USA > Virginia > A history of the valley of Virginia, 3rd ed > Part 29
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
In the Greenbrier country, where they had a number of salt- petre caves, the first settlers made plenty of excellent gunpowder by means of these sweeps and mortars.
A machine still more simple than the mortar and pestle was used for making meal when the corn was too soft to be beaten. It was called a grater. This was a half circular piece of tin, perforated with a punch from the concave side, and nailed by its edges to a block of wood. The ears of corn was rubbed on its rough edges of the holes, while the meal fell through them on the board or block to which the grater was nailed, which being in a slanting direction, discharged the meal into a cloth or bowl placed for its reception. This, to be sure, was a slow way of making meal, but necessity has no law.
The hand mill was better than the mortar and grater. It was made of two circular stones, the lowest of which was called the bed stone, the upper one the runner. These were placed in a hoop, with a spout for discharging the meal. A staff was let into a hole in the upper surface of the runner, near the outer edge, and its upper end through a hole in a board fastened to a joist above, so that two persons could be employed in turning the inill at the same time. The grain was put into the opening in the runner by hand. These mills are still in use in Palestine, the ancient country of the Jews. To a mill of this sort our Saviour alluded, when, with reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, he said, "Two women shall be grinding at a mill, one shall be taken and the other left."
This mill is much preferrable to that used at present in upper Egypt for making the dhourra bread. It is a smooth stone, placed on an inclined plane, upon which the grain is spread, which is made into meal by rubbing another stone up and down upon it.
Our first water mills was of that description denominated tub mills. It consisted of a perpendicular shaft, to the lower end of which a horizontal wheel of about four or five feet in diameter is at- ached ; the upper end passes through the bed stone and carries the unner, after the manner of a trundlehead. These mills were built vith very little expense, and many of them answered the purposes very well. Instead of bolting cloths, sifters were in general use. These were made of deer skins in the state of parchment, stretched ver a hoop and perforated with a hot wire.
Our clothing was all of domestic manufacture. We had no ther resources for clothing, and this indeed was a poor one. The rops of flax often failed, and the sheep were destroyed by the wolves. insey, which is made of flax and wool, the former the chain, and he latter the filling, was the warmest and most substantial cloth we
276
MECHANIC ARTS.
could make. Almost every house contained a loom and almost every woman was a weaver.
Every family tanned their own leather. The tan vat was a large trough sunk to the upper end in the ground. A quanity of bark was easily obtained every spring in clearing and fencing land. This, after drying, was brought in, and in wet days was shaved and pounded on a block of wood with an axe or mallet. Ashes was used in place of lime for taking off the hair. Bear's oil, hog's lard and tallow, answered the place of fish oil. The leather, to be sure, was coarse ; but it was substantially good. The opera- tion of currying was performed by a drawing knife with its edge turned after the manner of a currying knife. The blacking for the leather was made of soot and hog's lard.
Almost every family contained its own tailors and shoemak- ers. Those who could not make shoes could make shoe-packs. These, like moccasons, were made of a single piece of leather, with the exception of a tongue piece on the top of the foot, which was about two inches broad and circular at lower end, and to which the main piece of leather was sewed with a gathering stitch. The seam behind was like that of a moccason, and a sole was sometimes added. The women did the tailor work. They could all cut out and make hunting shirts, leggins and drawers.
The state of society which existed in our country at an early period of its settlement, was well calculated to call into action every native mechanical genius. There was in almost every neighborhood, some one whose natural ingenuity enabled him to do many things for himself and neighbors, far above what could have been reasonably expected. With the very few tools which they brought with them into the country, they certainly performed wonders. Their plows, harrows with their wooden teeth, and sleds, were in many instances well made. Their cooper-ware, which comprehended everything for holding milk and water, was generally pretty well executed. The cedar-ware, by having alternately a white and red stave, was then thought beauti- ful. Many of their puncheon floors were very neat, their joints close, and the top even and smooth. Their looms, although heavy, did very well. Those who could not exercise the ine- chanic arts were under the necessity of giving labor or barter to their neighbors in exchange for the use of them, so far as their ne- cessities required.
An old man in my father's neighborhood had the art of turning bowls, from the knots of trees, particularly those of the ash. In what way he did it I do not know, or whether there was much mys- tery in his art. Be that as it may, the old man's skill was in great request, as well-turned wooden bowls were among our first-rate articles of household furniture.
My brotliers and myself once undertook to procure a fine suit of these bowls made of the best wood, the ash. We gathered all we
277
MECHANIC ARTS.
could find on our father's land, and took them to the artist, who was to give, as the saying was, one-half for the other. He put the knots in a branch before the door, when a freshet came and swept them all away, not one of them being ever found. Tliis was a dreadful misfortune. Our anticipation of an elegant display of new bowls was utterly blasted in a moment, as the poor old man was not able to repair our loss nor any part of it.
My father possessed a mechanical genius of the highest order. and necessity, which is the mother of invention, occasioned the full exercise of his talents. His farming utensils were the best in the neighborhood. After making his loom he often used it as a weaver. All the shoes belonging to the family were made by himself. He always spun his own shoe-thread, saying that no woman could spin shoe-thread as well as he could. His cooper-ware was made by himself. I have seen him make a small, neat kind of wooden-ware, called set work, in which the staves were all attached to the bottom of the vessel, by means of a groove cut in them by a strong clasp- knife and small chisel, before a single hoop was put on. He was sufficiently the carpenter to build the best kind of houses then in use, that is to say, first a cabin, and afterwards the hewed log- house, with a shingled roof. In the latter years he became sickly, and not being able to labor, he amused himself with tolerably good imitations of cabinet work.
Not possessing sufficient health for service on the scouts and campaigns, his duty was that of repairing the rifles of his neighbors when they needed it. In this business he manifested a high degree of ingenuity. A small depression on the surface of a stump or log, and a wooden mallet, were his instruments for straightening the gun barrel when crooked. Without the aid of a bow-string he could discover the smallest bend in a barrel, and with a bit of steel he could make a saw for deepening the furrows when requisite. A few shots determined whether the gun might be trusted.
Although he never had been more than six week at school, he was nevertheless a first-rate penman and a good arithmetician. His penmanship was of great service to his neighbors in writing letters, bonds, deeds of conveyance, &c.
Young as I was, I was possessed of an art which was of great use, viz ; that of weaving shot pouch straps, belts and garters. I could make my loom and weave my belt in less than one day. Having a piece of board about four feet long, an inch auger, spike gimlet, and a drawing knife, I needed no other tools or materials for making my loom.
It frequently happened that my weaving proved serviceable to the family, as I often sold a belt for a day's work, or making an hundred rails ; so that although a boy, I could exchange my labor for that of a full grown person for an equal length of time.
278
MEDICINE.
CHAPTER XXVI.
MEDICINE.
This among a rude and illiterate people consisted mostly of speci- fics. As far as I can recollect then, they shall be enumerated, to- gether with the diseases for which they were used.
The diseases of children were mostly ascribed to worms ; for the expulsion of which a solution of common salt was given, and the dose ways always large. I well remember having been compelled to take half a table spoonful when quite small. To the best of my recollection it generally answered the purpose.
Scrapings of pewter spoons was another remedy for the worms. This dose was also large, amounting, I should think, from twenty to forty grains. It was commonly given in sugar.
Sulphate of iron, or green copperas, was a third remedy for the ยท worms. The dose of this was also larger than we should venture to give at this time.
For burns, a poultice of Indian meal was a common remedy. A poultice of scraped potatoes was also a favorite remedy with some people. Roasted turnips, made into a poultice, was used by others. Slippery elm bark was often used in the same way. I do not recollect that any internal remedy or bleeding was ever used for burns.
The croup, or what was then called the "bold hives," was a common disease among the children, many of them died of it. For the cure of this, the juice of roasted onions or garlic was given in large doses. Wall ink was also a favorite remedy with many of the old ladies. For fever, sweating was the general remedy. This was generally performed by means of a strong decoction of Virginia snake root. The dose was always very large. If a purge was used, it was about a half a pint of a strong decoction of walnut bark. This, when intended for a purge, was peeled downwards ; if for a vomit, it was peeled upwards. Indian physics, or bowman root, a species of ipecacuanha. was frequently used for a vomit, and some- times the pocoon or blood root.
For the bite of a rattle or copper-snake, a great variety of speci- fics were used. I remember when a small boy to have seen a man, bitten by a rattle-snake, brought into the Fort on a man's back. One of the company dragged the snake after him by a forked stick fastened to its head. The body of the snake was cut into pieces of
279
MEDICINE.
about two inches in length, split open in succession, and laid on the wound to draw out the poison, as they expressed it. When this was over, a fire was kindled in the Fort and the whole of the serpent burnt to ashes, by way of revenge for the injury he had done. After this process was over, a large quantity of chestnut leaves was collected and boiled in a pot. The whole of the wounded man's leg and part of his thigh were placed in a piece of chestnut bark, fresh from the tree, and the decoction was poured on the leg so as to run down into the pot again. After continuing this process for some time, a quantity of the boiled leaves were bound to the leg. This was repeated several times a day. The man got well ; but whether owing to the treatment bestowed on his wound, is not so certain.
A number of native plants were used for the cure of snake bites. Among them the white planton heid a high rank. This was boiled in milk, and the decoction given the patient in large quantities. A kind of fern, which, from its resemblance to the leaves of the walnut, was called walnut fern, was another remedy. A plant with fibrous roots, resembling the Seneca snake root, of a black color, and a strong but not disagreeable smell, was considered and relied on as the Indian specific for the cure of the sting of a snake. A decoction of this root was also used for the cure of colds. Another plant, which very much resembles the one above mentioned, but which is violently poisonous, was sometimes mistaken for it and used in its place. I knew two young women, who, in consequence of being bitten by rattle-snakes, used the poisonous plant instead of the other, and nearly lost their lives by the mistake. The roots were applied to the legs in the form of a poultice. The violent burning and swelling occasioned by the inflammation discovered the mistake in time to prevent them from taking any of the docoction, which, had they done, would have been instantly fatal. It was with difficulty that the part to which the poultice was applied was saved from mortification, so that the remedy was worse than the disease.
Cupping, sucking the wound, and making deep incisions which were filled with salt and gun-powder, were also among the reme- dies for snake bites.
It does not appear to me that any of the internal remedies, used by the Indians and the first settlers of this country, were well adapted for the cure of the disease occasioned by the bite of a snake The poison of a snake, like that of a bee or a wasp, must consist of a highly concenerated and very poisonous acid, which instantly inflames the parts to which it is applied. That any substance what- ever can act as a specific for the decomposition of this poison, seems altogether doubtful. The cure of the fever occasioned by this ani- mal poison, must be effected with reference to those general indica- tions which are regarded in the cure of other fevers with equal force. The internal remedies alluded to, so far as I am acquainted
280
MEDICINE.
with them, are possessed of little or no medical efficacy. They are not emetics, cathartics, or sudorifics. What then? They are harmless substances, which do wonders in all those cases in which there is nothing to be done.
The truth is, the bite of the rattle or copper-snake, in a fleshy or tendinous part, where the blood-vessels are neither numerous or large, soon healed under any kind of treatment. But when the fangs of the serpent, which are hollow, and eject the poison through an orifice near the points, penetrate a blood-vessel of any considerable size, a malignant and incurable fever was generally the immediate consequence, and the patient often expired in the first paroxysm.
The same observations apply to the effects of the bite of ser- J ents when inflicted on beasts. Horses were frequently killed by them, as they were commonly bitten somewhere about the nose, in which the blood-vessels are numerous and large. I once saw a horse die of the bite of a rattle-snake ; the blood for some time before he expired exuded in great quantities through the pores of the skin.
Cattle were less frequently killed, because their noses are of a grizly texture, and less furnished with blood-vessels than those of a horse. Dogs were sometimes bitten, and being naturally physicians, they commonly scratched a hole in some damp place, and held the wounded part in the ground till the inflammation abated. Hogs, when in tolerable order, were never hurt by them, owing to the thick substratum of fat between the skin, muscular flesh, and blood- vessels. The hog generally took immediate revenge for the injury done him, by instantly tearing to pieces and devouring the serpent which inflicted it.
The itch, which was a very common disease in early times, was commonly cured by an ointment made of brimstone and hog's lard.
Gun-shot and other wounds were treated with slippery-elm bark, flaxseed, and other such poultices. Many lost their lives from wounds which would now be considered trifling and easily cured. The use of the lancet, and other means of depletion, in the treat- ment of wounds, constituted no part of their cure in this country, in early times.
My mother died in early life of a wound from the tread of a horse, which any person in the habit of letting blood might have cured by two or three bleedings, without any other remedy. The wound was poulticed with spikenard root, and soon terminated in an extensive mortification.
Most of the men of the early settlers of the country were af- fected with the rheumatism. For relief from this disease the hun- ters generally slept with their feet to the fire. From this practice they certainly derived much advantage. The oil of rattle-snakes,
281
MEDICINE.
geese, wolves, bears, raccoons, ground-hogs, and pole-cats, was ap- plied to the swelled joints, and bathed in before the fire.
The pleurisy was the only disease which was supposed to re- quire blood letting? but in many cases a bleeder was not in the section.
Coughs and pulmonary consumption, were treated with a great variety of syrups, the principal ingredients of which were spikenard and elecampane. The syrups certainly gave but little relief.
Charms and incantations were in use for the cure of many dis- eases. I learned, when young, the incantation, in German, for the cure of burns, stopping blood, tooth-ache, and the charm against bullets in battle ; but for the want of faith in their efficacy, I never used any of them.
The erysipelas, or St. Anthony's fire, was circumscribed by the blood of a black cat. Hence there was scarcely a black cat to be seen, whose ears and tail had not been frequently cropped off for a contribution of blood.
Whether the medical profession is productive of most good or harm, may still be a matter of dispute with some philosophers, who never saw any condition of society in which there were no physi- cians, and therefore could not be furnished with a proper test for deciding the question. Had an unbeliever in the healing art been among the early inhabitants of this country, he would have been in a proper situation to witness the consequences of the want of the ex- ercises of the art. For many years in succession there was no per- son who bore even the name of a doctor within a considerable dis- tance of the residence of my father.
For the honor of the medical profession I must give it as my opinion, that many of our people perished for want of medical skill and attention.
The pleurisy was the only disease which was, in any consid- erable degree, understood by our people. A pain in the side called for the use of the lancet, if there was any to be had ; but owing to its sparing use, the patient was apt to be left with a spitting of blood, which sometimes ended in consumption. A great number of children died with the croup. Remittent and intermittent fevers were treated with warm drinks for the pur- pose of sweating, and the patients were denied the use of cold water and fresh air ; consequently many of them died. Of those who escaped, not a few died afterwards of the dropsy or consump- tion, or were left with paralytic limbs. Deaths in childbed were not unfrequent. Many, no doubt, died of the bite of the serpent, in consequence of an improper reliance on specifics possessed of no medical virtue.
My father died of an hepatic complaint, at the age of about forty-six. He had labored under it for thirteen years. The fever
36
282
MEDICINE.
which accompanied it was called the "dumb ague," and the swel- ling in the region of the liver, "the ague cake." The abscess burst, and discharged a large quantity of matter, which put a period to his life in about thirty hours after the discharge.
Thus I, for one may say, that in all human probability I lost both my parents for want of medical aid.
283
SPORTS.
CHAPTER XXVII.
SPORTS.
These were such as might be expected among a people, who, owing to their circumstances 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 of fine arts.
Amusements are, in many instances, either imitations of the business of life, or at least of some of its particular objects of pur- suits. 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 savages is a pantomime of their stratagems and horrid deeds of cruelty in war, and the exhibition prepares the minds of their young men for a participation in the bloody trage- dies which they represent. Dancing, among civilized people, is regarded, not only as an amusement suited to the youthful period of human life, but as a means of inducing urbanity of manners and a good personal deportment in public. Horse racing is re- garded by the statesman as a preparation, in various ways, for the equestrian department of warfare; it is said that the English government never possessed a good cavalry, until by the en- couragement given to public races, their breed of horses was im- proved. 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 are taught the use of the bow and arrow at an early age ; but al- though they acquired considerable 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 people, the bow and arrow could never be de- pended 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 in- struments in the hands of the barbarians of our country ; but I much doubt whether any of the present tribe of Indians could make much use of the flint arrow heads, which must have been so generally used by their forefathers.
Firearms, wherever they can be obtained, soon put an end to
284
SPORTS.
the use of the bow and arrow ; but independently of this circum- stance, military, as well as other arts, sometimes grew out of date and vanish from the world. Many centuries have elapsed since the world has witnessed the destructiye accuracy of the Benjaminites in their use of the sling and stone; nor does it appear to me that a dimination, in the size and strength of the aboriginals of this country, has occasioned a decrease of accuracy and effect in their use of the bow and arrow. From all the ancient skeletons which have come under my notice, it does not appear that this sec- tion of the globe was ever inhabited by a larger race of human beings than that which possessed it at the time of its discovery by the Europeans.
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 certain circumstances. The imitations of the gob- bling and other sounds of wild turkeys, often brought those keen- eyed and ever watchful tenants of the forest within reach of the rifle. The bleating of the fawn. brought its dam to her death in the same way. The hunter often collected a company of mopish owls to the trees about his camp; and while he amused himself with their hoarse screaming, his howl would raise and obtain responses from a pack of wolves, so as to inform him of their neighborhood, as well as guard him against their depredations.
This imitative faculty was sometimes requisite as a measure of precaution in war. The Indians, when scattered about in a neigh- borhood, often collected together, by imitating the turkeys by day, and wolves or owls by night. In similar situations our people did the same. I have often witnessed the consternation of a whole neighborhood in consequence of a few screeches of owls. An early and correct use of this imitative faculty was considered as an indica- tion that its possessor would become in due time a good hunter and a valiant warrior.
Throwing the tomahawk was another boyish sport, in which many acquired considerable skill. The tomahawk, with its handle of a certain length, will make a given number or turns in a given dis- tance. Say at five steps, it will strike with the edge, the handle downwards ; at the distance of seven and-a-half steps, 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 choose.
The athletic sports of running, jumping and wrestling, were the pastime of 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 port-hole assigned him. Hunting squirrels, turkeys and raccoons soon made him expert in the use of his gun.
285
SPORTS.
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, cotilions and minuets, were unknown. I remember to have seen, once or twice, a dance which was called " The Irish Trot ;" but I have long since forgotten the figure.
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.