Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-04-16

olden times" without any garnlsh
of language to spoil the original
portraits, by giving them shades
of coloring which they did not pos
sess.
shall follow the order Of things
as they occurred during the period
of time embraced in these nara
tives, beginning with those rude
accommodations with which our
first adventures into this country
furnished themselves at the COM
mencement of their establishments.
1t will be a homely narrative, yet
valuable on the ground of its being
real history.
If my reader, when viewing,
through the medium which | here
present, the su6erings of human
nature in one of its most depressed
and dangerous conditions, should
drop an involuntary tear, let him
not blame me for the sentiment OF
sympathy which he feels. On the
contrary, if he should sometimes
meet with a recital calculated to
excite a smile or a laugh, ] claim
no credit for his enjoyment. 1t is
the subject matter Of the history,
and not the historian, which makes
those widely different impressions
on the mind of the reader.
In this chapter it is my design to
give a brief account of the house
hould furniture and articles OF diet
which were used by the first inhab-
| itants of our country. A descrip-
tion of their cabins and half-faced
camps, and their manner of build
ing them, will be found elsewhere.
The furniture for the table, for
several years after the settlement
of this country, consisted of few
pewter dishes, plates and spoons,
but mostly ofwooden bowls, trench
ers and noggins. Ifthese last were
scarce, gourds and hard.sbelled
| squa.hes made up the deficiency.
The iron pots, knives and forks,
were brought from the east side OF
the mountains, along with the salt
and iron, on pack-horses.
These articles of furniture cor
respond very well with the articles
of diet on which they were employ
ed. "Hog and hominy' were
proverbial for the dish Of which
they we're the component parts
Journeycake and pone were, at the
outset of the settlements of the
country, the only forms of bread in
use for breakfast and dinner. At
| supper, milk and mush were the
standard dish. When milk was not
| plenty, which was often the case,
owing to the scarcity of cattle or
the want of proper pasture for
them, the substantial dish Of hOm-
iny had to supply the place for
them. Mush was frequently eaten
with sweetened water, molasses,
bears oil, or the gravy of fried
meat.
Every family, besides a little
garden for the few vegetables which
they cultivated, had another small
inclosure containing from half an
acre to an acre, which they called
a "truck patch" in which they
raised corn for roasting.ears, pump
kins, squashes, beans and potatoes.
These, in the latter part Of the sum-
mer and fall, were cooked with
their pork, venisOn and bear meat,
| for dinner, and made very whole
some and well tasted dishes. The
standard dinner dish for every log
rolling, house. raising and harvest
day, was pot pie, or what in other
countries is called "sea-pie." This,
besides answering for dinner, served
for a part of the supper alsO,-tbC
remainder of it from dinner being
eaten with milk in the evening
after the conclusion of the labor o.
the day.
In our whole display of furni
ture, the delf, china, and silver
were unknown. 1t did not then
as now, require contributions from
the four quarters Of the globe t.
furnish the breakfast table, viz
, the silver from Mexico, the coffee
from the West Indies, the tea from
China, and the delf and porcelain
from Europe or Asia. Yet on
homely fare, and unsightly cabin
, and furniture, produced a hardy
veteran race, who planted the frs
, footsteps of society and civilization
l in the immense regions of the west
3 Injured to hardihood, bravery ant
. labor, from their early youth, the,
. sustained with manly fortitude tn
l fatigue of the chase, the campaign
. and scout, and have left to thei
, defendants the rich inheritance o
. an immense empire blessed witt
peace and wealth.
I / we'll recollect the first time
r ever saw a tea.cup and saucer, AM
= tasted coffee. My mother die'
l when was about six or seven year
, old, and my father then sent me +
Maryland with a brother of N.
grandfather, Mr.. Alexander Wells
z to school.
= At Col. Browns, In the noun
/ tains, (at Stony creek glades,) | 70
the first time saw tame geese an,
by bantering a pet gander, got
o. severe biting by his bill, and beatel