Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

i6 ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
housekeeping in the wagon. At once the man started into the
work of gathering material for the first house. He selected
from the forest the trees suitable for the logs, felled them, prepared
them to go into the walls, split clapboards and puncheons,
and brought stones and clay from the rocky run near by —
large, flat stones for the hearth and smaller ones to build into
the fireplace. They made by themselves their nest in the for-
est, from materials gathered there.
In time the little home was ready: the walls of this first
house were of round logs, with interstices "chinked" and
daubed; the floors of split boards called "puncheons" were
laid; eave poles, rib poles, clapboards (shingles), and weight
poles with "knees" to hold them in place completed the roof
without one single nail, wooden pins being used where fastening
was required. The old-fashioned "cat and clay" chimney
was ready for its daily smoke. These chimneys were made of
sticks laid up something like the cob houses of childhood and
thoroughly . plastered with clay within and without. They
were, of course, built up on the outside of the house wall, and
were largest at the base, growing narrower as the top was
approached.
brook.
The fireplace was constructed of stones from the
Grandfather had pounded out the crane and pothooks upon
his anvil, and they were hung in place. "Old Star" had been
hitched up to haul in the six-foot backlog, which he snaked
straight into the room where grandfather could roll it into the
great fireplace, to burn for several days. Now the appetizing
odor of wild meat fills the cabin — our grandparents are at
home in Ohio. We have not heard that any ceremonies
attended the hanging of the crane, neither was the house-warming
celebrated in any way that has come down to us; but we
know they must have been happy to feel settled and at home.
It is true that at first but quilts and blankets hung at the door
— poor protection from wildcats, panthers, and other forest
creatures; but at least the four walls of home were there, and
love and hope and faith dwelt within.
Much remained to be done. As soon as he could the
pioneer father cut the heavy timber about the cabin, rolled