HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY

CHAPTER IV.

PIONEER HABITS AND CUSTOMS---‘‘THE GOOD OLD DAYS.”

The pioneers of Perry county were mostly young married men and women; the former from, twenty-five to thirty-five years of age, and the later from twenty to thirty. They usually had a number of little children, the oldest not often over ten years. The intention to emigrate was generally formed soon after marriage---sometimes before that important event. Economy and frugality, of course, were practiced in order that a little property might be acquired and a little money laid up. Sometimes the head of the family came out alone and entered the land, and returning removed the family and effects afterward. When the surplus household goods and other property were disposed of, away back in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New York or New Jersey---for the early settlers of this county were principally from those States, preparations were soon completed for the move to Ohio. The pioneers came in all sorts of ways; governed more or less by their pecuniary circumstances and general surroundings at the old home. The majority moved in covered wagons, drawn by two, three or four horses. Oxen were sometimes used in place of horses. Others brought all they possessed on horseback, not being well enough off to own or hire a wagon. Yet others moved with one horse and cart. Emigrants were usually from three to six weeks on the way. The western Pennsylvanians made the journey in about three weeks. A cow or two was driven along. A trusty rifle was always a part of the movables, and a faithful dog was chained or tied to the hind part of the wagon. The women and children slept in the wagon, and the family meals were cooked and prepared at the roadside. In some cases where the wagon or wagons were very full of goods, the family pitched a tent and camped upon the ground. The journey was a long, tedious one; but it was generally looked back to and remembered with pleasure. The crossing of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers frightened many of the women and children, and was in fact attended with difficulties and even perils. The breaking up of old homes, and the sundering of the ties of kindred and friendship, was a thing of sadness and a great trial to many; to those who laughed, as well as to those who cried. For the merriest heart was only the mask of sadness. Ohio seemed a long way off, and the distance appeared much greater than now. Yet all hoped, after a few years, to be able to visit the old home and friends left behind. Most of the men who lived long, did get to return; some of them several times. And a few of the women---a very few, however, after passing middle life, rode back in carriages or stage coaches, and revisited the scenes of their girlhood. But the great majority of the young pioneer women, when the emigrant wagon started out, looked back with tearful eyes, for the last time, upon the old familiar scenes, and were, in fact, bidding them good-bye forever. 18

When the emigrant wagon reached its destination, sometimes, though not often, a cabin had been made ready for occupancy, and a few acres cleared; the head of the family having come out previously and done the work or employed some one to do it. In most cases, however, the pioneers went into this unbroken forest, and the family lived in the wagon, or camped upon the ground, while a small cabin was prepared. If neighbors were handy, or within five or six miles, it did not take very long to accomplish this; for timber was plentiful and convenient, axes were heavy and sharp, and the men knew how and were willing to wield them. In some cases, indeed, when hands were plenty, a cabin was built from the stump in one day, and a family living in it next day. But it ordinarily took a longer time than this. The first cabins were small---fourteen to sixteen, or sixteen to eighteen feet, and built out of round poles or logs. The floor was made of puncheons, split out of larger logs, and one side hewed tolerably smooth with a broad-ax. The roof was made of clapboards rived out with a mallet and frow and held to their places on the roof with weight poles, straightened on one side to closely fit the roof, and separated the proper distance by heavy short sticks, of the required length. A door was also made out of smooth, light puncheon boards, hewed on both sides, fastened by cross-pieces and nailed or pegged on. A piece of a log or two was cut out for a window, and greased white paper was pasted on to admit the light. It was sometimes a difficult thing to get flour to make the paste, and corn-meal or hominy would not answer. A large hole was left or cut in the lower part of the center of one end of the cabin for the fire-place. The chimney was built of sticks and mud on the outside, and carried to the highest part of the roof. The hearth, usually a very large one, was laid with large flat stones, when such could be had. In their absence, the best available stone was used. The upper floor was also laid with puncheon, and the room above was called a loft or garret. This was reached by a ladder, sometimes from within, and sometimes from the outside of the house. In other cases, where the ground at one end of the cabin was a little high, the loft was reached from the outside by a long puncheon, one end of which was laid upon the ground, and the other against the bottom of the door or opening of the loft. Again, the ladder on the inside was sometimes dispensed with, and in lieu thereof, there was a row of long stout pegs driven into holes bored in the wall, reaching from the ground-floor to the ceiling. It is astonishing how quickly and gracefully the girl of the period---the pioneer period, of course---would glide or fly up this row of pins to her sleeping chamber. The nimblest girl of to-day, might be equal to the performance, but she would be likely to hesitate before undertaking it. The furniture of the pioneer cabin was of the scantiest and rudest kind. Bedsteads were sometimes made out of rough dog-wood poles, and bottomed with strips of stout elm bark for cords. Benches and three-legged stools took the place of chairs. A cupboard, usually called a “dresser,” was constructed by boring holes in the logs, driving strong wooden pins into them and placing boards on the pins. A row of wide shelves was made in much the same way; furnishing a place to store bed-clothes. Other families had a chest or 19

box for this purpose. Large round boxes, made from the bark of a smooth elm tree, were often made and used for the clean and safe keeping of clothing and other cherished articles. Trammels and hooks soon came into use, but the “lug pole” reaching across the chimney, at about the height of the chamber floor and the wooden hook attached to it, often served to suspend the pots over the fire. Iron was not plentiful, or easily obtained, in those days, and pots were scarce enough. With all the iron underlying the hills, many a pioneer woman has cooked a meal for company in one pot---boiling water for home-made coffee or tea, baking bread, boiling potatoes and frying meat all in the same vessel. This required skill and fine management; but the feat was frequently accomplished. A family who owned an iron pot, a skillet and a dutch oven, were considered very fortunate, and well off for cooking utensils. One pot and one skillet was the more common outfit. There was, of necessity, not much in the way of adornment in the homes of the pioneers. The battle for bread and life was too sharp and earnest for this. Yet, in many houses, small and inexpensive articles of mingled use and adornment were not uncommon. Pewter was the composition of the plates, and most of the other dishes in use of which there were not many. The drinking cups were mostly made of gourds. Splitwood brooms were the instruments with which the pioneer mothers swept, scrubbed and scoured the rough puncheon floors. The cradle, an indispensable article in almost every household, was rough and homely enough, but in it has been rocked some of the proudest, brightest and most honored men and women of the land. Distance, or lapse of time, lends much enchantment to the view, no doubt; for the lot of the pioneers was a hard one, and it is much to their credit, that they encountered and overcame hardships and privations that were enough to appall the strongest arm and the bravest heart. Before a crop could be raised, a heavy growth of timber had to be cut off, logs and brush burned, rails split and fences made. In addition to this a luxuriant growth of underbrush and saplings, rendered it necessary to grub and literally dig up almost every rod of ground. Barns, stables, cribs and other out-buildings, were to build, and wood chopped to keep the cabins warm and comfortable for more than half the year. Buildings could not all be erected, and the land all cleared, at once. But little by little, day after day, year after year, the forest went down, buildings went up, fields were cleared and cultivated, orchards were planted, gardens laid out, and thus was the solitary wilderness changed from its primitive condition into a suitable abode for civilized man. There were hardships enough at best; but the pioneers were neighborly and ever ready to assist each other, when necessary. If a house, barn or stable was to be raised, neighbors would gladly turn out and help, even from a long distance, and the hard work was often enlivened by jokes, stories, and songs. Neighbor women would also turn out and help with the baking and cooking, and the choppers, house-raisers and log-rollers were treated to the best that could be procured. The pioneer women have seldom received the credit and praise that is justly due them. Many of them came from comparatively luxurious 20

homes in the farther east, and without a murmur took up their abode in a small, rough, cabin in the woods, upon the outskirts of civilization, and patiently endured all the hardships and privations of pioneer life. In addition to the cares of the children and household, many of them occasionally assisted their husbands in the fields. And, where they did not do this, with taking care of the children, cooking, washing, knitting, weaving, spinning and sewing, they had enough to do. The women of to-day cannot comprehend how the nursing pioneer mothers, could do all this for a large family. They could only do it by hard and constant work. They visited, to be sure, but when they went visiting, they took solid, substantial work along, and always accomplished their self-appointed task. Flax and wool were to be spun and woven, and the goods to be cut into garments and made up, and that without any sewing machine, except the deft fingers of the natural hands. Linen for Sunday and spare clothes was made of copperas and white, and checked or striped for pretty. When nicely handled it was soft and comfortable. Linsey-woolsey, or Linsey, was made of wool and cotton, and was a very durable goods, though not very handsome. Plain white linen on home-fulled cloth or jeans, comprised the clothing for the males; and copperas-checked linen, linsey-woolsey and flannel, that of the females. The flannel goods for dresses was often colored and striped quite handsomely, and a suit made of it looked comfortable and becoming. The hunting shirt and wamus were the most common garbs of the pioneer. The hunting shirts were often neatly cut and ornamented with fringe, and were picturesque and pretty. Father Dominic Young, spoken of in another chapter, who rode over a wide stretch of country here at an early day, once said to the writer that “almost every man he met carried a rifle and wore a hunting shirt.” Johnny-cake, hog and hominy, were necessarily the principal diet of the pioneers. Without corn and hogs the western country must have settled up very slowly. Mills were few and far away and early settlers had to go a good long distance, often on horseback. But there were mills at both Zanesville and Lancaster, and the pioneers of Perry were not so bad off for grinding facilities as those of many other counties in the State. A number of “corn-crackers” were early set up in the county, but they did not amount to much, and could not always be depended upon. Corn could be produced but sparingly, at first, and as a natural result, pork was for a time a scarce article with many. In its absence the pioneer's trusty rifle had to be depended upon for meat, and it seldom failed to bring in a supply of some sort. Bears were not uncommon, while deer and wild turkeys were plentiful. There were many squirrels, and fish could be caught in the creeks. Nearly every family had cows, and there was milk to drink, and some butter made. After the first few years, the pioneers in general had full and plenty, so far as substantial eatables were concerned. To be sure, tea, coffee, and other luxuries came in slowly. Many of the pioneers were members of religious denominations. They were principally, Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, German Reformed and United Brethren. They had not been here long until there was public religious worship and regular, stated 21

service. The first public worship and preaching were at private houses, before the erection of buildings dedicated to the service of the sanctuary. Settlements were sparsely populated, and persons were accustomed to go a long distance to attend divine service, sometimes a-foot, but generally on horseback. The pioneer women found time to attend these ministrations, in the midst of all their other pressing duties. These occasions were often very happy ones to the neighbors and friends assembled, and the best of feeling appeared to prevail among those who were present. The school buildings of the early days were not what they have been since, and are now. School houses were few, and school books were scarce, and good, competent teachers very rare, if not almost unknown. There were no regular text books. Every book was a school book. The “Master” boarded around among the parents of the pupils, but usually contrived to stay most at the places where there appeared to be the best living, and other accommodations. Reading, writing, arithmetic and geography, were taught, after a fashion. The girls studied spelling, reading, writing and geography. It was considered unladylike for a girl to handle a slate and pencil and to study arithmetic. It was barely tolerated in girls who aspired to be teachers; but in no others. The greater part of these schools were curiosities, in their way; but it must be admitted that many persons managed to make them the foundation for a good and useful education, and for a worthy and successful career in life. It was customary to “bar out” the Master for a “treat” at Christmas; and it was not an uncommon thing for him to throw off the weight-poles, come down through the roof and call “books.” In some cases where the roof was nailed on, he would lay a board over the top of the chimney, and smoke out his tormentors. At other times he would goodnaturedly treat to the apples and gingercakes, and then he would be considered “the best fellow in the world.” Spelling-matches were quite frequent, and there were many good spellers among the early pupils. The pioneer men could nearly all read and write, and knew a little of arithmetic and geography. The women could mostly read write, and, also knew something of geography. They were all anxious that their children should receive a better education than their parents possessed, and the great majority of them did become better educated than their parents, though the early schools were crude and unsatisfactory enough. The school houses were very similar to the dwellings of the early settlers, except that in nearly all, one end was devoted to a fireplace, and a long, narrow window was made on three sides, with the invariable white paper pasted over to admit the light. Before the time that the sons and daughters of the pioneers began to marry, the parents had mostly become well-to-do and in good circumstances. The farms were tolerably well cleared out, orchards were grown, and most of the settlers had moved out of the first cabins into better houses. An old-time wedding was a festive and joyous occasion; though there was seldom anything like indecorum or undue hilarity. A wedding, in those days, rarely occurred without a large assemblage of invited guests. Sometime previous to the day fixed for the nuptials, a suitable and authorized person would ride around the neighborhood, 22

often for miles, giving the invitations to the desired guests, on behalf of the bride or the bride's parents. The groom also had the privilege of inviting all his friends. It was commonly understood between the prospective bride and groom whom each was to invite, so that invitations might not be duplicated. But this precaution was not always taken. If the prospective bride and groom lived any considerable distance apart, which was usually the case, the invited friends of the groom came to his residence on horseback, at an appointed hour, and at another hour agreed upon, would proceed in procession to the house of the bride, where soon after the arrival of the groom, the marriage ceremony would take place. The wedding dinner would be in waiting, and soon after congratulations, the dining table would be filled, the bride and groom, and attendants, if any, having the place of honor at the table. The spread was always bountiful, and everything neat, clean and inviting, if not altogether stylish. Roast turkies, chickens, pies, cakes and custards were conspicuous at these great wedding dinners. Nice, solid, yellow butter, rolled and worked by the plastic hands of some one skilled in that art, were often fashioned and moulded in the form of chickens, ducks, or other fowls, and sometimes lambs, deer, rabbits or other animals, and placed at some little elevation on the table. Of course these were intended to be looked at and not chopped into or eaten. But now and then some bold and daring innovator, near the close of the wedding feast, would cut out a good-sized slice and try its virtue as a lubricator on bread or potatoes; always, no doubt, to his entire satisfaction. The wedding over, there was an informal, “go as you please” sort of enjoyment for the remainder of the day. Toward evening, most of the married guests would return to their homes, but the young people were enlisted during the campaign, and remained over night at the home of the bride's parents, or wherever the wedding took place. At night, often, there would be dancing, playing, singing or social converse, attended with mirth and jollity. The infair, which took place on the day after the wedding, was celebrated at the home of the groom, and differed from the wedding day only by the absence of the marriage ceremony. About nine or ten o'clock, of the day succeeding the wedding, the bride and groom, attendants, and all the guests at the house, and probably a few others who had gone to their homes to remain over night, would prepare for a horseback ride to the residence of the groom, often miles away. Horses would be bridled and saddled and temporarily hitched to fences or trees about the yard, until the ladies had donned their riding suits, and gracefully made, one by one, the last important pose before the looking-glass. The horseblock, at this juncture, plays an important part in the programme. It is simply a short “cut,” about three feet in length, from an oak log three or four feet in diameter, sawed off square at both ends, and set up on one end in the yard near the house. The horses of the bride and her “attendance” are brought up, then ladies step from a chair or stool on to the block, and in a twinkling are firmly seated in their saddles, and their horses probably prancing, for horses appear to have a sort of instinct for red letter days. Other horses are in turn brought up, and soon the ladies are all in their saddles. Very few of the young fellows bring their steeds to the block, but, putting the left 23

foot in the stirrup, bound into the saddle. Just before starting, except the spangled uniforms, the scene is not unlike a grand entree at a circus. The horses are mostly excited, and prance, and jump, and wheel or turn around in the yard. There are usually a few old stagers that stand quietly enough, and seem to wonder at the unnecessary excitement of their fellows. At last all is ready, the couples fall in, and the showy cavalcade moves off at a brisk pace. Grass does not grow much under the feet of the horses as the gay procession speeds on, over hill and dale, now through the woods and now through the open country, until it reaches its destination. As has been stated, the infair was simply a repetition of the wedding festivities, with the exception of the marriage ceremony. There was no wedding tour in the old-time days. Soon after marriage, the newly wedded couple set up housekeeping on their own account. It must not be inferred that weddings and infairs were the only social occasions of the early times. The country was not settled long until singings and singing schools became a very prominent feature. The old style “buckwheat notes” were used, but in the opinion of the old-musicians and singers, at least, the music was generally better and more desirable than most of the music of to-day. The early sons and daughters mostly had good lungs and strong voices, and there was, no doubt, force and volume in their singing. On the night of the Fourteenth day of February, there were singings in almost every neighborhood; and, after singing, there would be a “Valentine drawing.” The names of the girls would be written on slips of paper and placed in a hat, from which the boys would draw. Then the young men's names would be likewise placed, and the girls would have their turn at drawing. These drawings were frequently the source of amusement. There were necessarily raisings and logrollings in the first years of settlement, but there was, ordinarily, more prose than poetry about them. But later came the choppings, quiltings, wool-pickings, sewings, knittings, spinnings, and other industrial frolics, all of which helped to lighten and variegate the too monotonous days of the toiling, patient men and women, who opened the wilderness to civilization, and made it what it ought to be, a garden and paradise for the generations to follow. If the country is not the paradise anticipated, it surely is not the fault of the pioneer men and women, who emigrated far into the wild woods, encountered Indians, fought with wild beasts, lived in cabins on hard fare, felled the heavy trees, grubbed out the undergrowth, burned the debris, planted orchards and laid out gardens, and truly caused the wilderness to “bud and blossom as the rose.” But they are nearly all gone. There are those yet living, who were children and came out with pioneer fathers and mothers. But the men and women themselves---persons who were grown when they came here---have all passed to their final rest and eternal reward. Whatever is to be the future history of this county, and however interesting it may be, the time will never come again---certainly not for long ages---when men and women will leave old settled communities, and come here into a virgin wilderness to found new homes. This interesting period of history has closed. Tradition will soon begin to grow dim, and, without the aid of printing, the names, deeds, and 24

heroism of the pioneers would gradually fade from human view. But wherever this chapter of “The Good Old Days” is preserved and read by the fireside, and in the homes of present and coming generations, the dauntless, toiling pioneer men and women will be cherished and remembered, and the example of their noble deeds and precious sacrifices will not be lost upon the earth. 25