The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-06-22

you "Oulu De Wiling 10 allOt me Tor
the presentation ofmy entire subject to-
day.
The house of the family of a half CEN
tury ago in this county was most likely
constructed of round POSSIBLY heWn)
logs, piled upon each other, cut and
shaped by the head of the family; or, it
may be, assisted by his sons or his neigh
bOrs. The gaping creVices between the
logs were "chinked" or filed with blocks
of wood and daubed with mortar, so as
to exclude the cold from the interior of
the building. The chimney was built
outside and at one end of the house.
The lower part of it was of rough stone,
and the upper part of split sticks, laid
in the form of a hollow square, and
plasteTed inside and outside with mix
ture of clay and straw. The fireplace
was of immense proportions, and the
hearth was formed of split stone. The
floor was composed of "puncheOns" or
split logs, made as even and level as the
means at hand would permit. The roof
was of clapbOaTds, laid on the heavy
beams which passed for TafteTs, without
mailing, and kept in their places by
round logs laid across them and fastened
down so as to prevent their slipping
from the roof. The windows were mere
openings made by cutting or saving off
few feet of one or more of the logs
constituting the walls of the edifce and
inserting a square of white cloth or of
white paper; or, in some instances,
frames of glass. The door (fOr there
was seldom more than One) was of clap
boards and was hung on wooden hinges,
and fastened with a wooden latch,
raised from the outside by a string
passed through hole i'll the door, and
by drawing this string inside, the door
was locked. Probably not a nail was
used in the entire building. The walls
were not plastered, nor was there often
an upper floor; and if there was, it was
reached by ladder, for want of any
other means of ascent. The one room
of which such house was ordinarily
composed was parlor, sitting-rOOm, bed
room for all the family, diningrOOm,
kitchen and wash-hOuse; and even where
there was a sort of loft or second story,
there were no partitions in it.
A former Justice of the Peace of Can
ton township, (nOw dead,) once related
to me what occurred to him in a house
such as l have attempted to describe, to
which he was taken in his official capaci-
ty, to marry young couple. He said
that the doorway was so low that he was
compelled to dOuble-up considerably be-
fore he was able to enter; but he man
aged to get inside and to find chair, in
which he seated himself and awaited de-
velopments. After some time the pair
walked up in front of him, and he rose
to his feet to perform the ceremony. But
what was his surprise to find his head
in the loft of the house, between two
timbers which served as jOists, and be-
fore he could begin the exercises proper
to the occasion he was under the neces-
sity of bringing his upper story down
into the first and only story OF the
house.
More than once have / slept in the
upper part of such house, climbing up
ladder to reach it, and picking my way
to the bed over loose boards or clap
boards, liable to tilt up at any step and
precipitate me into the room below; and
so open was the roof that In the morn
ing when l awOke 1 found the
clothes covered with snow. And
right sure the same thing ihappene
many of you, often and again, and
came so common that you scarcely g
the matter thought.
Of course, there were exceptions to thl.
manner of building. Here and there,
(but only in the villages) frame house
was erected. But even this would, in,
many cases, remain unplastPTed-paE-
ticularly in the upper story Qf there was
One0 and as to partitions, they were al
most universally confined to the first
floor, and it was only the better to- do
than one room out of the upper story Of
their dwellings.
If there was cellar under such log
cabin it was mere hole in the ground,
reached by taking up the puncheOn floor;
but most likely, what was used as a
cellar was an artificial cave near the
house, covered over with timbeTs, brush
wood and earth; or, if the owner was
| lucky enough to have spring on his
a N nCr-h ha OIa
of cellar, and was greatly preferred
| to it.
The furniture in such house consisted
| of homemade table, (Oftentimes fami-
lies used the top of a large chest in lieu
of table until able to do better, but in
| some instances they aspired to owning
tables with folding leaVes-the work OF
local cabinet-maker,) several benches
| 1T may be few chairs; (but the latter
were often so scarce that not unfre-
quently the children of the family, if
admitted to the first table, were COM
PEELED to eat standing0 dresser or cor
ner cupboard to hold the table ware.
which consisted of half a dozen plates,
half dozen cups and saucers, one or
| two large plates and dishes, a bowl or
two, half dozen knives and forks, half
dozen large and small pewter spoons.
| The plates were often of pewter, but
If they happened to be of earthen-
ware, colored and figured, they were
sure to be set up on edge in the dresser.
to display their gorgeOusness and the
good taste of the family. There were
usually several plain chests, and occa-
sionally cheap bureau, in which the
clothing of the family, and the scanty
household linen were slowed away.
The beds and tTundle-beds were mere
common affairs, often only rough frames,
constructed by the hOuse-father or one
OF his sons. If the sleeping arrange
ments were insufficient, with all the
packing that could be done, some of the
children were accommodated by beds
made upon the floor. Both large beds
and trundle beds were corded in the bot
toms, there being no springs) and on
this foundation was laid a straw or chaff
tick, supplemented, in the case of we'll
to-dO families, by feather bed. And
almost invariably, as soon as it could in
any wise be afforded, feather bed con-
stituted the main top covering of the
bed of that day. The bolster was of
straw or chaff; and in some cases was
topped-Off by feather pillows. There
was no carpet on the floor; neither was
n II r,fn