INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PUBLICATIONS
VOLUME II.
NUMBER 10.
"OLD SETTLERS"
BY
ROBERT B. DUNCAN.
During the month of January, 1879,
while convalescing from a long spell of sickness,
Robert B. Duncan wrote these four papers about the
"Old Settlers" of this section of Indiana; they were
written for the Indianapolis Herald, a weekly
paper, at the request of George Harding, who was
then its owner and editor, and appeared in the
issues of January 11th, 18th, 25th, and February
1st, 1879.
It was Mr. Duncan's intention to
write much more on this subject, but he neglected to
do so.
He still resides in this city, at
the advanced age of eighty-three, and has lived in
this vicinity since 1820.
It is at the request of the
Historical Society that I have gathered these papers
and furnished them for publication.
John R. Wilson,
Indianapolis, January, 1894.
Old Settlers' Papers. No. 1.
In the early spring of 1820, about the last days of
March, my father, with his family, settled--perhaps
the better expression would be "squatted," as all
newcomers were then called squatters--in an Indian
village, situated on the east bank of White river,
bordering a prairie of about three hundred acres,
situated about four mile south of the present town
of Noblesville, the whole of central Indiana being
then owned by the general government, unsurveyed,
mostly unoccupied, and, with very limited
exceptions, heavily timbered. The Indian village
above mentioned had been owned and was still
occupied by the Delawares (from which tribe the
government had but recently purchased a considerable
portion of central Indiana) and was the trade
station of the late William Conner and his partner,
William Marshall, both of whom understood and spoke
fluently the dialect of several tribes of the
Indians, then inhabiting portions of the state, who
made that their trading point. Hence, for a period
of nearly three years there was quite a number of
Indians in and about the village, mostly Delawares.
(I may say something more about these Indians in a
separate sketch.) About the time my father squatted
in the Indian village William Bush and family,
Charles Lacy and family, and a family whose name has
escaped my recollection, squatted near the village,
but on the opposite side of the river. Judge John
Finch (father of Judge F. M. Finch, of this city)
had in the previous November squatted on a trace of
land about two miles north at the village, also on
the opposite side of the river, with his family.
These five families, with Conner and Marshall above
mentioned, constituted all the white people then in
that part of the country, and with Robert Harding
and family, Samuel Harding and family, George Pogue
and family, James McIlvain and family, John
McCormick and family, Jeremiah J. Corbaley and
family, Jeremiah Johnson (Quaker) and David McCurdy
and family, who had, as early as April, 1820,
settled in what is now Marion county, mostly in or
near where the city now stands, constituted all the
white people within the territory now composing the
counties of Marion, Hamilton, Madison, Hancock,
Shelby, Johnson, Hendricks and Boone, so far as my
recollection now serves me.
The little prairie adjoining the Indian village in
which my father settled enabled him to enclose ten
acres of land, and to break up and plant the same in
corn, by which a good crop was raised the same year.
Bush and Lacy also availed themselves of the same
advantages and privileges and also raised corn the
same year. Judge Finch raised a crop of corn upon a
small prairie on the land upon which he settled.
The corn previously raised by Mr. Brown and a negro
called Bill Allen who had escaped from slavery in
Kentucky, and had been living amongst the Indians in
this village for a sufficient length of time to have
three Indian wives, furnished the several families
which I have above enumerated with breadstuff. There
being no mills to grind the corn into meal the
settlers substituted what was called lye-hominy, and
a kind of meal made by pounding the corn in what
were called "mortars." This was a very slow process,
and did not produce very good meal. To obviate this
Mr. Bush, who was a Vermonter, and who had brought
with him quite a variety of mechanical tools,
procured from White river some stones, out of which
he made two small mill stones, and then prepared the
necessary woodwork for putting the same in running
condition and fastened the mill up to a hackberry
tree on the west bank of the river, the motive power
being a long beam operated by horse power, a rawhide
rope being used for belting. This mill would produce
from two to two and a half bushels of good meal per
day, and answered an excellent purpose, not only
doing the necessary grinding for our neighborhood
but for the settlers of this section, who had to
come to our settlement to purchase corn. No toll was
charged at this mill. All that was required was that
each person should furnish his own horse. This was
the first mill built in the New Purchase.
In the fall of this year Judge Finch erected a horse
mill upon his land and inclosed [sic] it in a log
structure covered with clapboards, thus keeping the
machinery and operator out of the wet. This mill
would grind by diligent application ten bushels of
corn per day, and answered a valuable purpose until
the next year when Isaac Wilson built what was
called a corn cracker on Fall creek, near its mouth,
and a mill for grinding both wheat and corn was
built by Wm. Linton a short distance above the
Wilson mill, about where Indiana avenue crosses the
creek.
During the summer of 1820, the commissioners
appointed by the legislature to select the four
sections of land donated by the national government
to the state of Indiana for a permanent seat of
government of the state met at the trading station
of William Conner (the Indian village above
mentioned), as required by law, and from there
examined several points on White river--one at "The
Bluffs," now in Morgan county; one the site where
the location was finally made, and upon which the
city now stands; and another the farm then occupied
by Judge Finch which was afterwards, when put in
market, purchased by John Corwin, one of the
commissioners. My recollection is that site where
Noblesville is situated was never examined by the
commissioners. After a careful examination of the
several places named, the commissioners settled upon
the present location, having failed by one vote only
of locating at "The Bluffs." The land where te
determined to locate not yet having been surveyed,
the commissioners, being under the necessity of
waiting several days on the surveyors, returned to
the Indian village, where the whole subject was
fully and largely discussed and the reasons given
for the site selected and why the town should be on
the east side of the river rather than the west
side.
One reason for locating at this point was that it
was nearer the center of the state than either of
the other points, or any suitable point that could
be found. Another was that this point furnished the
best location for boat landing that could be found
at any point on the river within any reasonable
distance of the center of the state, and the east
side was better for that purpose than the west side,
and as a further reason, Fall creek was on the east
side, and was the stream upon which the mills should
be on the same side of the river. It was then
confidently believed by those wise men (I do not
make use of this term in derision for they were wise
men of their day), that White river would be made
navigable for boats of sufficient size to answer all
the commercial demands of the town, and the mills on
Fall creek would be sufficient for all milling
purposes,__steam for purposes of locomotion or
milling purposes being then unknown.
Those views, judging from a present stand-point,
appear so absurd that I have seldom spoken of them,
and when I have done so, I did it only as I do it
now, simply to illustrate the difference between
then and now.
The site for the permanent seat of the government
having been thus located, quite a number of persons
and families later in the same year located in and
near the town site, and still more the next year
(1821), during which year the town was laid out and
the first sale of lots made. In looking over a list
of some three hundred of the early settlers of
Indianapolis and its vicinity, and their
descendants, which I have in my possession, I find a
very few of those early settlers still remaining.
January 11, 1879. Robert B. Duncan.
In sketch No. 1
of these jottings I gave an
account of how the very early
settlers of this part of central
Indiana obtained the means of
living so far as they consisted
of bread and the kind of
material out of which it was
made. It may not be wholly
uninteresting to some of the
readers of the Herald to
learn how the bread was prepared
and cooked in those primitive
times. As a matter of course,
nearly all bread was made of
corn meal, prepared in the
manner stated in my former
sketch, but was not all of one
kind. First, there was what was
called the "dodger;" secondly,
the "pone,", and thirdly, the
"johnny cake." The "dodger" was
a kind of bread made of corn
meal mixed with pure water, with
a little sale in it, made into a
stiff dough, then rolled with
the hands of the good housewife,
or one that was to become such,
into a ball about the size of
your hand, put together into a
kind of oblong shape, and baked
in an iron bake-oven--a kind of
cooking utensil with which all
early settlers had provided
themselves, being in size about
the circumference of a
half-bushel measure, and in
depth about eight inches, with
an iron cover or lid, which
could be put on and taken off at
pleasure, and so constructed as
to hold quite a quantity of
coals upon its top. Coals
underneath and on top of this
oven, taken from a well-prepared
wood fire in an old fashioned
fire-place, with which all
cabins were provided,
constituted the heating power
with which this kind of baking
was done. "Pone" consisted of a
preparation of corn meal mixed
with water, with some milk or
cream, and a quantity of yeast,
prepared in some way known to
the cooks, made into a dough not
so stiff as that for the
"dodger," and placed in this
same oven, where, in a short
time it would become light, or
what was then so considered, and
was then baked in the same
manner as the "dodger," thus
making a loaf about six inches
in thickness, and of the full
internal dimensions of the
oven. The "johnny cake"
consisted of a dough made of
corn meal with some lard or
butter in it, about six inches
in width and one inch in
thickness, and placed upon a
board prepared for the purpose,
about two feet in length and
from eight to ten inches in
width, the baking being done by
locating this board lengthwise
before the open fire, so as to
present the full front of the
cake to the fire, and so near it
that the heat would, in a
reasonable time, thoroughly cook
that side of the cake, and
enable the cook to loosen the
cake from the board and turn the
other side to the fire, by which
means the cake would soon become
thoroughly cooked, thus
producing, as I have always
believed, the best bread ever
made out of corn. The pone was
considered the next best, but
the dodger, being the most
convenient and readily made, was
most used.
I do not wish
to be understood that these very
early settlers, or those that
soon followed and joined them,
lived by bread alone. Such was
far from the case. Meat, after
the kind, was quite plenty, and
no one, as far as my
recollection serves me, suffered
for want of meat of some kind.
The country was full of game,
such as deer, turkeys and
pheasants, all of which
constituted a very savory meat,
an were readily obtained by the
skilled riflemen, and nearly all
the male portion of the early
settlers, even down to quite
youthful lads, were skilled in
the use of that weapon. There
was also a sufficient supply of
hogs for the times,--some
brought with them by the
settlers, and some procured from
Indians, a few of whom followed
farming rather than the chase,
and hence had procured quite a
number of semi-tame hogs, which,
when joined to those brought by
the settlers, furnished an ample
supply of pork and a live stock
to start with. The woods in
every direction were pretty well
supplied with hogs which had
strayed away from the Indians,
and with their increase had
become thoroughly wild. These
hogs, both tame and wild, were
called elm-eaters, and were
peculiarly suited to the times
and condition of things where
they existed. They were
long-legged, long-bodied, had
extremely long heads and noses,
with short, straight up ears,
and would, at this age, present
a sorry picture at a show of
improved swine, but at the time
answered a valuable purpose.
The wild hogs could only be made
available during "mast" years,
which, although occurring
oftener then than now, did not
occur every year, by reason of
which many of these wild hogs
lived to become three and four
years old before they would
become sufficiently fat to make
it an object to hunt and kill
them.
They thus
became fleet of foot and very
savage, making their presence at
times extremely unpleasant and
dangerous to the hunter, who had
frequently to take to the
nearest available tree for
safety. During the non-mast
years these hogs lived upon
various kinds of roots they
found in the woods, which they
obtained by rooting with the
long noses above mentioned. The
principal root upon which they
thus subsisted, so far as my
recollection serves me, was the
sweet or slippery elm, of the
bark and fibrous roots of which
they (as are all hogs) were very
fond. Hence the name,
elm-eaters. There was no hog
cholera in those times, nor do I
recollect of any while the hogs
of the country had plenty of
woodland to range over--not in
even the modern improved
breeds.
While on a
hunting excursion during the
fall just past, in passing
through quite a large
wood-pasture I discovered the
bark of a large number of these
sweet elm trees peeled from the
ground up to the distance of
about two feet, the trees being
thus killed. I asked the owner,
with whom I was well acquainted,
what so peeled his trees; to
which he replied, his hogs. I
then asked him whether his hogs
had ever had the cholera, to
which he replied, never among
any that had been confined to
this woodland, although his
neighbor across the way, whose
hogs had no such range, had
frequently lost large numbers by
that disease. Query--Did the
elm bark have anything to do in
preventing the cholera from
visiting the hogs of the owner
of this piece of woodland?
To return to
the wild hogs: When fattened on
mast, particularly hickory and
beech, the meat was very oily
and sweet, would shrink largely
in cooking, and, owing to its
oily nature, would not make
bacon to advantage. This meat,
however, answered a valuable
purpose in its time. The
capture of these wild hogs,
although attended with some
danger, offered to the sportsman
of that day a considerable
amount of real enjoyment which
the present generation of
sportsmen can never appreciate
or enjoy.
Fish, which
abounded in great numbers, and
of the very best kind, such as
bass, salmon, pike, buffalo,
redhorse, etc., in White river
and all its tributary streams,
and were easily captured at all
seasons of the year, entered as
largely as was desired into the
food of the settlers.
Potatoes were raised
the first year of the settlement
in considerable quantities and
of the very best quality, the
new soil being better adapted to
their growth and perfection than
that in long use. This valuable
article soon entered and formed
a part of the food supply.
Owing to the
rich and wild nature of the
soil, wheat could not be grown
to advantage for several years,
hence all flour used had to be
brought from abroad, mostly from
the Whitewater country, and was
consequently very expensive--so
much so that but little was
used. When used it was
considered a great luxury. It
may not be wholly out of place
here to briefly describe the
manner and by what means the
cooking of the food, other than
bread, was done in those early
times. It was done somewhat in
this wise: For the purpose of
boiling, a stiff bar or rod on
ironwood (when iron could not be
had) was placed in the chimney
lengthwise across the
fire-place, the end resting upon
the outer walls, about midway
from front to rear, upon which
were placed several hooks made
of small iron rods, or of wood
when iron could not be obtained,
and of different lengths, the
whole being of sufficient height
that the pots, or stew kettles,
as they were sometimes called,
when hung upon these hooks would
swing free of the fire
underneath; in these pots or
kettles were all boiled victuals
cooked. For the purpose of
roasting meats a strong wooden
pin was placed in the inner wall
of the house immediately over
the middle of the large open
fire-place. The turkey or
venison saddle (both of which
were largely used), or other
meat to be roasted, was fastened
to the end of a small cord (wire
when it could be had), of
sufficient length, so that when
the other end was fastened to
the pin in the wall the meat to
be roasted would hang suspended
immediately in front of the
fire, and so near that the heat
would soon cook the part near
the fire, and by occasional
turnings the whole would soon
become well cooked--a pan or
dish of some kind being always
underneath to receive the
dropping grease or oil.
As an evidence
of the great abundance of wild
game in this section of the
country at that early day, and
the easy manner of capturing the
same, it is only necessary for
me to state that Robert Harding,
one of the very early settlers
named in my former sketch,
during the summer of the year
1820, on one occasion pushed his
canoe containing his hunting
material from the mouth of Fall
creek (near which he was living)
up the river to a point about
the fourth of a mile below where
the bridge across White river on
the Michigan road is situated,
being about five miles north of
Fall creek, from which point he
started homeward about 10
o'clock, P. M., and on his way
home killed nine deer, all
bucks, having determined that
night to kill nothing but
bucks. On another occasion,
during the fall of the same
year, he and his brother
Eliakim, who had by this time
joined him, at a point near
where the pork-houses of Kingan
and Ferguson now stand, killed
thirty-seven turkeys out of one
flock, Robert killing
twenty-five and Eliakim twelve.
This kind of slaughter was not
frequent, but the killing of
three or four deer, a half dozen
to a dozen turkeys and fifteen
or twenty pheasants by a single
person in a single day or night
hunt (deer being mostly killed
in the night-time) was not
unfrequent [sic].
It will thus be
seen that the early settlers
were very far from a state of
starvation--that, on the
contrary, they had a sufficient
supply of good, substantial,
wholesome food--a considerable
portion of the meat used by them
being such as would now, if it
could be had, be considered a
great luxury.
Robert B. Duncan.
January 18,
1879.
|
In the
two
preceding
numbers of
these
sketches I
gave a brief
account of
what the
food supply
of the early
settlers of
this part of
central
Indiana
consisted,
and the
manner in
which it was
prepared for
use, etc.
In this
number I
shall
attempt to
show how and
wherewith
these early
settlers
were clothed
during the
first few
years.
Anticipating
some
difficulty
and
inconvenience
upon that
subject, the
settlers
brought with
them such a
supply of
substantial
clothing, or
the material
out of which
to make the
same, as
their
pecuniary
circumstances
seemed to
justify,
being in
quantity and
quality what
was
considered
sufficient
for one
year's
supply, and
suited to
the changes
of the
seasons.
Next to a
food supply,
the industry
of the
settlers was
directed to
the
production
of the
material out
of which the
future
supply of
clothing was
to be
manufactured;
hence, at a
very early
period, and
as soon as
sufficient
land could
be cleared,
inclosed
[sic] and
made ready
for the
seed, near
every
farm-house
could be
seen a
growing flax
patch. This
flax, when
fully grown,
was pulled
and spread
upon the
same ground
to rot,
which
process was
soon
accomplished
by the
dampness
occasioned
by the rains
and the
nightly
dews. When
sufficiently
rotted that
the woody
fiber could
be readily
broken and
separated
from the
lint fiber,
the whole
was gathered
up, and,
after being
dried, was,
by the hands
of the
stronger of
the male
portion of
the family,
broken by
the use of a
kind of
improvised
machine
called a
"flax-brake,"
whereby the
woody fibers
would become
thoroughly
broken and
mostly
removed from
the lint
fiber, the
remainder
being
removed, by
the whole
lint fabric
undergoing a
process
called
"skutching,"
the lint at
the same
time
undergoing a
softening
process,
preparing it
for the hand
of the
spinstress.
By the
process of
what was
called
"hacking,"
in vogue in
those times,
the tow was
separated
from the
thread
fiber, and
by the use
of the
spinning
wheel (the
little
wheel), in
the handling
of which the
mothers and
all
daughters of
sufficient
age were
skilled, the
flax was
made into a
fine, strong
thread,
capped warp,
and the tow
into a
coarser
thread, used
as
"filling."
When thus
prepared, by
the used of
a hand-loom,
it was woven
into a
fabric
called
tow-linen.
This was
used for
summer wear
to a
considerable
extent by
both
sexes--that
by the
females
being
generally
colored to
suit the
taste of the
wearer; that
worn by the
males was
left
uncolored.
As a
means of
providing
for winter
apparel, all
settlers
that could
do so
provided
themselves
with a few
sheep, from
which they
procured
wool; and
those who
could not
procure
sheep
managed to
purchase
wool, which
the good
mothers and
daughters
manufactured
into rolls
by the aid
of a pair of
hand-cards
particularly
provided for
the purpose
and owned by
most
families.
These rolls
were soon
spun into
yarn by the
same hands
on what was
called the
"big wheel,"
making
"filling"
(sometimes
used for
knitting
stockings),
and when
mixed with
linen warp
and woven,
made an
article
called
"linsey
woolsey,"
which, when
suitably
colored,
made a
strong,
warm, and
rather
handsome
article of
female
apparel, and
was
considerably
used. This
same woolen
yarn, when
woven in
connection
with cotton
warp, made
what was
called
"jeans," and
was used by
the males,
mostly the
older class,
and was
generally
colored,
oftener
butternut
than blue.
Some cotton
goods, such
as cambrics,
muslins, and
such, were
appropriately
used by both
sexes, but
owing to
their
scarcity and
consequent
high price,
their use
was quite
limited.
The outer
apparel of
the male
population,
particularly
the younger
and more
active, soon
became
buckskin.
This
material was
frequently
procured
already
tanned by
purchase
from the
Indians, but
more
frequently
by the party
killing the
deer,
dressing and
tanning the
skin
himself, and
thus making
it ready for
the tailor.
Usually the
only
articles of
clothing
made of this
material
were
pantaloons
and coats,
called in
these times
"hunting
shirts,"
being much
in the shape
and style,
barring the
neat fit, of
the sack
coat so much
in use among
the
gentlemen of
the present
time.
There
being no
professional
tailors in
the
beginning of
the
settlement,
and for some
considerable
time after,
and this
material
being rather
difficult
for the
seamstresses
to handle,
the thread
used in its
manufacture
being the
sinews taken
from the
legs of the
deer or a
thread
called
"whang,"
prepared by
cutting a
long strip
as small as
possible, so
as not to
make it too
weak for the
purpose
intended, a
large needle
and a
shoemaker's
awl being
used in the
sewing
process,
each person,
old or
young,
having a
sufficient
skill, was
under the
necessity of
making his
own clothes.
This was
generally
done in a
strong,
substantial
manner, and
when
skillfully
performed
presented a
very genteel
appearance.
When not
so prepared
it is not
necessary
for me here
and at this
late day to
say more on
the subject
of
appearance.
It was
soon found
that this
buckskin
apparel was
the very
best that
could have
been devised
for the
country and
times. It
resisted the
sting of the
nettles, the
scratch of
the briers,
the bite of
the
rattlesnake,
and the
penetration
of the cold,
bleak winds
of winter,
and at that
time was
cheap and
within the
reach of
all.
This
kind of
clothing, as
in fact all
other, was
made quite
large so
that the
wearer would
feel free
and easy in
its use.
The
consequence
of this was
that at
times in
right cold
weather the
wearer would
stand so
close to the
large log
fire that,
without
being
conscious of
it, his
pants would
get so hot
that when
suddenly
pressed to
his person
by a
mischievous
associate,
the warmth
would cause
him to leap
clear across
the room
under the
impression
that the
great log
fire had
fallen upon
him.
Another
peculiarity
attached to
this kind of
pantaloons
was that
when wet,
and allowed
to dry
without
constant
rubbing,
they became
quite hard
and remained
in the shape
last left,
and could
not again be
used until
made soft by
dampening.
Indiana-made
moccasins,
which were
abundant and
cheap, were
much worn by
both sexes
(particularly
the younger
and more
active
class) in
dry weather
both winter
and summer,
being very
comfortable
and pleasant
to the feet
and
presenting a
rather neat
appearance.
For wet
weather
strong, well
made leather
shoes were
used. Bare
feet were
quite as
seldom seen
then as
now. The
head-dress
for the male
population
for winter
use
consisted
mostly of a
strong, well
made wool
hate with a
low, broad
brim
something in
the style of
the hat in
use by the
elder of the
Quakers at
this time.
A rather
unsightly
but very
warm kind of
fur cap was
used by
some, made
out of a
well
prepared
coon skin.
For summer
wear, a
rather rough
homemade
straw hat
was made out
of the straw
of rye,
which was
considerably
grown for
that
purpose--the
hat being
very much in
appearance
and style of
similar hats
now in use.
The female
head-dress
consisted in
part of a
straw bonnet
made of the
same kind of
straw and in
part of a
sunbonnet
generally
made out of
some kind of
fancy
colored
calico
worked over
a stiff
pasteboard;
both straw
and
sunbonnets
being of a
style then
in use, and
of such
shape and
construction
as to
protect both
the face and
neck from
the hot rays
of the
summer sun
and the cold
blasts of
the winter
winds.
Doubtless
some other
and more
fancy kinds
of
head-dresses
were
procured
from the
merchants.
But as
nearly three
score years
have passed
since that
time, and as
my youthful
observations
may have
been, and
doubtless
were, more
closely
directed to
the goodly
features and
bright eyes
of the fair
wearers than
to the
particular
style of the
head-dress,
I do not
feel
competent
nor do I
consider it
m duty at
this late
day to more
particularly
describe the
style of
head-dress
then in
use.
Suffice it
to say that
it was
sufficient
to so
protect the
wearers that
eye-glasses
were not
necessary,
nor were
they used by
young
ladies,
either for
the
protection
or
concealment
of their
eyes; nor
was the use
of starch
necessary to
give the
countenance
a light and
fair
appearance.
While
there was
very little
money in
circulation
among the
settlers,
there was a
valuable
substitute
to those who
availed
themselves
of it,
consisting
of the fur
skins of the
raccoon and
muskrat and
the skin of
the deer,
all of which
animals were
quite
plenty. A
good deer
skin taken
in its
season was
worth fifty
cents; that
of a raccoon
thirty-seven
and a half
cents, and
that of the
muskrat
twenty-five
cents, in
trade---the
proper
season for
taking the
deer with a
view to the
value of the
skin being
from about
May 1st to
the middle
of November;
that of the
raccoon and
muskrat from
December 1st
to April
1st. There
was,
therefore,
but a very
small
portion of
the year
that the
skilled
hunter and
trapper
could not in
that way and
without any
considerable
loss of time
procure
means by
which to
furnish
himself and
his family,
if he had
one, with
such
articles of
merchandise
as were
necessary
and as the
stores of
that early
day could
furnish.
All seemed
to have had
enough, when
properly
used, to
answer
reasonable
wants.
The
fashion for
ladies'
dresses in
those
primitive
times was
plain, neat,
and of such
easy,
genteel fit
as to allow
the free use
of all
muscles and
limbs of the
wearer.
There were
no such
distorting
and
torturing
fashions
then as we
see at the
present
time, in
which the
wearer of
what is
called a
fashionable
dress is
compelled to
appear upon
the streets
and
highways; a
dress which
is in any
shape but
the proper
one, and in
which the
powers of
locomotion
and physical
action of
the fair
wearer are
greatly
abridged and
restrained
with a train
(more
properly
speaking a
mop)
attached,
and
unavoidably
collecting
the filth of
the streets
and
highways,
and produced
at a cost
which, if
properly
made with a
view to
neatness and
economy,
would have
furnished
two dresses
of the same
material at
the cost of
one. False
fashions too
often make
hard times.
A
semi-return
to the
fashions and
habits of
industry and
economy, of
the
descendants
of the early
settlers of
this our
goodly land
might prove
both wise
and
beneficial
at this age
and time.
Robert B.
Duncan.
January 25,
1879.
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As there were
no re-emption laws in existence
when the settlement of central
Indiana commenced, nor when the
lands were brought into market
and sold, the permanent
settlement and improvement can
hardly be said to have commenced
until the completion of the
survey and the lands had been
offered for sale at public
auction, and when such as
remained unsold were subject to
private entry, which did not
take place until the fall of
1821, although prior to that
time quite a number of families
had settled (squatted) upon
certain tracts of land, built
cabins, and cleared up a number
of acres upon which they had
raised or were raising corn,
vegetables, etc., for family
use, trusting to Providence and
the mutual understanding among
the settlers that the occupant
should have the first right and
chance to purchase the tract so
occupied and improved. In most
instances the occupant got the
land occupied; but occasionally
an ungodly sinner, with more
money than the settler, who did
not expect to become a citizen
and occupant of the land, but
purchased purely for
speculation, would out-bid the
occupant and take from him both
land and improvements.
This was not
the safest way in which
speculation could be made, and
not much of it was done. Yet
the uncertainty thus caused
prevented any more improvements
from being made than were
absolutely necessary for the
shelter and subsistence of the
settler and his family until he
knew whose land he was
improving. There were no
tramps, "vags," or persons of
evil repute in the country at
that early date. The dependence
upon each other caused
differences of education and
station to disappear, and almost
absolute social equality
prevailed; hence every person
felt that he or she was the
social equal of every other
person, each being ready and
willing at all times to assist
others to the extent of his or
her power, the latch-string
always hanging out.
The first
business of the settler, after
making his location, was to cut
off and remove all the large
timber from a few acres upon
which his cabin was to be
built. Cabins in those early
times were built entirely of
round logs, from eight to ten
inches in diameter, and of
lengths to suit the builder, and
were covered with clapboards.
Where the family was large,
cabins were in size about
eighteen by twenty-five feet,
one nine-foot story, with a
rather low garret bed-room
above; where the family was
small, the building was
generally about eighteen feet
square, with garret-room.
Cabins generally had but one
door and one window, but
occasionally the larger sized
had two of each. The chimney
and fire-place were always on
the outside of the house, thus
allowing the full internal
dimensions for the use of the
family. The material being made
ready and placed on the ground
where the building was to be
erected, a day was fixed for the
"raising." To this all the
settlers for several miles
around were invited and
attended, it being understood
that all were needed. There was
no shirking: "Help me and I
will help you;" "Refuse to help
me and you are no neighbor, and
you might as well leave." On
the day thus appointed the cabin
was generally raised and put
under roof. Cutting out places
for doors, windows and
fire-place, putting in the doors
and windows, building the
fire-place and stick chimney,
laying the puncheon floors,
chinking and daubing up the
cracks between the logs, were
done by the owner at his
pleasure.
Log barns and
out-houses were added as soon as
it could be done without too
much of a drain upon the
industry of the neighbors.
These log cabins were very plain
structures, but were such as
early settlers could possess
themselves of, and when properly
constructed, made a strong and
tolerably comfortable place to
live in, much warmer and more
substantial than many of the
frame houses of the present
time. Into these humble
dwellings did the settlers and
their families enter, and for
many years live, more contented
and happy, doubtless, than many
now living in elegant and costly
stone fronts.
The next thing
in order in the clearing process
was to deaden the timber upon a
number of acres of the land to
be improved, and then as far as
possible to clear up and put
into cultivation as many acres
each year as possible, this
additional clearing being
generally done by grubbing out
all underbrush and cutting down
all timber having a diameter of
eighteen inches at a height of
two feet from the ground, and
all of a less size, all brush
being burned, and the logs cut
into suitable lengths for
heaping and burning. Generally
several acres on each farm were
thus prepared during the
winter. When thus prepared, a
"log-rolling" was provided for
and a day fixed to which all the
neighbors were invited.
Sometimes the good wife would
have connected with the
"log-rolling" a "bed-quilting,"
to which all the women folk were
invited and attended. This was
frequently the occasion of much
merriment and real enjoyment,
winding up with a jolly dance,
commonly called a "hoe-down."
Thus from time to time for
several years as new settlers
would come in and purchase
pieces of heavily timbered land,
went on this routine of house
raisings, log-rollings,
quiltings and dances.
Corn husking,
coupled with quiltings, and
winding up with dances, soon
became an additional means of
calling the settlers of both
sexes together, particularly the
younger.
This part of
the country being so far
interior and approached only
through the wilderness without
roads, the early settlers were
only able to bring with them
such articles of furniture as
they could not get along well
without, and such as were light
and not easily broken by the
rough usage to which they would
necessarily be subjected. Hence
the household and kitchen
furniture generally consisted of
a reasonably supply of plain,
substantial articles, embracing
one or more feather beds, with
the requisite bedding, a
substantial set of pewter wear,
etc. The greatest deficiency
was in bedsteads, tables and
chairs, there being no cabinet
makers in the country, and no
prepared material for them to
work on had there been any. The
first settlers were under the
necessity of procuring these
articles, or rather substitutes,
for themselves, which they did
in about this wise: For
bedsteads, an oak tree that
would split well was selected,
cut down, and a log about eight
feet long taken from the butt
and split into such pieces as
could be readily shaped into
posts and rails. Another log
not so long was split into such
pieces as, with slight dressing,
made slats. Holes were bored
with a tolerably large auger in
suitable places in the posts for
inserting the rails; two rails
were used for each side, and
about three for each end, the
end rails answering for head and
foot boards. Like auger holes
were made in the lower side
rails and slats in the holes
prepared for each, thus making a
rough but strong high-post
bedstead, the posts at the top
being tightly held together by
rods prepared for the purpose,
upon which curtains were to be
hung. Thus was created a
bedstead. Generally two of
these were used in each of the
larger sized cabins, place in
the rear end of the cabin, so as
to stand lengthwise with the end
wall feet to feet, with a space
of several feet between beds.
Curtains made of fancy colored
calico were always hung upon
these bedsteads, hiding from
external view the deformities of
the bedstead, presenting a
rather neat appearance and
making the beds quite private.
Usually the old folks occupied
one and the girls the other of
these beds. For the boys and
young men sleeping places were
provided upstairs upon beds on
the floor, there not being
sufficient space between the
floor and roof for bedsteads.
A rough kind of
cupboard was provided in all
cabins by boring auger holes and
driving strong wood pins in the
logs in the most convenient
corner and in such position that
when boards (clapboards, in the
beginning), were placed upon
them would furnish a rather
convenient but not very sightly
place upon which to put the
dishes. Being always open to
view, the tendency was to
cleanliness. For tables, a
large tree was cut down, and a
log, the length desired for the
table, was cut off and split
into pieces (slabs) as thin as
possible. These slabs were
generally two feet in width and
six feet in length; when dressed
and made as thin and smooth as
possible two were put together
with strong cross pieces tightly
pinned with wood pins, the whole
st upon four strong legs, thus
making a strong but rough table
four feet in width and six feet
in length, the size of the table
being governed by the size of
the family. For seats benches
were made of the same material
as the table, about fifteen
inches wide, some the full
length of the tables, others not
longer than two feet each,
standing upon four strong wood
legs; these were provided in
such numbers as were desired.
This rough
furniture necessarily continued
in use until saw mills came into
existence and cabinet makers and
chair makers made their
appearance in the land. Then
the bedstead gave way to those
of better style and finish, but
the curtains were retained; the
rough tables gave way to those
more elegant and convenient made
by skilled workmen, and the
benches and stools gave place to
the current chair. Several
years were required to bring
about this change.
The system of settlement and
improvement thus commenced was
continued with such changes as
increased numbers and wealth
from time to time made proper
and necessary until the spot
which in the beginning was a
unoccupied and dense wilderness
became the beautiful railroad
city, with a population
numbering one hundred thousand.
The surrounding country having
been opened up became a land of
great plenty and beauty.
Much has been spoken and
written about the sickly
character of this country at the
commencement of the settlement
and for many years after, much
of the alleged sickness being
attributed to the log cabins in
which families had to live,
cook, eat and sleep in the same
room, much more than was
warranted or justified by the
facts. On account of the
malaria created by the decaying
timber caused by clearing up the
country, the annual decay of the
rank growth of wild vegetation,
turning up and exposing to the
hot sun the new soil, and the
undrained condition of the
country, there was unavoidably
some sickness of a malarial
character here in early times,
as there has been and will
continue to be in all new
countries having a rich and
productive soil, as this had;
but the amount was not half as
great as charged, nor was the
fact that whole families lived,
cooked, ate and slept, summer
and winter, in the cabin with
one room below and a garret
bedroom above, the cause of the
sickness, when sickness did
exist. The fact that the
settlers, by reason of their
scant house room, were
constantly brought into contact
with the purified atmosphere
created by the heat of the fire
necessarily used, protected them
from the malarial diseases so
much complained of. The facts
were that in those early times
numbers of persons and families
came to this new country from
older states and thickly settled
neighborhoods where they had
neighbors and associates and
plenty of them, and who from
habits of life were not suited
to the changed condition in
which they were placed by the
removal. As a consequence they
became disappointed,
dissatisfied, and were seized
with a constant desire to return
to the country and place from
which they came; in other words
they became "homesick." No
little of the alleged sickness
consisted purely of this
homesickness, and readily
disappeared when the afflicted
got back to the happy land from
which they had so unwisely
emigrated. Occasionally these
unfortunates fretted and worried
themselves into a real spell of
sickness. As might have been
expected, there was some
sickness in those early times,
which, as I have always
believed, was greatly aggravated
by the ignorance of some of the
earlier doctors. The physicians
who first came amongst us seemed
to be wholly ignorant of the
malarial diseases peculiar to
the country. They generally
provided themselves with a
goodly supply of hte largest and
most approved lancets and
unmeasured quantities of English
calomel. With these evidences
of medical skill, a flaming
sign, painted on a clapboard,
was hung out, and as opportunity
offered these men of science and
great medical skill went forth
first to take from the
unfortunate patient all the
blood that could be extracted
from his veins without killing
on the spot, then was dosed out
calomel enough to kill the
largest sized gorilla, which the
patient was required to take in
doses indicated. He was to be
kept confined in a close room so
that not a breath of pure, cool
air could fan his cheeks or kiss
his lips, and was to have
neither meat nor drink, warm
water alone excepted. This
practice, while it lasted,
greatly aggravated disease. It
killed quick but cured slow. It
was far less skillful than that
practiced by the Indian
doctors. Happily this ignorance
was not winked at and soon gave
way to a more intelligent and
health restoring system, not,
however, until some of those
practicing it had justly
subjected themselves to the
soubriquet of "Death on the Pale
Horse."
Not quite three score years
have passed since the settlement
of this part of central Indiana
commenced. Yet all those who
settled as early as the spring
of 1820, and who at the time of
settlement had attained the age
of manhood and womanhood, have
passed from earth. A few of
their children who at the time
of settlement had not in point
of age attained their teens,
still remain living witnesses of
the great changes which have
taken place since that time.
The fingers upon the good right
hand would be sufficient to
number them all. As to these
also will soon be verified the
truth of the words of the
Psalmist, when he said: "For
man his days are as grass. As a
flower of the field, so he
flourisheth; for the wind
passeth over it, and it is gone;
and the place thereof shall know
it no more."
Robert B. Duncan.
February 1, 1879.
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