The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1877-09-07

paid IN the amount of fun which he would
| have These husking bees still prevail 10
scme extent, but the requirements Of fashion
have roboed them Of n aTly | their glory.
| No incOlsiierable amount Of pleasure was
mixed up with the log rOIlin=s and house rais-
ing and the pioneers knew Just ho.g 70 make these
! amusing and interesting. Many Of the young peo-
PIE here to-day perhaps never witnessed either an
old fashioned Iogrolling or house raising. such as
we're wont 10 be had in We olden time. They were
| both very simple not much machinery about ei-
| tber. About all that Wa necessary n get up an
exciting log-rolling was about ten acres of logs
CIT the proper length and GbOut fifteen or twenty
men on each side armed with wooden hand
spikes, each party headed by captain, and when
! the word 90 was given it was astonishing to see
With what rapidity those logs would crawl into
| heaps. The party first completing the task was
| declared the winner amid EIuch noise and good
1atured hilarity,
| The missing of cabin house was conducted
| Upon the same principle, only that each party
| dhose two OF their most active and expert axmen
| tb carry up the corners the logs were carried
| Up to their proper place. \ good deal OF skill.
\ and mechanical eye was required by these cor
1ermen, a a very slight mistake in making a
notch too deep or too shallow or out of straight
/ line might loose the whole corner. So expert be-
/ cfme many of these men. and they were found in
every settlement, that they enabled to notch
and place the logs alnOst rapidly as they could
| be raised on the building.
The grain was not threshtd by ma
chinery, driven by steam, but was either
| tramped out by horses, OF beaten from
| the heads by the old fashioned swIngle or
| fail welded by the sturdy arm of the
/ husbandmen. 1t was then separated from
the chaff, by tanning mill made of two
men and linen sheet. The grain being
slowly poured from measure at an ele-
vation from the ground, passing in front
of this mill the chaff was blown away by
the breeze caused by the rapid motion of
the sheet in the hands of the men, rath-
er slow, but sure way of getting clean
grain, and resorted to by the early settlers
for the very good reason, that there was
no other. Tanning mills such as are used
by farmers now, were entirely unknown
in this part of the country.
| But amid all these busy scenes, amid
the struggle of Pioneer life, surrounded
by the hardships and dangers of the front
ier, compelled to perform the most ar
dous labor, our backwoodsmen did not
neglect the education of their children,
did not forget that the peace, and safety,
and prosperity, and happiness of every
community depended upon the intelli-
gence of its members Did not forget
that vice in all its forms was sure to at
tend ignorance and superstition. The
first public building erected IN settle
ment was a school house, not of the mod
an style brick-metal roof-steam heat
ed-cushioned chairs, black boarded seats
of learning, but good substantial log
cabin, clap-board roof nailed on with
wooden poles, heated by huge fire place,
seats made of puncheons or slabs hewn
from the trees of the forest and supported
by wooden pins, no backs, no cushions,
no nothing but bare hard slab, elevated
so far from the floor that it was with
difficulty that pupils c'uld evev get on
them, no black-boards, but every thing in
the most primitive style even to the teach
er.
And yet for a wonder, with all these
draw backs and all this want of comfort,
the children succeeded in acquiring tol-
erable education, one sufficient to enable
them to read the Bible, and the newspa-
pers, and to transact the ordinary bus
mess of life And their are those here
to day who have prospered, have success
fully carried on their business through
life, who never attended any but these
rude schools, and not much at even these.
Do not understand me to argue that
schools such as we have now are not q
blessing, necessity, on the contrary they
are both, and should command our high
est appreciation. l have no doubt, and
there can be no doubt, but that the early
settlers would have been much more
happy. had they been blessed with the
school privileges accorded to us today
/ have spoken of the character of the
schools of that carly day, to show their
keen sense of the advantages of education
to their children, meager though they
were, and obtained under so many disad-
vantages. In those days, the school mas
ter ranked next in importance to the cir
cuit preacher, and as he went boarding
around, he was welcomed to the best seat
by the freside, and the choicest viands on
the table, and regarded by our parents as
the embodiment of power, for well we re-
membered the birch rods sticking up in
the walls of the old school house
Nor were the morals of the young Pion-
eers neglected. Long before church build
ings were erected, the missionary came,
and for the time being the rude cabin Of
the frontiersman, or the log
were "God's first temples" in the advanced
settlements. Here too, in these primitive
buildings were held the Sabbath schools.
the meetings of which were as anxiously
looked for, and as highly enjoyed, as are
our own more modern schools. Meetings
were frequently held in the woods, under
the cool shade of the forest trees. Such
meetings were known as camp-meeting,
because those attending erected tents in
which to reside during the continuance of
the meeting. This style Of holding meet
ings was necessity as there was no build
ing of sufficient capacity to hold the con-
gregation, and not ministers enough to
supply all the different settlements with
services, hence they came together in large
bodies, to have the advantage of the
ministratlons of several preachers.
These meetings were conducted with the
utmost decorum, with services at stated
hours, and rules governing the little COM
munity in such manner that ali might
enjoy their coming together. Whilst
these meetings, as have before remarked
were almost necessity, there seems now
in this day of abundent houses of wor-
ship, ard of ministers of the gospel, to lie
no such necessity existing. and hence the
holding Of these camp-meetings meets
with muca disfayor by very many good
chrlstIons, and are too generally visited
by the wicked, 10 avail themselves of an
opportunity of showing their innate cuss-
edness. In the matter of good behavior at
public meetings, and especially religious
meetings, we to day are no improvement
on our fore-fathers.
Thus have l briefly spoken of few
only, of the many ways in which the Pio
neers enjoyed themselves. Of the means
they employed in subduing and civilizing
the country, of their examples of energy.
and nluck Of THAR uoiici,uda