THE PIONEER'S LIFE (THE LIFE OF THE PIONEER) by Carl E. Evans August 2005 Pioneer life was a hard life with little or no conveniences. They had to make clothes and other useful things from what they had at hand, traded for, or grew it. Every generation grew up with a few more conveniences than the previous generation did. Everyone had to make do with what they had, and they reared families with those basic needs and beliefs. Those basic beliefs were instilled in their children from the time they could walk and passed down through generations. There was no place in the pioneer home for those who lagged at work due to laziness. Many times, daddy's belt or momma's switch was a good persuasive tool. Discipline was not lax in the pioneer home. The work was shared by all of those who lived and dined in the home. However, a home without discipline is a home of spoiled brats and no one wants to interact with them very much. The chores were many and varied: washing several days used dirty clothes in a stream or a cast iron washpot or kettle and then rubbing the stains out on a corrugated rub board, heating water over a smoking wood fire, plowing the fields with homemade tools and when no horse or mule was owned-- even being pulled by the man or woman, cooking basic food over smoking wood fires with ashes and sometimes bugs getting in some of the food, cutting wood with a worn but sharpened axe, hoeing the weeds out of the vegetable gardens, and many other varied things. But, through it all, they persevered and by doing so taught their children to persevere through boring chores and circumstances of life. They learned to lean on each other and especially the great Creator God who came to them in the Savior Jesus Christ. They would never even consider that they could get by without HIS many mercies or benefits and never would they deny HIM when they went through some troubling times. There were always a few who did not follow HIM, but they would  never dare to deny HIS existence. Successful farming was dependent on good weather conditions with the right amout of rain and sunshine to grow the crops. The Bible reads that the rain will fall upon the just and unjust and the pioneers believed it and all prayed for a good growing season and climate whether they were followers or not.  It was a time for all people to help out each other for they knew there would be a time when they themselves would need help. Everyone from miles around would arrive to help when a neighbor was ailing-to plow the crops, raise a cabin, celebrate a wedding, help with birthings, and help comfort a family in the loss of a loved one and to bury them. HOUSING The houses that the pioneers lived in were made of native materials and hard labor. For most people, houses were made out of logs hewn from the pine or hardwood trees in the area. The trees had to be the right length and girth to be cut to fit with the rest of the logs. Good strong stones or solid heart pine blocks would be set up at each corner of the building and in between these corners to stabilize and to level the house. Each log was debarked and notched-most times about  half way through so the next log would rest in the notch of the bottom log, leaving a small gap between each log to be chinked with mud and straw so as to keep the cold winds from entering the cabin.  The cabins usually began with 2 rooms which would give the family enough room to live in for the time being. Then a lean-to would be added on later when there was more time to do the work. Then, they would build another 2 room cabin and build a roof to cover the open area between the 2 cabins. This would be called a double-pin house with a "dog trot" open area between the two. This area allowed the breeze to blow through and allow people to relax and visit. Many times in summer, everyone would sleep on pallets in the cool open area. Dogs would be able to rest and sleep in this open area too. Other cabins were built in a complete pattern with several rooms under one roof. Porches were always built to provide a shady and cool spot to sit a spell and visit with neighbors. Houses in other parts of the nation would consist of building with adobe, stone, and other sources as long as it could be a livable shelter. On the topmost log, they would place split logs to separate the house from the roof and thereby forming an "attic" or loft. These attics (lofts) would be used for drying and storing certain vegetables, and also be used as an extra sleeping area for mostly children. The split logs would also be used to make furniture, shelves, chairs or stools and other necessities.  The roof of the cabin consisted of rafters-a small diameter but strong pine sapling or some other tree-like cedar. Each rafter was peeled of the bark and let dry a few days even a week or two. Rafters would rest on the top log of the cabin and the peak log. The peak log was larger than the rafters but smaller than the cabin logs. It would rest on the split support logs that were seated-nailed if they had nails or used hewn wooden pegs to hold them in place. The support log determined how big the attic would be and how high the roof would be. Slats would be placed across the rafters and the shingles would be placed on top of the slats or peeled and split poles. Shingles were overlapping, with the thicker end at the top and the thinner end at the bottom, resting on the bottom row. A second layer of shingles would be placed over the first layer to cover the seams between.  The roof was made with shingles, mostly of cypress, but when it was not locally found, cedar and oak shingles were used. The shingles were made by using a froe-a thin metal tool flat on both sides but with one side sharpened. They would take a block of wood and trim the sides so it was square and then split it into thin (about 1-2 inches thick) slats and let them dry before use. Several days later, the dry shingles would be laid on top of each other, beginning at the lower part of the roof which is the eaves, and moving upward to the roof peak. Unbelievably, they would repel the rain from coming through the roof. There was always caution when the fireplace or wood stove was in use so as to keep sparks from landing on the dried shingles. The shingles would be attached by hewn wooden pegs ("nails") or by metal nails when available. At each end of the house would be a fireplace chimney made of stone and mortar or mud and straw. The chimney had to be built just right so the fire would be able to draw--pull the smoke up the chimney but not the heat from the rooms. THE WOMENFOLKS To say the least, the women were used to hard work and it began to show on them in their early years. A thirty year old woman could look like she was 20 years older. Their hands were rough and sometimes red from the lye soap used in washing clothes, dishes, and bathing. Sometimes, they would add a fragrance into the soap while making it to make it smell better for bathing. If there were no working age children in the household, the women had to help in the fields, working alongside their husbands. They also had "their own" work in the home to do. Most times, the house cleaning was neglected so as to get more work done in the fields. Manytimes, the women were lucky to get 5 hours of rest each night before they started their work. They would get up about 2 hours before the children so as to kill a couple of chickens or go to the smokehouse for smoked meat and prepare it along with pans of biscuits, eggs, syrup, and gravy. This would be the time for the husband and wife to have a quiet time for themselves and share in a cup of coffee if they had it. After the meal, dishes would be washed and the dinner (noon) meal would be getting ready to be cooked later. It was a hard life especially for the pioneer women. Life expectancy was shorter than for the city women. Doctoring consisted mostly of home remedies, and at birthings, the only help for the woman was neighbor women or mid-wives. Sometimes the women died, possibly leaving a newborn to care for. In such cases as this, the man would be remarried as soon as possible so as to have a woman to do the housework and tend to the children. Many of these marriages would consist of more children fom the previous marriage to live under the same roof. In between the work and sleeping time, the women and girls would be working on quilts, making and sewing up clothes, and making rugs out of rags to cover the cold wood floors and many other things. They believed that too much idleness was the devil's workshop. The girls always could make their own toys consisting of dolls made from corn cobs or some extra cloth that could be arranged to resemble dolls. DAILY ROUTINE They would rise from their rough beds before the daylight appeared, put on their several days worn rough clothes, go to the barn or shed and milk the cow or cows who had been separated from their calves overnight and after milking allow the calves to nurse the rest of the milk, take it to the house and strain the trash and other impurities from the milk and usually put it in a can or jug and cool it in a spring or dug well or a dugout hole, feed the chickens a little  homegrown corn and let them forage the rest of the day for food. They would eat the simple breakfast that had been prepared by the women, usually consisting of homegrown or bought flour for biscuits or most likely corn bread made from their own corn which had been ground beforehand at a nearby mill, along with some homemade syrup, eggs, and bacon or ham that they had raised and smoked. Then, they would go to the fields and work the crops-chopping weeds and plowing until just before noon when the women would give the signal for the noon dinner meal. They would never go to the table without washing the dirt from their hands and face and dusting the dirt from their clothes. The noon meal usually consisted of soups, stews, or just cornbread flapjacks with lots of butter,syrup, milk and some pork meat of some kind-bacon or fry meat. After the meal was eaten, and dishes were cleaned, all would retire to a shady spot and take a quick nap or find odd jobs to do, then return to the fields and work until an hour or two before dark to do the evening chores such as bringing in wood for the fireplace/stove, milking the cows again and separating the calves after they were finished nursing, shutting up the chickens so the varmits wouldn't get them in the night, gather the eggs, and eat their supper meal, and when all was finished and it was too dark to do anything else, would retire to a porch if they had one and enjoy the coolness of the evening sharing with the rest of the family until time to go to bed. The only light in the house was a homemade candle, coal oil lamp, and the fireplace. Usually, clothes were washed on Saturdays and baths were taken in the used wash water that had been setting in the sun most of the day. The water would be really dirty after all had bathed. Baths were taken during the week too, especially if they had worked in the field, but sometimes they just took birdbaths. On Sunday, they would go to the nearest church, usually by walking or riding horses or in a wagon if they had one, and fellowship with others while talking about the weather and crops, etc., and worshipping the Lord. The same daily routine was followed except on Sunday, when there were no working in the fields. There was more resting on Sunday so they would all be ready for work the next six days. In later years, due to the mobility of automobiles, Saturday was the day when the family would load up in the pickup and go to town to get necessities that they did not or could not grow, and to see the sights and meet friends. It was always the highlight of the week, even if it took an hour or more to travel 20 miles to get to town on a rough and rutted dirt road. FOOD The simple food was grown on the farm, and in that way, they would  eat what they had sweated for. Breakfast usually consisted of biscuits or corn bread along with homemade syrup and pork, eggs, flour gravy, and milk. Coffee was a luxury for most people, unless it was made from something else parched to the right color. Dinner usually consisted of plenty of vegetables and some meat along with biscuits and/or cornbread followed by milk. Supper was basically a repeat of dinner - leftovers along with something extra prepared. During the summer, they canned their vegetables, etc. in cases and cases of Mason Jars. After the crops were "laid by", the men and boys would go to the woods and find good oak, ash, and hickory trees to cut with a axe and crosscut saw and split it for the fireplace, smokehouse, or stove. Sometimes, some of the wood would be stacked in the woods to season until they needed it. The rest of the wood was hauled by a slide or wagon to the homeplace and stacked off the ground so it could season. In the Fall, there was harvesting of the crops of corn, beans, peas, peanuts, and the saving and sorting of seeds for the next years crops. It was also the time when hogs were caught with the aid of good hog dogs and penned up to be fattened for cold weather hog killing. During the easier days when no crops were plowed, the odds and ends of mending that had been put off were tended to. There were always a garden throughout the year, even if it was only some greens. Plows were sharpened or repaired by a neighbor blacksmith, and axes and hoes along with other things were prepared for the next needed time. During this time, the family would load up the wagon and go into the woods to gather pine for kindling and trees were cut and split to make rails to fence the animals out of the cropland. In later or more successful years, some of the pine that was good enough for posts were piled up off the ground to season and used for fence posts when fence wire could be afforded. Split rails were to be seen up until the 1950's, when people were a little better off with jobs. After the 50's, people started using fence wire and barbed wire to fence their fields and gardens and yards. There was a fun time when in late summer or early fall, the family would gather wild grapes, muscadines, and huckleberrys to make into jellies and jams and placed in Mason jars. Blackberries were picked along about June and dewberries were picked about April and processed. In late fall, children would go to the woods and pick up nuts such as hickory nuts and pecans. Hunting in the fall consisted of squirrels,  rabbits, coons, and deer to add something new to the regular diet. In the winter's first long cold spell, the big old washpot was set up, filled with water and fired with good hardwood and plenty of pine knots to keep the water boiling hot. A 50 gallon metal barrel was set in place with the open end slanted up and was filled with boiling water for scalding the hog to loosen the hair. The hog had already been killed and bled and was waiting for the boiling water to be ready and placed in the barrel for scalding. After the scalding to loosen the hair, the hog was placed on a table or boards set up on sawhorses and the scraping of the hair was done. Then the hog was disemboweled and the inner parts were dumped in a washtub for later processing. The hog was cut up in sections: head, shoulders, hams, and middlings and salted away in a wooden box/boxes prepared and waiting. Salt was added to each layer of meat and then covered the top layer and sealed up. After a time, the meat would be taken out and washed in hot water and hung in the smokehouse to be smoked by a continuous small smoking fire to finish the "curing" process. The other parts of the hog: heart, liver, lites (lungs), and usuable intestines were prepared for their separate uses. The heart, some liver, and lights were made into a "cush" or hash, while the usuable intestines were well cleaned out with water and turned inside out to be thoroughly cleaned for a good chitlin meal while some were filled with the ground up sausage and hung in the smokehouse to be smoked for later consumption.  The smoky washpot was filled with pork fat and choice pork cuts and boiled for a time and then placed in gallon syrup cans or crocks and stored in the attic/loft. If the family needed more help, there were neighbors aplenty to come and aid the family and would take home some food for their sweat labor. RECREATION and SOCIAL LIFE  Recreation was a rare occasion for the pioneer, but they always found some time to enjoy a relaxing interaction with others. The boys would always have a few homemade toys such as could be made from small saplings or small blocks of wood for the younger ones to make into toy wagons, etc., while the older ones would have checkers, dominos, horseshoes, pitching washers, and many other things to entertain  themselves with. The middle age youth would have their slingshots or shooters and they were usually proficient with them to knock down larger birds or squirrels, etc. and could survive in the woods with that food source provided.  Hunting with guns was something that brought much fun and relaxation to all men and would consist of several people in the party and would usually last all day. It took several people to help bag their supper. Many times, they would make a fire and cook some of their catch along with maybe a few biscuits or cornbread that they had brought with them. They would bring the leftover bacon or ham from breakfast in case they had poor hunting that day. They would most likely have a couple of hunting dogs in their party to aid in their success. Sometimes on Saturdays, a group of boys from the countryside would group together and go hunting and be gone most of the day. In the late fall and winter time, they would be hunting deer, rabbits, coon, and other good animals that were eatable. Coon hunting was done on full or "blood" moon nights  when you could walk through the woods in almost a semi-darkness with everyone bringing along some pine knots and a few matches to help them see when the night wasn't so bright. Sometimes, on Spring or Summer weekends, they would gather and camp out on a creek and set out trotlines or set hooks in the creek and bait them with worms they had dug beforehand. They would have their cast iron skillet, along with some taters, flour, and corn meal and lard to fry up the fish they caught. They usually brought with them some leftovers from home in a syrup bucket just in case. Sunday afternoons were mostly for riding horses all over the country. After church and dinner, guys would gather at a neighbor's house and as they rode, they would pick up a few more riders. While the older folk's were relaxing at home, the younger guys would be using up their energy riding around, playing around, and maybe find a creek to go swimming in and many other activities. There was always something to do. All you had to do was use your imagination and energy. Those were the days to glory in your youth for it wouldn't be long before they would have their own place to work from dawn to dark and raise a family and even help take care of their parents or grandparents.  There were always socials to go to in milder weather during the fall and winter months, whether at church or someone's house. A taffy pull was the most common party. At other parties, the boys and girls would play games under the watchful eyes of several adults. Then they would eat cookies and drink punch, lemonade, or coffee and then be on their way home by wagon roads or through the woods. They were never afraid of the darkness for they'd grown up in the dark woods. It was always a joyful time of their lives to alleviate the pains of the hard work they had to do to make a crop and a living. Funerals and weddings were another social event between the pioneer families. Almost everyone would be at these events to share the sorrow or to celebrate the beginning of a new family. MEDICAL TREATMENTS  There were very few doctors in the pioneer area, so the people depended on proven home remedies to get them through a sick spell. There were always some "healers" in the area who were adept with herbs and other remedies. Still, many families lost loved ones regardless of who was doing the doctoring. Home remedies always consisted of Cod Liver Oil, turpentine, and many other store brand remedies. One that was successful for pneumonia and coughs, etc. was the mustard plaster and boiled onion poultices which would be warmed up and placed on the chest. Sometimes, the poultices would be made of other varied materials (including dried cow patties). Sassafras roots were always available to dry and boil and make into a tea to thin the blood and other uses. Kerosene was useful for cuts and swollen parts of the body and many other medicinal uses. Many a woman used the mustard plaster to help many a person to get well, even after the doctor gave up on the patient. Mustard plasters were made with 1 Tb. allspice, 1 Tb. yellow mustard, 1 Tb.ginger, 1Tb. nutmeg, 1Tb. cloves, mixed with cooking oil to make into a paste and smeared on a clean, dry cloth. The chest would be rubbed with vick salve, then warmed up and applied to the childrens chest area and left on all night, occasionally warming it. Goose grease was used to keep from blistering. Other poultices were made from such things and bread soaked in milk, rosin gum from a pine tree, etc.. Vicks salve was another product that every home would have in it along with camphor gum. Many of these pioneer medicines were learned from the Indians over several hundred years of trial and error. LAND/ HOMESTEAD When the old homeplace fields wore out from years of planting, they would develop itching feet and move on to a new area to cut the trees and clear the area for farming the next year. The move would usually take place in the fall of the year after the harvest was in. They'd load up everything in wagons and head out to the "promised land" with dreams of better times. The livestock would be herded by the younger boys or men while traveling through. Their travels would take them into another state but most times they would skip the next state from their old home. They may just leave their old farm to whoever came along or sometimes could get a little money for it or more bartered goods. There was little money to be had or shared with stores so they would barter with other farmers or townspeoples for essentials to get them to their new home. When they arrived at their new home, they would settle in to cutting logs to build their houses and clearing out the tree stumps in the best farming land. Gardens would be put in as soon as they arrived and broke the land up. These gardens would most likely consist of greens and green onions or whatever else could be grown in the cold weather of winter. Burning the scrub trees and stumps and brush would fertilize the land and make it more fertile for a few years of crops. They would turn loose their livestock into the nearby woods to roam for food and water. It was hard work to start a new farm, building a house, and other buildings that were needed, along with cutting firewood and stacking it for use and splitting certain trees for rail fences to put around their farming land to keep the livestock out since they had no money to buy wire fencing yet.  Sometimes, they would have to pay a homestead fee for their land but other times they would just squat on the land and claim it. There were no problems in doing this until the railroads came through and maybe claimed most of the land for building the railroad through the area. At those times, the people could buy the land for a little money from the railroad companies. However, most of the time, there were many thousands of acres between railroads for people to own.  In the spring of the year, the homesteaders would find many good meals such as poke greens from the "newground" which had been cleared and burned . After washing the new green leaves several times to clean out the poison, the greens would be cooked with some smoked bacon, ham hocks, or hog jowls for flavoring and eaten with cornbread. It was some very good eating, especially if you didn't have a garden or  crop to live off of yet. The woods were always full of good eating if you knew how and where to find it. RELIGION-CHURCHES  Religion has always been a hot but important topic for most people and the early pioneers were steadfast in believing in God and worshipping Him at every opportunity. Many of the churches had no pastor but that didn't stop the people from gathering together and reading the scriptures and singing praises. Many times an old deacon would read scripture and make some remarks on it. At times, a traveling parson would come through their area and hold meetings, mostly in a brush arbor setting. Sometimes a church would be started and would have a preacher come every other Sunday (half-time pastor) or one Sunday each month (quarter-time pastor) or with a larger community or small town, they would have a full-time pastor. It didn't matter to the congregation which one they had, as long as they had one to open the Bread of Life to them occasionally. Many times a group in the church would disagree and form their own church farther away and in this way the Gospel could be proclaimed in a larger area. Sometimes, the departing group would start up a different denomational church. That was the way of people but it did produce more churches in the area to get the good news out to communities.  EDUCATION The pioneers were blessed if they could read and write on a 2nd grade level. Most of them were illiterate and had no hopes of bettering themselves out in the wilderness away from civilization. Up until the early 1900's very few schools and teachers were available and if they were, the children were able to go to school just a few months of the year due to working in the fields. Parents had to have all the help they could get. Most kids only had a 2nd or 3rd grade education by the time they married and started their own farms and families. However, most of them continued learning bits and pieces for the rest of their lives-even if it was just a can label. Education was very important to the pioneers and they made their children go to school as long as they could afford to. Every generation wanted better times for their children, so they tried to provide better opportunities for education. Even if they only had a 2nd grade education, they at least had that much and were not considered "ignorant".