Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-07-20
OLD TInEs IN DYER COUNTY.

Something About Them "PungerS -
Editor State Gazette:
In my last l said the early settlers
Of Dyer county had a hard time in
getting along-that they had to
beat their corn in a mortar to make
bread. Several young ladies have
recently asked me how they pre-
pared it for bread. l told them that
some Of the early settlers brought
with them sieyes made of horse
hair that after pounding the corn
as fine as they could at the first
beating they would put it in the
seiye and rub the meal through it
with their hands, skim off the bran
and then throw back the remainder
of the corn that would not 90
through the sieve and beat it over
and then pass all they could through
the sieve, and whatever was left
and would not go through the seive
was saved and used for small hom-
my, which was a very good dish to
eat with milk. Those hair sieves
soon wore out, and no chance to get
another one. So something must
be had to supply their place, for
eating had to be carried on all
through the country. There were
no wires in that day and time
Uncle John Warren, who was one
Of the first settlers in what was
afterwards called Dyer county, in.
vented a sieve that would last and
bear rubbing the meal through. AS
he was a good hunter he killed a
fine deer and dressed its hide as
smooth as possible, and then
stretched it over a hoop made for
the purpose and punched holes
through the hoop and confined the
deer skin to it while it was wet and
green with rawhide whangs. AS
soon as it was dry it was as tight as
a drum head. He then took an
awl and punched it full of holes. 1t
was pronounced the best Seive in
the whole country, for it would
admit coarser meal to go through
it than the old fashioned hair sieve,
and it would bear rubbing ali the
time and was one Of the most pop
ular make-shifts in the settlements,
1t took its grand rounds through
the neighborhood until others OF
the same kind we're made. As
Uncle John Warren, as he was
called by young and old, had built
the first mill in the country and
owing to the fact of his runner be.
ing very small, he had to grind his
meal very coarse and to suit his raw
hide sieve.
Some of my lady friends have
asked me what sort of houses the
people lived in at that early time,
which was, indeed, the golden era
Of Tennessee. At the time this
country was SETTLED some of the
people did not have o house for the
frat year-only a camp made with
a shelter overhead, covered with
boards or cypress bark, Some of
the young ladies, also, ask how the
people did their cooking. / answer
they generally selected a large tree,
cut it down and made the fire
against it and SO did their cooking
there. The cooking utensils gene.
rally consisted of a frying pan, a
skillet or oven, and sometimes a
pot. Their tableware was a set OF
pewter plates, a pewter dish, a set
| Of pewter spoons, some knives and
forks and three or four tin cups,
Whenever there vas . log-rolling
or a house-raising on hand, one
neighbor would borrow such things
as he needed from other neighbors.
Every man had hiS gym and killed
lhis own meat, consisting Of bear,
deer and turkey, and he did his own
fishing. The people were kind
ne!ghBors and good citizens, and
lived happy and contented. Each
family had some horses and cattle
and soon procured some hogs The
range was good aud stock needed
very little feed, Each family tried
to clear as much land as they could
ulfivate i'm corn nnmpkins. nota.