a general and promiscuous company-keeping. As every
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housekeeper had an abundance of all the coun- try afforded, and the wealthiest could have no more, this intercourse was upon a footing of free and casy equality. Everyboily and his horse were welcomed to everybody's table and corn-crib. The expense of keeping horses was too slight to be regarded, and perhaps there never was a time or a count- in which so much riding on horseback was done, by male and female, old and young. Whatever finery a gallant of the period could afford, was shown in the trappings of his sad lle-horse-in his saddle, bridle, and martingale. The other sex was not behind in this particular, and a back- woods girl expectell to be admired aad courted only when shared with firmness and grace upon a well-dressed charger.
This was all as it should be; but quarter- racing and horse-swapping are to be less ap- proved. In every neighborhood, where there was clear space enough for a quar r-track. the youngsters were often assembled to try the speed of their nags. This frequently led to bets, and to gambling in other modes. and, with the help of whisky, to quarrels and fights. As these meetings were never attended by women, they were always inclined to boon sompant
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unchecked rowdyism, from which none returned with improved morals or manners. As to swapping horses, it was for a long time almost a mania in Tennessee, and the jockeys of this State were perhaps never matched for skill and management, except when they encountered a Kentuckian. It was frequently pursued. as men play games, merely for excitement.
A less exceptionable mode of spending time was in match-hunts. The young men, and sometimes old ones, of a neighborhood, would divide themselves into two parties, and hunt for several days. The scalps of the game killed-squirrels, hawks, crows, etc .- were to be produced and counted, at a time and place agreed upon, and generally with the under- standing that the beaten party should pay the expense of a barbecue. to which everybody was invited. These hunting-matches were not only useful in destroying animals that were doing great damage to the corn-fields and poultry- yards, but were occasions of much social emor- ment and innocent mirth. Stories are toll about the number of scalps sometimes taken in these hunts, that would hardly be belleved by a hoy of the present day, who thinks he has done pretty well it he has brought down one
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squirrel and two woodpeckers iu a day's ramble with his gun.
But all this did not satisfy the social spirit of the people. House-raisings, log-rollings, and corn-chuckings drew together all the dwellers within five miles. When a cabin was to be put up, whether for a dwelling, or a kitchen, or a barn, not only men enough to do the work, but all the families around were called in. While the men were employed upou the house, the women and girls generally had a quilt on hand, and when both jobs were done, the evening was usually closed with a merry dance. But how could so many be entertained in a small cabin ? Well, if only the women could find shelter in it, the hearty and robust backwoodsmen knew very well how to make themselves comfortable around a log-fire in the yard.
In the fall season, or early winter, when the corn had been branght into a heap near the house, the men of the neighborhood, black as well as white, were summoned to a shucking frolic, usually at night. A chucking vas keki at nearly every house in stecession, as each farmer happened to get his pile realy. T.the negro especially those were the most joytid an f
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exhilarating occasions of his life, hardly ex- cepting Christmas; and at the corn-pile he was allowed to display his antics with freedom, to the great amusement of the white men. They still delight to chant the corn-song, which had its origin in those scenes of merry labor, which have now nearly passed away, with other cus- tors of the olden time. Similar to the shuck- ing frolic was the log-rolling, except that it had in it much more of hard labor.
In these days farmers in Tennessee are very careful to save their trees, all of them being needed for fencing and firewood; but sixty years ago, the great object was to get clear of the timber, and to have land enough ready for the plow. In this war of extermination against the forest, the agency of fire was employed to assist the ax in the work of destruction. During the winter months, overy settler was busy ia felling trees, and cutting up the trunks into manageable lengths, and in the cadly spring the rolling took place. It was an operation that required considerable force and more hands than were usually to be found in any che family. It was therefore customary for neighbors to help each other in the work of getting the logs int, Lige boaps, which were afterward fred and
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288 OLD TIMES; OR,
burnt, during the dry and windy days of March and April.
In the early settlement of Tennessee, very few of the settlers were in circumstances to manage these matters-of raising houses and rolling logs -- without calling in the help of neighbors. But the custom continued to pre- vail long after the necessity which first pro- duced it had passed away. In despite of the hard work to be done, they were always occa- sions of mirth and festivity, and kept alive feelings of sympathy and neighborly kindness among the people. The man who had his corn shucked, or his house raised, or his logs rolled, without asking his neighbors to help, and help- ing them in turn, was regarded as a selfish and unsocial fellow, who cared for none but himself. These old customs still linger in some newly settled parts of West Tennessee, but elsewhere the altered condition of the country has caused them mostly to be disused.
CHAPTER XIII.
EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS IN 1796.
Ix the course of this history, we have noticed the establishment of one or more colleges by authority of the General Assembly of Tennessee; but our young readers must not be misled by names. All the appointments of the best col- lege then actually established would hardly be considered sufficient for a country academy of the present day. Log houses with, or perhaps without, glass windows, with benches and desk- roughly made of puncheons, furnished accom. medation to the sophomores and seniors of the oblen time. A few copies of the Lwin and Greek classics, with a scanty supply of tattered gramamais and dopened dictionaries, consti- tured the college library. A surveyor's compass and chain was probably the sum total of math- cutical apparatus, and a few Indian arron- lo: !: in the pocket- of the stu bots might
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If such were the chartered colleges, it is not difficult to infer the character of the common schools, scattered here and there throughout the settlements. Even to this day people have not generally learned the importance of a com- fortable building to accommodate a school of whatever grade. Then when the wealthiest of the population lived in rude cabins, it need not to be told that our grandfathers and grandmoth- ers in Tennessee did not learn to spell from "a-b-ah to crucifix," and " cipher to the rule of three," amidst the appliances of a palatial structure. As is mostly the case even now. the school-room and its furniture were just a little inferior to the accommodations which the pupils enjoyed in their own homes. These things, however, were hardly worse in Temesse than in the old States of North Copy line and Vir- ginia, where an "old-fell schoolhouse" has ever presented the image of all discomfort.
Such. being the description of lui links for school purposes, we are led to bogfire as to the character and qualifications of the teachers. And we are inclined to think, figu all we can Journ upon this point, that generally they chi not deserve, and could not hom mali purpose, any be ber bec annerledes than ha.
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had. A few exceptions there doubtless were -- men of solid learning and autuoss to teach; but the great majority of them were not teachers, but mere school-keepers-men who took to the calling because they were too lame or too lazy to work. Such men were overpaid with a salary of sixty dollars a year, which was then about the ave- rage income of ordinary schools.
Do our young readers ask how it was possible for boys and girls to be educated by such men under such circumstances? Well, the truth is, that very many of them did not get learning enough to read a newspaper, if such a thing had been in their way: a few acquired enough to transact common business; and still forer became fitted for eminent positions in Church and State. These last educated themeciees, with the very little help derived from their sche l. masters. And we desire here solemnly to it- press it upon every boy and girl that reads this book, that if they would be well educated, try must do the work themselves. The best teachers and the best books, with all the facilities of the best-managed schools, can ouly help them ia the work They must depend upon nothing but their own voluntary and independent labor. The best educated inen, amt therefore the best
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.....
teachers, in the early times of Tennessee, were mostly ministers of the Presbyterian Church. This was simply because that Church alone, of all then in Tennessee, had always required its ministers to have a liberal, or at least a clas- . sical, education. Nearly all of them, at that day, were graduates of Princeton College, in New Jersey. This distinction, however, in favor of Presbyterians has long since disappeared, there being now as much intellectual culture and scholarship among the ministry of other denominations as among thera. Perhaps, how- ever, other denominations have not adopted any precise rule upon that point, but among them much is allowed on the score of "gifts and graces," apart from mere scholastic training.
Enough has been said in the foregoing his- tory to show that the emigrous from the old States dil not leave their Christianity behind them. The prevailing denominations were the Presbyterians chicfly amons the Spotch-Irish portion of the population, and the Baptists und Methodists among the rest of the settlers. There was. indeed, Ettle of the machinery and external pony of worship-a resounding ce. grus. t. t cultivated choir inare to make the rapires of a fastidious sontore roliuns on
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cushioned pow-seats. But we are not to sur pose, from the absence of these. that reverence, aud piety, and fervent trust in God, were absent from the hearts of the people. On the con- trary, it is reasonable to suppose that the circumstances of privation, hardship, and dan- gor to which they were constantly exposed, had a mighty influence in imparting a deep sincerity and pathos to all religions feelings.
We cannot forbear to nodec here one very peculiar religious institution, or rather mode of worship, which sprung up among the western settlers, though a few years later than the period to which our history reaches. We mean cammp- meetings, which had their origin in the want of proper buildings for religious assemblies, and the difficulty of getting together a congregation in the ordinary way, owing to the scattered state of the population. Like most other things, camp-meetings have continued long after the circumstances which produce I them have ceasol to exist, and alto sther have played a mes important part in the history of Christian influence in Tennessee. Like the primesal forest, in the bosom of which the early meetings were held, they are now fast di app aring. Der ta -ko's now fini boh, and our readers are
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Affori.4
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at the last page of this little book. In it we have endeavored to present a faithful picture of old times in Tennessee, and a true account of the character, feelings, and conduct of the "brave and true" men and women, who laid - the foundation of society and government in our glorious State. Since the year 1796, two generations of men have passed, and probably not a man is now living who followed the banner of "Nolichucky Jack" in the Indian wars. In a few years the boys and girls, who have been our companions through this history, will have the character aud destiny of Ten- nessee in their keeping. We bid them farewell, in the hope that, like their forefathers, they may prove themselves "true and brave"-the guardians and defenders of the rich blessings they have inherited.
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THE END.
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