Nearby, perhaps over the fireplace, were suspended a flint-lock musket
and powder horn. Hanging from the ceiling of the room might be a warming
pan, raccoon skins, fox pelts, slabs of bacon and venison, chains of
sausages, and strings of dried apples and red peppers. And on a
convenient shelf was the family Bible, the leather cover of which was
used—without any disrespect intended—by the man of the house for
stropping his straight-edge razor.
[Illustration: Flatboat on river]
The attic of the house was floored with rough boards but was otherwise
unfurnished. It had been used as a bedroom, and imagination can conjure
the image of a small, wide-eyed boy lying on a pallet of rustling corn
husks, listening to the wind rattle the shingles and dodging an
occasional drop of rain which seeped through. Perhaps it wasn’t always
imagination when he heard the howl of wolves or the yell of a passing
Indian. A portion of the attic floor has been cut away so visitors may
see the original rafters and shingle strips.
[Illustration: Fireplace]
About the time the Pioneer Home was built, carpenter work was relatively
expensive. Dormer windows containing 12 panes of glass cost $12; door
frames were 8c a linear foot and window frames 16c. Panel doors were
priced at 75c per panel. This partially explains why the windows were
few and small. Another reason, of course, was the difficulty of heating
the house adequately in the winter. It was also very difficult to
transport large panes of glass over rough roads from the East.
The house at one time had a partial basement with dirt floor, but it had
no porches. At a later date a wooden lean-to was added at the rear but
it has long since disappeared. This addition housed a bedroom and
kitchen.
In the yard behind the house there was probably an outdoor fire pit with
a large iron kettle suspended above it. This kettle was used for making
soap, lard, and apple butter, and on wash days for boiling clothes.
There was also a smokehouse and tobacco-drying and stripping shed.
Also just outside the back door was a rough wooden water bench on which
were a wooden basin, a gourd dipper, and soap made of grease, ashes and
sand.
As was the practice in those days, the house was located on the bank of
a small stream, a tributary of Hole’s Creek. Near this stream, a well
was dug and a well-sweep erected for lowering the oaken bucket into the
well.
This Pioneer Home was placed in Carillon Park to show the people of this
generation how their forefathers lived. The purpose of this book, too,
is to describe the hardships overcome by the pioneers who braved the
unknown wilderness to help carve the destiny that we, as Americans,
enjoy today.
Of William Morris and his wife, little is known. But much is known of
the era in which they lived.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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