Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1907-04-26
Pioneer Life in the Colonies.
(From "Doddridge's" Notes.


The following history of the poverty
labors, sufferings, manners and Gus
toms, of our forefathers, will appear
/ like a collection of italics of olden
tines without any garnish of lam
guage to spoil the original portraits,
by giving them shades of coloring
which they did not possess. 1t is my
design to give a brief account of the
household furniture and articles of
diet which were used by the first ia
habltants of our country.
The furniture for the table, for sever
al years after the settlement of this
country, consisted of few pewter
dishes, plates and spoons, but mostly
of wooden bowls, srenchers, and nog-
gins. If these last were scarce, gourds
and hard-shelled squashes 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 CORE
sponded very well with the articles of
diet on which they were employed.
"Hsg and Hominyp were proverbiaI
fer the dish of which they were the
component parts. Johneyeake and
pene were, at the outset of the settle
ments Of the country, 1.-THE only forms
of bread In use for breakfast and din
ner. At supper, milk and mush were
the standard dish When milk was not
plenty, which was often the case, the
substantial dish of homlny had to
supply the place OF them. Mush was
frequently eaten with sweetensd water
molasses, bears oil, or the gravy of
fried meat.
Every. family, besides little garden
for the few vegetables which they cul-
tivatsd, had another small Enclosure
containing from half an acre to an acre,
which they called "truck-patch," in
which they raised corn for roasting
ears, pumpkins, squashes, beans and
potatoes. These, in the latter part of
the summer and fall, were cooked with
their pork, venison and bear meat, for
dinner, and made very wholesome and
we'll tasted dishes. The standard dim
ner dish for every log-rolling, house
raising and harvest-day, was pot-pie,
or what in other countries is called
ssea- pie This, besides answering for
dinner, server for part of the supper
also, the remainder of it from dinner
| being eaten with milk in the evening,
after the conclusion of the labor of the
day.
| l well recollect The first time L ever
saw tea-cup and saucer, and tasted
coffee. My mother died when [ was
about six or seven years of age, and
my father then sent me to Maryland
with a brother of my grandfather, to
school.
| At Col. Crowns, in the mountains,
l for the first time saw tame geese. l
wondered very much that birds SO
large and strong should be SO much
tanner than the wild turkeys. At this
place, however, all was right, except
ing the large birds they called geese.
The cabin and its furniture were such
as / had been accustomed to see in the
bcckwoods, as my country was then
called.
4
| AT Bedford everything was changed.
The tavern at which my uncle put up
was stone house, and to make the
change more complete, it was plaster
ed in the inside both as TO the walls and
ceiling. On going into the dining room,
l was struck with establishment at the
appearance of the house. | had no idea
that there was any house in the world
which was not built of logs; but here
1 looked round the house and could see
no logs, and above 1 could see no ioists;
whether such thing had been made
by the hands of man, or had grown SO
of itself, l could not conjecture. | had
not the courage to inquire anything
about it.
Wien supper came on, my confu-
sion was worse confounded.n A little
cup stood in bigger one, with some
brownish looking stuff in it, which
was neither milk, hominy nor broth.
What to do with these little cups and
the little spoons belonging to them, |
could not tell; and | was afraid to ask
anything concerning the use of them.
| | therefore watched attentively kto
see what the big folks would do with
their little cups and spoons. initiated
them, and found the taste of the coffee
nauseous beyond anything | ever had
tasted in my life; | continued TO drink,
as the rest of the company did, with
the tears streaming from my eyes, but
when it was to end | was at loss to