By C. Kihm Richardson Walking from Strykersville ... - Fulton History

APRIL 1978
Thoughts on Pioneer Living (continued)
usually wore a bell so they could be found. To
churn the butter, the cream was put into a large
bottle or jug and shaken, until they had butter.
Neighbors who owned cows would put their milk
together to make cheese. It was pressed into a
four quart or peck measure according to size,
and for a press it was placed under a log.
"It was often a long time before a barn was
built, and some men would get up nights and chase
their cows around so they would not freeze."
SPINNING AND WEAVING
"Nearly all cabins raised a small patch of flax.
The women spun and wove it into cloth for clothes
and general use. Sheep were soon bought, and then
woolen clothes were also made, but wolves were so
numerous that at first it was difficult to keep
sheep.
"Women spun tow (flax), wove it and then made
into bags, for which they received twenty-five
cents each. They also braided whip-lashes; David
Vaughn bought a horse for sixty dollars and paid
it all by selling whip-lashes.
"Deer hides were made into braided lashes of
six or seven strands each. A settler's daughter
braided and sold enough whip-lashes to buy a silk
dress.
"A Mrs. Weaver made a coat for a neighbor, receiving
one dollar for it. She bought a bushel of
wheat with it; her husband cleared off enough land
to sow the whole of it that year.
"The washboards of early years were simply
pieces of boards. With a paddle, called a "battle,"
they pressed out the dirt.
' 'The time of day was told by cutting notches on
the door sill if it was on the south side of the house.
This would answer well when the sun shone so they
could keep track of the shadow."
RECREATION - SOCIAL LIFE
We must not think of the pioneers as being discouraged;
they were doubtless as happy as we are
today. Their social life combined healthy exercise
with fun; log-rollings, husking bees, spelling
schools, barn or house raisings, besides evening
visits. We are told that after log rolling, when
supper was over they would sing hymns and songs
and sit and visit. Their nearest neighbor might be
three or four miles distant; they had no conveyance
but an ox team and sled; no roads but blazed
trees, yet they would go for the evening. Oftimes
there was little to offer a guest, but they did not
worry; they had as good as their neighbors, sometimes
only potatoes and salt.
Mrs. Chapman Brooks often told of the first
time she was invited out to tea; it was at Samuel
Persons' who then lived where Dr. Bixby's house
now stands. The Persons family were considered
well-to-do and had the best things of any around.
PAGE 95
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Miss Kathy Rice of Perry working at old loom
in Wyoming County Pioneer House in Pike.
Thelma Robinson of Castile copking up a stew for
Fair visitors in the Wyoming County Pioneer
House.
They had wooden plates and wooden forks and
some pewter dishes. For supper, there were
johnnycakes, sage tea and fried pork. The pork
was fried, cut in small pieces and put on the
pewter platters in the center of the table. There
was no butter. Each would reach over, take a
small piece of pork as a relish for the johnnycake.
A lump of (maple?) sugar was suspended by a
string and hung over the table. Each in turn would
take a bite as it swung to and fro.
Cowcabbage, called poor-man's cabbage, was
cooked and eaten. Sometimes they had little else.
The first hen on record here (Rushford) was
brought by a woman on the Centerville Road.
Someone had given her the hen and fifteen eggs.
She set the hen and raised the first chickens in
Rushford.
RELATIONS WITH INDIANS
The Indians of the Holland Purchase that
came into contact with the settlers, were usually
amicable. Under the terms of the Pickering Treaty,
the Indians agreed to move into the various reservations
in New York State, but could move from
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