Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1893-03-09
81 A YEAR In ADVANCE
FROM COLORADO.
Some Recollections of Washington Coun.
ty Fifty Years Ago.
DENVER, COL, Feb. 90. 1893.

DENVER, COL, Feb. 90, 1893.
Editor HERALD AND TRIBUNE:
send sketch of the times in your
county fifty five or fifty eight years
ago. Things have changed greatly
since then. In that day and time there
was no such thing as coal oil or lamps
of that kind. The old womer, would
take an old saucer or a broken one, put
lard in it, or fat, they called it, twist
up rag put in for wick, stick the old
saucer in crack of an old log house
and work by such light. After they
got to making what they called dip
candles-put the tallow in big pot or
kettle and dip the wicbs in and out
until the candle got as large as they
wanted iC. After the timers got to
making candle moulds and the first
came around, some would say, ''oh / :
wish you could see such ones candles;
they have molds and the candles is slick
as glass"
Those days all the girls made
their own clothes-home spun. They
would make their stripes on fat stick
one inch wide, two of blue, two of
white, two of copperas, one of turkey
red; take it to some old woman who
had a loom, get it wove, then make
their own dresses. They looked neat
and nice, they wore them to church, or
meeting, as they called it. Some had
calico big, flowers and stripes. ''Law,
what nice dress, where did you get
it," "At Sacketts store, Jonesboro."
How much did it cost?n "Ninepence
d yard, ," "Lrw, how cheap" Those
days there was no such think as q cor
set; they would get piece of hickory
and split up in thin pieces, take jack
knife and smoothe it down and wear
in the place of corsets and called them
boards The girls never thought of
bangs; they combed their hair all back,
tied up with string on top, then big
tucking comb, back two or three inches
wide, then tie head band on around
their forehead-inch wide black rib
bon-tie it SO tight some times when
they would sneeze it would brake the
band.
Those days we would start to meeting
walk from three to seven miles, the
girls had their good shoes, not fine
ones; all shoes were made by some
country shoe maker. They would tie
them up in silk bandana handker-
chief, carry them near the meeting
house, sit down on log pull off their
old shoes, stick them under the log,
cover them up with leaves, stop and
change again on the way back. We
would go to cuttings, flax pullings,
house raisings, rail splittings, have
good time, and pumpkin pie, play
"Oh sister Phoebe how merry were we
When we sat under that juniper tree"
Round and round we would 90, then
get some boy with his old fiddle, they
did not know what violin was) we
would dance all night. The girls wore
those big glass beads, some white, some
yellow, strings three feet long and
would rattle like harness Oh a horse
when dancing. The boys some of them
would have silver watch, pay fifteen
or twenty dollars for it, one that would
sell now at Sl.50 or two dollars: then
some girls would make them a guard
as they called it one inch wide, three
feet long, out of beads, to wear around
the neck.
The boys all wore home spun clothes:
toe linen pants to work in, brown do
mestic shirts and bleached for fine Sun.
day shirts. Not much Irish linen those
days. Then extra bosoms came in
called Dicky's, to button around the
neck and tied with string around the
waist, same white and some striped
silk; put them on perhaps over dirty
shirt. In summer flax jeans for Sun
day, in winter, mixed or brown leans
woolen, all home made; coat cut and
made by some woman-all by hand
no machines were thought of. The
staple of your county was iron and
feathers, goose quilts and rabbit skins,
they sold for twenty five cents per
dozen, goose quilts five cents per dozen
no such thing as steel pens then, we
wrote with quill pen at school, and
would take it to the teacher to mend:
he would take out his knife, whet il on
his shoe, and mend the pen. Better
pens then than now. | sold my rabbit
skins and goose quilts to A. E. jackson,
on Chucky. tell you he was an ele-
CANT gentleman. Bought my harness
and leather from Edward West, went
to school to old Billy Slemons at Nc
KEGS school house. AS McKee's old
negro said to Buck Slemons "Bucky
if you marry in the Mckee family, for
the law sake marry one of the gals for
the boys not worth cent
Now boys tell you who to see to
find out all those old time things-one
is Ace Dayless, think he still lives.
and Barton Bayless, he can tell YOU
many things; McMackin also, if his
time is not too near out.
Once was well acquainted with Bill
Hoss; he bought the old Bill McGhee
farm, he had brother, Calvin. and
Henry lived near Cherokee, Bill moved
on the old Hill farm, he was not much
on the work. The first fall he went to
sowing wheat in corn stalks, began
plowing with four burrows in row,
came home at night told his wife he
got along so slow he thought three fur
rows would cover all. He plowed one
day at that and told his wife he thought
two furrows in row would do as well.
Next day he told her if he would put
on the big shovel and run in the middle
of the row it would cover all the wheat
so he plowed one or two days with one
furrow, sowed the balance and never
plowed it in at all Calvin said it made